Natalie Hoffmann

Director, Team Operations

Illustration by Michael Cho

How would you describe what you do to someone you’re sitting next to on a plane?

I manage business operations for Adobe Design, Adobe's large creative team of designers, artists, developers, researchers, writers, and program managers. We, me and my team of twelve, support the goals of leadership, provide mentoring, learning, growth, and pro bono opportunities to everyone on the team, and handle organization budgets, but mostly I put structures in place so the 500 or so folks on our team feel a sense of community, support, and guidance.

Which living person do you most admire?

I think more than people it's their traits that I'm drawn to: people who emanate grace, dignity, and integrity who know their truth and aren’t afraid to stand up for it; who, by their demeanor and warmth can make others feel at ease and comfortable; who don't take themselves too seriously and have a great sense of humor, because life is very short and we all need to have fun along the way; and who can effortlessly navigate the challenges of a day.

What was your dream job when you were ten years old?

I wanted to be a flight attendant, at least until my dad suggested I have bigger ambitions. Looking back, I think it was the ability to go anywhere, see the world, that appealed to me. I ended up getting to live that dream when, a year later, my family moved to England for two years and we travelled all over Europe. After college, I lived and worked in Russia for three months, then for five years afterward traveled back-and-forth from the U.S.

What’s something about your work history that someone couldn’t learn from LinkedIn?

I would say it's that, at least in part, I owe my current position to my dog Finnegan who I used to take to a dog park every day that just happened to be across the street from Adobe's San Francisco office. One of the people I used to see and talk to regularly happened to be hiring for his team and suggested I apply.

If you could get everyone to agree, what would you change about meetings?

For everyone to be just a little bit less serious and more excited to meet and be present. I get it, we have work we need to get done, but sometimes meetings, especially video calls, just feel so uncomfortable with everyone staring straight ahead or clearly multitasking. Oh, and it would be nice if there was always food (preferably donuts) and coffee.

If you were going to switch careers and work as a tradesperson, which trade would you choose? Why would you choose it?

Because flow, how a house is laid out, is so important to me, and it's usually done wrong, I'd have to say construction. Maybe a general contractor? I don't know that I'd want to be an architect, but I'd sure like to be able to do the remodeling and renovation work myself (which I’ve dabbled in a few times).