All-In Design

Episode #49 - Interview with Alexa Turner

• Chad Moore & Mark Griffo • Season 2 • Episode 49

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Join us on this episode of All-In Design as we speak with Alexa Turner with CCR Architecture & Interiors. We had a wide ranging discussion starting with Alexa's start at Lowes (a job, by the way, that Mark couldn't get), working at Tarkett's plant in Florence, and then her first commercial job at GMC. Alexa helps us to understand storytelling within interior design and how that can keep an interior space stay timeless. We delve a bit into exotic pets, combinatory play, and how both mushrooms and Alexa can help you pass on from this world. It's a fun discussion and we hope you take a listen. 

SPEAKER_05:

Recorded with microphones and other fancy equipment. Hello and welcome to All in Design IIDA Alabama's podcast. Thank you for listening. My name's Chad Moore here with my co-host Mark Griffo.

SPEAKER_01:

Hey everybody.

SPEAKER_05:

And I am really looking forward to today's discussion. We sent out the uh pre-podcast questionnaire, and um some of the responses that we got back were were different than some of the responses we've had on some others. Not that not to say everybody else is terrible. Yeah, that's what I was saying. So this is our 49th episode. The previous 48 really haven't been that good. So um really looking forward to this one.

SPEAKER_01:

I also like this too, because we've all you know, we the people who've been on the show, they know we started off and we usually we're usually just kind of like chilling for 10, 15, 20 minutes, chatting, getting the guests comfortable. And I feel like this we're like we're kind of like up in the bar. Like your questionnaire was so good. It was that people were gonna wow, don't oversell it.

SPEAKER_05:

Yeah, really gonna expect some some reading. We might just actually just read from it and not even ask you anything.

SPEAKER_01:

We should do that one day and just have a reading.

SPEAKER_05:

Right.

SPEAKER_01:

I don't know why that would make a good show, but it would be interesting.

SPEAKER_05:

Well, you heard her chime in there for a second. Uh Mark, do you want to introduce who we have today?

SPEAKER_01:

Absolutely. Happy to introduce uh our friend Alexa Turner, who is an interior designer at CCR Architecture and Interiors.

SPEAKER_03:

Woohoo! Woo-hoo!

SPEAKER_01:

Um, the way you made your mouth, I thought I had said something wrong. I thought you were about to correct me. It's like my biggest fear of getting on here and introducing someone incorrectly. Say their name. By their name. Right. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Be like Alexa Smith, everybody. Uh no, Alexa Turner, interior designer, CCR. Um, so glad to have you on the show. Um, thanks for coming. Why don't you tell everybody hello and a little bit about yourself?

SPEAKER_07:

Hello, hello. I am happy to be here. Um, like Mark was saying, I'm Alexa, and um I got into design. I started at UNA uh in college, and I actually wanted to be an artist and an art teacher, and I also wanted to make money. So um interior design has been a good career for me, and I shifted to applied arts, which is where the money is.

SPEAKER_05:

And so did you go to school? What did you have a you were gonna go to school for art? Is that what you say? Okay.

SPEAKER_07:

Yes, I was gonna be an art teacher.

SPEAKER_05:

Okay. And so how long did you go down that path before you switched?

SPEAKER_07:

About a year. Okay. Um I kind of have a problem with authority, and I didn't think I was gonna do well in a school setting. So uh I was really interested in architecture because growing up I was in a very beautiful place in North Alabama. Um I went to high school at Athens. Um that's west of Huntsville. Okay. Yeah. Anyway, uh beautiful historic homes, and I used to drive around with my family and look at them. I found that that was really inspiring, and I felt very affected by the built environment. Um, how it made me feel, how it influenced my livelihood and my well-being. So I thought that interior design would be a great way to make a difference and to apply, get paid, and apply my creative talents. And it has been.

SPEAKER_01:

So I think was your family um, did they encourage this? Like when you're so you mentioned driving around and like looking at houses, did you was your family architects and interior designers, or are they just like we we were in Florence, Athens area, we're North Alabama?

SPEAKER_07:

My family was not, they didn't have any kind of design background. I will say that my uncle is a realtor and he also um worked in building maintenance management um at various hospitals in the shoals area. Uh he did a lot of renovations and he would flip homes, and I always found that that was very intriguing. Uh he was really into decorating, and so that influenced me a lot.

SPEAKER_05:

Cool. Um I guess so I I've lost my train. See, this of the training. You have lost your training off totally. I I watched it happen.

SPEAKER_00:

I watched the thought leave your head.

SPEAKER_05:

We talked right before we turned it on because uh we're somebody's like, hey, we just let things go, and if we screw up, we just leave it in there. So I'm just trying to make you feel more comfortable so that if you have any flubs or anything, that was I was just doing that for you.

SPEAKER_06:

Oh, thank you so much. That's so accommodating hosts.

SPEAKER_00:

Accommodating hosts. Yeah, Mark, do you have a question? I do, I do. So we'll keep we'll stay on we'll stay on track.

SPEAKER_01:

So you're a year, you're a year in at uh UNA for those who are not familiar, as University of North Alabama. Um so you you transfer into the interior design program. Right. Was it was it like, okay, I've done a year, I'm not gonna be an art teacher, I want to make some money. Was there a catalyst that was like, oh, I'm gonna go into interior design, as opposed to like a graphic design or you know, industrial design or anything like that?

SPEAKER_05:

That's a really good question. Thanks.

SPEAKER_01:

Um that's my one.

SPEAKER_07:

I think that I just love buildings, and I also think that interior design is very specialized. And so if you want to do graphics, I think that you can transition into it with the additional specialization that you get from an interior design degree.

SPEAKER_04:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_07:

Um, so that was my decision. Um that was my thought process on why to do that versus graphic design.

SPEAKER_01:

And they've got a really good program and they've been growing a lot lately. The last several years uh here in Birmingham when we've done the IIDA uh student day. I feel like a couple years ago, they came down in a bus or something. There was like 30 kids that came down from UNA. Yeah.

SPEAKER_07:

Well, we used to be in a dungeon at UNA and they've moved their program into the very nice downtown area.

SPEAKER_05:

Were you in the dungeon?

SPEAKER_07:

I was in the dungeon.

SPEAKER_01:

Okay.

SPEAKER_07:

So I was in the basement of a building that no longer stands anymore.

SPEAKER_01:

Oh, okay. Is this part of like university like campus renovations? Like did they tear it down and put up like a new uh university building or did they put up like a Chick-fil-A and a Target?

SPEAKER_07:

Um they put up a new university building. But I'm not actually sure what went there. They might have put dorms there.

SPEAKER_01:

This is the uh the disadvantage of when we have these glasses, glass walls, people make faces at me. I should not pay attention to them.

SPEAKER_05:

Um when you graduated, what what what was your next path? How did you find your job?

SPEAKER_07:

Uh oh I'm gonna start before I graduated because um you're immediately I asked. She doesn't like authority chat. No. We're not doing it that way. Um I when I shifted into interior design, I immediately started doing things that were relevant to that.

SPEAKER_04:

Okay.

