I Turned 29, Traveled Across Iceland, and Started Unfolding a New Purpose 🌎
My "defining decade" retrospective and new ways of doing meaningful work (like 1:1 Coaching).
Hello everyone 👋 I’m Kate Syuma, and welcome to Growthmates.news — the newsletter where we explore growth stories to inspire your professional and personal growth. Join the community of 6,800+ Product, Design, and Growth people from companies like Amplitude, Intercom, Miro, Atlassian, Grammarly, Framer, and more.
Today’s post is about something deeply personal and vulnerable for me. I remember times in my life when I couldn’t even openly share about my age, due to stereotypes and limiting beliefs stuck in my head.
Last week I turned 29, and as an experiment (and gift to myself) — I travelled across Iceland, realising one of my dreams 🌎.
Today I want to open myself up even more and share with you:
Last 10 years retrospective
Why it’s essential to zoom out and take time off
New purposes I uncovered after my trip across Iceland.
…and a gorgeous video from Iceland at the end of this post 😍. Let’s go!
Last 10 Years Recap: The Defining Decade.
Here’s something I’ve never really talked about publicly. I grew up in a small suburb of a city called Perm, in Russia. 10,000 people. One school. Everyone knew everyone.
I spent 9 years at that school, always at the top of my class. But after a while, it felt like I had hit a ceiling. At 15, I made a list of the best schools in the city, asked my dad to visit them with me, and eventually got into the most competitive one.
But now, as I get closer to the 29th, I realise I want to take a helicopter view of what has happened to me over the last 10 years to unfold my vision for the next decade. You’ve probably heard about the book “The Defining Decade” by Meg Jay (highly recommended if you’re in your 20s).
As I look back, the last 10 years have been a crazy ride.
18: I was at a crossroads. Didn’t know who I would become.
19: Was searching, confused, and found my passion in Graphic design.
20: Self-studied UX design. Got my first job in a tiny agency.
21: Got an offer from Miro on my B-day. Happiest year.
22: Finished University. Lost my father. Overworked to overcome the grief.
23: Received an offer to move to NY City. Rejected. Was promoted to Design Lead in Growth.
24: Got COVID a week before the wedding. Got married to the love of my life.
25: Moved to Amsterdam. I was in Russia with my family for the last time before the war started.
26: Got promoted to Head of Growth Design. Built and led a team of 10+ people. Overworked again.
27: Left Miro. Burned out. Started a new life chapter as a Founder of Growthmates.
28: Building Growthmates as an international consultancy, education, and media company working with the best players in tech. Keep searching for my path. Want to grow further.
This year, I decided to experiment and celebrate my birthday in the middle of nowhere (in Iceland 🇮🇸) with my husband and 8 other people whom I’ve never met before.
29th b-day: In the Middle of Nowhere.
This phrase, “in the middle of nowhere”, literally describes my feelings over the last two years. Dealing with uncertainty and financial instability, but trying to connect the work I'm doing to the real meaning, not just chasing AI and tech trends. I always say to people who ask me about Growthmates that the surface looks more glamorous than the reality of running your own business.
Perhaps this is what led me, subconsciously, to celebrate my birthday in this way: no glamorous makeup and a beautiful dress, only real and pure emotions, standing behind this waterfall.
While I was on a plane, I still didn’t know what this short 7-day trip would open up inside me. But I wrote three intentions for my 29th year:
I want to get even closer to my true self and translate it into the things I’m doing for others.
I want to surround myself with inspiring people who create and build with a sense of purpose, fostering deeper connections.
I want to listen to my intuition. Live my life. Be in the moment.
I didn’t know I would experience that all in the next few days.
Zooming Out to See a New Sense of Purpose 💫
It was my first time traveling with people I didn’t know. At the start, we were just a group of strangers. But somewhere between the shared dinners, long hikes, and unfiltered conversations…the connections became stronger.
Being away from my routine — the constant motion, the to-do lists, the notifications, gave me the space to zoom out and realise how much I’d been living in “doing” mode.
Always building. Always moving. Always performing. And somewhere along the way, I forgot to check in with myself.
What I felt in Iceland was different. It was slower, softer, more human.
