While attending UNT's College of Visual Arts and Design as an interior design major, Arielle Yearby ('11) painted the walls of her off-campus apartment "a deep, rich orchid." Obsessed with color for as long as she can remember, Yearby recalls a flipbook from her youth where she could change the colors of things in a living room and experiment with color palettes.

"Color is one of the most influential things," says Yearby. "It draws us into any aspect of life."

Today, the walls of her apartment in Portland, Oregon, are colored floor to ceiling with a collection of over 100 pairs of Nike sneakers.

After about two years of being a color & materials designer on the team that opened the sportswear company Asics' Boston office and getting to travel to their headquarters in Kobe, Japan several times, Yearby encountered an opportunity at a similar-yet-broader brand, Nike.

Yearby landed a design position in 2019, moving coast to coast to the Nike World Headquarters in Beaverton, Oregon. Now, she is a lead color designer for men's performance basketball footwear at the Fortune 500 company.

'One Thing or the Other'

Before committing to the rigorous interior design program at UNT, Yearby was forced to leave behind a life of track and field after a car accident the summer before her freshman year.

Unable to balance the schedules of recovery, being a walk-on athlete and UNT's art school, she ultimately decided to focus on her artistic passions.

Sports were a big part of Yearby's life while growing up in Houston. She worked at the YMCA during high school and was a star track and field athlete. Running hurdles and relays were where she performed best, but she also holds a heart for basketball.

"Everybody has duality," says Yearby. "I'm not one thing or the other."

After graduating from UNT, Yearby moved back home and was hired as a  designer at the Restoration Hardware location in The Gallery at Highland Village. After the position evolved into sales, she left Texas and further explored her talents by getting a master's degree in industrial design at the Savannah College of Art and Design.

She began her color, materials and finish career at Fiat Chrysler Automobiles in Michigan. After working on the Chrysler 200 and 300 models for two years, she returned to Texas to work for Dell, Inc. While nearing the end of her contract developing new hues for laptops, desktops and servers, she discovered the opportunity to resurrect her love for running by designing footwear for Asics.

Leaving Asics was one of the toughest decisions in her career, but she saw more room to grow at Nike and now gets to work with inspiring athletes across many sports designing the products she has always felt the most "comfortable and confident in wearing."

Her projects at Nike have allowed her to re-utilize her sporting interests and combine them with her artistic gifts.

Giving Back

In the last six years, Yearby has been able to work on many rewarding projects. Her favorite thus far has been designing a shoe to honor the first Black shoe designer to work for the company, Wilson Smith.

On her orientation day at Nike, Smith spoke to Yearby's class and he instantly became one of her inspirations. When the opportunity came along to pay homage, she worked diligently with her team to create a shoe based on one of Smith's childhood drawings.

Including every detail, Yearby incorporated a quote from Smith's favorite scripture -- one she holds dear to her heart, Philippians 2:3: "In humility, count others more significant than yourselves" -- on the sole of the final product, which hit retail shelves with the name "Thank You, Wilson."

Yearby has always held faith to a high importance. Her favorite memory from her time at UNT was a senior capstone project where she collaborated with Pastor Larry Willis at Morse St. Baptist Church to help redesign and enhance many aspects of the building.

"It was a way for me to use my skills and give back," says Yearby, referring to the church that helped guide her through life and struggles as a college student. "I really value that."

Open to Opportunity

Despite focusing on interior design at UNT, Yearby has spent the majority of her career outside of the industry and applying the technical skills she acquired from her major and minor in marketing to various professions.

"Just because you started off in one space does not mean it can't carry you to other things," Yearby says. "I'm really proud of that."