We recently connected with Daniela Garcia and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Daniela thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Looking back at internships and apprenticeships can be interesting, because there is so much variety in people’s experiences – and often those experiences inform our own leadership style. Do you have an interesting story from that stage of your career that you can share with us?

I had two internships which were life-changing experiences for my design career and personal growth. First, I worked at a startup that taught me the value of storytelling in presentations. In an engineering-driven company, impactful presentations really make people pay attention to what you’re sharing. Communicating with teams that speak different “languages” was part of the challenge, and wearing multiple hats showed me the importance of being flexible and multifaceted.

In my second internship, I had the chance to work collaboratively with designers and learn from their processes. It was fascinating to see how people tackle the same tasks and their approaches to time efficiency. I learned about the importance of clear communication and not being afraid to ask questions. When people around you are willing to help, they’ll show you every aspect of their process because experience has taught them its value.

Beyond technical skills, I learned practical tips like, “The best way to make suggestions is to show what you’ve been asked for versus what you think would be better. That way, the audience can clearly see that your suggestion is the better option.” I was also able to identify my strengths and learn from the team.

I experienced what being part of a rockstar team feels like and realized how important it is, especially as a junior in your career, to be uplifted by a talented team. I believe everyone deserves and should strive to find an internship that makes them feel important and values their contributions to the team. It also made me realize the importance of developing your own opinion, especially as a designer.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I’m Daniela Garcia Garcia, a Colombian industrial designer with a B.F.A. in Industrial and Product Design from the Savannah College of Art and Design. Over my career, I’ve bridged creativity with functionality across corporate design roles at GE Appliances, consultancy projects, and most recently, a focus on home health tech for safety. I’m passionate about Color, Material, and Finish (CMF) design and trend forecasting, yet my true drive is creating products that improve lives and spark memories that keep us smiling.

My journey into design started with a lifelong curiosity about how things work. Even as a child, I questioned why things were done a certain way. One of my earliest memories is asking my dad why we needed to replace the entire toothbrush when it was just the bristles that wore out. It’s funny to think that, today, we see designs that align with this kind of thinking. This early curiosity evolved into a passion for building sustainable, human-centered solutions that genuinely address people’s needs. Today, I strive to create designs that enhance safety, add convenience, and set new aesthetic standards that feel timeless yet vibrant.

One of my proudest accomplishments is my thesis project, FLESS, which addresses the uncertainty allergy sufferers face when dining out. This project solidified my understanding of design’s potential to improve well-being, fueling my dedication to deeply understand user needs and use research to improve design decisions

In all my work, I aim to deliver designs that are both functional and impactful, merging my love for CMF with a deep understanding of user needs, sustainability, and storytelling. My approach is to go beyond design as a visual language—to create something that speaks to people’s lives in a meaningful way.

Whether through tech, home appliances, or the next generation of health and wellness products, my mission is clear: to craft memorable, meaningful products that inspire happiness and purpose.

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

I think the most rewarding aspect of being a creative is having the ability to envision what isn’t real yet. As industrial designers, we essentially see the future—everything currently in the market was conceptualized years before it became reality. There’s a certain thrill in not only imagining what could be but also shaping it, knowing that our ideas will eventually touch people’s lives in meaningful ways.

The chance to look forward and influence what the future holds is incredibly fulfilling, but it’s even more rewarding when you know the impact will go beyond aesthetics. When a design has the potential to save lives, bring peace of mind, or enhance people’s everyday happiness, it transforms the work into something so much more meaningful. It becomes a legacy, a way to make life better and easier for people we may never meet.

Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can provide some insight – you never know who might benefit from the enlightenment.

I think non-creatives might not realize just how much thought goes into every single thing they interact with daily. As designers, we’re responsible for shaping the world people live in, down to the smallest detail, and even I didn’t fully grasp this responsibility at first. There’s so much work, thought, and care behind each item we own—and yet we rarely know who put it there or the reasoning that went into its design.

For non-creatives, the default approach when something doesn’t work quite right is often just to adapt to it, accepting that it’s “just the way it is.” But as creatives, we’re wired differently; we see those frustrating experiences as opportunities for improvement and innovation. When something doesn’t feel quite right, we’re already thinking, How could this be better?

It could be enlightening to start noticing the little details in what you own—those design choices someone thought deeply about. And maybe if something isn’t working quite as you’d like, ask yourself what you’d change about it. Small insights like these might spark a new appreciation for design and, perhaps, a bit of curiosity about the stories behind the objects we often take for granted.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.danielagcreate.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/danielagcreate/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/danielagcreate/