Generalist product designer, driven by curiosity and agency. I enjoy building products that make users love their everyday work a little more. Currently learning to design in code.

Viya Q.

Kat Koh LLC

🔟 2025 is my 10th (solopreneurial) year of coaching creatives who are at a crossroads. We're renewing our vows, Kat Koh LLC and I (my vows to myself?). 

🐣 Paradoxically, feels like I'm just getting started. 

💌 One of my clients (a designer who got a full ride to RISD grad as part of our work together) texted me this the other day:

❝I can also… just make a list what why you’re great lol

-You got a good vibe
-You have a lot of intentionality
-Your questions are just so on point. I really do love your questions.
-your sessions made me feel present
-you’re good at deciding when it good to be feel-y, strategic, or a little nudgey
-I imagine you’re good at reading people because I felt very seen by you
-I always felt like our session came to a close rather than this feeling of “what did we just talk about?

I think above all, you were not an invasive coach dragging me through a “program” but you were a nurturing parent or guardian angel who just believed in me. Because when you weren’t actively guiding me, I felt guided.

Reflecting back… your one question, “When you wake up, what’s your energy level?” I mean that really changed everything for me.

You weren’t pushy. Just nudging in that direction. And I just took it seriously.❞

👀 So excited to share my 10-year retrospective “exhibition” with you during 2025–2026!

Founder / Creative Career Coach / Chief Everything Officer

UnCollege

After "altMBA", I started coaching at "UnCollege", ha. I guess you can say I bit the self-directed learning bug. 

Aside from meeting one of my close friends Bridget McDonough here, I learned a ton ton ton about working at a startup in San Francisco trying to get rounds of funding, the resulting growing pains, and the spectacular generation known as Gen Z. 

Not to make you vom, but I learned way more from them than I could ever impart.

'Twas the biggest client load of my life (full slate of private clients on top of my fellows), but doing it on a team was such fun. I loved those amazing fellows to pieces, and still do.

After a while of coaching, I was offered the Community role and I got to 0-1 the alumni community offering on the Marketing team.

Director of Community / Coach

Seth Godin's altMBA

Thanks to my dear dear friend Jennie Yoon and the exceptional Wes Kao who took a chance on me, I got to work for one of my role models and mentors, Seth Godin.

Yes, working for Seth made me better at marketing and business. But it’s the unexpected side-effects: keeping integrity and intrepid spirit intact during late-stage capitalism; healing in a generative vs. punitive workplace; thinking in sketchbooks vs. stone tablets; realizing warmth and generosity is the best business model. 

He had built an incredible online learning experience, and people were hankering to stay connected afterwards. So even though it was in the cost center and not the profit center, he created the Alumni Community Manager role (inaugural was Paul Jun, who passed the torch to my now good friend Melissa Wong and me) for altMBA. That's the kind of person he is.

This was my first experience as a digital community builder. It was like going to grad school for conscious entrepreneurship. I still use the skills and lessons learned every day — even on group chats with friends :) I also got carpal tunnel from overworking and reacting on Slack (that's on me, not anyone else). 

I'm proudest of "matchmaking" certain alums I thought would vibe well; writing engaging #motivationmonday posts, letting the books and ideas slowly change me, and meeting some of the most kind, smart, passionate, innovative, and loving professionals ever.

Fun fact: One time on an epic date, I found out he was in an earlier cohort of altMBA. Upon realizing our connection he said, "I've never met another altMBAer in real life." We're getting married this fall ☺️

Alumni Community Manager

Community Youth Center of San Francisco (CYCSF)

Upon leaving curating, I taught 2nd/3rd graders after-school in the Tenderloin District of San Francisco. Every day, my brain broke and heart burst simply being with my deeply kind colleagues and the youth. I was mentored (and befriended) by the entirely lovely director of the program Tina Hepton.

I think of this as my Teach for America / Americorps-ish stint I designed for myself. 

Every industry has an underbelly. After curating in museums for years, I was craving doing work that was 💯 physically, materially, emotionally, unequivocally good for society. 

It was also just good for me, burning me down so I could rise and fly higher and lighter than before.

"The first half of life is learning to be an adult. The second half is learning to be a child." —Pablo Picasso

After-School Teacher / Literacy Coach

Adobe Books Backroom Gallery

While living in the Mission District of San Francisco, I stumbled into Adobe Books, a storied secondhand bookstore with a gallery in the back that launched the careers of a lot of Bay Area artists (Barry McGee and Claire Rojas, to name two).

During my short tenure, I put up a few shows of fantastic Bay Area artists who are now known players on the scene. My partner in crime was Christian Davies, of SFMOMA at the time and other illustrious art world roles now. 

Interestingly, Adobe Books is and was a co-op. So I also learned how to run an incredibly unique gallery that felt more like a museum to me because profit was not the focus of the exhibition calendar. 

Co-ops are non-hierarchical / non-ownership models. So I sat in a lot of long, funny, rambling discussions that would probably drive me insane today after working for myself and being the sole decision maker for a decade. Such a cool experience nonetheless.

I loved the Adobe Books crew and still do. I got to participate in a hopeful alternative to straight up capitalism, that wow, even some tech companies are adopting, as of this writing. So much progress has been made.

Co-Director / Curator

San Jose Museum of Art

My first Big Girl Pants Curator role. Learned how to wrangle artists! What to say and not say in a meeting! How uplifting and frustrating it can be to work for a non-profit!

One of the most important experiences of my life, because I got to work with Jodi Throckmorton, Susan Leask, Rory Padeken, and Susan Krane, as well as the best, kindest staff of educators, exhibitions staff, security officers, development officers, and beyond. 

I gave curator tours to our fantastic and quirky donors. Co-researched the "big box" exhibitions of the year for the more senior curators, learned how to project-manage all the loans coming to and fro the museum. 

