We’re looking forward to introducing you to Heidi Gammarano. Check out our conversation below.
Heidi, so good to connect and we’re excited to share your story and insights with our audience. There’s a ton to learn from your story, but let’s start with a warm up before we get into the heart of the interview. Have any recent moments made you laugh or feel proud?
I recently rented my first commercial warehouse space and walking into the lobby and seeing my reception area and my office beyond the glass partition makes me feel extremely proud of myself! It was a huge leap for me to get into commercial space, and expand the business, and it’s not something everyone can handle. I am really proud that I have this dedicated space for my business and that it looks so great already.
Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
I am Heidi Ingersoll Gammarano, and my business is Haus Of Heidi. I offer Home Staging and Interior Styling services to North County San Diego realtors, home sellers and home owners. Earlier this year I rebranded to Haus Of Heidi (formerly Southern California Design & Staging) and the results have been phenomenal. I really put my “Heidi Spin” on my staging designs and love connecting with my local community in ways that enhance their experience in selling their property. I bring the coastal vibes to my work, and love styling properties for sale, giving potential buyers the visuals they need to understand the flow of the home, and see themselves living there. I also help homeowners that want to spruce things up a bit, elevate the look of the home they are planning to continue to live in, rather than sell.
Okay, so here’s a deep one: Who taught you the most about work?
This is a simple one, it’s stayed with me my entire life. When I was pretty young, too young to really understand what he meant, my Opa (German for Grandpa) told me that I needed to be able to hold a conversation with anyone in the room, from the CEO to the Janitor, and everyone in between. That everyone in the room has something to offer and that giving my attention and truly listening to all types of people would get me far in life. I pride myself on knowing how to “read a room” and I think it’s this. In my line of work I deal with all kinds of people and being able to communicate with a wide range of personalities and backgrounds is incredibly important to my success.
What did suffering teach you that success never could?
I wouldn’t go so far as to call it suffering, but when I was in my early 20’s, fresh out of design school, working at my first design job, unknowingly planting the seeds for my own business at the same time, and working nights bartending, because I needed to hustle to pay my bills and get ahead in life, it was hard. I think a lot of my creativity in design came from those years when I had nothing, because I cultivated a creative, scrappy, hands-on approach that stayed with me. I always cared about what my environment looked like, even if it was a dingy apartment, I would pull things together from thrift stores and garage sales and paint them or staple different fabric to the seat cushion, etc. and make my place look cute. If you have plenty of money you can just buy things that are nice to begin with. I didn’t, so I learned how to transform my surroundings, on a budget. At this very moment I am sitting at a high top table that I got for free from a friend of my sisters, that I wallpapered the top of with extra paper from my wine bar nook, and found a piece of glass on Facebook Marketplace for $35 to protect the surface. I was DIY’ing things before DIY was even a term we used. I am glad that I had to figure things out – it shaped my approach to design work and gives me that edge in staging when you really have to think outside the box sometimes to make the house look its best.
I think our readers would appreciate hearing more about your values and what you think matters in life and career, etc. So our next question is along those lines. Is the public version of you the real you?
100%. When I rebranded to Haus Of Heidi my intention was to let my clients know who I really am, that I put my creativity and diligence into each project. That the Special Sauce, is me! What you see is what you get, I love showing my followers on social media what I do, at work and at play. I don’t think any of my clients are really surprised by me, I am really transparent about what I do and my aesthetics.
Before we go, we’d love to hear your thoughts on some longer-run, legacy type questions. Are you doing what you were born to do—or what you were told to do?
I am definitely doing what I was born to do. When people asked “what do you want to be when you grow up?” when I was a kid, I always answered Interior Designer. I didn’t know what Home Staging was yet, it hadn’t really been invented yet. But my first design job was doing Model Homes, which is the birthplace of Home Staging. You could find me rearranging my room, making curtains (yes I can sew!), refinishing furniture as a teenager, I have been doing what I love, for most of my life.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://haus-of-heidi.com
- Instagram: @haus.of.heidi
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/heidi-ingersoll-gammarano/
Image Credits
Marcy Browe Photography
Javier Valdivia – Eagle Eye Photography
Derek Barrazza Photography
