Trade Tales

Even though Eva Bradley and Alicia Cheung Lichtenstein grew up halfway across the world (hailing from Switzerland and California, respectively) their first encounters within the walls of a lauded San Francisco design firm made it clear that they were destined to be working partners. After departing to start their own business, their two-person design process proved to be seamless. They’d fallen in...

Nina Magon entered the interior design industry with an instinct for the business side of things—whether it was employing her design school professors to pitch in on projects for her just-launched firm, or later using her rooky status on a design TV show to scale up her portfolio. As her firm enters the next phase, she’s focused on finding ways to shape up her team and her business’s back-end to p...

Erin Gates has a special talent for identifying untapped potential: She started her own firm geared toward young professionals in Boston in 2007, finding great success among an underserved clientele; she was also an early design blogger, part of a shift that would transform the design industry (and send her own career skyrocketing). In this episode, the Wellesley, Massachusetts–based designer expl...

Rachel Halvorson started her firm in the wake of the recession, and found sudden success with celebrity clients and magazine covers all in the first years of her business. As she’d come to find out, establishing boundaries would be the only way to keep her fast-growing project pipeline from spilling over into all-out chaos. This episode is sponsored by Daniel House Club. LINKS Rachel Halvorson Kai...

Delia Kenza rose quickly through the world of design when a chance encounter landed her home in the pages of a magazine. While her business benefited from the structure of design platform Homepolish in its early years, going out on her own would mean establishing systems to help her firm keep up with the rising popularity—and making sure those same processes would anchor her firm for the long haul...

When Meg Lonergan embarked on her design career, it seemed that her biggest hurdle was demonstrating to the rest of the design industry that despite her nontraditional education and early career experiences, she was just as talented and qualified as any other successful firm owner. Then, a near-total firm meltdown during the pandemic led her to a stunning realization: The biggest obstacle standing...

After launching Foley & Cox in 2002, Michael Cox and his partner Mary Foley led the business through every high and low the industry had in store—including a recession, periods of rapid growth and multiple generations of clients—and refined their processes bit by bit with each new challenge and achievement. Now, the firm has fixed its focus on an even greater goal: finding new ways to nurture the...

Shaun Crha’s career kicked off with a steady rise into the high-stakes world of banking. When the stress of the job nearly pushed him to a breaking point in his health, however, he decided to instead pursue a calling that aligned more closely with his values, and soon combined his business acumen with a long-overlooked creative spark to start his own design business. Just when the firm hit its pea...

Lucy O’Brien has never been afraid to go after what she wants—before she’d even booked her first clients, she showed up to High Point Market entirely on her own to learn from the industry’s best before embarking on a career in design. Which is why, during the first few years of her firm’s existence, she decided to transform her business’s operations with the goal of only taking on ideal clients an...

Amy Sklar’s early career was a full-circle journey that took her from design to show business and back again. When she finally landed at the helm of her own firm after starting her career within the strict confines of an architecture firm, she thrived on the ability to instate a supportive work culture and take on projects that place a premium on comfort and functionality. The financial side of th...

Like many designers, Ashley Ross left a successful corporate career in order to pursue her dreams of design—a history she’s shared with her dedicated online following. What those followers didn’t know, however, is that her previous chapter didn’t end as early as she’d initially let on. In this conversation, she explains why staying aligned with her original commitment to authenticity meant dismant...

As an expat born and raised in Kuwait, Rydhima Brar’s career was defined in large part by visa restrictions for more than a decade. Working in marketing and business strategy roles, she kept changing industries—from banking and finance to gaming and beauty—hoping that a new category would ignite her passion for the work, but each role left her unfulfilled. After a series of major life changes fina...

Nina Magon entered the interior design industry with an instinct for the business side of things—whether it was employing her design school professors to pitch in on projects for her just-launched firm, or later using her rooky status on a design TV show to scale up her portfolio. As her firm enters the next phase, she’s focused on finding ways to shape up her team and her business’s back-end to p...

Following a first career in law, Clara Jung became accustomed to a cutthroat, high pressure work environment. When she left her life as an attorney for a shot at interior design, she decided to do things a little differently. Now, at the helm of Banner Day Interiors, she’s crafting a work culture focused on employee growth and support, while also figuring out how to structure a firm that can run o...

Lauren Caron’s visual merchandising career kicked off with a long-term plan for climbing the corporate ladder at elite department store Bergdorf’s. Thanks to a lot of hard work, however, her dream came a little sooner than she expected—and turned out to be a little bit of a nightmare as well. Burnt out and in desperate need of a creative career that would give her control over the boundaries betwe...

Gala Magriñá’s early career years taught her to think about design as it applied to a wide variety of spaces. As a visual merchandiser by day and a set designer by night, she created spaces for store windows, showrooms and retail shops as well as music videos and film sets. Her experience soon spawned the creation of a do-it-all agency—one that Magrina has since whittled down into a holistic inter...

For years, Kevin Isbell was the right-hand man for top interior designers from coast to coast. Eventually, it came time to take what he’d learned and embark on a new journey at the helm of his own firm—a sink-or-swim moment that revealed just how daunting the route to design leader can be. In this episode, he shares how he found his footing as design principal and enlisted a support system to help...

Alvin Wayne spent years juggling a double career in luxury retail and interior design. But when the pandemic happened, he was hit with a realization: it was finally time to wholeheartedly pursue his passion for interiors. Now, he’s committed to crafting a firm that serves him best—between his penchant for shopping retail, his streamlined client vetting process and his growing social media presence...

When searching for a potential career, Tina Ramchandani set off in search of an “aha” moment—and she finally found it in the stunning interiors of an opulent hotel. The realization sent her on a path through design school, positions at both commercial and residential firms, and finally at the helm of her own firm, where she’s helping clients channel their own instincts to create emotionally-connec...

Interior design was basically the family business for Meagan Camp, whose mother, grandparents and even great-grandparents all worked as design professionals. Though she worked as a stylist for nearly a decade, Camp couldn’t escape the pull of creating enduring spaces and eventually started a firm of her own. From there, she committed to doing things her own way—from quitting social media to redefi...

When DuVäl Reynolds realized interior design was the career path for him, he went all-in—working a full time day job, attending design school at night and starting a fledgling firm along the way. The real work began when he started developing the finer points of his firm—including the clients he worked best with, an ideal support staff, and the side projects that put his personal aesthetic to the...

Virginia Toledo always knew she was fated for a career in interiors. Jessica Geller, meanwhile, took a more winding road into the industry. When the two crossed paths, it was the start of a winning partnership—and despite taking significant hits during the recession and the pandemic, their design business bounced back stronger each time. Now, the duo is navigating a new period of significant growt...

After a decade in the  fashion industry left her feeling unfulfilled, Linda Hayslett was looking for a new way to channel her creativity. When she finally switched gears to pursue interior design, she made it her mission to take control of her career. In this episode, she shares why overseeing projects from construction to completion has been a top priority, and how she’s getting intentional about...

Erin Gates has a special talent for identifying untapped potential: She started her own firm geared toward young professionals in Boston in 2007, finding great success among an underserved clientele; she was also an early design blogger, part of a shift that would transform the design industry (and send her own career skyrocketing). In this episode, the Wellesley, Massachusetts–based designer expl...

When Nicole White left her first career in journalism to go all-in on design, she ran straight into a scenario even more frightening than hurricane-chasing and crime reporting—starting a small business at the beginning of the recession. She took whatever odd jobs she could get as she recovered financially from the risk, before taking the leap a second time. Nearly a decade later, she’s sharing a f...