Life & Work with Gina Hacken

Today we’d like to introduce you to Gina Hacken.

Hi Gina, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I wanted to become an interior designer for as long as I could remember. I was always interested in art and design, painting and drawing and moving furniture around my room. I went to university and got my BA degree in French and Art History and then a few years later I went to design school for interior design. I started working in the field at a large home improvement center and then I then switched over to home furnishings and began a ten years career designing client’s homes at a well-known home furnishings retail store. I was required to work long hours on the weekends and at night and while I loved what I did, I found that I needed more freedom and control over my schedule to raise my four young kids, who really needed me to be there during those critical times. At about this same time, I had a few clients who kept asking me about working for them doing other projects on my own. I had a family relative who began her own career as a digital marketing executive. And so I hired her to design my website a logo for me and to help me get my business off the ground and running. So between my retail clients asking me to help them with additional projects and my friends and family really cheering me on and helping me get my business started, it was sort of a perfect storm of scenarios for me to break out into doing my own work. Everything seemed to align in this direction and I made the choice to go for it, which I’m so glad I did.

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
It’s been as smooth as I have allowed it to be but also totally crazy at other times as well. The first five years are major growing years. I’ve only been in business on my own since 2017. So learning the back end of things: accounting and finance, contracts, marketing, negotiation, etc has been the biggest challenge along the way. It’s so important to know how to run the business side of any business. I want to be the best designer that I can be for my clients and to my vendors and trades. So knowing this part of my design business became my number one goal while at the same time, also taking on design projects and doing what I love. I can count my work experience prior to my design business for allowing me to learn the importance of sales, follow-thru, communication, customer service, etc. My work experience before I started Gina Lauren Interiors has been incredibly invaluable to me too and it only shows the importance of every stepping stone along the way which has allowed me to be where I am today.

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’m an interior designer specializing in residential and commercial interiors, helping people design beautiful, functional and comfortable spaces for both living and working. My work is visual and tactile. I love all things design from current trends to timeless and classic, modern and contemporary, neutrals, to bold materials and colors, detailed millwork, and refined aesthetics. My portfolio is varied and has a lot of different types of projects that have incorporated this fluid design philosophy, which I’m very proud of.

I have a very organic design process that I am known for and I allow the clients full participation in their own design process. I believe it makes the client-designer relationship even stronger and the outcome of the project even more successful. I’ve developed my processes to allow for that flexibility and participation which ultimately benefits everyone involved.

Who else deserves credit in your story?
My mentors and supporters are not only my family and friends but other design professionals and experts in their field. They’ve been invaluable to me as I work to grow my business. I also have to give credit to my clients, who allow the design process to play out. It’s like a dance and I think many people believe that it’s very easy to design a space, but in actuality, there are over 450 decisions to make in one room alone when designing from the ground up. So many people get overwhelmed by that and want to rush through or skip those necessary steps along the way. But design should not to be rushed through. All of my designs are very thoughtful, beautiful and unique: everything is justified and has a reason behind the aesthetic. When clients understand the reasoning behind each decision, they start to see the importance of that fluidity and how it plays an integral part in their design. So my clients are also my biggest cheerleaders who help me and cheer me on throughout all of my successes and even my hurdles. As I always tell them, “once you’re my client, you’re my client for life”.

Pricing:

• Pricing is reflective of the scope of work, the timeframe and our availability. All design fees start at $6,500

Contact Info:

• Website: www.ginalaureninteriors.com
• Instagram: ginalaureninteriors
• Facebook: ginalaureninteriors
• Youtube: ginalaureninteriors

Image Credits
Josh Friedman One Zero Digital Media