SPEAKER_07:

And so I was working at Lowe's, and that was honestly my favorite part-time job, and I actually did learn a lot about materials. I was doing paint and flooring and um window treatments, and I still I think even just last week I was able to explain how you perfectly match a paint color, you know.

SPEAKER_01:

Um that's from your Lowe's experience.

SPEAKER_05:

And that's from my Lowe's experience. And then I How long did you do that?

SPEAKER_07:

For a year.

SPEAKER_05:

Okay.

SPEAKER_07:

And then I did my internship at the Tarquette plant in Florence. Okay. Um, in their imaginations department, which is custom cutting. Um, it's really graphic design heavy, doing logos and um wayfinding for hospitals and that sort of thing.

SPEAKER_05:

Aaron Powell, and how did you find that? Was that through school? Did they help you find the internship?

SPEAKER_07:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05:

Okay.

SPEAKER_07:

You and I helped me find it. Nice. Uh my professors over there.

SPEAKER_01:

Okay. I applied for a job at Lowe's when I was at Auburn and I didn't get it.

SPEAKER_07:

You didn't get it?

SPEAKER_01:

No.

SPEAKER_07:

Why not? Did you fail the personality test?

SPEAKER_00:

Oh, maybe. He said that with such such conviction.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_07:

Well, I thought that I might fail it.

SPEAKER_01:

You probably that's what I'm sensing, is that maybe I did. Yeah, no, and I just like wanted to like trucks and stuff. Was there did you take a personality test? I don't remember taking a personal test. Maybe I didn't get that far. Maybe my application was so bad that they were just like, whatever, we don't even need this able-bodied 20-year-old to like unload trucks. He's not going to be worth our time.

SPEAKER_07:

Hmm. That's unusual. I don't understand why they did that. Thanks.

SPEAKER_01:

I didn't never really have a complex about this until now, but I think I will as I should.

SPEAKER_07:

Did they tell you you didn't get the job? Maybe they just lost your application.

SPEAKER_01:

We'll go with that, because I don't think I ever heard from them ever. But I mean, this was also like, I'm pretty sure I've hand filled out my application and then like dropped it off. Oh yeah, they lost it. They wouldn't this wasn't like online, like I logged in and like I submitted an application.

SPEAKER_05:

And yeah, you you dropped it off, heard some laughter in the background. Yeah, that guy's personality sucks, so he won't be hearing from us. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

Anyway, sorry, that's my low story.

SPEAKER_05:

Yeah. So um do you mind answering now, like when you got done with college, how you found your next job?

SPEAKER_07:

Uh I think it was through uh I IDA student day. I toured a couple of different places, and GMC was one of the places that I toured, and that ended up being my first um studio architecture job.

SPEAKER_05:

Nice. And I I appreciate you mentioning IEDA as this is the IDA podcast. Sometimes we forget that. Yeah. We just think it's ours.

SPEAKER_00:

Shout out to IADA.

SPEAKER_05:

So you work there for five years? Is that right?

SPEAKER_07:

Yes, five years.

SPEAKER_05:

Okay. And then you've now been at CCR for six. Correct. Right. Yes. What's what sort of jobs does CCR normally work on?

SPEAKER_07:

Um we keep it very diverse on purpose because that's how it's never boring. So um I would say we do a lot of corporate office and we also do education and child care and restaurants and hospitality, um just kind of everything whatever's around that we're interested in.

SPEAKER_05:

Do you have a a specific one that you lean towards or a couple different like you know, do you lean more towards corporate or hospitality or you personally?

SPEAKER_07:

I think that I prefer doing um design for public spaces. Okay. Uh that feels ideologically exciting for me. Um I think it's important to have good public space um for everyone in the general public. And so I really enjoy that. Although the only drawback is that those are typically low budget sort of projects. So I do enjoy doing restaurant work. You get to be really creative there.

SPEAKER_01:

Um trying to think. So Jackie, we were talking about this before the show. So Jackie uh Hamrick was our very first guest. Very first guest. And I am I correct, she's uh been the only other person from CCR that we've had on the show. So yeah, so you know, it's nice that we've got CCR representation back on the show. Right. Because it's a very cool firm.

SPEAKER_07:

Yeah, you're really missing out. You should do everybody from CCR.

SPEAKER_01:

It's like, oh yeah, why don't you why don't you make the show better, Mark?

SPEAKER_05:

Um one of the questions that we had, and you mentioned this particular idea a couple times. Uh the question was, are there any specific design styles or themes that you're particularly passionate about? And your the first part of your answer was I get excited about art and architectural history, but ultimately I love Do you remember what you wrote?

SPEAKER_07:

Oh. How did I word it exactly? I think I said uh research.

SPEAKER_05:

Yeah, I love storytelling. Storytelling.

SPEAKER_07:

Oh, okay, yeah.

SPEAKER_05:

Give her the points. Yeah.

SPEAKER_04:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_07:

Well, sometimes I call it uh narrative crafting. Um but so I think that when you focus on storytelling, you can work with any trend or design style. And the question really is, you know, who is my client and how do I communicate that through line, texture, and products, and um so that's storytelling and design.

SPEAKER_05:

Yeah. We had um there was a professional development symposium, I guess it was almost a year and a half ago, and there was a round table discussion, and storytelling was the topic, which we probably should have had you on the panel, it seems like. Oh yeah. Why wasn't I on the panel? I think Mark didn't said something he didn't.

SPEAKER_01:

I think I was the one booking that. I was like, uh, nobody wants anybody from CCR on this thing.

SPEAKER_05:

Um but I really loved uh because there was also talk about um again design trends and how do you keep things how do you incur uh incorporate design trends but still keep things timeless? And your response to that was through storytelling.

SPEAKER_07:

Right. Yeah.

SPEAKER_05:

So do you want me to read back what you said?

SPEAKER_07:

Oh yeah, just read just read verbatim what I said.

SPEAKER_01:

Is this the can you share thoughts on the evolution of design trends over the years? Or is it the one before that?

SPEAKER_05:

It's the one before that. Okay. Do you want to read? You've got it.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, I've got it up. So it's yeah, how do you balance incorporating design trends with creating timeless interiors? Alexa Turner reading for the part. First, I consider the longevity of the space to determine the relevance of trend versus timeless, off to a great start here. What is the natural cycle of refresh for the building type? More commonly, I work from a narrative perspective versus a material perspective. What design decisions align with the identity of the client? That is storytelling through design, which transcends any trend because it's contextual, it's who you are.

SPEAKER_05:

Yeah. I just thought that was beautiful. It's a good answer. It is a good answer.

SPEAKER_06:

Uh sorry I couldn't bracket that off real fast. That's right. Exactly as it was.

SPEAKER_01:

Like an onion.

SPEAKER_05:

Yeah, well, because uh very often, and again, it's you know, I think it's there's nothing wrong with the answer, but we've had you know several people answer that question kind of in the same way, which is um you keep the bones of it timeless, kind of neutral, and then you use a little you know, trends here and there, you know, kind of uh things that can be changed out really easily to kind of go with the current trends. Um but I love the idea of that it's if you're telling a story, it's who they are, and that in and of itself is timeless. Right.

