I’m Michael Restiano: a content designer, life coach, and yoga teacher
I’m here on this Earth to help people and products communicate better.
That communication might be between a company and a user, a mind and a body, or an emerging self and an actualized self. No matter what the forum is or who the participants are, I use my expertise in content design, yoga, and life coaching to facilitate the discussion and move my clients towards deeper understanding and fulfillment.
In doing so, what might seem like 3 distinct offerings can be seen as really just one passion realized via different tools.
Feel free to poke around and learn more about my experience and offerings and please reach out if you think we might be able to partner together.
It all belongs
Nobody gets to be wrong
Be here now
It’s short; enjoy it
Content design is a user-experience function that seeks to deliver the right content to the right user at the right time. I’ve spent my career practicing this work at major names across Silicon Valley. Since my time at Instacart, I’ve transitioned into content design leadership and team development.
I’m currently leading the content design practice at Webflow full-time. I’m also open to small, contained, freelance projects that I am passionate about. Reach out if you’ve got something that sounds like a good fit.
I immerse myself in your business model so that I can understand your communication needs. Then, I spend time getting to know your users and what they want.
I translate those dual needs into content strategies that help your org say what needs to be said at the right time and in the right places.
I execute on those strategies by delivering UX writing, taxonomies, content guidelines, naming recommendations and more.
Strategically, the work is about delivering the right content, to the right user, at the right time. Making that happen requires a combination of consulting skills (stakeholder interviewing, current state audits, etc.) along with a strong aptitude for writing specifically for digital user experiences. A content designer's work is most often seen as the text that shows up in apps and digital products, but the real beauty of the work is everything that happened beforehand in order to get to those exact right words.
Most of a user-experience is actually content. Take this website, for example. You can see the visual styling and interaction design throughout, but the words you're reading right now are what actually brought you here. If this content wasn't "designed" well, it'd be difficult to understand, too long, or too opaque—all major barriers to your experience as a user. Therefore, I'd argue that the largest and most vital portion of digital product design is not the work we do on the packaging, but the stuff (content) within it.
At its current maturity level, AI can sometimes produce decent UX writing. It certainly cannot do the strategic part of content design which requires a human to think across channels, platforms, and human resources to make the right recommendations about exactly what to say and when. Right now, AI is a handy efficiency tool that makes a content designer’s life easier by allowing them to execute faster. It is by no means a substitute for said content designer.
If you are producing digital products and have somebody on your team who is creating wireframes and visual style guides, you need a content designer to pair alongside that person. While your designer will continue to own visual and interaction design, your content designer will start to deeply understand your business and user needs in order to produce UX writing that resonates with your audience. The risk of not having a content designer is making the regular designer do it all, which almost guarantees they will not prioritize the most important part of their designs—the actual words within them.
"Mike and I worked together as design leaders for the Shopper facing product teams at Instacart. Mike and I regularly evaluated methods to improve collaboration between Product Design and Content Design and up-level quality across our respective functions. Mike always provided clear and thoughtful feedback to his team, protected their capacity, and quickly addressed issues as they came up. I deeply appreciated Mike's partnership and his passion for Content Design. Any organization would be thrilled to have him on their team."
Catriona Shedd
Director of Product Design, Instacart
"Mike embodies the absolute best in management skills. He’s brilliant, and he applies that brilliance to developing his own skills as a manager, colleague, speaker, teacher, coach, and friend. Endlessly curious and endlessly giving, Mike is the kind of manager who can bring joy to quiet moments, instill trust and self confidence in his employees, and provide guidance through complicated situations. Alongside his management skills, Mike maintains his ability to write fluidly, developing strong narratives that entice, enlighten, and encourage. His unshakeable demeanor and deep love for people makes him a priceless manager—the best I’ve had the pleasure to work with."
Kristin Wood-Page
Principal Content Designer, Cash App
I originally sought out yoga as an exercise practice I could do at home, during the pandemic. I quickly discovered that the practice went far beyond just doing challenging stretches sequenced to breath and was actually a poignant, nuanced spiritual system that has deep implications for how we live our lives today.
I became an instructor in 2021 and have since been teaching at some of the biggest name studios in New York City. Since then, I've completed over 500 hours of RYT (registered yoga teacher) training and have taken on private and small group clients, too.
If you're looking to explore yoga from any (or just 1) of its 8 "limbs" of practice and want a teacher to guide you, please reach out.
I start by understanding your goals for yoga. Which parts of the practice speak to you, and which (if any) would you like to avoid?
