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

Jamie, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. How did you learn to do what you do? Knowing what you know now, what could you have done to speed up your learning process? What skills do you think were most essential? What obstacles stood in the way of learning more?

How did I learn about Cabinetry? Well, I certainly did not start out wanting to be “The Cabinet Nerd”. That nickname was bestowed upon me by a dear remodeler friend who would always introduce me as her cabinet nerd. To this day, I still ask myself how I got to learn all that I know about cabinetry. Considering how embarrassed I felt during my first interview after design school, when I couldn’t answer the question, “What’s the purpose of a filler?” I would have to say I learned cabinetry by reading the spec (cabinetry specification catalogs) books to find answers, by making mistakes (lots of small and a couple doozies), and being blessed with a patient cabinet installer who allowed me to sit on job-sites with him. As for learning about space planning, that’s just something that’s always been inside of me. I used to “rearrange my room” as kid to make better use of sleeping by the windows in the spring and summer seasons. I would walk in to any space and see a dozen ways that I could improve it’s function. Then all those waitressing & bartending jobs really primed me for understaning ergonomics of the human body and planning efficent work zones.

Knowing what I know now, I’m not sure I could have sped up the learning process. This has been a lifetime of experiences that culiminate into The Cabinet Nerd’s existance.

The most essential skills in becoming The Cabinet Nerd have certainly been researching and not taking “no” for a design answer. That has lead me to look at things from a fresh prespective. From a “what- if- we- tried- this” approach.
And finally- this is more a value than a skill : integrity. Doing something right, especially when no one is looking. I could have so easily skipped over those spec books, and let someone else take the blame for a cabinet not fitting. But I don’t. I can’t.

First instinct says “being from a small town with limited design exposure and appreciation” stood in the way of me learning more. Or that limited financial resources stood in my way But that’s simply not the case. If it wasn’t for growing up and starting my career in a small town, I would not have learned to keep pursuing my dreams, and to not “take NO for an answer”.

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.

For folks who have not read about me before, Hey There, I’m Jamie, but you can call me The Cabinet Nerd! I founded my online kitchen design business as part of The Great Resignation of 2020 after my cushy corporate job furloughed me indefiently due to Covid-19. My design side hustle had gained momentum very quickly. The decision to return from furlough crushed my soul. The answer was a “Hell No” and I forged ahead with The Cabinet Nerd with a “Hell Yes!” The time was right. The technology was there to support remote and online design. And I had enough experience to understand what did & did not work for me in previous kitchen design roles.

I can tell you that I am not a kitchen designer for everyone. And that is difficult in the Dallas market. I am not a turn & burn designer with a one-size-fits-all kitchen design mentality. I focus, very heavily, on the functionality of kitchens, the personalized user experiences and fitting the right products for the project- not my pocketbook. I’ve never been motivated by sales quotas or commission checks. Instead kitchen & cabinetry design is a necessary creative outlet for me. It’s a stimulating puzzle.

The Cabinet Nerd is a service-based, kitchen & cabinetry design buisness. It is in my zone of genius to focus on pre-construction design concepts. To shape your ideas, your needs and your wants, into the most functional version of your space and then communicate those details into precise technical drawings for your trade professionals so they can gather material & labor estimates. I collaborate online & in-person with homeowners, interior designers, remodelers, architects and other trade professionals to transform awkward spaces into functional, stylish kitchens that tell each homeowner’s personal story.

What makes me the most proud is The Cabinet Nerd’s founding principle of community over competition. I truly believe in leaving the design world better than I found it. That means sharing my mistakes, experiences and vulnerabilites with other designers and trade pros so that we can elevate our industry. It was a true honor and life-changing experience to be accepted to The National Kitchen & Bath Association’s inaugural Women to Women Leadership Conference in 2023. I walked into a room of 76 other women, all wondering the same thing, “What am I doing here? Why did they select me?” and walked out with a sisterhood bond between 6 other talented, thriving women who share the same struggles in our professional and personal life.

Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?

There’s an old marketing rule of thumb that 1 person will share a bad experience with 10 people and out of 10 people only 1 will share a good experience. Either I am magically aligning with that right “1 person” or I have consistently done excellent work for the past 20 years. And excellent work means that I educate and set expectations with my clients and trade professionals. Think three-dimesnionally with a foresight to see potential problems. Offer multiple solutions to each design challenge. Explain why a design solution can or cannot be acheived. Then design cabinets like an installer thinks to minimze jobsite errors. And finally, I take accountability for my mistakes and hold others responsible for theirs.

Reputation is what other people say about you when you leave a room. People say about me, “she knows her shit.”

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.thecabinetnerd.com

Image Credits
Sarah Rivera, Charlotte Lea, Sonja Quintero