Meet KristyChanel Lindsay

Today we’d like to introduce you to KristyChanel Lindsay.

Hi KristyChanel, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
I have always been a creative, starting with my love of fashion and being a hairstylist as a young teenage girl. My first sign of interest in design was as a 15-year-old senior in high school. But the light bulb had not shone just yet. As an early high school graduate, I took the opportunity to attend cosmetology school before attending university, majoring in Business Management, thinking that owning a high-end hairstyling studio was definitely the future that I saw for myself. I had no idea what would lie ahead. The summer after my junior year in college in 1998, I ended up spending back home in Baltimore, Maryland, watching countless hours of HGTV. It was then that I realized that I wanted to be an Interior Designer.

However, I was on a full academic scholarship, and my university did not have an interior design program, which meant I would have to revisit my dream at some point in the future. I graduated from college in December of 1999, and in the spring of 2000, I began a career in corporate Multi-family property management. But, my first gig was working at a furnished community and I was hired just when the units were due for remodeling. This was my chance to get my feet wet and see would I really enjoy design. I did, and over the years, yearned for it more and more. In every new job in my property management career, I found myself doing design work. I also began doing residential design on a part-time basis as the opportunity would allow. But as the years went on, I realized that I wanted design to be my primary responsibility, not just a portion of my work.

In 2015, I relocated to Atlanta with my husband and children, and just a year later, at 39 years old, I decided that I would not return to the safety (and lucrative pay) of corporate property management, and after years of doing interior design part-time, I was ready to go out on a limb and pursue my dream. In October of 2016, I began working with an incredible designer, André Jordan Hilton, who is now my mentor, and lo and behold, I eventually found myself doing design work behind the scenes for a show on HGTV, the very network that had inspired me, nearly 20 years before. I learned so much while working with André, and in the spring of 2019, I launched my own business, KristyChanel Interiors, with his blessing. I have been fortunate to run a successful business ever since, designing residential and commercial spaces, and it has been my heart’s joy to do so. I am so grateful to earn a living fulfilling my passion, and taking such an extreme risk at nearly 40 years old was so worth it.

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
It was definitely not easy to be willing to start over at nearly 40 years old. This meant walking away from steady, lucrative income. It meant having to get my husband on board with the idea of living with much less income. It meant having to start off doing projects for much less than my time was worth just to be able to begin building a portfolio. And it also meant having to learn that some people in my sphere would be naysayers and unsupportive or take advantage of me and be unwilling to compensate me properly for my skill, knowledge, and time.

Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I am an Interior Designer. I specialize in residential design and some light commercial design. I am known for jaw-dropping before and afters, where I use timeless pieces and colors, but in a modern and unexpected way. I am most proud of my ability to capture my clients’ goals for a space, yet still create something that is more than they ever could have imagined would be the end result. I also pride myself on my space planning skills, making the most out of every inch of a space, whether small or large, without the final look being cluttered. I really love that I am able to bring youth and classy whimsy to traditional pieces. It sets me apart to be able to use traditional pieces in a way that makes it clear that it is not your grandma’s style.

How do you think about happiness?
It makes me happy to know that I was able to push beyond my fears, in pursuit of my dreams, and to earn a living doing what does not feel like work at all. I am so grateful to be able to display this for my children and show them that they can do the same thing. It also makes me so happy to be self-employed and be in the position to set my own schedule and be as involved in my children’s activities as I like. The hours in my previous career were grueling and did not leave room for me to be the type of mother that I desired to be. Having KristyChanel Interiors enables me to be the wife, mother, and entrepreneur that I always wanted to be, which makes me happier than even I could have imagined.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.kristychanelinteriors.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kristychanel_interiors/