Episode #58 - Interview with Lauren Hulsey

On this episode of All-In Design, we speak with Lauren Hulsey of Barrett Kent Studio. Join us as we hear about Lauren's journey from Anniston, to Tuscaloosa, to 30A, to Atlanta, and then to Birmingham - a circuitous route of making bold moves, trial by fire, and gaining experience and knowledge along the way. We also learn all about her firm's work on the Mountain Brook Fire Station, which is a type of project we have never discussed on the podcast and was fascinating to discuss. We hope you'll give it a listen.

Transcript

SPEAKER_10 0:11

From the recording studio dedicated to all things IIDA Alabama. Hello, and welcome to All In Design IIDA Alabamas Podcast. Thank you for listening. My name's Chad Moore here with my co-host Mark Griffo.

SPEAKER_08 0:31

Hey everybody.

SPEAKER_10 0:32

And it is the first of June, the official start of summer. So we are recording today's episode from the beach. Almost got a spit take on that one. And you were faced my direction. Yes. Waves crack. Yeah, the spray of the ocean. Add sound effects later. But uh our guest is uh is a fan of the beach. Um uh was there recently, not too long ago, has another trip coming up. This was some of the uh talk prior to pressing record that Mark was not privy to because he showed up late to uh our recording today. So uh much diva behavior. So, anyways, uh let's turn it over to Mark uh since he's well prepared for uh today's podcast. I am as prepared as I always am in there.

SPEAKER_08 1:18

I have my questions printed out and highlighted red. We've joked about this before. I don't have any notes on mine. Chad has lots of notes on his. See? I mean, look, I'm glad I look it over and you do have notes on yours. And then I have my my questions for the end. Um I do like the idea of having a show at the beach, though. I I do too. We should probably work that out and get some, you know. We've got designers in Penskola and Destin and and Along30A that that I know that we both know. Yeah and so um IDA, board, uh Dia and Jess, um look for that expense. The budget. We're gonna the budget. Do we have a budget?

SPEAKER_10 1:56

No, I don't think we do.

SPEAKER_08 1:57

Okay. Yeah. Somebody asked me, and then we're gonna get to the guests real quick. We'll we'll get to you in just a second. Calm down. Yeah. What what do we pay a month for our like hosting? I think it's like somebody asked me the other day, and I was like $12 a month for a month.

SPEAKER_10 2:11

I think it's we bumped it up a little bit, so it might be like 16 or 18.

SPEAKER_08 2:14

Okay. Because if we have so many listeners, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_10 2:17

Well, our format changed from half hour to an hour. And so depending on how many we record in a month and post, we needed more storage.

SPEAKER_08 2:24

Yeah. So for all the people who want to start a podcast, yeah. If you want to start a podcast, it only costs like $16 or $18 a month to host it on the website. Yeah.

SPEAKER_10 2:33

And then it can go out to all the different super simple to get it connected to all the things.

SPEAKER_08 2:37

Yeah, so it's hosted in one spot. Yeah. And then it feeds all the podcast like players. It was Spotify.

SPEAKER_10 2:45

It was so simple that when because neither one of us knew what we were doing, still largely don't. Um but uploaded it to the hosting site and then was like, okay, connect it to you know, Amazon and what all the different ones. And some of them were like, oh, it could take you know seven days before it hosts. I'm like, all right, well, this might take a while. And then like within I don't know, like ten minutes, they were it was on all these different things. It was like, oh, we're live, we're live. We have a podcast now.

SPEAKER_08 3:13

Yeah. So that's to say that after this, you're really gonna blow up.

SPEAKER_04 3:16

Yeah.

SPEAKER_08 3:18

I don't know if life's gonna be the same. So now that we've discussed the beach podcast hosting and the fact that our guest life will not be the same after this, let me introduce our guest. It is Lauren Holsey, who is is an interior designer at Barrett Kent Studio here in Birmingham, Alabama. Lauren, we're thrilled to have you on the show. Um the floor is yours. Why don't you introduce yourself?

SPEAKER_05 3:39

Yeah, good to be here. Thanks for having me. Um Yeah, so um I grew up in Aniston, Alabama, a small town. Uh went to uh Alabama for school. Um I've known for a long time that I wanted to be an interior designer. Um from probably a pretty young age, maybe didn't know exactly what it was, but um I think in the questionnaire I mentioned um from a pretty young age enjoyed watching uh this old house with my dad. Um and and kind of enjoyed obviously like the construction side, seeing things go together. Um, you know, I maybe didn't know um that where I'd end up was part of that at the time, but um, or part of the process. Um, but um I guess at some point started watching um uh Trading Spaces, um, which I've talked all about these TV shows and now most I can't of the design ones on TV can't stand to watch.

SPEAKER_08 4:42

Not everyone they have similar paths though. People be like, well, I used to watch and they like they make that cringe face when I say it.

SPEAKER_05 4:49

Yeah, I kinda kinda hate it, especially TV. Yeah, yeah. Let's no more plugs for them. Um it's episode's not on TV by HGTV. Um but um I guess kind of started getting into and uh maybe understanding the interior design side of it, maybe from from that. Um so uh knew for a long time what I wanted to do. Um like I said, went to Alabama um and um and then graduated kind of on the tail end maybe of the the recession. So uh which which recession?

SPEAKER_10 5:26

Right, right. The world we live in. The recession.

SPEAKER_05 5:33

Yeah, yeah. Um and um I guess um I had done an um internship right before my senior year um in Atlanta and um worked for a firm there, and um they had offered me a job, and then you know, I'm doing the follow-up, you know, come spring, and then um I get the email um, hey, we're on a hiring freeze, and this isn't gonna work out. So, you know, here I am uh right here, ready to graduate, and thought it was difficult, you know. And um, and so um while I was in school, I'd worked at a daycare, and um so there I was, um graduated and um stayed on at the daycare doing um So you stayed so you stayed in Tuscaloosa. Stayed in Tuscaloosa and uh doing the job, you know. My mom was a teacher and she always, you know, not not that she was pushing it on us or anything, my sister and me, but you know, if you ever have kids or something like that, teachers always on on your kids' schedule and things like that, you know, coming up with I did wonder because in the questionnaire it said, become you know, I graduated becoming the one thing I said I would never be.

SPEAKER_10 6:43

Uh-oh. And so I did write in the margin. What do you have against Tupac?

SPEAKER_05 6:49

Yeah, right, right. Yeah, nothing around nothing against teachers. They're great, they're great. Just it's just not what I wanted to do. Um but moms are somehow always right still, right? Um but uh did she do it and I told you so? I was like, uh uh maybe not in so many words, but she was like, you do have you do have a job, so enjoy that part of it. Um but um yeah, so uh stayed on at the daycare, ended up uh worked at the in classrooms at that time, got on their administrative staff to uh get out of the classroom. And um how old were the kids? Um so I kind of worked at both ends of the spectrum, um, newborns, so had a class um with two other teachers um of 15 newborns, um, and did that for a little bit and then went and worked in the preschool classroom. Uh so kind of both ends, um which both were you know, both were fun for different reasons, but still wasn't both were terrible. Terrible for different reasons.

SPEAKER_10 7:54

Well, the newborn, I mean you're just like picking them up and yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_05 7:59

Exactly, exactly. Just you know, uh in the babe room, you know, you're you're on that everybody's schedule feeding, you know, changing, napping, you know, and that kind of thing. Preschool, a little more active any, you know, or you maybe depending on the on the day. Maybe still changing. Right napping. It's all the same. Yeah. Um so uh uh I guess uh as I got that kind of began to wear on me, I I just started blindly sending out resumes. Um if I'd um, you know, we'd come to Birmingham for something, I'd walk around downtown homewood, drop off resumes, you know. I was just you know, I I was ready to do what I I want had wanted to do. Um, and so um we uh went on a family beach trip and um down to 30A and I was like, well, I mean I'm here, I got my resumes.

