Facing the Fear of Failure
Turning Insights Into Action
Hi, I'm Manuel Saez, 2x Founder, Award-Winning Designer, and Emotional Intelligence Coach 🌻 Here I Share the advice I wish I had while building my businesses ➜ I love fixing old motorcycles 🛵🏍️
Reading time: 3 min.
Today is a big day.
Today, I’m launching The Design Practice, a new project I’ve been quietly working on for a while now. And to be honest, I’m terrified.
Putting myself out there like this—publicly committing to something new—brings up a flood of emotions. It feels like I’m about to jump out of a plane, heart pounding, unsure if the parachute will open.
What if this fails? What if people don’t see the value? What if all the effort I’ve poured into this venture doesn’t resonate?
The fears are many, the voices are loud, and they’ve kept me up at night more times than I’d like to admit.
But here’s the thing I keep coming back to: I know this work has value. I know that what I’ve learned over years of leading, building, and coaching creative teams can help others avoid common pitfalls, streamline their operations, and ultimately unlock their full potential.
That belief is stronger than the fear, and it’s why I’m pressing forward despite the doubts whispering in my ear.
This moment feels deeply personal, not because The Design Practice is just another business venture, but because it represents something bigger—a leap of faith and trust in myself.
So, What Is The Design Practice?
The Design Practice is a consultancy that leverages emotional intelligence and AI to help creative teams work smarter by addressing the operational challenges of design.
Our mission is to empower design leaders to build and lead high-performing teams.
The past two years have been a journey of reflection and growth. After exiting my startup, I trained as an emotional intelligence coach and began working with founders and design leaders, diving deep into the human side of creativity, leadership, and technology.
Through this work, I gained valuable insights into the unique challenges design teams face. I discovered the opportunity to combine emotional intelligence and AI to help them perform at their highest level.
What We Do
We specialize in:
Streamlining design operations: Resolving inefficiencies to free up time and focus for creativity.
Fostering better collaboration: Helping teams work together more effectively across functions.
Elevating creative output: Ensuring high-quality work without sacrificing team well-being.
Operational misalignment and inefficiencies drain teams of valuable time, energy, and focus—resources that are critical for creativity and innovation.
Left unchecked, these challenges don’t just lead to missed deadlines, frustration, and diminished creative output—they result in significant financial losses for teams and the companies they serve.
How We Do It
At The Design Practice, we combine:
Emotional intelligence frameworks to address human dynamics.
Systems thinking to optimize workflows and processes.
AI-powered tools to create customized solutions tailored to the unique needs of each team.
By addressing both the human and operational aspects, we empower design leaders to unlock their teams’ full potential, enhance creativity, and consistently achieve exceptional results.
Who It’s For
Design leaders in corporate teams: Design directors, managers, and leaders tackling the challenges of scaling teams, optimizing workflows, and aligning design strategies with broader business objectives.
Creative agencies: Agency owners and teams juggling client demands, tight deadlines, and the need to deliver exceptional creative work without sacrificing efficiency or well-being.
Independent designers: Freelancers and solo creatives aiming to grow their client base, streamline their processes, and scale sustainably while preserving their creative freedom.
To learn more about what we do, visit The Design Practice, or feel free to reply to this email—I’d love to hear from you.
A New Chapter
Starting something new is scary. Getting out of my comfort zone is, well, uncomfortable. The fear is real—but so is the excitement, and I’m pumped for what’s next.
If you’ve been sitting on your own idea, waiting for the “right time” or for fear to disappear, take the leap. You don’t need the fear to go away; you just need to trust that the parachute will open.
As I take this leap, I’ll continue writing and sharing on Advise Myself. But now, we’re adding a new dimension—exploring design, creativity, and how AI can empower teams and leaders to achieve more.
I’m starting a separate Substack for this journey. If you’re interested, you can subscribe here: The Design Practice Substack.
Sending you good vibes 🌻
Manuel
👉 manuelsaez.com
Love this
Sounds like you're really onto something. Wishing you good luck and success, Manuel.