InsideOut Leadership Community
A space to connect, collaborate, and generate new ideas.
Leading in-house design, experience, and creative operations teams today is more challenging than ever. That's why we created InsideOut, a community custom-built for senior leaders at high-profile brands. Small format roundtables provide space to connect, collaborate and generate new ways to move business forward, faster.
400+
sessions held to date
57%
members attend 5+ sessions
9.5/10
as rated by members
Why InsideOut?
Trusted community
A like-minded group of senior in-house design and operations leaders.
“It's nice to have a community of leaders who you can rely on to help you through shared and unique issues as well as having a forum where you realize you aren't alone.”
Attendee-driven
Session topics are determined by the group.
“…crackerjack curation and moderation across all forums, meaningful and relevant topics and themes that I can leverage or apply in my day-to-day.”
Small groups
Up to 12 leaders gather for an interactive discussion.
“The immediate feedback obtained from other industry professionals at my equivalent level is refreshing. It's candid and refreshingly honest.”
Facilitated
Conversations are managed to keep them moving forward.
“I enjoy the conversations and perspectives very much as well as the learnable moments from others. Susie does a great job moderating and providing structure while keeping the sessions light and fun.”
Actionable
Discussion conclusions are captured and distributed.
“I get a lot out of having meaningful discussions with leaders from other companies and business areas. There are always a ton of links, articles, or topics that I leave each session with.”
Lasting connections
Participants are local, consistent, and want to network.
“This has been a great community for networking, learning – and collaborating with other leaders. Susie does an amazing job keeping everyone engaged, and making sessions fun.”
Example Topics
- Balancing Continuous Discovery with Continuous Delivery
- Interview Best Practices
- Focusing on the Future
- Lead Your Way Workshop
- Benchmarking Common Creative Projects
- Pro Tips: Mentoring to Level Up with Felix Lee (ADPList)
- Leading Resourcing Discussions
- The Value of Design Leadership
- Automating for Efficiency
- Using Process Mapping to Bring Teams Together
- How Technology is Shifting the Role of Ops
- Influencing Senior Leadership
- Building Culture in Dispersed Teams
- Showing the Value of Listening to Customers
All the ways to join in.
Roundtables
Facilitated discussions on real-time, real-world challenges identified by members. Sessions are held online with in-person events twice a year in major cities across the U.S. Limited to 12 attendees.
Workshops
Expert-led virtual sessions on leadership topics such as inspiring your team, workplace wellness, and coaching creatives. Sharpen your skills or develop a few more through our communitywide program.
Panels
Moderated conversations with InsideOut members at the vanguard of the design and experience industry. In this virtual series, leaders share their valued insights on business-critical topics and trends.
Women of InsideOut
A series of workshops and roundtables for female members who level the playing field by empowering and uplifting one another. These sessions focus on issues specific to women in leadership.
Lightning Sessions
Share a problem, help a leader. These 60-minute sessions feature two leaders who each share a challenge and get a facilitated crowdsourcing of ideas from peers. Fast, fruitful, and fun!
Inside Connections
Meet senior leaders from around the community in an informal setting. You opt in, and we pair you with a new leader every six weeks for a 30-minute chat to expand your network and learn.
Upcoming Sessions
| Date | Group | Connection |
|---|---|---|
| 01/23 4:00 pm ET | Insider Club | Advisory Board |
| 01/29 9:00 am ET | East Coast (virtual) – Operations Leaders | Top Priorities for 2025 |
| 01/29 4:00 pm ET | East Coast (virtual) – Design Leaders | Top Priorities for 2025 |
| 01/30 9:00 am CT | Central (virtual) – Operations Leaders | Top Priorities for 2025 |
| 01/30 4:30 pm CT | Central (virtual) – Design Leaders | Top Priorities for 2025 |
| 02/05 10:00 am PT | Los Angeles (virtual) – Operations Leaders | Top Priorities for 2025 |
| 02/05 1:00 pm PT | Seattle (virtual) – Operations Leaders | Top Priorities for 2025 |
| 02/06 12:00 pm PT | San Francisco (virtual) – Operations Leaders | Top Priorities for 2025 |
| 02/06 4:00 pm PT | West Coast (virtual) – Design Leaders | Top Priorities for 2025 |
| 02/07 12:00 pm PT | West Coast (virtual) – Design Leaders | Top Priorities for 2025 |
| 02/14 12:00 pm ET | Women of InsideOut | 2025 Priorities for Women Leaders |
Insights from InsideOut
How creative leaders can transform AI hype into high value.
A disconnect remains between what the business thinks AI can do, and what creative teams know is possible right now.
Artificial Intelligence • InsideOut
Why ghosting is devastating to authentic leadership.
How ghosting impacts workplace culture and strategies for leaders to promote respect, honesty, and integrity in teams.
Communication • InsideOut • Managing People
How to deepen relationships and build social capital that sticks.
Discover the intangible yet invaluable benefits of workplace social capital, including trust, shared norms, and enhanced collaboration.
InsideOut • Managing People
Advice on developing business acumen for your design team.
Understanding business strategy is critical to creative team success—and leaders have to up-level that knowledge for all.
InsideOut • Managing People
Listen up, design leaders. InsideOut is now streaming.
Learn from industry experts with our new resource—InsideOut: Design Leadership Insights. Now available anytime, anywhere.
InsideOut • Managing People
Create a new commitment to team morale.
How leaders can bolster spirits for their teams—and themselves—even in tough times.
InsideOut • Managing People • Remote & Asynchronous Work
Design leadership is vital—here's how to explain why.
Discover why design leadership is so important and how it can help drive innovation, build trust, and create competitive advantages.
InsideOut • Managing People
Eight steps to launching a successful mentorship program.
All parties benefit from mentorship, and doing so is much easier than you may think.
InsideOut • Managing People
The automation revolution: efficiency in the creative process.
Smart tools and systems give back time to the whole team, and operations leaders can lead the way.
InsideOut • Managing People • Remote & Asynchronous Work
Leveraging face-to-face opportunities in a hybrid work model.
Looking for ways to promote creativity among your team members? Learn how successful teams ignited creativity and improved team relationships with these strategies.
InsideOut • Managing People • Remote & Asynchronous Work
Interested in our community?
InsideOut members are:
- Senior in-house leaders in creative, design, experience, or operations.
- Working at a high-profile, well-recognized brand in any industry.
- Responsible for staff and budget.
- Seeking a collaborative space to learn from experienced peers.
- Located in the U.S.
