Interviewed a friend about her school to work transition for a Stanford design class, and created an empathy map and need statement.

1. Young, passionate, creative, risk-taking, deeply spiritual Ekwa needs a way to make both a living and a life because she has made a
personal commitment (backed up by major transitions in her life) since graduating to discover and be true to her deepest self.
Think!!Say!!
Do!!
Feel!!
Insights
Life in great
flux.
Reclaiming lost
parts of herself.
Wants to help
others do this.
Wanders
between trust
and fear for her
future.
Growing deep
spirituality and
connection.
Immense
imaginative
powers.
Loving her life
but also
questioning it.
Loving what she is doing now. It is an extension of
her. Reversal from the job she had before her new
degree.
But also feeling scared because her employment is
seasonal and she has nothing lined up for the fall.
Loves her new sense of spirituality but struggles
with how to communicate it to others.
Confusion with loss of three-year relationship.
Uncertainty is scary.
Believes in play, creativity, and spirituality
Ekwa has two inner mentors she calls “Om” and
“Lasonda.” Om is the calm and comfortable part
of her (a presence) and Lasonda is the loud
advocate for what she wants/ needs. She often
talks to and consults both of them and gets
answers to her tough questions.
Took a temporary job at a recreation teacher
during the summer. Alternates between wanting to
find a job that speaks deeply to her and finding
something with a little security.
INNER ARTIST: “In a guided meditation in my graduate
studies I met my inner artist. She was me when I was
seven-years old and she took me to the house I grew up
in. She showed me how she was an artist when playing
with mud outside, with yarn in the basement and playing
the piano. “
ME: What do you want to be?
EKWA: “I want to be a yoga instructor. I want to bring joy
and creativity back to education. I want to teach in the
undergraduate leadership program. I want to do youth
development work in the schools to get a hands-on view
of what it feels like to be in the environment.
ME: What do all of those have in common?
EKWA: “I want to be part of helping others to discover
their passions and truths where they can take that and
make an impact.”
TRANSITION: Quit her job at a prominent national
youth leadership organization because feeling
stressed and dead sitting behind a desk and working
on a computer.
TRANSITION: Quit a three-year relationship.
TRANSITION: Moved from being a Lutheran to a
more global and connected sense of God as energy.
James Toole, August, 2013