Oct 13, 2019
In this episode, Sara
talks with Courtney McLeod about her abrupt and intentional
departure from a well-established career in private equity real
estate to pursue her bigger dream of interior design. Courtney
shares how she got into design without going back to school for
another degree, how much more she enjoys her life now than she did
when she was "financially free," and how she realized that she'd
been spending money to fill a void that is now filled through doing
work she's passionate about. Today, Courtney is the
principal of Right Meets Left Interior Design, an award-winning
Manhattan-based studio.
Sara and Courtney
Discuss:
-
How Sara found
Courtney
-
Courtney applying to both
architecture school and business school
-
Studying business at The
Wharton School
-
Focusing on real estate private
equity
-
Getting "the" job she'd been
working toward and still feeling unfulfilled
-
Realizing that life is too
short
-
Quitting without a plan and
feeling great about it
-
Seeking an internship at a
firm
-
Stumbling upon her first design
client
-
Setting up her own company and
promoting herself
-
Growing organically through
word of mouth and referrals
-
Finally seeing herself as an
"entrepreneur"
-
Realizing her tolerance for
risk
-
Choosing an interior design
certificate program over going back to school for another
degree
-
The value of her business
degree
-
The wrong impression that
people get about interior design from things like HGTV
-
Noticing that whatever your
"thing" is in life, it naturally comes easily
-
Design resources she
recommends:
-
-
Feeling like a fraud when she
first told people she was an interior designer
-
Seeing less respect for
interior design than her previous industry, finance
-
Realizing that she'd been
spending money to fill a void in her life
-
Enjoying her new life much more
than she'd ever enjoyed her previous "financial
freedom"
-
The challenge of work/life
balance when your work IS your hobby
-
How people in her life
initially responded to her career change
-
The amazing new relationships
she's cultivated through her work
-
The expectation when she was
growing up that she get into a high-prestige job
-
Trusting that, because she's
smart and she can work hard, she can make things
happen
-
-
The advice she'd give to
someone who's hesitating on pursuing their dream
career
-
...and more!
Courtney's Full
Bio:
Courtney McLeod is the
principal of Right Meets Left Interior Design, an award-winning
Manhattan-based design studio. An avid colorist at heart, Courtney
draws from a kaleidoscopic toolbox of texture, pattern, and color
to create rooms evocative of one emotion above all others—joy. Her
work has been featured in print both in the US and abroad—including
the cover of Aspire Design + Home Magazine. She is a 2019 High
Point Market Authority Style Spotter and included on the 2019 list
of emerging designers by Luxe Magazine. Courtney is an S. Harris
brand ambassador.
Prior to founding the firm,
Courtney earned a business degree from The Wharton School at the
University of Pennsylvania and completed design-related studies at
Parsons, Pratt, and New York School of Interior Design. The name
Right Meets Left perfectly reflects her approach to the design
process—rooted in the balance of creative design, or right brain,
and analytical rigor, or left brain. The spaces she designs express
both her client’s unique tastes and her vivid, collected
aesthetic.
Connect with Courtney
and Right Meets Left Interior Design:
Connect with Sara
McArdle and Women Who Went for It:
Phone: 503.893.2043
Want to make your own
career change?