Meet Caroline: Interiors Built by YOU
Caroline brings a level of personalizing to the interior design industry that is unique- she defeats the stereotype that you can’t be a creative and financially savvy all at once- you most certainly can, and Caroline is continually showing up in the industry doing just that! She is willing to call out male dominated industries on their stereotypical comments as well. Learn how she plans backwards from goal to action in her business. Caroline is the breath of fresh air we all need to remember that no matter how many twists and turns it takes to be all in with your business to give it everything you have- it’s worth it!
1. Tell us about who you are and your journey to where you are now!
Hi Friends! I’m Caroline! Owner of Caroline Chojnacki Interiors, a small interior design firm located in Houston, Texas! Fashion was definitely my gateway to interiors. As a teenager, I was always following the big designers, tracking runway seasons, and making my own clothes! I ended up getting into my dream school, Parsons The New School for Design in New York. College played a pivotal role in me honing in on my creative interests and skills to figure out what I wanted to do with my life career wise. While in school I landed some awesome creative internships with Tory Burch, Anthropologie, and Burberry. I was hooked on working in the real world. It was amazing to learn how these successful companies operated and to feel a part of all the action. After graduating with a BBA in Design & Management, I headed to LA to start a career in interiors. I worked with the industry’s best designers for a few years, being a total sponge, learning as much as I could, then decide to take the huge leap of faith and start my own interior design company. I moved back to my hometown of Houston, where I knew I had way more personal connections and support. I’ve had my own company for just over 2 years now and it has been crazy to watch this baby of mine grow! I’ve got active clients not only in Houston, but in Dallas, Nashville, and through my E-Design services, all over the US.
2. What is the mission of your brand? How does it empower women?
My mission is to create fresh and modern spaces that reflect the personality and lifestyle of my clients. Creating a beautiful space is one thing, but creating a space where a client can feel their truest and best self in is the ultimate goal! I will always ask my clients to bring me inspiration pictures of spaces that they love. From there, it’s my job to get to know my clients on a personal level so I can create a look they really love and feel comfortable in. Many people don’t realize just how much their living environments affect their everyday lives. Imagine taking a nice, calming bubble bath…. in a neon green bathroom with fluorescent lighting. Doesn’t sound so relaxing, right? Right. Waking up in a beautifully designed home that is functional, comfortable, and uniquely you creates this baseline empowerment to take on whatever challenges the day may bring and serves as an oasis to come home to at the end of everyday.
3. How do you collaborate with women working towards a better world?
I find that in this field, women are each other’s biggest supporters! Whether it's collaborating with other trades on a project or simply building each other up on instagram, I find that women are so welcoming, inclusive, and empowering. I love love love the mentality of “there is room for everyone” because I truly feel that in the interiors field, there is! Everyone has their own style, niche, and way of running their business. The support I’ve gotten from other designers, big and small, is amazing. As someone just starting out it’s easy to compare yourself to bigger players, then all of the sudden you’ll get an inbox from another designer complimenting your work and you realize, “Hey, I got this! I can do this too!" I think women as a whole have figured out that you don’t need to step on someone else to get to the top!
4. What is the biggest challenge you’ve had to press through as a female entrepreneur and what are the steps you’ve taken to overcome it?
The design, architecture, and construction industry is a pretty male dominated field and I have unfortunately had some “working in a man’s world” experiences while on the job. This is 2020, so in most cases it’s a complete non-issue. I have, however, been in professional settings where my looks have been commented on or pressed with questions about my personal life. Every time this has happened I am so taken aback like, “Did this REALLY just happen to me on jobsite?!” I’ve learned to approach situations like this with somewhat of a polite ‘take no shit’ attitude. As women, it can be hard to be confrontational when we feel we’ve been disrespected or wronged. We’ve basically been trained NOT to be confrontational, say “thank you,” and move on. My advice is to just muster up the confidence to be confrontational and combat such comments with something like “Excuse me, this is my job and one I take seriously. Please show me a little more respect than that.” The person who made the comment has likely never been called out on their behavior and in my experience, they pretty quickly change their attitude towards you.
5. What advice would you give to a female entrepreneur in the beginning stages of launching her brand or business?
Envision your end goal, then work backwards from there. It’s so important to write down your goals and how you plan to achieve them. Break down all of the steps to get there and get to work! Put together a basic business plan, a 5 year plan, and where you’d like to see yourself in 10 years. Your plans and goals are likely going to change over time but you need that foundation to begin! Once you have your game plan in place of how you’re going to transition to this new business or brand.. Take the leap!! It’s so scary but so exciting. Every up and down is worth it once you get going!
6. What sets your brand apart from others?
I feel like when it comes to interiors every brand is so unique and different! I’d like to think what sets me apart from others is my ability to connect with my clients. I try to treat each client like I would a close family member.. and family is everything to me!! Over the course of a project you get to know your clients pretty well and in most cases get to know their families, too. It’s always a little sad when a job wraps up and I haven’t heard from a client in a while. I’ll start to think things like, “Hey.. I wonder how their trip to Italy went? Or if their daughter got that internship she wanted,” Sometimes I have to remind myself that they hired me to complete a task and not just to be friends! As my business grows and my online business expands, I hope I can keep connecting to people in the same way.