Episode 27
Designing with Heart and Kindness: An Incredible Conversation with Corey Damen Jenkins
In this episode of the Reframing Design podcast, hosts Rainey Richardson and Casey Brand explore the evolution of the design profession through an intimate conversation with renowned designer Corey Damen Jenkins. We trace Jenkins’s journey from early challenges to defining breakthroughs, including his influential collaboration with Kravet that helped propel his career forward. They also discuss Corey’s new book, Design Reimagined: A Fresh and Colorful Take on Timeless Rooms, which offers inspiring insights into his creative philosophy and approach to modern interior design.
As the year comes to a close, join us as we reflect on shared accomplishments and hard-won lessons, affirming that generosity and collaboration are essential to building a more inclusive and vibrant design world.
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Transcript
Hi, I'm Casey.
Rainey:And I'm Rainey. Welcome to the Reframing Design podcast. If you're a new designer, a seasoned designer, a homeowner, or a home enthusiast, you are in the right place.
Casey:We are going to talk about all things design. Our stories, our opinions, our experiences, and we're probably going to chase a few rabbits down a few rabbit holes.
But one thing we can guarantee, we will not talk about politics.
Rainey:There it is. We are here in the house of the kravit.
Casey:The Kravit.
Rainey:Like what? The actual. How did this even happen?
Casey:I don't know. I'm having an out of body experience. I think it feels sort of surreal.
Rainey:It does.
Casey:But also, of course, we're here getting to do this great thing.
Rainey:Of course good things happen for us, right?
Casey:Everything's always working out for us.
Rainey:Always.
Casey:Always.
Rainey:So if you had told me last December when we recorded our first podcast that we would have. I don't want to mess this up. 3,000 followers on Instagram, over a thousand subscribers on YouTube, a viral video with over 239,000 views.
Opportunities to interview some of the most extraordinary people in our industry. Invitations to places like Amsterdam and Spain. I mean, would you have believed anybody who would have said those things?
Casey:It would. I'd be lying if I said no, only because I really had so much excitement for it. But no, of course not. We were looking for 22.
Rainey:Yeah, no, our goal was 22 subscribers.
Casey:Subscribers. That was.
Rainey:That was it.
Casey:But it just went like a rocket in. One of the biggest, biggest reasons, and I think we can both say yes to this, was having who our guest is today say yes to us.
In the very beginning, when we only had two under our belt, which is Corey. Damon Jenkins, allowing us to interview him, entrusted us with him and his brand early. Early on, before we had cut our teeth on anything.
I don't think we even had 22 subscribers at that point.
Rainey:We did not let us.
Casey:He gave us the grace and dignity to do that with him in Vegas in February.
Rainey:And then the second the mics went off, he said, let's do another one. And so we looked at each other. Like, did he just say that? Like, was that what he said?
Casey:We say that was on tape and recorded. So we have proof, Right. Are we losing our minds and hallucinating, which is quite possible.
Rainey:And then throughout the year, we were in constant communication with them and with him and his team, and it was like the stars aligned. His new collection for Kravit has launched and new books, new book.
Casey:And it all just culminated in being here today with him in Houston. I mean, of all things, being a New York designer and coming to us in this beautiful showroom and Kravit at the Dext center, it's all just.
Rainey:And the hospitality that Kravit has shown from everything, the meetings that we had online in preparation for this to set up yesterday, and then the extraordinary layout that they have for us today, it is almost mind blowing. How lovely they are.
Casey:There was a couch here about seven minutes ago, then there was another chair, and now we're on stools. And that is just the accommodation that they have given us to make sure that everything is perfect for today.
And I think that's how they just treat everyone. It's just how they roll.
Rainey:It's in their DNA.
Casey:It's just who they are.
Rainey:Will and Kelly Von Pond, they've just been amazing. And so for this last podcast of the year, I want to ask you, what is your win?
Casey:It's too, I don't want to sound cliche, it's being here in Houston. So I drove out of here two weeks ago. A dog, a cat, a kid and a husband and a lot of our belongings and flying back in.
And it's been a bit of a shit show. Rainy saved the day yesterday, helping, which was humongous. But this is an enormous win to leave.
After leaving today, it will feel like I have left Houston. And what a way to go out.
Rainey:Oh, my God, like in a blaze of glory.
Casey:Blaze of glory with you and Corey and everybody who gets to come today. So that is a humongous win.
Rainey:I love that so much. So I have thought about this win for a while and the win is absolutely being in this space with you.
When I first had the idea of crazy idea of doing a podcast and, and asked you if you would be the person that kind of joined in and partnered. You were the only person.
And to be sitting next to you and to know personal growth and also growth in careers and opportunities, it makes my heart so full. And I wouldn't do this with anyone else. So I'm so grateful for you and. So excited to interview the.
Corey Davis Jenkins. So we are reframing the art of interior design.
This is our last podcast for:And so that is how we started with sort of low expectations and the following from the community. But we did know that this was going to be something special.
