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Sharon Simpson is an interior and home decor designer, public speaker, and photographer She founded her design company, Dark Romantix Design Studio, after studying at The Interior Design School, in London. The business has evolved with a recent name change to Sharon Simpson Studio, which reflects her growing confidence and the wider appeal of her design services offer. She is a member of the British Institute of Interior Design and a key member of the Diversity & Inclusion Committee and has taken part in design talks as part of Clerkenwell Design Week in London. In this episode, we discove ..read more

Gus Zogolovitch is a property developer and founder of Unboxed Homes, whose aim is to help people build their own homes and to find ways to make it easier.  Gus is on a mission to change new builds in the UK. His aim is to build homes to be great quality, brilliantly designed, tailored to a customer's needs and most importantly, they should represent good value for money. Their Blenheim Grove development in Peckham, South London,  has won the BuildIt Award for Best Custom Build Project, the Silver Award for London Design Awards 2021, as well as made the shortlist for the Telegraph's ..read more

Pam Durkin, ASID, LEED AP ID+C, is an interior designer, a business coach for interior designers, and a podcast host. Originally from New Jersey and now based in Florida, Pam has been in the high-end interior design industry for 30 years. After 7 years of exclusively working in Commercial Design, she founded Pamela Durkin Designs, which specialises in Residential and Commercial Design in Florida. Pam is a past president of ASID Florida South Chapter, served on the Board of Architecture and Design in NJ, and is the author of the book, Elevate! She has progressively branched out into busine ..read more

Asheni Alwis and Tharuka Fonseka head the interior design team of Concept Interiors, a full-service interior design firm based in Colombo, Sri Lanka. They met whilst studying Interior Design at the NSBM Green University and have built their company to include design, manufacturing, and construction, with a passion for creating beautiful and detailed interiors across the residential, commercial, and hospitality sectors.  I met them in February 2023 in their Colombo studio during a thunderstorm, which provided a dramatic backdrop to our conversation. In this episode, we discover the design ..read more

Kelly-anne is the managing director of The Class Foundation, a partner-based non-profit organisation with a simple goal: to further the professionalism and knowledge of student housing in Europe and beyond. Established in 2011, the foundation is now the largest European student housing platform open to anyone and everyone Kelly-anne cut her teeth as Student’s Union President of Welfare and Community and as Delivery and Development Officer for Unipol Student Homes.  She’s worked alongside councils and accommodation providers to raise standards of housing and open up access and op ..read more

Patrick is the International Brand Ambassador for British paint and wallpaper manufacturer Farrow & Ball.  Patrick is responsible for Farrow and Ball’s outreach strategy connecting with interior designers across the UK and North America.  His role includes colour consultation, curation of colours and promoting products, delivering talks on colour and decoration, and providing logistic support to interior designers.  I interviewed Patrick via Zoom in early December 2022. In this episode, we discover the two schools of thought of when to choose colour. How National trust prope ..read more

Dan is the founder of ‘Mystery’ -an award-winning specialist brand design agency in London and Los Angeles.  Mystery specialises in creating customer-centric brands in the hospitality and food and beverage sectors. He has also co-ventured, co-founded, and co-partnered a portfolio of consumer lifestyle brands in which he has equity holdings and has a direct influence on through his brand development consulting. I spoke to Dan in his Santa Monica home via Zoom. In this episode, we discover Why brands are like people and how developing brands with personalities helps create emotive connectio ..read more

Graeme Brooker is an interior designer, writer, lecturer, and current Head of Interior Design at the Royal College of Art in London. He leads a team of academics delivering the MA program and his research focuses on interior design and the reuse of existing buildings and space. Graeme has published a number of books, many co-authored by long-time collaborator Sally Stone, that chart approaches and helps to define the craft of interior design.  In this episode we discover How Graeme began his writing career. His work to galvanise the interior design education industry by developing the Int ..read more

In this episode, we meet Ergonomist Kirsty Angerer.  Kirsty studied Ergonomics and Human Factors at Loughborough University and has dedicated her career to helping her clients live pain-free and healthy lives We discover her top three tips for improving your workplace, how exam disappointment led to a career sidestep, how she developed her brand, and how a few simple changes to your desk set up can remedy years of pain and discomfort. How to be a kick-ass Interior Designer.  Come and join us on the Interior Design BA(Hons) course at the University of Plymouth.https://www.plymouth.ac ..read more