SPEAKER_10 8:54

Yeah, right.

SPEAKER_05 8:55

So the beach spray hitting me in the exactly, exactly. And um so uh it seemed like there was uh some money to be spent there, so uh you know, and uh so wrote down every store we passed and everything, and when I got home, again just blindly sent out resumes. And um so um I got a call from um from a store um in Grayton Beach area and um and they called me in for an interview. So um uh kind of store? Uh so they're a furniture store. Okay. And um they did have one designer in-house at the time that focused solely on um, I guess full house um uh like renovation furniture finishes, all you know, kind of the the whole thing. And um the job that was available was just for an associate in the store. But I was like, you know, you gotta bow interiors. Okay. Yeah, they're at the corner, kind of at the turn back to Red Bar. Um if you ever rode the bus uh from the parking lot to Red Bar, you parked in that parking lot. Um, but um uh it was kind of you know, maybe this isn't exactly what I want to do, but I've got to get into it. You know, it yes, it's like it's not being a teacher.

SPEAKER_08 10:17

And no offense, everyone who's about to cringe when I say this, it's also not Tuscaloosa.

SPEAKER_05 10:23

It it's it's not and just made a lot of enemies. Well, I do love my wife's born and raised in Tuscaloosa. Um, I was ready to get out. Uh so um yeah, so uh they uh can't went down for an interview and um got the job on the spot um in true um I like to say Alabama girl fashion. I drove from the beach back to Tuscaloosa, went to the old miss football game that night. Exactly. And um so um and then the next weekend um I went with my parents basically in the eye of a hurricane, found an apartment, moved down there the next week. Um and uh so um Okay, were you saying there was a hurricane or not headed directly, maybe we were on you know the outer bands, but um you know.

SPEAKER_10 11:26

So adding it was what year were you down there?

SPEAKER_08 11:28

What years were you down there?

SPEAKER_05 11:29

Uh I moved down there in 2013. Okay.

SPEAKER_10 11:32

And you didn't take that as an omen, like the showing up?

SPEAKER_05 11:37

Why would I?

SPEAKER_08 11:38

Yeah, you might as well go ahead and check it off the list. Right? It'll be another 10 years before.

SPEAKER_05 11:44

Exactly, exactly. Yeah, yeah. Um so moved down there, and um in uh about two weeks after I started working there, I was assistant manager at the store. And that was also the time that uh in-home consultations were kind of starting with um like kind of the maybe the potter pottery barn model, you know, that there is someone's going coming out to your house, you know, for an hour and measuring for you know your living room furniture, you know, a smaller project. And um and so um I started that uh process at the store and um and was helping with kind of one room, the the rule kind of uh or I guess the parameters of it was help with one room, and then if they need more, they'll work with uh Melissa, the other designer that was handling larger projects. And so um that kind of started to grow and um and as you know, as I was in their house, you know, it's like well look at this or look at that. And sorry, Melissa, you're not here.

SPEAKER_02 12:52

I've now got the whole house. Yeah, exactly.

SPEAKER_05 12:59

And um so that kind of then started to, you know, more and more projects and more and more responsibility, and um in that also learning how to deal with clients, something you know you're certainly not taught in school, uh, you know, that um kind of uh I guess sometimes like the dynamic of a client, you know, some are easier to work with, some are harder, some understand the um expectations that you have tried to set, some don't. And then when that goes awry, how do you handle it? When that grows great, how do you handle it?

SPEAKER_10 13:38

When you started out, were you doing it by yourself? Like you'd go by yourself, or did they have somebody it was it was baptism by fire?

SPEAKER_05 13:44

Right. Um and how you learned. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_08 13:47

And you were like staying exclusively on 30A?

SPEAKER_05 13:49

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_08 13:50

So these are all like high dollar second homes really for people.

SPEAKER_10 13:54

Yeah, and um people that aren't very exacting. Yeah. Exactly. Whatever. Whatever.

SPEAKER_05 14:02

Right. Yeah, when they're ready to write the personal check, and you know, for uh the whole, you know, all the furniture in their house, you know, uh that they've just walked into your store and you know, you've measured for a couple of things, and they're like, well just write the check. And you're like, all right. You're like, no, this is a different task, right? Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_08 14:19

Exactly. Exactly.

SPEAKER_02 14:21

Yeah.

SPEAKER_08 14:23

Did you partner when you were working in it, Bo, did y'all partner at all with any of the firms or designers down there? Were you guys kind of exclusively your own show?

SPEAKER_05 14:31

Um, we were exclusively our own, I guess to an extent. Melissa worked with um I know, here she is again. All to the side. Um she would work alongside architects and uh contractors and uh, you know, and and was really, I guess, ultimately involved in the whole process. Whereas if if I did work on a project, it was after it was, you know, ready to go, it's built, it's we just need to furnish it kind of thing. Okay. And um, and and because I guess because that's what the the stores, you know, they're trying to sell merchandise, they're trying to sell the furniture. And um, and so um I guess through that I started to on one side I saw one I wanted more. I w I wanted to be on the you know, I wanted Melissa.

SPEAKER_09 15:25

We we know. We we knew you saw it. Um time to bring in our special guest.

SPEAKER_06 15:33

We got Melissa on the phone.

SPEAKER_02 15:35

Here's a reunion. Come on in, come on in. Um and um She doesn't look happy.

SPEAKER_05 15:42

Yeah, she was listening right outside the door. Um so uh it was kind of looking at uh maybe wanting more and wanting uh to be a little closer to home. I was working a retail schedule, which I mean everybody always says, you know, you lived at the beach, it's like living the dream. But um, if you think about the traffic that you're going down, you know, say on 30A to get to the beach and you're like, oh, or to dinner, you know, uh I've been sitting here forever, there's nowhere to park, you know, all that. Uh you know, when you live down there, you're doing that to go to the grocery store and you know, and uh run errands. And it does.

SPEAKER_08 16:22

And I don't want to speak for you. I lived down there for three years, right before you. So I would have left about a year before you moved down there and been there for three years. And again, I'm not speaking for you. Yeah, I did not live on 30A. Yeah, okay, right. So a lot of people are like, oh, like you you you worked there, like I worked at I worked at Alice Beach for three years in kind of the infancy of the property.

SPEAKER_03 16:40

Yeah.

SPEAKER_08 16:41

And I didn't I didn't live in Alice Beach because I'm not a multimillionaire multi-times over. Right.

SPEAKER_03 16:47

It's still, I mean, it's still a beautiful area and stuff like that.

SPEAKER_08 16:49

But yeah, like you're you know, it's still you're still working. Did you did you know Melissa? It's still a job. I didn't I did not know I did not know Melissa. Actually, it would be really funny if I didn't know Melissa and if it's like no, I did it here on the web.

SPEAKER_01 17:02

She always talked about this.

SPEAKER_08 17:05

She was on this wall to make these jokes. I'm gonna move on. I edited myself. So good. But yeah, like a lot, yeah, it's kind of like yeah, you live at the beach, and then sometimes you can't even find time to go to the beach museum. Not real problems, but yeah, like you're you're still working 40, 50 hours. Right. Exactly.

SPEAKER_10 17:25

It's also kind of those people that travel for like they're constantly in different cities and going to different, they're like, oh, you got to go see so and they're like I never got out of the like the conference area. Right. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, exactly.

SPEAKER_05 17:37

Exactly. Yeah. So um, you know, um to my family's dismay, uh, I moved from the beach and um because they were, you know, they were they would come visit.

