Episode #43 - Interview with Jessica White

Join us on this episode of All-In Design, where we interview Jessica White of Hendon + Huckestein Architects. Jessica shares with us her love of herringbone , some of her favorite projects, and the great working environment of her firm. She also outlines how she got into interior design, the keys to success in the industry, and how (despite her parent's worries about the profession) she's never been unemployed.  

Transcript

SPEAKER_03 0:11

From the plus recording studios for IIDA Alabama. This is All in Design. Hello and welcome to All In Design, IDA Alabama's podcast. Thank you for listening. My name is Chad Moore here with my co-host Mark Griffo.

SPEAKER_05 0:33

Hey everybody.

SPEAKER_03 0:34

And today we have uh the one and the only person Mark's about to introduce.

SPEAKER_05 0:39

I was about to say, are you about to steal my job?

SPEAKER_03 0:42

Never, Mark.

SPEAKER_05 0:43

We do the we do the same thing every time, and Chad does that intro. And then we have a very professional intro. He does that intro, immediately hands it to me. And then I leave the room. I babble for a little bit, and then I hand it off to the guest to talk for about five minutes. So that's what we're gonna do.

SPEAKER_03 0:59

That's when we both leave the room.

SPEAKER_05 1:01

That's when we both, yeah. So we didn't give you that heads up. So just in case when we walk out, don't be surprised. Just keep talking. You don't want dead air. Nine minutes of Jessica. Nine minutes of just you going. That's what we should rename the episode. And then we got 90 minutes of Jessica.

SPEAKER_03 1:17

And then the outro music, and we're done.

SPEAKER_05 1:18

Yeah. It's really actually easy to make a podcast. People have no idea. Um that said, uh, she's already introduced herself, so both of you are stealing my job. Um I'm happy to introduce Jessica White from Hendon and Huckstein.

SPEAKER_08 1:32

You got it.

SPEAKER_05 1:33

Nailed it. Nailed it. She's an interior designer there and has been for nine and a half years, but I'm getting ahead of myself. Um, Jessica, the floor is yours. This is where we walk out and you just talk.

SPEAKER_02 1:44

Okay. This is where I start from birth, right?

SPEAKER_05 1:46

Yeah, start from birth.

SPEAKER_03 1:47

Yep. Yeah. Well, how did your parents meet? In college, actually.

SPEAKER_02 1:52

They did meet at college at Jacksonville State, um, where I did not go. I will start with Boaz High School, where I grew up in Boaz. Most people who know me know that because of my accent. It always comes up, where are you from?

SPEAKER_05 2:05

I was gonna say that, but the accent gives it away. Or there's a lot of jokes. Where are you from?

SPEAKER_02 2:12

When there's a when there's um really long emails, I like to make jokes like that's beyond my word count. We didn't we didn't learn to read three pages where I'm from.

SPEAKER_03 2:21

The books we had.

SPEAKER_05 2:23

Can we call and discuss this episode sponsored by the city of Boaz, Alabama?

SPEAKER_02 2:28

Plenty of jokes about that around the office. Um obviously grew up Boaz, um, went to the University of Alabama, was majoring in You looked at me like you wanted me to say like Rotad or something.

SPEAKER_05 2:41

The Auburn guy. You're like, University of Alabama eye contact.

SPEAKER_02 2:46

Um started out majoring in civil engineering in Spanish. Um made a grade I wasn't happy with on a physics test, made a really quick decision. And 88.

SPEAKER_05 2:57

It was it was the bet one of the better humble brags that I've seen in our questionnaire. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 3:02

No, just looking back at it, I was like, that's the most ridiculous thing I've ever done. But it must have been so crushing that. Yeah um cared too much about grades all through school. That's a side note.

SPEAKER_05 3:13

Um still still do, I'm sure.

SPEAKER_02 3:16

Still do, yeah. Perfectionist. Um changed my major to interior design. It was I really knew nothing about it. I wasn't someone that grew up thinking like I want to be an interior designer. I didn't know what that was. I mean, I probably thought it was what other people who don't know anything about it think it is, which is a decorator.

SPEAKER_08 3:34

Right.

SPEAKER_02 3:35

Um I remember walking through the majors fair when I was looking at schools and was like, oh, that's cool, and had mentioned it to my mom, and she's like, Oh, your school's over here, you know. Yeah, you know. We were all set on engineering, but I changed that real quick.

SPEAKER_05 3:49

Are they engineers? No.

SPEAKER_02 3:51

They were just excited about their daughter wanting to be an engineer.

SPEAKER_05 3:54

Yeah, their Boaz. Yeah. Boaz. The only child from Boaz. Exactly. The overachiever. Like obviously she's gonna be a civil engineer that speaks Spanish.

SPEAKER_02 4:05

They were excited about it, but I changed that. Um, and they were not excited when I changed my major, but And did you tell them initially? You know, I really don't remember how it all went down, but I do remember doing it myself, telling them after the fact and it not going over well.

SPEAKER_03 4:23

Okay. Um they finally have you spoken to them? Spoken to them since. Yes.

SPEAKER_02 4:30

They came around special guests, they supported me through college, it all worked out. Um, and I like to remind them often that I have never been unemployed. So I was.

SPEAKER_05 4:41

Yeah, you wrote that too, and the first thing I thought was like, oh god, don't jinx yourself.

SPEAKER_02 4:46

Yeah, I've never been unemployed. I think I graduated on Saturday, interviewed with my first job Tuesday. I remember going to the beach the rest of that week and then starting the next week. So it worked out.

SPEAKER_05 5:00

Um why so why I'm gonna back up just for a second. Why why civil engineering?

SPEAKER_02 5:07

Another thing that I really don't have a great explanation for. You know, when you're in college and sorry, when you're in high school, you go to the colleges and they give you all these tests, these interest tests, like they gauge what they think you would be.

SPEAKER_03 5:19

Did you do that in college or did you in high school?

SPEAKER_02 5:21

Did it in high school.

SPEAKER_03 5:22

Okay, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 5:23

And um they all pointed me toward civil structural what was the other one? Um polymer and fiber engineering. I was like, maybe I'm answering these wrong.

SPEAKER_04 5:39

So you actually failed it by getting everything so correct.

SPEAKER_02 5:44

Yeah, I don't know. Maybe I was answering it the way that I wanted it to.

SPEAKER_03 5:48

Maybe the bubbles were so perfectly filled in or something.

SPEAKER_05 5:51

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah. So did you did you drop Spanish too when you went into interior design?

SPEAKER_02 5:58

Yes, I changed to I changed to interior design, graphic design, and then I was just a few classes, maybe a class or two short of an art history.

SPEAKER_03 6:09

Is that why? It's too low. I don't remember. I think I no say is the word she's looking for.

SPEAKER_07 6:20

We got her speechless. We got her speechless.

SPEAKER_02 6:23

I don't remember. So anyway, gradu um when I was between my junior and senior years of college, I interned with a firm in Huntsville and then another firm in Montgomery, two internships. Y'all can make something of that too.

SPEAKER_05 6:38

Um did that wait at the same time?

SPEAKER_02 6:42

No, I I went for like the first half of the summer to Huntsville, and then the second half of the summer I went to Montgomery.

SPEAKER_05 6:47

Okay. Did you tell the first firm that that's what you were doing?

SPEAKER_02 6:50

Yes, and then that was the first one that called me back, and I worked there for Thanksgiving break, Christmas break, spring break, went on and on, like thought that I was going to work there. Right. The job had been discussed. Um, had an apartment, everything, and then got news I want to say it was the day before graduation, that that was not gonna work out.

SPEAKER_05 7:11

Oh. It's an awkward breakup.

SPEAKER_02 7:15

So that was bad timing.

SPEAKER_05 7:16

What was the name of that firm?

SPEAKER_02 7:19

Not to be disclosed for obvious reasons. Um, so that didn't work out, but thankfully I had made some connections while I was there, called her in a panic. She hooked me up and I got a job and worked at Fuquay and Partners um for I think it was about a year and a half out of school. And then moved to Birmingham.

SPEAKER_03 7:42

So was was that a um because you wrote in your thing, you you thought you wanted to live in Huntsville. Yeah. And then decided you didn't want to live in Huntsville or we just look for something looking for something. Tori was here. He had a house and a job. It seemed like that. So that's the that's the now husband.

