146 – Julia Buckingham: From Stay at Home MOM to Interior Design Powerhouse

Julia Buckingham: From Stay at Home MOM to Interior Design Powerhouse On this Episode of The Lounge, Nick sits down with Julia Buckingham of Buckingham ID in Chicago at The Public (formerly the Ambassador East). They are both in Chicago attending Neocon. The last time Nick and Julia talked was on an actual chaise lounge with Michel Boyd at the Atlanta Market. Julia currently lives in "Casa Lantana" in Pheonix, Arizona but her office is still in Chicago with her daughters. Her favorite fashion accessory is shoes and her favorite place to vacation is Marrakesh in Morocco, which she visited with the #blondesquad (interior designers Holly Phillips, Cathy Austin, Tami Ramsey, and Krista Nichols). The most moving traveling experience Julia has had though was getting the opportunity to visit the manufacturing plants and homes of the people who manufacture her products. The Business Today Julia is in the process of opening a Modernique boutique shop in Pheonix, Arizona. Her business in Chicago is booming as she guts homes while maintaining their historic integrity and architecture through renovations and add-ons. Her firm consists of 5 people and focuses a lot on business and operations. She has 3 designers plus herself, one operations manager, and one business manager. She and Nick can't stress how important it is to have people to help run the business side of a firm. PUBLIC ANNOUNCEMENT: Nick met a student attending an ASID event while in Chicago who was actually interested in working on the business side of interior design. So Megan, if you're out there Julia would love to connect with you because business is what it's all about. Message us to connect! :) Internships Amy Flurry's art from her company paper-cut-project was installed by Julia for a client project in Chicago. Amy also recently asked Nick to talk about Internships on the show. So Nick asks Julia what she thinks: Herrington School of Design was where Julia pooled her interns from before it closed. Having an intern was integral to Julia's business. She herself has hired 3 interns over the past 10 years as a part of her design team. Interns understand that they are starting out at a level where they need to be open-minded and they embrace the tasks of an entry-level position. She does get resumes from students whose schools don't require an internship program, but she knows it can be difficult to put time and motivation into an internship without receiving any credit or compensation. In her opinion, more schools should require an internship. Julia also has people who want to relocate to Chicago to intern for her, but it's difficult to financially commit to their travels and rent expenses without knowing them. With that being said, her firm has at least 2 interns every summer and if SHE has not hired them afterward herself, some of the most amazing firms of Chicago HAVE. Having the ability to intern for a firm is integral to the growth of design students and can lead to potential job opportunities. Julia also suggests reaching out to designers to ask questions and see if they will become your mentor. 5 years ago, Tiffany Brooks who won HGTV Designer of a year, asked to meet up with Julia because she was stuck and didn't know how to have her own design firm. After they talked, Julia became her mentor and now she is rockin' it in the design world. You can talk to and learn from designers, or even go in for a couple days to see what it is that they do and how much work it is. Julia's Story 10 years ago Julia was just a mom at the Jewel. She didn't plan for a new career but she'd always loved shopping and collecting antiques. Julia and her husband have had 15 homes in 30 years of marriage and consider themselves "Cereal Flippers." Her husband handles graphics, branding, and putting spaces together while she designs them. Their love language was/is working together on these projects. Then,