Janelle Schick
President, Schick Design Group, LLC
Years in CRE: 39
Years at Company: 14
Q: What attracted you to the industry?
A: My mother had a designer redo our condo and coming home to that transformation must have been the start of realizing the positive effects of well-designed environments. I remember being shocked during my first year at college to learn you could get a degree in interior design. I had started design classes when my architect brother-in-law introduced me to my first boss. She ran a top-rated interior design firm within a much larger commercial architectural firm. From that point on, I was hooked.
Q: How has the industry changed since you started?
A: Specialization has played a major role in the advancement of the interior design profession. The direction designers can choose spans between corporate, hospitality, healthcare or residential with specialization within each of those categories. Interior performance can now be measured based on our designed environments producing higher productivity, greater creativity and innovation, increased patronage or sales. It’s not design just for visual impact, but also for innovation, quality and sustainable performance, health, comfort, flexibility and ease of use. The addition of product accessibility for the public has also opened new challenges for the residential designer, as well as retailers and “to the trade” showrooms.
Q: What professional achievement gives you the most pride?
A: Owning my own firm was not something I visualized early in my career. In 1999, with a six-year partnership at its end, the next logical progression was Schick Design Group. Building the firm into one of the top design firms in the Valley has given us the ability to have a very positive effect on the industry and community. Being involved in several community service projects throughout the Valley gives us the opportunity to help others achieve some of the success we have experienced.
