On March 28th at 4:47PM, Carly and Seb welcomed Matisse Shelly Speier into the world. 22 inches, 7lbs 9oz, and a full head of hair in the style of Liam Gallagher c.1998. We are so in love with him. 🌻
Today marks my first six months on the @perplexity design team. I like to wait a while before announcing a new job, because you never know how that first hump is going to go.. But this has truly been an incredibly empowering and exciting opportunity, and the change of scenery from 𝒷𝒾𝑔 𝓉𝑒𝒸𝒽 has been deeply refreshing and restorative for me. I’m working with some of the most talented people I’ve ever met; people who inspire me every day, and I’m honored to call them my team, my colleagues, my friends. Every week is a new opportunity to learn something, and the only real obstacle is my own fear.
I’ve been incredibly lucky to design the first AI-powered mobile web browser. It’s not every day that you get to design an app by yourself and watch it drop into the hands of over a million people in its first week. iOS is coming very soon—we’re just ironing out a few wrinkles!
I’m stoked for everything we’re going to build on this team, and I am feeling super grateful for all the help and guidance along the way. Here’s to another six months, and then another, and then many, many more.
Welp, it’s Global Running Day—and I have a broken tibia. 🦴 I won’t be running again for another 6 or 7 weeks. I gave myself this stress fracture after bumping my mileage up to 50 miles a week and running on worn-out shoes. I didn’t realize until now how much shoe lifespan depends on your weight—I thought my Zoom Flys were good for 450 miles, but at my weight of 170lbs it was more like 300.
So while I’m benched on Global Running Day, I figured I’d take a second to look back on the past couple years of progress.
I’ve taken running semi-seriously for the last 13 years. It really became a hobby when I moved to New York. I ran a little cross country in high school and used to hit the treadmill to stay in shape, but it was exploring the city on foot that really made me start to love running. Exploring Brooklyn this way, for 13 years, has taught me every street, alley, dead end, and park.
I’ve also been lucky to find some amazing communities—finding new parks with @bedstuyflyers , doing track workouts with @gftcbklyn and @crownheightsrunningclub , chasing my 18:18 5k PR with @queensdistance , hanging on for dear life behind the 4:45/mile crew at @orchardstreetrunners , and getting pushed to be my best with @gluefactorytrackclub . Especially during the pandemic, these communities made New York feel so special to me.
In the last couple of years, I really started chasing performance. Training smart and sticking to plans helped me drop my PRs: 1:26 half, 18:18 5k, 38:40 10k, 4:58 mile.
It’s a bummer not to be running today, but I bought a new bike and I’m excited to get back into cycling since I’m allowed to do that while my leg heals. But I’ll be back as a runner in the fall, stronger than ever.
Working title: Unresolved philosophies on sharing or “It’s not that serious”
I haven’t posted much to Instagram over the past several years. I went through a lot of big life changes, and I only occasionally mentioned them on here as a way of telling people without having to address individuals. It felt lazy to me: sharing to a broad audience instead of taking the time to write an intimate or personalized note. I’ve gone through a lot of personal change—the death of my father, turning forty, buying a house, marrying the love of my life—and a part of me wanted to keep those things all to myself. I don’t owe that to anyone, or I didn’t think so at least. So I’ve mostly just posted about my running, a pair of shoes I bought, or the occasional mysterious landscape photo, something to say “i’m still here” despite these things only being in stories where they will disappear forever. I’ve been very anti-commitment on the timeline, and I’ve realized there are so many people I care about who never hear from me and that makes me sad. While I do still believe in the power of ‘moving in silence,’ I’m going to use the few weeks I have off to do a few dumps and catch up with you all, who I love and care about. “It’s not that serious,” though. Some selfies and moments from my camera roll that were either mundane or worth remembering.
I recently left my job at Shopify after nearly five years. I first got my offer in 2020 to join the Shopify Plus team, but I wasn’t super keen on building enterprise tools, as my career has mostly been centered around building consumer products. But they called me back two weeks later and said they’re rolling out “digital by default,” and everyone would be fully remote, permanently. They said there was a new tiny package tracking app called Shop that they were bootstrapping, and that they had big plans to turn it into a full blown shopping destination. At the time, online shopping was sent into overdrive due to the pandemic, and Shopify was all-in on Shop. It was exciting, so I joined and stayed on Shop the entire time I was there. It took a lot of work, but we saw it go from being a small post-purchase tracking app, to finding product-market-fit as a successful marketplace. I am so proud of the work we did there, and of course it was a team effort. I made some great friends and colleagues along the way, and I am excited to see where they will continue to take in the years to come. 🫂🌹
Another custom suit project that we LOVED. @startfinish went above and beyond with tons of inspiration, moodboards, and more—but not only that, as someone living in New York took the time (& resources!) to fly back and forth for fittings. Sebastian is half-Chinese, growing up in Vancouver, BC, and wanted to create something that would speak to his third-culture roots while staying simultaneously playful and classy. Sebastian’s directive was balancing aspects of the refined international modernism of the French New Wave with the haunting depth of Hong Kong Noir and its romantic disregard for aesthetic rules. His mother was a Chinese seamstress in the 80’s, and while we didn’t have the opportunity to create a cocktail jacket, we wanted to emphasize the connection to something classic and deeply personal.