SPEAKER_02 7:55

That yes. It seemed like that was the easier person to move that didn't have the house and had not had the job for years. But looking back, like, I mean, I'm perfectly happy here, obviously. This is where our life is now, but it would have been just as easy for him to get rid of a house and get a nursing job in Huntsville.

SPEAKER_05 8:17

Have you told him this, or is he is he gonna learn this now?

SPEAKER_03 8:20

Yeah, I know.

SPEAKER_02 8:22

We've discussed it.

SPEAKER_03 8:23

We're exercising some demons here on the podcast. You know, really, in retrospect.

SPEAKER_02 8:27

In retrospect, he could have sold the house and gotten a nursing job in Huntsville, probably easier than I came and got a different design job.

SPEAKER_04 8:36

But um Okay, but you did it, yeah. You did it.

SPEAKER_02 8:39

I did it, I made the move. My first job in Birmingham was at a furniture dealership, short stint. Right.

SPEAKER_05 8:45

Which I don't know if I knew that. Which one? You can say, you can say who it is. I work today, yeah. Unless you've a little while. Oh, I think I did, maybe I didn't know that.

SPEAKER_02 8:53

So I was in um I think she had me in project management to begin with, and then moved into a little bit of sales at the end.

SPEAKER_03 9:00

Yeah, she being Kathy Waters. Yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 9:03

But um, I wanted to be back in an architectural firm, and I had made the connection as I was leaving Fuquay. How that all came to be was I went and told Joe Fuquay that I was leaving, and he's like, Oh, where are you going? And I told him, and he's like, Well, Mary Claire works at Hindenhuxin. Have you not made that connection? And I was like, No. And she's like, he's like, Mary Claire, his daughter. His daughter. Mary Claire Fuquay worked at um Hindenhux at the time. And he's like, Well, you should make that connection. So I did, they interviewed me. They I think they offered me the job, and I was like, No, I've already taken another job. Like, this is all kind of out of order. And then they came back a few months later.

SPEAKER_05 9:43

They fired Mary Claire. Oh. Took her job. That's that's how I remember it anyway.

SPEAKER_03 9:51

She's not in town anymore. Yeah, she left the state.

SPEAKER_02 9:53

She did. So um they came back around a few months later and I talked to them again and ended up making the move. And that was April 2016.

SPEAKER_03 10:04

Wow. Okay. Time flies nine and a half years. It's still there.

SPEAKER_05 10:08

That's great. So you like it. Yeah. You run the show. She's nodding. Yeah. Yeah, yeah. Yeah. It goes back to season three. Right. We need video. Yeah. We'll have you back on when we do video.

SPEAKER_02 10:21

Oh no.

SPEAKER_05 10:22

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 10:22

Somebody mentioned that to me earlier, and I was like, I'm not participating in that because I don't like to watch my own mouth move.

SPEAKER_05 10:29

I don't know if I've ever thought about that. No, not that part of it. That I don't want to watch my own mouth move. Somebody mentioned that in the past. What if you were like a COVID mask?

SPEAKER_02 10:38

So do you remember when you met people for the first time when we were wearing masks? And then you didn't know what they looked like. And then you saw them again and they look completely different.

SPEAKER_07 10:48

Right. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 10:49

One of the things I would notice is like, oh, I didn't know. I think that's when I noticed how people's mouths move.

SPEAKER_09 10:57

Oh, interesting.

SPEAKER_02 10:58

When you didn't get that, and then you did get it. So I realized I don't like mine.

unknown 11:03

Oh.

SPEAKER_05 11:04

Is this related to what you recorded earlier before you came here? Is that what you're talking about?

SPEAKER_02 11:10

I don't like it on those either. I've seen myself on video on those before and I don't like it.

SPEAKER_05 11:13

Okay. Okay. Do we need to explain what that is? Yeah, we're talking about the uh the interface unicorn unicorns want to know series that they have going. Because yeah, you were you just saw Lori and Adam, correct? I did. Yeah. Yeah. Did they did they recorded you again?

SPEAKER_02 11:28

They did.

SPEAKER_05 11:29

Yeah. But you won't watch that. Will you watch the clips and then just turn away when you show up?

SPEAKER_02 11:34

I watch it. What does that mean?

SPEAKER_03 11:36

Or cover the bottom half of like the screen so you don't see your mouth. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 11:41

I think I watch it and then I'm like, mm, still don't like it.

SPEAKER_04 11:46

Hasn't changed for me.

SPEAKER_02 11:47

But you don't see that and like you don't hear your own voice either until you do something like this. Yeah. Unless you're an influencer or something and you talk to your phone all the time. Which I'm not true.

SPEAKER_05 11:56

Yeah. I mean, Chad does it because you haven't listened to any of the shows.

SPEAKER_03 11:59

I don't listen to them now. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 12:01

You don't, because you don't want to hear your own voice?

SPEAKER_03 12:03

No, because I've I was at in the podcast. I remember he moves on. You don't need to hear it again. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 12:09

It was the same thing like back in the 90s, like if I would call somewhere and leave a voicemail at home or like a, you know, on the answering machine, and you get home and push it and you would hear your own voice, and that's weird. What? Yeah. It's weird.

SPEAKER_03 12:22

I'm past that now. Yeah. I've moved beyond. That's why I don't listen to the project. That was in the 90s too. Yeah, that was a long time ago. So what kind of projects does So back on track. Yeah. Hinden and Huckestein. And I apologize for that. We were talking about because there is the way that that is spelled. There's an E in there. And so we were asking before we started recording like, do you pronounce it that way? It was like, no, no, no. But people have said it all sorts of wrong ways.

SPEAKER_02 12:50

We've heard it all.

SPEAKER_03 12:51

Yeah. So what kind of projects do you normally work on?

SPEAKER_02 12:55

As a firm, we work on they want they would want me to say everything. But in my experience there, I've not um touched any cus custom residential. They're open to anything, really. No custom residential. I have personally not done any inpatient health care, but it happens. Um or K-12. But mostly That's a pretty short list. If you do everything else. We do a lot of restaurants, we do a lot of professional and medical office building, tenant spaces, common areas. Um I just finished a private hunting club expansion and renovation that I've mentioned in here a lot. It's one of my proudest projects. Projects I'm most proud of.

SPEAKER_03 13:48

Can you talk about that particular project?

SPEAKER_02 13:51

Yeah, so going into it, it was honestly I say I've not done any custom residential, but it has some custom residential vibes for sure. And going into it, um, we were being interviewed as well as two other firms who have more experience in that you know, country club design kind of stuff. Um, but really I think what still the deal for us was the relationship. We didn't, you know, we went in, we were chill, easy to relate to, talk to, um, and the general manager there, I think he was looking for somebody that he knew that he would have a good relationship with and be able to call because he admitted while we were there I'm gonna be challenging, I'm gonna need my hand held every bit of the way. I'm warning you up front, I'm very needy and I don't really understand this process, but I've got to get this done. And they have a hundred, it's a private club, they have a hundred members, a hundred owning members.

SPEAKER_00 14:52

So wow.

SPEAKER_02 14:54

And they have some other people who have parts but aren't full members. Anyway, he has a lot of bosses, and they're basically counting on him to make all these decisions and for them to love it, and obviously they are paying for it, but he's the decision maker.

SPEAKER_05 15:08

So what's his role?

SPEAKER_02 15:10

He's a general manager.

SPEAKER_05 15:11

Okay, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 15:11

And so um he warned us up front and he kind of told us what was going on, and at the time I was like, oh yeah, this is easy. Like, we got this, like, here's what we're gonna do, here's where how we're gonna attach it. It just finished up about two weeks ago for this phase, right before hunting season started last week. Um and it was in fact very challenging and very time consuming, but ultimately extremely, extremely rewarding. Um, it was very highly detailed, tons of custom woodwork, um, you know, the mill work, very not, we're not talking plastic laminate and solid surface. It was it's beautiful stuff where I got to use hardware I've never used before, um you know, all wood, trim details, uh wood on basically every surface, the ceiling, the walls, everything. So it was beyond what I was comfortable drawing, but I figured it out. It all got built.

