Design Thinking: As PwC's Chief Creative Officer, Juan Morales Designs a Brand New Business Approach

It's not every day that a former graffiti artist makes Partner at PwC. But that's just what happened last year when Juan Morales became the first creative executive in PwC's history to make Partner. He joined PwC through an acquisition four years ago. As Chief Creative Officer, he is tasked with bringing design thinking—and creative talent—into the firm. Morales sat down with Consulting to discuss design, his career path and PwC's Experience Center, a place where PwC's different disciplines come together—tax, accounting, and consulting—to collaborate and solve clients' challenges.

Consulting: Let's start here: How do you go from graffiti artist to PwC Partner? 

Morales: Well, I've always had a love and passion for art. When I got to my rebellious age, I guess graffiti was that outlet for me. I developed a real passion for it, and it was more organized than you'd think. I had a group of friends and we'd spend a lot of time discussing the projects and its goals so it was really almost a creative director role all the way back then. Eventually, that passion had to turn into a real job and that's when I started to study design seriously. In university, my graffiti background was helpful when it came to studying graphic design. I began in advertising, but I got to the point where I was sort of looking to put my talents to use for a more meaningful purpose, so when my company was acquired by PwC it was exactly what I was looking for. It definitely wasn't the typical path to Partner, but when I look back I realize all the things happened in the right order for me to end up where I am now.