The result of our work together was an incredible three-button peak collar blazer and tuxedo stripe bottom. We were able to source a very special Italian wool with a textured ruby-red/black hue that changes tone in different lighting, providing the striking-yet-subtle red call-out Sebastian had hoped for, which we opted to balance with a black English wool lapel for contrast. The jacket was cut slightly longer and boxier, with satin accents limited to the covered buttons and double welt pockets. From here we had the perfect opportunity for a contrast bottom; rather than putting him in an all-red look we were convinced that a black bottom would create a more elevated & mature aesthetic, the matching satin tuxedo stripe would provide enough flourish to balance the beautiful look on the top.
Sebastian did an incredible job finishing the outfit with suspenders with Botticelli’s Venus as a motif, cuff-links commemorating Canada’s hosting of the 1976 Olympics, and ribbon bow tie.
A huge congratulations to him and @carlyayres and also a shoutout to @tzvi.photos for the referral!
📷 @faroutfeeling
#goodfight #gdfht
#customsuit #customtailoring
#wedding #madeinusa
CW: Death, Cancer
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I lost my dad this week.
After a two year battle with leukemia, Matthew Speier passed away yesterday morning at the age of 85.
I only saw my father a couple times a year, as we lived on opposite sides of the continent. And he lived his life in his own way, with a stubborn conviction. For many years I resented that he and I didn't have a more traditional, closer, relationship, and that he focused most of his energy on his passions: Playing piano, spending time with his loving wife, in their remote cabin on Mayne Island, reading books, cooking great food. My mother did a lot of the heavy lifting when I was coming of age, raising me, sending me to school. It wasn't until more recently that I realized so much of my identity was imprinted onto me from him. A lot of the things I love and hold close to my heart, I owe to him: Late night jazz music, driving stick-shift, contemplating art, interpreting film, roasting chickens with rosemary and garlic. He was born and raised in New York — what I now call home. So many people go to therapy to stop themselves from becoming their parents, but I have come to love and be proud of this identity.
I obviously can't reduce a life's worth of memories into a dumb 10-slide instagram post — but these are just a handful of many photos that I've kept close over the years that remind me of him.
Goodbye, dad. I love you.🌷
@elizabeth_goodspeed reminded me of this unfinished project and that ideas are cheap, execution is everything, and eventually I’ll write some words to go with this and then it’ll be done. Until then, here are some photos @startfinish took of me working in various uncomfortable positions back in 2020, an homage to Bruno Munari’s “Seeking comfort in an Uncomfortable Chair.”
This week I turned 36. —
My birthday came with a whole bunch of preconceived ideas and insecurities of where I am and what I’ve accomplished. I have been trying to take up less space since the beginning of the pandemic, and as a result I’ve done a lot of reflecting. Being quiet, and staying socially distant, has meant not really keeping in touch with as many people, and consequently many of you have been asking me about some of my big changes—so I put together a small end-of-summer update on what I've been upto.
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1. As some of you already know, in May it was announced that Airbnb would be refocusing its efforts for a world that will be dramatically and permanently reshaped by the coronavirus pandemic. Because of this, I was one of 1900+ employees who were laid off. I spent the summer talking to new people, talking about myself, and learning about myself. I took some time to figure out what opportunities would be the best fit for me and my priorities, and what aligned to my principles. I'm excited to announce I've landed at Shopify as Staff Designer on the new Shop app. I couldn't be more excited to be building commerce tools for small and local businesses given the state of the world today.
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2. During the visa application process I was told by my lawyers to not do anything that would be perceived as 'anti-American' because it could be grounds for refusal of my status, and if I did that I should especially not post about it online. So as such, I've been quietly protesting in my own ways. I’ve taken a role in our local mutual aid group helping out with the weekly food deliveries, as well as on the Fort Greene Clinton Hill Community Fridge. We’re always looking for more volunteers, and if you’d like to contribute, DM me.
