People Problems is coaching, support, and “work therapy” from veteran designer, founder, and manager Jay Fanelli. For modern workers at all levels of tech and creative fields: designers, engineers, product managers, researchers, marketers, recruiters, and more.
People Problems is 1:1 coaching for modern workers at all levels of tech and creative fields: designers, engineers, product managers, researchers, marketers, recruiters, and more.
Not “free” with a sales pitch attached. Just free: a half-hour conversation, no obligation. We'll figure out together whether I'm someone who can help. If you walk away, no sweat. Book your free intro session today and let’s find out.
If you decide to work together, it's up to you how often we chat. Looking for a regular cadence? Quarterly, monthly, weekly...I can do all that. Just need help through a tough stretch or a specific situation like a promotion or performance season? I can do that too. You set the pace.
$150/session for early-career, $250/session for mid-career, and $500/session for executives and above. Sessions are 50 minutes, booked at your convenience. If we end up talking regularly, I'm happy to negotiate a friendlier rate.
Something is broken with work. Maybe you know exactly what it is. Maybe you can’t quite put your finger on it. Either way, it’s making you miserable, and nothing you’ve tried has made it better.
Your therapist is great, but they don't know what OKRs are. Your manager might be new, or overwhelmed, or gone in the last round of layoffs. Your family and friends love you but honestly they're a little tired of hearing about it. And the career advice on LinkedIn is either toxic positivity or dystopian panic, and none of it is actually useful. Who do you turn to?
What you need is someone who’s actually been in the room. Someone who understands the machine—the hiring criteria, the performance reviews, the reorgs, the internal politics, the nonstop change, the ratcheting pressure—and can help you see it clearly.
Hi, I’m Jay Fanelli. I’m a designer, founder, and manager. Nice to meet you. I started People Problems because, well, I’ve done a lot of stuff in the 25+ years I’ve been working. I’ve navigated the chaos of agency life, the pressure of startup life, and the politics of big tech. I’ve hired and managed dozens of people. I’ve quit jobs and I’ve been fired. I’ve been laid off and I’ve laid people off. I’ve left work to go back to school and I’ve left school to go back to work. I’ve bootstrapped businesses and raised VC money. I’ve made digital products and physical products and even started a couple restaurants.
My last stop was Duolingo, where I spent nearly 5 years as the company’s first-ever Design Manager, growing the team 6x and managing them through COVID, a successful IPO, and massive product and company growth. I also led product design for the Monetization area during Duolingo’s first 2+ years as a public company, during which revenue more than doubled. (Fun fact: I named Super Duolingo.)
Though my title at Duolingo was “Senior Design Manager,” I earned a reputation company-wide as something closer to “Work Therapist” or “Design Dad” or “The Manager You Wish You Had.”
People from all levels and all corners of the company sought my advice—designers, engineers, product managers, researchers, marketers, recruiters, junior, mid-level, and senior folks—not because I had all the answers, but because I could quickly put their experience into context, explain the invisible forces that act upon all of us in the workplace, and hopefully give them actionable advice. More than two years after leaving Duolingo, former colleagues are still calling. Let’s chat and see if I can help you.