SPEAKER_05 16:14

Looks beautiful. Did he come in with that attitude because he has the hundred owners as bosses, and or is it because he may not know the process of the design and the build, but he had an opinion about everything? Because like stereotypically that's not what I would think. They're like, oh, we're gonna do a hunting club and like this is the general manager, and he'd be like And he's gonna be and he's gonna be like He's very passionate about it.

SPEAKER_02 16:42

Okay, about he's a chef by trade.

SPEAKER_04 16:45

Okay. Oh, so there's there's there's some detailed skill skill that goes in. Right, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 16:51

Very much. So he's a chef by trade, so he's very detail-oriented, but he's never been through this process before. But he would he was very quick to know what he likes and what he doesn't like. But what's funny is so often we would go around and around to make a decision for three to six months, and what he would ultimately land on was the first thing I showed. So I don't really know what the explanation behind that is.

SPEAKER_05 17:24

Was it convincing him that that's what he he needed to learn what he liked? Like we show him the first thing and like he would he would he not like it, or would he just be like, he would always be underwhelmed by the first thing.

SPEAKER_03 17:37

But the first thing is typically like Did you intentionally show him worse things to make him go back to the thing that you wanted originally? Maybe.

SPEAKER_05 17:49

You started this process, buddy, with saying you're gonna need a lot of hand holding, so I'm gonna make this last as long as possible.

SPEAKER_02 17:55

But I would take something, I'm like, this is it. Like, I got it. Like I've read him, I've got this, this is perfect for this application. I would take it in with so much confidence. We would go every we went every other week for years.

SPEAKER_07 18:06

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 18:07

And um, I would go in and I'd be like, look at this, I got it. He'd be like, Me.

SPEAKER_03 18:14

I was like, okay. Well, not it. Yeah. Yeah, we've had we've had designers on the podcast before talk about how you've got to kind of have a thick skin. Where oh, definitely, yes.

SPEAKER_02 18:25

Speaking of another project I think I noted on here is one of my favorites was a progressive retirement community that I did that I worked on right out of school. I was gonna say early on. It was early, yeah. I mean, first year, yeah, first year or two. And I will never forget again. I go in there, I'm like, I got this. I was really enjoying the project, like merging of healthcare and hospitality, residential feel, really enjoying it. So many nice people there, but there was this one lady, and I will never forget her. Y'all, how old was I? Like 23?

SPEAKER_05 19:00

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 19:01

She was like, I really think you need to do something else. I was like, Like with your life with my life. Oh wow, not the direction here.

SPEAKER_03 19:09

This is so bad.

SPEAKER_02 19:11

You should rethink.

SPEAKER_05 19:12

Have you ever thought about civil engineering?

SPEAKER_02 19:14

She really was. She was like, I think you need to think about doing something else with your life. Wow. But she was like, You don't understand. Like, we want mauve in Burgundy because that's what our homes look like. And we've been taken from our homes. And I'm like, okay, well, that's not really what we're going for here. She wanted it to look like her old lady house.

SPEAKER_05 19:35

Did you was she pleased when it was done?

SPEAKER_02 19:38

I don't know. I wasn't.

SPEAKER_05 19:39

Oh. I wasn't there. I left the city. Yeah, I left, I left.

SPEAKER_02 19:44

Um, but no, for the most, the vast majority of them were very kind and enjoyable to be around, but that lady really made an impression on me. But I didn't go do something else with my life.

SPEAKER_05 19:56

Have you ever had thin skin? Like you don't strike me. I've known you for a long time. You don't strike me as someone who has thin skin. You never had like a client like you walked out of a meeting like wounded. No. No. You're like, that person's an idiot.

SPEAKER_03 20:09

So so speaking of color, uh, gray this one you love to use. And what was the other? But then also, was it herringbone?

SPEAKER_05 20:17

Nothing better than a gray herringbone.

SPEAKER_02 20:19

Speaking of, I saw I saw a design on a similar building to the one that I enjoyed so much and was told I shouldn't be doing. Um, and someone had done herringbone on the floor, and then they had like herringbone LVT on the floor, and then they had a cabinet with backsplash tile behind it with herringbone behind that, and then they had chairs.

SPEAKER_03 20:42

It's a shame people can't see your mouth right now.

SPEAKER_02 20:46

They had like card tables. The context, that's so weird.

SPEAKER_04 20:50

Card tables, but it's like this disgust. It's this disgust. Yeah, yeah. And the fabric was herringbone.

SPEAKER_02 20:57

I was like, you you can't do that once. You certainly can't do it three times. Like, stop.

SPEAKER_01 21:02

And yet they did.

SPEAKER_02 21:03

They did. All in the same room.

SPEAKER_05 21:07

Have you ever used it?

SPEAKER_02 21:08

Yes, I did. And I remembered very specifically what project it was. I was fresh out of school working at Fuquay, and it was I want to say maybe the plank shaped carpet was newish. It was 2014.

SPEAKER_00 21:23

Right, yeah. Sure.

SPEAKER_02 21:24

So the installers weren't familiar with it. Like they were just getting used to carpet tile. It was always a square, and then we go specifying a rectangle.

SPEAKER_05 21:32

What are these long rectangles? What are these long rectangles?

SPEAKER_02 21:34

And then this girl, fresh out of school, has drawn this in a herringbone pattern, and they were mind-blown. And so I remember them being like, What are you doing with this? Like, how do you expect us to cut all of this? Like, so I did it one time, the installer got mad, and then I decided I didn't like it anyway.

SPEAKER_05 21:52

So okay, so there it is. We've done we've dug deep.

SPEAKER_03 21:56

We've dug deep into the why the whole time. Yeah, yeah, yeah. We we said this was gonna be kind of like a therapy session before we started recording.

SPEAKER_05 22:02

Yeah, I think you can get back on the Harry and Bone train. I think one day you'll you'll find it.

SPEAKER_02 22:08

If it's in like a a text style that is like a menswear inspired textile that's going in a law firm or something like that, like I could do it. But I'm talking about like the tile and the floor.

SPEAKER_05 22:22

Just everywhere. Yeah. The ceiling. Are you an out are you an Alabama football fan? No. You didn't care? Okay.

SPEAKER_02 22:28

I went, but because it was fun, something to do.

SPEAKER_05 22:32

It was something higher education. It was something to do. What was that question for? I was just because I didn't know she was like a big Alabama football fan and and Bear Bryant. That's house too. It is, but I don't think it is. I think that and we'll have to Google this when we're done. Like, I think the action Let us know in the comments. Yeah, let us know in the comments. Smash that like button. Smash that follow up button, people. I think, and this is the Auburn guy speaking. What do I know? That in one of some of one of his more iconic photos, and the hat, it's either the hat or the the jacket is not actually a hound's tooth, it's a herringbone or something, somebody it's no, but it's not a houndstooth. And then there was like one time he did houndstooth, and like that's what people have run with, but it's a little bit of a mistake. I could be completely wrong, and I'm sure all the Alabama fans that are listening right now, um another another face from Jessica. I'm out. I don't know. Are you gonna be yelling at me? I'm gonna Google it later. Okay. All right, we're back on track.

SPEAKER_03 23:33

He looks at me like Chad, ask ask a real question. Yeah. The floor is yours, Chad. So it sounds like um your firm is it's a smaller firm. Yes, fair. Um, and so you guys are very close and work well together as a team. So who's on your team? Like who do you work with?

SPEAKER_02 23:49

We don't really have defined teams like some firms do because there's so few of us. So it really depends on um our projects are split up between the two principles. You kind of either have this is a gym project or this is an Eric project, and then they have some of the same people that they work with, but really you can be pulled to work with either of them. Um but yeah, some people in the office really only do like we have a lot of I don't even know, but like franchise kind of stuff that people that people really focus on, but then we have the stuff outside of that that you could be working with any of the other.

SPEAKER_03 24:28

The private hunting lodges.

SPEAKER_02 24:29

Yeah, yeah. And that one um that one had a principal and then a project architect.

SPEAKER_03 24:36

Right. But but on the design team, who do who do you have?

SPEAKER_02 24:39

It's me and DJ and Emma.

SPEAKER_03 24:41

Okay. And do you each have kind of different style or different tastes?

