From Iran to China to the US: A real-life VUCA Story with Mahnaz Hajesmaeili

8 snips

Feb 27, 2026

Mahnaz Hajesmaeili, a product designer who rebuilt her career across Iran, China, and the U.S., shares a lived VUCA story. She recounts sudden displacement, self-taught UX pivots, and using courage and initiative to avoid being an order taker. She discusses learning beyond design, shaping strategy through action, and mentoring by example.

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ANECDOTE

Pivot From China Lockdown To UX Career

Mahnaz lived through extreme VUCA: she built a life teaching English in China, returned to Iran when COVID closed borders, and used lockdown time to teach herself UX.
Losing her rented home, savings, and university place in China pushed her to pivot careers and later immigrate to the U.S. via study acceptance.

INSIGHT

Immigrant Mindset Explains Design Resilience

Mahnaz's immigrant mindset made her naturally adaptable and less shaken by rejected designs or shifting decisions at work.
Expecting rejection as an immigrant taught her to prepare for change, but she also worked to avoid losing confidence or becoming passive.

ADVICE

Learn Adjacent Skills To Break The Order Taker Trap

Do learn adjacent skills beyond core UX so you can contribute beyond design and avoid becoming an order taker.
Mahnaz studied machine learning, coding, UI, and leadership to join product and strategy conversations.

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Mahnaz has lived with volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity in ways most product teams never will. In this episode, we talk about what happens when VUCA isn’t theoretical, how to avoid becoming an order taker, and how courage, empathy, and initiative can reshape your role as a designer.

What if the volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity you’re facing at work feel overwhelming only because you’ve never had to live through it in your everyday life?

I throw the word VUCA around like it’s a trendy framework. Volatility. Uncertainty. Complexity. Ambiguity. But for Mahnaz Hajesmaeili, those aren’t abstract concepts; they’re lived experience.

Originally from Iran, before becoming a product designer, she built a life in China, knowing she could never fully belong there. When COVID hit, borders closed, savings ran out, and the life she had carefully constructed disappeared almost overnight. She returned to Iran, started over, taught herself UX, and eventually rebuilt her career in the United States.

That’s not “roadmap volatility.” That’s real volatility.

This week, I chat with Mahnaz to explore how living through that level of instability reshaped her approach to work. Why rejected designs don’t shake her. Why unclear strategy doesn’t rattle her and why she doesn’t default to being an order taker.

If you’ve ever felt overwhelmed by shifting priorities or frustrated by leaders who “don’t know what they want,” this episode offers perspective—and practical lessons.

Give it a listen. It might change how you define uncertainty.

Helpful Links:
• Connect with Mahnaz on LinkedIn

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