Meet Jonni Vann

Today we’d like to introduce you to Jonni Vann.

Jonni, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
I have been creating beauty when it comes to interiors since I was very young. We used to regularly move the furniture around in our living room and I loved the way it made me feel.

When I bought my first house at 24, I made it a beautiful representation of myself and soon I had a friend (or 2) asking for my help with decorating. Then, when it came time to sell my house – the agents that sold it SHOWED it a lot and I asked them why and they said it was easy because it ‘showed like a model”. The house sold quickly in a down market for the asking price.

Fast forward about 8 years, when I went to An Empowering Women’s Day event that featured: Louise Hay, Christian Northrup, Carolyn Myss and someone unknown to me – Terah Kathryn Collins.

When she started talking about Feng Shui, it rocked my world… in a wonderful way. That was 20 years ago. 2 years after discovering Feng Shui and after practicing it just from reading the book, I decided to go to school and become certified and I have never stopped practicing Feng Shui. Feng Shui is so practical and actually makes my version of ‘decorating” easier. It makes ‘things’ more meaningful.

Hopefully what we have in our home environment are items that we love and that have meaning and when they do, there are certain places that these items are best placed in. I call Feng Shui the ‘tie-breaker” for where to place things.

Has it been a smooth road?
Early on there were a lot of people that had never heard of Feng Shui so I got to explain it a lot. Now, people have heard of it and have reduced it down to ‘yin’ or minimalist decorating or Buddhist (and they aren’t going there for religious reasons).

There are several ‘schools” of Feng Shui and some of them are very complex and even move over into what I call the ‘scary realm”. Since I practice a very simple, understandable and practical form of Feng Shui – that also happens to be the oldest form of Feng Shui, it can sometimes be challenging to overcome these obstacles/perceptions.

Since most people that practice Feng Shui are not Marketing Geniuses, this is one area that I have needed the most help with and continue to need help with. The Western School of Feng Shui (where I went for training) recently had a weekend workshop for how to market your heart-centered business. It was great information and I am working on implementing a lot of what I learned.

Even though I have many satisfied and happy customers and several of them have written great reviews – that has not translated to a lot of referral business. And, of course… that is what I hope for.

We’d love to hear more about your business.
I am a Feng Shui Consultant that also does Interior Redesign… or I am an Interior Redesigner that uses Feng Shui principles and I can either talk about Feng Shui or not. I always tell people that Feng Shui cannot be done on top of a lot of clutter and I can help with normal amounts of clutter.

I have a very practical approach to interior spaces. I can just ‘read’ someone’s home or office and make recommendations for them to do. I actually prefer making the changes for them. Depending on the space, It can be just tweaking how the furniture is in the room to possibly ‘switching’ rooms for certain activities. I recently recommended that a client switch her bedroom and office. Her office is in one of the most YIN areas of the space and the bedroom is in one of the most YANG areas.

I think one of the words that my clients use when talking about their experience with me is: Inspiring! They say that I inspire them and honestly many of them inspire me. I love working with what the client already has and working as much with that as they want me to, then bringing in new where it is needed to make space feel more balanced and the flow better. This can include moving art (or hanging new art), helping them get clear about what they love that needs to stay and what needs to go to a new home

I am proud that my clients say that I listen and understand what they want and then implement it… they also say that I am fun to work with. Sometimes my work directly involves the client in the moving (and cleaning) that can happen in the process. I immediately appreciate what my client already has in their home and I set about placing things where they are most auspicious. Unlike an interior designer that likes to start with a blank slate, I believe the client has things that they love and have collected along the way that has meaning to them.

I leave my clients with a more beautiful, balanced living environment or directions on how to get there on their own. The happiest clients are the ones that have me make the changes, either with their help or not.

I think what sets me apart from others is my knowledge and experience in Feng Shui, Interior Redesign, Color Consultation and sharing my knowledge of renovation. I have ‘flipped’ 3 houses and have done extensive renovations on my own home.

Is our city a good place to do what you do?
I think our city is getting better about being a good place for Feng Shui/Interior Redesign. It also is a city that has a LOT of Interior Designers. As the city grows, there is definitely more opportunity.

10 years ago, almost no one wanted to spend the money to have their house staged to sell. Now it is VERY common and not just in high-end properties.

I think Atlanta is an OK place for what I do, I also think intentional marketing done regularly is KEY.

Contact Info:

• Address: 2 Brittany Way NE Atlanta, GA 30324
• Website: www.jonnivann.com
• Phone: 404-771-6951
• Email: Jonni@jonnivann.com
• Instagram: instagram/vannjonni/
• Facebook: www.facebook/fengshuifinesse
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/jonnivann

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