Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Malee Cherry. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Malee, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Looking back at the decisions you made early in your career, particularly whether to join a firm or start your own, do you feel you made the right choice for that stage of your career?

An architectural firm, Rockwell Group, inspired me to take steps in becoming an Interior Designer. I had come across their book “Pleasure” at a Borders Bookstore and was captivated by their interiors. They specialize in Hospitality Design (hotels, restaurants, theaters and other public venues). I wanted to create the same experience for people in my designs so I followed the traditional route of an interior designer which is to obtain an Interior Design degree and have a number of years of experience under an accredited Interior Designer. I attended Parsons in NYC which was affiliated with Rockwell Group and had the opportunity to have an internship with them. Rockwell was an amazing experience in that I saw the inner workings of this amazing company. Rockwell was also a 200+ firm in their NYC office alone, and after a while, I realized I wanted to work on the same grand projects, but with a more intimate firm. Near the end of my internship, I hand-walked my portfolio to other inspirational firms across NYC and had the great please to work with Adam Tihany @ Tihany Design. Same hospitality like projects with a total of 13 people in the office. I was told that I would learn so much after 1 year there, I would be able to open up my own firm. This statement sparked my imagination and gave me grand ideas of opening my own business one day. I read ‘Rich Dad, Poor Day’ in my teens and understood the reasons and challenges of having a business and setting my sights past the here & now. I would learn as much as possible and apply it to my own firm one day.

After learning about my father’s cancer diagnosis, I moved back to the city where I spent my younger years, Nashville Tennessee. In 2006, Hospitality Design firms were non-existent in Nashville, so I joined Architectural firms that specialized in other forms design like Corporate Offices, Schools and government projects. After working at architectural firms for about a decade, I decided it was time to open my own Interior Design Firm. Establishing roots within the trade, being kind & knowledgeable helped propel me forward, starting on one project that lead to others.

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

What I learned from Rockwell Group was that they were creating a story based on the client themselves, not based on the Architectural Firm. That’s what I wanted to establish for my firm. The company name “BRAND Interior Design’ or ‘BRAND i.d.’ comes from the thought of creating a ‘brand’ for our client and not implementing my own brand onto others.

I found that Interior Designers at Architectural Firms in Nashville only worked on Interior Architecture (space planning, concept & design development), and then collaborating with others for furniture selections with no input on accessories. On the other hand, Interior Decorating Firms would provide very little to no interior architecture but would select all finishes, accessories and furniture. My Firm brings both of those worlds together. We collaborate with architects, developers, contractors or homeowners to help shape their building or space, develop drawings utilizing the same platform as Architects creating an Interiors package that not only addresses the interior architecture, but folds in all of the decorating touches that speak to the rest of the space we designed.

As a registered interior designer with the State of Tennessee, I practice design that looks at health, safety and welfare along with other interior design elements. We can review architectural and engineers drawings looking for details like thermostat, light switch, air register locations to name a few. We love talking to contractors about how things are built, how to stay within our client’s budget & schedule. And we ask of our clients, many, many questions.

The projects we’ve worked on give us such joy not only with the design itself, but with the clients we work with, the things we learn and how our firm as a team grows stronger with each project.

Have you ever had to pivot?

My first degree is in Time Based Media Studies (Film, Video & Animation). I wanted so much to be a Music Video Director in the 90’s. I loved the works of Samuel Bayer, Mark Romanek, David Fincher and Hype Williams. After interning at a production company my last semester in college, I realized that film and video might not be exactly what I wanted to do, put me in a tailspin. After graduating, I didn’t have the resources in understanding how I could breakout into the industry, so I stayed stagnant taking storyboarding jobs and teaching art elementary schools. Four years later, I was exposed to Interior Design & Architecture.

How do you keep your team’s morale high?

Working at other firms taught me so much about the business of design and how to be a professional myself. I remember how young and unprepared I was coming out of school. Learning how to use Microsoft Office, how to answer phones, and how to reply to emails in a professional manner. I also remember how people treated me and treated others. What great friendships were made and wonderful work connections. I could also totally understand how work/life balance didn’t work for most people and how employees could be judged by their gender, race and age to name a few. I keep all of that in mind to this day running my firm. For us, transparency is the best practice to stay communicative. To air our grievances along with our praises. My most valuable commodity with the firm are the people that work with the firm. That’s how we, in turn, are able to give so much to our clients.

Contact Info:

• Website: BRANDinteriordesign.com
• Instagram: brandid.nashville
• Linkedin: BRAND Interior Design

Image Credits
Images taken by BRANDid