And so we were excited to invite you to our last podcast and our second podcast with Corey Damon Jenkins. We did our third one with him, and the second the cameras went off, he said, well, let's do that again. And so here we are months later.
Casey:I know. And this is truly the most beautiful, like, turnout. I'm overwhelmed with this.
Of course it's for Corey, but we get to capture you on reframing, so it feels really beautiful that you're all here to celebrate this just incredibly insightful and beautiful book. So thank you.
Rainey:Yes. And so we are.
Casey:Welcome to Houston.
Rainey:We are really casual, and we have a great editing team. So sometimes we'll say, oh, will you edit that out? And y' all just ignore us and we'll start over again. And hopefully at the end.
End, we'll have time for a few questions. So be thinking along the way.
Casey:So. And we might cuss a little.
Rainey:We do cuss a little sometimes.
Corey Damen Jenkins:We're all very French.
Rainey:Cover your ears.
Corey Damen Jenkins:We're all very French sailors. French sailors. Hello.
Rainey:The Corey Damon Jenkins is in the house.
Corey Damen Jenkins:Hi.
Rainey:How are you today?
Corey Damen Jenkins:I am good. Thanks for having me back on the show.
Casey:How many are we on your stop? You have been all on planes, trains and automobiles.
Corey Damen Jenkins:Yes. Another day, another plane. That's why I tell my staff. But, you know, it's been good.
You know, it's a huge honor and privilege to be able to get out there and do what I do and to see our new book design reimagined, so well received. I think the first time I was on your show, it had not come out yet at the beginning of this year, and now it's out.
It dropped on September 2, and before it even hit shelves, it had already gone to its second reprint, or first reprint, I should say his first reprint. So it's doing very well, and we're very happy about that.
And so now we get to do a little, you know, song and dance all across the country, and then we're going internationally with the book tour starting in January.
Rainey:So what's your first stop?
Corey Damen Jenkins: am. So, yeah, let's say Tupac: Rainey:I like that. So you, I'm sure, have been approached by so many fabric lines to do a collaboration with them, and so we're kind of curious why Kravit?
Corey Damen Jenkins:Well, I Think Kravit has always held for me a very special place. I always call it a pride of place in my life.
Because when I launched my firm 17 years ago, at this point now, the Kravitz as a family were the first to really kind of believe in my story and my mission to get the company off the ground.
For those who don't know, I knocked on 779 doors during the Great Recession to find my first client after being laid off from a very successful position as a purchasing agent working for the big three automotive makers in Michigan. And so, to reimagine my career and launched my design firm, I waited for the phone to ring. For several weeks, the phone did not ring.
And I realized I had to basically bring my message to the masses versus waiting for the masses to call me. I devised a plan, a grassroots campaign on behalf of my company to get out there and knock on doors in metro Detroit.
If I saw a house being built or a house I thought needed to be torn down, I knocked on that door. To do that, I had to have a presentation, a satchel of sorts, color boards and renderings and hand drawn sketches.
And I needed fabrics to put on these color boards. And at the time in Michigan specifically, there was a lot of gatekeeping in the design community.
You have to remember, we're in the midst of a great recession, and so everyone's kind of clutching their pearls and clutching their purses and wallets. And the design community was very reticent to share resources, to let people in, and they saw basically any new people coming in as a threat.
And so I had been working previously just for a short period of time after being laid off at the Robert Allen Beacon Hill showroom as a memo librarian.
And so a lot of the designers there had met me through me being on the other side of that desk there, handing out memos, vacuuming floors, changing light bulbs, moving furniture, all of that.
at showroom, again during the: Rainey:That makes perfect sense, right?
Corey Damen Jenkins:Exactly. It's like that doesn't work out. That window closed. Jump through this window now.
So I was now meeting these same designers now as one of them in the industry. And so the first step in launching my grassroots campaign was to put together these co.
So I went back to these same showrooms like Robert Allen and several others, now as a designer, but without any Clients and was asking for, can I just get some samples to put to glue down on my boards to take on my door knocking excursion. And the answer was no. And a lot of the showrooms at the time were saying, well, you had to have a $50,000 order to open an account.
You had to have a $100,000 order to have an account. And I'm like, well, I don't have any clients yet. So how do I open an account with 50,000 dol if I don't have any jobs?
That's the whole point of what I'm doing, is to find my first clients. And everyone was just saying no. So the gatekeeping was happening across the board.
I would even ask other designers who I knew, do you have any extra samples from your studio you want to get rid of some extra pieces I can kind of pull in? And oh, I'm so sorry. Those are all accounted for. And just like their contractors, everything's all accounted for.
We can't share our names and resources with you.
So Kravit played a big role in helping me get this thing off the ground, because they were the only showro that, when I told them my circumstances, gave me those samples from the memo library.
And so the manager there, Michelle Weber, she called up the chain, she talked to the people that were in power, and she said, this young man has launched his design firm. He has a resale certification, a license there. Can we give him samples? And I heard that that call went up to one of the Kravitz family members.
