11: Mexican Graphic Designer & Illustrator Lila Miller Espinosa

Draws in Spanish | Conversations with Latinx Visual Artists and Designers

This week’s guest originally went to school for Behavioral Psychology before finding her way to graphic design. Lila Miller Espinosa is a Brooklyn-based Mexican graphic designer and illustrator who currently works as the Digital Design Manager at Parkwood Entertainment — aka Beyoncé — while running her Spanish-language newsletter Bonita Semana.

After years of being a working psychologist, Lila spontaneously decided to follow her then-boyfriend to the US after finding out she qualified for U.S. citizenship through ancestry. With a U.S. passport in hand, Lila moved to NYC with only $1,000 to her name.

After 3 months of job-searching, she landed a job as an Office Manager at TimeHop. From there, she made major moves to end up as the Digital Design Manager at Parkwood Entertainment.

In this episode, we go over how Lila seized opportunities to become a brand designer, how she launched Bonita Semana, her tips for breaking into the design world, and whether or not she’s met Queen Bey herself.

Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, Stitcher, iHeartRadio, or on your favorite podcast platform.

Guest Info

Check out Lila’s Instagram, Portfolio, and Subscribe to Bonita Semana.

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Topics Covered:

1. Resisting creativity by choosing a practical career path
2. Working full-time as a psychologist after graduating with a Behavioral Psychologist degree
3. Breaking into design through UX/UI Design
4. Moving to the US with $1,000 dollars to her name
5. Experiencing culture shock moving from Monterrey to New York City
6. Struggling with Imposter Syndrome since she doesn’t have a formal design background
7. Launching her Spanish-language newsletter Bonita Semana
8. Landing her role at Parkwood Entertainment as the Digital Design Manager
9. Working on IVY PARK with the Adidas Team
10. If she’s met Beyonce herself
11. Her favorite Latinx designers
12. Advice for people trying to break into the graphic design industry
13. Having no shame around self-promotion
14. Disputing negative Mexican stereotypes