SPEAKER_02 24:44

We do, very much so. Very much so. Which is good though, because we have different styles and different strengths. So like if we get something that usually if it's an interior if it's a heavy interiors project, I'm gonna be on it or at least in the know about it, regardless of how involved I am. I'm gonna know what's going on. And um but yeah, DJ's definitely better with the clean lines, contemporary, bold colors. Like if the brand is gray and blue and white, he's your guy. He's gonna nail it. Okay, he will do a great job. He went to SCAD, he's he's very creative. Okay. Um and then Emma, she's fun and funky, so she did a mellow mushroom and just color and pattern explosion make no sense. Like the bathrooms are all orange. You know, and I know. Very fun. Like she had so much fun with all the tile and stuff in there and the crazy colors.

SPEAKER_05 25:45

Which mellow mushroom is this?

SPEAKER_02 25:47

It's um Pike Road.

SPEAKER_05 25:49

Oh, okay. All right. Now in Montgomery. Yep. Cool. I'm never gonna go there, but I might just to check out the batteries. The next time we're in Montgomery, I'm sure that we'll do something at the Renaissance and we'll just have to go to Mellow Mushroom.

SPEAKER_02 26:02

Go over to Mellow Mushroom. Um, but yeah, my stuff is typically kind of predictable. But I don't think that's a bad thing.

SPEAKER_05 26:12

Predictable how?

SPEAKER_02 26:13

It's it's funny because the reps will come in and they'll be like, we brought this for you, Jessica. Like, we didn't bring here's your file.

SPEAKER_05 26:21

And then they're like high-fiving DJ and Emma.

SPEAKER_02 26:24

They know they bring in, they'll put like those cool grays and blues down there, but then I all the warm tones and the browns and the biggest.

SPEAKER_03 26:32

And if there was any hairy and bone, they're like, get this out of here.

SPEAKER_02 26:34

Yeah. Quick. But yeah, they know.

SPEAKER_05 26:37

I mean, and then like loud colors go to Emma.

SPEAKER_02 26:40

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 26:40

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 26:40

She's all into the color. Okay. And then I'm gonna be like the subdued neutrals. If there's color, it's gonna be like a soft green, blue, brown.

SPEAKER_05 26:52

Have they expanded your design boundaries? Because they're younger than you.

SPEAKER_02 26:57

They are.

SPEAKER_05 26:57

Right.

SPEAKER_02 26:58

Okay, and again, there's that like the pause, the the sometimes you don't be I have to like think again if age is appropriate to talk about, you know?

SPEAKER_05 27:07

It's fine. Yeah, I mean, that mathematically they're younger than they're gonna be.

SPEAKER_02 27:10

They are, they are, yes.

SPEAKER_05 27:12

As in like several you're stuck. So you're they're more immature than you are. Is that what you're saying? Yes, yeah, and dumber, I think, is also they have different skill sets than I do. I'm gonna text DJ now. No. On the show now, Jessica just called you dumb.

SPEAKER_02 27:26

But I mean, it'll I'll be like, I was working here, and DJ will be like, I was in the eighth grade.

SPEAKER_01 27:31

I was like, You shut up now.

SPEAKER_02 27:34

Cool.

SPEAKER_01 27:34

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 27:35

You were in middle school taking Rabbit while I was working here.

SPEAKER_05 27:41

So are you their supervisor in any sort of way?

SPEAKER_02 27:44

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 27:45

Yeah, okay.

SPEAKER_02 27:46

It's so funny.

SPEAKER_09 27:47

We have a that is funny.

SPEAKER_05 27:52

That is really funny. It's like a mad lib.

SPEAKER_02 27:55

Can we say bad birds on this podcast? Sure. Yeah, sure. Okay, then I'll tell you what we have going on in the office, and the bosses know about it, so it's funny, and they all we all cut up. But one day I was just not in my best mood. I don't know what was going on, and we were walking out, we were in the conference roof for something, and we were walking out, and DJ was like, I'm gonna go do such and such, and I'll get it to you in a minute, and was like, Yeah, and I'll go finish such and so and I'll bring it to you. And I said, Yeah, go get to work, bitches. And DJ immediately changed our group text. Of course, it's it's Jessica and her bitches, but it's like it's like it's like small j capital E. And it's like all jacked up because he knows that that will drive you crazy. And it's still like that. And I was like, I would honestly rather you misspell something than be all over the place for your capitalization. But um, yeah.

SPEAKER_05 28:48

You know what's funny is that I'm pretty sure you could correct that if you wanted to. I could. I just have it.

SPEAKER_02 28:54

Because I know him and I know that he would be redoing it as fast as I could.

SPEAKER_05 28:59

Yeah, technology. That's why I was talking slow.

SPEAKER_07 29:03

Hand me your phone.

SPEAKER_02 29:06

He would have it redone and worse before I even finished it, I'm sure. But yeah, there's we're always joking about it. So you guys get along. Yeah, that's what it sounds like. Yeah, that sounds good.

SPEAKER_03 29:16

Yeah, that's important. Yeah.

unknown 29:19

All right.

SPEAKER_03 29:19

Well, thanks for coming in. I looked over and I was like, I don't know what I'm asking next. Don't know where we are on the page. Yeah. Um I guess it was kind of I was asking about, or there were where you were talking about cool gray and herringbone, was just talking about design trends and things that you're seeing. What what kind of trends are you seeing in the marketplace from when you've started until where you are now? Like have you seen change?

SPEAKER_05 29:42

Which was oh so many years ago.

SPEAKER_02 29:44

It doesn't feel like it was. But then when you're about to be 35, you're like, wow, I'm an adult.

SPEAKER_05 29:52

So man, you just your eyes just like went off into nowhere. Like you looked out into the horizon of your mortality. The last ten years have flown by.

SPEAKER_02 30:04

It's like I really feel like I just graduated, but I very much did not.

SPEAKER_05 30:09

Do you have like a career and responsibilities in a house? And yeah, husband and a house and bitches at work.

SPEAKER_02 30:16

Insurance, like all kinds of big things. Like when did this happen?

SPEAKER_03 30:19

But I'm there's I still, you know, and I'm old much older than you are, but I still there are times where I'm like, oh my God, I'm married, I've got four kids.

SPEAKER_07 30:27

When did this happen?

SPEAKER_03 30:28

Yeah, that's crazy.

SPEAKER_07 30:29

When did this happen?

SPEAKER_05 30:33

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 30:33

Uh it's like, who put me in charge of this stuff? Or, you know, or at least a co-in charge with my wife. Like, how do we how did this end up happening? Yep. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 30:41

But I mean, just design trends thinking of like corporate work, whether we're doing tenant spaces in professional office buildings or we're doing big corporate buildings.

SPEAKER_05 30:50

Like, I like how she brought it back to she did. I thought the same thing you're saying. I wasn't even listening to what she was saying because I was thinking that. I was like, wow, well, well done. We could start over so Chad and that could refocus on paying attention to our guests.

SPEAKER_02 31:04

I had put I had to put thought into that question because I was like, I don't know. I think again, like, where did the time go? I just go through the day to day and never really think back and be like, okay, well, this is how it was and this is how it is. Um, but professional corporate work. We used to do so many workstations, and I don't know. I mean, right, I don't work on furniture a whole lot. Um, but we used to do so many workstations, you know, we were trying to get them in there. I mean, six by six, eight by eight. How many can we pack in there? And then we were pushing the workstations to the exterior and the offices to the interior and putting glass on all the offices and kind of flipping it. But now it's like we were working on multiple layouts today. And we've got the offices lining the perimeter, the conference room in the center. I mean, we're bringing you know, it's like kind of going back to the way it was. Looking for a more traditional private office setup. They are smaller than they used to be. We go into spaces and they're like, the offices are 140, 150 square feet, and they're like, oh, well, we could get three more on this row if we take them down to a hundred or a hundred and ten. So the offices are getting smaller.

SPEAKER_03 32:19

For sure.

SPEAKER_02 32:19

But I do feel like private offices are getting bigger and bigger. Coming back.

SPEAKER_03 32:24

Coming back, yeah. Yeah. Yeah. But is are they getting smaller because people aren't in the office as much, or are they still uh everyone's there Monday through Friday?

SPEAKER_02 32:32

I just think because it they're getting smaller because people don't have as much paper.

