Meet a Nuggeteer: Ghenwa

Between scheming and dreaming about future Nugget colors and quality testing our product for Certified Nuggety level durability, Product Designer Ghenwa took a moment to check in and share about her role at Team GG. She started her career young as a tinkerer and explorer – read on to learn about her current work!

Ghenwa, can you describe your job in a way that kids ages 1 to 101 can understand?

When you’re coloring in a coloring book and you choose which colors you want to complete the art piece – that’s what I do for Nugget, to make sure that all of our colors look good together and are fun, exciting, and new! I also work on making our products as awesome and Certified Nuggety as possible. With all of my work, it’s about exploring new things, making observations, and trying again.

What’s the best part of your job?

I love that I learn something new every day from all the teams across the company. A favorite memory is definitely when I saw my first prototype be made. It was so cool to see something I sketched and designed on a computer screen come to life.

Any advice for kids interested in your career path of product development?

Be curious. You’ll have to learn as you go, so remaining curious will help you! You’ll need to know how things work, so take things apart, study them, and observe other people’s work. 

I always admired art and design. When I was trying to decide what to do for my career, I did two years of engineering but decided I wanted to do something a bit more creative and technical, so I ended up studying industrial design, which was a perfect fusion between creativity and functionality. With industrial design, you develop an empathy for people because it’s really user focused. 

What were you like as a kid?

I was really quiet. I liked reading and puzzles – oh, and learning languages, that was number one! It’s always come easy to me. Now, I speak four languages: Arabic, English, French and Spanish. I grew up in Syria so I grew up speaking Arabic. I have a lot of cousins, and growing up, we’d go to Grandma’s yard and just play outside. My brother and I were really into a ball run toy we had, and also Legos.

What’s your favorite Nugget color?

Willow! Lolly has a special place in my heart though, because that was the first color project where I managed the process. That felt like such a big moment.

How many Nuggets do you have, and what are your favorite builds?

I have one, in Stardust. I won the naming contest for Willow but gave that to my sister! And my favorite build is what I call the hammock – it’s so comfy.

Any favorite books or movies growing up?

I was obsessed with Winnie the Pooh growing up. That was my favorite book! And for movies, it would have to be Disney Pixar’s collection, especially Ratatouille. 

What do you like to do outside of work?

I like exploring local coffee and pastry shops around the area. I also love traveling and going to art museums. My favorite art museum in Raleigh is the NC Museum of Art, they do outdoor movies in the summertime and that’s really cool. There’s another museum called The Gregg by NC State (her alma mater).

Thank you, Ghenwa, for your creativity, passion, and endless curiosity. You make every day at Nugget more fun!