SPEAKER_07:

I've always been a fan of you ever walk into a time capsule uh ha so like a house that hasn't been renovated in 50 years.

SPEAKER_05:

You see those Zillow posts, you know, where they're like, ooh, you know, you see the kitchen with the the laminate, you know, and the different colors in the bathroom. Right.

SPEAKER_07:

Yeah, there is a way to appreciate something for what it is.

SPEAKER_05:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

Um and you guys do a lot of adaptive reuse too, don't you?

SPEAKER_07:

We do. So one of my favorite projects that I have worked on recently uh was Jasper City Hall. Um and it was in um uh Jasper. It was in Jasper, yes, but it was inside of a um uh building that was constructed during the New Deal.

SPEAKER_05:

Okay.

SPEAKER_07:

And so it had really good bones. It was um solid rock, basically, and it was a theater, and we transformed it into a city hall.

SPEAKER_01:

Wow. And that's cool, and that's you know, just kind of I'll uh shout out some uh CCR highlights. But just in regard to just adaptive reuse, like you guys have done adaptive reuse, you know, for nonprofits, and you've done adaptive reuse for tech companies and you know, city hall and now a city hall, right? So that's just you know it's going back to your answer of just the breadth of work that CCR does. That's pretty cool. Yeah.

SPEAKER_05:

And you you got to work on uh was it your old high school?

SPEAKER_07:

Oh yeah. Yeah, that was when I was at GMC. Okay um, but that was actually the first project that I ever did out of college.

SPEAKER_01:

And so it was a very great uh so you graduate from college, you're in the real world, you have a real job. And now you gotta go back to high school. And then you go back to the high school where it all began.

SPEAKER_07:

Right. Yeah. It was a it was a really great full circle moment, uh, you know, where I felt like I was sort of, you know, giving back to the community I grew up in.

SPEAKER_05:

And uh was that so surreal?

SPEAKER_07:

It was surreal, yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

I think I mean assuming there's people, uh teachers and and such that you would you would still know.

SPEAKER_07:

I mean there were a lot of the same teachers there.

SPEAKER_01:

Hopefully none of the same students, you know. One kid who got held back four years.

SPEAKER_05:

With certain teachers maybe that you didn't like, would you like kind of give them a smaller office or no, no, I'm fair and just ideologically fair, yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah. Should just focus on the public spaces. Yeah. Um was it did how I want to ask a weird question. How was your high school experience? Was it good?

SPEAKER_07:

It was generally pretty good. I felt like I got a good education at Athens. Um I did a lot of activities. Uh like what? I was a majorette.

SPEAKER_01:

I think I knew that actually. Did you? When did that come up? I d I think maybe maybe your social media. Okay. Okay. Yeah. Yeah. Maybe a conversation. I feel like we've had this kind of not this conversation directly, but I feel like I knew that you were a majorette.

SPEAKER_07:

Yeah, I was a majorette at UNA for a couple of years, too.

SPEAKER_01:

Oh, cool. Hmm.

SPEAKER_05:

Interesting. Yeah. It's weird now because I've now I've got kids in high school. Um, I've got two, a senior and a uh freshman. Wow. She's like, ooh, my gosh. I didn't realize you were that old. I know, right? That was what I knew. That's what you were gonna say. I know. I also have a freshman um and a and a seven, right, almost eight-year-old. Um, and I'm skipping my 13-year-old, but yeah, so we've got four.

SPEAKER_07:

You have a whole classroom at home.

SPEAKER_05:

Pretty much, but it's weird seeing the two like in high school and trying to like remember what I was like in high school. And especially my son who's a freshman, because he's he's pretty introverted and he doesn't talk much. And so I'm just like, hey, like, you know, meet people, like do some stuff, but then I think back to like myself in high school, and I was like, I wasn't like going doing a bunch of crazy stuff.

SPEAKER_01:

Same. Yeah, yeah. I was pretty, I had like my friends that I played soccer with and stuff like that, and was completely comfortable around them, but like other people, especially freshman year.

SPEAKER_05:

Like, you know, once I got to senior year, I was much, you know, much more relaxed and whatever, more more more uncomfortable with my skin, but it's hysterical now because I'm like judging him, you know, he's getting out of the car. Like, come on, man. Oh do more.

SPEAKER_06:

Yeah, do more, put yourself out there, more solutions.

SPEAKER_05:

Thank you so much. Nice call out.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, well done.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, usually we're having a shout out our on our own selves. Yeah, this is good.

SPEAKER_05:

Which I do um I I was gonna say that uh Today's episode's sponsored by KI. Just because I saw Chris Williams earlier today, he was like, do not mention me on the podcast. I was like, okay, done. Did he really did he really say that? He did. We we had uh IDA um board lunch. Um we have a board meeting every every uh every month. And so we were leaving, and I think we're I mentioned we were recording the podcast this afternoon. Bridget, who uh you mentioned on Mary Claire's podcast, who said she was like, I was roasted on that podcast. She wasn't roasted, she was not roasted at all. A little bit, a little bit by Mark. Um, but I and she was like, But I appreciate Chad, you said you know, sell more Mannington. I don't she's not gonna care what we say about her as long as we mention Mannington and that you should specify Mannington. Uh and then that was when Chris was like, Well, do not mention me on the podcast. So hey Chris.

SPEAKER_01:

I actually don't want to do this, but I do kind of want to just tell a joke about because Chris tore his bicep. I don't know if you've seen Chris lately. Yeah, yeah, yeah. He tore his bicep um because his daughter was doing gymnastics or backflips or something. He was spotting her, and something went awry.

SPEAKER_07:

Chris was doing gymnastics?

SPEAKER_01:

She was, yeah. So he was spotting her. I think he was probably doing something. Yeah, no, that's what that was well, and I and I was I was calling in virtually, right? Like I wasn't there, so I was on the side of the computer screen, and I was keeping my mouth shut, but I just wanted to be like, one, come on. Come on. Like you're a bit he's a he's a buff guy. Like, you know, like your daughter tore your bicep. Right. And then he also was like, Yeah, because she kind of gave up on it at the end. I was like, Oh, now you're throwing your daughter in the bus. This is what happens when you say, Don't mention me on the podcast. Not only are we going to mention you, we're gonna tell stories about you. He won't listen to the show anyway. No, he won't now. Yeah, yeah. So anyway, so back to the lecture. Chris Kroggins, yeah.

SPEAKER_05:

Um what advice do you have for individuals aspiring to become interior designers? So those high schoolers there that you were up uh you're doing their high school. Yeah. They were like, I'm thinking about interior design. What would you tell them?

SPEAKER_07:

I would tell them that it's a good career. It's been a good career for me. Um I would say don't assume that you have to be um working in studio architecture. Uh it's like I was saying earlier, it's a pretty versatile degree, even though it's specialized. So you can do sales or manufacturing, it translates well to graphic design. There are a lot of possibilities. And uh don't allow yourself to get discouraged when many people don't understand what interior design really is.

SPEAKER_05:

Right.