SPEAKER_03 32:35

Okay.

SPEAKER_02 32:36

And they don't have everybody's not getting a lateral file and a credenza and a bookshelf and two guest chairs.

SPEAKER_00 32:42

Right. You're getting a simple L. Right.

SPEAKER_02 32:46

Right.

SPEAKER_05 32:46

Not not a lot of storage and personal display specs. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 32:53

And so it's going back to uh because I think the the original when they did the managers on the exterior surrounding kind of the the interior area with all the workers was uh based on manufacturing. Yeah. Because they used to have like the the factory floor and then they had the raised walkway that was around the top that the managers would walk along, and so it was kind of modeled after that. Interesting. Yeah. Thank you for he is way older than us. Thank you for tuning in. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 33:18

Makes sense. I am always still trying to make sure that everybody's getting some natural light though. I mean, even like I was space planning a doctor's clinic today, and it doesn't have many windows, so I was trying to get it so that the corridors were on the windows so that the people in the center would be getting some light. So everybody needs that.

SPEAKER_05 33:42

So this this project that you're working on right now, the and the the offices going back to the to the perimeter, was that a request by the client? Like was there ever the option or were they previously like offices in the center and then workstations on the perimeter?

SPEAKER_02 33:57

No. It was yeah, perimeter perimeter, but it's in ship tower, so it's um probably gonna be a higher end tenant where everybody will have private offices and everybody wants to be 25th floor. So they're they have a different goal, you know.

SPEAKER_05 34:15

Sure, sure, sure, sure. Yeah. I'm trying not to ask questions where I get accused of trying to figure out who the client is. That happened recently on a show. And I wasn't fishing for the client, I was just asking questions.

SPEAKER_02 34:26

Some of them, yeah.

SPEAKER_05 34:27

I had to be you had to like edit yourself. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 34:32

But what I found I heard this recently, a a good trick for reps is to wait for lunch, and then when the designers are out, you go into their offices and you just look at their desk to see what they're working on. I love that tip.

SPEAKER_02 34:46

What not to do 101.

SPEAKER_05 34:48

All reps listening. Yeah. Make sure that yeah. So this was a story you told before we started recording long time ago. Long time ago. Maybe not even in Alabama. Wink.

SPEAKER_02 35:06

Nobody has any chance of knowing this person.

SPEAKER_03 35:09

We already went through her background. Yeah. So it was not outside. People don't really pay attention to the show. Do they? Sorry. Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 35:18

But that happened to you that a rep would rifle through your stuff, like look at your desk to figure out what you were working on when you're not in the office. So all reps. I mean, I wrote it down. I thought that was that was there there are a lot of reps that listen to this show, so they're taking notes right now. Yeah. And and and you wholeheartedly endorse it.

SPEAKER_02 35:38

Absolutely. Come into my office. Just clean up. When I'm not there, go through my project files.

SPEAKER_03 35:44

That would be like if you knew the person was going to do that and you could create fake projects. Oh, that'd be good. Just leave like, you know, yeah.

SPEAKER_05 35:52

Make up some crazy name and then see if like a week later they ask you about, you know, the Art Vandalay project that you're working on. Nice.

SPEAKER_02 36:00

Or I mean I think wouldn't you think in that case that they were trying to go around to the client?

SPEAKER_03 36:09

Probably. Yeah. Yeah, potentially or just straight to the source. Yeah. It depends. Yeah. It depends. They could either be doing that or they're just, okay, I'm aware they're working on this project. Uh I need to, you know, ask about it or come up with so you know, just kind of, oh hey, here's what I'm here's some new things that you might not know if you're working on anything that might need some medicals. The new Art Vandalay Institute, for instance. Remind me, where is that?

SPEAKER_02 36:36

Does not exist.

SPEAKER_03 36:38

Yeah. So where do you find inspiration?

SPEAKER_02 36:44

Social media. Because as mentioned earlier, I'm not much of a reader. There is a stack of interior design magazines about two feet tall on my desk. And every month it comes in the mail.

SPEAKER_03 37:00

I just put it and it gets taller.

SPEAKER_05 37:01

You don't even flip through it? You don't give it a little a little a little thumb through?

SPEAKER_02 37:06

I made the a New Year's resolution one year.

SPEAKER_05 37:08

To not read them?

SPEAKER_02 37:09

No, to to flip through them.

SPEAKER_03 37:11

Okay.

SPEAKER_02 37:12

And to just see if anything caught my eye.

SPEAKER_05 37:14

Do you follow is this the magazine, Interior Design magazine? Yeah. Do you like follow them on Instagram or anything?

SPEAKER_02 37:22

No.

unknown 37:22

Oh.

SPEAKER_05 37:23

So even the social media social media.

SPEAKER_02 37:25

Social media, as in what I realized when I was going through your questionnaire, was I was like, actually, I think what I like is looking at residential design and seeing what pieces and parts I can take of that and incorporate into what I'm working in. Yeah. Working on. Um because I'm usually looking at what are they doing with paint? Is it it's not agreeable gray? I know that. What are they using and how are they applying it? What kind of finish are they using? Like that stuff. And then how are they installing tile? Like what kind of finishes are they mixing on the cabinets? How how are they doing the hardware? Like what because some of the lighting fixtures that I see on residential stuff, like I can totally use in my projects. So I don't know. I'm always looking at that kind of stuff. Um furniture layouts. Just always looking at that. I'm I mean, I notice everything, but really what I'm following on social media is not what I'm really doing for work. Is that because I do looking at it?

SPEAKER_03 38:24

But that I mean, that that's a good way of approaching it. Like f pulling inspiration from disparate things to try to find, you know, ways to use them in your own projects. I think that's great.

SPEAKER_02 38:34

And then everywhere I go, I'm looking at like, oh well, I've seen that product presented to us, but I've never used it. But there it is being applied, and I take pictures. I mean, I take pictures of all kinds of stuff. I take pictures of transitions and crazy stuff. There's no telling how many toilets are on my phone just because I'm taking pictures in of tile installations and trim and you did mention that too about how many bathrooms you take photos of the floor. Different finishes of Schluter that's not satinized. Name drop. It's not satin andized aluminum. And I'm like, oh, I don't have to use that one. So yeah, when I see stuff like that, or specifically wall-hung sinks, I take pictures of those all the time because I don't like the way they look. If they don't have an apron on them, you can see everything, especially if they have the battery packs for the faucets hanging under there. I like to see how people have handled that, concealed it.

SPEAKER_05 39:34

Have you ever been in a bathroom with multiple stalls?

SPEAKER_02 39:38

Yes.

SPEAKER_05 39:39

Yes. That was the end of the question. Fine question. Yeah, that was the end of the question.

SPEAKER_01 39:45

Um Have you been in a bathroom with one stall? Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 39:49

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Let me finish the question. There's multiple choices here. Where you were where you were taking pictures of tile or underneath sinks and someone walked in and you were like, this is weird.

SPEAKER_02 40:00

No, I tend to do that in single hole. Single single hole. Single hole. That's what our CAD pile is called, single hole bathroom. I'm like, I don't think that's what you really call it, but that's what I see all the time. Single user restaurant.

SPEAKER_05 40:14

This is a random memory, but I'm pretty sure that you were there because it was at the IIDA um Huntsville holiday party.

SPEAKER_09 40:23

Wow.

SPEAKER_05 40:24

Like 10 years ago. It would have to be. And I forgot where it was at a restaurant, but there were about 15 of us there. And throughout the evening, there was finally a the first person in our group that went to go use the restroom, and they came back out and they were like, Y'all, y'all gotta go in the bathroom because I always go everywhere I'm not gonna believe what they did in there. And what they had done was mirrored the ceiling. Right?

SPEAKER_02 40:55

I feel like I would have remembered that.

SPEAKER_05 40:56

Maybe you blacked it out. Because I feel like you were there. One 99.9% sure Abby, who's a good friend of yours that used to work with at Fuque. Yeah. Um, I'm pretty sure Abby was there. I mean, this was yeah, this was like 10 years ago.

SPEAKER_03 41:11

So there's individual, so you can see the people on the stalls next to you? Correct.

SPEAKER_05 41:14

Yeah, like if you were standing like at the sink to like wash your hands, which normally you're not gonna look up anyway, so you'd have to kind of go out of your way.