SPEAKER_02 17:48

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 17:49

Um and uh so I thought, well I'll move, you know, if I'm gonna make this move, I want to move closer to home. Um and so um I got the bright idea to move to Atlanta. Um that's about um if you leave at like 2 a.m. It's like you know, an hour and a half to where my parents live now.

SPEAKER_10 18:08

If you live and you leave it any other time, any reasonable time. Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 18:13

Um it's you know, still f somehow five hours, you know, like it was from the beach. But uh um, but um moved up to Atlanta and or just north in Roswell and um started working for um a uh store that had a similar setup. They had um a store and then they also had um a design firm.

SPEAKER_10 18:37

And how how'd you find that um uh Instagram?

SPEAKER_05 18:41

Okay, okay.

SPEAKER_08 18:42

So yeah, I just you're not our first Instagram person who's yeah, found a job by discovering a firm and being like, hey, hey, sure you're happy. Right, right. Thanks for the follow. Exactly.

SPEAKER_05 18:56

Exactly. And uh so got a job um in Roswell, and um, but I was working in the firm at this point, so now I've got Melissa's job at the other firm.

SPEAKER_07 19:10

And did you text Melissa and be like, I'm the you of Roswell if you're doing this?

SPEAKER_06 19:15

I did it. Umelissa listens to this show. I kind of want to know where she is now.

SPEAKER_07 19:25

We're gonna do some follow-up investigative work later.

SPEAKER_05 19:27

Yeah. And um so uh started working in their design firm, and um uh we were focused mainly on like large-scale renovations and additions um and worked very closely um with one contractor that probably handled 80% of the projects um that we worked on. Um and then um and then kind of the other 20% was was new build. And so um I learned a lot from that project or from that job too. Um it was uh I kind of kept getting myself into these um roles of uh maybe the I don't want to say the leadership wasn't there, but it was like every time I got into this job, it was this new role that you know that they didn't have somebody on staff that had done. And um, so the person that had been running like their firm, I guess, to this point was more so focused on let me sell furniture out of the store, and so it wasn't focused on finishes and um everything that helps with uh I guess the construction side of things and understanding millwork drawings and you know and um and everything like that. And so it was certainly, you know, a learning curve. And I learned a lot from the contractors that that I worked with because they were willing to hold my hand through a lot, you know, uh when a question came up or um or or something, you know, like they were willing to walk me through on uh on site and say, you know, like here this is what we're working around and you know, we've got this problem to solve and and that kind of thing. And they were they were really like I said, willing to hold my hand. And so I learned a lot um from from working alongside them and um again, kind of baptized baptism by fire.

SPEAKER_10 21:17

Right.

SPEAKER_05 21:18

Yeah, and um it it was uh if I wanted to keep doing it, I had to learn it. And uh, you know, sometimes that's easy and sometimes that's really hard, you know, and um and and it was really hard at times to you know to learn. And um and when you make a mistake learning to to go to the client and be like, hey, I made the mistake, but here's how we're gonna fix it. And um and I mean even you know, almost 15 years into it now, you know, it's it still happens. No one's you know no one's no one's perfect, no one's uh doing this perfect every day.

SPEAKER_10 21:51

And turns out there's a lot of detail.

SPEAKER_05 21:54

Exactly. Turns out you're gonna be learning forever and um and spoiler alert. Yeah, right. What? Yeah. It's constant. And um and um so um so definitely learned uh learned a lot at that job and um and then it was kind of that thing, like uh learned I wanted a little bit more. Um I knew I wanted to kind of gotta go do more.

SPEAKER_08 22:19

Yeah, I got a question real quick. Yeah, how was how was so on top of the transition from like 30A to Atlanta in terms of like your job and your responsibilities and continue to grow and work on the TCs? How was it just in terms of geographically? I mean because like 30A is completely different than like Atlanta and 285 and Roswell. I mean, was that at all like overwhelming, or you just have like the personality of like I'm here, I'm jumping into it and I'm just doing it.

SPEAKER_05 22:45

Yeah, I mean it was it was obviously different on uh a couple different levels.

SPEAKER_08 22:50

Umise, which a lot of people don't kind of get in terms of like Florida panhandle, like there is such a thing as beach time and kind of beach priorities. It's different in different places, but yeah, the pace can be different, especially in offseason. Yes, definitely, definitely. It was Atlanta-like.

SPEAKER_05 23:11

Um I think because I was more in like the suburb kind of feel and setting, it wasn't as uh uh chaotic, but there was like um a lot of times at the beach, you know, you're uh with this being like their second home, you know, maybe they're in town for a week and you've got to pull off a line that week. Or um, hey, we're um, you know, say we're they're down here for um like the last week of the summer, we're maybe ordering some stuff. Uh we've got to order your sectional, it'll be here in you know, eight weeks, and then we'll be here for Thanksgiving, but it needs to be in the house when we come, and so you've got to go meet the movers. And so there were like maybe some of that dynamic kind of went away uh with the Atlanta side.

SPEAKER_08 23:57

But so what you're saying is you moved outside the perimeter of Atlanta for a slower pace. That's what it sounded like. That is exactly what the sounded line is. That's right. Yes. Don't make assumptions. Right. Absolutely.

SPEAKER_05 24:12

Absolutely. Yeah. Yeah, the timelines are definitely that's a great point.

SPEAKER_10 24:17

Timelines are definitely so how long were you um at the beach and how long were you in Atlanta?

SPEAKER_05 24:21

Um a little over four years at the beach and a little bit at over four years in Atlanta. Okay. Um and so um apparently that's like my time. I'm at over the place.

SPEAKER_08 24:34

College Beach, Atlanta. Now I'm permanent.

SPEAKER_05 24:38

Don't worry, Brian and Adam, it's been more than five years. We're past the hope. Um but uh yeah, so uh kind of again got that uh itched uh that I wanted to do more, and a lot of what we were doing in Atlanta felt like that, you know, they were coming to the store for the it for the look of the store, and and it was the same thing at the beach, you know, like people were looking for this one look in the and so um it felt more or less like reinventing the wheel, this cookie cutter, you know, like kind of over and over and over. Yeah, yeah. And I I kind of uh felt like I was losing the you know, we had kind of taken this uh from uh more of like a farmhouse uh look to maybe more of a modern farmhouse, and it was it it was it was slow to I wasn't looking at you on the It was yeah, modern farmhouse. It's a big transition. Um and I I was just kind of creatively just uh I don't know, stuck. I was it was it was yeah, all right?

SPEAKER_10 25:53

Yes, yes, I hate to do this, but I I keep going. I wonder if Melissa's having the same issue. Maybe she might all do that. We should really have her on the show. All right, so you you hit hit kind of a creative wall to a degree and started looking for excuse.

SPEAKER_05 26:13

Started uh looking for for something new and um and at that point um you know the the move that I thought was moving uh closer to home in Atlanta and needed, you know, my it wasn't really. And um my sister and brother-in-law had started a family by that point, and and uh, you know, it was getting harder to to leave, you know, when I'm seeing them, or you know, uh maybe I'm missing out on something because I can't get over there, you know, or whatever it was. And um, so I was like, I mean, here's two things. I'm you know, I'm ready for something different here, and I'm ready to be closer to them. And um, and uh so again Instagram took to Instagram. Yep, took to Instagram and um started just uh I knew I wanted uh to work for an architecture firm because I knew I wanted to be just uh totally immersed in a project. I wanted to be a part of it from beginning to get away from the Yeah, yeah. I wanted to get away from that store aspect. And I also knew that um I didn't want to work for someone that was doing, you know, that it seemed like clients were coming to for a certain look. I wanted someone that was doing both residential and commercial, I wanted someone that was um doing all types of projects, it was doing something traditional, it was doing um something more modern, that it was just, you know, when you look when you scroll through their website, it's just everything's uh, you know, in the best way is is a mix. And um and so um so those were kind of my parameters in looking and um ended up finding um Barrett Kent in uh I guess at the time, Barrett Architecture, and um and uh so again went on the whirlwind two weeks. Okay, found oh no, I actually didn't do the whirlwind two weeks um because when I moved here in 2021, that was when everyone was selling their house and living a lot of people have moved into apartments or things like that when they were trying to find their house or waiting on you know this or that. Oh yeah, and I couldn't find an apartment. So um I I lived on a blow-up mattress in my parents' sunroom first six weeks. Um and at the time my uh sister and brother-in-law were also building a house, and so everyone moved back home. Oh wow, I was gonna make a joke.

