Today we’d like to introduce you to Allison Campbell.
Hi Allison, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstories.
The road to where I am currently has been paved with tireless, innumerable hours and projects upon projects… but I would not change any part of what has brought me to the place I am today. I am the owner and principal designer of my own design firm… What?!?
I began this journey, which I didn’t realize till much later, while I was in high school working hard in AP Art. I always had a love of drawing, painting, creating, and working with my hands. Before I had this outlet, I often worked with my father on projects around the house and found that the construction process just made sense to me. It’s a very logically illogical process sometimes, and I just got it.
After high school, I dabbled with my art skills, and soon found, I loved arranging and rearranging the furniture or wall decor in my dorm at college. This grew into doing the same thing in the home I eventually shared with my husband.
With kids in tow, I would venture into stores and grab miscellaneous items and somehow make them work. After many years of this, the itch for more increased, as did my husband’s desire for me to let the spaces be. Eventually, he kindly asked me to work on someone else’s home. I began helping neighbors and friends with their projects. Teaching myself to faux paint walls (I know I just dated myself), rewire outlets and light fixtures, install tile, tear rooms apart, etc. I had no fear of the work and only excitement for what could be done. My business name was accented by design during this time.
At this point, I was still a mom with 4 young boys and needed to balance my projects with my children and my home life. I would only take on a couple of projects a year, but this gave me the creative outlet I needed and the strength to carry on inside the home as well. I absolutely loved repurposing someone’s decor and still using it, but in a totally different way than they had been using it previously. Ideas would just stream into my head. It was exhilarating to see a room transform into a totally different space with very few additions to it. Gah… I loved it! I also had a passion for remodels. Knocking down walls and seeing what a space could become.
Several years later, I was asked by a friend to help with a couple of homes that were being built by a newly formed construction company. It was so much fun to create something from the ground up and instead of having to think through and rework a plan, the project was fresh and the sky was the limit. Over the next couple of years, I would help with a couple of homes a year. It was the perfect amount to take on with my boys getting a bit older. I was even able to still take on the random decorating project too!
A couple of years into this arrangement, I was asked to take on a bit more for this builder and begin working on every home. I would do the project management as well as the interior design with the homeowners. Because of the way my brain worked, it was an easy transition to do material estimating, tracking, ordering, on-site meetings, construction walk-throughs with the sub-contractors, etc. My youngest was about 9 at this point and I was able to work on a part-time basis in the office. My older boys were 13, 14, and 15 and really stepped up to help watch their little brother in the afternoons that I would get home a little late.
I have failed to mention how supportive my husband was through this time as well. He could see how I needed the mumming as well as the creative outlet. I continued to work for this builder, as well as the occasional side job with accents by design. It was a great fit! In about 2015, I was getting the itch to do more of the interior design packages. With construction, I was getting so busy and had so many projects I was handling, that the furniture and design part of my job was falling by the wayside. By 2016, I could feel my need to do more starting to really take over.
I was able to do a “Parade of Homes” Home for the UVParade but was unable to decorate and furnish the home. Then in 2017, amidst all the regular projects, another opportunity to design a “Parade of Homes” home came, but this time, I was able to do the project from beginning to end, furniture and accessories! The whole shebang!! My itch had been scratched!! I decided after that wrapped up, it was time to go back out on my own and work on my own dreams.
This is when I changed the name of my business to Allison Campbell Design. It felt like I jumped off a cliff! I was so nervous. What if I failed? What if no one wanted me to help with their homes, their projects, their dreams? My husband reassured me that this would not be the case. I had built relationships within the construction community. I was trusted by this community. I had become known for my ideas, my organization, and my quick response time to clients and contractors. The month after I leaped, the projects started rolling in. Once people heard I had gone back out on my own, the flood gates opened.
I have been so blessed, and overwhelmed, with the amount of trust that is placed in me. In the 4 plus years since forming Allison Campbell Design, my firm has grown from just me to two, to three, and now to nine designers!!
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Definitely not a smooth road, but I don’t learn by things being easy. There is a definite push back in the construction industry on women and their impact on it. Often, designers are thought of as just the people who come in and add the pretty final touches… so I have had to work hard to prove that I am more than just the final touches.
I am onsite during the framing stage, I meet with the plumbers and electricians when they begin their work. I am there with the builder, the homeowner, and the subcontractors through every step of the process to ensure that the final outcome is exactly what we/they imagined… then I get to put the final touches on. I can’t do that smoothly without all the prep work that actually starts with the plan designer and working alongside them.
Slowly but surely, I have made a name for myself as one who can solve problems, big and small, on the construction job site! It’s been so rewarding to feel the acceptance of most of the people I come in contact with. There are still a few that feel like I have no place on a construction site, but I will continue to teach and educate that there is room for everyone!
Appreciate you sharing that. What should we know about Allison Campbell Design?
I am an Interior Designer that specializes in the construction design process, from plans to fully furnished home. I am known for a very comfortable, inviting style no matter what type of home I am designing. I think what sets me apart from others is my knowledge of the construction process and my ability to work side by side with each individual subcontractor.
They trust me and know we are a team. When you hire me and my firm, you will get building experience. We are there to take the stress of the process off your shoulders, while simultaneously making it fun and enjoyable along the way. I have 23 plus years of experience and knowledge that you are getting when you choose Allison Campbell Design.
Contact Info:
- Email: acdesign.ut@gmail.cpm
- Website: www.allisoncampbelldesign.com
- Instagram: @allisoncampbelldesign or @acdesignteam
- Facebook: Allison Campbell Design
- Youtube: Allison Campbell Design
Image Credits
Amanda Peterson Photography
