Daily Inspiration: Meet Meghan Inglis

Today we’d like to introduce you to Meghan Inglis

Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
My mom was a huge influence – she’s a DIY queen and I would always help her with redecorating the house, refinishing furniture, painting etc. We’d spend our free time going antiquing and garage sale-ing. As I got older, I struggled to figure out my career path and studied psychology, English and sociology. None of those paths ever really clicked though, ya know? Finding passion in my career was always so important to me. I knew that I wouldn’t survive living in a world where I was plopped down in front of a computer in an office setting, mindlessly typing away at things I didn’t care about. I knew that success meant that not only would I be able to make a living for myself, but I would truly love what I did for work every day.

Fast forward a few years and I found myself at a ski rental company management training in Telluride. During this training, we did an exercise that was supposed to reveal our purpose in life. Mine was “to create beautiful spaces for my friends and family to enjoy.” It was a real “ah-ha!” moment and from then on, my direction was set. I took a gamble and applied for an interior stylist job at west elm in Boulder. Being that I had no paid experience working in design, I was hired on as a sales associate with the intention of working up into a design role. After a few months, I was promoted and starting doing in-home consultations with clients. It was a literal dream come true – I LOVED it. And I was good at it! Within six months, I was promoted to the Lead home-stylist, and within a year had hit a sales goal that no one in the Boulder location had ever hit before. Part of that accomplishment was due to my work with Major League Baseball. An office had just opened up in Boulder and they wanted me to outfit the entire 6000 square foot building. GASP! I grew up a HUGE fan of MLB so to me, this was the ultimate design job. It went great and was a phenomenal portfolio builder. After a few years, I decided that it was time to move on from west elm and continue expanding my dream. I established Meghan Kinney Designs LLC. in January of 2020 and started hustling. Since then it’s been going great – I’ve worked in offices, residences, rentals, I’ve done home staging, the list goes on! From 1900s farmhouses to brand new builds and renovations, my experience is diversifying every month. There is so much to learn and I’m always looking for the next way to improve on my skill set and build my business. I can’t wait to see what 2021 has in store!

I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey has been a fairly smooth road?
Well – I established my LLC in January of 2020, which was not exactly the ideal time to start a new business. That said, it immediately threw me into a state of flexibility. I knew that my business wouldn’t survive unless I was able to adapt to our new world. I began offering virtual design consultations where my clients would walk me through their homes and we’d discuss our plan. In fact – I haven’t even met half of my clients! Zoom is an incredible tool and it has 100% allowed me to grow my business during a really challenging year.

As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar, what can you tell them about what you do?
I market myself toward the Colorado resident who likes a modern, natural, clean aesthetic. I love bright, neutral spaces filled with texture and plants. I love creating a sense of calm. I love offering ways to DIY your space in order to save money. One of my goals is to make the world of design more accessible. For so long, interior design has been “exclusive” to those who have loads of extra cash to put into their home. I’d love to change that rhetoric. Your home should be your sanctuary, regardless of how much money you have in the bank – especially now! There are tons of easy, inexpensive ways to improve your living space, and I love helping people realize that. I’m also a huge advocate for secondhand pieces. Many of my clients request using resources like Facebook Marketplace to save some money, and I’m all about it! There are some absolute GEMS that you can find on Marketplace and Craigslist. I would say that I’m most proud of being able to work within a wide range of budgets, which is also something that sets me apart from other people in my field.

What’s next?
In my personal life, my immediate plans for the future are to marry my fiancé, John Kinney, in October! John is a realtor who works throughout Boulder, Denver and surrounding areas. It’s pretty funny – we often joke that we’re waiting for our HGTV offer to come through, so maybe that’s in the future? In all seriousness, we can’t wait to get married and continue growing our business alongside one another. It’s really fun working in a similar field and being able to partner together from time to time. I recently staged a home that he was selling, and that was super fun – so we’re both looking forward to working together more in the future.

Pricing:

• $75/hour

Contact Info:

• Email: mkinneydesigns@gmail.com
• Website: www.mkinneydesigns.com
• Instagram: @mkinneydesigns

Image Credits:
Landon Vonderschmidt