I don't know if it was Carrie or Scott, but it reached ears. And they said, well, he has $0 on his account, but everyone has to start somewhere, so go ahead and give him what he needs.
And so they gave me literally dozens and dozens of fabric samples. I then put those on my color boards and then went about my door knocking campaign on the 779th door.
That couple answered the door, invited me in, gave me my first job, then got that on the website. Then HGTV saw my work, then they cast me on my first television show, a design star competition. I won that show, and then we were off to the races.
But if it hadn't been for the Kravit showroom giving me those memo samples, I would not have had quite as much to offer in my door knocking campaign. So that's why Kravit plays a very big role.
And so when it came time to consider a licensing partnership, when I was invited to consider that by several different fabric houses, maybe so I was quick to choose Kravit. It's my first go to choice, if you will.
Rainey:How many people in here are like, I'm buying Kravitz because of that story. I am now buying Kravitz. It's about the story, right?
Casey:It's the story in the champion name that the one woman took it up that far knowing, like, just, let's give this guy a chance. And you're a champion for so many of us, us living here because of that. And so then you get to sort of pay it forward. Are they with them?
Corey Damen Jenkins:Yeah.
Casey:Hence your name on all the pretty things that sit here today.
Corey Damen Jenkins:All ships rise in the tide. My grandfather always said that you two were at our launch party in New York City for design reimagine. We had well over 300 people there that night.
Rainey:That was a triumph. It was spectacular.
Corey Damen Jenkins:Wasn't. Was a feat. It was a feat of a fete.
But I say that because you may have recalled the couple that opened that door for me on door number 779, Ann and Bill.
I called them out from the stage and I said, look at what happens when you believe in someone that you don't really know, but you're going to give them a chance. And they got to see literally hundreds of people there supporting me now as an established designer. But it all started with them.
But in many respects, it all started with Kravit, who was also there. Carrie and Scott, they were also there in the house that night. So basically, these are all connective dots.
You know, none of us really rise to the top without support. So remember, those you pass on your way up. And then when you have an opportunity to give back, you give back, extend that.
Rainey:We met Bill and Ann, and it was really interesting because we talked to them, and Bill was like, we've needed a bigger house. And Ann is like, I am never leaving the house that Cory Damon Jenkins did.
And he said when they invited him in and he just started to draw on a pad and on what his vision was, and Bill said, you're gonna be famous to him. And then got to go to New York to that spectacular event. It was a night to remember for sure.
Casey:Infamous, it was. But they got to feel because they just opened a door. They were good, kind people.
They were like, yeah, of course they were already considering it because that was one of our questions, which was, were you guys actually looking for.
Rainey:Looking for a designer?
Corey Damen Jenkins:Yeah, they were.
Casey:And so they were. So it was this and that kiss. I mean, perfect timing.
Corey Damen Jenkins:Yeah. They had Just fired their interior designer, which was like, oh, my God. I was like, oh, what is actually happening? Exactly.
But they had just parted ways with her, and turns out she was actually one of those snobby, condescending designers I was telling you about. That was so gatekeeping. They didn't know that, but I had encountered her in the hallways, the hallowed halls of the Michigan Design Center.
So she may not know that I was the person that replaced her, you know, all these years later, but, yeah, she does now. I'm sure she does.
Rainey:You know, she does now.
Corey Damen Jenkins:Hi.
Casey:Ironing a shirt right now.
Corey Damen Jenkins:Thank you for being so mean to them. That open the door for me.
Rainey:So about the Kravit collection. So this is your first collection, and your second has just launched gorgeousness right here. Thank you so much.
As you look over these tables, like, is there one pattern that you're like, this is really close to my heart because of what inspired it or a colorway. Which one would it be?
Corey Damen Jenkins:So it's this one here. Oh, that's wild. This is.
Rainey:Yeah, that was not on there.
Corey Damen Jenkins:This is called panache. And, you know, obviously, panache means style or, you know, verve, or, you know, sophistication, elegance.
And so when I first approached Scott Kravit in Steve Prada in their marketing team about doing a collection, I came with again, of a satchel of sketches. I love satchels and sketches, obviously. And this was one of the original patterns that I had in that first pitch.
And they rejected everything in that pitch except for this one. And this was not enough to launch an entire collection from, obviously. And so they said, we're not saying not ever. We're just simply saying not now.
Come back to us with more ideas. And so, you know, and we'll see what you come up with.
They may have thought, well, if we tell him to come back later, he might get discouraged and then just kind of check out, or he'll just come back a year or two from now. And I'm like, I just knocked on 779 doors.
Rainey:I'm not afraid of you.
Corey Damen Jenkins:I am not intimidated by knocking on doors and coming back. I will make that follow up call. So I actually approached them five times. I did five pitches of collections with Kravit.
This pattern remained in all of those different iterations.
And when we finally landed on a design palette that they all felt had merit, that could resonate with their customers, this was the tie that bound all of it together. And it turns out it's like one of their top Selling fabrics and patterns across all Kravit brands. From what I understand, Right.