SPEAKER_08 28:52

I was like, so because you didn't have your childhood room anymore, but it was also other people in the house.

SPEAKER_05 28:57

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_08 28:57

So Well, you did want to be closer to the right, I did.

SPEAKER_06 29:01

That is what I said.

SPEAKER_08 29:03

That is what I said. Careful what you example. I want to be closer, I'm gonna be in the next room.

SPEAKER_05 29:08

Right. And um, so uh my sister and I constantly made the jokes that maybe at our most successful, here we are living at home, you know.

SPEAKER_10 29:16

And um, you know, and so um but sometimes those those experiences, even though they can kind of suck, yeah, um are still special in a way.

SPEAKER_05 29:25

I I do look I do look back on it and it it it was it was fun. My my grandmother was still living at the time, and you know, it was multi-generational in a in a house, and it was you know, it was um interesting to to say the least.

SPEAKER_02 29:40

And like you said, I do look back on it very fondly, but in maybe in the moment it was like yeah okay, let me let me close the clear glass doors to the sunroom and go to go to sleep.

SPEAKER_05 29:52

Yeah, exactly. Yeah. Um but um yeah, it's certainly worth it um in the long run. And um yeah, so here I am. It's been five years.

SPEAKER_08 30:05

Okay, now five years. So talk a little bit about what I just cut you off. Did you want to go first?

SPEAKER_10 30:10

I think I was gonna ask the exact same question you're about that.

SPEAKER_08 30:12

Oh, I was gonna say uh let's let's get Melissa on the line. Yeah. What talk a little bit about what Barrett Kent does. Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 30:19

Yeah. So um That was it. That was it, yeah. Yeah, that was it. So um we uh work in commercial, religious, um, and residential. Um uh we do we joke that we do some uh boutique educational. We've we've worked with that might be we've worked with uh yeah uh with Restoration Academy on a few projects. And um while we don't do uh they're a private school in uh Fairfield, and um while we aren't doing the the public bid work side of of education, um it's uh been really fun to work with them um on projects. And so we that's uh that's our uh office joke, is that it's boutique educational. It's it's who we want to work for, and we have to do that. And you're like I used to be a teacher. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I was a teacher once. The daughter of a teacher, so I will lead this. I get what you do every day, you know. Yeah, for sure. Yeah. Um yeah, it's um it's been really fun fun to work with them and um and and to have the the mix of projects, you know. Um I'm sorry, go ahead.

SPEAKER_10 31:31

No, I was gonna say how how how do you you all find projects?

SPEAKER_05 31:34

Where where do you um a lot of our projects are word of mouth, um, I would say.

SPEAKER_10 31:38

Um Do you guys have a strong Instagram account?

SPEAKER_05 31:42

Um we we try to have a strong I wish you could see everybody's faces.

SPEAKER_07 31:50

There's multiple faces being moved.

SPEAKER_05 31:52

Um when we post, it's great. Um but I think that a lot of um our projects come from um Brian and his uh dad uh started the firm. Um he was uh uh bear uh now I've lost it.

SPEAKER_08 32:09

Uh was it Barrett? There was Garrison Barrett.

SPEAKER_05 32:12

Garrison Barrett, there you go. And um back in Pepper Place a long time ago. Yeah. And um and then uh as uh that firm uh separated and uh Brian and his dad started this firm and um they we've kind of I guess the projects that they've worked on have come back, you know, like maybe it's a church project and we did a classroom building and now they're ready for a sanctuary building, or um someone that went to church there and now their office, you know, needs uh has a renovation or a new build, or you know, it's it's kind of like a word of mouth in the community, which again I love. It's it's very rare that um we also have a joke in our office that you know it's it's rare that we go somewhere that we don't find somebody or somebody's saying, Oh, I used to work for Brian or Lauren or uh and um and so that's uh that's always fun to to meet people and um and they always have the best things to say about them. And so, you know, uh having a a good working for someone that has a good reputation in the community is is really incredible. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_08 33:18

That would be it would be not great the other way around. I love where I work with the people who run the place. Oh you work there terrible degenerates. Yeah, no one likes them in the community. But our Instagram page rocks.

SPEAKER_01 33:32

Right, right, exactly. So when we post. Exactly. When we post.

SPEAKER_06 33:37

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_08 33:39

How many uh so how how big is the firm and and are you the only interior designer there? Are there others? Like what's the setup?

SPEAKER_05 33:46

So I think we have uh nine, well, we've got ten now. Um uh one of our um co-op students just came, or she's about to start um beginning of June. Um and um for let's see, I was the only interior designer for about four years, and then Abby came on um spring of this past year. So she's been there a little bit over a year or so. Um that's been really great to have um another interior designer in the office. Um, you know, I've uh one thing that I maybe didn't have at my back and call at other jobs was someone to, you know, bounce things off of or you know, or something or that kind of thing. And so um uh obviously I've I've learned a lot working alongside the architects and kind of understanding how what they're doing is incorporating into what I'm doing and vice versa and that kind of thing. And um it's been great to have um Abby there as well to now to kind of uh when I'm you know asking um I don't know a question, uh getting an opinion on something that she knows what what the way I'm thinking about it, and not necessarily that she's gonna agree with me, but she knows the same similarity. Exactly, exactly. The reason that I'm yeah, absolutely. It's been really great.

SPEAKER_08 35:04

And she probably wants your job. Yeah, probably, probably. I am the Melissa. Yeah, I'm Melissa.

SPEAKER_10 35:11

For sure. Over the um five years, is there a project that's stood out as far as you know that was either inspirational or just what fun to work on?

SPEAKER_05 35:21

Yeah. Um I mean, there's certainly um a few. I'd say one of the uh most interesting to work on, um, you know, as there have been many. Uh we were just completed, I guess it's been a year now, um, the Mountain Brook fire station. Um they built uh their old location. Um uh it was um too small, and we helped them they found a piece of land just down the street from their location, and um, and so um we helped them build that and that was uh kind of a merging of a couple worlds, you know, there's the dorm aspect, there's the so that you've got your residential side uh, you know, to a point. Um you've got a kitchen that's residential, but it also has a commercial hood, and you know, it's it's kind of a merging of a couple of all of our worlds, and then um I have to say, like I and and then of course the the uh apparatus bay and and all the support uh equipment that they have, and you know, of course Apparatus Bay. Oh no, that sounds cool.

SPEAKER_10 36:30

Oh this is the apparatus bay.

SPEAKER_08 36:35

Yeah, did you guys have to do a bunch of research? This is a dumb question.

SPEAKER_10 36:38

No, no, no. No, I thought the same thing.

SPEAKER_05 36:40

I was like, how do you exactly yeah how do you design and build something that you have no? Yeah, I mean you think of fireman, the firetruck comes to your house. So a fire pole is less safe than a slide. So they have a slide. Oh, yeah. They have a apparatus bay and a slide and a slide. I think it's a connected to the apparatus bay? It is just on the other side of the door. Um and um but direct access. Um but yeah, it was it was fantastic forum.

