How did you get into design?
I always felt like my safe space was numbers and analytical-type stuff, so I got a business degree with a focus in marketing. The economic climate when I graduated in 1982 was not great. There really weren’t that many people hiring. My dad suggested I get a real estate license, and at 22, I started selling real estate. It was my first realization that people could do amazing things with homes in terms of design. I saw a world open up to me, and it really interested me. I started getting design magazines and paying attention.
After I got married, I became an admin for an interior design firm in Chicago. It was a small firm, and the two women who owned it were really nice. They showed me the ins and outs of the industry: taking me to the Merchandise Mart, in some cases giving me little opportunities to do some selection for them. I enrolled in a drafting class at the junior college, and little by little I started doing things in my own home. My husband and I and a partner bought an apartment complex that needed to be gutted, and I designed all the kitchens on graph paper. I would study magazines and books and try to apply what I learned. And it really became something I liked more and more.