We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Celina Voelker a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Celina, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Risking taking is a huge part of most people’s story but too often society overlooks those risks and only focuses on where you are today. Can you talk to us about a risk you’ve taken – it could be a big risk or a small one – but walk us through the backstory.

Most of my life I played it safe. I went to college, finished my degree and obtained a doctorate to start practicing clinical pharmacy at the age of 23. After fourteen years of practicing in the medical field, my heart was being tugged into a different direction. For years, in my free time I would help design friends and family’s spaces, focusing on the story of their family and the heart of their home being reflected throughout the design. My husband was very in-tune with where my heart was being lead and he encouraged me to start a business where design, functionality and budget align.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

You see, I started out knowing that I had a strong love for people and how better to show that love than to care for them?

My passion was always design but my family encouraged me, with my strong background in Math and Science that I should pursue the medical field.

So I did, I finished a doctorate program in 6 years and at the age of 23 I was working two jobs, one as a trauma hospital pharmacist and a retail pharmacist where I had my fill of building relationships with patients that trusted me sometimes more than their physicians.

On the day of graduation, one of my teachers said “Don’t let this day be the smartest you’ll ever be.”

So as years went by, we moved and had children, I found myself soul searching, moving onto the next job and the next, growing, learning, helping enforce new programs, obtain additional certifications and establishing new pharmacies.

After developing skills practicing in the retail, hospital, trauma, compounding, closed door, clinical and specialty areas of pharmacy, I started to realize that my “why” of choosing this career was no longer reality.

Medicine had become more about the money and less about the care of the patient.

Those long talks I used to have with my patients/friends now had time limits enforced by the establishments and insurance companies.

If my honest medical advice was to “change your Lifestyle” and “don’t add another medicine” I wasn’t doing my job.

I couldn’t sleep, I wasn’t happy and finally after much prayer and discussion, my husband planted the seed…
“Why don’t you do what you’ve always loved”

Me?

How could I succeed?

It’s too late.

How can I compete?

My husband encouraged me to take the first step, reach out to locals and see if there was a need or a want for the service I would offer.

After months of polling neighbors, we realized there was a desire for our mission…Design on a budget, focused on supporting local and repurposing without compromising quality.

Those first steps were the most terrifying.

Putting my notice in at work, a job that required a residency which I never had, meaning I had to work that much harder to obtain, letting go of a consistent salary, benefits and a pension, stepping out into a world of owning a buisness which I knew nothing about.

But I did just that, I took the first step and then the next in faith.

I prayed for that first client who ended up being one of my coworkers ironically enough.

Now a year and a half later, I have stepped completely out of my comfort zone too many times to count and awkwardly stood in rooms where I have known no one.
All of that to say, there is growth in the discomfort.

I wouldn’t trade this journey for anything, being able to share my love for design with others who otherwise would feel intimidated to ask for help or not be able to afford it, it’s truly a dream.

Any advice for growing your clientele? What’s been most effective for you?

My passion for design is not just that, it is the opportunity to offer it to everyone! I have always designed on a budget without compromising in quality and I felt that was something that deserved to be shared with others. Our mission is to offer affordable design by respurposing and supporting local without sacrificing quality.

How’d you meet your business partner?

My cofounder is my best friend and my biggest cheerleader, my husband. Whenver I ask “What if I fail?”, he always responds with “My love, what if you succeed?” We have been married for fifteen years and have had our share of challenges, just like a new business we’ve learned to perservere because it’s worth fighting for.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.organicloveinteriordesign.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/organicloveinterior/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100085037844122
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/organicloveinterior/
• Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/organic-love-interior-design-mount-pleasant#reviews

Image Credits

Jonathan Boncek
Anna Laura Sommer