Nairi Ayvazyan
Nairi Ayvazyan is a Senior Graphic Designer and Marketing Specialist at Los Angeles Federal Credit Union, with over 15 years of experience in graphic design, branding, and multi-channel campaign development. She holds an Associate of Arts degree in Graphic Design from the Art Institute of California-Los Angeles and has completed coursework at Pasadena City College in art history and design-related studies. Fluent in Armenian and English, Nairi brings a global perspective and a keen eye for detail to every project she undertakes.
Since joining Los Angeles Federal Credit Union nearly nine years ago, Nairi has led the creation of high-impact campaigns across digital and print channels, including online banking, email blasts, website graphics, video walls, and the quarterly member publication, Inside LACU. She is particularly proud of the “Boost Campaign,” a share certificate promotion she developed entirely—from concept and tagline to artwork—which has become one of the credit union’s most successful annual initiatives. Her expertise lies in combining strategic thinking with innovative design, creating work that resonates with both leadership and members.
Nairi attributes her professional success to supportive mentors and colleagues, resilience in the face of challenges, and a commitment to collaboration and kindness. She is passionate about mentoring others, giving back to the community, and exploring emerging tools such as AI-assisted design to enhance creative workflows. In addition to her professional work, she supports philanthropic initiatives, including providing medical care for homeless dogs in Armenia. Nairi’s guiding values—loyalty, openness, mentorship, and creativity—shape both her career and her personal life, making her a respected leader and innovator in the financial services marketing space.
• Artificial Intelligence Foundations: Machine Learning
• Using Adobe Firefly with Photoshop
• Art Institute of California-Los Angeles — Associate of Arts in Graphic Design
• Pasadena City College — Coursework in Art History and Graphic Design-related classes
• Boost Campaign — Recognized internally as a major revenue-generating and branded annual offering
• Influential Women 2026
• Support for homeless dogs in Armenia requiring surgery and medical care
What do you attribute your success to?
I attribute my success to having good leaders around me who encourage and help me instead of discouraging me. The people around me, my management, my coworkers, they all inspire me, and that's very important. It's like a win-win attitude. I feel more successful when everyone around me feels good about what I do, and I get positive feedback all the time. Having people aligned with the same beliefs I have around me is essential. That would be a deal-breaker if people were not aligned with the same beliefs I have. When you work with strong, supportive leaders and colleagues who share your values, it pushes you to grow and stay motivated.
What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?
The best career advice I've received is about resilience. Resilience allows you to overcome stress and adversity, and it helps you come back stronger than before. I've also learned to stay optimistic and to have the ability to see your failure as a form of helpful feedback. When you can look at setbacks not as roadblocks but as opportunities to learn and grow, you develop the strength to keep moving forward. That mindset of treating challenges as lessons rather than defeats has been crucial to my professional growth and success.
What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
I would say young women should take their time and find mentors to build relationships with their coworkers and employees. Use feedback as direction and help yourselves grow. In the beginning, I heard a lot of 'no, we don't like this, we don't like that,' but I never took it personally. Be open-minded as to what others are seeing, because that's going to help you grow and improve your own skills. Be able to collaborate with all women in the business. Just have an open mind and be positive about any type of negative feedback you get about your work or the art that you create. Take it as a grain of salt, because it just helps you improve your performance. Anything that's a setback can be a set goal for you to improve on any weakness that you have. Just be self-aware. Women are more self-aware, actually, from what I see. I think we naturally know and acknowledge our strengths and our own weaknesses, so it should be easier to navigate. And also, be kind to everyone around you. Kindness is essential to leadership and success.
What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
I would say right now, we just have a new CEO, so one of the biggest challenges is having to persuade the new upper CEOs and board members to go with new trends. Since it is a credit union, there are limitations as to how you can do things. I'm trying to persuade them to move to the future, to have an open mind with how the world is changing and how people are. For example, with LGBTQ representation, I'm trying to persuade them to maybe put ads out there that are LGBT friendly and all of that. There's that little niche of designs that I would want to put out there that's more out for everyone, but that takes time. The board members are on the older side, so it's harder to convince, but I do it slowly, unintentionally. Maybe if someone else can see an ad with two women, a straight person will be like 'oh, it's just two friends,' but someone in the LGBT community will be like 'oh, it's two women, and it's friendly, and it's nice.' You slowly do things like that, but it's not in their face. I wish that my industry and my credit union was a little bit more open to that, but you know, to each their own. I'm just trying to get others on the same mind process. So far, it's been okay, with little changes here and there.
What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
Kindness is the most important value to me, for sure. I believe in mentoring other people and helping others if you can. If you have a strength, don't hide it. Use it to help others in your field. I value connecting with your ideas and resources and letting everyone else know what you're using. Don't gatekeep, you know? I also believe in connecting with the community of members that come in and out, talking to them, reaching out to them, and seeing what they like and what they don't. Being loyal is very important as well. Kindness and loyalty to yourself and to everyone that you work around, your management, your coworkers, all of that, is a very, very big thing for me. I also try to inspire people as well. These values of openness, generosity, collaboration, and dependability guide how I show up every day, both professionally and personally.