Traci Zeller and Lisa Mende are two friends with common professional interests. Both women are talented Charlotte based interior designers that met through a mutual design consultant. Both have growing businesses with an ever present client base. Both have worked hard to build their team of contractors, consultants, and resources.
Before their first face to face meeting at a Little Rock, Arkansas airport, Lisa had never collaborated with another designer. She had recently taken a break from the design world to grieve for her eldest son who had passed away three years before. Ready to conquer the design world, Traci and Lisa decided to collaborate together for the first time at the Adamsley Showhouse for the Traditional Home show in High Point. Working together was easy for the women. Their styles, though very different, mixed well together as did their personalities. Their friendship grew as well as their professional relationship.
Traci Zeller was also in a pivotal moment in her career. Things in her personal life were beginning to settle down as her business was growing. She decided it was time to find a studio for her and her business to expand into. Though it is fairly uncommon for two interior designers that run separate businesses to share space, it was very easy for the women to decide to work in the same studio. Being an interior designer can be quite an isolating profession, and for Traci and Lisa it just made sense to combine their resources to create a space that benefited them both as well as their clients. Traci explained, I think that how we are operating is a real model to how other designers or other small businesses can operate going forward. There is no reason not to share resources. We have this beautiful space to show our clients and double the resources.
Lisa added that having Traci around to bounce ideas off of is an invaluable benefit for both women. They motivate each other professionally and work as a team to be the best designers that they can be.
The Studio 202 office itself is a great combination of Traci and Lisas style. Traci creates crisp, classic interiors that make family centered lives simple and more stylish.
The clientele I work with have kids in the house and live active and busy lives. They want their house to be stylish but at the same time easy.
Lisa designs casual luxury spaces using bold pops of color and like Traci, designs for people that live a similar lifestyle as her own, designing for people in the 35-65 age bracket. Lisa adds that the studio that Traci and she designed together, had their clients interests in mind.
I think that our studio speaks well with how we work with clients. We like to figure out who they are and what they want. We like to bring our talent and resources to their homes to create a sense of who they are and our studio speaks well of our ability to do that. We are both good at listening to our clients and our studio is a testament to that because we did it together.
Most clients dont know what they want until they can see it and touch it. In the past it was difficult for Traci and Lisa to convince clients to buy a chair they have never sat in.
Both of us do high end custom work. It can be difficult for clients to buy something if they cant try it out and just trust our judgment on things like comfort. Now we have something to show them to give them more assurance as to what they are buying.
Studio 202s walls are glittered with colorful abstract art pieces (a slight detour from their classic aesthetic that works!), all of which are painted by local artists. Supporting local artisans is very important to both Traci and Lisa. We are both more traditional designers but its nice to be able to show clients how we can implement some different elements that are a little off the cuff.
To learn more about Traci Zeller visit her website online at www.tracizeller.com. To learn more about Lisa Mende visit her website online at www.LisaMende.com. Or stop by and check out their fabulous Studio 202 on Providence Road.
