We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Leigh Jendrusina. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Leigh below.

Leigh, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Before we get into specifics, let’s talk about success more generally. What do you think it takes to be successful?

Being successful takes a lot of hard work, self-discipline, sacrifice and taking risks, both big and small. With everything online/on social media these days, it’s easy to think that things happen overnight for people, but the reality is, that is not usually the case.

I have a background in marketing/branding/packaging design and worked in Corporate America for 10 years before taking a short leave from the work-force when my second son was born. About a year and a half after being home with my two boys, I made the decision to pivot careers (with the help of having “experience” from a major personal home remodel) and slowly began building my own Interior Design business, SALTHOUSE collective. Since starting my own business, I have been a sponge in every aspect of design – from construction building to decorating to the business management side. I’d like to think that in the last 3+ years I’ve become “successful” in my business and industry, but it’s been with a ton of late nights designing, learning on-the-fly, asking a million questions to tradespeople, having imposter syndrome, making mistakes and then being “smarter the next time”, and the list goes on and on. Owning your own company is a lot of work – the risks are bigger – but the rewards are bigger too. Success or being successful is never something that you’re “done” with. And I’d think most successful people feel that way. You always want to grow and get better; to try something new; to push yourself out of your comfort zone – because that’s when you slowly get even more successful.

I’m very proud of how far SALTHOUSE collective has come in a short amount of time and I feel a level of success looking back; but I also think I have a long way to go and I’m excited for the challenge!

Leigh, 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 own a small or “boutique” interior design studio, SALTHOUSE collective. I officially took on a real paying client in 2020, but began the early workings of starting my studio in 2018/2019 during a major personal home remodel and helping a few friends. Previous to 2018, I did not have any interior design experience as my background was in 10+ years of corporate marketing/branding/product packaging for a few major consumer brands.

SALTHOUSE collective offers interior design services ranging from full-service design for new builds or major remodels down to design for bathroom remodels/redecorating of key rooms in homes. We specialize in offering design that is interesting, yet approachable often-times working with clients for their family homes. SALTHOUSE collective’s style focuses on layering textures, tones, patterns, and materials to give spaces a sophisticated, yet comfortable feel.

I believe that every home is unique, so instead of imparting a “signature style” in every space, I infuse bits of the SALTHOUSE style in a tailored way to each home so that no two client spaces look the same.

I’m really proud of how quickly SALTHOUSE collective has grown and the variety of projects I’ve been able to design in the short amount of time that I’ve been in business. I’ve designed everything from a ground-up remodel, to a small boutique hotel, to a fitness studio’s small “recovery” sauna space and everything in between.

We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?

What’s worked well for you in terms of a source for new clients?

Contact Info:

• Website: www.salthousecollective.com
• Instagram: @salthousecollective

Image Credits
All photography is done by Charlotte Lea Photography @charlotteleaphotography