Led by Values- How Jackline Followed Her Principles into Product Design
Some people know exactly what they want to do when they “grow up.” Others let their talents take the wheel and wind up in jobs they never pinned on their vision board.
Jackline Vo once thought medicine was her destiny. Becoming a doctor meant improving lives, especially those overlooked by traditional physicians and systems. Her parents hoped she would choose this path, too. They immigrated to the United States as refugees of the Vietnam War and wanted the best for their only daughter born in America. And for a while, Jackline was right on track. She studied pre-med at the University of California, Berkeley, taking classes in the summer to accelerate progress. She also worked at a pharmacy while volunteering to serve underrepresented communities, especially the Vietnamese community. At this part-time job, she felt alive and connected; a sharp contrast to her experience in the lab where she researched, alone, for hours on end.
“I enjoy meeting different types of people — even though I’m an introvert,” Jackline says, adding that she didn’t want to wait seven years to start making an impact. “When I graduated, I told my parents, ‘I can do this but I’ll be so miserable,” and while they didn’t necessarily understand they didn’t object to her decision to pursue different avenues. After working for a biotech company, Jackline fell into project management, which is what she now does for O/M.
The role makes sense for someone who loves efficiency. That might sound boring to some, but for Jackline, there’s a sense of radical purpose to organizing humans and processes.
“I like making things better. The way to help people is to make sure people have everything they need to do their jobs; to make their jobs easier,” she says, adding that her role makes it possible to hear each team member’s concerns and share that input with leadership. “A lot of my work has been in the culture — making sure everyone is being heard.”
Like most everyone in 2020, Jackline and O/M had to make some hard pivots to keep people engaged and supported while they worked remotely. Two years later, many of those temporary fixes have become welcome fixtures of the studio.
For example, one of the qualities that first attracted Jackline to O/M was the sense of team camaraderie they presented on social media, like joyfully participating in an avocado toast workshop. When she joined the studio in person for a brief period before lockdown, she learned those images were true to life. Everyone actually, truly likes hanging out with one another!
But how do you capture that energy from a distance?
Virtual events help. Jackline and team enjoy monthly field trips that achieve two goals: making sure they can spend time together and keeping their Diversity and Inclusion efforts tied to genuine education. For example, O/M celebrated Asian Pacific Islander Heritage month with guided discussion on video about a poem, and cooked together, remotely, using meal-starter kits from Omsom, a southeast Asian, first-gen Asian-American-owned business. Other recent bonding experiences include a virtual farm visit, water painting class and calligraphy class.
In addition to group activities, O/M encourages 1:1 meet-ups with everyone in the studio, so that people connect outside of their discipline. It helps reinforce what Jackline sees as a unique professional perk — ” everyone is genuinely concerned about how everyone is doing, and what it means to be a human during a pandemic, working full-time,” she says. That means being willing to have hard conversations, and recognizing when there’s room for improvement.
“We all know we aren’t perfect and we can always make our programs better,” she says. When Jackline spoke up about the need for more awareness of and response to anti-Asian hate crimes, the studio took her feedback and implemented changes into their D&I program. Jackline also worked with other members of the studio to organize an employee-owned ERG, called “Voices,” which she now helps lead. In many workplaces, that type of employee input often falls on deaf ears. At O/M, Jackline was met with eager support from the team.
Jackline loves that O/M also holds clients accountable for sharing important values. Before working with anyone, they run through a checklist to make sure the client isn’t working with law enforcement or is anti-LGBTQ+, for example. “We have been a lot pickier with our clients and making sure it’s a collaborative relationship,” she says.
One of Jackline’s favorite clients is La Cocina, an incubator out of SF that works with immigrant women to help them become entrepreneurs, whether it’s a restaurant or food product. O/M donated design services through the firm’s pro bono program to help La Cocina launch a cafeteria where graduates can sell their creations and access affordable food. “It’s an organization that deserves to be supported and promoted,” she says. “It’s really rewarding to know our studio sets aside time to do these types of products and realize how much of an impact our work had on La Cocina.”
Since joining O/M in 2020, Jackline has grown more empathetic — and more confident. She recognizes how she can act as the glue that keeps her studio mates close when they can’t physically be together. In the past, she was told to stay humble; to put her head down, and just do the work. “I’m learning to appreciate what I’ve done and where I’ve gotten to this point,” she says. “My parents would probably still love for me to be a doctor but I think they’re really proud that I've gotten this far and I did it with missing resources and at the end of the day am still very successful.”
