What does it look like to stay completely, unapologetically yourself - across every job, every pivot, every industry?

In this episode, I sit down with my ride-or-die bestie Vanessa — creative director, UX designer, co-founder, freelancer, fine artist, and one of the most genuinely creative people I've ever known.

We go all the way back to the corners of an art school painting lab, survived a summer in Europe on nectarines and salami, and grew into adults together in San Francisco.

But beyond our history, this conversation is about something I think a lot of women are quietly wrestling with: how do you stay true to who you are when every system around you keeps asking you to be something else?

Vanessa has navigated corporate giants, a thriving event business, freelance life, and startup culture — always leading with integrity, always trusting her gut — even when the world wanted her to fix her face and be a little more "corporate Vanessa."

You'll Learn

⭐ How to trust your gut when the world wants a formula

⭐ What it looks like to pivot across corporate, startup, freelance, and entrepreneurship

⭐ How to keep your creative practice alive when life demands everything else

⭐ What staying true to yourself actually costs — and why it's worth it

⭐ How to redefine legacy when your path doesn't look like anyone else's

Key Insights

Integrity Isn't a Strategy — It's a Through Line Vanessa has never been able to perform her way through something that doesn't fit. That's been a friction point in corporate environments — and her greatest superpower everywhere else.

Intuition Is a Muscle Vanessa doesn't start with references — she starts with excitement. Dread, fear, and excitement are all data points. When something's exciting and a little scary? That's usually the green light.

"Flow" Over the Formula At every stage of her career, the signal wasn't a title or a number — it was the feeling in her body that said this rhythm is right. The work is chasing more of that.

Timestamps

02:00 – How Kristin and Vanessa met and grew up together

05:00 – Vanessa's creative family roots and her third-grade art teacher debut

09:00 – Why she calls herself a "unicorn designer" — and means it

13:00 – Keeping a creative practice alive when life takes over

17:00 – From event florals to web design: the many lives of Vanessa

24:00 – Early career in graphic design and the pivot toward UX

27:00 – Landing at Walmart.com and realizing corporate wasn't it

33:00 – Running an event company and a tech career at the same time

36:00 – Using dread, excitement, and fear as a decision-making framework

40:00 – Why she looks at fashion week, not other beverage brands, for inspiration

46:00 – The girl boss era, what we were told, and what nobody mentioned

48:00 – What building a legacy means when your path is entirely your own

54:00 – Authenticity as a through line — and why it's been both a blessing and a friction point

Resources and Links

Connect with Vanessa on LinkedIn

See her work at Vanessavellozzi.com

Find host Kristin Belden on LinkedIn or at BeldenStrategies.com Sign up for Kristin's newsletter Big Deal Energy: BeldenStrategies.com/newsletter

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