Unless you mistyped your computer password, maybe alright day.
Could be worse, or even a password reset.
Nice to meet you,
Now that I sparked your curiosity, might as well stay for one more page.
Yay! You made it this far, so here is the long-awaited introduction. My story, my life, unfiltered, and what makes me Denise Son.
Well, for starters, I am a visual designer who loves to doodle and doodles (dogs) as well. Dog people are my people. It’s as simple as that.
I always knew the entrepreneur in me would take me far in life. I mean, I love working with creative humans preferably funny ones. They’re bold, fearless, risk takers, and action-driven just like myself. I boldly love life and have a million ideas on how to design the perfect canvas. But if I’m honest, having a community that thinks the same never sounds like a bad idea.
I create purposeful designs with intention, and impact. I’ve have curated a beautiful collection of good moments, good people, and good opportunities transformed into beautiful designs. I strive to be a leader, a mentor, and a good friend.
All for the simple hope, that all the good I have done for other eventually finds its way back to me.
Oh, and if I am not typing away behind a computer screen, you’ve probably encountered someone quite similar to me in your day-to-day life. (hopefully by choice)
I am the person who greets you with a good morning on a 7 am hike across the valley. The person who sits with her dog every day at the dog park to enjoy the sunset. The friend that lets you use her bogo coupon to save some money.
Notably, the person who sends memes or shares a fun story after the most unbelievable weekend to give her coworkers a morale boost. So if you’re looking for a witty, yet hardworking designer with a sprinkle of spice, unfiltered humor, and a kick of adrenaline.
Call it your lucky day, that’s me! and I come with my oddly awkward, yet cuddly athletic doodle named Chips. :))
It’s a good day,
to have a good day.
The dilemma of growing up in the Southwest.
My mom said I was a natural born dreamer, or specifically to get my head out of the clouds. She wondered who I took after, and to be honest it was my family. I am rich in life to grow up in a military family that values strength in intelligence, conversation, and community.
They gave me the strength to take the first seat at the table and to never underestimate my worth. Their sacrifices paved a way of opportunity and a profound appreciate to perspective. To be able to apply resilience as growth, and take rejection as redirection is embedded to my core.
I grew up hiking, fishing, running, and learned pretty much every survival skill that I have yet to maximize its use. I daydreamed about a life in the big city my entire childhood. I loved design, and it was the one thing that was truly mine, just me and my sketches tucked away in my backpack.
I asked myself, why couldn’t I be a part of that world as well? Growing up my Vietnamese mom would tell me to be a bit more realistic. That those opportunities only came to people in movies. But why couldn’t it be me? Why couldn’t a girl that looked like me, pursue STEM?
I wanted more in life, I craved more in life, I felt alive with design. I loved art, and it loved me back; this love for it took me to places, and garnered a community of “good” people in my lifetime.
I felt in my soul that I was made for the mountains. The irony of loving technology is that I sometimes felt like I was living a double life. I grew up in Goodyear, Arizona tickled away from the city, but I couldn’t help it; I loved design.
It all started with just doodles in my school notebook, but I wasn’t satisfied with keeping it tucked away. I wanted to see it in person; I tried to breathe life into my design to share it with the rest of the world. Not just my sisters! (very biased opinions, for obvious reason)
I love tech, and tech
sure loves me.
I learn softwares quick, maybe it’s the problem solving side of my brain, but I was extremely gifted at it. Growing up in an Chinese, Vietnamese, Cambodian immigrant household who owned a local business that knew everyone. I managed the finances, worked late shifts, picked up the phone calls, ran the errands, and learned that complaining gets you nowhere. Some may argue, it built character development for me.
Something about doing managerial accounting,
at 14 in Vietnamese, really humbles the life out of you.
My family are natural born entrepreneurs, and I assume it was in my blood as well.
A once decorated Vietnamese Air Force family, that assisted US troops during the Vietnam war as fighter pilots. My grandparents left their dreams, to immigrate to the United States with nothing. My grandpa traded flying fighter planes for odd factory jobs below the poverty line. Why? Because he loved me, and wanted me to have a seat at that table one day, not clean it.
So when there’s a problem in life, I always figure it out. I was Ms. Figure-it-out, I just do and by pure luck it always works out for me. Some call it insanity, in my family we call it resilience.
As my mom would say, “be better than me, remember you have a choice.” I didn’t realize it until I got older, that my family sacrificed their whole life working nonstop. It was never a choice, just a matter of survival. So that my only problem in life, was to figure out what I wanted to be when I grew up.
Being a leader meant more than building “pretty” designs,
I wanted to be a good person before I became a good designer.
I mentored and learned from talented industry leaders, collaborating with amazing clients that truly believed in my work. They molded me into leading and communicating with intention. They paved an environment that cultivated my success and I will always be in debt to that kindness.
I rethink, adapt, and advocate for new ways. The world is always changing and it is my role as a designer to learn and listen. Every design I create is imbued with intention and purpose, pushing the boundaries of what’s possible in the digital design realm.
So what happened
in college?
Well I went to business school studying economics with the hopes of being a financial accountant. Then came to a hard realization, that I love being creative. Maybe all I wanted to do my whole life was design ideas that mattered. So I became the person I needed most my whole life.
With that, I received my Bachelor’s of Science from Ira. Fulton Schools of Engineering in Graphic Information Technology. With a primary concentration in Business (Economics), and secondary concentration in Digital Design & Print Publication.
Becoming the first in my bloodline to proudly say I am a woman in STEM. My dreams are big because I dream for all the generations that come before me.
Life’s better with Chips
If you had asked six-year-old me what she wanted most in the world, she would have said a Golden Doodle named Chips.
Fast forward to adulthood, and with my very adult money, I brought home the most loving doodle in existence and named him Chips. Made a family poll between the name Muffin vs Chips.
Well you can guess the rest of that story. He’s the love I knew I needed in my 20s.
Chips became my passenger prince, my silly boy, and my adventure buddy. Before I knew it, my world and my adventures revolved around this smiley boy.
The craziest thing is that he will never know how much I love him and how he changed my life. My weekends and days are spent cuddling, cooking, and taking this goofy boy everywhere with me.
He is my soul dog and the reason I see so much color in this world.
