Look! 👀 Design Secrets That Pull You Into the Office: Mix 30 Under 30 Series

0:00So how was it for you getting into the industry? I had quite a lot of, let's say, patchy experience. I actually went to Pearl and Rose for two weeks when I was in high school for work experience. Really kind of random story. I knew someone at a barbecue and they were like, hey, I know someone that works here. Your daughter likes, this is my mum as well, your daughter likes interior design. Does she want to try it like for two weeks? I was like, OK. me like what 16 going into this place being like wow this is an office and this is what's going on and I just love the environment like we're in a completely different building now we've renovated but the people there like genuinely didn't disregard me it was like I want to show you what we're doing and at that point I was like okay I think I like this industry so carried on through school and then I stayed in contact you know people say stay in touch I really did oh good tip there yeah i'm listening stay into house and uh i was like during uni and i said oh can i can i come back and i'm like yeah yeah why not between the summers and i stayed for seven weeks and did my whole kind of summer holidays i absolutely loved it where i got intro to the landlord team and then i submitted at uni and i got a linkedin message from kev who is now my boss and he was quite simply do you want to work with us like you'd be great to fit with the team and I was like yeah and I remember getting that message being like oh my god like I have a job and it was yeah really cool but that was through COVID as well so I studied during COVID so two out of my three years were done from home away from kind of that community so kind of coming out of COVID and going straight into the working world was a really weird feeling.

1:43Did that make did that cause problems or like you just embrace it more appreciating? Yeah, I think you embrace it because you've kind of done the digital side of kind of pitching and you've done all of that online. But it does leave you with a bit of like imposter syndrome of did I earn my degree because I wasn't in the office space, the kind of studio. So I think coming into it and I knew I could do it, but in my head I was a bit like, can I do it? Like, I should feel like I should be going back to uni because we're out of COVID now. But I'm 21 into the office space environment and a designer.

2:16so it was a really weird kind of first year as a graduate to learn the ropes and I've like let myself I feel like I've got it yeah yeah yeah that's really a cool story that's great good for your mum getting you in there initially yeah I was gonna say and you like didn't almost go that traditional route you kind of like did connect chats up and that's nice but then also it's nice that you kind of got in like to the workspace and like connecting people together when you've like suffered I don't know through Toyofed with not feeling together so it's kind of bridging those see that you see the value to the port you're coming together 100 % that's nice wow why what I am journey yeah well yeah it's quite nice isn't it if you've got friends at barbecues that's awesome I know no not the standard journey but uh yeah it showed me quite early on what I wanted to do.

3:12Did you actually know you wanted to study interior design or did you do it because you were going to Peldon? No I had before that I wanted to I was doing graphic design I was doing ICT so I knew I wanted to do something design-led because kind of the academic side was never my strong suit and then I kind of went to Peldon and it really showed me at that age there is a career in design it's not kind of seen as a well you're doing design that's not like a career this is actually something that is needed in the industry to create workspaces that are people-centered and they care about who's in them and I was like okay I can now do design as a career I went straight back I was like straight into college and I was like I'm going to do 3D design and I'm going to learn workshop stuff and I'm going to make bits of furniture and keep kind of developing that skill went into do interior design at uni and I was like yeah this is what I want to do so I went back and solidated that kind of feeling oh it's cool it's cool you've that exposure you switched from interior design to what's the sense between interior design and plasticity because they're kind of laughing because it's probably huge no well it's like intertwined i'd say but we as strategists are like very much involved at the beginning before a brief may even be captured and we'll just get in there with the organization maybe create a vision with them help them understand what they need and what they want and then piece together the brief and that's what we would hand over to our designers i see it's all the piece before yeah but we're also involved throughout and yeah it's what made you do that jump change i think i just found i absolutely love the client interactions and meeting the people who are going to work in these spaces and a lot of what we do is like workshops and surveys and it's like the data gathering and it's understanding you know how they're working now how they want to work in the future I just loved it I just kind of like the chat to be honest I like chatting to people but um yeah I I guess yeah our teams are really interlinked and I have a few chats around the office and there was an opening and yeah I went for it it's been school yeah because it's nice to be able to move within a something good about Moses at global yeah and it does so much doesn't it yeah they were very supportive I did have to interview still yes of course it was a bit yeah interviewing with people you already know but yeah they're very supportive and I'm yeah happy they let me do it that's very cool so going into like the world is going to be shaped by your generation massive right you say so okay too right so what are you going how are you going to be taking like office design strategy that what what how are your generation going to influence that change that I think so I've just like speaking to my friends and not even people in the industry but like hearing what what people are saying and the themes that are coming up it's like people our age especially in London like we're looking to meet people all the time and it's a hard place to meet people I think everyone is looking for connection ultimately like you see all the run clubs that have been started and like they're massively popular and I know I'm not talking about run clubs and we're meant to be talking about workspace but I think the theme is is like people want to meet people and like get to know them and make connections so I'm thinking our generation will maybe put pressure on organizations to focus on culture more and like invest in it and then design spaces that actually encourage you know not just interactions but like deeper connection so more than the water cooler I think that's my take the water cooler so it's so Lots of years ago, isn't it?

6:53Yeah, I know. What we're now, a coffee station. Yeah, but no, that's cool. I do see it though, that people like Gymshaw, our clothing brand, like totally smashing it into a community and building that community. Definitely. And wider than them as well. Office is more than an office now. It's not a box you fit into. It's something that has to entice you to stay. And I think what you're saying is emotional. It needs to care about who's in it. It's not just walls that you're in for eight hours a day. it's something that you want to be in and you feel it looks after you as much as you're putting in the effort I think it's that harmony between yeah yes it's four walls and a desk but actually there's so much more to it emotionally that you need to feel productive in a day yeah definitely with a girl and yeah and outside of work as well like what you're saying but how so how are you in terms of design how are you implementing that what does that look like how would how will that of shape how to?

7:49I think we're looking a lot more at kind of how each space can look after not just one person we're kind of looking at more like neurodiversity brings up a lot of challenges for certain people in aspects and how we can design a space that can either be easily adaptable for someone that might be overstimulated or another space for them that caters so not just kind of a tea point that has one chair what if I don't want to sit at a big communal table like I know at lunch i want to put my headphones in maybe not talk to someone for an hour and it's like designing around that and making sure you have options i think that's the biggest key of looking after each individual need definitely that is i do think i don't think any more people on your diverse i just think we know about it i say the stat of like 20 is but i was talking to even k sergeant about it on the podcast a few weeks ago she said we don't even really know what number it could be 80 % it's just I went like diagnosed or we haven't talked about it so we don't know what to look for in themselves so that might be indicators of a neurodivert and yeah so on the spectrum somewhere essentially we've all got our little quirks and how we design I think it's a really I love that topic like it's so massive in terms of their geniuses aren't that as well like the more extreme, I don't know if this is a big break, the more extreme neurodiverse or autistic spectrum, they're actually the geniuses, aren't they?

9:19Doing their proper pleasure. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Would agree, yeah. So, like, facilitating for them helping them be proactive. Absolute banger. That's nice. So we can change the world. I'm a CK. More e-boost. Yeah. All about communities. About communities. making friends at work yeah crazy idea he's kind of yeah i was sorry isn't it where people met and like dated and like started families never been all through like what was the most popular thing was it through families and churches yeah work and then it all went online and now we're coming back so far aren't we yeah i have been like there's a few articles about how people are returning to the office they're coming off the apps and they're returning to the office to meet people but openly to meet a particular person.