SPEAKER_02 37:13

Yeah, we're gonna go.

SPEAKER_05 37:15

Um we could have had the podcast from the fire station, you know. Oh man, on location live.

SPEAKER_08 37:20

Oh, that's next step. That's next level. What's your favorite project? Well, we're in it right now.

SPEAKER_05 37:26

We exactly. Uh so it was um there was a lot of research that that uh that we had to do to understand. Uh there were a lot of discussions with the firemen and and just understanding, you know, what they needed on a day-to-day basis, what they needed um uh like um I can't remember the stats exactly, but um the chances of a firefighter contracting cancer are very high. And so there have there's been a lot of research on what can be done to, you know, they're around all these carcinogens and uh, you know, and everything. So what can we do to make them healthier? What can we do to help them? And so um a part of that was um Adam in our office went to a fire station conference and kind of learned about this red, yellow, green kind of uh way to look at the fire station. So green is like your residential living areas, um, yellow is the apparatus bay, and then red is going to be anything that um that is uh when you're returning from a fire cleaning gear, cleaning uh their uniforms, um it has a special washing machine, it has a special dryer, um, and then that kind of goes into um uh kind of the last step of that is uh that saunas are they've I guess the getting the chemicals out of your skin. So that is this has a sauna. Yes, it does should have been a firewall. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_08 39:03

Save lives again.

SPEAKER_09 39:04

But the cancer bit doesn't sound good. Yeah, yeah. I'm ignoring that. Remember the slides.

SPEAKER_05 39:12

And um so it was learning all of all of that and how we could incorporate that. And so it was uh it was very interesting to learn about it.

SPEAKER_10 39:21

So the the colors are those are those just codes like as you're doing the drawings, or is that something that's actually also visible within the space?

SPEAKER_05 39:32

So as we were planning out the floor plan, um we were kind of looking at it in plan view as our kind of uh green, yellow, red, and um, and then as we uh talked through that, it helped us to then present that to how they would use the space. You know, we're talking we're thinking about travel paths and so that you're not taking something that's in the red zone back to the green zone and you know, and all of that. And so thinking through the separation of those and and everything. So it was very interesting to learn about.

SPEAKER_08 40:02

Are they responsible for so they so they come back, you know, and not from you know getting a cat out of a tree, but like they come back from a round? They really don't do that.

SPEAKER_05 40:10

Well, we we we were at the station the other day. Let's see where this goes, and we're doing our our one-year walkthrough, and you know, the you're standing by them, you hear their hear the radios go off, and um there's a dog stuck under a tool shed. And I bet they do that.

SPEAKER_08 40:27

Yeah, so so the dog off a ground off the ground. They won't get a cat out of now.

SPEAKER_05 40:33

Yeah. So they uh you know, they leave the station, and while we're walking through, I'm like, I hope they make it back. You know, I want to hear, hear about it. I mean, only good news, of course. Only good news. And so they get back and you know, we're we're finishing our our walkthrough and everything. And um, and I was like, so did it turn out? Like I I only want to know if it's good, but did it turn out okay? Like, lie to me right now if it didn't, you know. Yeah, yeah. They're like, oh yeah, we got to use the saw and cut through the floor, and you know, just say yeah. So it was a thing.

SPEAKER_06 41:05

So it was save the dog. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_10 41:08

And uh, one of the things that was interesting when first became apparent is that you've got to, or at least I don't know if they still do this, but to install the car seat.

SPEAKER_08 41:19

Did you know this, Mark? I I think I've heard of this, where they teach people how to install the car seat. Yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_10 41:26

How the hell did that happen?

SPEAKER_08 41:27

How did that become a fire? How did that let's give it to the firemen?

SPEAKER_10 41:30

Yeah, exactly.

SPEAKER_08 41:31

Is it because they're the ones who show up to wrecks and have to cut people out with maybe I don't know. Lauren, like she's the fire in the room of three people.

SPEAKER_09 41:41

She's the authority. Yeah, right. You win. You're in charge. Is that the reason?

SPEAKER_05 41:47

I've now taken you all's jobs. So the podcast is uh tell me about yourself.

SPEAKER_10 41:53

Um that was the one of the most emasculated. I was like, hi, um there's instructions that I could follow, but can you show me read this?

SPEAKER_08 42:05

Did you just was this with your oldest? Like, did you just want to know for sure, or were like Is this required?

SPEAKER_10 42:15

I I was told to go there by somebody very important in my life that um told me that's where you're supposed to go there and do it.

SPEAKER_08 42:22

Now I I don't, you know, obviously the firemen didn't like roll their eyes or anything. They're just like, No, no, no.

SPEAKER_10 42:28

They were like, oh yeah, yeah, okay, yeah, let me show you. And it was like, okay, that's probably pretty much how I thought it was gonna go. But yeah.

SPEAKER_08 42:34

So for the first and what I hope is the last time, Aaron and I actually called the fire department a couple weeks ago, which was a complete false alarm, everything was fine. Our one of our carbon monoxide detectors went out, went off in our house. And went off like twice in three minutes.

SPEAKER_03 42:50

Yeah.

SPEAKER_08 42:51

And we Googled it, and we're like, we're we're like, this has got to be a false alarm. Right. Because there's other carbon monoxide, there's like it's nowhere near the basement, which is where like the gas and the hot water heater, which is gas, is down there, the furnace is gas. Like, it's not near there. It's gonna, it's gotta be a false alarm. Yeah, but we're we of course Google it. You ask Google everything, right? Of course. And Google was like, it's probably a false alarm. Call the fire department. So we called the fire department, homewood fire department, and they showed up at like nine o'clock at night on like a Thursday, and I texted our neighbors, and I was like, hey, just heads up, we're fine. Yeah, but this is you're about to see red lights. Yeah. And uh, and and it was uh four guys from the Homewood Fire Department, which is right, I think the station number two, which is really close to our house between us and the public's on Green Springs. And like the first guy gets out of the truck, they park on the street, and I meet him in the front yard, it's kind of pitch black, and I'm talking to him and like kind of explaining what's going on, and we go up to the front door, and then these two other guys come up behind him, and I'm letting them go in first, and then out of the corner of my eye, I see another guy he's coming up the steps. And I turn to walk in my house and then I pivot on my back foot and I stick stick my head up and I go, Hey Nick. And it was a buddy of mine from Auburn 20 years ago, who I knew as a fireman, but I didn't realize he was at homewood, let alone a hour and a half from my house. But that's the only experience I have with firemen. Lauren, how frequently do they respond to those sorts of calls?

SPEAKER_10 44:23

I don't know how to do that. Should we change our carbon monoxide detection?

SPEAKER_08 44:27

Right. I was gonna ask, like, so the apparatus, but then they're coming back. Yep. Again, this is where we got derailed from the saving saving the dogs versus letting it. Well, there's a lot of stuff thrown at us. There's an apparatus pay, there's a website, there's a sauna. Are they responsible so they get back and they're coming back from like an actual fire?

SPEAKER_05 44:47

Right. Actual legitimate not what you had.

SPEAKER_08 44:50

Not what I had. Yeah. Not worth it. Well, then they hung out for 20 minutes and we talked about. They were like, is this house made of concrete? Like, how's your mom and them? Um are they responsible for cleaning their own stuff? Like, I mean, they fully like they take care of all their stuff.

SPEAKER_05 45:08

Absolutely, yeah.

SPEAKER_08 45:09

That's also pretty impressive.

SPEAKER_05 45:11

Right.

SPEAKER_08 45:11

You know, there's not just like dropping their dirty clothes. Right. Somebody else is picking them up when there's like a service that comes around.

