Today we’d like to introduce you to Stephanie Rich.
Hi Stephanie, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
Growing up, I always had a love for homes and decorating spaces. I remember sketching layouts of my bedroom as a little girl and moving my furniture around and reorganizing the posters on the walls just to keep my room from getting too boring. As I got older, my dream was to become an Interior Designer so that I could create layouts of entire homes and decorate those spaces for other people. After I graduated from high school, I enrolled in a design school but had to postpone my enrollment due to lack of financial aid. I put school on the back burner and got a “real job” in banking where I spent 23 years. In 2021, I decided to start creating a path to my ultimate dream job and Leather & Blush Home Styling was born. I spent the next few years using the staging business as a side hustle to my 9am-5pm banking desk job while I was creating a client base, building inventory, and trying to get my foot in the door to the industry. After years of encouragement and some gentle nudging from my amazing husband, family and friends, I made the very scary jump into full time entrepreneurship. I am happy to say that I haven’t looked back once!
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?
Growing up with a single dad in a limited income household, I knew that I would have to pave my own way to higher education-whether it be college or trade school. I never anticipated the road to my dream career being an easy one. Once I had my own family, obligations and responsibilities became different and the focus on my career aspirations fell into the background. When COVID hit, my husband and I had a tough time with childcare and finding flexibility in managing our children’s schedules with our 9am-5pm jobs. It was during that time that I considered what a difference being in a more flexible industry would make for our family. My husband recommended pursuing something that I had always wanted to do-something in line with home design. I did some research and recognized that home staging would be a way for me to utilize the creative part in me while working in an established industry. Wanting some formal education in the field, I found accredited courses offering certification as a professional home stager. I spent several weekends attending online classes and working on design projects, ultimately passing my final exam with honors. With my official certificate in hand, I launched Leather & Blush.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your business?
At Leather & Blush Home Styling, my goal is to create inviting, comfortable, and beautiful spaces that appeal to all. While I primarily partner with real estate agents and professionals to prep a home for listing, I also work with homeowners to refresh or redesign the spaces in their own homes.
When creating a design, I always want a look that is beautiful but attainable for potential buyers. As a consumer, it can be overwhelming to walk into a space and feel like it’s beyond your reach. As a partner, I want to make that space feel like the best version of what a real home would look like. Each listing is unique and therefore each home is uniquely styled to coordinate with the look and feel of the overall property. You are not going to find 1970s mid-century modern in a little 1920s farmhouse on my watch!
A fun fact about where my business name came from-I wanted to appeal to both men and women and wanted to somehow incorporate my baseball obsessed twin boys, When considering what represents home decor, textures and colors came to mind. Leather, as in a beautiful vintage rolled arm sofa or a perfectly worn old baseball glove took the lead. Blush pink being my favorite lipstick or the perfect barely there color in a girly bedroom also seemed like a good choice. And there you have it!
I have always believed that it’s about the connection you make with the people you work with. I believe in creating lasting partnerships and I believe that establishing and nurturing those relationships is critical in creating value for my clients. Home staging is not a luxury when it comes to the real estate market any longer. It’s a necessity for those wanting to maximize the return on their listing. So many people cannot visualize a space until they see it and walk in it. Building the relationships with clients and establishing their trust in what I do and how I represent them is critical for me. Anyone can copy and paste a design from a website, but it’s the thought and the approach that go into creating an attainable but photo worthy looking space for someone to envision themselves in,
Can you talk to us a bit about the role of luck?
I think I have always been driven to work hard and do the best that I can. Growing up, my grandparents were a huge influence in my life and I was very close to them. My grandfather was in the military in his early years but retired as a real estate entrepreneur and property manager. I remember him working hard but always making time to do the fun stuff with us. The same goes for my dad and he worked to give us the best that he could. Hard work and commitment to family were values I were born into.
I do think I got pretty lucky when I met my husband Stan though. He has been my biggest cheerleader throughout this entire journey and I would not be here without him. Even though it wasn’t his dream to chase, he has been here supporting me and encouraging me every step of the way, And he helps with all the heavy lifting.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.leatherandblushhomestyling.com/
- Instagram: @leatherandblushhomestyling
- Facebook: Leather & Blush Home Styling