SPEAKER_07:

Um it's very similar to architecture in some ways, but way more fun. Um architecture is so boring.

SPEAKER_05:

Yeah. Who needs architects? This is not the AIA podcast.

SPEAKER_01:

No, it's not. Um they don't have a podcast.

SPEAKER_05:

Of course they don't.

SPEAKER_07:

They're working on parking decks or something.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah. Boom, roasted. I had a question that was actually related to what you were saying because I feel like you had a question that was similar to this.

SPEAKER_05:

Well, you did. You did said uh what advice? And you said read Big Magic by Liz Gilbert.

SPEAKER_07:

Oh, yeah. So if you're a creative person, I feel like a lot of people go into interior design before they're creative people.

SPEAKER_04:

Right.

SPEAKER_07:

Um a lot of them are interested in art and um probably have some kind of ego about them. I did.

SPEAKER_01:

And did don't have any any any ego anymore?

SPEAKER_07:

Oh yes, I've killed my ego. No. Um my ego is not dead. It is still very much present. But um I think that uh Liz Gilbert had a lot to say about creative living and how to balance that with a practical career, and that really helped me. Um, so that I'm living creatively and also having practical sense about it, which sounds really boring. It's a very good book.

SPEAKER_01:

Is this the same lady who wrote Eat Pray Love?

SPEAKER_07:

She did read she did write Eat Pray Love.

SPEAKER_01:

You're giving me a look like I wish you didn't know that and had brought it up. Am I wrong in the U.S.?

SPEAKER_07:

I actually didn't I didn't read Eat Pray Love. I should, because I love her um her big magic book so much.

SPEAKER_01:

But I was actually asked to say the name of the book again. Big Magic. Okay. I'll check it out. I've never read Eat Pray Love either.

SPEAKER_05:

I have not read either. I've seen the movie. Yeah. I have not seen the movie. Julia Roberts, I think. Yeah.

SPEAKER_07:

I have seen the movie. It's been several years. I the content is not really um not really my bag.

SPEAKER_05:

Are we talking about eat pray love or eat pray love. Okay.

SPEAKER_07:

Um I'm sure it was beautifully written. She's a great writer. Okay. Um, but she's also really into creative living, and I'm really into creative living, and that's what big magic is about.

SPEAKER_01:

Okay. So what um let's stay on creative living a little bit. Like, what does that mean?

SPEAKER_07:

Um So I make art in my own time for myself because it makes me feel fulfilled. And then I also do applied art for work.

SPEAKER_01:

Good answer. So it's so you have so you're you're keeping creativity and art making and those that those juices flowing regardless of where you are. Right. Right.

SPEAKER_05:

Yep. You're not you're not getting it. It's a holistic sort of approach to it.

SPEAKER_07:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_07:

Um, I feel like when I was in college, a lot of people recommended that I read The Artist's Way. And um I feel like it had a lot of rules, and Big Magic explains um creativity and how to get rid of blocks in a way that is less rule forward and allows you to do your own thing and be your so you read the other one, you're like, nah. Uh I think that big magic is better.

SPEAKER_05:

Okay.

SPEAKER_01:

Well, you're not, you don't like authority, so you know, the whole like here's a book about rules. Rules as it relates to the artistic process, right? Like, no, nobody's not.

SPEAKER_07:

Yeah, it tells you to wake up at a certain time every day and write three pages and then take yourself on artist dates every week. And people say that that process really works for them. Um, but I think that it can have the opposite effect if you're really bogged down in the details. It can be stifling in a way, too. Yeah.

SPEAKER_05:

Just like pressure versus it. Seems like when, at least I've found, if I'm trying to be creative, the more um more rules or pressure I put on myself, the less creative I am. And the times when I'm more free to just kind of, you know, it's it's kind of like I've I've got to work on an idea. I may sit down and work on it a little bit, but then it's uh go for a walk. You know, just go for a walk and let the mind kind of wander and then come back to it and you know, yeah.

SPEAKER_07:

I think that that's uh that's one of the things I specifically mentioned in my responses was the concept of combinatory play. Yeah, and I didn't know that. If you are um stuck on something and you feel like you're not moving forward, go do something playful and joyful. Um, you know, play violin or go for a run.

SPEAKER_05:

Um but if you don't know how to play the violin.

SPEAKER_07:

Learn.

SPEAKER_05:

That's your play, is you take violin lessons. I thought you could just play it badly.

SPEAKER_07:

Like it's you could play you could play it badly. I think that's also good advice. Um yeah, because the point isn't always to do something well. You know, in work, yeah, that is the goal. Yeah.

SPEAKER_05:

But there was a quote um I saw the other day, it was something along the lines of I gotta find it. Um maybe as you're you're as I as you guys are talking, and I'm not talking to the microphone, I can look it up because I had it, I had it flagged. But it was something along the lines of creativity is born out of not knowing what you're doing. Something along those lines. Like when you when you don't know what you're doing in any sort of thing, that's where creativity comes from because you've got to figure it out.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah. I like it. That was a good thing. We'll we can attribute that quote to you.

SPEAKER_05:

That's to me. Yeah, that's a longer quote the way I said it.

SPEAKER_01:

A little a little clunky. But you know, workshop it, take a walk.

SPEAKER_05:

I'll be right back.

SPEAKER_01:

So now that Chad's left, um so did you so going just going back to kind of your di were you drawn to commercial interior design work more so than say like healthcare? Um residential.

SPEAKER_07:

I can get down with healthcare. Um residential, I think can be sort of like being someone's therapist, and it's so personalized and so individualized, and um I would have to really be doing that for the right person.

SPEAKER_05:

I can see that.

SPEAKER_07:

Um but I think that commercial design actually has a lot more flexibility. I think that going into school, a lot of people think it's the opposite that you have more freedom with residential. Right. But um, I think that sometimes the parameters of commercial design are actually freeing.

SPEAKER_04:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_07:

And the programming's more diverse. I mean, a house is a house. Not always. Wow.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, wow. House is a house.

SPEAKER_05:

Profound. Um no, but it's it's true. I mean, you're kind of doing the same. It's there's gonna be a kitchen, there's gonna be bathrooms, there's bedrooms, and there's some hopes. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Um, I think uh there's a comedian that talked about it's like my bedroom can be anywhere. I want you know I can put wherever I'm sleeping is my bedroom. Um but yeah, you're kind of doing the same things over and over again.

SPEAKER_07:

Whereas I think with commercial design, again, there's so many different hospitality and you know, corporate and I will say that Kinsey did a really wild residential project that had a speakeasy and um a gift wrapping room and was somebody's house? Yeah.

SPEAKER_05:

Was the gift app wrapping room just off of the speakeasy? Like you'd go in there.

SPEAKER_07:

No, I think it was it was a future.

SPEAKER_01:

How big was this project? I won't ask too many specific details as I've been known to do, where it looks like I'm fishing for information. But like, was this like a big, big like mansion house?

SPEAKER_07:

It was. It was a very long time.

SPEAKER_05:

It was a two-bedroom apartment.

SPEAKER_00:

It was a two-bedroom apartment. But also it didn't work.

