MICHELLE WALSTRA©2026 — Hands-on enough to build it. Senior enough to lead it.

The record

Numbers I'll defend on a reference call

The solo products are only the newest entries. Behind them are ten years of team work — leading design, a year as COO, a company-wide move to six-week cycles — and the results that came with it. Most of it with teams, some of it alone — all of it shipped.

2026 · FounderWinnowLive on the App Store Subscription iOS app, built solo end-to-end — strategy, design, React Native, backend, AI pipeline, paywall, Apple compliance.

2026 · FounderMakeshiftIn production Autonomous website engine — agent-driven, running in production.

May 2024 — NowJotson — Lead Product Designer0→1 in four weeks Sole designer at a Calgary B2B SaaS — I own the mobile app's design end to end, work closely with the CPO on product strategy and marketing, and spearhead UX research and testing. The four-week zero-to-one in 2026 was just the latest project: designer and front-end alongside three developers, and the ship date held. Since then I've built AI workflows that automate what used to be done by hand.

2025Contra challenges2nd place · Top 5 2nd place, Holiday Challenge ($2,500) · Top 5, Builder Challenge.

Dec 2021 — May 2024Ecoation — Lead Product Designer+72% engagement Primary UX redesign shipped inside the year — product engagement up 72%, measured in LogRocket and Pendo. And because marketing is part of the product: ad cost-per-click down 76%.

🇿🇦 → 🇨🇦 Dec 2021 — Emigrated · South Africa → Canada

Feb — Dec 2021Codeo — Chief of Operations+18% · +13% Asked into the seat by the directors. Ran two agile teams of 5–10 designers and developers and moved the whole company to fixed six-week cycles — time fixed, scope flexible — team performance up 18%, external quality up 13%. Structure, minus the drag. Kept leading design the whole year. When I emigrated, they explored opening a Canadian office before accepting my resignation.

2015 — 2021Codeo — Senior → Lead Product Designer+120% page views Hired to replace a lead ten years my senior; promoted within a month after absorbing front-end scope. Built the design function from just me into a team I hired and led. For national consumer brands: +9% mobile conversion, +120% page views, −41% complaints, −36% bounce.

2011 — 2020Groundwork— Early web and graphic design roles, 2013–2015 · BA, Vega School, 2011–2013 · Interaction Design Foundation certificates, 2019–2020.

Evidence / 02 — References

The strongest evidence I can offer is other people's account of the work. References from every stage of my career will take a call — ask, and I'll make the introduction.

2024 — Now · Jotson

“She consistently delivers high-quality work at speed, while maintaining strong attention to detail, which has meaningfully elevated our product standards. What sets Michelle apart is her intellectual curiosity combined with her professional judgment.”

Marlène — Chief Product Officer

2021 — 2024 · Ecoation

“Michelle manages timelines and priorities extremely well… She prioritizes product development and helping the engineering team, and still meets Marketing deadlines. She takes ownership and pride in any project she takes on.”

Bryana Ginther — Direct manager

2015 — 2021 · Codeo

“Michelle is responsible, dependable, and always goes the extra mile… She has the ability to create a culture that promotes trust, teamwork, and excellence, and her colleagues consistently relied on her leadership and initiative. We would re-hire her immediately if she returned to South Africa.”

Mark Fowles — Director

Hands-on enough
to build it. Senior
enough to lead it.

The seats

Index

The record

Let's ship
something.

The seats

Index

The record

Let's shipsomething.

Let's ship
something.