Dana Heredia fell in love with design during her first job out of college, and this passion spurred a 15-year self-taught journey to explore the field. Luckily for us at SoFi, these experiences ultimately landed Dana at SoFi as a Staff Product Designer on the SoFi Money(R) team. Today, she’s filling us in on how grit helped her break into design, on where to find the passion to discover your career truth, and how empathy has defined her life and career!
Welcome to our SoF-iety career series, Dana! We’re jumping right in with a personal question - what are three things others may not know about you?
Dana:
- I have a Diego Rivera painting tattooed on my back
- I am a certified Ashtanga Yoga instructor
- I’ve been married to my beautiful wife Rachel for 6 years
Images: (Left) Dana and her wife, Rachel. (Right) Practicing yoga at Joshua Tree.
So cool! What is one thing on your life bucket list that you would like to achieve?
Dana: I’d love to write a book one day, chronicling the “designer journey”. I’ve learned so much about life and love through my journey to becoming a designer. It would be fun to jot it all down one day and share with the world.
(Readers: if you want to check out Dana’s work, visit her website here).
How did you get into design?
Dana: I have always enjoyed being creative and solving problems. Some of my earliest memories are of me taking toys apart and figuring out new ways of putting them back together. After receiving my bachelors degree in Comparative Literature from the University of California Irvine, I like so many, had no idea what I wanted to do with my career. I followed my humanitarian spirit and got a job at Habitat for Humanity.
My first job was monumental. Working for a non-profit guarantees the opportunity to wear multiple hats, jump in and do what it takes to get the job done. Hard work and perseverance were not new to me. As a collegiate athlete, I understood the value of teamwork and grit. I was bred to “get the job done”. So when my first company needed a newsletter written, designed and coded, I didn’t hesitate to create, learn and execute.
That day, I fell in love with design and its seamlessly endless potential to provide solutions to relevant problems. I immersed myself in design courses at community colleges and UC Extension programs and surrounded myself with designers of all kinds - critical thinkers, tattoo artists, and creative pioneers.
As a self-taught designer, it took me years of hard work to break into the design industry. There have been many defining moments and a critical handful of people who believed in my potential.
It’s crazy to think that my journey to becoming a designer started almost 15 years ago. It’s been a wild ride, and I wouldn’t change a single thing.
Sounds like you have been very intentional about your career. What advice do you have for others looking to become an expert in their field?
Dana: I think this is important in any field, but especially in design: start and end with people. I believe empathy is a cornerstone of design. Value listening and understanding, take time to understand problems and get to know people and their rituals in order to design relevant, meaningful experiences.
This advice extends beyond solving design problems. I use it every day as I navigate working with different stakeholders and think about process improvement. If you lead with empathy, you will always assume the best of intentions from those around you - as such your days will inevitably be more productive and joyful. And joyful designers do the best work :) .
What tips have you received throughout your career that has enabled you to do your best work?
Dana: I’m the luckiest, because I have the best, most intelligent people in my world.
In life, and especially design - learn the difference between self-worth and confidence. Your self-worth is impenetrable; no one person or experience gets to dictate how important you are. Confidence is all about learned skills and skills are something that develop over time. Don’t ever let your lack of knowing how to do something get in the way of your self-worth. Healthy self-worth will fuel your ability to invest time and energy into developing your skills, which will build your confidence and ultimately multiply your impact and influence.
Curious to know what it was that first attracted you to SoFi - especially coming from one of the most well-known companies in the world.
Dana: I have always been a mission-driven person interested in contributing positively to life and to the environment around me. It might sound cheesy, but I believe design is a tool that can be used to enhance our humanity. We all have a part to play, and with that the opportunity to add to the sum of human happiness. Design affects how we feel and behave; it’s not just a visual experience.
Throughout my career, I followed this drive - it’s what led me to spend almost my entire career designing at the intersection of technology and healthcare.
When I joined SoFi, I knew I was ready for an industry change. I didn’t know exactly what that meant, but I knew I needed to stay true to my mission-driven intent.
The thing with designing in the healthcare space is that “health” is something we all have in common; something we all deal with at some point in our lives. Because of this, working in this industry constantly revealed an enormous opportunity to positively impact millions of people’s lives for the better.
When I began to learn more about SoFi, I found this same principle to be true. Financial health is something we all have in common and I thrive as a designer when I know we have the potential to create something that will positively impact the lives of millions of people.
Truer words never spoken, Dana! So tell us about what you do at SoFi.
Dana: I spend my days solving problems. Sometimes these problems are specific design challenges, sometimes they are process related, other times they involve stakeholder management. Specifically, I have the opportunity to contribute to our Money product.
What’s most challenging about your job? What is most rewarding?
Dana: To be completely honest, being a designer is rough. We are constantly asked to put our creative and vulnerable ideas on display for everyone to critique - every day :) This is a challenge not unique to SoFi, rather to the role of a designer in general.
The funny thing is that the most challenging part is also (for me) the most rewarding. I love the rush of solving problems. The best is when you get to work with a healthy team of people who also appreciate the creative process. That back and forth of idea sharing, refining and deciding is magical.
You have such a positive philosophy, Dana. The world needs more people like you! Do you have any advice for designers looking to pursue a career in fintech?
Dana: Admittedly, I am new to the fintech space. But for me, industry knowledge is a critical part of designing effectively. That said, I would say be ready for a steep learning curve, lots of acronyms, regulation and tough problems.
Financial health permeates the everyday lives of humans, so be prepared to get intimate with their rituals and hopes and dreams.
What excites you most about where SoFi is going?
Dana: Our potential to actually realize great ideas. Companies are never short on good, even brilliant ideas, but few understand what it takes to execute on them. I believe SoFi understands what it takes to build a world class experience and as a designer, that excites me more than anything.
Thank you for sharing your wisdom with us, Dana. I know I’m taking away a lot of life lessons to help me lead a meaningful life and career...and I know our readers are, too!
The individual featured is a SoFi employee. Their personal experiences, obviously, do not take into account your own specific objectives, financial situation, and needs. Results will vary.
SoFi Money® is a cash management account, which is a brokerage product, offered by SoFi Securities LLC. Member FINRA/SIPC. Neither SoFi nor its affiliates are a bank. The SoFi Money Debit Mastercard® is issued by The Bancorp Bank.
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