Today we’d like to introduce you to Taylor Oyebadejo.
Hi Taylor, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
I’ve spent most of my life in school. I have a master’s degree in clinical psychology and was a behavioral therapist for several years. As a therapist, I worked with individuals with severe mental illness and quickly realized that trying to do therapy with a population that didn’t know where they were going to sleep that night or were facing extreme housing instability was not working. I was interested in tackling the macro issues my clients were facing and loved research so I decided to pursue my PhD in social work. I have dedicated the last eight years and the foreseeable future to ending homelessness through housing and supportive services. I completed my dissertation and graduated in 2020. All this to say that I hyper-focused on my scholarship for a very long time. My whole life, really. I have always felt I had this creative brain that was screaming to be used. People would always ask me if I was creative – especially because my partner is a music producer, so I am around artists and creatives fairly often. I would always say, “I feel like I am a creative person, but I don’t actually do anything creative.”
In October of 2019, I got married, which we planned ourselves. I designed all our wedding graphics and was highly organized and thorough about wedding planning. As a researcher by training, I did a ton of digging for every vendor that we used. I have always been into interior decorating, so I sourced a lot of our wedding decor myself. I really enjoyed planning and designing my own wedding and was interested in doing others. Following our wedding, I intended to reach out to our wedding coordinator to ask if she’d be willing to let me shadow her because I had no experience planning weddings besides my own (which I now realize is actually a great deal of experience). Before I reached out to her, she contacted me to ask if I was interested in being a planner! It felt really serendipitous. My role as a planner with Leilani Weddings has really been the launching pad for my design work and has been fundamental to building my confidence as a designer. While 2020 brought immense hardship and challenges, it also presented the opportunity to explore my design abilities and that has been life changing. I like to say this is when “Tiwalola came out” – Tiwalola is the Nigerian name I was given when I married my husband, who is a Nigerian-American. It means “she is ours.” I’ve always felt I am a right AND a left-brain person.
Now that I have more time to design, I realize that my right brain just wasn’t being exercised. I started to get involved in various types of design including graphics, weddings, and events, but my innate design eye and passions have always centered around interior design. I’ve been OBSESSED with interiors and furniture for as long as I can remember. I used to buy 20-year-old home catalogs from thrift stores to ogle over the styles from previous decades. I love touring historic homes. I’ve always had a love for mixing old and new styles. Furniture can be so much more than wooden posts and a flat surface. Our homes and the pieces that fill our spaces often hold immense sentimental value – we tell stories through them. My love for design and interiors and my training as homelessness and housing researcher felt symbiotic and they are now through Soul Key Studio, my more recent and personal design venture.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Not a lot has been smooth, but I suppose that is to be expected when trying to tackle one of the most complex social and systemic issues this country faces. I feel the biggest challenge with regard to ending homelessness is the housing crisis and availability of affordable housing. There is no way to take people off the streets if they have nowhere to go. I’m hoping to bring homelessness awareness through Soul Key Studio. I want to use my design skills and my love for interiors to make change. I want to expose the general population to supportive housing as a means to end homelessness. I want to help beautify the spaces occupied by formerly homeless folks so that they feel at home.
Combining these goals and skill sets came quite naturally – I’ve had the idea for Soul Key for a while. My biggest hurdle was myself. My own self-doubt. I didn’t have the assurance as a designer. Although I had this desire to be creative, my experience was in academia and I didn’t think I could be both a designer and a researcher. 2020 has really been a catalyst in that it offered more space and time to be creative. To be a whole person. Or, at least, my whole self. I questioned launching Soul Key for so long, but 2020 also put a lot into perspective. Tomorrow is not promised. I decided putting off this dream for a later date no longer made sense.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
Soul Key Studio provides affordable, accessible interior design services for all. By creating photorealistic renderings interiors can be reimagined, made more functional and bolster intrapersonal contentment and wellness – I am a big believer that your space can greatly impact your mood. Our belief is that housing is a human right and everyone deserves a beautiful space to call home. Our services range from providing design inspiration to hands-on installation. All our design packages include a graphic rendering. The renderings are super fun and look so real! I get very excited to share them because they are created to look like the interiors of those we serve. It is never simply plugging in some furniture to a box with walls – it is their space brought to life. It is unique and customized always. Our approach is to get to know those using our services to create spaces that reflect their style and meet their needs.
With that, we create interiors that span aesthetics from mid-century modern to glam to farmhouse. Sure, I have my own style and there are sprinkles of that in my design work, but it is secondary. I draw on my psychology background to ensure that spaces are a representation of each client because I believe that is what will help folks thrive in their spaces. My style isn’t your style – I want to embrace and promote those differences, not fit them to a mold. Plus, I love a challenge. Soul Key’s motto is that we provide interior design with heart and soul. Our proceeds support free design services and materials for formerly homeless individuals and families. It is my dream that one day this can be the standard; that we can further evolve supportive housing. There is the potential for these changes to have ripple effects that will challenge systemic barriers to an equitable society. It’s a big claim and a massive goal, but I keep reminding myself that change often starts small.
How do you think about happiness?
Designing makes me happy. In fact, I get a little obsessive about it. It is like a puzzle in my brain and when completing a puzzle is so satisfying. Making others happy makes me happy. I love getting to know others and getting a glimpse into their worlds, even if our work together is brief. I believe in human connection and savor it. I love creating retreat-like bedrooms. That’s one of my favorites because our beds and bedrooms are such an important part of our life. It’s where we sleep. It’s where we rest. It’s where we rejuvenate. I can’t help but contrast it to the people who don’t have that place to lay their head at night – I use it as a drive to ensure that this space is sacred. Oh, and my cats and my husband because they make me smile and put up with my frequent shifting of furniture.
Pricing:
- Virtual services start at $250
Contact Info:
- Instagram: @soulkeystudio & @tiwaloladesigns (for the person behind Soul Key)
- Other: Instagram: @leilaniweddings (for weddings and events)
Image Credits:
Victoria Gold Photography Jessie Jean Photography