SPEAKER_03 41:23

But if you were to look but if there's a mirror on the ceiling, yes, it's it's gonna prompt you to bar type place.

SPEAKER_05 41:29

It was uh, I feel like it was like a bar chocolate restaurant shop place in Huntsville. I don't know if it's still there. It didn't make like anything to restaurant chocolate. We were and we were we we had a melting pot. We had a private area. Oh no, can we start on the melting pot?

SPEAKER_02 41:47

Cook your own chicken.

SPEAKER_05 41:48

We were talking about this today at the board lunch. I don't like to cook. I don't want to pay to cook.

SPEAKER_02 41:52

I don't want to pay a hundred dollars to boil my own chicken.

SPEAKER_05 41:56

Yeah, no thanks. But we were on this like raised platform, like it was like the VIP. It was a weird spot. There's no way this place is in business now. But yeah, we all got up like one at a time to go check out the bathroom because they had mirrors and ceiling.

SPEAKER_03 42:11

Yeah. Anyway, I digress. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 42:13

Either I wasn't there or I did black it out.

SPEAKER_03 42:16

Yeah. Well that yeah, it that might be where we go from there. That might have been their way of um achieving stunning design while having budget constraints. Yes.

SPEAKER_02 42:27

Was the mirror at least like antiqued a little bit or was it just straight up cheap?

SPEAKER_03 42:31

No, it was just straight up.

SPEAKER_05 42:34

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 42:36

So it so that begs the question: how do you work with budget constraints while still achieving as stunning design?

SPEAKER_02 42:41

Stunning design.

SPEAKER_03 42:43

That was our question. Word for word. Good word.

SPEAKER_02 42:48

Um I mean, honestly, don't we b deal with budget every single day? Even when clients are like, don't worry about it.

SPEAKER_05 42:55

Don't worry about the budget.

SPEAKER_02 42:56

Don't worry about it. I still can't help myself.

SPEAKER_05 42:59

It's just Well, also because they don't know what that means. Exactly. Right, right.

SPEAKER_02 43:03

You come back and then I know actually, yeah. Because I know that carpet and paint in a 3,000 square foot space is gonna be a couple hundred thousand dollars with a few walls and doors. And they have no idea. They don't know. They have no idea. They think that they could gut it and rebuild and make it wonderful for that much money.

SPEAKER_05 43:24

I mean, we get that on the furniture side too. It's like people. Oh, exactly. Oh, yeah, yeah, furniture. Like, how much can furniture be?

SPEAKER_03 43:29

Oh. Oh, yeah. That's how much furniture. And as reps, and I'm sure the reps that are listening all have this, where you a friend will reach out, hey, hey buddy, do you I need a I need a chair for my office? It's like, can you get me a good price? I'm like, I can, yes. You're still gonna think it's way too expensive. You still don't want to pay for it. Yeah, yeah. But yes, I can get you a good price. Yep.

SPEAKER_02 43:49

But yeah, we deal with that all the time. And occasionally, well, sometimes we don't have to go back and cut things out. But the way that I handle it most of the time is when they say that and they're like, oh, don't worry about it. This is our one chance. We want to do it like we want to love it forever. I'll shoot for the stars. I'm like, okay, give me your wish list, and then I'll I'll give you mine and we'll put this together and we will put something crazy on paper and we'll see where we land, and then we'll see what you decide you actually want to spend. Um, and very rarely, but sometimes we come in and they're like, Yeah, that's perfect. Looks great. Build it. Like a project right now. We're putting stone floor in the whole lobby. And I was told from day one, you better have a porcelain VE option in your office, ready to go. Her mouth is so happy right now. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_05 44:42

This this the stone sounds awesome.

SPEAKER_02 44:45

I was like, you know what? Don't need it. Um, but it's very rare that that happens, obviously.

SPEAKER_03 44:52

Um so how do you work with those budget like if you've got a budget constraint but you still want to make it look great, how do you work with materials to try to still make it pop?

SPEAKER_02 45:01

Using some by using something that's budget friendly in a unique pat installation pattern.

SPEAKER_08 45:07

Okay, but not bearing bone?

SPEAKER_02 45:09

Absolutely not. I mean, I think in that case, you avoid angles, you avoid a lot of cuts, you avoid any kind of crazy pattern that the installers they're gonna charge more to install it. But I mean, something like that would be an LVT or a tile. Like you can take a simple tile, say it's four by eight, three by twelve, whatever the tile size is, and you can install it instead of in a brake pattern, you could do two rows horizont two rows vertical, one row horizontal, you know, things like that. Like that's not gonna cost you any more, but it's gonna look cooler than a three by six subway tile.

SPEAKER_08 45:46

Yeah, right.

SPEAKER_02 45:46

But it's gonna cost the same or a little bit more, right? But just finding a unique way to install something simple.

SPEAKER_03 45:54

Right. Yeah, yeah. It's uh same thing with photography to a degree where you just it's a different angle. You know, it's it's taking like it's especially you go on vacation, everyone takes pictures of the exact same, you know, tourist things, but if you can find a different uh a unique angle or different you know look to it, and that's basically it's kind of similar, similar concept. Yeah. So what advice since you're so old, um what is uh what would your advice be for a young designers starting out? Like what skills should they develop?

SPEAKER_05 46:25

And how I have a quick follow-up to that question. How well do you have to get to know them before you call them your little bitches? That takes a while. That takes a while, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 46:34

Um you have to be really comfortable with somebody before you get to that point and know that they're not gonna um take offense or report you. Right. Right. But you know, we don't really have an HR department, so they would just have to go straight to the bosses. But thankfully I'm safe. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 46:59

Um what was the first half of that question? Yeah, that was it. That was just it, I yeah. Oh, how do you young designers starting, like what what should they focus on? What you know, what's an important skill to develop?

SPEAKER_02 47:11

I think you just have to really go into it. Open to learning. Be confident.

SPEAKER_08 47:18

Okay.

SPEAKER_02 47:19

You don't want you like the way I said my voice back.

SPEAKER_03 47:22

Be confident? My voice is more responsible. That was the most unconfident. Probably ever.

SPEAKER_02 47:30

Be confident, but not too confident. Don't come across like you're not teachable.

SPEAKER_00 47:35

Right.

SPEAKER_02 47:36

Um be receptive.

SPEAKER_03 47:43

So it's it's kind of like work hard. If you're um if you've got a design idea, be confident in your what you've created and be like, you know, have it be ready to back it up and talk about it. But then also be open to receiving critique and being able to change.

SPEAKER_02 47:59

And like you've come out of school, and yes, you've learned a lot, but what you learn in school and what you apply in work are not the same at all. Um actual application and knowing how to draw something so that a contractor knows how to build it is not something you come out of school knowing how to do at all.

SPEAKER_05 48:27

Right.

SPEAKER_02 48:28

So Is there a way to teach that though?

SPEAKER_05 48:30

Yeah, why can't they teach you how to build things in school? Yeah, you really should have gone into civil engineering.

SPEAKER_02 48:35

I don't know. But the way that I mean, we obviously have to detail everything, every ceiling detail, every millwork detail. You've got to show them how to build it. And you don't learn that stuff in school. So you can come in with a good attitude and know that have confidence in your design skills, but the actual application takes learning. So and then I don't know how other firms do it because I've really only worked at one really for a long period of time and gotten all the way in, but we do a lot of keynotes on our drawings. We don't we have like a keynote list on the side and then the numbers on the plans, and there is an art to writing those. And that really those are just things I've seen. It takes time to learn how to really put a set of drawings together. So be confident, but you know now. Be teachable. Be teachable. Um then also work hard. Yeah, work hard.

SPEAKER_05 49:35

It's you did that you put that in all caps. It's yeah, yeah, it's and an exclamation point.

SPEAKER_02 49:41

But see, it's I want work life balance, obviously. We all do. We don't want to live to work.

SPEAKER_07 49:50

For real. Um preach.

SPEAKER_02 49:52

We do not want to live to work. I don't. I've actually been part-time since my first child was born. So I think I do have life work-life balance, but when I'm there, I'm working. I'm heads down, I'm working. Um so work hard.

