About
I'm a first-generation Brazilian-American product designer most recently working at Amp, a new live radio app by Amazon Music.
My global footprint growing up between cultures and across continents brings an innate appreciation for diverse perspectives and a fascination for the human experience. To honor these values, my design philosophy is deeply rooted in ethical and inclusive design practices, and my work focuses on fostering community and social expression in a 0-to-1 design process.
Beyond my 9 to 5, I'm an active member of the design community and am often found hosting panels, giving conference talks, and writing articles on my experience pivoting into design from the music industry as a minority in tech. I champion early-career and underrepresented folks by helping them break into the field and demystifying an often gate-kept industry.
Work Experience
Designing at Amp, a new live radio app from Amazon Music that gives creators the power to run the airwaves by giving anyone the tools to pick up the mic, create a playlist, and DJ their own live radio show.
As the third Product Design hire on the team, I designed net-new features for both the creator and listener experiences across the platform. From creator tooling, critical growth initiatives, and uniquely live audio features, my work spanned the entire product to reimagine radio from the ground up.
Worked alongside other Lead Product Designers and key partners on PM, Engineering, and Research teams on high-impact projects for the Creator experience on Pinterest.
As the org's first-ever Product Design Apprentice, I shipped both consumer and enterprise products that catered to casual content creators on Pinterest.
I also led internal initiatives on inclusive design practices and external brand partnerships to mentor and uplift early-career designers from underrepresented backgrounds, including 2 live streams with Design Buddies, the largest online community (50,000+) of designers.
Side Projects
Diversify Design is a free community for designers from underrepresented backgrounds to build relationships, share stories, and exchange knowledge.
The community is also a double-sided marketplace and talent network, where members can opt-in to get matched with top design orgs looking to hire diverse talent, and companies subscribe to the network to gain direct access and intros to top diverse design talent, increasing representation in our industry one hire at a time.
Leveraging my event production and partnership skills from the music industry, I've facilitated events for the Diversify Design community, including:
• early access to Spotify's Screen Share Day, a free virtual mentorship event
• IRL events co-hosted with other design communities such as Design Buddies and Memorisely
• Community-exclusive career workshops featuring design leaders from Twitter, Instagram, and Microsoft
I sometimes document my (relatively) new and beloved hobby, powerlifting.
The journey from amateur strength trainer to semi-competitive athlete has been challenging, enlightening, and directly impacted my design work in so many meaningful ways.
I'm embracing vulnerability and sharing more about my process and learnings along the way 🏋🏽♀️
Frame to Table is a Design Supper Club for female-identifying designers to connect and champion each other through community and great food.
Features
Weightlifting is not only my favorite hobby, but also the one I draw the most inspiration for my design work from.
Amazon Design featured me and my musings on the parallels between lifting and my design practice to their 19k+ followers.
I had the great honor of being interviewed by the inspiring Nadia Elinbabi on Design Hires Podcast, which focuses on getting hired as a designer, building a career in the UX industry, and what it means to be a design leader.
In the episode, we discuss my background as a first-generation immigrant who always sought belonging between cultures, and how those experiences forged my path as a designer for community and social expression, and ultimately Founding Diversify Design, a collective that connects underrepresented designers with companies who are hiring design talent.
A candid and detailed interview on my design journey, process, and sources of inspiration.
In this interactive workshop, my portfolio and case studies were featured as an aspirational example of great storytelling.
Here I discuss Diversify Design, the job board and talent network I founded that curates and connects the best design roles with the most diverse design roles in the industry. I take listeners through my organic founder’s journey, from the music industry to product design, the challenges I've faced building a path, and more.
As a design student, I undertook the ambitious challenge of redesigning the then-Silicon-Valley-darling, Clubhouse, from the ground up.
My subsequent case study was featured by Case Study Club.
Speaking
Breaking into a highly technical and gatekept industry from a non-traditional background is grueling work.
Staying true to my mission of leaving my mark on that industry by helping usher in new waves of marginalized folks, I participated in a panel hosted by the wonderful Figma Education team to discuss my non-linear design journey.
I gave this talk on Inspiration at Pinterest's Design Offsite about my experience with failing and pivoting through the lens of my father, who immigrated to the US from Brazil in 1972 in hopes of becoming a businessman.
Along with my dear friend and fellow designer Jarvis Moore, I discuss the history of whitewashing and underrepresentation in tech, as well as the implications lack of representation, has in our lives.
I assembled a panel of multicultural design leaders to discuss how first-gen designers navigate their design careers and the tech industry with vulnerability and purpose.
In this livestream, I joined the incredible Femke to discuss my bootcamp journey and actionable tips and best practices to becoming a strong design candidate upon graduation.
Writing
As Pinterest's first-ever Product Design Apprentice, I wanted to demystify the program for future cohorts by writing a comprehensive Q&A answering hopeful applicants' most common questions and providing a sneak peek into my daily life as a designer in the position.
The case study that started it all.
When I was still a design student, I undertook the ambitious challenge of redesigning Clubhouse (at the time the most explosively popular app in recent memory) for a more seamless user experience.
This project spanned weeks and demanded dozens of user interviews, iterations, and both professional and personal growth.
I documented my experience vulnerably and thoughtfully in this case study, which has since amassed over 25k+ views across platforms.
Awards
Was awarded an Honorable Mention distinction for my personal portfolio design with a mobile-friendliness score of 100%.
The earliest iteration of my portfolio was featured on Bestfolios with a special call out to my comprehensive case studies, viewed over 8,000 times.