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

Shanna, appreciate you joining us today. Learning the craft is often a unique journey from every creative – we’d love to hear about your journey and if knowing what you know now, you would have done anything differently to speed up the learning process.

Well, I guess I started learning as we all do when we are doing something that is a calling…as a child. I have always loved the visual arts, but I was also very curious and into all the scientific geeky stuff. I use to spend hours and hours building these detailed spaces and stories for my Barbie. And then when I was done and we were supposed to actually play with the doll, I was bored. Those interests and skills translated easily into a degree in Interior Design where you need to both be artistic and visual but also technical and very detail oriented. In many ways, it was the perfect fit.

I was always rather impatient and ambitious. And I hated to be bored!! So I wanted to learn everything as fast as possible. I started as an intern and worked my way up. I loved it so I would spend hours of my own time just pouring over drawings and soaking it all up. I have to say I really did work a lot in those days (not a lot of work life balance), but it paid off and I learned so so much and very quickly.

I think one of the most important yet under appreciated skill is technical. Lots of people have great taste. But designing something that is not actually buildable or affordable…or not being able to communicate your design to the contractor…means that the design is useless no matter how amazing it was in your head. The technical ability to execute that design is essential, but not something people talk about much.

But also essential to being a great designer are skills that are not so easily learned. The ability to visually see a space that does not actually exist yet and manipulate it in your head to make sure the design will look good and work. The ability to empathize and put yourself into your client’s head and heart to understand what they want and need. The ability to be incredibly detail oriented to juggle the huge amount of decisions that need to be made with each and every design. These kinds of skills are just as essential but I’m not sure they can be learned at all.

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 believe that Interior Design is a true art form. My vision is to deliver dramatic and beautiful yet functional spaces since I truly believe that interior design impacts peoples’ emotions and how they experience the world even when they are not aware of it.  My passion is to consistently deliver a unique and special design for each project and each client that excels in functionality without sacrificing the aesthetics of the space. My team and I are that rare balance of art and technical ability that is so rarely seen.

I honed my craft working at leading firms designing large scale international projects all around the world: Europe, North & South America, the Middle East and Asia. From large-scale custom homes to fine dining restaurants to boutique resorts and spas, I now have over twenty-five years of expertise winning various international awards along the way.

I then founded SMDA so that I could return to my roots…to be able to get hand-on and immerse myself in each client and project. So I bring with me a team, work methods, and quality standards of a large scale international practice but delivered with a personal and boutique experience. This is what makes us so unique.

We truly want to know you, understand you, and design the perfect space for you.

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

Short answer – doing great work. Almost all our clients come from referrals either from our previous clients or from other professionals we work with on our projects so doing great work on each and every project is the key for us to continue to be successful. There have been times when we have taken projects for too low a fee and completely lost money on the project. But we made a commitment and so we continued to work as hard as ever. That investment in time and energy has paid off every time…sometimes with referrals to other more profitable projects and sometimes to winning awards on the design. Often, it has been both. So my personal belief is that you do the best work you can on each and every project, for each and every client, no matter the profit margin or challenges. It will pay off in the end.

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

I had to unlearn humility and false modesty. Haha!! That sounds horrible but it is true.

I think we are all taught from a young age that we should not brag or talk about ourselves too much. I know I was…. But that was not helping me in business or in marketing SMDA. I found it extremely difficult to talk about myself in that way. It just felt like I was bragging. I ended up having the trick myself. I pretend I am someone else talking about me or my company. I even created a name and an e-mail address of that person to make it real for myself and be able to send out marketing materials without feeling like it came from me. Silly I know….but it works for me.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.SMDAinc.com
• Instagram: @SMDAinc
• Facebook: @SMDAinc
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/smdainc/
• Twitter: @SMDAinc
• Other: Houzz: https://www.houzz.com/pro/smdainc Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/smdainc/

Image Credits
Skylit Photography, Tim Street-Porter, Applied Photography