We were lucky to catch up with Debra Zinn recently and have shared our conversation below.

Debra, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Can you tell us the backstory behind how you came up with the idea?

I was hosting my mother’s eightieth birthday party in Cape Cod and set out to find the most beautiful flowers, food, and decor to celebrate such an important milestone. I was disappointed with the rental options for table settings and linens. Without access to my own collections, the idea for The Curated Table was born. When I saw a void in the market, I thought my experience as an interior designer and love of details could be a good resource. I’ve been collecting new and vintage china, linens, and other treasures for as long as I can remember. Since then, I’ve taken my years of table styling and interior design experience and transitioned into styling photoshoots for other interior designers and brands.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I am a big believer in having an open mind and seeing where the road leads you. Years ago, I owned a children’s retail store for ten years, and clients asked me to design their children’s rooms. From there, I would help them with other rooms in their home. My husband is a builder, so I also had the opportunity to design several houses along the way. I never set off to be an interior designer, but I kind of fell into it. One of my favorite parts of interior design is the photo shoot. I love setting up the shots to tell a story about who lives there. After covid, I decided I wanted to hone in on what I genuinely love to do, so I am now styling for other designers and brands to convey their stories. Image marketing is one of the most important things you can do for your business in today’s crowded visual market. I love to curate and style using exceptional pieces from my extensive collection that create engaging imagery and content that captures each project’s individual story and brand.

What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?

I think the best way to build a good reputation in the market is to truly care about your clients and their needs. It can’t just be about what is best for you and your own business. I try to vet clients before taking on a job to ensure we are a good match. Through that process, I have been so fortunate to have developed genuine friendships and deep respect for each client. I really want them to be happy with the outcome and will try everything possible to make sure they are delighted with the end result.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

I think one of my strengths is that I am not afraid to fail. If you are lucky enough to have the opportunity to pursue something you love, you should go for it. It might fail, and I have failed plenty of times, but something good may be on the other side. I invested a lot of money into The Curated Table right before covid shut everything down. No one was renting beautiful tabletop items for their parties, so the rental business came to a halt before it even started. I looked for other ways to use my collection, and now I have an extensive inventory that I use and rent out for my styling business. I encourage my children to shoot for the stars while they are young and don’t have too many responsibilities.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.debrazinnstyling.com
• thecuratedtablenc.com
• Instagram: debrazinnstyling & curatedtablenc

Image Credits
All photos by Anna Barzin except for the 1st picture with the blue and white table with cake. The blue table is by Stacey Van Berkel.