Johanna Medina
Creative Designer, General Motors
Detroit, Michigan

When you get into your car and strap on your seatbelt, you probably don’t pay much attention to the car seat upholstery or the kind of fabric of which your seat belt is made. Behind every detail of your car’s interior, however, is a creative mind like Johanna Medina, Creative designer of GMC Color and Trim, who makes such decisions on a car’s interior and exterior design elements. She’s also a rising Latina star to watch in the STEM field.

In her role, Medina has played a part in the success of GMC crossover cars such as the Terrain and Acadia, and most recently, the 2013 GMC Acadia and Acadia Denali, which was the first program she was in charge of since joining GM almost four years ago. She started her career at GM in 2008 after graduating from North Carolina State University with a Bachelor of Science in Textile Design & Technology and earning an Associate of Arts in Architecture at Miami Dade College.

“I’m responsible for working with our interior and exterior studios to make sure finishes on inside and outside of the portfolio of each vehicle speak to each other and harmonize,” Medina says. Ensuring that every aspect of a car’s interior and exterior are cohesive and specific to GMC, she directs the color, finish and material choices. Additionally, she says, “I design the materials themselves so the leather color, texture on the leather, and the color and brush pattern are correct for the brand.”

Every day is different for Medina. Illustrating what she often finds herself doing on any given day. “I could spend a couple of hours a day at my computer sketching ideas or doing trend research, looking at what other design industries are doing at the moment and forecast where those industries are going in the future. I could be looking at architecture, interiors, or consumer products like shoes and watches. The next minute I could be in a review with my leadership, proposing ideas. The next day, I could be going from meeting to meeting, meeting with purchasing to make sure my materials are being sourced and that the supplier is working on the correct pattern that needs to be specifically tailored to my vehicle.”

With such enthusiasm for what she does, you would think Medina always wanted a career in the automotive field, but she didn’t initially plan on it. She originally set out to work in the home furnishings industry, but couldn’t pass up the opportunity when she was recruited by GM while still in college. “Our studio does a lot of recruiting with people with different backgrounds, perspectives and points of view,” Medina says. She draws from her textile education every day on the job, which is to know how a fabric is made, and what makes one fabric more durable or easier to clean than another in order to decide what’s best for a family car. Like interior design, a car interior must be attractive and durable, and function is just as important as aesthetics. “An interior of a vehicle is the same as the interior of a house,” she says.

Medina credits being involved with Phi Psi, a business textile fraternity, while in college, as her biggest career influence, as she took advantage of mock interviews and networking opportunities before landing her dream job. What does she recommend for a young Latina following her footsteps? “Your best bet is to network as much as you possibly can, and get your name and work out there,” Medina says, who follows her own advice, and continues to network and meet new people through a local networking group, Detroit Young Professionals.