Business of Design
Operations & HR

Part 3: Operations & HR – The Foundation Nobody Sees

Ops and HR don’t make the work. They make the work possible. This session goes deep on the systems, structures, and hard decisions that determine whether an agency thrives or quietly falls apart — hiring, retention, financial sustainability, and what it means to build a workplace that holds up under pressure. The most unglamorous job in the building. The one that matters most.

Speakers will be announced.

Business of Design is a three part, intimate roundtable series spotlighting the people who make great creative work possible but rarely get the spotlight.

Design is often celebrated through craft and creative vision. But behind every successful studio, agency, or in-house team is a group of operators, strategists, and leaders quietly holding the system together. Client services managing trust and expectations. Strategists shaping clarity and direction. Operations, finance, and HR building the conditions for sustainable work.

This series reframes “business” not as the enemy of creativity, but as its infrastructure.

Each session brings together experienced practitioners in a specific discipline for an honest, peer level conversation about what actually happens behind the scenes. Shared lessons and an open Q&A exchange with the audience.

Capped at 50 attendees, the goal is intimacy, candor, and usefulness. This is not about inspiration quotes. It’s about how the work actually gets done.

Event Series: Fresh Dialogue
These events are critical discussions that focus on current events, issues of cultural relevance and emerging topics in the world of design.