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Today we’d like to introduce you to Tara Dennis.
Tara, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
My story starts long before it was actually my story. I was born in Australia to an Aussie dad and American mum that had met at college at Georgia Southern in the 70s, so I’ve grown up with a split personality of sorts – Aussie lifestyle with American influences. Our family in Australia is in property development, so you could say that the property industry is in my blood. Very much my father’s daughter, I completed a business degree at college in Brisbane straight after high school and once graduated, took some time to work out what part of the property industry I was most interested in. After a stint in commercial real estate and working out I definitely did not want to be on the buying/selling side of property, I discovered interior design and my love for the spaces within a property, so decided to head back to college to get another degree in Interior Design.
During my third year of studies, I began taking on private clients on the side and quickly realized I couldn’t juggle it all – life, studies, clients and work, so I formed an interior design business, known at the time as TD Creative Agency, and became self-employed at 27 with a year still left in my degree. Within a year, we were a team of three, and then four, and were soon managing 15-20 projects at a time, all across the east coast of Australia. As the business grew, so did the ‘calling’ from the States, so in 2018, after spending a life traveling back and forth between the two countries for almost every vacation, I decided to make good use of my USA citizenship and moved over to the States to set up a second office. At this time, we restructured and rebranded from TDCA to Archie Bolden, and now complete projects across both countries, with my business partner Hayley directing all Aus projects from the Brisbane office, while I direct all USA projects from the Atlanta office. I fly back to Australia 3 times a year and am up to NYC every few weeks, so needless to say I’m not very good at sitting still !!
Has it been a smooth road?
The road has not been smooth, but the best roads are the ones with bumps and curves and interesting scenery along the way! Setting up and running the business in Australia was relatively easy, aside from the standard effort required with hiring staff, growing a business and servicing clients. Our main bumps and curves arrived when I moved to the US – working dual time zones is not sustainable, which I quickly worked out and which caused a re-structure of the business (and subsequent re-brand). Setting up a new business in a city I’d only spent time in a few weeks of a year has been more tricky that I anticipated, and staying constantly connected across the two offices can be pretty full-on, but I love the challenge and am enjoying starting something ‘new’ all over again but with more experience and appreciation of the process. And making new friends and connections has been incredibly fun.
So let’s switch gears a bit and go into the Archie Bolden story. Tell us more about the business.
Archie Bolden is a full-service interior design firm working across hospitality, retail and residential spaces, and we love to sink our teeth into a super creative wedding or event every now and then. We are known for our clean, contemporary and refined aesthetic, with no two projects looking the same as they should be a true reflection of our clients, not of us. We place a lot of value of our community of people and relationships, so we are proud of the AB family and all that we create together. We are two Aussie blondes (myself and my business partner Hayley), having a crack, building a business and laughing a lot along the way. We love interior design, but we also love living life, and I think that sets us apart and trickles into our work – we don’t just design spaces to look good, we design them to feel good too.
How do you think the industry will change over the next decade?
When Instagram started to infiltrate society, we heard more commercial clients request spaces that were worthy of a social media post, and generally more interest in ‘polished’ interiors arose. As time goes on, I anticipate these types of requests to be made by private individuals. Generally, society as a whole is becoming more aware of design and I feel the standard of our interior spaces is increasing in line with society’s increasing awareness of how a well-designed space can positively influence our health and wellness. I see the private interior spaces shifting to more organic tones with natural forms and materials as we look to detach from the overstimulation of the current public environment.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.archiebolden.com
- Email: tara@archiebolden.com
Image Credit:
Photographer of myself (L) and Hayley (R) is by Grace Elizabeth Images. All other photos by Cathy Schusler.
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