It's like top number three. So it's done very well. So now we're introducing it in various wall coverings, of course, different fabrics. This is basically Trad Nouveau.
The Collection's name is TR, but this is Tratt Nouveau Part 2. So it's technically part of the original collection. Just more colorways and more iterations of it, like in this wall covering configuration.
But we're gonna do a new collection overall of new fabrics and new patterns in the future. That will probably be. Well, they'll tell us when it can come out, but it'll be a whole new array of patterns and designs separate from this.
Rainey:Inspired by that design.
Corey Damen Jenkins:Mm. Mm. No, it'll be a completely. A whole new. A whole new set, A whole new thing. Yeah, this is like one. This is one collection. It's like Trad Nouveau.
Trad Nouveau part two. It's an extension of new colorways and textiles from this collection.
Rainey:And it's in wallpaper. And fabrics.
Corey Damen Jenkins:And fabrics, love.
Casey:And is that what we got to see? Well, we also got to see some of your stunning things. When we were in High Point, which. That was a really interesting.
But as we're looking out on here, and I think, you know, from your book, there's a couple patterns. I'm like, okay, yeah, saw that out of this one, which one have you used the most? Well, I guess out of all of them. But is there anything that you.
Is sort of your clutch, I would.
Corey Damen Jenkins:Say that I've used. I've used them all in different ways. The thing about being a licensor, you have to be careful not to use your own designs too much.
It comes across very self serving, and it looks like you're lazy. So you don't want to use too much of your stuff too much.
I can always tell when I see certain designers and they've done the entire room and owned their own stuff.
And unless it's actually a collaboration, like we did recently with Kravit and Hancock and where we put all their frames and fabrics together for a show house, that's one thing. But I do see sometimes people just use their own stuff over and over and over again, it's basically, I think, a little monotonous.
But that being said, I do like peppering in elements of my own collection if and when it actually fits the client's needs. So Symphony, this fabric here is probably one of my most favorite patterns because it has so many different colorways, so many different iterations.
It is now being released in January, as you heard, for the first time ever as a wall covering. And the wall coverings are absolutely spectacular. They're not only multicolored, they're also neutral.
Some have more of a gold leaf or silver leaf type effect to them. They're absolutely sexiest things you've ever seen.
Rainey:I'm just saying that I just specified that for a project in my brain. I've been looking for that. And I just looked at Connor and I'm like, this is it.
Casey:And he goes, yes. They're telepathic, by the way. It's a thing they have.
Corey Damen Jenkins:And we try to create like partners. Like, as an interior designer, I know what my colleagues need. They want to see partnerships between their fabrics and their textiles.
So this is the brand new colorway of Symphony is coming out in January, and it's the perfect collaboration with Panache, so you can bring that modernity in. So it's really a science. It truly comes together through an actual, like, we look at this very carefully and make it all work. So.
Casey:Yeah, but even what you've got on on your skirt area, like, it fancies quite well with your outfit. Yeah.
Corey Damen Jenkins:It's got the denim, so you don't wear it. I'm a man of my word. Yeah, exactly. I'm consistent.
Casey:But everybody, it's almost. It's as if everybody got ready in the same home.
Rainey:Yeah. They're on the same playground.
Casey:They're on the same playground. They didn't. You know, there's not just a, oh, wow, where'd that one come from? Which is very much your design.
Corey Damen Jenkins:There's a science to it.
Casey:Aesthetic. There is a science.
Rainey:So I want to say something as a follow up to rejecting this. If you do a collaboration with Corey and he suggests something, I'm just going to go out there at PSA and say, go with it.
It'll be the number one in the whole line.
Corey Damen Jenkins:Yeah. But it takes a lot of humility to get to that point.
t for this collection back in:And so I wanted a very colorful, jewelry inspired palette.
And Scott Kravitz said, well, we're going to definitely give you some jewel tones, but I'm telling you right now, 60% of your collection is going to be neutrals. And I said, neutrals. Have you met me yeah, exactly.
But he says, listen, designers and homeowners, they may tell themselves they want to be more colorful, but in reality, they are sometimes very ambivalent about using a lot of color in their interiors. So we're going to give you a lot of neutrals to play with. We'll give you some jewel tones, and then that way people have options.
And sure enough, some of the biggest selling numbers in my collection are the neutrals. So I have to be humble to accept that they understand their constituents and what sells.
And then they're also humble enough to let me get my jewel tones too. So it's really a collaboration.
Casey:It really is a collaboration.
Rainey:So which of these fabrics are in your home?
Corey Damen Jenkins:The Regency rose stripe. I have that on two pillows. But aside from that, I don't have anything else in my home. Not in my private home, in my office in New York.
I do have this guy on window treatments in my executive suite.
Casey:And that is.
Corey Damen Jenkins:So I do. This is symphony. So I do have this colorway in my office. But aside from that, again, I don't want to be too self serving with it.
Rainey:Love it. So onto this book that you just published.
Casey:It'S so the special. Even hearing people who've come in and seeing it for themselves for the first time, the comments.
