The Journey of Growth

Brady Starr
4 min readOct 16, 2024

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Representing at UpSurge Baltimore, rocking Wu-Tang and ready to talk all things UX! 💼⚡️ #BaltimoreTech #UXLife

A Personal and Professional Update

2024 has been a year of dynamic change and personal growth for me. As the founder of Brady UX, a UX agency based in Baltimore, I’ve been navigating exciting new opportunities, expanding my professional network, and reflecting on the direction of both my career and personal life. Here’s an in-depth look at what’s been keeping me busy lately.

1. Expanding Brady UX and Offering New Services

Brady UX has been my primary focus, and it’s evolving faster than ever. I’ve been refining the agency’s services to better meet client needs. For example, I recently developed a monthly “Unlimited Design” package for Shopify sites, which has been a hit. This package includes optimizing sites for upsells and adding engaging features like video content to improve the customer experience.

On top of that, I’m exploring how we can expand our offerings beyond design to include design operations and project management. This shift is based on feedback from clients who need end-to-end management of their digital products. By focusing on efficiency and clarity in our workflows, I hope to position Brady UX as a trusted partner in the broader digital strategy space.

2. Teaching and Mentorship

Education is something I’ve been passionate about, so I’ve also returned to teaching this year. I’m set to deliver an Intro to UX/Figma 101 workshop for the Baltimore Tech Meetup. The goal is to demystify the difference between UX and UI and provide practical tips for beginners using Figma. This has been a unique challenge for me — crafting content that balances theory with practical insights, while ensuring I’m engaging a group that might have varying levels of familiarity with the tools.

Mentorship also continues to play an important role in my professional life. I’ve been mentoring a talented designer named Asmath Azhar Hasan, helping her navigate the intricacies of UX and sharing insights from my own journey. It’s fulfilling to see someone grow and find their voice in the design world.

3. Personal Projects and Prototypes

One of the more interesting side projects I’ve taken on recently is designing an app prototype for a patented child care device, which I learned about during one of Baltimore’s EquiTech events. This device aims to calm fussing children, and while I’m excited to work on the prototype, I’ve been clear that I cannot work for equity alone. However, it’s a fascinating project, and I’m eager to contribute my UX expertise to it.

Another personal project I’ve been working on is my own website, bradystarr.com. This has been a long time coming, as I want a platform where I can share my journey, thoughts, and accomplishments outside of Brady UX. It’s part of my larger goal to solidify my personal brand, both as an artistic visionary and a strategic thinker.

4. Engaging with Communities and Networking

I’ve been actively engaged with various communities, which has helped me grow both personally and professionally. The EquiTech events in Baltimore have introduced me to inspiring entrepreneurs, like Shannon Foster, the CEO of a GenAI startup, and Juliana Buonanno, who runs TechSlice LLC. These connections are helping me foster potential collaborations, whether it’s through offering my design services or setting up coffee chats to explore how we can help each other grow.

I’ve also been working on creating more structured collaborations within my own networks. For instance, I’m exploring ways to offer referral kickbacks within the Backlog community for leads that turn into closed deals. This is a way to incentivize more collaboration and create a win-win dynamic for everyone involved.

5. Evolving Through Reflection

A lot of my recent growth has come from reflection — both on my professional journey and on how I can better balance all the projects I’m involved in. I’ve been sharing these reflections with the Baltimore Creators group through a Weekly Reflection & Goal-Setting thread, which has been a rewarding way to engage with others and hold myself accountable. It’s been great to see others join in and share their goals, and it reminds me of the importance of community when building something from the ground up.

6. Exploring Ethical AI

AI has been a huge part of my journey this year. After completing the Google AI Essentials course, I’ve been applying my knowledge to my projects and looking for ways to help other businesses adopt ethical AI practices. At Brady UX, we’re working on creating a dedicated Ethical AI page on our website, where we’ll outline how we ensure that AI is used responsibly in our designs and decision-making processes. This is an exciting frontier for me because it combines my passion for technology with a focus on doing what’s right for society.

7. Juggling Multiple Proposals and Projects

This year has also been about learning to juggle multiple proposals and clients. Some exciting opportunities have come my way, like applying for UX/UI audits on Upwork or a design role for an AI note-taking app. Each of these projects requires careful attention to detail and balancing timelines, so it’s been a learning experience in time management and setting the right expectations.

Looking Ahead

There’s a lot more on the horizon. I’m eager to continue growing Brady UX, developing my personal brand, and fostering meaningful relationships within the design and tech communities. While the journey has had its challenges, it’s also been filled with exciting moments of discovery, creativity, and learning. I’m excited to see what the rest of 2024 holds for me, both as a designer and as a business owner.

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Brady Starr
Brady Starr

Written by Brady Starr

Documenting my journey into the wild world of UX Design in a time of AI

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