SPEAKER_07:

The house was the speakeasy. That's all it was. Just the speakeasy.

SPEAKER_05:

Uh this uh this is I'm just coming up with a quote myself. I'm not reading this off my screen. The opportunity for creativity begins at the moment we don't know what we're doing.

SPEAKER_01:

That was good.

SPEAKER_05:

Yeah. I liked your version better. Thank you so much. It felt more real. It did, yeah. Um, are there any specific skills or qualities that you believe are crucial for success in this field?

SPEAKER_07:

Um communication is number one. I think that people skills are more important and also more transferable than technical skills. You're gonna learn the technical skills, so definitely, you know, don't come out of school feeling like you don't know anything. You're probably gonna feel like you don't know anything your whole career. Uh I learned something new every single day.

SPEAKER_05:

Yeah. Yeah, and I think that's that's that's true of every I mean, most everyone when they come out of school. I mean, some people maybe are cocky for the wrong reasons or don't know what they actually don't know. But um I think usually when you're starting a new job, you're dear in the headlights and you're like, I don't know anything. And that's I think that's expected. You know, you're not gonna be able to do that.

SPEAKER_07:

It is, it definitely is.

SPEAKER_05:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

Like, man, I am just I'm just along for the ride. I'll figure this out as we go along.

SPEAKER_07:

Yeah, I think that collaboration is really important. Uh design in a studio sense, I think ends up being project management primarily. That's you know 80% of the job.

SPEAKER_05:

Right.

SPEAKER_07:

And um it's really leaning on um leaning on people who know their products well. Um you can't know everything about design. And there are resources, you know, collaborating with your reps, collaborating with your coworkers. Um you just get to a much better solution that way.

SPEAKER_05:

Right. And and listening to your client and you know, under as you were saying, you know, doing the storytelling, yes.

SPEAKER_07:

Definitely. Right.

SPEAKER_01:

Do you have a favorite project that you've worked on?

SPEAKER_07:

I really think that Jasper City Hall is my favorite project.

SPEAKER_05:

So you said it was a movie theater originally.

SPEAKER_07:

It was a um theater for plays.

SPEAKER_05:

Okay, okay. So at a stage with Yeah, is that all still there?

SPEAKER_07:

The stage is still there. Also, the stage is applicable for um city hall programming. So they can rent out that multi-purpose space for um various community events and speeches, and then they use that as their council chambers as well. Okay. And it functions really well for that purpose. Um, but I remember that when um when Jasper was um doing the ribbon cutting, uh one of the people talked about remembering doing her ballet recital in that building. And that many people in Jasper had memories that were tied to that building as a theater, and um now they're using it as the city hall.

SPEAKER_05:

Yeah, that's cool. How do you see the future of interior design evolving?

SPEAKER_07:

Well, um I've been feeling that check. You know, this past year has been a lot of like uh living to see man-made horrors beyond my comprehension. Uh but I feel confident that automation can't replace design. Um like there's humanity that has to be there for that process. Um, good choice I made. Um what else did I say about that?

SPEAKER_01:

I have a follow-up question that I think is is is related to this. Is which is what is you what are your thoughts on AI? I am both broadly and in the interior design sense.

SPEAKER_07:

My feelings about AI. Um Well, so I'm gonna be balanced in my answer about this because the other day uh Anna was learning some AI software for rendering, and it really blew my mind. I think that if people are using it responsibly, and you know, we're just gonna have to figure out what that looks like because I I worry about the environmental impact, I worry about uh this period of time where we don't know what is real and what isn't real. Yeah, it's very hall of mirrors out there in the media, and many people can see videos and not know if that's something that somebody actually recorded. Right. We've kind of lost that photographic proof.

SPEAKER_05:

Right. That's out the window now. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_07:

Um but I know that clients in the past have been hesitant to pay for graphics, and so in a professional sense, um what Anna was doing the other day would have ordinarily, if you were doing it just yourself, taken two, three weeks to accomplish. And so I think that that's amazing, and I don't want to downplay um the possibilities in that sense.

SPEAKER_05:

Yeah. I mean, there's certainly a place for it. Um but and I don't I don't think it's going to entirely replace interior design or all these different professions that people are talking about. Um my um my brother and his wife are currently looking at renovating their house. And so she was she was doing the floor plan and trying to she's an interior designer in Nashville. Um so she was kind of working on the floor plan and looking at it, and she was like, I'll just I'll just throw it to you know Chat GPT or whatever. You know, it's like okay, this is what I need, and this is the dimensions, and it needs to be this way. It was just the bathroom, it was a simple kind of a bathroom sketch. And the the garbage came back made it looked nice, but it made zero sense. And it was kind of a combination between a a 2D like bird's eye view drawing and a 3D drawing, like face-on, you know. Um it was a combination of that. None of the the dimensions matched, you know. It was like it overall it would say this is the dimension you gave me, but then individually the dimensions didn't add up to the larger one. Um so there's a lot. I mean, that can obviously can get fine-tuned and get better and better and better, but I do think, again, going back to your um your comment about storytelling and really understanding the client, there's no way to do that unless you're face-to-face and having a conversation. Right.

SPEAKER_01:

Right. That is a human quality. Right. Yeah. There's a uh an advertising graphic design brand house here in Birmingham called Telegraph Creative, which y'all are probably both familiar with. Um they've done a lot of work. We've worked with them several years now at BI.

SPEAKER_05:

And um brought to you by Telegraph Creative.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, so shout out to my friends at Telegraph. Um, they had a really great uh post recently where they were talking about, like a social media post where they were talking about AI generated uh design. And so they gave, I don't know if it was ChatGPT or Grok or Gemini, I don't know who they but they gave the AI a prompt for a business, a business name, color scheme, kind of the works. It was you know packaged up, right? And they they fed that through the system and then they gave that same prompt to one of their in-house designers. Um, and what is what is produced? Which one was faster night and day. The in-house designer's amazing. But it like, but the the you know, the AI cranked out, you know, it followed the prompt, and it cranked out a logo and some advertisements and some copy and stuff like that. And it was I'll use this very loosely, it was fine. Like it was fine.

SPEAKER_05:

Right.

SPEAKER_01:

Some could maybe even argue it was fine in terms of like a starting point for a potential ideation, right? But you want like a hundred different ideations, you're you know, you know, that's not a finished product. What the designer came up was a you know a full solution that was obviously very thoughtful and had right humanity and personality and intention behind it. Um and they they shared that on social media. It's like, you know, this is what ChatGPT will give you, and this is what we will give you. Right.

SPEAKER_07:

Um that's very helpful. Yeah, I feel like all the industry should be doing that.

SPEAKER_05:

Well, I thought it was a very good what was the cost one versus the other? I don't know if they shared that. But I mean you get what you pay for, but yeah, I mean, yeah, yeah. Yeah. I mean, and and I do think, I mean, again, you know, we said that there's there's a place for it. And so ideation, I definitely use it sometimes just to kind of get some ideas. Um, I usually don't go with what they've suggested, but it's sometimes it'll spur another thought and go, oh, okay, if I twist that and I add this, yeah, that that is that starts to become a really good idea. But um, yeah, because you can get back just so much junk. It's amazing.

