Lift Up Connections: Reimagining Life, Growth, and Reinvention Together

Perfectly Imperfect: Redefining Wellness with Tonia Bartz

Christine Perfetti sits down with UX researcher turned holistic wellness coach Tonia Bartz to explore what it really takes to move beyond burnout and create a life that feels aligned.
After navigating a cancer diagnosis and a career pivot, Tonia developed her Perfectly Imperfect Wellness Method, a framework that helps people reclaim their days, embrace imperfection, and find joy in the messy middle.
In this episode, Christine and Tonia discuss:
How life’s wake-up calls can open the door to reinvention
Why burnout is often just a “lack of joy”
The power of Tonia's Reclaim Your Day practice
What it means to release perfectionism and define wellness on your own terms
This conversation is both practical and inspiring and a reminder that you don’t have to do it all perfectly to create the life you want.About Tonia Bartz
With 15 years of experience as a UX Researcher, Tonia mastered the art of asking the right questions – a skill that naturally led me to explore the interconnected world of holistic + integrative wellness. What started as personal experiments with sleep patterns, nutrition + stress management blossomed into a full-fledged passion for this topic. By testing + refining these methods on her own wellness journey, Tonia discovered what truly works. When friends began seeking my guidance, she knew it was time to transform this hands-on experience into professional expertise, which includes: Certified Integrative Nutrition Health Coach (IIN, 2018), Member of the International Association of Health Coaches (IAHC), and Member of both the Patient and Family Advisory Council + Precision Oncology Community Board at FredShow Notes and Resources
Connect with Tonia Bartz on LinkedIn
Explore her work and sign up for the Wellness Unfiltered newsletter on Tonia’s Website
Follow her on Instagram and Blue Sky (@toniabartz)
Learn more about Christine’s work: Lift Up Connections
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Alignment, Hope, and Connection: Meena Kothandaraman's Vision for UX Research

In this episode, Christine Perfetti sits down with Meena Kothandaraman, co-founder of Twig + Fish Research Practice and a pioneer in UX research to explore why the most valuable thing researchers is connection, not just answers to study questions.Meena shares her journey including human factors work, motherhood, and leading a micro-agency focused on the power, positioning, and practice of qualitative research.She discusses how alignment unlocks better outcomes, why patience and confidence are essential for researchers, and how she is inspiring high school students through work with Boston Public Schools.Meena’s message for researchers: Your superpower is connecting people: to ideas, to each other, and to a deeper sense of purpose."You have the power to bring people together, not to push them apart."

Reinvention in Real Life: Career Pivots from Tech Leaders Designing What’s Next

In this live panel episode, host Christine Perfetti brings together four powerhouse leaders, Melissa Appel, Rob Fitzgibbon, Malini Rao, and Stephanie Gerber Wilson, for an honest conversation about career reinvention in today’s messy landscape.
You will hear their stories of both planned and unexpected pivots, from moving into higher education and launching coaching businesses to writing true crime books and starting a political podcast. These leaders share the messy middle, the grief, and the self reflection that come with letting go of an old identity to make room for the next chapter.
The panelists discuss:
The power of following your inner voice
Making room for grief and messiness in reinvention
Translating your superpowers into new career paths
The underrated value of just getting started
How to test, experiment, and build a bridge to your next chapter
Finding commercial fluency and product-market fit for your skills

What I Have Learned About Work, and What I Hope My Son Remembers

In this special episode, the mic gets flipped.
Christine Perfetti, founder of Lift Up and longtime UX leader, is interviewed by her son, Ben Perfetti. What follows is a deeply personal and heartfelt conversation about curiosity, career pivots, fear, growth and what it really means to build a meaningful life and career.
Ben asks thoughtful questions about Christine’s childhood goals, why she didn’t become a therapist, how she discovered the world of UX, and what led her to create Lift Up. Christine opens up about the scary moments, the sparks of inspiration, and the power of simply starting even when you don’t know where it will lead.
What You’ll Hear:
Why Christine almost became a therapist
The winding path to UX and product research
How Lift Up was born out of uncertainty and community
Why taking action even when you’re scared is important to reinvention
Ben’s reflections on what he’s learned watching his mom build something from scratch
Find Christine at Lift Up Connections

Designing a More Inclusive and Accessible World with Maigen Thomas

In this episode, I sit down with Maigen Thomas, accessibility advocate, UX leader, and founder of Level 11 Technology.
Maigen shares her winding journey from flight attendant to tech founder and how some brave leaps led her to a career focused on equity and purpose.
We discuss:
The emotional side of career pivots and why tears can be a sign of growth and transformation
How Maigen found her calling in accessibility and inclusive design
Why so many tech orgs still get accessibility wrong
Her vision for a more equitable future through apprenticeships and mentorship
What abundance really means when the world feels uncertain
The advice she gives to others navigating layoffs, reinvention, and doubt
Learn more about Maigen’s work:maigenthomas.com
Level 11 Technology

