I’m Sara - a UX research lead passionate about helping people cultivate fulfillment, joy and growth in their careers. My own career path has been a windy road, and that’s one of the reasons I love supporting others on their journeys. I started out my career as a Hiring Rotation Associate at Google. After about 6 months of realizing this role was the wrong fit for me, I made an internal transfer and became the first user researcher at Google Health. While I was at Google Health, I had the opportunity to work on some fascinating projects that included optimizing the user experience of an anxiety disorder self-assessment tool, making it easier for users to find affordable care on Google Search, building an AI-powered skin diagnostic tool, and internationalizing a diabetic retinopathy detection device. After about 4 years, my UX team had grown from a team of 3 to a team of ~70 and I was ready to make a change. I’ve always been inspired by democratizing access to world class education, and this led me to Coursera where I now lead a team of researchers who work on advancing access to education worldwide. My favorite part of my current role is getting to be a manager to an incredible team of people: I love coaching my team to achieve audacious goals, watching people grow, and building strong and sustaining relationships. In my free time, I spend my time doing things that bring me joy: soaking in the sun at the beach or in the park, boxing, hosting and cooking for friends, spending time with my partner Ziad and dog Ziggy, and traveling and experiencing different cultures. A perfect Saturday for me would be reading a great book on the beach, and then spending the evening relaxing on my porch with some friends, Ziad and Ziggy and a nice glass of wine :) 

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Why am I here?

My own twenties were rocky and exhilarating – it was a raw time full of some really incredible highs and some serious lows. Even though I had a dream job at Google Health pretty early in my career, I struggled with a lot of things many people do in their twenties: feeling insecure, managing anxiety and depression, uncertainty about my purpose, dealing with challenging work relationships, etc. I was incredibly lucky to have some generous people who were later in their careers give me support and guidance during this time. I love paying that energy forward - and I get tremendous fulfillment out of the relationships I build with my mentees. If I can be a part of your journey, please don’t hesitate to reach out 🙂

• Paths to careers in UX and/or advancing your career in UX
• Finding work that brings you purpose and fulfillment
• Building a great relationship with your manager
• Developing your process for producing creative work
• Building out your support system
• Learning how to be an effective new manager
• Navigating corporate culture
• Work-life balance

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• Making friends and building community in a new city
• Mental health
• How to stay creative and inspired, even in a corporate job
• Creating meaning and balance post-college
• Building healthy relationships, both work and personal

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• Ready to meet you where you are. If you’re in a place where you want one-off inspiration calls, amazing – if you’re looking for a deeper, supportive relationship, also amazing. My goal is to create a space where you can bring it all to the table and talk through what’s top of mind for you.
• Empathetic and authentic. My most transformational relationships, both as a mentee and as a mentor, are built on having a deep connection to the other person. I’m a big believer that connection requires vulnerability and safety to happen, and I try to create this off the bat with my mentees by being authentic, non-judgmental and empathetic.
• A thought partner and coach. You’ll rarely find me giving prescriptive advice but rather providing thought partnership and coaching on how you can move through a problem/reach a goal.
• Ready to meet you where you are. If you’re in a place where you want one-off inspiration calls, amazing – if you’re looking for a deeper, supportive relationship, also amazing. My goal is to create a space where you can bring it all to the table and talk about what’s top of mind for you.