SPEAKER_07:

Yeah, it's a tool that requires an arbitrator, for sure.

SPEAKER_05:

Yeah, yep. Great word. Um, how has, since we're talking about technology, how has technology influenced the field of interior design? You talked about using AI, um, but kind of in your response, you mentioned textiles.

SPEAKER_07:

Oh, yeah. So um a good example, and this isn't technically interior design, but it's relevant. Over Christmas, we were watching why Christmas, you know, classic movie. Yeah, one of the movies. And um there was a scene where they're all wearing garters to hold up their socks. And so I love watching older movies and seeing the materials that they're using while having the background knowledge of when different innovations happened for for textiles uh or furniture, right? Um whatever's going on technologically is reflected in um in the movies. Right. So um when the movie was made, White Christmas, uh that was like pre it like predated nylon spandex. And now that those textiles have been developed, you don't need garters to hold up your socks anymore.

SPEAKER_05:

Right. Right. Yeah. Um you gave that answer, and the other one that I underlined was talking about post-pandemic remote access impacting commercial office design through kind of third places.

SPEAKER_07:

Oh, yeah. That's a good one. Okay.

SPEAKER_05:

Um that was your I had to I had a good answer. My answer was so good.

SPEAKER_07:

Me. Um but I well, I forgot about that. I think that that's been the biggest shift um during my career because when the pandemic happened, we all had to go remote. We were forced to. And now instead of us all having one way of working, we can work from anywhere, technically.

SPEAKER_04:

Right.

SPEAKER_07:

And there is definitely benefit um to going in the office. We need the connection, we need the collaboration, but also it's a lot better to do head-down work if you're in a private space. Right. And I think we overdid the open office for a very long time. And we're now seeing the benefit of breaking up spaces more and having flexible private areas to do work.

SPEAKER_04:

Right.

SPEAKER_07:

And so I think that that's going to continue to trend.

SPEAKER_05:

Yeah. Yeah. And I I've, you know, because I've I work in a showroom, but I've got my office, my desk, and then I've there's a lounge area and there's a conference table. And I find myself, if I'm like working in the office that day and I've got I I don't have appointments where I'm out making calls. I work at all these different spaces throughout the day, even though it's just myself, just because whatever the task I'm working on. Like if I'm gonna be if I need my widescreen monitor, then I'm at my desk, obviously. Um but if I'm reading something, I might be in the lounge chair. If I'm gonna be writing more and just have my laptop, I might be at the conference table and that's closer to the window because I want to be closer to the window. Or, you know, they you make these different decisions um based on the work that you're doing. And I think it's I think it's fa it is fascinating to see how the office landscape's changed and have these all these different kinds of areas that you can choose to work in and not be, okay, here's your desk, and this is where you work, and that's where you are from nine o'clock till five.

SPEAKER_07:

Yeah, I mean, that's quite honestly pretty depressing being in the same place all day long. Um and I think that there's something to be said for setting the stage. And um I think that the day can all run together or you can move around. And um I think that that helps people be a lot more productive and it helps with our general um well-being.

SPEAKER_05:

Right. Yeah, and I find, you know, again, just talking about myself, just getting up and moving to a different space, I may have already I may have started to get a little tired, but the act of just getting up and moving to a different location, just doing that of often wakes me up a little bit.

SPEAKER_07:

Yeah, it's energizing. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

It's like going on a walk and it reminds me. What was that phrase that you had, the two-word phrase that started with a C?

SPEAKER_05:

Compatibility combination.

SPEAKER_07:

Combinatory play.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah. It's not exactly the same, like kind of.

SPEAKER_07:

I mean, like you're it's of the same vein.

SPEAKER_01:

It's yeah, it's it's in the same yeah, and sometimes I play the violin not well, but I'll play the violin. Um, in the in a different corner of your showroom. Yeah. That's what you do. Well, it's kind of like, you know, so it's talking about like furniture from the furniture perspective, even before the pandemic, right? It's like, you know, benching, benching, benching, benching, and everything got flooded with benching.

SPEAKER_05:

Right.

SPEAKER_01:

Even before the pandemic, it's like, okay, well, now we're doing benching, and then the curve for privacy started pulling back up because now you've got PET dividers, right? Because it's like, okay, like, you know, I don't want to like actually I don't want a 72-inch high cubicle, but I also don't want nothing between me and you while we're right both on the phone at the same time. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_05:

You know, um, there has to be it was it was funny because once benching started taking off, and that was really to fit more people into a footprint. Yeah, it was a real estate thing. It was a real estate thing. But then we started adding panels to all the lounge furniture. Right. So the panels came off the desks and they started being added to the lounge furniture, which I thought was funny. That's a good point. Yeah. Um are there any any emerging trends or concepts that you find particularly intriguing?

SPEAKER_01:

Um we can tell you what you find intriguing if you know.

SPEAKER_05:

Yeah, I'm I'm you had a really good idea. A really good, I'm just making it uh talking about uh mushrooms.

SPEAKER_07:

Oh, yeah. Um there seems to be a lot more applications for mycelium. People are excited about it. Um it's a renewable resource, it grows rapidly. Um I uh know that people are using it for acoustics specifically, and then I'm familiar with it for um uh death applications, so for making uh caskets and coffins. Um which makes sense.

SPEAKER_00:

This is actually this is yeah, I'm I'm I'm learning something new in the right.

SPEAKER_05:

What project are you working on? Right. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

So like a so it would be like a compostable casket? Yes. Is that the idea?

SPEAKER_07:

Yes, it is compostable. And the regulations vary from state, but I think that they'll loosen up over time. Uh I don't remember exactly. I'm sure California, you know, the places you would expect to be adopting mycelium mushroom caskets.

SPEAKER_05:

Because I've I've got a manufacturer that is using uh mycelium for acoustics. Uh-huh. Uh but I'll need to talk to them about caskets and see if they want to get it. Could be the new thing. Yeah. Could be. We'll see how you can get buried in these acoustic panels.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah. Interesting.

SPEAKER_05:

I had no idea that was a thing. So if they bury you alive and you scream, nobody will hear you.

SPEAKER_07:

Oh. Didn't think about that.

SPEAKER_01:

Is it a hard like the not the acoustic material, but can you make it like a hard material? Like in I'm thinking like so there's a difference between like making a casket out of PET acoustic felt, right, and then making a casket out of what's the word you guys are using? Mycelium. Mycelium. Mycelium. Okay.

SPEAKER_07:

You can probably use the fruiting bodies too. Uh not bodies in the casket, but mushrooms themselves, you know.

SPEAKER_05:

Okay. Yeah. But the the acoustic panels are, they've got they're rigid.

SPEAKER_07:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

I'm just thinking like, you know, like a a a body. You know, I guess it's supposed to be.

SPEAKER_07:

Well, it's meant to be compostable. And it is very thick. So it's it's like a a dense foam uh when it's dried, uh the mycelium.

SPEAKER_01:

Interesting.