Reimagine Your Career: Design a Future AI Can't Replace

In this solo episode, I am sharing the most personal talk I have ever given.
Two years ago, my consulting work disappeared almost overnight. After years of leading product and design teams and advising organizations like GoFundMe, Penn Medicine, and Harvard Business Review, I suddenly found myself lost and unsure of what came next.
This was my messy middle.
It turned out it was also the beginning of everything, including my own reinvention and the start of Lift Up Connections.
In this talk, I present a teaser of the tools and framework I teach to help others navigate inflection points: how to reconnect with your spark, make sense of your career capital, and design a future AI can’t replace. I also highlight the real stories of three professionals who used their low points to chart bold new paths.
Show Notes:
In this episode, I cover:
Why your “stuck” moment may actually be an inflection point
How to reimagine your career without throwing everything out
Stories of everyday reinvention: from laid-off product leaders to web designers-turned-political podcasters
Three exercises I use in my Lift Up cohort: Your Spark Map (what energizes you, Visioning your future (without fear or limits), Small experiments to start moving forward
The one thing that helped me find my way back: Community
Learn more about my Career Reinvention Cohort: liftupconnections.com
“Feeling stuck doesn’t mean you’re stuck. It’s just the moment before everything starts to change.” — Christine Perfetti

Black Women Rising: Rest, Resistance, and the Power of Collective Healing with Dr. Jade Singleton

Dr. Jade Singleton is a former investment banker turned DEI strategist, researcher, and founder of the IKONI Collective, a wellness collective devoted to centering and sustaining Black women. She’s also the creator of Ninety-Two, a new documentary funded through Kickstarter (ending July 22) that tells the story of Black women quietly leading a new blueprint for liberation through healing, rest, and collective resistance.The title Ninety-Two refers to the 92% of Black women who voted for Kamala Harris in 2024 only to have been sidelined, silenced, or disappeared in the months that have followed. In this episode, Jade shares what it means to reclaim power when systems betray you. We talk about burnout, gaslighting, and workplace trauma and how Black women are choosing each other and choosing rest as an act of survival and sovereignty.
One of Jade’s most powerful takeaways:
“We don’t just need rest like Eat, Pray, Love. We need rest for survival.”
Don’t miss her Kickstarter campaign for the Ninety-Two documentary, a film centered on beauty, inspiration, and radical healing.Kickstarter: The 92 Documentary: The Rest Rebellion No One Saw Coming
Connect with Dr. Jade Singleton on LinkedIn and learn more at https://www.ikoni.org/

Redefining Success on Your Own Terms with Melissa Appel, Author of Aligned

In this episode of Lift Up Connections, Christine sits down with Melissa Appel, product leader, author of Aligned: Stakeholder Management for Product Leaders, and a longtime supporter of women forging their own paths in tech and life. Christine and Melissa first connected as mothers navigating demanding careers, and their relationship has evolved through shared vulnerability, values, and vision.They explore what it means to reimagine your career from the inside out, and how to navigate transitions with clarity and courage. Melissa opens up about her decision to step away from traditional product leadership roles, why writing Aligned helped her process her own growth, and how her time in the Reimagine Your Career cohort shifted her perspective.
"Being in a safe space with like-minded women was key to me believing in myself."
Tune in to hear Melissa’s perspective on career growth, self-advocacy, and why letting go of conventional definitions of success is sometimes the boldest move a leader can make.Show NotesLearn more about Melissa and Bruce McCarthy's book, Aligned: Stakeholder Management for Product LeadersMelissa's websiteLift Up Connections website

Blending UX Consulting with a Mission-Driven Passion Project: Christine Perfetti on The UX Consultants’ Lounge

This week, I’m doing something a little different. I am the one in the interview seat. I am excited to share my recent conversation with longtime friend and UX pioneer Kyle Soucy on her brilliant podcast, The UX Consultants’ Lounge.
In this personal episode, Kyle and I explore how my two-decade UX consulting career laid the groundwork for Lift Up Connections to support mid- and senior-level women at career and life inflection points. We discuss the fears and freedom of reinventing your path, why community is essential in uncertain times, and what it means to build a business that aligns with your purpose.
We also get raw and real about self-worth, resilience, and the messy middle moments that often spark our greatest growth. If you are navigating career questions, wondering how to balance your zone of genius with what lights you up, or just need some honest company on the path, this one’s for you.
“Sometimes the market drying up is what wakes us up. If 2023 hadn’t been such a struggle, I might never have created Lift Up.”The UX Consultants' Lounge Podcast with Kyle Soucy

Designing for Equity and Responsible AI with Shanae Chapman

In this episode, Christine Perfetti chats with Shanae Chapman, founder of Nerdy Diva, civic tech leader, AI innovator, and advocate for inclusive design and equity in tech.
Shanae shares her journey from growing up in North St. Louis to building an impressive career in public service, UX, and entrepreneurship.
Christine and Shanae discuss the power of role models and mentors, and how Shanae's navigating challenging industry shifts with resilience. Shanae shares why she built Mocha Mama, an AI tool designed to support maternal health for black women and how she’s pushing for equity through human-centered innovation.
Interview Highlights:
If you're not learning or earning, it's time to move on, and women especially must get comfortable advocating for both
AI isn't inclusive by default: designing for equity requires intentionality, critical thinking, and diverse lived experience
Build your safety nets, multiple revenue streams create freedom
You don’t have to wait to be perfect to start: see the problem, be brave and iterate as you go
Resources and Links:
Nerdy Diva
Mocha Mama on ChatGPT
Shanae on LinkedIn