SPEAKER_05 50:07

Okay. How how I'm gonna go back to the like the ons on the job learning that you don't get in school. Where were you learning those things for like the details, like the ceiling detail, the mill work, whatever? Where where are you learning that? Are you learning it from people at the firm? Or are you having like a GC come back to you and be like, yo?

SPEAKER_02 50:26

At the firm.

SPEAKER_05 50:27

At the firm, okay.

SPEAKER_02 50:28

Um, and that's another thing about working in a small firm is there are plenty of people there with more experience than I have. And so, and they're easy to talk to. I mean, we all know each other. We spend a lot of time together. So I can just walk up to one of the principals or one of the senior architects and be like, hey, can you help me with this detail? Like, does this make sense? Is this how this actually comes together? And then, you know, there are a lot of resources online too. Um, especially if you're specifying a certain product. If it's a good website and a reputable product, sure, right? They probably have some details to at least get you started.

SPEAKER_03 51:01

Right. Yeah, it seemed like it seems like in talking to those that are newly out of school and then those also talking about like what you don't know when you come out. Um it's the communication with the other trades and and because that you really don't get that in school and and know knowing what they need to know to make everything work together.

SPEAKER_02 51:20

That's really another benefit of working in a small firm is that I'm so heavily involved in everything from the interview with the client on day one to the space planning, communication with the city, the permitting, the contractor, everybody. So there's a lot of if something's wrong, somebody's gonna flag it. And then I can ask, like, well, how should this be? And it's just it's huge to have a good relationship with the contractor. I mean, especially on big projects where I'm doing things that I may not be super confident in or haven't done a hundred times, to have the contractor to have that conversation on speed dial and be able to ask, like, hey, if you don't know, can I talk to the sub? Like, who's actually gonna be building this? I just want to make sure this is actually gonna come together.

SPEAKER_00 52:11

Right.

SPEAKER_02 52:12

As planned.

unknown 52:13

Okay.

SPEAKER_05 52:13

Well, it sounds like internally too, you guys have a lot of trust. Yeah. And I think that's important. Yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 52:18

Yeah. So um before we started recording, we we had asked if you really listened to the podcast. You said you've listened really to one episode, which is Vince Morgan. Shout out to Vince. Um at the end of At the end of uh our podcast, we do rapid fire questions.

SPEAKER_02 52:34

I've heard.

SPEAKER_03 52:35

Okay. Oh, you've heard.

SPEAKER_02 52:36

I heard today.

SPEAKER_04 52:37

Oh, you've got to.

SPEAKER_02 52:38

Emma told me.

unknown 52:39

Okay.

SPEAKER_03 52:39

Oh, Emma told me.

SPEAKER_02 52:40

She warned me. She told me that unicorns want to know. She does listen. Um, she's one of those people that's always listening to something. You know, she's listening to a show, she's listening to the show.

SPEAKER_03 52:49

Yeah. Yeah. Not me. I can't multitask. I felt special until she said she listens to everything. Right, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 52:53

I can't multitask. Um, I guess because I'm old. Um, but she did warn me that when Lori and Adam were doing Unicorns Wanna Know, that that was warming me up for some rapid fire questions. I was like, oh, well, I just learned that happens.

SPEAKER_03 53:08

All right.

SPEAKER_05 53:10

Mark, you want to go first? I'll go first. Um if you had a warning label, what would it say? That face means she was not expecting that to be the question. And you're laughing, trying not to make noise, which I've said before just sounds like that air. Yeah, no, yeah, yeah. There you go.

SPEAKER_10 53:36

Um too personal.

SPEAKER_05 53:42

You're giving me a look. Like, do you want me to do you want me to pick another question? Yes. Okay. Um, we'll go. What was the okay, what part of a project keeps you up at night? We are still on there.

SPEAKER_02 54:02

What part of the project? Usually when the submittal, if this the submittals aren't done and they're piling up.

SPEAKER_04 54:10

Okay.

SPEAKER_02 54:11

Because that is a part of the day that isn't it doesn't feel like I'm actually being productive because I'm like, I've already drawn this. Like I've already got this done, but now I have to go through your 349-page submittal doors and hardware. Right. And I let those things, they're the worst, and I let them pile up. And then I'm sitting there watching on get my emails, like, this is two days overdue. Ball is in your court. I'm like, yes, I know. But I put that off, and then they pile up, and then I need to like set aside a couple days to do it.

SPEAKER_05 54:50

Yeah. Okay. You did a good job answering that question. Yeah. Yeah. A little rough at the start, but we'll see how this one goes.

SPEAKER_02 54:58

Rapid fire's not great.

SPEAKER_03 55:00

If you had to fight one piece of furniture, what would it be and why?

SPEAKER_02 55:06

If I had to fight a piece of furniture.

SPEAKER_03 55:09

Yeah. It was coming at you. But you so which one would you choose to go up against?

SPEAKER_02 55:15

You know what I immediately think of is that like buzzy cactus thing coming at me.

SPEAKER_09 55:23

Okay.

SPEAKER_02 55:26

It's soft, but it has arms, so I could lose.

SPEAKER_05 55:30

Okay. All right. If you weren't an interior designer, what career would you choose?

SPEAKER_02 55:36

Now? Mm-hmm.

SPEAKER_03 55:37

No. Not what did I think I was going to do. Right, yeah. Now.

SPEAKER_02 55:42

I'd be a labor and delivery nurse.

SPEAKER_03 55:44

Okay.

SPEAKER_02 55:45

Which is weird because I never was into kids until I had my own.

SPEAKER_03 55:48

Right. My wife is the same way.

SPEAKER_02 55:50

And I didn't even know if I wanted kids. And then I had my own, and I just think it's the most miraculous thing. And I would love to do that.

SPEAKER_05 55:56

My mother-in-law, that's what she was when she worked. Yeah. Shout out to Pat. Shout out to my wife, Erin, who I haven't mentioned in several episodes. No, you haven't. I know. Yeah. Things are things are going to be like things are rocky. Do not start rumors.

SPEAKER_03 56:17

Things are great. There you go. There you go. If your life had a theme song that played every time you entered a room, what would it be? I don't think she was expecting the side.

SPEAKER_02 56:33

Again, we go back to I don't really listen to anything. So it's like Dead Science.

SPEAKER_03 56:37

That's the answer. The answer is just dead silence. White noise. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 56:42

My wife had a theme song.

SPEAKER_03 56:44

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 56:45

She works hard for the money.

SPEAKER_03 56:46

Oh, there we go.

SPEAKER_01 56:47

There you go.

SPEAKER_05 56:47

That's a good answer. That's a great answer. This is not my question. This is just an interjection question. So you've been on uh the what the unicorn unicorns want to know more than once. Is it do you answer those questions with such a long pause?

SPEAKER_02 57:06

Yes.

SPEAKER_05 57:06

Yeah, okay.

SPEAKER_02 57:07

Because they're yeah, they're rapid fire and they're weird.

SPEAKER_05 57:10

And my my answers Well, I don't know if they edit it, right? Like you know, if they just cut it out. They cut out like the 30 seconds of just Jessica staring it at them.

SPEAKER_02 57:19

They do edit it, but my answers are always weird. And even though I have the pause and I think about it, as soon as it comes out of my mouth, I'm like, that's embarrassing.

SPEAKER_03 57:29

And then there's no going back because there's no going back, right?

SPEAKER_02 57:31

Yeah, they use it.

SPEAKER_03 57:33

Well, okay, this one is less weird. Which neocon showroom would survive a zombie apocalypse and why?

SPEAKER_05 57:43

I'm trying to think too, like what that would be. Who makes the heaviest furniture? Right. Who makes fortified out there?

SPEAKER_02 57:55

I don't know who makes behavioral health furniture.

SPEAKER_05 58:00

But see, this this this leads to a a a good like a conversation, if you will. Okay. Because that's a good thought, but at the same time, would you want something that you could pick up and swing at a zombie? Whereas like behavioral health, you can't move on.

SPEAKER_03 58:20

Yeah, but maybe if you could strap them to it.

SPEAKER_05 58:23

Yeah. Yeah. Who has okay, who has the most dangerous carpet? Who has the furniture that could be easily weaponized?

SPEAKER_03 58:33

And sharp corners and edges. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. We'll move on. We won't we won't answer that one.