I don't think I've ever heard people talk about a coffee table book. I mean, we love good coffee table books. Like, oh, that's beautiful. But it's being spoken about as far as just your detail. Like, the.
The spine is beautiful, the gold leaf. I mean, everything. Every detail you put through. But I read it covered. I mean, my brother read it over his morning breakfast.
Like, it's just a book you want to have hold and go through and then back through.
Corey Damen Jenkins:Thank you.
Casey:So can you walk us through that process of this new reimagine?
Corey Damen Jenkins:So you mean as far as, like the designing of the book itself?
Casey:Yes. The aesthetic was very intentional. Obviously, it's you.
Corey Damen Jenkins:I wanted the book to feel very haute couture as far as the styling of the book. So it's colorful, obviously, but not all the interiors in the book are colorful. We do have some neutrals, but done my way.
But even when you take off the jacket, for example, there's sexiness. Even with the hard case. It's beautiful. Linen.
Rainey:Sexy is the word, right?
Corey Damen Jenkins:Yeah.
And then we have the gilded page edges, you know, so I am an interior designer, and, you know, if you give me license to design, I will design it to the absolute max. It's $50 and so I feel like for 50 bucks, people should really get their money's worth.
It should be a real destination on the coffee table and something that's pretty to look at, so it's fun. And what's so interesting, you know, with the fabrics in our collection, I even wove it into the page openers of each chapter.
So, for example, you go to chapter three, you'll see in the background the symphony fabric there as a backdrop. And so each chapter has that kind of textile motif throughout the entire book. So it's very deliberate.
Rainey:It's also a very generous book, I think, and the things that you share and that is just getting to know you and your husband Adam, you are both so incredibly generous and that just comes through in your brand and being around you, the spirit. So when I opened the book and I read the first page, I think about it often and so would you open the book and read that, please?
Corey Damen Jenkins:The dedication.
Rainey:The dedication, please.
Corey Damen Jenkins:Yes. So it's a long dedication, but to the point. It says, to Ann and Bill for graciously opening the 779th door.
To Adam for being the wind beneath my wings. Where is that?
Rainey:With Charlotte.
Corey Damen Jenkins:Yeah, exactly.
And then to all the creative people out there courageously breaking through the chains of fear, doubt and imposter syndrome, always remember that broken crayons still color and delays do not mean denial.
Casey:But it's so good.
Rainey:And then you open up to these extraordinary chapters. And then chapter one became the first season of Design Reimagine the show, which is on YouTube. And so how did that evolve? I'm curious about that.
Corey Damen Jenkins:So the last chapter's title is Design Democracy. And so I really do believe in design democracy as an approach.
There are many people out there who want to live in beautiful homes, but perhaps cannot afford interior designer, or they may be interior designers themselves looking for some sort of, you know, enthusiasm or some sort of inspiration to their work. So people have so many apps they have to pay for with Hulu and Netflix and Disney and Paramount.
There's so many options out there to watch their favorite shows. And I wanted to produce a show that would be accessible to everyone and be free. Just because everyone should have access to design democracy, right?
YouTube is the number one most successful and most watched streaming platform on planet Earth. It outpaces Disney and Netflix and all those other streaming platforms 10 to 1.
And there hasn't been a design show on that platform until now that tackled beautiful high end projects like this in a comprehensive way. And so my producers, Rich Bai and Megan Bennett from Goodbye pictures. They are a multi Emmy and Peabody award winning production crew.
They prod the Shane McGee Show. Project Runway. Million dollar decorators. So they've got these accolades because they're really great. They got chops, right?
We talked about this and Rich was like, we should launch a show that is not HGTV esque. In other words, we did this whole house for 500 bucks in a week, which we all know is not realistic, right? Exactly. One yard. This is 500 bucks.
I'm just kidding. But it's like a real high end. It's down to earth. It's funny, it's got some humor.
My clients are on there, but I share the tips and tricks of the trade.
And it gives a sneak peek into What a multimillion dollar, 16 month historic renovation of an apartment looks like in New York City without the gatekeeping that I was talking about earlier. I'm very against gatekeeping. The balance is making sure I don't give away too much so as to not compromise my industry.
Rainey:Right.
Corey Damen Jenkins:So some people have said, well, aren't you afraid that, you know, a homeowner might look at what you're doing here and just say, I can do that myself. No one can do what I can do. All right? I made that very clear. No one can do what I can do. No one can do what you as designers can do.
We all have that special gift, but it takes nothing from us. From teaching the differences between egg loss or flat paint.
You know, I mean, you can go to Home Depot and get that same information, but coming from me and then how to use it, that takes nothing from me. Right.
Casey:So your generosity of information and just heart you have, you just. It's. It's not just since you were knocking on doors and got that first person opening, you have had clearly a generous heart. You're where.
Because you have had doors shut in your face, you have had people gatekeep, but instead of making that harden to you, or you kind of becoming one of those and just feeling like, well, I guess I'm just. Just gonna, you know, throw in the towel on this. You. It softened you and it's made you even more kind and giving like a $50 book that.