SPEAKER_05:

How did you learn about that? Like how did you get into death products or how do you uh I became a death doula last year.

SPEAKER_01:

Say that again. Go on. Here we go. This is where we get into like some good stuff. This is an interesting transition. A death doula. A death doula.

SPEAKER_07:

So it's the sitting for people at the end of life, uh, end of life planning, uh, that sort of thing. Uh I did that at the same time I was uh pregnant, which was interesting contrast. Life and death.

SPEAKER_03:

Right.

SPEAKER_07:

Um they're honestly very similar. Um but so I learned a lot about uh funeral planning and that sort of thing through the program I did. It was going with grace.

SPEAKER_01:

So is it so so kind of taken the the when I what would you would you say the term birth doula, is that a little bit of redundancy there? Like tip stereotypic, not stereotypical.

SPEAKER_07:

Um it's not. I think that that's just the common application for that phrase.

SPEAKER_01:

Aaron Powell So is it so in terms of like a death doula, like it's kind of like the opposite, and I'm being very general here, right? But like are is it kind of like a like whereas like a birth doula is like you're taking like birth hospital care, but you're bringing it into the home. And I'm I'm being again very general here. And a death doula would be like taking hospice into the home in a different sort of way.

SPEAKER_07:

It um there's a lot of uh there's a lot of diversity in it. So um, you know, it it could be at home or it could be in a hospital. You're just an advocate for the individual who's dying.

SPEAKER_01:

How'd you get into this?

SPEAKER_05:

Um She just started doing sourdough and then choosing combinatory play. That's how I got interested in it. It is like tie-in. Nice. Well, we um we are 50 minutes in if we want to switch to rapid fire, or we could stay on uh on death. Death, mushrooms and death.

SPEAKER_01:

It's an interesting topic. I mean, you know, we when we speaking of our our really great, awesome friend Bridget. Specify Mannington. Specify uh Mannington.

SPEAKER_07:

Bridget's great.

SPEAKER_01:

Everyone that all all our other friends are gonna get really mad at us for you know, think of Carmen and Lauren and Lori and Adam and all the rest, right? Not gonna be able to name everybody. Um so specify other people too. Um but Bridget and her funeral home stories. Right. Yeah. So yeah, so this is twice now that you know death has come up.

SPEAKER_05:

I like that at the end.

SPEAKER_07:

Is she designing funeral homes?

SPEAKER_01:

Her family, her.

SPEAKER_07:

I'll listen to I'll listen to her podcast. Excuse me, I didn't do my homework. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

Her grandparents have a funeral home.

SPEAKER_05:

So she kind of grew up around that industry. Interesting. Yeah. Yeah. We're trying to bring people together here. That's what we're doing. That's what we're doing.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah. We do a pretty good job, I think.

SPEAKER_05:

Yeah. But I I do like that we we finish the episode because we could did with her as well. It kind of ends on death, which is, you know, we're getting to the end of the fitting. Yeah, it works out. Uh just the episode, though, right? Not the end of anything else. Just the episode. Just the episode. All right. So rapid fire.

SPEAKER_01:

Rapid fire. Okay. What is your number one design pet peeve?

SPEAKER_07:

Oh. Bad transitions.

SPEAKER_00:

Good answer.

SPEAKER_05:

Okay. All right. You uh you now have a one-year-old or about to be one year old?

SPEAKER_07:

Yes, he'll be one next week.

SPEAKER_05:

Nice. What has been the biggest surprise about being a parent?

SPEAKER_07:

Um just probably how quickly they change. We'll think that we've got a handle on it, and then he's, you know, opening cabinets and turning flips.

SPEAKER_05:

Baby proofed, and then you're like, oh, this isn't this is the death trap.

SPEAKER_07:

Yeah, he's uh, you know, just rapidly growing so fast.

SPEAKER_05:

And yeah, we have I remember Beck, who's our second oldest, um, really just kind of you know crawling, and then he's you know, he's now walking, but it's the drunk sailor walk, you know. Um and then he's on he's standing on the back of the toilet. You're like, yeah, yeah, that excluded quickly. Yeah, it goes fast, yeah.

SPEAKER_07:

Also, not enough child care resources. Um so people should open more child care facilities and then they should hire CCR to design them.

SPEAKER_01:

Nice. Nicely done. Man, firing on all cylinders over there. Um, if you could design a space that was inspired by a song, what would the song be and what would it look like? The space, not the song.

SPEAKER_07:

This is a hard one.

SPEAKER_01:

I know. It's a it's one of those. It's one of those. This is part of my infamous list of just kind of slightly terrible questions. Um there's nothing rapid-fire about it either.

SPEAKER_05:

No, that's kind of long form.

SPEAKER_01:

Or you could replace song with book or movie. That just made it harder. Yeah, she worked irritated.

SPEAKER_07:

Wow.

SPEAKER_01:

Um I have another question if you want me to. Okay. Yeah, skip it.

SPEAKER_06:

I pass.

SPEAKER_01:

Pass. Um when it comes to spiders, are you a catch and release or are you a kill?

SPEAKER_07:

I am a catch and release unless I can identify that it's a brown recluse.

SPEAKER_01:

Same. Agreed. Or, you know, something else like that. Or a black widow or something like that. Right. Yeah. So there's only like two here. And I apologize. Yeah.

SPEAKER_07:

I say sorry I have to kill you.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah. But I have a one-year-old.

SPEAKER_05:

Yeah. So goodbye. This is on you, really. Yeah. You wouldn't be in the house. Yeah. Do you have any New Year's resolutions? And if so, could you share one of them?

SPEAKER_07:

Uh New Year's resolutions. Uh I try to paint every day. That's a thing that I'm doing. And then I also meditate for at least 15 minutes, which I think sounds like not a lot, but it is a lot when you have a baby.

SPEAKER_01:

I was gonna say it sounds like a lot, especially having a one-year-old. Yeah. So what kind of uh paint? Like what what medium are you using?

SPEAKER_07:

Um I do oil and acrylic, but primarily watercolor is my favorite. Okay.

SPEAKER_01:

I do all of them. Your answer was yes. Yes, yes, I mean. Um if if you had a or maybe you do have a personal theme song. Do you have a personal theme song? If not, what would your personal theme song be? His has been very song-related. Yeah, I don't know why.

SPEAKER_07:

This is very personal.

SPEAKER_01:

Oh. Um we ask hard-hitting questions on this show, Alexa. This isn't just for fun.

SPEAKER_05:

Our listeners want to know.

SPEAKER_01:

Yep. There's a serious thinking face going on.

SPEAKER_07:

Uh I am blanking on the songs today.

SPEAKER_01:

Two passes. This is like I feel like I've had more passes than this, so you know. All right. Well, I don't have you find another question.

SPEAKER_05:

If you could have any exotic animals, a pet, what would it be?

SPEAKER_07:

Oh, that's so funny. I have two birds.

SPEAKER_05:

Okay.

SPEAKER_07:

Um, coniers, green cheek coniers, and then I have historically had many rats.

SPEAKER_04:

Okay.

