1. What triggered you to officially make the leap from working in the corporate world to starting your own firm?
Since I was in college, it was always my goal to have my own business. Once you start working, you get used to working somewhere and for someone, so naturally I was extremely scared to leave and jump to the abyss of “what if”. After a few years of feeling as though I wasn’t working to my creative potential and wondering if I would ever achieve that “title” I had always coveted, my husband and closest friends encouraged me to go out on my own. The biggest fear was if I knew enough to go out on my own. But once I looked back on my 20 years of creating designs & design strategies for workplace, government, hospitality & retail spaces, I realized, what in the world am I waiting for? I’ve learned from the best, and I told myself I could do this!
2. What has been the greatest tool or asset to grow your business?
I have a huge internal drive to succeed, and a genuine excitement and passion for creating designs tailored for the client. Sometimes I am so excited about a project I am developing that I can’t sleep (in excitement)! I try to live my life as fearlessly as possible, and when I feel fear creeping in, I try to change my mindset into how can I do this?
3. You just got back from Salone in Milan, what are some of your favorite trends and brands from the show?
- Furniture is still very much curved, round and chubby; people are playing with how they attach the fabrics and materials; experimenting with braids, tufting, and welting; and bold colors are huge– deep reds, purples and greens were everywhere.
- Plumbing fixtures are about to blow our minds– imagine wood handles, every color of metal you can think of, showers with LED light therapy, completely concealed toilets, toilet paper and bidet buttons, and one tall shower pole holding everything you need, exposed pipes and all!
- More is more; patterns, textures, and scale are all used to shock, surprise, delight and create a memorable emotion. Think very floral carpeting, oversized lighting, patterns from the 60’s and 70’s re-created, weaving, and greenery integrated everywhere.
- Sound and scent are part of the design experience; many of the bigger vendors used ways of integrating sound and scent into the showroom experience; think about speakers integrated into unexpected places (ceiling fans or furniture), creating a scent for your space based upon your mood and design selections.
- Architectural and decorative lighting are really pushing the limits; architectural lighting is taking on every single form you could ever dream of– think shelf lighting so thin it can fit into a 1/8″ thick floating wall shelf; recessed and adjustable lights in every shape, color, lens, mount imaginable; And decorative lighting blew me away– absolutely no material or illusion was off limits; whether it was lighting made to reflect something of sculptural art on the walls; collages of hand made metal animals or fiber optic strings making massive cloud formations.
To learn more about Ann visit her website at https://www.anngottliebdesign.com/
The Stacy Strategy 