My Design Journey
It’s hard to believe that Halloween has passed and November is already here! I’ve put my gardens to bed for the winter and have started to get my house ready for the cocooning months that are just around the corner.
The beginning of November is also the anniversary of when we relocated to Dundas. In fact, as of November 1st, it’s been 6 years since I moved my business and our family to this area. I’m excited to say that I’ve officially spent half of my career as a designer in this area!
It’s hard to believe that 12 years ago I started my business. People thought I was crazy leaving the comfort and security of being a high school teacher. How was I going to get clients? Would I have the same fulfillment as I did as a teacher? How was I actually going to make money? That was all white noise in my mind and I kept pushing forward and registered my business name as Interior Intuition officially in 2008. To read the rest of my less-than-conventional journey to a career in design, head over to my latest blog post!
At that point in my life, I had a small baby and our oldest was just over 2 and had been just diagnosed with autism. I knew in my heart of hearts that being a Special Ed teacher was not in the cards for me anymore. I realized that in order to deal with my daily stresses a creative output was the strategy for me. While some would choose to take an art class on their creative pursuit, I, on the other hand, decided to dream big and pursue my true passion as a designer and become an entrepreneur.
Ever since I was a little girl, I always loved decorating and designing. To my benefit, my parents (namely my dad) loved house projects. We were often renovating and redecorating different parts of our house. When this was the case, I managed to designate myself as the lead consultant on each project. I loved every minute of it, and to toot my own horn, I even had an eye for design early on.
It’s funny how life takes you in so many different directions. As I reflect now in my forties, I see that my path to where I am now was always part of the plan. I know for sure that when my path changed direction over the course of my life, there were a lot of tears shed. I also know that my indirect path to design has provided me with a wealth of knowledge and understanding that I would never have had otherwise, if I hadn’t spent my earlier years studying and learning in fields other than design.