A Personal Note: Pivots, Gratitude, and the Road Ahead
Starting Over… Again (But Not Alone)
The end of July always feels like a checkpoint. This one comes with more than its share of mixed feelings: Olya, Jackie and Jarred have decided to move on from Brady UX. There’s an empty chair or two around the virtual table now, and it’s painfully clear that I’m back to being a one‑man studio.
This isn’t the end of Brady UX. It’s a change in direction — a pivot that recognizes what worked, what didn’t, and what still excites me. I’m still here, stubborn as ever, with a head full of ideas and a growing list of freelance gigs that somehow arrived right on time. I’m immensely grateful for the work we did together and for the trust you placed in this little studio. I don’t want anyone to feel abruptly cut off from our Slack space, so consider this post your invitation to stick around, see what happens next, and keep the conversation going.
Reflecting on the Journey
A lot has happened since I first put Brady UX in my email signature. I’m a classically trained painter and former art educator who found his way into UX during a pandemic layoff. Before that, I spent years teaching art, running hundreds of Pub & Paint events, and honing entrepreneurial instincts by organizing more than two thousand experiences. I sharpened my business chops as a Business Pro at Apple and even ran operations at Lyft. When the world shut down, I taught myself product design, poured my artistic sensibilities into Figma files and prototypes, and co‑founded this studio with Olya Androsik.
Brady UX wasn’t built on a template or a playbook; it’s a mashup of my art practice and years of scrappy entrepreneurship. We’ve worked with clients from 1st90 and UnDigital to early MedTech and EdTech founders, ran design sprints, launched labs, mentored new designers and built a community in Slack that became a daily ritual. We didn’t become a huge agency, but we created space for experimentation and did work we’re proud of. I’ll always be grateful for the collaborators who helped make that possible.
Enter the Studio Lab
The next chapter is about focus and experimentation. Studio Lab is an experiment in fast, senior‑led design sprints that deliver results in weeks, not months. The homepage already hints at it: “Craft experiences that convert” and “Premium UX — delivered fast”. Instead of a general‑purpose agency, I’m doubling down on what I love — building prototypes, testing ideas and shipping usable experiences quickly. I’m interviewing the first potential designer this Friday and will probably bring more people on as demand grows. If you’re a designer looking for a home that blends art and UX, reach out. The team may be small again, but it doesn’t have to stay that way.
I also have to figure out how to offboard gracefully. Slack was originally just a way for Olya and me to communicate across time zones, and it slowly grew into a little family. Now I need to archive channels and permissions without shutting the door in anyone’s face. Expect a slower transition — you’ll have time to grab files, contacts and share your own updates. And if you’d like to pop back in from time to time, the invite will remain open.
Me and the Machines
You’ve probably noticed by now that I talk about AI a lot. That’s because I use it constantly. I’ve said before that I’m an artist who starved for my craft, and that AI unlocked doors that were bolted shut. Tools that once belonged only to the privileged now sit in front of me, humming, waiting to be used. I use ChatGPT to remember clients, draft proposals, outline sprints, and even ask it to check my tone. In my April article I admitted that “ChatGPT has become the most consistent team member I’ve ever had.” This post itself was drafted with the help of an AI agent that’s learning alongside me. That’s not a gimmick; it’s a test of how far we can push automation to augment creative work. I believe in being transparent about it, and I’m happy to show others how to build similar workflows.
Looking Forward
If you’ve read this far, thank you. Thank you to Olya, Jackie and Jarred for believing in a studio that was part art collective, part design sprint shop. Thank you to every contractor, client, student and friend who joined our Slack, critiqued a wireframe or sent a referral. This moment isn’t an elegy; it’s a pivot. I’m keeping the curiosity, the generosity and the relentless drive that have powered my work since I was an oil painter with a side hustle.
There’s a winding path ahead, and there will be twists, mistakes and unlikely breakthroughs. I still don’t want to work alone — the goal is to build a small, nimble, senior‑led team that can experiment, fail fast and learn. Freelance work is picking up, and that will keep the lights on while Studio Lab finds its legs. More importantly, I’m still excited. The same kid who painted late into the night and sold art at Baltimore craft fairs now spends his mornings in Cumberland dreaming up digital products and his afternoons teaching others. That energy hasn’t gone anywhere.
So stick around. Give me feedback. Share this post with anyone who might resonate with it. If you’re a designer, founder or developer who believes that art and tech aren’t opposites but complements, let’s talk. And if you’re curious how AI can augment your own workflow, I’ve got some ideas to share.
— Brady Starr (with a little help froman an AI assistant)
