Who Am I?

That’s the question everyone wants to know about a professional they are about to work with right?! “Who are you as a person? How do I know I can trust you? What are you like when I am not around? How did you end up where you are? How much can I be myself around you or do I need to keep it strictly business?” So here I am, to answer all your questions (and some that you probably didn’t want to know) about me.

So let’s start with my family, because let’s be real, who I am as a person is greatly influenced by those who raised me. I was born and raised in Fremont, CA, which is in the Bay Area. I come from a small family of 4 with not too many in my extended family.

I have a sister, who is three years older than me. We are generally pretty different people but as we have gotten older, we have gotten comfortable with ourselves and found our common interests and this has allowed our relationship to strengthen. Now, she is who I go to anytime I need feedback, have questions about my kids, recipes, etc. I can’t help to wonder sometimes what would it have been like it we had let our differences go when we were younger? Ah, the things we wish we would have known before!

My dad, the poor man that had three women ruling his adult life, was an amazing role-model in giving of yourself to take care of your family. He worked in supply-chain for tech industries, but regardless of the late nights, early mornings and sometimes weekend work - there he was washing the car on the weekend or working in the yard, buying us whatever we wanted (within reason, of course), doing activities that we wanted to do and even picked up the occasional feminine products for us. It has also been so interesting to see how he handled work, striving for excellence and not cutting corners, but also how that drive softened over time and allowed him to have a better work-life balance.

My mom is one of those women who is too nice for her own good and would give you the meal she was eating if you asked her to. She taught me so much about being an inquisitive, research oriented person who is an advocate for yourself while still managing to put others first. And of course, a lot about being a loving mom. We joke about how the questions she ask never stop with her, and believe me, there are times that I want them to stop, but more often than not, I walk away thinking about things from a different perspective because of the questions that she poses.

Now, my career… I started working between my junior and senior year of high school at a summer admin internship with the City of Fremont Building department. It ended up being a great fit, and I stayed there for almost 5 years. I taught myself building codes and worked my way up to a permit technician. Unfortunately though, the 2009 recession hit and the city was forced to do city-wide layoffs, of which even with 5 years, I was at the low end of seniority. I was fortunate though to have made a lot of connections in the building industry and I had another job lined up before my last day at the City even rolled around.

I went to work at Solyndra, which was a solar manufacturing start-up based solely out of California. They had received one of the first federal grants from DOE to try and kick-start the economy again. I was hired as a Facilities Designer and was basically responsible for all things office space related. We had three existing buildings and were building two brand new. I handled Space Planning, Moves, Furniture, Break-rooms, building permits, etc. I had interactions with all levels of the organization and was able to see the writing on the wall. Despite a visit from Obama and Schwartzenegger, I left 8 months before the company filed for bankruptcy. After that, I did a brief stint in lighting controls, but quickly realized that wasn’t the path for me.

From there, I went to one of the me most challenging yet fun jobs I have had to date. I went to a commercial furniture dealer, Inside Source, where I was hired as the project manager to be dedicated to the Facebook account. We joined with architects to design all of their North America and Canada offices, provide furniture packages and material selection, custom furniture design, and installation. We would generally have around 15 projects going at any given time, across their 25 (at the time) locations. When our Account Manager went to work directly for Facebook, I was promoted to that position. It was a crazy time of 5AM starts and staying in the office until 9PM, tons of single day plane trips to sites for installs, working with and learning from some of the greatest architects of our time (like Gensler and FRANK GEHRY… pinch me!).

But alas, I met my now-husband and after a year and a half of long distance dating, I decided to leave my Bay Area career and move to Southern California.

Donny really is the peanut butter to my jelly. We are extreme opposites and sometimes that drives us crazy, other times, it drives us together. We met through mutual friends and almost instantly started dating. He has a son who was 8 years old when we met. Now, he is 17, and I wish I had gotten more time with him when he was a cute little boy. In the years after we got married, before more kids, we did a little traveling, Thailand, Spain, Portugal, France, Bali, Hawaii, Mexico and Canada. I love getting to experience other cultures and their architecture, design and to see how they embrace the natural materials that are around them. I look forward to when we get to go on our next big adventure. Until then, Donny makes sure that we have what we need. He owns his own pool service and repair company and has been so supportive and helpful with me starting my business. We push each other hard and I give him a hard time sometimes, but I am where I am today, because of him.

Once relocated, I did a little work as an Interiors Project Manager and Space Planner for a construction firm, Lendlease, on a project at a pharmaceutical company campus. However, I was only there for a year before my husband and I decided that it was time for kids and we could manage with one income. I decided to set up my own design business to supplement my need for a creative outlet and mostly did some virtual design. I really didn’t pursue much with my business though as our priorities at the time was really on starting our family.

I had my first son, Flynn, in July of 2018. He is 4 now and just like me in so many ways! He feels emotions very strongly and just wants to be a people pleaser and a helper. He is a cuddle monster and very inquisitive, just like my mom and me. Any time we have work done at the house or at one of my clients, he just wants to follow around the contractors, asking them about every single tool they are using and wanting to help any way they will let him.

When Flynn was 6 months old, we went from renters to home-owners and thus further fueled my love of DIY. The house was in a bit of rough shape from neglect of the previous owner, so before we even moved in, we removed all the existing flooring and gutted the kitchen. I will get into the details of all that we have done (an are doing) on separate journal posts though because this is already novel enough!

We had our second son, Conner, in June of 2020, right in the beginning of COVID, so you could imagine the fear of the unknown with doing a hospital birth! On top of that, I ended up with a ruptured uterus during labor, so we had to do a little NICU time. We made it through though, and despite the process being a little more difficult than normal, everyone made it out just fine. Now, Conner is my “challenge” child, you know that one that keeps you on your toes: picky eater (nothing extreme), defiant and mischievous. He likes to knowingly make a mess and then look me dead in the eyes and do the cutest little maniacal laugh, like “I am doing this for you mom”. But he also has a laugh that you can’t help but laugh with, is so great at independent play and, like my first, is an extreme cuddle bug. He is just what I needed in a second child and he balances me perfectly.

After having each of my boys, I poured all my free time into projects. I had always been into building things and creating things that looked like more for less. But this was the first time in my life that I was home more and really needed a creative outlet since I wasn’t doing much work. From then to now, my skill level has increased, as well as the number of tools in my bursting garage. It is my absolute favorite when my clients want to DIY with me and I get to help other people create things that they get to be proud of.

All that brings us to the here and now. My boys are now 4 and 2 and we are finally reaching that phase of kids where things get just a little bit easier. They are more independent, they like to play together, one is in school… all this allowing me to spend the time that I need to give this business a face lift and to really be here for all of you. I can’t wait to meet you and get to know you too!