SPEAKER_05 45:17

It's uh they have to, you know, they're uh cleaning their gear, putting it all away, and um the hoses, if they've been used, they have to be dried out, and um, and so like um in some of our research, like uh where you I guess for example, where we had the slide, there's a two-story volume that they'll uh provide like a bar that you could hang the hoses to dry out. Dry out. Um and um so um yeah, they're dealing with with all the equipment when they came out.

SPEAKER_10 45:47

All the laundry.

SPEAKER_05 45:48

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_10 45:48

All the laundry and wet hoses and special washer and dryer.

SPEAKER_05 45:53

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_10 45:53

Where do you shop for those?

SPEAKER_05 45:55

Um they provided them. Uh the washing machine is called an extractor. Um, yeah. They got a lot of it just sounds cool. It's really cool stuff. There's like a board. Right. There's a a board wash for like the EMF. So that's so the washing machine's the extractor? Yes. Okay, I'm calling our washing machine the extractor now. Absolutely. There's a boot wash station. There's um, and then the um the dryer looks like um it has like these tubes that fit into the arms of their gear, and then kind of the same for the pants, I guess. So the air I mean it's just all standing up in the room, like you sneak you can walk by. There's it's not enclosed. Um, but um, I guess what's that called? Uh um the dryer. Switch ma.

SPEAKER_08 46:47

I don't want to belabor too many questions on the firehouse, but I do have at least one. Okay, okay, okay, okay. Because we could go on after the other one. I feel like the whole episode could just be the firehouse. And I but I and I feel like there's at least a few people out here that want to know the answer to this question, so I'm gonna ask it. I'm gonna assume it's open. But is the slide a tube?

SPEAKER_04 47:07

The slide is a tube. It is a tube.

SPEAKER_08 47:09

Oh, I was thinking it would be open.

SPEAKER_04 47:12

It is a tube.

SPEAKER_10 47:15

Is it lit up? Does it have lights in it?

SPEAKER_04 47:17

It is not lit. Um it's I don't remember. I think it's uh triple helix.

SPEAKER_10 47:23

We have to do a fantastic forum. A triple helix.

SPEAKER_05 47:25

Oh, so it's fins around? It's it's I'm just imagining the quick.

SPEAKER_10 47:31

Ow.

SPEAKER_05 47:31

Yeah, yeah, it's coming from the second floor and and extends down.

SPEAKER_10 47:36

Do you think we could do a fan fantastic forum at the Oh yeah, I'm sure.

SPEAKER_08 47:39

Oh we okay. This is happening. Yeah. I mean, you are in charge of these sorts of events, so it actually works out. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_05 47:45

And I'm agreeing for the Mountain Brook Fire Station right now, I said, and of course I'm agreeing for the Mountain Brook Fire Station. Yeah, well, just show up. Yeah. Just show up like we're gonna get them to install at a car seat and then be like, could we? Yeah, yeah, and then could we run through real quick? Yeah. Yeah. Okay.

SPEAKER_10 48:06

All right, so okay, so it's crazy. Uh we're 47 minutes in. So I usually around 55 minutes we or even at 50 minutes we switch over to the rapid fire questions. So um considering that we've talked almost exclusively about uh you getting into the industry. Yeah. Um and then working on one project. Just the one all this time. No, well, I just wanted, is there anything that you would like to talk about with the you know these last few minutes before we get to rapid fire questions that we haven't really covered?

SPEAKER_05 48:35

Um, let's definitely fill the time for rapid fire. Um let's see.

SPEAKER_10 48:40

But I you know what's what's your process at you know, uh when a client comes in? Yeah. How do you deal with the client? Uh or or anything else that you might want to do.

SPEAKER_05 48:48

Yeah. Um so uh residential clients um uh I feel like kind of work oddly similar to um like when we're working on a religious space that you know that may be a um committee that we're working with, but there's kind of the same ownership of it, this emotional connection to it. And um so a lot of times we're you know, with both, we're we're talking to them. Um usually our first conversation is, you know, understanding their program and things like that. And um usually within that understanding, you hear them start to talk about, you know, like the underlying needs and wants and things for this space and that kind of thing. Um and so um as we kind of start that, it really becomes a conversation, you know, we're we're talking to them very often. Um, residential clients, of course. Um, you you really build a relationship with the with all of your clients, you know, in in some degree, residential maybe more more than others, just because of the way that we work with clients. And um, but um you know, I think that our our relationships are one of those things that that do keep, you know, like I was saying earlier, you know, word of mouth, people you know, repeat clients and things like that coming back that we're building the the relationships and and part of that is um learning to listen and and understand and then to when you do listen to take that information and and turn it into you know what they do need and ask the right questions. And you know, sometimes that's I hear you, but I forget never too. Exactly.

SPEAKER_07 50:29

I'm sorry, I wasn't listening as for the business.

SPEAKER_05 50:32

Yeah. And uh so um uh I I think that no one of my main things is uh to build that relationship early on because it builds that trust that you know I I I want you to get I want the client to get what they want. And so um I'm I'm more than willing to to do whatn what what they want and guide them through the process and everything, you know, I'm doing this every day, and so I try to remember that they are not and you know, even when they're something they do once every week, you know. Exactly. And um so even when the reaction is, you know, maybe what I don't expect or something like that, even taking the time to talk through, you know, uh you know, a reaction to, you know, presenting finishes and you know, they're uh kind of um diving in on this one uh detail of it and uh you know how the carpet's gonna repeat or something like that. And um I guess ultimately, you know, a lot of times we're presenting to them finishes that are, you know, um uh two by two sample of a carpet, you know, that's going in a large, you know, fellowship hall or something like that. There's there's very little uh in, you know, in my head the fellowship hall is already built and you know, and I'm switching out the carpet and I'm changing out the lights and you know, you're very visual and can can see it, whereas a lot of times they can't.

SPEAKER_10 51:52

Exactly.

SPEAKER_05 51:52

Yeah, exactly. And so uh taking the time to to talk through uh it with them and and everything, and and like I said, like just taking the time to talk to them and listen to them starts to build that and that trust in, you know, uh in both of us that you know that you know sometimes I have to trust that it's not the right thing because they didn't like it, you know, even though I s uh I see it at it that it is, and then of course, you know, I'm wrong sometimes. And you know, go back to the I would never tell Melissa this, but sometimes sometimes. Yeah. Melissa was wrong all the time. Yeah, yeah. More times than not.

SPEAKER_08 52:34

You missed another speaker.

SPEAKER_05 52:38

I just have so many questions about Melissa though, but I really loved her, but she's really getting sounding horrible. Hey, on the off-chance in this podcast based on interior designer Badger's former mentor, you know.

SPEAKER_10 52:58

A whole new scene. Exactly.

SPEAKER_08 53:06

All right, well, I guess now we're ready for rapid fire. I feel like I had a question and I can't remember how I was gonna word it. I just think it's very interesting that you and and good for like from from younger designers' perspective, but also designers who either are not maybe not fulfilling f feeling feeling words, feeling fulfilled or looking for more, that it's important to take those jumps.

SPEAKER_11 53:32

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_08 53:33

Right. Because you took pretty big jumps. I mean, you know, you know, you left Anston to go to Tuscaloosa, to go to 30A, to go to Atlanta, to go to to go to Birmingham. Um and I don't want to make presumptions, but I would assume that, you know, just based on what you've said, that like all of that is kind of intimately connected in how you ended up to where you are today.

SPEAKER_05 53:54

Absolutely. I mean, I wouldn't have learned or been prepared for this job if I hadn't have taken the others, you know, in in no way, you know. Uh of course, as you know, you think, oh, I went to school, I've got it, you know, like you know, and um and then anything. Yeah, absolutely. And um and uh and and also uh also the the people side of it that they couldn't have taught you in school, you know, that you learn over time and um and uh and all of it. But yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_08 54:30

Did you know anybody before you went to whether it be 30A Atlanta or to Birmingham? Did you know people?

