The Hidden Cost of Being the Dependable Designer With Vivianne Castillo

Jan 8, 2026

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Design was supposed to be creative work. For a lot of designers, it’s turned into endurance. In this episode, I’m joined by Vivianne Castillo to unpack how corporate design culture quietly rewards burnout, why endurance gets mistaken for professionalism, and how designers can start reclaiming creativity, agency, and choice.

What if the behaviors that made you successful in design are the same ones slowly disconnecting you from yourself?

Design culture loves to celebrate resilience, but too often what’s really being rewarded is endurance: tolerating vague feedback, late pivots, constant urgency, and emotional labor without complaint. In this conversation, Vivianne Castillo shares why so many designers feel drained, disconnected, and quietly shrinking inside roles that were supposed to be creative and human-centered.

Vivianne draws on her background in trauma counseling, psychology, and design to explain how corporate UX environments often reward unhealed coping patterns—people-pleasing, hyper-vigilance, over-responsibility, and self-silencing—while calling it “professionalism.” The work still gets done, praise still comes, but the cost is creativity, curiosity, and a sense of agency.

We also talk about what it actually looks like to take that agency back. Not through dramatic exits or rage-quitting, but through small, intentional experiments: setting boundaries, asking better questions, redefining security, and exploring entrepreneurial paths without burning everything down. If your design job feels more like survival than creation, this episode is for you.

Topics:
• 04:57 – Vivian’s Journey
• 07:16 – The Toxicity in UX Culture
• 19:14 – Reclaiming Agency as Designers
• 29:20 – Unhealed Patterns in the Workplace
• 31:13 – Understanding Corporate Culture and Personal Responsibility
• 32:01 – Self-Silencing and Professionalism
• 32:30 – Endurance vs. Resilience
• 33:04 – Updating Unhealed Behaviors
• 35:34 – Navigating Toxic Workplaces
• 37:14 – The Illusion of Job Security
• 43:09 – Entrepreneurship as a Healing Experience
• 43:37 – The Walkout Event for UX Professionals

Helpful Links:
• Connect with Vivianne on LinkedIn
• Join the Walkout

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