May 2023 – Present · 2 yrs 10 mos · Remote

• Next Chapter is a global network of invite-only social clubs for the most ambitious young founders, investors and creators.

Jun 2022 – Apr 2024 · 1 yr 10 mos · Redwood City, California, United States

• My first and only full-time job. It was a fun time 🫡 I left because I have too many interests in life I am pursing now.
• Designed products for creators and event attendees (EA Creator Network and Events)
• Collaborated on designs of product features for creators and events with designers, product managers, business partners, researchers, QA, engineering, and leadership
• Scaled the EA Events tool to be able to create events across 3 different franchises in partnership with the franchise’s brand teams
• Improving the design handoff process with engineering by creating clear design documentations and a shared component library. It has helped the development and QA team by reducing the number of tickets created
• Co-created presentation and branding kits for the Central Technology Organization to help increase productivity. The deck includes 80+ templates, 60+ icons, and 50+ game IPs. We’ve also partnered with accessibility experts to ensure all assets pass accessibility standards.
• Mentored a Product Manager intern

Dec 2020 – Jun 2022 · 1 yr 6 mos · Redwood City, California, United States

• Designing products for creators and event attendees (EA Creator Network and Events)
• Collaborating on end-to-end designs of product features for creators and events with designers, product managers, business partners, researchers, QA, engineering, and leadership
• Built design system foundations, components, and documentation
• Designed experiences to enable employees to find help easier
• Designed graphics and branding for employee resource groups and events
• Created presentation kits for organization-wide all-hands meetings
• EA Engagements
• Speaker at 2 of EA's Next-Gen Talent Conferences - Winter 2021, Summer 2021
• Speaker at EA's Intern Development Day - Summer 2021

Jun 2020 – Dec 2020 · 6 mos · Redwood City, California, United States

• Created wireframes, high-fidelity mockups, and design systems of web and mobile interface designs for 5 million+ monthly users to find help
• Conducted usability testing to validate designs
• Designed branding and marketing assets for 15,000+ users

Apr 2020 – Present · 5 yrs 11 mos · San Francisco, California, United States · Hybrid

• Design Buddies is the world's largest design community with 150,000+ members and 2 million+ followers. We're helping designers land jobs, and companies hire designers. We host help companies hire designers, events, create educational content, and help make professional development more human and fun! 🐰
• I founded this wonderful community as a student in April 2020 and since then we have:
• Hosted 50 in-person events across 10 countries, gathering tens of thousands of creatives in-person
• Hosted 100+ virtual events, some with 600+ in live attendance
• Scaled to a team of 3 full-time employees
• Merged with UXGO, our design education program
• Grew our social media following to 2.5 million+ (LinkedIn, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube)
• Grew our Discord to 90,000+
• Grew our email list to 60,000+
• I proudly designed our bunny/kawaii branding and create most of our content
• I manage partnerships and sponsorships with companies such as Adobe, Figma, IDEO, Framer, Discord, Google UX Recruiting, Pinterest, LottieFiles, Wix, Spline, Bezi, Freepik, STUDIO, Dovetail, Learners, IEEE, Bravo Studio, Zeplin, Mural, Springboard, Product Buds, Readymag, Wonsulting, Bitesize UX, and more
• Website: https://designbuddies.community/
• Join us: https://discord.gg/designbuddies
• Newsletter: https://designbuddies.substack.com/
• Events: https://lu.ma/design
• If you're interested in partnering with us, please reach out at grace@designbuddies.community
• We can collaborate on events, content, and more!

Mar 2020 – Dec 2020 · 9 mos · Santa Clara, California, United States

• Design and prototype high-fidelity mockups of mobile application in Figma based on user and market research
• Collaborate with 4 other designers to ensure design consistency and flow between different parts of the application
• Perform weekly team critiques
• Website: https://www.opal-app.org/

Oct 2019 – Mar 2020 · 5 mos · Santa Clara, California, United States

• Lead and taught lab to 33 third and fourth year undergraduate bioengineering students in a weekly Biosignals lab (2 sessions/week).
• Graded exams and homework for Biosignals class.

Sep 2019 – Mar 2020 · 6 mos · San Jose, CA

• Created a sole proprietorship for art and design, creating finished products using Illustrator and Photoshop.
• Freelance and design original art products to sell online on Etsy and at conventions, leading to $4,000+ in revenues.
• Candyleaf Designs is an art business started by Grace Ling where she creates enamel pins, acrylic charms, and vinyl stickers inspired by science, desserts, and animals from her original artwork.
• Website: https://grace-ling.com/candyleafdesigns/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/candyleaf_/
• Shop: https://www.etsy.com/shop/Candyleaf

Jun 2019 – Sep 2019 · 3 mos

• Conducted user research through surveying 50+ participants to design and present a simulation game for robotic surgery skill development, utilizing feedback to develop concept art and UX design, C# programming, 3D prototyping in Unity, and user testing.
• Collaborated with 20+ stakeholders including surgeons, clinical development engineers, software engineers, firmware engineers, and CGI artists to generate the best outcome for my project goal then presented my project to the company.