Once we're aligned on goals, I'll create a plan to get there. This may included a personalized asana (posture) sequence, breathing techniques, and more.
We'll schedule 30 min or 1 hour-long sessions on Zoom on in-person to practice together. I'll offer adjustments or modifications as needed.
“Whenever I go to Mike's class, I can always count on having an exceptional instructor who provides clear guidance, an effective workout, and a mental refresh. I'm always impressed when he can communicate exactly how to fix my alignment."
Mary Miller-Bush
Yoga student
Definitely not. What you typically experience in a yoga class is the "asana" (posture) practice which constitutes just 1 of 8 (!) limbs of practice. Other pieces of a yoga practice include guidelines for personal conduct, conduct towards others, meditation, breath work, and concentration training. Even in an asana practice, the focus of yoga is to link breath to movement precisely, which goes far beyond the scope of just stretching.
If you want to become more flexible (physically and mentally), more in-tune with your body, more focused, more concentrated, and more at ease with the twists and turns of life, yoga contains a lot of wisdom and guidance to get you there. If any (or all) of these are goals for you, consider reaching out to explore what your own personal yoga practice might look like.
I am indeed! I've been teaching in packed studios for nearly 4 years and am an executive myself during the 9-5. I can scale a practice and adjust my demeanor to whatever the environment needs.
Definitely. One of the most economical ways to make private teaching work is to take a class with 2 or 3 other friends to reduce the per person cost. If this options sounds like something you're interested in, let's chat.
I was first coached during my time as a people manager at Instacart. After just a few sessions, I felt like I had been given a precious gift—a way to understand my inner challenges, struggles, and past hurts in a way that did not pathologize them or require an endless amount of rumination to resolve. I had discovered that I could resolve these pains and grow as both a leader and a human by taking consistent, values-aligned actions in the present moment.
Years later, I myself have not only grown tremendously, but have become a Co-active trained coach myself in order to extend this gift to others. Now, I work with folks across a spectrum of backgrounds and experience levels who feel stuck, stagnant, or confused about their lives. My coaching work aims to uncover my clients' core values, operating perspectives, and limiting beliefs so that I can help them build the life of their dreams. I also use the somatic processing expertise from my yoga practice to help clients uncover and process the stuck or trapped emotions hiding behind those limiting beliefs.
I currently have room for 3 new coachees on my roster. My rates are heavily discounted as I pursue accreditation with the International Coaching Federation. Now is the best time to work with me!
I start by deeply understanding you, and your life. What's going well, and where would you like to improve?
Then, we'll explore your inner world to get insight into what's blocking you. Your values, saboteurs, perspectives, and unprocessed emotions all play a role.
We'll meet for 60 minute sessions as frequently as suits you to make sure that you're progressing and growing in the ways you want to.
Most people can benefit from life coaching since we all tend to hold limiting beliefs and can frequently end up in lives that are incongruous with our values. Folks that are particular good fits for coaching may feel stuck, stagnant, or disillusioned with their lives but are unsure as to why. If that sounds like you, reach out to get a free 30-minute discovery call scheduled.
Yes. Coaching is really a single, scalable modality that can be applied to any of the areas of our lives. The same principles one would use to coach a career also apply to how one would coach a relationship, or a life as a whole. I always start by understanding which particular area of life my clients would like to focus on and then we hone in from there.
Yes! Coaching is not therapy, but it is synergistic with therapy. Coaching explores your inner values, perspectives, unprocessed emotions, thought patterns, goals, and more, but it does not pathologize anything as a mental illness and does not deal with the resolution of existing mental illness. Many clients explore what comes next from them via coaching while they use therapy to resolve past hurt and pain. While the two may blend together, I'll always refer a client to a qualified therapist if I think I'm not the best person to help.
I do. If you're looking for coaching but are concerned about the cost due to a hardship, a loss of a job, or other extenuating circumstance, please reach out anyway and we can discuss next steps.
Use this form to reach out if you're interested in working together on a content design project, a private or semi-private yoga session, or to explore life coaching.
If I think it's a good fit, I'll reach out to schedule a totally free 30-minute discovery call to learn more about you and your needs.
Michael Restiano
Michael Restiano is not a licensed medical or mental health professional. All information on this site should not be interpreted as medical or professional mental health advice. Michael takes no responsibility for any results you may or may not achieve instituting practices outlined here. By reading this website, you agree to not hold Michael accountable for any adverse events you may experience. Use your discretion and judgement when instituting new practices. Michael offers no guarantees about the results of any of his offerings.
