How are you?

Getting there. The last few months were stressful, but things are improving. Delusional positivity helps.

You got fired 2 years ago, how did you feel back then? And how long did it take you to take action and start your freelance career?

Getting laid off was unexpected and it felt terrible. Looking back, it was actually something I really needed. Best thing that could have happened to me at that time.

It was draining mentally, mostly because I realised I led myself into a place where I had nothing that could change my situation quickly. No portfolio, no good work to show, poor CV, no connections, no social media presence.

The hardest part was knowing that I was capable of doing much more in design. I just never actually did it. Getting fire flipped a switch. I told myself I’d never let this situation happen again. I asked myself “What do I need to do to land a great job?”. I looked at job posting in Poland and made checklist: what I need to do to get a job now, and what I need to do to get a much better job in a year or so.

It took me around 5-6 months to find a junior yeah… junior, with 8+ years of experience) product design role at a Norwegian startup. I worked my ass off 8-10 hours a day, and freelanced on the side whenever I could to earn a bit more, as I was earning not much more than minimal wage. Learnt a ton there, nonetheless.

After few months there I started X. I wanted to work with clients outside Poland and connect with more people. When X started popping off (which I honestly never expected), I became more selective with new projects. Money didn’t matter as much as creating portfolio-worthy projects and getting strong testimonials. I saw a ton of potential and figured out next steps to get my freelance career to the next level.

Around the same time, I got promoted and doubled my salary, but I was already making more from freelancing. That, plus a few other things, made me quit in April this year and go all-in on my own. I figured if I put the same effort into my own business as I did into a full-time, there’s no way I wouldn’t make it.

So yeah, it took almost 2 years from getting fried to building my own, successful business.

June 2023 Fired → November 2023 New Job → June 2024 Started 𝕏 → Apr 2025 Full-time freelance.

Looking back, with what I know now, I could’ve done it way faster. But honestly, the mistakes and the learning along the way were crucial.

Most people know that you are doing great and living the dream of many. You have clients, design in your style, create great AI images, and share them on Lummi. How hard was the journey to get to this point?

I could say it was really hard, because for more than 2 years I was fully focused on “making it”, working almost every day and often 12+ hours. But the truth is, I loved every bit of it. I really enjoy chasing the goals that I set for myself. The more delusional the better.

I’d been spinning my wheels for most of my career, so finally seeing growth and results in every area of my life makes all the hard work feel worth it. Not like a wasted time.

When you look at your career from day 0, what was your biggest frustration point and does it change anything?

I don’t have one “peak” frustration point, but besides getting fired, the thing that bothered me the most was not being treated like an expert. Just a pixel pusher for managers and marketers who didn’t really understand design. Especially when they had no results themselves, yet were so fixated on pushing their own ideas instead of giving me any freedom. It was frustrating because I always felt I had a potential, but just didn’t know how to prove it or show it.

Looking back, those moments actually pushed me toward becoming independent. They showed me how I don’t want to work or collaborate with others, and taught me how I want to run things my own way.

Why you started designing? Did you wanted to changed career path at any point of your life?

By accident, honestly. I was always interested in design, messing around with photoshop tutorials. Started making some forum banners, but nothing serious.

Real turning point came when I was 19, close to finishing school. We got an assignment to design a landing page. The outcome was terrible, but one of my teachers still saw something in it and offered me a job at his company. It’s a really long story, but I spent a year there doing anything and everything design and business related.

After that, I never seriously tried to switch careers. The thought crossed my mind a few times over the years, but I always ended up choosing design. It just felt right.

What was your lowest and highest gig? And what was the time difference?

There were tons of projects I did for really low pay, but to show the recent progress: at the end of 2024 I designed a 10-page website for around $550. This october I started working on a $30k website.

Is anything possible?

Definitely not, but I would still try.

How long did it take you to “find your style”?

Basically my whole life. It keeps evolving. I try to improve my taste every day.

Are you proud of yourself?

That’s a tough one. I think I only recently started feeling proud of myself.

What’s your biggest fear?

Wasted potential. And snakes.

How hard is it to learn Midjourney?

Midjourney itself is easy. I need to do a livestream sometime on my X to show the process. Basically, you just need to understand a few basics of how the tool works. The hard part is your ideas, aesthetics, and imagination — creating something that stands out and feels interesting.

💡 You can find some prompts and tutorials on Kuba’s profile

Is design services something you would like to do for the rest of your life or do you have other dreams?

To be honest I can’t imagine myself doing anything else. Maybe at some point I’ll shift more towards running a business and less toward hands-on design but I’m not sure yet. Always looking for a challenge, never satisfied.

On the other hand – I’m a simple guy. My dream is to live a slow life in a nice house, away from a city noise. Wife, kids, a few cats and dogs. We will see when that happens.

I quietly admire your 𝕏 presence.

You don’t spam, only sharing work, tutorials, inspiration. So whenever I need to find something, it’s super easy. Is it easy for you to avoid 𝕏 drama, engagement baits, and shit posting?

I think it comes down to my personality. I just don’t care, and most of it is fake anyways. I have zero control over cringe posts or engagement bait, so I just don’t participate much.

But at the same time, I think it’s still worth paying attention to certain trends. Not to copy them, but to analyse why certain things work. Sometimes there’s a way to take what’s trending and make it fit my tone, my style, and keep it professional. There’s always a reason why some stuff blows up.

What’s the most important thing for you in life?

Calm. A peaceful life with family, good people around and work that I enjoy.

Recently, you started helping aspiring designers. Did you notice any patterns in their behaviour?

Most people chase trends instead of focusing on fundamentals. You see it all over X. They put their energy into things that don’t really matter when you’re learning design. Glossy buttons won’t bring you much clients.

Create a clean portfolio site, make it easy to contact you, use simple language without fluff. Master the basics – typography, colour, layout. That alone will make you stand out.

Don’t forget to have fun, experiment, and study the best designers out there. Design is hard and it requires a ton of different skills, if you want to make it solo.

Do you think you have a proper work-life balance?

Definitely not. But I also don’t really believe in work-life balance. If you have certain goals, you just need to put in more effort that others. You grow a lot faster by focusing on one thing instead of trying to balance everything at once.

I’m trying to be more present in whatever I do – if it’s work time, I work. If it’s rest time, I rest. Sounds silly, but the more magic routines and productivity hacks people add, the worse it gets.

What’s your guilty pleasure?

Listening to polish rap where you can’t tell if it’s a joke or serious. Ćpaj stajl, crank all, tuzza, rów babicze to name a few. 💀

Special question from Dudu💋
Describe Design Twitter in one sentence.

Chaotic mix of great work, bad takes, and people trying their best to make it.

Thank you so much!

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