Arianna Llerandi Excels in JWU’s Three-Year Design Program

“Growing up, my mom always told me that whatever I decided to do — whether I became a janitor or a doctor — I should do it with passion,” says Arianna Llerandi Sanabria ’28. “That stuck with me and has stayed in my mind for a long time.”

Currently a student in JWU’s three-year bachelor’s program in Design, Llerandi took a very untraditional path to college, largely because she wanted to take her mom’s advice and find her passion. 

Growing up in Venezuela, she would often change her mind about what career she wanted to pursue. Her quest to find what she was passionate about led Llerandi to take some time off after graduating from high school. She came to stay with family in the United States, satisfying her love of travel with time spent living in Pennsylvania, Florida, Washington state, Ohio and eventually Rhode Island.

She worked for a network marketing company, managing and teaching an e-commerce academy that taught users how to build online stores. While it was successful, she knew it wasn’t her passion. But when she moved into designing digital products for the company, she realized she had finally found the thing that lit a spark in her: Design.

In 2023, Llerandi started her online business, Everbloom Moments, where she designs and sells editable templates for baby shower invitations, games and more. It was a side hustle that quickly became her main focus, but she knew she had to up her skills.

“Basically, it was either become a self-taught graphic designer or have someone guide me,” she said. “At first, I purchased a course on Adobe, and I loved it. But then I still had that feeling inside of ‘What's next? I don't have anyone guiding me.’”

“If you want to do the three-year program, you need to have a vision of what you want to do after you graduate. The program is really specific, and you're not going to have time to explore and play around with your courses — it's really focused.”

After talking it over with her family, Llerandi decided that going back to school was the right move. Since she had set roots in Rhode Island and didn’t want to leave, she started researching schools in the area. 

“JWU’s Three-Year Design program caught my eye because it was focused on what I needed,” says Llerandi. “It has the branding, it has web design and I'm not taking all those extra courses.” 

A tour of campus and sitting in on a design class sealed the deal. “I visited a class with Professor Tim Cox, and he was really nice,” Llerandi recalls. “What I liked the most about that class was when he was teaching; he wouldn’t move forward until everyone was on the same page. That was what I was looking for, because I already had some knowledge, but I did not have that person next to me, guiding me, and that's what I got with him. When I left that class, I thought ‘This is the university I'm looking for.’”

She enrolled in Fall 2025 and added an Entrepreneurship minor to her degree to help level up her business skills. As she comes to the end of her first year at JWU, Llerandi has some advice for other students who may be interested in a three-year degree.

“If you want to do the three-year program, you need to have a vision of what you want to do after you graduate,” she says. “The program is really specific, and you're not going to have time to explore and play around with your courses — it's really focused.”

That focus has already helped her with the end-goal of expanding her business. She has spent the last two semesters using her courses and Work-Integrated Learning (WIL) hours to build her portfolio, network and design skill set. Llerandi spent time working with a real client to develop their brand and website. “I was able to work with Associate Professor Deana Marzocchi and Professor Cox on the logo, and adjunct instructor Eugene Santos helped me start the website process and also showed me how to create a contract,” she says. “It was a great experience, and I'm grateful for the opportunity.” 

“Starting a business is hard, but it's beautiful.”

Llerandi has also been building her business pitch for expanding Everbloom Moments by working with The Launch Pad Club, JWU’s student entrepreneurship organization. She pitched her plan to the community at the recent JWU Sharkfest entrepreneurship competition. Currently, her digital products are focused on the baby shower niche, but her plan includes expanding into children’s birthdays, weddings, bridal showers and even unique, trending themes like divorce parties.

“Starting a business is hard, but it's beautiful,” says Llerandi. “You have a lot of ups and downs — it's never going to be linear and it's always going to be unexpected, but it’s exciting. It also shows you who's going to support you and clap for you. Some people don't have your mindset, and that's okay. Keep pushing because in the end, it's going to be worth it.”

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