Leandro Incetta

Being part of ADPList means I get to connect internationally and let serendipity do its thing. Some of the most meaningful conversations happen with people I never would’ve met otherwise, and they stretch how I see design and life. I don’t see mentoring as top-down. It’s horizontal. I learn from mentees all the time, and that mutual exchange is the point.

I started mentoring because I kept noticing a pattern: the moments that changed my own career weren’t “tips,” they were conversations where someone helped me name what I actually cared about. I wanted to be that kind of bridge for other designers. Especially for people navigating new cultures, new languages, or new confidence.

The advice I give almost every mentee is: stop trying to compensate for everything you’re not, and make your strengths stronger. Your job isn’t to sand yourself down into a generic “good designer.” It’s to find out who you are, build a point of view, and amplify that voice until it’s unmistakable.