Her Story
About Adriana
I come from a very creative family - my father was an architect and my mom was a natural interior designer - so I grew up surrounded by art. When I was looking at colleges around 2009, I walked into a room full of beautiful marketing assets for a conference and just remember thinking, I belong here. I naturally gravitate towards art, painting and drawing, so I realized this is where I can make a good use of that skill set. I started as a graphic designer after graduating in 2014 with a passion for photography and marketing materials, creating visuals that make a difference and move the needle for companies. I've always been naturally creative and I really enjoy putting a little bit of myself out there when I design something and seeing how it makes an impact. Most of my career has been at marketing agencies working with big clients like Adidas and Netflix. About six years ago, I switched to user experience because I realized that putting yourself in the shoes of the user is really important if you really want to make an impact that is meaningful for the brand and the user. In 2023, I started my own studio called Cats in the Box, where I lead teams when big clients come to me, while also working full-time as a user experience designer for a home organization company. My main areas of expertise today are art direction and user experience, probably 50-50 right now, and they work well together.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Adriana
01What do you attribute your success to?
I don't feel like I'm a super successful person, I feel like I'm just a normal person, but when junior designers come to me and ask what they should focus on when starting their career, I tell them: don't give up, just keep going. It's not gonna be easy, you're gonna feel very frustrated at times, you're gonna cry, you're gonna feel like you can't do it, you're gonna want to change careers, but just stick to it. Because if you really love what you're doing, even if your client doesn't get it yet and you're still learning - because most of the job is about convincing the client on what's going to be best for their business and then executing beautiful design - don't give up. It's gonna be hard at first when you face rejection, but even if you face it, I would say don't give up. Especially women, they put this glass ceiling on us, especially in corporate America. Just don't give up, you'll get there.
02What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?
Never go on a meeting with a problem unless you have the solution for it. That definitely changed my life.
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