Jun 2018 – Jun 2019 · 1 yr

• Developing educational virtual reality experiences for SCU's biology curriculum with Professor Jim Grainger, Ph.D.
• Modeling and simulating biological phenomena using Molecular Maya, ChimeraX, and Unity3D
• Conducted tours in the virtual reality lab
• Assisted students in using virtual reality development tools such as Maya and Unity

Jun 2018 – Aug 2018 · 2 mos · Mountain View, California

• Educated 30+ middle and high school girls through a fellowship to make games using Unity, pixel art, and animations.
• Mentored and created art for a group of girls as a lead instructor to create a visual novel about social media addiction.

Apr 2017 – Sep 2018 · 1 yr 5 mos · San Francisco Bay Area

• Developed character, story, and UX design using Photoshop, Maya, and Unreal Engine
• Designed a full-cycle concept leading to awards, podcast interviews and video appearances, news and website features.
• Cell-fie is a biology-inspired virtual reality game with the objective of gamifying learning in biology and chemistry. It's target audience is middle and high school girls to inspire them to pursue a STEM career.
• Full Description: https://grace-ling.com/cell-fie/
• Awards:
• Imagine That! Design Challenge Award
• News:
• Virtual Biology (Featured on scu.edu in December 2017):
• https://www.scu.edu/news-and-events/feature-stories/the-trust-project/stories/virtual-biology.html
• VR Meets Biology Meets Video Games: Introducing Cell-fie:
• https://medium.com/@SCUImaginarium/vr-meets-biology-meets-video-games-introducing-cell-fie-ca28dc65d783
• The Talon:
• https://lahstalon.org/coming-up-steam-week-2019/
• Videos:
• Leveling Up – SCU 2019: Grace Ling:
• https://youtu.be/z20CV1z9RmA

Jan 2017 – Mar 2017 · 2 mos

• Used ChemDraw to diagram molecular structures and chemical reaction schematics
• Performed MacroCycle Synthesis
• Conducted experiments with amino acid derivatives for pharmaceutical applications

Apr 2016 – Sep 2017 · 1 yr 5 mos

• Researching on cellular exosomes for drug delivery applications with Professor Bill Lu, MD-PhD.
• Received Kuehler Grant and Roelandts Grant funding
• Co-author of several publications
• Conduct experiments with mammalian and bacterial cell culture involving fluorescent imaging, passaging, transfection, exosome harvest, Hoechst nucleus staining, and Maxi preps
• Use Adobe Photoshop and Microsoft Powerpoint to create images of mammalian cells and schematics of biological mechanisms
• News:
• https://www.scu.edu/engineering/stories/engineering-news-fall-2017/delivering-the-goods.html

Jan 2016 – Jun 2019 · 3 yrs 5 mos

• Consistently upload notes every day after class.
• Subject areas: Advanced Programming, Physics for Scientists and Engineers, Cell and Molecular Engineering, Calculus and Analytic Geometry, Cultures and Ideas I: Friendship, Critical Thinking and Writing II: Science, Ethics, and Technology, Sociology, and Technical Communications

Aug 2015 – Mar 2018 · 2 yrs 7 mos

• Trained 20-25 hours a week to develop cardio and strength for running
• Competed in a division 1 level
• Participated in community volunteering events

Jun 2016 – Aug 2016 · 2 mos · Sunnyvale, CA

• Learned about theory and techniques of eastern medicine
• Observed practices of eastern medicine
• Connected with patients of all ages and ethnicities

Apr 2016 – Jan 2018 · 1 yr 9 mos · Santa Clara, CA

• Write and take photos about healthy food and lifestyle for the online publication
• Attended weekly meetings to discuss writing ideas and plan events
• My publications:
• http://spoonuniversity.com/author/glingscu/

Sep 2015 – Jun 2016 · 9 mos · Santa Clara, CA

• Managed social media to increase attendance at events
• Planned and designed events that dispel racial stereotypes
• Created a safe space for students to share experiences of feeling racially discriminated
• Presented about current events and culture during weekly meetings

Jul 2015 – Aug 2016 · 1 yr 1 mo · San Francisco Bay Area

• • Create videos on life advice and vlogs with a target audience of runners and high school/college students.

Apr 2015 – Jun 2015 · 2 mos · San Francisco Bay Area

• Taught middle and high school math to students ages 6-17
• Graded exams and homework
• Motivated children to learn math by providing encouragement

Jan 2014 – Present · 12 yrs 2 mos · San Francisco Bay Area · Hybrid

• I've been yelling on the internet since high school, and now I have a combined audience of 2 million. These days I focus on topics in design, business/creator economy, and lifestyle. I create content for my own personal brand and for Design Buddies.
• I love to write, film, photograph, draw, and speak. I run 2 newsletters (Design Buddies and Grace Pace). I make (almost daily) reels, post every weekday on LinkedIn, and run a podcast, How Creators Make Money, with my friend Justin Nguyen.
• Featured on New York Times Square, Wall Street Journal, KTSF News, KQED News, Discord, Santa Clara University, the San Jose Mercury News, and more
• Partnering with software and lifestyle brands to create content
• Conducted 100+ speaking engagements with audiences ranging from elementary schools to senior level professionals on topics relating to design, community building, career growth, networking, and personal branding.
• Public speaking: https://www.grace-ling.com/public-speaking
• Podcast Interviews: https://www.grace-ling.com/podcasts
• Media features: https://www.grace-ling.com/media-and-publications