I came to interior design after nearly twenty years spent leading marketing and strategy teams, largely in the financial sector. So when I started Dwell Well Design Co., I thought about building the business almost as much as I thought about crafting amazing homes for my clients.

I loved the independence of it—the ability to decide what I wanted my business to be, what it stood for, and how I wanted to do things differently. I was bullish about building something of my own, and early on, I was determined to get to a place where I could choose the work I wanted to do, the clients I wanted to work with, and the kind of designer—and business owner—I wanted to become.

What I didn’t anticipate was just how much comes with that independence.

Running a design studio means building an entire business around the creative work. You’re sourcing, presenting and designing, but you’re also finding vendors, managing procurement, solving operational problems, managing large scale projects and learning about construction, contractors and trades. You’re building industry relationships, learning as you go—and making an incredible number of very impactful decisions largely on your own. Often while supporting a family and building a business that needs to actually make money. 

Over time, I hired, I partnered, I outsourced—and I still found myself wishing there were another way to do this.

Not a firm to join. Not a coworking space. And not something that asked independent designers to give up the businesses or identities they had worked so hard to build.

I missed working alongside other people doing what I was doing—people determined to be successful, to do exceptional work for their clients, and to build rewarding, profitable businesses. I wanted the feeling of having a team while staying independent. I wanted access to some of the resources and infrastructure larger firms have, without having to build all of it myself.

Ultimately, I wanted a place where we could stay independent and make all of it a little easier—so we could level up our businesses, and the roles we wanted to have within them.

A beautiful place to work and bring clients. Resources within reach. Stronger connections to our industry. People to learn from, share with, and call when you need another perspective. "Hey, do you have a minute? I was thinking..."
And support for some of the work that can pull us away from the reason we started these businesses in the first place.

So I built the Collective.

Not because I think there is one right way to build a design business. Quite the opposite. I believe there should be more room for designers to build businesses that are distinctly, unapologetically their own—and more support around them while they do it.

And I believe that when ambitious, talented, generous designers come together, we can do more than build stronger individual businesses. We can raise the level of design in our community—and bring the very best partners, makers and trades along with us.

— Jessica Brugger
Founder, Dwell Well Design Collective