We were lucky to catch up with Alexandra Shield recently and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Alexandra, thanks for joining us today. Let’s jump right into how you came up with the idea?

I am a mom of two boys, and as a parent, you always want the best for your children. During both my pregnancies, I kept my babies as healthy as I could and avoided anything that could potentially harm them.

When I was designing my son’s nursery, I was shocked to see the amount of furniture and accessories specifically targeted for babies, that were full of toxic chemicals. Rugs containing formaldehyde, fabrics containing PFAS and flame retardants, blackout curtains and wallpaper made with PVC/Vinyl – all of these contain harmful chemicals that can off-gas into your home and cause a range of harmful health issues including ADHD & autism, neurological damage, hormone disruption, and even cancer.

When you’re expecting a new baby, you already have so much to do and to plan for, finding healthy alternatives for every part of your babies nursery can become overwhelming! Healthy options do exist, but are not easy to find if you don’t know what you’re looking for. At the time, I was doing a ton of research and feeling very overwhelmed and I thought that there must be other mothers out there having the same issue.

I had always wanted to start my own business and this was finally the catalyst. With my education and experience in interior design and sustainable design, I founded Alex Shield Design, an interior design firm with a focus on healthy, sustainable interiors. Our mission is to create and transform spaces into safe, non-toxic, and healthy homes for people to grow and thrive in without compromising their health, comfort, or the planet through sustainable, environmental, and health-conscious design.

Alexandra, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I am a business owner, a mom of two, and I am truly passionate about music, design and sustainability. After learning about the social and environmental impacts of the interior design industry, I decided to use my education in interior design and sustainable design to do better and to push for positive change in the industry.

I help my clients transform their spaces into beautiful, healthy, sustainable homes where they an relax and enjoy with their families with peace of mind. I work with suppliers who share the same values, ensuring sustainability throughout every step of the process. I also educate through social media and speaking engagements so that others can understand the impact of their purchases and make more conscious decisions.

We’d love to hear the story of how you turned a side-hustle into a something much bigger.

We moved around a lot growing up, and my mom was always renovating and redecorating. I loved to help choose the materials and paint colours and help with the decor. We always used what we had available before purchasing new, and my mom was always refinishing and reupholstering furniture. When I was 21, we purchased a home together and flipped it for a profit. It was so fun to have a blank canvas to work with and to see how creative we could get with the materials we already had. After our second flip, I realized how much I loved the design & décor process and I decided to go back to school to study interior design.

Years later I watched the documentary “The True Cost”, which explores the social and environmental issues of the fashion industry and it completely changed my life. I wanted to learn everything I could about sustainability and soon realized that the same social & environmental issues that exist in the fashion industry also exist in the interior design industry. I decided to focus my interior design projects on using more eco-friendly materials and methods, sourcing mainly second-hand and recycled materials.

At this point I was still working in a corporate office, working on my interior design projects on the side. When I was pregnant with my second baby and starting to learn about toxic chemicals in furniture and building materials, I decided that I needed to help other moms create healthy homes for their families and it was time to get serious about my interior design business.

I invested in an excellent mindset & success coach who helped me understand what I needed (and didn’t need!) to do to get started. I opened a business page on Facebook and Instagram and started posting regularly. I spoke to everyone I knew to let them know about my business. Within 9 months of consistently networking and making connections, I had enough work to leave my corporate job. It was scary but I knew what I needed to make each month to cover my expenses, and I was confident I would be successful, so I took the leap!

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

I had to learn that my time is valuable! When I was first starting out, I was offering my time for free to my family and friends so I could gain experience and build a portfolio. When I started to get serious about making this a full-time business, I continued to work for free or offer discounts to try and secure the contract. I soon realized that working for free was not only going to get me nowhere financially, but that my time is valuable and I should be charging for it! Once I started charging for my services, I noticed that people weren’t looking for a freebie, and were happy to pay me for my expertise. It’s important to remember that if someone is inquiring about your services, it’s because you have something to offer that they either don’t want to do, or don’t know how to do. You are the expert and your time is valuable!

Contact Info:

• Website: www.alexshielddesign.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/alexshielddesign/
• Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/alexandra-shield-659b562a9

Image Credits
All images: Catherine Ledoux Photographie (@catherineledouxphotographie)