The British designer Emma Sims-Hilditch had an unlikely starting point for her design career: the production office of the famous director Ridley Scott. After studying shops, she took a job as a receptionist in the London office of Scott Free Productions Antee and Coffee for Ridley and his co-founder of Brother and companies, Tony, before working on production assistants and worked on large-format commercials. “It was really amazing training,” she says host Dennis Scully in the latest episode of The business of the home podcast. “It was a bit Teufel wears Prada– It was such a place, but that's why they were the best. “
At that time, Sims-Hilditch was in her mid-20s, and when she looked around the other employees in the office, she saw many women in the thirties, 40 or 50, who had no time for a personal life and decided to create a different course. With her husband John today, she moved to the English landscape, where she bought and renovated a house in 1790 and had three children. On the way she started a curtain from her kitchen a company that was designed in front of curlers for her neighbor, the musician Roland Orzabal of tears for fear of fear, and has since developed into one of the United Kingdom's leading studios and design studios.
Now she works as a creative director of the company she founded, which is employed by a team of almost 40. To run her business, Sims-Hilditch took a few lessons that she learned early to work for Scott: stay organized and was dramatic. “What I saw was that it is not just about creativity [when] Make a film or make a commercial. It is about the organizational side, the production page that goes in. And whether it is wow! House or a big one is [client] Project, I would say half of the job is organizational. Half of it is incredibly creative, “she says. You have to make your interiors dramatic. He taught me about scales and conditions. When choosing a chandelier or a lantern for Wow! House, many customers choose size medium, but I decided on the size of extra.”
Elsewhere in the episode, the designer discusses how she invested in the development of her team, the difference between American and English customers and why the most demanding part of her business consists of it in it not to do.
Decisive insight: Sims-Hilditch organizes her office for what she calls “the George Clooney effect”: “I said to the team: I want you to think that George could go into the door every point, day or night, if you are here.” We live and breathe an organization. I think it only creates this feeling of calm, and that is what people say when they go to a Sims Hilditch at home – everything just feels calm, and I think that is because everything is organized. There is no disorder and there is a place for everything. “
Key quotation: “Everything in Great Britain differs a lot from the states. I think the interior design industry [here] is somehow kept under the radar. Customers don't necessarily want to say that they have used a designer. You are not proud of your designer [like in] This astonishing way in America, where the designer is a person you can say about your house was designed and then proud of it. I think British appreciate interior designers real-it is only that they are not like these A-List film stars they are in the states. They are more practical. We are not there to be on a base. We are there to help you deliver this beautiful home. “
This episode is sponsored by Ernesta. Listen to the show below. If you like what you hear, subscribe to Apple Podcasts or Spotify.
Host Dennis Scully and Boh Executive Editor Fred Nicolaus discusses the greatest news in the design world, including Schumacher's latest acquisition, such as designer chatt, and the rise of the dog room. Later, the legendary industrial analyst Jerry Epperson joins the show to discuss the status of the furniture business.
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