Anna Nichols , When I decided that I wanted to be an Interior Designer while in high school, I never understood all the different avenues that you can take with this degree.  After working in Residential, Furniture Dealership, and Healthcare, I have settled in the furniture field as a Sales/Designer/Project Manager.  While I have used different skills in each of these jobs, Meredith’s program taught me the basics for the wide range of skills needed in the professional world.  While my classes taught me to render, draft, space plan, manage time restraints and organize, my involvement with Meredith traditions and organizations like Cornhuskin’, Father/Daughter Dance, ASID, and LeaderShape helped build my skills as a project coordinator and manager. 

Major: Interior Design with a minor in Art, '05

Career: Customer Account Manager for the Facility Service Group at Storr Office Environments, which is a Steelcase Furniture Dealership with offices in Raleigh, NC, Greensboro, NC and Tampa, FL. 

I work in the Raleigh office handling corporate accounts with their daily needs.  I handle everything from needing a chair fixed to a building of new furniture.  I also coordinate moves for companies that are relocating or reconfiguring their existing space. 

Rewards of the Job: Since I work as the Sales, Design and Project Management on a project, I get to see it from the beginning to the end.  The most rewarding part of the job is making the customer happy either from their new furniture or just making a move less stressful than they ever would have thought.  Happy customers create lasting relationships.

Advice to Current Students: Try as many types of internships as possible.  The more things you get to try while you are in school, the more you know what field you want to explore when you graduate.  Also, keep in touch with classmates, professors and any other professionals that you meet.  You never know when it will come in handy.