I have always identified as an artistic, creative, and design-oriented person. That self-proclaimed identity was commonly affirmed by clients, friends, and family, and their reference to me, as having a “Good Eye” or an “Eye for Design”. Even when I was very young, I flexed those design muscles in as many ways as possible. As a child with a passion for art and a love for color, I taught myself to paint. That self-taught hobby continued to grow where in high school, I found myself as an award-winning “Advanced Placement” Artist. Continuing my design journey over many avenues, turns, and curves, I explored landscape, interior, and Jewelry design.

Where on the ladder I found myself plotting the inclusions of Diamonds; as an advanced diamond grader while obtaining my Accredited Jewelry Professional and Graduate Gemologist degrees, at the Gemological Institute of America. After many years of working in the laboratory as a Diamond grader, I decided it was time to explore the creative and retail side of the jewelry industry. This is where I acquired the skills needed to be a successful bespoke jewelry designer, at one of the bay area's premier destinations for custom jewelry. My time as A bespoke Jewelry designer helped train me to actively seek out clients’ needs, wants and pain points to ensure my success in delivering their new heirloom pieces. I also gained the patience needed to be a generous listener and to involve my clients throughout the design process. This opened my mind to new perspectives in design as well as problem-solving since I was blessed to work with all walks of life. This experience also helped me to obtain the ability to manage others while also finding the skills needed to be successful in sales.

Enter UX/UI design stage right, I have to give my partner Antonio and Covid the majority of the credit for this new design direction that I am so happy to find myself in. With retail being severely affected by the pandemic, I found myself laid off without the ability to go to work. So while locked in my domestic prison, I inadvertently shadowed my partner who is a lead UX/UI designer and was able to work from home. As the days turned into weeks I started to grasp the concepts, principles and even the lingo of a UX/UI designer since Antonio solely attends meetings and conference calls on loudspeaker. And with a little more time I found myself presumptuously offering ideas and color choices to my husband for his current projects. At that point, I started to see my path changing, I found myself itching to spend more time on the computer than I ever had in the past. I wanted to know what programs he is using and how could I learn this craft. Granted I had dabbled over the years with photoshop and illustrator while creating Digital art and helping Antonio with his freelance projects like creating logos and helping with digital catalogs. But those past experiences did not resonate with me at that time, I just wasn’t ready to take the plunge...

So with this newfound passion; Antonio introduced me to Figma, (in the background the heavens open, and trumpets start sounding) Yes, a program that I connected with! Next, he connected me with an old friend of his, that was in the same position in life as myself but had recently started the Design academy with Design Lab. I wanted this new to me life, but I had previous responsibilities, I was a manager at an independent family store that really relied on my contribution. So I went back to my retail job and all day at work, all I could think about was UX/UI design. So after a few months back to work at retail, huffing through a mask while attending to the sometimes entitled, I made a leap of faith! I started the foundation’s course with Design Lab. What a great gateway to get me hooked, a mentor that I connected with, an easy-to-absorb curriculum, and a dedicated space to learn this exciting new craft.

Fast forward to successfully passing the foundations course and phase one of the academy, I could not be happier. I can now show Antonio little tricks and tips in Figma and we have a new common topic that we enjoy sharing together.

I anticipate this newfound passion steadily growing into an extremely rewarding career! A year from now, I will reflect on my Design journey and how happy I am, to have found such an amazing new path that originated in the middle of a challenging pandemic.