It's a lot of money, don't get me wrong. But it's not. When you look at what you want, the quality.
Corey Damen Jenkins:Yeah.
Casey:So you're constantly looking out for the person and the people. And so I don't think we get enough of that or hear enough about those things. And so for you, what is the cause You've gotta get exhausted.
I mean, people want a bit of Corey, everywhere Corey goes. And I'm sure it's been that way for a very long time. So what gives you some, like, where do you get your sort of reprieve?
I know Adam and Charlotte in the back, you know, so. But that kindness, though, it's just in you. Have you always just. Were you just a little kind boy? Kind boy man?
Rainey:I mean.
Corey Damen Jenkins:I mean, my family would suggest I've always been, as a child, a very. I was the eldest. So I'm responsible for everyone, and I'm still responsible for everyone. My staff, my clients, the overhead, the responsibilities.
It's all on my shoulders, and it's all being governed and financed from what's happening between these two ears. So I'm always painfully aware of what is resting on my shoulders.
But I think when it comes to design reimagined as a theme, it really has multiple meanings. There's the professional reimagining of my life, which everyone knows about now, the knocking on the 779 doors.
There's the personal reimagining of my life, letting go of my office and my team in Michigan and consolidating everything and expanding in New York City, losing my entire family over coming out. And then reimagining what it means to basically now restart with not necessarily your biological family, but with your logical family.
What does that look like? And then, of course, the physical definition of reimagining is that there are no new construction projects in this book.
They're all renovation restoration projects. So I think that when you've experienced that much loss back to back, it can either make you toxic or it can make you more generous.
I've chosen to be more generous. People often ask me. They know that my dad and my mom did not support me in pursuing interior design as a career.
And one of the number one questions I get asked is, are they happy for you? Now, I couldn't tell you if they are or not. I have not spoken to them in a million years. They have nothing to do with me. But they are still.
Despite their flawed views of groups of people, they are still responsible for all the good qualities that I do have. I didn't get them from nowhere. I got them from someone, and that is my parents.
So you can be two things at one time, and I have just chosen not to accept that particular trait from them. That's not my problem.
So I'm gonna counteract that and balance that out with being more generous and kind and sharing things Now, I'm not a help desk. I am not a help desk.
Casey:I'm getting all these numbers.
Corey Damen Jenkins:I do wanna make that clear because the amount of DMs I get, sometimes it's like, oh, my gosh. Like, I need to be like, having like a 24 hour, you know, customer service thing. But to the extent that I can, I always will give.
Leave the ladder down, but make sure that there are rungs in the ladder because no one can do anything with two stilts. As far as climbing up a wall.
Casey:I love that.
Rainey:When we were at your fete in New York, we met, there was this lovely little blonde headed boy. He was eight years old, and. And his mother, Heather, I mean, was decked, y'. All. He was decked.
And he walked up to us with his mom behind him and he said, I'm from chapter two.
Casey:I'm Chapter two.
Rainey:Oh, hi.
Casey:From chapter two. If Corey had blonde hair, it would have been cool.
Corey Damen Jenkins:Truly, truly gorgeous. Yeah.
Rainey:Velvet, velvet situation.
Casey:Beaming, gorgeous faces.
Rainey:Right. And I understand that you've been generous to him. He's interested in interior design and you've been generous to him.
Corey Damen Jenkins:Yeah, he was very vocal during the process. It was so funny. We were laying out fabrics and he came up to us and we had to be laid out on the dining table. And he was like, is that Missoni?
And I was like. We all were like, what? And so I said, this is how it begins. This is how we are created. Like, he's gonna become a designer of some sort in the future.
But his home is featured in Chapter 2 and Season 2 of Design Reimagined is coming out in November this month, and their home is the focus of season two. So is thou is gonna be on? No, unfortunately. No. We need to keep him off. Yeah.
Rainey:God, we should put it in our show note.
Casey:Oh, we should. If that's okay. We'll have to make sure with Heather that we can put him in.
Rainey:I would love that.
Corey Damen Jenkins:Heather and Jason are on the show.
Casey:Okay. Okay. Oh, I, um.
But so I'm so glad you brought him up because you spoke your first time, our first podcast, and you did speak about when your mother, you know, you'd kind of go around and maybe reorganize or do things, and she claimed them as her own style, but you just sort of knew behind the scenes that you had created that beautiful moment for her. And so for you to kind of then share what you shared, which is. Can I. We just need to thank you for.
Rainey:That because that we know that's very Personal and did not expect you to say that today. So put her breath away.
Corey Damen Jenkins:The older I get, the more vocal I'm becoming.
Casey:I think we all need to just be able to speak our truth. And that is a truth that has made you. But you can see it in your clothing. You have changed.
Corey Damen Jenkins:You know, I'm a little less stuffy, less banker.
Rainey:Little exhale. Yeah, I love that. I love it. Yeah.
Corey Damen Jenkins:So life is short.
Casey:Life is short.
