My Story
Hello! My name is Hannah Henry, I was born and raised in Ellensburg, Washington, and I am currently studying Interior Design & Project Operations at Central Washington University! I wanted to take the opportunity to share a little bit more about me and my story and share my design journey, so here it goes!
Back in Fall of 2019 Ellensburg High School hosted a career fair. At the time, I knew I wanted to do something hands on and creative, but I was still deciding. I visited an architecture booth, and was interested, but it didn't feel like it was not for me. I then visited a cosmetics stand, and slowly realized it wasn't what I wanted. I then went to a third stand. There it read "Nest Design Studio". I met the owner, Sam Mikel, and immediately fell in love with design. She told me about how she got to work with clients designing homes, picking out finishes, and so much more. I immediately begged her for an internship and she informed me that the design center would be opening soon. A month or so went by and Collective Interiors (an umbrella name of 3 designers) had their grand opening. I came in after hours and found Sam and another designer (Renee Fyall with D. Marie Interiors) in the kitchen. I reintroduced myself and asked if they had any internship or job shadowing opportunities. Renee goes "I'm going on site at 3pm tomorrow, wanna come?" Of course I said yes, and the next day I was helping her on a consult and measuring! Some time had passed and in April of 2020 I got a phone call with a job offer. Renee had me overseeing the wallpaper side of her company D. Marie Interiors. I was packing and shipping orders, cutting wallpaper, and after a while I was going on site more with her and putting together pallets for her clients, and next thing I knew I was one of her assistants. By June I was splitting my between Sam and Renee. Sam had brought me on to do mood boards for her as well along with watching the retail shop.
Overtime, I transitioned to being Sam's full time employee. I worked my way up the ladder at Nest and earned myself the title Jr. Design Assistant. While this was going on I was also taking on clients of my own and doing some consulting. Nothing official since I didn't have my degree, but lots of people in the community were happy to bring me in and get an opinion. That's when I landed Project Willow.
Working for Sam was life changing. She took me under her wing and over the last 3 years I've become a little mini her. She was giving me entire projects to take on, teaching me just about every trick of the trade, and so much more. I learned how to use Design 2020 and develop renderings, measure and bid out blinds and wallpaper, etc. I would meet with clients, go onsite, and do staging jobs. All this and everything in between. Over time putting together pallets and doing window displays became second nature.
Working at Nest Design Studio gave me a huge foundation to build my career on. I knew shortly after working in the industry that I wanted to continue to pursue my career in school. I applied to my first choice college, University of Idaho, and was accepted 2 weeks later. I bounced around schools my sophomore year from U of I to WSU and landed at CWU where I get to earn a much more customized degree that caters to my strengths and educational needs.
I hope to use my experience and education to develop my own business one day. I picture being a one stop shop for my clients: interior and exterior finishes, furnishing, and landscaping. I am so passionate about design and giving people a space where they can thrive. I can't wait to grow as a designer and a person, and meet this new goal that I have set for myself.
Thank you for visiting my site and getting to learn more about me!