SPEAKER_05 54:36

Uh not uh on 30A, um not in Atlanta, but I didn't know people here.

SPEAKER_10 54:43

Yeah, I mean she lived in her parents' house. Yeah, yeah, my parents.

SPEAKER_08 54:47

Yeah, well that's another thing that they don't tell you in school. It's that like you know, that that's a whole nother that's a whole nother podcast right there of those those life moments of going out and being in a place by yourself, right?

SPEAKER_10 55:01

Having to build a professional network, having to build a social network, especially going from a place where you've been there for four years, five years, yeah, you've got all those things, right? You've got that social network, you've got that social media.

SPEAKER_08 55:11

One would assume that she had it in 30A, and it wasn't just Melissa.

SPEAKER_05 55:16

She left one person behind. See you later. Uh and I have to say on that note that Birmingham has been the easiest to build that. And and I mean, I I assume it can only be the people, but uh that it's it's been way easier here, you know, uh to build that you know professional community.

SPEAKER_08 55:36

And do you think that's because you were better at it? Because you already had two times under your belt?

SPEAKER_10 55:42

Or that Birmingham people are just better at it.

SPEAKER_05 55:44

Birmingham people are they're just better, you know, than everywhere else. You know, yeah, comparing them to other yeah, yeah, easier. So anywhere else. Easy. Easy.

SPEAKER_08 55:53

Birmingham is better.

SPEAKER_05 55:54

I think that's the new slogan for the city.

SPEAKER_08 55:57

All right. Uh is this me going first or you going first?

SPEAKER_10 56:00

Um I'll go first. Okay. If you had to be a teacher, what grade would you be in? Why?

SPEAKER_05 56:10

Um I would say that it would be like kindergarten-ish because one kindergarten lights. I think the the younger side. Yeah, yeah. Like um, they're still saying hysterical things, which I'm sure, you know, kids among all ages, we're still saying funny things, obviously. Um we are hilarious. But um uh I think that um there's more time to be uh creative and uh you know, some some nice, you know, hand print art and you know. Yeah, you can turn a handprint into anything. Yeah, turkey. Yeah, yeah. Santa, you know, anything.

SPEAKER_09 56:57

A turkey and Santa. If the listeners would like to write in what else you can make with a hand.

SPEAKER_02 57:03

What about a footprint next week on the podcast?

SPEAKER_08 57:08

See, she's already taken over. She's gonna close us out. Um let's see. If your friends described you in one word, what would it be?

SPEAKER_04 57:19

Oh.

SPEAKER_05 57:25

I would hope that it would be loyal.

SPEAKER_08 57:29

Okay. It's very I I get real introspective. I haven't asked that question. Yeah. But what would they actually say? Yeah.

SPEAKER_10 57:37

But what we're asking. Not what you would hope. Yeah. Right. All right. So this one I've asked this question kind of in the past, where it's been um like, what are you sneaky good at, or what are your hobbies? But I'm gonna ask this one a little bit differently. Okay. What's a hobby you would like to start?

SPEAKER_04 57:54

Oh.

SPEAKER_05 57:56

Um I've recently gotten into um uh gardening at my house. Um so more on like the flower side of things than um vegetables. Than vegetables and things like that. Um so I think I'd like to get get into that more. You know, I'm yeah, I'm talking, you know, more about like, oh, the rain, we needed this, you know, lately. So yeah. That's a sign of age and maturity.

SPEAKER_02 58:25

And you're in your house and you're looking at, yeah, the lawn could use a little watering.

SPEAKER_06 58:29

We've been needing this, so yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_08 58:33

Um speaking of vegetables, if you had to eat one meal for the rest of your life, what would it be?

SPEAKER_04 58:40

Um probably pizza.

SPEAKER_07 58:46

Oh, it's a good answer.

SPEAKER_04 58:48

Um I didn't have to pick a pizza so I could eat different pizza.

SPEAKER_10 58:54

Yeah, I see what you did there. Yeah, that was smart. Clever. Because that can really go lots of like you know, there's pizza that can taste wildly different. Yeah. Yeah. What would yours be? It's not how we're working this. Oh. So Chad.

SPEAKER_09 59:08

Uh we do I need to ask the question. Give me the papers. Yeah, I love how you're like, that's not how we're working this.

SPEAKER_08 59:16

Mine would be spaghetti.

SPEAKER_09 59:18

Okay. Okay. It would be spaghetti.

SPEAKER_08 59:20

Yeah, man, I can't get enough spaghetti. Okay.

SPEAKER_03 59:23

Okay.

SPEAKER_08 59:24

And it's always been like that. There used to be a place in uh Auburn called Toomer's Diner. It was next to Tumor's Corner. Yeah. And or no, it's called the excuse me, Auburn Diner, Auburn Grill. It was next to Tumor's Corner. And one of the entrees was spaghetti. And you could go there and you could order spaghetti, and then you could get seconds for free.

SPEAKER_02 59:44

Oh.

SPEAKER_08 59:45

And they would bring an entire bowl of spaghetti for free.

SPEAKER_11 59:48

Yeah.

SPEAKER_08 59:49

And outside of me loving spaghetti, like that was just that was a killer deal, right? Yeah, I would go get spaghetti all the time.

SPEAKER_10 59:55

Yeah, I I can't think anything else other than pizza because that was such a good answer. Come on, Chad. You're really original. I know. Yeah, let me go with pizza. Okay. Pizza. All right. If you could be a character in any Disney movie that's including Pixar, Star Wars, Marvel, who would you be?

SPEAKER_04 1:00:17

Huh. Um that is hard. Um because there's gonna be a follow-up to why, I feel like. Um I didn't actually write that down.

SPEAKER_10 1:00:30

Okay. I don't care why.

SPEAKER_04 1:00:33

Just make anyone, just tell us an answer. Um goodness, I don't know.

SPEAKER_08 1:00:42

Um Do you want to say a princess and you're avoiding it?

SPEAKER_05 1:00:47

No, because I'm all uh uh I've been watching Toy Story lately with my nephews, and I'm like, but like I don't know what the yeah. Who would my answer be? You know, um maybe the aliens, you know, easily entertained. I don't know, you know, in the little like you know the claw game.

SPEAKER_10 1:01:06

Claw game. Yeah, yeah. The claw we were talking about being easily entertained earlier. I really guess she's answered why. I would not have guessed like if you were to give me a hundred presses, I don't think I would have come up with the aliens in the claw game toy story.

SPEAKER_05 1:01:24

Yeah. I'm really bad at the question, like what's your favorite? You know playing Mark mental real quick.

SPEAKER_10 1:01:31

Well, hold on. What's your least favorite?

SPEAKER_05 1:01:34

Flipping through a couple of sheets of paper now. What do you hate?

SPEAKER_08 1:01:38

What do you yeah. Um okay, we'll see how this one works. What's one thing you wish clients cared more about?

SPEAKER_04 1:01:47

Ooh. Hmm.

SPEAKER_10 1:01:50

And if you want to name a specific client. Client.

SPEAKER_05 1:01:53

Okay, this is the time to do it. Um cared more about.

SPEAKER_04 1:01:59

Um, is it easier if we divide it by market?

SPEAKER_08 1:02:13

Like what do you wish residential designers cared more about? Or maybe you wish they cared less. Um Is there anything that you wish that let's just say are very important we won't give names or give anything away, very important city employees at a recent most favorite project here in the Birmingham area that you've done that you wish they cared more about.

SPEAKER_05 1:02:40

Um a lot of the okay, was part of the question what do they care l wait, it was more least.

SPEAKER_08 1:02:50

Which is more about or we could go least.

