One of my greatest strengths is knowing how software gets built. Paired with AI, that knowledge gives me the power to build my own products.

I owe that skill to the high school I picked. I wanted to stay in my hometown, and we didn't have a good design school, so I applied to a computer science school as the second-best choice.

Coding wasn't the only thing that choice gave me. I landed my first internship in design because the curriculum required one. And that internship? It turned into my first real job, where I grew from total junior to senior.

Not many people were as lucky as I was. One of the greatest things that small software house gave me was working on real projects with real clients from the very beginning. The best way to learn, in my opinion.

And the clients weren't small names. Among others, I built a brand-new experience for Rock For People, one of Czechia's largest music festivals at over 50,000 visitors, and for Brno Trade Fairs, organizer of the most important industrial fair in Central Europe.

It was also my first taste of working with US clients, a hint of what came next.

A lead role at a small company doesn't leave much room to grow, and I felt it. So after five years I looked elsewhere.

I made a ballsy move, replied to a Revolut hiring manager, got the interview, and failed it big time. Not for lack of skill, but lack of skill at large product companies.

That pushed me toward STRV, a company I'd followed for years. The interview was a different world from Revolut. Warm and casual, exactly what I look for. I still remember Barbora joining from her mountain chalet, answering my endless questions. Three rounds later, I got hired.

The surprise was being hired as a junior. After building a legacy for five years, one move reset it to zero. Bittersweet, but the work and the clients were so far beyond what I'd known that it was worth it.

So I built a new legacy, climbing back from junior to the manager I am today, this time with bigger clients, mostly from the US.

Along the way I became STRV's go-to person for kids' apps, with work for Language Together and KiwiCo, and the one trusted with highly creative, craft-focused concepts for the likes of Foursquare and Airalo.

These days my role is built around leading and mentoring my team, shaping our community of 150 designers, and sitting in on pre-sales and internal process.

Outside STRV, I work with clients in finance and business and build indie apps with friends. The kind of thing I'd make whether anyone asked me to or not.