To say that this moment has been a long time coming is, well, an understatement. Ivity Co has been years in the making and I truly hope it is a blissful evolution of creativity for years to come.
How We Got Here - A Brief-ish History
In my younger years - I took dance classes, piano lessons, I was in school plays, I drew, I painted, I sang, and I built. I learned what was and wasn't for me. I tested every boundary I could to find what excited me - what stirred my soul.
As a teen, I dreamt of being a dancer in New York City. I didn't care if I was a back-up dancer or a street performer, I just wanted to be unconfined. The idea of a desk job was torture to my mind and I always believed it was one or the other.
Senior year of high school, I landed wrong, injuring the arch of my foot and leaving me to question the viability of dance as a professional endeavor. It was the first time I remember feeling lost - the thing I loved most was out of reach.
Thankfully, my parents had spent the past 10 years watching me constantly rearrange, redesign, and repaint my own room, sometimes weekly. I'm grateful they let me express myself this way - it was my first foundational understanding of the human experience and the interaction with built space.
After the injury, my Dad suggested I consider interior design, and while I never would have suspected that something so simple to me could become a career, here I am twenty years later doing the thing I love.
Endicott College was my home for the next four years. Then, in my last ever class, I proclaimed, "I quit, design is not for me, I'm going to study psychology" (classic panic mode). The professor pulled me aside and suggested further exploration of the field - something more in depth, more freeform in its study.
Trusting her guidance, I applied to Grad school that evening. One short year later, I walked the stage, accepting a Master of Arts Degree from the Savannah College of Art and Design, completely in love with the theoretical, artful, technical and human side of interior design.
The next fifteen years were spent in design firms, immersed with architects and interior designers alike. I contributed to projects in the workplace, multifamily, student living, healthcare, and retail worlds - it was the diversity and creative freedom I always hoped for.
I discovered my true passion in conceptual design. Developing the initial idea, the design concept, and the big picture. It became clear that I see connections where there don't seem to be any and can extrapolate that into an idea that permeates a space, creating an experience
In fifteen years, I grew from an entry level designer into a leadership role as an Associate Principal, but somewhere inside, it just didn't fit. I loved the work, I loved the people, I loved (most of) my clients, but I knew there was something else out there for me, I felt it to my core.
I was delivering on someone else's dream through their vision while my own quickly emerged, contradicting everything I was required to do and I felt it to my core.
Battling this internal experience, I sought out a position that provided more alignment in values and time for myself and my family, and I found it. Finding this position also provided a renewed passion to create, but on my own terms. And so came Ivity Co.
Ivity Co is a place where the personal passions I have always carried with me could be explored and shared, perpetually turning into something new while crossing the barrier into interior design.
Where We're Going
Interior Design is the foundational practice here at Ivity Co, it is the core of who we are and what we do. Working with architects, developers, investors, homeowners and real estate agents, we endeavor to improve the human experience through the built space.
As designers, we seek out creative experiences of all kinds. We at Ivity Co, also take on writing opportunities and creative artistic pursuits. From blogs to books and commissioned artwork to one-of-a-kind home décor - we take chances, try new things, and breathe fresh air into stale practices.
We research and study techniques to understand, evolve, and intertwine them into new experiences. We learn, we try, we fail, we succeed, but mostly - we enjoy what we do and love to create for the sake of creating.
So, please, join us and be a part of the journey as we explore the creative endeavors yet to come!
Stay inspired!
Danielle
Congrats on the Ivity Co venture, Danielle! I know you've been envisioning something like this for a long time. I'm so proud of everything you've accomplished in your life so far and I cannot wait to see where Ivityco takes you!