Her Story
About Stacey
My career has been anything but a straight path, which is something I always share when I mentor high school and college students. I started in engineering, then finished with a communications, business, and television background, graduating in 2000. I immediately moved to New York City to work in broadcast television for about three and a half years because I wanted to be in front of the camera, but when I was told I'd have to leave the city to advance, I stayed and pivoted to advertising instead. I learned all the graphic design tools and applications at an ad agency, doing advertising, marketing, and communications work. When I started my family, I couldn't work 50-plus hours a week anymore, so I worked for myself for a few years as a branding and marketing specialist with private clients. I slowly started doing interiors projects on the side while living in Montreal with my young family, and I became obsessed with it. When we moved back to the States, I only searched for interiors positions. I worked at a couple of construction firms local to Rochester, New York, and also at a high-end luxury residential firm that only had like 2 clients but lots of houses to design. Then COVID hit and that work paused, so I worked independently for 3 years doing interiors and some light branding. I realized I couldn't make the type of community-facing, public-facing impact I wanted as an independent designer, which is why I started looking to be hired at a firm. I've been at my current firm for 3 years now, leading a team of 9 designers. We focus 80% on education design, but also do commercial and affordable housing. My specialty is interpreting the end user's needs and putting that into a 3D space - figuring out what our client's story is, what branding or color or intentional aspects we're trying to convey through our designs. I absolutely love what I do and don't feel like I work. Recently, I was asked by the TV show America by Design to be one of their presenters on air, and since last September I've done about 12 different stories with them. It's been one of the most exciting highlights of my career because I get to geek out as both a viewer and a fellow designer about material selection, the story behind it, and the construction process.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Stacey
01What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
Don't be quiet. Find the people who see you, because those people are going to help and encourage and guide you, and they're going to be there your entire career. Keep moving towards the things that excite you. You might try something out, it might not be perfect, but there's something pulling you, and you're supposed to go in that direction, so you have to listen. I share with my mentees that my career was not a straight path by any means - I've had to adapt at every career pivot, learning new experiences but then mastering them at each stage. I think there are some things that can't be taught, and you learn them through the School of Hard Knocks.
02What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
I think the constant challenge is to just have a seat at the table with everyone else - all the mechanical people, all the architectural people, all the project managers - just to have an equal voice in that. I have a habit of picking things that are traditionally female and then considered not as important as the male component. Sometimes it's like, oh yeah, that's just a decorator, right? It's kind of a poo-pooed position. I grew up playing hockey, which was always a man's sport, and people are surprised to learn that I played hockey. I guess I enjoy the challenge of being in a non-traditional role where you do have to speak up, and you have to make extra effort to be heard. I feel like Interiors has that kind of charge - you have to make your voice heard, because your voice is extremely important to the final product.
Keep Exploring
More Influential Women · New York
Join Influential Women and start making an impact. Register now.