If you were to look at the photos on my personal Facebook
page, you might find smoothies from my vitamix blender, images and quotes from
Rumi, the perfect mint julep, a garden restaurant in Piermont, a boating
adventure, talk of recycling, vintage furniture, beautiful artwork, sprouted lentils and maybe a
yoga pose or two.
My big passions (other than design) are food, nutrition, our
planet and yoga. Along with these passions comes a love of cooking,
entertaining and adventures to find vintage furniture with stops at farm markets
and roadside ice cream stands.
I have a lust for life, and an integrative approach to
living it, but I haven't shown it
professionally.
Until now.
I have over 14 years design experience, but being out on my
own is still new. I spent the first two years very focused on building my
client base, marketing and promotion. I am at a point now where I am ready to be
true to who I am, and lay the groundwork for the design practice I want to
operate.
Luckily, I live in a place that supports all of it. This was
no accident. The Hudson
Valley is chock full of amazing
artisans, vintage and antique furniture stores, talented artists and a
"buy local" attitude.
These are all the things that are integral to running my
company. However, I am not just selling design services, I'm selling a
lifestyle. It can all be summed up as leading a happy, balanced, stress-free
life, that supports who you are as well as the planet we live on.
I chose Seattle over Austin for my masters in architecture because it was one
of the greenest cities in the U.S.
I learned about passive heating and cooling, grey and black-water systems, I
have built models to test at a daylighting lab and I've worked in Mexico building a solar kitchen. No one knows this. It's not the side of me I chose
to show.
I'm coming out of the closet.
The state of the earth is very important to me. However, it
doesn't mean that my clients need to live like Thoreau and wear patchouli. It
doesn't mean my love of lacquer and brass disappears and has their place taken
by bamboo and hemp. It just means making
better decisions.
By taking my passions and fusing it with my work, I can have
a more integrative approach. It means losing the disconnect between my business
and me. I am Nicole Amanda Romano (my birth name) and I can improve people's
lives.
In my career, how we live is more important than ever.
Confucius said "choose a job you love and you'll never
have to work a day in your life".
I have always loved what I do, but now I can eat, sleep and
breath it. Awesome.
For a visual essay that supplements this blog, please click here.