I also wrote. A lot: exhibition text panels, essays, copy for Marketing to use on print and digital —and of course measured emails trying to get shit done. 

Most notably, I got to organize my own permanent collection exhibition, MOMENTUM, which was one of the biggest deals of that year. 

Meanwhile on the personal front, I was thick in my quarter-life crisis. Therefore, after achieving my dream of curating a major exhibition for a museum, I had a (protracted) nervous breakdown, got in a bike accident, and resigned.

Curatorial Associate

Fondazione La Biennale di Venezia

This show was uplifting in every possible way: from exhibition topic to getting to work with the singular Cathy Lang Ho on the exhibition that won the distinction of U.S. Pavilion at the Venice Architecture Biennale and was a contribution to the idea that we're in the Century of the City.

Cathy is a sparkling gem in the art world to me. Her kindness, warmth, and energy just flow out of her being. And in turn, it flows into her work and pours into her "direct reports" although we don't call it that in the art world :)

To get a blast from a 2010s website AND inspiration to contribute something good to your city, check out via the link below Spontaneous Interventions: Design Actions for the Common Good (an exhibition about urban planning and public art). It was organized by Institute for Urban Design, New York.

Curatorial Assistant, U.S. Pavilion at the 13th Venice Architecture Biennale

Dorothea Rockburne Studio

My good friend and roommate Rachel Nackman was able to get me an interview with Dorothea, a total boss modern artist and Black Mountain College alum.

We her small but mighty team worked in her incredible, sprawling SoHo studio and home. 

Professional artists are often audited, so Dorothea taught me how important it is to be meticulous with your books in addition to "living on the edge" with your craft. Incredible woman. 

I cherish the weekly sit-downs we'd have where I'd sometimes serve as her (untrained) therapist but always her fascinated Asian American grandchild.

Bookkeeper

The Museum of Modern Art

I'm pretty sure the presence of this internship on my resume has gotten me noticed for everything else that has followed — whether it's in the art world or not.

There was a less than 3% acceptance rate for MoMA's coveted internships that summer. I was in proud disbelief then, and still am. But more than that, I'm in awe of what I got to experience being an employee of the most incredible collection of modern art in perhaps the world. 

When I started, the Media and Performance Art Department were working on the historically significant Marina Abromovich "The Artist is Present" show. The one where her ex shows up and that's the only thing that breaks her to start crying. So powerful. So relatable.

Fifteen years later, still one of the most exciting roles I've ever had.

Curatorial Intern

Brooklyn Museum

SJMA knew I was off to the IFA soon to pursue my MA in Art History. Classy and kind to the very last drop, JoAnne put in a good word for me at the Brooklyn Museum with Eugenie Tsai, Chief Curator of Contemporary Art. Suddenly I had a fancy NYC museum curatorial internship with one of the most thoughtful and brilliant curators I've had the good fortune of learning from. 

I got to research Brooklyn's incredible collection, as well as assist the donor program by securing "hot" artist studio visits and talks.

I just love this institution. I feel something in my bones when I talk about it and something else entirely when I'm walking its galleries. So much respect for everyone there.

So you’re having an existential crisis. Good.

It means you’re paying attention, sane, human, tuned-in. In the advent of the AI era, what a f*cking feat.

For creatives, work is a LOT: identity, purpose, self-expression, spiritual growth. So, there's near-constant tension between ambition & burnout, flow & fallow times, freedom & structure, soulful work & financial success. 

LESSONS FROM COACHING CREATIVES 10+ YEARS
♠️ Doing “what's practical" or "looks good" only gets you so far. Sooner or later, you'll want your brain to crackle and your heart to sing.
♠️ The AI era is bananas — it's changing us and the nature of work, fast. Good to make friends with this fact.
♠️ You have a sparkly brain. It can be trained.
♠️ Never let a good crisis go to waste.

HOW I HELP
After we hang out a bit, your unique expression of these pieces starts to appear:

🔹 Purpose: Uncover the Essence – We'll dig. Cut through the noise, remember what lights you up, to make work that feels like yours.
🔹 People: Find Your Friends – “Networking” is so 80s-90s. Make choices that lead you to the right friends, collaborators, mentors, and opportunities. Chat them up and watch it cook (or not). 
🔹 Practice: Do and Be Exquisite —  attuned, authentic, clear, curious, present, relational. Once we home in on yours, solid strategy isn’t far behind. 
🔹 Positioning: Relate to Us & Your Space – Feeling stuck on how to position yourself is a rite of passage. But we can shift then flow through your personal branding, mission statement, unique value proposition, product-market-fit, and more.

WHO I WORK WITH
🔺 Creative directors who want to break free from burnout and lead teams they're proud of.
🔺 Founders and freelancers building something meaningful, needed, wanted.
🔺 Artists, designers, writers, filmmakers, musicians, and architects craving creative freedom AND financial security.

ABOUT MY CLIENTS
🔲 Want to pull their best out of themselves
🔳 Are ready to pour time and energy into their next era
🔲 Seek lasting, sustainable change — because a “quick career fix” is a scam

ABOUT ME
Before becoming a coach, I trained as a curator at places like MoMA, The Brooklyn Museum, and U.S. Pavilion at the 13th Venice Architecture Biennale.

But I wanted to work more deeply with creative minds, more of the time.

I’ve helped people get to clarity, boss themselves around, and excel at places like Airbnb, BBC, Earthjustice, Figma, MIT Media Lab, New York Times, Parsons, SFMOMA.

🤝I work with clients for 6-9 month partnerships. 

Come say hi via 
DM ⊹ kat@katkoh.com ⊹ booking a chat (link in profile)

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The Battle

Viya Q.

Kat Koh 🍋

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