SPEAKER_07:

And I am in a ratless period right now because it's they don't live very long and it is devastating. So I've got to take a break from it sometimes.

SPEAKER_01:

Okay. How many rats did you have at one time?

SPEAKER_07:

Like the most the most I've had at one time, four.

SPEAKER_01:

Okay. I always thought you were about to be like 40.

SPEAKER_07:

Oh, no, no, no, no, no. I keep it low.

SPEAKER_00:

What do you know about raising rats?

SPEAKER_01:

More than you, apparently. Yeah, apparently. Okay, I've got a uh I've got one.

SPEAKER_07:

Okay.

SPEAKER_01:

Um, this is a classic.

SPEAKER_07:

Is it about a song?

SPEAKER_01:

I'll just have to pull up my Spotify.

SPEAKER_07:

I couldn't remember any music I listened to.

SPEAKER_01:

Uh blue or black ink.

SPEAKER_07:

Black.

SPEAKER_05:

Okay, yeah. What is a uh skill that you're sneaky good at? Like may is there like a hobby or something that you you do that most some people wouldn't know that you do.

SPEAKER_07:

Oh.

SPEAKER_05:

I think we've already hit cover one. Yeah. All the painting.

SPEAKER_07:

What am I good at?

SPEAKER_05:

I feel like I talked about things that I'd written that question before uh before we talked.

SPEAKER_01:

So that's happened before too, where somebody's answered your question before you get to it. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_05:

I can I can do another one.

SPEAKER_07:

I think I I think I uh most things that I do, I don't do well. Okay. I'm s so I'm select about it. Sneaky bad at things.

SPEAKER_01:

Yes, yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

Sneaky bad at things.

SPEAKER_01:

I like that. Okay, that's a good answer. Um what is the most unusual um design element or design material that you've ever used in a project?

SPEAKER_07:

Most unusual. I don't think I ever use anything that weird. I really like cork. I wish I got to use cork more. I wish I gotta put a wood flooring in things more often. Um those aren't weird at all.

SPEAKER_01:

Those aren't weird. What like what would you use cork for?

SPEAKER_07:

Um like a dance studio?

SPEAKER_01:

Okay. Or I feel like there's gotta be a dance studio somewhere in CCR's future.

SPEAKER_07:

Definitely.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05:

Yeah. Especially after this podcast. They're like, whoa, we were thinking cork. Yes, yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05:

Do we get a cut of that project? No. No, we don't.

SPEAKER_07:

We'll see. Yeah.

SPEAKER_05:

What are you binge watching right now, or are you, since you've got a one-year-old?

SPEAKER_07:

Oh, um. So my husband and I are watching the Sopranos.

SPEAKER_05:

Is that new?

SPEAKER_07:

It's not new at all. That's funny. Yeah, no. Uh that's one of those, because it's old enough that we can talk about the trends, although honestly it's not very architecturally stimulating. So that's disappointing for me.

SPEAKER_01:

Um ever seen it. I haven't either. I haven't either.

SPEAKER_05:

Really? No. I haven't seen it.

SPEAKER_07:

I haven't never seen it either.

SPEAKER_05:

I think I've seen like one episode, maybe. How far are you into it? Because maybe Mark and I can come over and we can catch up.

SPEAKER_07:

We're on season three.

SPEAKER_01:

Okay. Okay. We'll slow down, we'll catch up, and then uh we're coming over. Yeah, then date night. Yeah. Okay. We've met your husband, so you know, it'll be fun. Yeah, yeah. Not awkward at all.

SPEAKER_05:

Yeah. All right. Um, well, uh we usually finish the podcast with a custom song. I don't know if you've know it's very psalm heavy here at the right at the end. But um, I need you to pick a m music genre.

SPEAKER_07:

Oh. I can't just pick the I could actually pick the song for this.

SPEAKER_05:

Uh you have a song you want for the Yeah.

SPEAKER_07:

Can I do uh She's taking charge?

SPEAKER_05:

I yeah, that's great.

SPEAKER_07:

Can I do uh Sunra UFO?

SPEAKER_05:

That'll be fun because that'll be the first time it will ever been flagged for. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

Maybe your episode gets taken out.

SPEAKER_05:

Yeah. Oh no. She doesn't like authority. Yeah, right on right on theme. Well, you can select a different uh create it, create one.

SPEAKER_01:

Um He was gonna use AI and a lot of natural resources and water. Yeah, it would have been a genre, a uh I've been moving to trying to get like a uh like a hook, like a chorus. So we've had the guests a genre and then a chorus, so they make up a chorus.

SPEAKER_05:

And then usually some things from the podcast I'll pepper into the Okay.

SPEAKER_07:

Alright. Well, sorry I threw off your process.

SPEAKER_05:

Yeah, no, it's fine. Yeah, yeah. Yeah. It's it's let's just say it's a stainable design. Let's just say it's a backup. Yeah, can I get a a genre? We're not letting this go. No. Okay.

SPEAKER_01:

Hopefully people make it to the end. And they hear about everybody at the end. Yeah. No, we'll we'll actually email you the song so you can like listen to it. Yeah, yeah. I I I would imagine that none of our guests I think very few of our guests actually listen to their own episodes just some of the feedback we've gotten. Right. But let alone make it to the end after an hour and like you know, hear the song. Not that they couldn't just fast forward like it.

SPEAKER_07:

I sometimes have a hard time watching recordings of myself, so but I think I'll make a point to do it.

SPEAKER_01:

Chad's never listened to the show. I listen to like the first like 15 or 20 episodes and then after that I've stopped listening. Yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_05:

So anyway. Alright. Well, thank you so much for being on. Thank you for having me here. Yeah, enjoy.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah, a chance starts a show, then loses the threat. Hang on, everyone's gets gone, he said. Swing on the room, microphones warm. Alexa steps in like the creative storm. She's got that inside coming clean, seeing patterns where we've never seen. When the sketch pad breathes, the brain goes blank. She laughs and says trap mix in the tank.

unknown:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02:

Open ideas stall and the spark feet goes late. She drops two words and recalibrate. Don't get caught up in the rad phrase. Don't pin your wheels in a frantic face. Uh-uh. Go it now, give it thoughts and space. Don't get caught up in the radar. She calls it combined up to replace. Let it all collide. Old ideas dancing with something untried. Take a left and a right, then match them together. But that's how you get past the blocks that tether. Just kinda take a note, put the pressure down. Let curiosity pull you around. Read big magic, let the fear relax with deep preload. Yeah, you can skip that track. Don't get caught up in the rat race. Uh uh, yeah, it's the first phase. Uh-huh. Yeah, don't get caught up in the rat race. That hush and fatty. Good state, calm in the noise, these face. You design that from the sound, stop cross to your final case. Sustainable style and start to finish crack. With the tangents alive, 40 rats apparently help you drive by the next fool. Keeps it all in two. Bring a focus back, real smooth, real school. I didn't spray the laughter, float. That's not the best conversation. Don't get up in the back place. Yeah, just how it plays. Yeah. That's how we do this kind of battle.

unknown:

Just play.

SPEAKER_02:

Just play. On design, good ideas,