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Sed ut perspiciatis unde.
SubscribeWe caught up with the brilliant and insightful Jessica Nelson and Stephanie Lindsey a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Jessica Nelson and Stephanie Lindsey, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Let’s start with the story of your mission. What should we know?
Though we, Stephanie and Jessica, officially started Etch Design Group in September of 2015, from the day we met, it felt inevitable that we’d be in business together. We clickedimmediately, loved each other’s aesthetic, and…we made each other laugh.
By the time we opened our doors, we’d set clear intentions. 1. Etch would be a people-focused design firm with our appreciation for people shining through. 2. Etch would be a firm where you could love your job and love your family; this was non-negotiable. 3. Etch would stand for doing the right thing; if it came down to our financial gain or to our client thriving, our clients’ happiness would always win out.
These ideals continue to guide us in all we do. They lead us in our relationships, inform who we hire, and steer us as we strive for excellence. They help us trust our intuition, lead with integrity, and create joy, all while working together in harmony.
Seven years later, we’re looking forward moving into our Etch-owned/Etch designed office. It’s one milestone in Etch’s life of many milestones along with, hiring our first employee (immediately followed by hiring four others,) being named Designer of the Year by HGTV, winning our first Luxe Red award, having our first Lake Austin project (not to mention our second) and having our first out of state project. We could go on, but we’ll stop there because we don’t ever get too comfortable, not when we see Etch as not being about a finish line but rather being about having wins and then keeping going.
Someone once asked us how it feels to work with your greatest friend? And though we heard the horror stories with people said things like, “Don’t do it. It’ll end badly!” We couldn’t disagree more. Knowing that someone always has our back lets us try new things, and overcome limiting beliefs. Plus…the great days are greater, and bad days are, well…less bad. Working with your best friend? It just makes everything better.
So this is Etch Design Group. It’s us, Stephanie and Jessica. It’s our team of 12 talented-beyond-belief people. It’s our clients, vendors, tradespeople and all the people who’ve become our family. And always, it is our family, the ones we go home to every night (and who are patient when we come home late!) Welcome to our Etch world of design.
Jessica Nelson and Stephanie Lindsey, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
Jessica’s story: Growing up I always leaned towards anything in the creative realm…painting, drawing, sewing…really anything at all ..and I think it was because school never felt like something I really want to be doing. So looking back, I can see how design would be a great fit, but I didn’t really figure that out until I was in my late 20s. And maybe that’s because I wasn’t around great design in my day-to-day life. My mom didn’t have a design sense, and by the way, she’d be the first to say it. The good side to that was she’d always say things to me like, “Jess, what am I going to do in the living room–we’ve got to do something!” And then we’d head to Target, and I pick out draperies, and side tables, and other things. So by Middle School you really could say I was developing my design aesthetic.
And then there was my non day-to-day life where I was exposed to great design. And that’s because I’d visit my Dad who lived far away, who had a really great design sensibility. So when I visited him I felt like I was in the place I was meant to be. But again, it took me a while to create that for myself in my business and then in my home too.
That all really started when I moved from my hometown of Norman, OK to Austin, TX and I saw my future sister-in-law building a 3D model online. In that moment I had such a strong feeling that maybe I missed my calling. OR…that if I didn’t enroll at Texas State and start studying Interior Design I would absolutely miss my calling. So I gave up a great job at Best Buy where I not only met my husband, but was also the operations manage and at one point I was even was on the Geek Squad and wore that tee shirt…and then I enrolled at Texas State.
And even though school hadn’t been for me in the past… it was now! I loved it. I loved the classes, loved my internships, and more than anything, I loved my study abroad in Florence, Italy. That experience opened me up to art and design in ways I never imagined. And also in ways I call on every day in my design work with Etch. And when I graduated, I was offered a job working for the high-end design firm I’d interned with and that’s where I met Stephanie. Saying we hit off is an understatement. We just got each other as designers, and then as friends, and now as business partners at our design firm, Etch. We started Etch because we had a vision of what we wanted to be creating, and not just in the homes we design, but as a design business. We want people to feel taken care of. And to know their ideas matter and that they matter–and that living in homes that are beautiful matters…because all of it really does.
Stephanie’s story:
My design career started at home with a mom who could pretty much do everything—from upholstering our sofa to making our drapes to space planning. I
honestly remember days when I’d get home from school and find all of our living room furniture rearranged—and loving it! She made it everything feel new and exciting. It impacted me so much—not only did I eventually grow up and become a designer, but also, seeing her do anything I assumed I could too. Which is definitely a good attitude to have in life, but the reality is that while I can do things it just always take me longer to do them than it takes her!
And my mom wasn’t the only one who influenced my decision to go into design….so did Ty Pennington. I totally fell in love with Trading Spaces in High School and thought that his job looked so awesome…I just wanted to grow up and be him. And I kind of did. I mean there were definite twists and turns in the road to getting there, like the wrong college leading to the right design school, some cities and states leading to other cities and states, amazing internships leading to great job opportunities—and all the time I was taking it all in, and honing my design skills and eye, more and more.
Until I finally met Jessica in Austin when we both were working for a high-end residential design firm. We clicked immediately and worked together perfectly, we balanced each other’s strengths and weaknesses in every way, and it just felt like it was meant to be. And actually, it was. We made the decision to go out on our own, and created Etch—a design firm that expresses our vision of what we think high-end design means. And to us, it’s about being people centric and giving back to our clients—100% we’re about the client experience. And it means having a work-life balance –for us and for our team that’s incredibly important.
We have a team of 12 at Etch now, and I think we’re doing great things. But also just to be sure, I have my biggest design idol nearby for consults…my mom. But someday I still really hope to meet Ty Pennington!
Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?
In March of 2019, Jessica’s husband was in a plane crash in Austin, TX. Stephanie had been working from home and caring for her young children (7-month-old and 2-year-old), and Jessica was pregnant and also had a 1-year-old at the time. Stephanie dropped everything and went back to the Etch office full-time, while Jessica was out for months caring for her husband as he recovered. There were a lot of emotions, client issues, and trials at that phase in our journey, but we were resilient and came out of that as better people and with a newfound perspective on what really matters in life. Which is why our employees and their well-being is so important to us. We love design, we love what we do, and we love serving our clients, but at the end of the day, we know that our relationships are the most important part of life. And we want our team to know we value them and will do everything in our power to support them.
We have experienced loss and tragedy, which continually realigns our focus on happiness, joy, peace, and fulfillment. We have said it countless times and I imagine we will continue to repeat it with each person we meet: “we are not here to gain something from others, we are here to provide something for others.” We believe that people are more important than any beautiful space they reside in.
How do you keep your team’s morale high?
We aren’t perfect; we’ve made many mistakes over the years, and I imagine we will continue to make new mistakes. The mistakes we’ve made in managing our team have taught us extremely valuable lessons.
Because of this, we have set these as foundational principles for the way we manage to keep high morale:
We believe a proper work/life balance is a non-negotiable.
We encourage vacations and time away to re-charge and energize our minds.
We proactively offer help when we have the time and skills to assist others.
We leave no one behind – if someone needs help or support, we’re there for each other.
We work harmoniously because drama is meant for the stage, not the workplace.
We know that open communication will lead to a positive resolution.
Our team should always feel appreciated and valued.
We build strong and lasting relationships with each other, our clients and our trusted vendors.
We treat everyone with respect, and we celebrate the accomplishments of others.
We stay open-minded and we always listen before we respond.
Contact Info:
Image Credits
Photographers: Alissa Cordoba, Ryann Ford (If you want specific photographers tied to specific photos, let me know and I’ll be able to tell you who is tied to what photos)
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