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

Stephanie, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. So, let’s start with trends – what are some of the largest or more impactful trends you are seeing in the industry?

Well let’s see…If we’re talking about commercial interiors, I’d say the biggest trend/challenge has been navigating the hybrid workplace after the pandemic.

It’s a difficult situation to balance because people need and want to work in new ways. “Employee well being” is quite the buzz word these days and rightfully so. Organizations are working to provide an enviornment people feel comfortable coming to, but also provide the appropriate amount of flexibility to work remotely without sacrificing production goals and the employees’ needs for collaboration.

In addition to those challenges, real estate, space planning, flawless technology solutions, human resources, and furnishings all play an integral part in the success and support of the new workplace.

I recently met with one of my commercial office clients and we discussed this very topic. He asked, “what are you seeing in the workplace now and how is technology changing?”

My response to him was that, I think you have to really consider how to include the employees that are working remotely so that they still feel integrated with the rest of the team, while still providing a physical work environment that supports your company’s workflow and culture for the in-office personnel.

What that means is that organizations will have to determine what applications will work best for the workflow of their office. We are seeing a lot of cloud-based collaboration tools being used to help connect employees but organizations will likely need to lean heavily on their technology vendors for solutions that best suit them.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

Sure I’d love to. I’m Stephanie Georgoulakis founder and lead designer of Life by Design Interiors and if you’re wondering how I ended up here, I think one day it all just clicked for me, I graduated from high school early, started college as a biology major, life threw me some curveballs so I put college on hold and moved to Austin, TX. I worked in the bar industry.

I worked in the bar industry in Austin Texas for about 10 years. I always knew I was going to go back to school, I just didn’t know when or for what. I grew up a lot living on my own in Austin and some how along the way, I found myself enamored with architecture and interiors. So when the time was right, I applied to the Architecture School at the University of Texas at San Antonio, and finished that degree.

After spending over 12 years working in the commerical architecture and interior design sector, I found myself unemployed after COVID reared it’s ugly head. You can read more about that in my previous Voyage interview linked here (enter link if possible).

Don’t worry, I found my way out of that difficult time. I decided to go out on my own due to the needs that quite literally kept falling into my lap.

I am now the owner and lead designer at Life by Design Interiors which is a full service interior design firm based in San Antonio that specializes in pushing design boundaries to create one-of-a-kind curated spaces. With form and function continuously in mind, our team creates environments that are not only beautiful but also bring lasting value for years to come.

We oversee, manage and design new builds, remodels, custom homes, and commercial projects with consistent execution from start to finish. Our experience-based point of view drives how we approach every engagement – with resourcefulness, clear communication, and structured processes for exceptional service.

What I am most proud of and also what I believe sets us apart from many other designers is that we really take a collaborative approach to design. I want my clients to play an integral part in the process because after all, they will either be living or working in the spaces we design. We work so closely with our clients that they often become friends, which makes what we do so much more fullfilling.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

To date, I think that the most difficult part of finding my way to where I am, is actually finding the strength to take the first step. As I am sure you can imagine, starting a business, by yourself, is very scary. I had ZERO desire to go out on my own. So the thought of doing something that was never really a goal of mine, freaked me right out. I think sometimes we talk ourselves out of things before we can even start because at least that way, we don’t have to worry about failing. Looking back, I think that’s exactly what I did. I kept telling myself, “I don’t want that,” so that way I never had to worry about trying and getting it wrong.

But one day (after being unemployed for 6 months) I prayed for direction and here we are.

Life by Design Interiors just celebrated it’s 2nd anniversary in business and I never would have guessed, when I started, that I’d be where I am today.

Where do you think you get most of your clients from?

Being that I worked in the commercial design industry for so long, I developed a pretty decent network of people working in the same or related fields. Architects, commercial furniture representatives, general contractors, custom home builders, former employers, etc…

I’ll tell you that nurturing and maintaining these relationships has been the key for me regarding new business. I love interacting with people so staying in touch with the people in my network comes fairly easy to me. I have the best referral partners anyone could ask for and I get to return the favor to them as well. It’s a lot of empowering and supporting each other.

Much like your mission to empower small business owners in the creative space, like myself, by providing a platform to share their stories to help them expand their reach. Thank you so much for all you are doing for this community and for the feature. It has been my pleasure to be a part of the Canvas Rebel community.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.lifebydesigninteriors.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lifebydesigninteriors/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/stephaniegeorgoulakis

Image Credits
Brittany Paul Photography, Renderings by Michelle Valencia