Meet Cindy | UX Designer & Content Creator

We had the good fortune of connecting with Cindy and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Cindy, what led you to pursuing a creative path professionally?
When I was little, every time someone asked me what I wanted to be, I would always answer some creative career, like “Fashion Designer or Interior Designer”. Ironically, a creative career was not something I started out with originally. I was the typical NSM student in undergrad at UH, taking core biology classes to fulfill my path of getting into pharmacy school. Healthcare was always on my mind. I was and still am surrounded by so many family members in healthcare, so it was hard to see myself doing anything else for a living.

I picked pharmacy because I found myself queasy at the site of blood and gore, but I never understood what passion for a career felt like. I remember asking around my friends how they found their passion, but I never could find an answer I related with. Nevertheless, I convinced myself that I had passion for pharmacy because it seemed like a career I could be content in. And I was too far into the journey to change paths. Once I got into pharmacy school, I met the most amazing people that I would have to say will be my friends for life. As for the lecture courses itself, it was interesting information but I always found myself daydreaming of more.

I found out about UX Design in my first year of pharmacy school unexpectedly, and the more I learned about it, the more I started to love it. It was a career that combined research and design, which was unheard of before for me. I found myself dabbling in design programs trying to create app layouts (although my first few designs were nothing worthy to show off yet). I started to create visual flyers for my school organization and loved it so much I often found myself losing track of time in creating them. It didn’t take me until my second year in to decide to leave pharmacy school completely and pursue UX Design full-time. I wasn’t doing too well in school, and took it as a sign to pursue what I enjoyed doing more. It was a scary and huge change, but it truly felt like a weight lifted off my shoulders, and inspired me to start content creating again on my shared food Instagram account (@cl2foodies) and on my main account (@cindyy_rella). I quickly realized I enjoy creating content that makes people feel inspired and maybe even chuckle once or twice.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
Although I realized pharmacy and healthcare wasn’t for me, I appreciate my time there so much. I learned so much about myself personally and professionally, and I have so much respect for the healthcare professionals. They do so much with what they are given and they deal with a lot of burn out, pressures, and stress. Please recognize this the next time you visit a healthcare professional!

Aside from my background, I do think I am quite meticulous with what I create. When I make a reel or TikTok, if it doesn’t excite me or feel perfect, it simply stays in the drafts. I try to think of what struggles we all can relate to and face and try to make something funny or entertaining out of it. I think that’s the best way to connect and go through struggles together with everyone. I also enjoy creating aesthetic visuals, whether it’s UX Design or content, that is accessible and inclusive. I think companies lately are realizing the importance of accessibility in design and content, which is such a big W to becoming more inclusive.

I have a couple things to share about what I learned from my journey. The first thing is don’t be afraid to take risks. Whether you don’t like your job, your major, or where you are, the best part about life is you can try things out and change your mind at any time in the game. It’s never too late and don’t play into the sunk cost fallacy. You’ll never have regrets if you choose what makes you happy! The second thing is something I will always remember from my favorite streamer, Valkyrae! The four key things to growth is: Time, Effort, Consistency, and Perspective.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
Hey best friend, are you into food? Hiking? Art museums? Hiking was a trick question because mountains don’t exist in Houston. But I have recommendations for the other two options! (Hopefully you didn’t pick hiking)

I have to say, we are very proud of our food scene. You’d probably need more than a week to try out all the best places in town. So for now, I’ll just share some of my favorites — there’s way more other places that I probably haven’t had the chance to try yet though!

My favorite sushi place within budget would have to be Iwa Ya in Chinatown! Free miso soup, free red bean dessert and the sushi is so fresh I think I’m actually drooling now. Favorite high-end sushi would be Uchi. Fun fact: DJ Khaled went here! Don’t miss out on their omakase. Honestly, you can’t visit Houston without checking out our Chinatown. It is very large and very fun.

Now for art museums, definitely check out our Museum of Fine Arts. I literally have to visit an art museum in every city I travel to, and ours is really artsy you can’t miss out. There’s also a Contemporary Arts Museum across the street as well and the Kinder Building.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
Making a 180-degree career transition was huge for me, and without knowing anyone in UX Design, I felt like I was paving my own path and figuring literally everything out from scratch. It wasn’t easy, and although I feel so much happier now, this journey is still long and I have much more to accomplish.

I really could not have transitioned through everything without the support of my boyfriend, close friends, new design friends, family, and my parents. I was so afraid of disappointing their expectations, but in the end they voiced their support and truly just wanted me to happy in my career and life.

And to the people who knew me from a distance, but reached out to voice their support during my career change, thank you so much! It feels amazing to feel so supported and loved.

Finally, thank you to all my followers, supporters, and viewers. All your support really reaffirms the content I create and I am so grateful for our community. Looking forward to sharing much more content!

Website: https://linktr.ee/cindyy_rella

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cindyy_rella/

Other: TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@cindyy.rella?lang=en Foodie IG: https://www.instagram.com/cl2foodies/