Corey Damen Jenkins:Life is short.
And I always say, you know, to the point about imposter syndrome and what I was writing about in the book, I think so many of us deal with some vestige of imposter syndrome or low self esteem. Designers and creatives in particular are often susceptible to that. And I've had my own bouts with it.
I think once you're inflicted with it once, it's very difficult to eradicate it. And I've always said it's like a form of emotional cancer.
You may never fully eradicate that, but you can do everything you can do to keep it from progressing from a stage one to a stage four or keep it in remission.
And I think that a good part of that makes imposter syndrome or low self esteem a thing for people that are in the creative field is association with those who are toxic, those who don't believe in you, those who are the naysayers.
So whether it be, in my case, my parents not supporting me, the 778 rejections, the gatekeeping designers that weren't trying to help me be successful, you have a choice to either absorb that toxicity and then reflect it back out, or you can channel into a different position. It's like a piece of paper with four corners.
If you tear one corner off, you focus on that torn corner, but in reality, you actually have three good corners left.
Rainey:That is so powerful.
Corey Damen Jenkins:You have five corners now. It's all about you. Exactly. It's your perspective.
Casey:It is your perspective. It's your perspective. Are there still as many gatekeepers in your world? Not in your world.
to the degree that it did in: Corey Damen Jenkins:I think it's a little better now. I think we still have a ways to go.
I think that those of us who are at a point of success in our industry need to do a better job of helping the next generation come up, because they're going to come and we cannot stop that. So instead of being afraid of that and trying to block them out, embrace them.
Because just with those designers in Michigan, I'm coming whether you want me to be here or not, I'm arriving. Either you get out of the way or you get landed upon like a house with a witch and the Oz, you know, whatever. But it's coming, right?
And so I think that we need to be more supportive of that. So I think that designers can be a bit more forthcoming about how they charge, how they make their revenue, how they manage difficult clients.
Because we're not like. We're not like lawyers who have to pass a bar. We're not like doctors who attend a residency. We just are not, as an industry, that sophisticated.
We should be, because we're also in a multi billion dollar industry. But we don't have the guardrails that other professions do. So all we really do have are each other.
And if we're gatekeeping and blocking others from having access to information, then you're going to have some designers who are really awful at business and then they do horrible decisions with their clients and they get sued and it wrecks it for all of us as an industry. And then you have other designers who may be gouging and overcharging and that makes it awful for the rest of us.
So we have to have some sort of through line to keep all of us honest. So I'm just doing my best by being honest and sharing.
Rainey:I love that so much.
One of the things that you shared that I thought was so cool, and I don't know if you shared, shared this publicly about your satchel that you found in your closet that had the Yahoo Map.
Corey Damen Jenkins:Yes.
Rainey:And the design boards that you made with Kravit fabrics. You found it in the back of a closet. Are you gonna ever share that or is that something that you're just kind of keeping?
Corey Damen Jenkins:I'll probably post it on Instagram.
Casey:Okay, let's do it.
Corey Damen Jenkins:Yeah. I see it's so worn out. Those handles are worn like.
Rainey:I want to see the satchel too.
Corey Damen Jenkins:I mean, all of it. The black leather is so distressed now. And it's so funny because I had all these Yahoo map printouts from, you.
Rainey:Know, you remember MapQuest?
Corey Damen Jenkins:It was MapQuest. It was MapQuest. So I had that and then some sketches, obviously.
But even as it pertains to, like being able to just reference that from my staff and say, this is where we came from, you know, and never forget where we started, you know, little satchel.
Rainey:Ask a question. Should we?
Casey:Can we?
Rainey:Do you have another question? That you want to ask?
Casey:Of course.
Rainey:Yeah, I know. I have 72.
Casey:I moved my flight. I'm here all night. Yeah, yeah, I think. Can. Will you take. Will you.
Corey Damen Jenkins:Yeah, of course. Give me your questions. Yeah.
Casey:Okay.
Rainey:Do we have any questions from the audience that you'd like to ask?
Casey:But pause. Okay.
Corey Damen Jenkins:Yes.
Casey:Done.
Rainey:So what is your advice to designers when a client is coming to them that has fired more than one designer?
Corey Damen Jenkins:That is a red flag. There are always two sides to every story. You do have to give that caveat. Right? It takes a certain level of humility to work with interior designers.
We have to be humble too, in working with our clients. But there has to be some deference.
If a person has been married multiple times and for whatever reason is unable to sustain marriages from multiple times, maybe you shouldn't be married. Maybe you should be single. Right.
And so if a homeowner has fired or has had to leave multiple design relationships, it could be that they should not be working with an interior designer. Because after a while, it can't just be your word against hers at some point.
What is the common denominator in all of your failures or your successes that sound like failures?
So maybe that person should be working with someone at a public showroom like RH or Crate and Barrel, a salesperson off the floor that's driven strictly by commission. Work with that and then just knock it out.
Casey:I have a question.
Rainey:What's one tip you can give to a designer?
Casey:Maybe a grassroots tip to pivot in this hurting economy?