SPEAKER_05 1:02:52

I'm gonna go least about.

SPEAKER_08 1:02:53

Okay.

SPEAKER_05 1:02:53

I wish that the churches weren't as worried about coffee. And this is not like you know, this is very specific. So um a lot of times we're doing, you know, um common areas, gathering spaces that have like a coffee bar.

SPEAKER_11 1:03:09

Right.

SPEAKER_05 1:03:09

But then we've got to get the coffee into the sanctuary, and then the coffee is often discussed on oh, we're gonna stain the carpet with the coffee, you know, always with the coffee. Always with the coffee. So uh which coffee is dictating entire design decisions. Yes, it really is, it really is. Um, which is not the not a design, I mean it is a design directed question because it directs my design all the time. Um, but um I think that's a fantastic.

SPEAKER_08 1:03:42

Yes, there isn't anything else you need to know because it's funny because you know, um, when I have conversations with my wife who's also an interior designer, she'll bring up very similar things where she'll be like, you know, this client is really hung up on this one very specific thing. And now that you mentioned coffee, they have all been a little bit coffee-esque, yeah. Just in terms that they're they're not really that important to the goal of the project. But now they're thrown in as a suggestion by the club, and now they're gonna be able to do that. Yeah, the goal of the project. Yes, yes.

SPEAKER_05 1:04:21

It's how the coffee's thrown away, how the coffee, uh how the creamers are refrigerated. Wow on site at the coffee bar, not brought in every Sunday, you know, things like that. It dictates a lot. The coffee. Yeah.

SPEAKER_08 1:04:34

Coffee. Yeah. I'm gonna have some coffee after this. I had some right before uh and I'm gonna go home and talk to Aaron about how the kitchen needs to be redone because I want the coffee.

SPEAKER_10 1:04:47

What is your happy place?

SPEAKER_05 1:04:50

Um that's easy, I'd say the beach. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_08 1:04:55

I like the beach, no, yeah. I mean, it's a big thing. Um what's something in your house that you'll never get rid of?

SPEAKER_05 1:05:07

Um I have some um decorative glass bowls, and they uh but they hang on the wall. Um they uh I really don't know how to describe this. Um if anyone wants it's it doesn't exist anymore. More wants to look up Viz Glass. Um think of uh it's displayed in a hotel in Las Vegas. I don't know if you if this is Las Vegas. I have two, yes. Um they have it all over the ceiling. I couldn't tell you which I don't know, maybe.

SPEAKER_10 1:05:41

That's what I was thinking.

SPEAKER_05 1:05:42

That's probably um and um they're just uh extremely colorful and yeah.

SPEAKER_08 1:05:50

Where did you get them?

SPEAKER_05 1:05:51

Um at Marquette in Atlanta. Yeah.

SPEAKER_08 1:05:54

Yeah, there's an artist that I think he's in Seattle. Um Portland, maybe anyway, Chahuli. I can't remember his first name, but that's what he does his class. Okay. And kind of his more signature thing and these kind of dull flower-esque.

SPEAKER_01 1:06:10

Okay, then that's probably. Yeah.

SPEAKER_08 1:06:12

And in a place like Las Vegas, there'll be 10,000 of them. And then there's other places where he does these kind of spires, like unicorn spires kind of thing, and they'll be in botanical gardens and stuff like that. There's some in the museum here in Burkina.

SPEAKER_10 1:06:27

Is that similar? Yes. Okay. I was ready for it to be like, no. Not at all. Alright, if you had eliminate two of the following, which ones would you choose? Okay. So eliminating these from the earth. Okay. Books, music, or movies TV. So which would you keep? Which would you feel like you're going to set out?

SPEAKER_04 1:06:54

I think so. Um I have to eliminate two. Okay. Um eliminating movies.

SPEAKER_10 1:07:10

And books and music. Did you just come up with this question?

SPEAKER_05 1:07:16

Um I mean you can't eliminate books and music, so I guess I so I guess I have to eliminate TV.

SPEAKER_10 1:07:24

Um, it was movies TV, it was together. So now we got books, yeah. Those were together. Can't yeah, that's that was one. Like just kind of left with books or music. Or music.

SPEAKER_05 1:07:37

Okay, then I guess I'd have to keep books to use music.

SPEAKER_08 1:07:40

All right.

SPEAKER_05 1:07:42

Controversial for sure.

SPEAKER_08 1:07:44

I feel like that that's one that's a dastardly. I don't know if I've ever used the word dastardly.

SPEAKER_09 1:07:49

You've used it every time it's not good. Um because if you say books, yeah, you're really. Right?

SPEAKER_06 1:07:56

Exactly.

SPEAKER_08 1:07:56

But music is pretty terrible. Music's pretty terrible to get rid of. You don't want to like get rid of music. Yeah, but she just did.

SPEAKER_04 1:08:04

I just did. It's just books from now on. She hates music.

SPEAKER_11 1:08:08

Where did you find this question?

SPEAKER_10 1:08:10

You asked that.

SPEAKER_08 1:08:12

I sort of just made it up. You just came up with it. Man. What number, what number am I on? This is the last one. This is the last one. I feel like I gotta make it good, but not apocalyptic. Maybe a nice question. How far are you for in music? Nice question. Um, let's see. What is one chore at your house with glass bowls on it on it that you weirdly enjoy?

SPEAKER_05 1:08:39

Uh laundry. Which is not a popular answer, I know.

SPEAKER_09 1:08:43

No, no, that's not. Yeah. What's rope? Yeah. Like the whole process, like the whole cleaning, drying, folding.

SPEAKER_05 1:08:50

It smells good. I mean, I don't want to put it away just like every other, you know, I'm human. But you know, it there is a gratification. There is a gratification to it, you know, that the process and it smells good. The folding folding's folding's fine.

SPEAKER_04 1:09:05

Okay.

SPEAKER_05 1:09:05

You know, make piles, right? Yeah. Organization.

SPEAKER_04 1:09:08

You know.

SPEAKER_05 1:09:08

I don't have kids, so I'm not folding, you know, I'm not getting to like the end of the fourth load, and now I have to fold tiny clothes, but you know, yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_08 1:09:15

And your laundry room is just a bomb of dirty.

SPEAKER_05 1:09:18

Exactly. Exactly.

SPEAKER_10 1:09:19

So hates teachers, hates music, loves laundry. That's the takeaway. Thank you for listening. Can you make that my song? Because I hate music. Yeah. Yeah, which was my next question.

SPEAKER_08 1:09:33

Uh what genre would you like your song to be? Your song is just gonna be Sweet Melissa. So we have the rights to play that song. This podcast just got a lot more expensive. For our budget. I can't go to the beach now, but yeah.

SPEAKER_05 1:09:51

Um genre. Um, let's do like um, I've got to answer it good because I like already acted like I hated music when I eliminated it from the earth. So I've got to get now the pressure is on to pick a good genre. Um I don't know that this is a good genre, but yeah.

SPEAKER_04 1:10:10

Yeah. Yeah. Um let's do like uh 90s pop.

SPEAKER_10 1:10:19

90s pop. Nice. Alright, I think there's plenty of uh material to work with for the song. It's gonna be great. Yeah. Thank you so much for coming on. This was fun.

SPEAKER_06 1:10:34

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:10:44

Lauren came in with a barricade shine. All in design in the afternoon time, plans on the table for stories to tell, designing spaces and doing it well. But it's still down on 38, living that beat the life, drifting away, loading 50 gas, the time to adjust. Wait a little window in the dust, turn the gentle on the test, better than all the rest, on the two to the cleaner quest, turn the fetus, all the best. Work on the side, it's a big and ball, for the brave ones, wanna for the silence rolls gotta slide and it's on a tune out of the fire function.