We’re reaching new heights, as Katie Langerman joins us to talk about her adventures in indoor rock climbing. She introduces the different types of climbing (bouldering, top rope, and lead climbing), and talks about how climbing has become a way for her to confront her fear of heights. Katie discusses a serious ankle injury she sustained in 2023 while bouldering, and explains how returning to climbing after the injury was challenging yet therapeutic. She explores the problem-solving nature of climbing, and how that helps her achieve a near-meditative state. Katie also shares advice for people afraid of heights (like the host of this podcast), who are interested in giving rock climbing a try.

Guest Bio

Katie Langerman (she/her) is an interface designer specializing in design systems, currently contributing to GitHub’s Primer. She focuses on creating flexible, scalable systems that help bridge the gap between design and code. Katie is also passionate about fostering collaboration across teams, sharing insights on leadership as an individual contributor, and tackling challenges like design tokens and asynchronous teamwork.

Links

Katie’s podcast, Complementary: https://creators.spotify.com/pod/show/complementary

Katie’s website: https://www.langermank.com/

Katie on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/langermank

Katie on Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/katielangerman.bsky.social

Katie on Twitter/X: https://x.com/KatieLangerman

Credits

Cover design by Raquel Breternitz.