SPEAKER_05 58:38

Yeah. Um what's the single best piece of swag you've ever received?

SPEAKER_02 58:44

Oh, that's easy. We got a um, let's see. It was a it's a box cutter on one end, and then it's a highlighter on the other end, and then it's got some post-it notes in the middle. The box cutter was a really good idea. Oh, it's like an well, it's like an exacto knife, right?

SPEAKER_05 59:01

Kind of thing.

SPEAKER_02 59:02

But it was great.

SPEAKER_05 59:03

We know what a box cutters are.

SPEAKER_02 59:04

I know, but it was it was smaller than a box cutter. It's an exacto knife.

SPEAKER_03 59:09

But what's a post-it note? Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 59:12

Like the little skinny flags. I remember who it came from too. But you know, we get all the pens and all the koozies and then and the notebooks and everything, but that one was different and very usable.

SPEAKER_05 59:24

Okay. All right. I've been writing these down because I'm gonna just start stealing them. Right.

SPEAKER_02 59:28

You should because we get so many sample boxes. We need that.

SPEAKER_03 59:31

Yeah. Uh who's afraid of the big bad wolf?

SPEAKER_02 59:38

I guess my four year old. He just turned four Harris.

SPEAKER_03 59:42

Perfect.

SPEAKER_02 59:43

Because he has a an older cousin that spooks him. And then we'll hear like the ice maker at night. And he's like, what's up? Oh, that must be that must be that person knocking at the door. I was like, wonderful.

SPEAKER_05 59:57

Wonderful. All right, nice. Question. If you had a warning label, what would it say?

SPEAKER_03 1:00:04

You want to get warmed up into Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Let's bring it back up.

SPEAKER_05 1:00:09

Will not answer. Will not answer. Okay.

SPEAKER_02 1:00:11

I remember when I was working at um in Huntsville. I played a golf tournament a couple times with a rev group, and the guy there always called me Spitfire. So I guess that says something about my personality. I should be able to find some kind of warning label to go with that. I don't know how to word it.

SPEAKER_05 1:00:33

I feel like you're gonna think about this question for a minute. And then let us know.

SPEAKER_02 1:00:39

Let me ask Corey.

SPEAKER_03 1:00:40

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, get back to us. Yeah. Give back to the most accurate one. Would you rather sneeze glitter or cry Elmer's glue?

SPEAKER_02 1:00:51

Sneeze glitter.

SPEAKER_03 1:00:52

Okay.

SPEAKER_05 1:00:58

I know they don't, but like sneezing glitter, you might be Mike sneezing glitter. Also, there's no.

SPEAKER_02 1:01:04

At least you're sneezing happiness.

SPEAKER_05 1:01:09

Sneezing flare.

SPEAKER_01 1:01:10

Sneezing happiness.

SPEAKER_05 1:01:11

Yeah. I think I asked five questions, but you only answered three. That's fine. I mean, I have a lot of questions. Chad and I have a very different approach. And then I just collect questions. And some of them are awful.

SPEAKER_02 1:01:28

Those at the top weren't very interesting.

SPEAKER_05 1:01:30

And then they Yeah, those are some of the old school ones. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 1:01:34

And the answer to the first one is red.

SPEAKER_05 1:01:37

So that was uh shout out, Mickey. Uh that was the one of the OG rapid fire. Because there used to be an actual rapid component to the rapid fire room, and so it would be like underlined high.

SPEAKER_03 1:01:48

And then we then we went to more of a long form. Yeah. The podcast used to be 30 minutes and now it's an hour. Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 1:01:57

You've been in here for two hours. It feels like it. Time has gone by. You really, you really I do have one more question. What is the strangest thing you have in your car right now?

SPEAKER_02 1:02:10

It's funny. Emma warned me of that question.

SPEAKER_08 1:02:13

Really?

SPEAKER_02 1:02:14

Wait. I think, speaking of, unicorns asked that question. Yeah. I think they're stealing our stuff.

SPEAKER_03 1:02:22

Ripped off your question. I think they're stealing our stuff. If they ask this sneeze glitter thing, I don't know.

SPEAKER_02 1:02:27

It's the easiest question you could have asked me because I've already prepared for it. But um it's a little it's a little folding potty, and it's not for me. It's like folds flat into a little box. Right. That's really weird.

SPEAKER_05 1:02:43

Yeah, no, it's not that weird. It's for your kids, obviously. It's for Corey. It's not for me, it's for my husband.

SPEAKER_03 1:02:51

Yeah, so he was saying our styles are different, and then I write five new ones each time. And he has this kind of running.

SPEAKER_02 1:02:59

And he has that basic thing, he got all the ChatGPT.

SPEAKER_03 1:03:02

Right.

SPEAKER_05 1:03:03

I mean, some of them have come from ChatGPT. Some of them are just like questions that I thought of. Some of them are, there's like this whole middle section that I just refuse to get rid of. Was it professional development or student day?

SPEAKER_03 1:03:14

It was professional development.

SPEAKER_05 1:03:15

Yeah. And we just had, it was just this. And they were just the most random questions of like, you know, if you could design a space that was entirely by a book, what would it look like? You know, if you didn't read a space with a secret passageway, how would you hide the entrance? And so we'd cut these questions up and then gave them out to people who were willing to be on the show for like three minutes tops. Yeah. Yes, they didn't have time to think about it. Yeah. Especially since they were so bizarre. Yeah. Right.

SPEAKER_02 1:03:47

The book would not have been like trajo.

SPEAKER_05 1:03:50

Trajo. Well see, we've never, I will say that you are a very special guest, and we've never had anyone outright just not answer your question.

SPEAKER_03 1:03:58

Really? Oh really?

SPEAKER_05 1:03:59

Yeah. Really?

SPEAKER_03 1:04:01

Really.

SPEAKER_02 1:04:02

I could go somewhere with that, but I don't know how to word it.

SPEAKER_03 1:04:04

Yeah. Are you gonna swear again? Alright, so um, as we finish off this episode, um, what we've been doing is a custom song for the ending. Um so I need three random words from you. Just three random words. Her eyes went to crosswise when she has that.

SPEAKER_05 1:04:25

Don't worry, don't worry. Go ahead and do this now, Jessica. Because in a few weeks, uh Adam and Lori are gonna hear this idea.

SPEAKER_02 1:04:34

Three random words.

SPEAKER_03 1:04:36

Three random words, whatever. Okay. That's one.

SPEAKER_02 1:04:47

House.

SPEAKER_03 1:04:49

House.

SPEAKER_02 1:04:50

And board.

SPEAKER_03 1:04:54

Board?

SPEAKER_04 1:04:56

Okay.

SPEAKER_03 1:04:57

Are you trying to tell us something? I just saw a board over there. I was like, and then I need a genre of music. But what type of song do you want it to be? Country.

SPEAKER_02 1:05:06

90 country.

SPEAKER_03 1:05:07

90s.

SPEAKER_02 1:05:08

Specific. That's my favorite music.

SPEAKER_05 1:05:10

That should have been a rapid fire question. Yeah. That's the fastest you've answered anything the whole time.

SPEAKER_02 1:05:16

I got some.

SPEAKER_05 1:05:17

What is that?

SPEAKER_02 1:05:18

Should have been a cowboy.

SPEAKER_05 1:05:19

Should have been a cowboy. That's a good one.

SPEAKER_02 1:05:20

Toby Keith.

SPEAKER_03 1:05:21

Yeah, that's a good one. But that's not your walk it, walk-in music.

unknown 1:05:26

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 1:05:27

Her walk-in music. What's that uh Toby Keith booting their ass song? That's her walk-in music. That's more like it.

SPEAKER_01 1:05:38

Well, on that note, thank you so much for coming in. Yeah. Thanks for having me. See ya.

SPEAKER_06 1:06:09

We'll just go off through that podcast door to y'all I'm nervous. Never done this before. But we cracked a joke and laugh came fast. Bad head record, let the good times last. Got the style and grease from her head to her. Smiley stuff the whole dang room. Like a big ribbon in full bloom. That was the last bit of food. We must have given color what they did. It's doing mighty fine. Just a good grin adjusted her bridges. Those two are my little bitches. They just laugh the tip their hats. It's because it's a little bit.