a conversation with sara malek barney
Bandd Design
austin, texas you used to work in entertainment in l.a. how did you end up doing interior design in austin? I'm from Austin originally. I knew I always wanted to work in the entertainment industry, so I moved to L.A. as soon as college was done. I met my husband there, and as our relationship progressed, we realized we wanted a house and kids and a life, so we moved back to Austin in 2009. I was offered a job at South by Southwest and ended up being there for seven years. I always have had an entrepreneurial spirit, but I didn't know how to harness it. During all this, I got married and had two girls, and I felt very strongly that I wanted to show them that they can do and be whatever they want and achieve their goals. Design as a practice is something I always did for fun for family and friends; I never thought of it as a job. I have employees who got their bachelor's degrees in interior design, and I think, how did you know that's what you wanted to do at 18 years old? I didn't even know you could own a house when I was 18, let alone design one. One day I thought, what if I go back to school and give it a shot? I went back at night in a virtual program and got my degree and started taking on clients while still in school, before I even had a website. About a month after I officially launched the business, I left my full-time job and became a full-time designer. It blew up like gangbusters. I couldn't have taken another path to get to where I am now. what was your vision for your firm? I wrote a business plan, and I actually thought it would be just me doing mostly remote design work. I quickly realized I don't enjoy that-I need to have human interaction-so it evolved. We do a mix of residential and commercial, but I would say it's 90 percent residential. The biggest thing for me when I started was to make design accessible and attainable. As a kid, I always thought of design as Designing Women, or rich women in Dallas with fancy sofas in living rooms they couldn't touch. I realized interior design could be unstuffy and functional and livable and still tell a story. It's really important for clients to feel like it's their space and not like they live in a catalog. what changed your mindset about interior design? I put myself out there, got over myself, and joined networking groups. I realized I just need to trust in my skill. It's a natural ability at the end of the day. You can train me on measurements and computer drawings, but you either have an eye for it or you don't. To be intimidated by someone who's been doing it for thirty years-I had to get over that. It being my second career, there were risks I had to take that a younger designer wouldn't.
left: MADE Shapes Swiss Cross in Custom Color. design: Bandd Design. photography: Ryann Ford.
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