IDSA IDC SPECIAL: We had the pleasure of speaking with Silvana Zaldivar, an Industrial Designer at Shopify in Toronto, Canada. Her story begins in El Salvador, where she was born and raised, and received a scholarship to study at the University of Louisiana in LaFayette. She attended many conferences and events that gave her the opportunity to network, which led her to an internship at Fossil. Upon graduating, she headed west to the bay area with no plan, just her skills and optimistic attitude. Silvana arrived during San Francisco Design Week, and she immediately went to work meeting designers and networking, which led her to a job at Matter. She created her own luck through hard work, and in the years that followed, she moved to London to work at Layer, and eventually at Shopify. Silvana expresses the importance of networking, and genuinely working hard for the things you have, as there are no shortcuts in design. Thank you @silvanazaldivar for being amazing and inspiring so many! Thanks for tuning in, be on the lookout for our next podcast! Send us a DM or email at hello@advdes.org to provide us with your thoughts and comments on our dialogue with designers!