Hi everyone!

We're excited to introduce a new section of our newsletter titled, Industry Spotlight, written by Arthur Jensen! ✨

With our Industry Spotlight, we want to share the amazing things our community is doing — from career wins to personal passions. It’s a chance to tell unique stories, get inspired, gain valuable advice, and keep our community connected.

We hope you enjoy our very first edition 🙂 

Industry Spotlight: Andres Muñoz 🎓

Meet Andres Muñoz, graduate of Santa Monica College’s Interaction Design program (Class of 2023). Today, he is thriving as a Content Specialist at Snapchat. His journey there is anything but linear.

Q: What first drew you to design?

Andres: I actually studied Industrial Design in Venezuela, but due to the political crisis, I couldn’t finish my program. When I moved to the U.S., school was a priority. Design stood out to me as a career because it’s about communicating with people and solving problems for them. There’s beauty in making interactions more symbiotic. I loved it. 

Q: What was life like in Venezuela before you discovered SMC’s Interaction Design program?

Andres: When I was in Venezuela, the economy collapsed, and millions of people were displaced. When I left, all my friends were leaving the country. People were working just to survive. It became so bad that basic resources like toilet paper, milk, and eggs were becoming scarce. The country was used to being wealthy before. I grew up with the mentality of wanting to attend school, go to college, and get a stable job like everyone does in the United States. I had to give everything up once the crisis hit the country. I went to Colombia, worked in construction, then to Ecuador, worked as a barista, and I eventually moved to the United States, where I earned a welding certification and worked as a metal fabricator. At one point, I worked 5 pm to 5 am at SpaceX while taking seven classes for IxD in the day. That was grueling. I wanted to quit multiple times, but the love for my family kept me going. 

Q: How did your time in the Interaction Design program shape your path and eventually lead you to Snapchat?

Andres: In the program, my professors were my mentors for different areas of design. I loved the class, Design for the Future, because I learned a lot about 3D work and current trends. I felt like the classes were talking about what’s current and what we're living through.

I applied to Snapchat’s Lens Academy during my junior year, but I wasn’t able to get in. During my last semester at the IxD program, I participated in Snapchat’s Lens Challenge, and this time I’d sharpened my skills in Blender and Lens Studio. I didn’t win, but I stood out enough to get accepted into Snap’s Lens Academy, a 9-week apprenticeship program. From there, I networked and kept in contact with one of the Snap mentors I met during the program. I reached out to this mentor after Lens Academy and let him know how much I loved the work. It turned out he needed someone for a new Snap product with my skill set. I created lenses and led the design and creative process. From there, I contracted them for a year and transitioned to a full-time role at the beginning of 2025. 

Q: That sounds like investing in your own skills and networking paid off. Congrats on the new role! What is your work like at Snap?

Andres: Thank you! Honestly, I love it. I get to keep learning new skills and never feel stagnant. One of my proudest contributions has been helping scale our partner network. We went from 15 partners to over 100. I built backend processes that made that growth possible, and now I manage requests and distribute work seamlessly through the system I designed. It’s rewarding to see the impact of something I built from the ground up. 

What I really value is the agency I have. With that freedom comes responsibility. You need to keep improving your work and advocating for your ideas. When I first joined, my role was different, but I noticed ways to automate parts of the system. That led me to build internal tools that transformed how we work. For example, creating a lens used to take a month, but with the templates I built, I can streamline the production process. That process-oriented mindset is valued at Snapchat.

Q: What’s your advice for current students in the Interaction Design program?

Andres: The cheat code for life is simple: follow your dreams. I know it sounds cliché, but it’s true. School exposes you to a lot of different things, and it’s your job to figure out why you love them. When you love what you’re doing, you naturally invest yourself in it. And when you’re fully invested, that’s when you get good. That’s when the work stops feeling like work.

If you’re only chasing a diploma, you’re wasting your time. Hiring managers can tell when someone is just checking boxes. When you are able to speak with passion, people notice, and they will want to help you achieve your goals. And I have to thank After Hours for creating a community and connecting people. That kind of support system makes all the difference.

Our very special thanks to Andres for taking the time to answer our questions. Stay tuned for our next Industry Spotlight!

If you are interested in being featured in our Industry Spotlight or would like to nominate someone, please email us at [email protected]

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