Belated anniversary post
In 1997 I received a Bachelor of Interior Design. For five years I worked in architecture firms, in both Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia and in Calgary, Alberta (mostly in Calgary). I worked on office designs mainly, which to be honest, I didn't love. In fact, after I had my first baby I thought I'd leave Interior Design all together and find something else creative to do because I wasn't enamoured with it. When my daughter was about 11 months I was hired to redesign my parents home and then a few other residential design jobs came up. I fell hard. In love that is. I LOVED residential design and had finally found my passion, my calling, my place to do something meaningful. I stayed on my own, working for myself, in addition to raising my three kiddos for the next ten years. About five years ago, I had what may have been a mid-life crisis. I wasn't sure I wanted to continue the entrepreneurial lifestyle and actually ended up applying at a few firms that I'd admired from afar. During that time, before a few job offers came in, I got the gut feeling that giving up on my own business wasn't the right decision. I'd always kind of viewed it as something I did on the side and never really considered it a business. Besides, I was raising kids and that was my main focus and obviously an important job. But my kids were getting older, all of them were in school and I was getting to the point that I could actually focus on running a business as well as managing my family. So....I didn't go to work for someone else, I got a website and started getting professional photos taken of my work, and eventually moved out of my home office. These all seemed like big scary steps at the time! And they were, but it paid off. I still feel the same love for residential interior design that I did fifteen years ago, maybe even more so now that I've seen more, experienced more and learned more.
I'm so grateful for the clients I get to work with, the projects I've had and currently have and any one who reads my infrequent blog posts! So even though the fifteen year anniversary of Stephanie Charest Interior Design should have technically been celebrated in March, its never too late to recognize a milestone in your life and business! To celebrate, we're having a giveaway! Head over to our Instagram to enter the contest -- winner will be announced soon!
At Stephanie Charest Interior Design we love to help you create a beautiful home so you can live a beautiful life.
If you need help with a project, please get in touch! Contact us at 403-818-2283