Emilia Matarese

I attribute my success to networking and always saying yes to opportunities. I do a lot of things at once and I'm always in a million places because I take on side projects. Once you do that side project and they love your work, they're going to give your name to someone else, and it just keeps snowballing. I've realized that networking and meeting all these new people is what's keeping me here. I say yes even if I don't think something is possible. I'll talk through designs, help people source furniture if they can't afford custom work, or even help someone pick out rugs for their entryway. All these things definitely snowball into more work. Always saying yes has been key to my growth.

I would tell them that it's okay to cry. I feel like not only is my job insanely hard, but you're also working for clients, and you're going to mess up, and it's going to stress you out. If you bottle it in, it's going to consume you. I know a lot of my coworkers struggle with this and they don't cry, and they end up just going to the bar and drinking or turning to other substances. But for me, the best way is just to cry and get it out. It doesn't show that you're weak. Take the 10 minutes, you messed up, let it out, and you'll have a clearer head instead of standing there being like 'oh my god, I'm gonna cry.' Women bring so much more to this field than men don't think about. We have a different perspective and a different way of looking at things. The fact that I'm there and can say 'well, actually, if we do it this way, it's a lot more efficient,' and they all scratch their heads wondering why they didn't think of it. Obviously, we're beneficial to the team. There's not a lot of us, but when we get in there, it's okay to cry. You can do it.

I think in my industry, I face a lot of people who doubt me, and I think that's just because of my age and my gender. They don't think that I am capable. I definitely push myself a lot harder because I know that I am, and I don't want to disappoint or set a bad example of women in the industry. If I'm at a job site and everyone's carrying sheets of drywall, I'm going to be there and I'm going to lift one up over my head. My arms are shaking, but then people are like 'oh, wow, she can do this.' I'm like, yeah, don't doubt me. I'm here to work and I know that I'm being paid as much as you, so I can do it. Don't try to do it for me because you think I'm not capable. I always face that every day, and I'll continue to face that within my career, but I like to prove people wrong.