Rainey:I wanted to repeat Veronica's question, and her question was, in this particular climate, what are things that designers can do to go up to the next level and to the next tax bracket?
Casey:Really? Yeah.
Rainey:That's a good question. That was great.
Corey Damen Jenkins:That's a great question. Yeah.
Rainey:Yeah.
Corey Damen Jenkins:Well, I would definitely say do not knock on doors, not physically, because I would give that whole experience a one star and do not recommend zero stars. Right, Exactly. But there are other ways to knock on doors in a symbolic way. Right.
I think social media is one of the most powerful ways to really yield great clients. So making sure your Instagram and your social media platforms are clean, that they are professional looking, you can have more than one account.
One account can be for you in a bikini on the beach. Right. But that's private. And then maybe your public facing account is just for those who are looking at your work.
I do think sometimes designers make the mistake of merging all that into one brand and the clients can't take them seriously. So social media is a Great way to do it.
I think when it comes to social media, going back to the whole design reimagine, YouTube show thesis, which is basically sharing tips and tricks of the trade.
If you are able to share tips that don't compromise your business, but show a willingness to be a help desk for potential clients, that can really help people feel comfortable with you and assuage their concerns about working with you as a designer. So really work that social media avenue. I do think that right now it is more powerful than a business card.
I think it is probably the primary way that, that people are vetting out designers for business even beyond their websites. I think the first stop they're doing now is social social media. Yeah, good. So sort of piggybacking off your help desk.
And I love that you're proponent for transparency in the industry. Outside of these, are there other areas that you think designers can be better at sharing?
Anything specific that comes to mind that you wish as a whole they improved on? Yeah, I think sources don't gatekeep your sources.
You know, if you have a great plumber, a great wallpaper installer, a great electrician, share them. Don't hide them and sit on them. You know, I'm gonna hold this person until they do my next job. Your next job may not be for five years.
Rainey:Right.
Corey Damen Jenkins:That person needs business between you and the next opportunity. So share your sources. It doesn't hurt you, but it could hurt your contacts there. Getting access.
As it pertains to our letters of agreement, the lawyers we work with sharing that kind of information as well so that folks can have a solid loa. I don't think that we do enough to really encourage people to have an actual solid letter of agreement to protect us. Share information about that.
Share the attorney's name that you worked with to help forward your successful letter of agreement. I think that's very important.
Rainey:Anyone have anything they want to ask?
Casey:I'm just curious.
Rainey:Like you talk about like the younger generation that's coming up and sharing those ideas with them. How are you embracing lighting and technology?
Casey:How do you experience with people?
Corey Damen Jenkins:I think as far as technology is concerned, we should be open to embracing these new technological advances that we're making as a society and not being afraid of them. I think of a good example is AI. The young people are all about the AI and there are some designers who are thinking that AI is going to replace us.
I don't fear it. I think it's a tool that we can embrace that actually can be a very smooth operator. In our work. The young people on my staff use it all the time.
And I'm like, how did you come up with that this quickly? And it's like, Well, I just AIed it. I'm like, oh, great. Awesome. Right? Let's put that in the presentation.
But we still have to continue to produce great work as designers to to stay one step ahead of AI. AI will only replace us as an industry if we become lazy.
If we continue to produce work that is homogenous and is boring and has been done already and we stop being innovative, uninspired. If we stop being innovative with our work, it will be easy for AI to replace us because it's already out there.
So continuously swimming the blue water, as they say. Continuously put together great projects that are just really off the beaten path. AI can keep up with that.
So for the young people, embrace it, but then continue to flex against it and make it work harder to keep its role in our lives.
Rainey:That's good. Her question was about technology and the next generation coming up. How is that going to affect or impact technology? And so that was a great answer.
Corey Damen Jenkins:Yeah, it's very important.
Casey:We could just keep asking. I am one question though, for before we close out is what are you hopeful for?
Because we didn't ask you, your win today, do you have a win or even just something that's sleep.
Corey Damen Jenkins:Vacation? No, I'm just kidding. What is my win? My win will be when we as a society get back to being more kind.
We are becoming a very interesting species of creature on this planet. One that is capable of amazing acts of kindness and generosity, like the Kravitz did for me in my career.
And also at the same time, on the opposite end of the spectrum, we're also capable of breathtaking acts of cruelty.
And so I'm just looking forward to seeing our society get back to a kinder, more gentler, more hospitable place where people are embracing what makes us diverse, that we're being inclusive of people who are different, and that everyone gets to have equity in winning in planet Earth. That's my win.
Rainey:And so with that, we are going to close. Thank you so much, Corey.
Outro:That's a wrap for this episode of Reframing the Art of Interior Design. We hope you had a blast and found some inspiration to bring your dream space to life. Feeling inspired to start your own home transformation?
Contact us@helloreframingdesign.com we want to help you make it happen. Don't forget to subscribe, Share and leave a review this show was edited and produced by Truth Work Media.
Until next time, remember, your space is your story. Make it beautiful.