I noticed things I’d been ignoring. I let myself feel. I remembered how good it is to just be, without trying to optimize every moment.
I’m so grateful for this experience and the Traceoftravels team who organised this trip. They opened my eyes to values that I missed in the daily routine:
Deep human connections 🖤. The solopreneur path can feel quite lonely. For me, as an omnivert (semi-extravert), it’s challenging to live a fulfilling life without forming deep connections with genuine human beings. I realized that constant focus on “business” and “digital” topics doesn’t fuel my engine, and I’ll be thinking about how to bring more humanity into my work (more about that at the end of this post).
In-person experiences 🌎. We mostly live in a digital world, but as human beings in a world that’s becoming occupied with AI, we still need human-to-human interaction. I realised how much I need this, not just in my casual life, but also in my work. After leaving Miro, I didn’t have the team dynamics, coffee chats, dinners with colleagues — and I frankly miss that part, and I want to bring it back (in a new way).
Meaningful work 🙏. Every day, I observed how much care our organisers brought to this experience — cooking fresh breakfast, driving us to locations, talking for hours, and sharing facts about Icelandic nature, culture, and personal life experiences. What they’re doing is hard work, but it’s also a very meaningful type of work with a direct impact on human beings. I realised that this is the sense of impact I want to feel from the work I’m doing — how it transformed somebody’s way of looking at life, career, opened room for creative projects, and drove positive behavior change.
I think experiences like this should be captured and memorised. This is why, together with my husband, we took a drone and recorded this video. If you’re not in love with Iceland yet — this is for you ❤️ Watch it on my Instagram with nice sound →
What’s next?👇
Now that I’m back, I want to carry these takeaways with me and translate them into the work I’m doing.
1. More HONESTY in my content ❤️.
Let this post be the step toward that intention.
2. More VALUE through 1:1 Coaching 🫶.
I haven’t announced in the last years, but people came to me and asked for help with career and personal growth challenges. These connections evolved into several meaningful coaching and mentoring relationships, which provided both parties with enormous energy.
I realized that this is a purpose I want to serve, and I intentionally want to create space for that. Delivering more value towards personal growth.
If you’re at a career crossroads, trying to find your purpose and grow in a new direction, and need someone who can help you guide your way forward, let’s talk.
3. More IN-PERSON connections ☕️.
If you live in Amsterdam and would love to meet for a coffee — drop me a line in DM. I’m planning to organise some breakfasts with the community here and stay connected with a small community of like-minded people here.
4. More OPENNESS in my work 🙌.
I want to keep myself open through teaching my course and growing it into a thriving space where growth-minded people can learn and connect with each other (and with me) from any part of the world. This is my way of sharing personal experiences and learnings with more people who may be experiencing similar challeges right now.
For example, I’ve been at this crossroad more than once: "Do I want to be a Designer, a PM - or both?"
After my first year at Miro, I got an offer from leadership to move into a PM role in Growth. It was tempting. I loved the strategic part — the data, the prioritisation, the impact.
But I stayed in Product Design, and brought the PM mindset with me. Started thinking in “AND”, not “OR” — design and data, user experience and growth.
That mindset shaped how I work — and how I teach.
When I started this course, designers often asked:
“Will we learn how to prioritise? Isn’t that PM territory?” No, it isn’t. Not anymore.
And that’s what we’ll talk about in my upcoming free session:
Growth Team of One: Combine PM + Design to Drive PLG Impact
📆 Next week on 29 July, I’ll host a free webinar where we will explore:
How to operate as a “Growth Team of One”
3 ways to align PLG with intuitive UX
How to show traction early and get buy-in for Growth
and open Q&A time with me
🎟 FREE to join: Reserve your spot here →
I’d love to see your faces there, openly share my experience, and make myself open to any of your personal challenges and questions.
This is all for today, dear readers. If you find this newsletter valuable, share it with a friend or another creative builder 💜 It would give huge support for me to continue creating this!
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With best regards,
Kate Syuma
Kate, I'd like to say that your profile was one of the most inspiring discoveries of the past year! Your career is impressive. I wish you everything you could ever wish for. Have no doubt - you are doing great.
Thanks for sharing all this with us Kate! It is very meaningful and inspiring 💜💜