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Exit Interview: 20 Years of Tech, One Very Big Bet, and a Lot of Heat Pumps
Friday, April 10, 2026 • Rosenfeld Community
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Exit Interview: 20 Years of Tech, One Very Big Bet, and a Lot of Heat Pumps
Speakers: Sara Conklin
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Summary

What do you do when you decide your skills deserve better problems? Sara spent 20 years doing UX work she was genuinely good at with people she truly liked. And somehow still went home empty most days. The problems felt too small. Worse, some felt like they were pointing in the wrong direction entirely. So she made a bet on herself. She walked away from a senior UX career in corporate tech and spent 18 months building something new from scratch. She journeyed through certifications, new knowledge, trial and error, and eventually a new career in residential electrification. Now, instead of maximizing clicks and driving consumption, she helps people feel more comfortable in their homes while reducing their bills and their climate impact. These days she sizes HVAC equipment, pulls permits, coordinates subcontractors, and gets fossil fuels out of people's homes. She also opportunistically uses her UX background to make the whole operation run better. This is a story about reinvention, risk-taking, and landing somewhere you’d never have predicted you'd find meaning.

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