“My Work is nothing like HGTV”
Richelle Nolan is the managing director of IA Portland. IA is a interior design company that helps businesses figure out what sort of space will help their business thrive. Before Richelle Nolan became the managing director of IA Portland she went through other jobs. After her several years at school. she became a interior designer for rich or famous people, but she realized that she needed deeper meaning in her work.
“Always strive for something… and don’t be afraid to fail”
So she then began designing spaces for hospitals and doctors offices, and she would work with the idea of ‘healing spaces’. Then after doing that for a while she decided to go and design office spaces. This is because she wanted to set up atmospheres where people could be connected and build relationships.
“Come up with dumb ideas, because they’re usually the best ones.”
I think what stood out the most from her talk this week was how much she emphasized building relationships. To build relationships with your classmates because they will be the artist you work with. To build relationships with your clients because they can recommend you to others. To her interior design is all about connections.
gfuarttalk 
I thought it was interesting how she pointed out that she was being successful in a former job and even enjoying it, but she needed “deeper meaning” – a bigger picture in which to place her work so that she could feel she was making a noticeable difference. To me that proves her marvelous ambition and drive come from a place of strong will to make the world a better place. I think artists often have that feeling – of “What lovely thing can I do or create that wouldn’t have existed without me, so that I can leave the world a better place than when I found it?”
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I find this inspiring – that she was willing to leave a former job she was good at and enjoying to pursue something more meaningful. For me right now, I would gladly jump at the chance to have a paying job. It would be hard to make the decision to leave a job, not knowing what the next step is. Now Richelle Nolan is even better at what she does because she took that step. I hope I develop skills in this area and the confidence to step outside my comfort zone when necessary.
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I loved this Art Talk. Richelle has a dream job. I liked that she also talked more about the business side and project management, which you don’t hear about very often. It was also interesting to hear about commercial design and the big business’ that she’s worked with such as Samsung and Nike. I liked that she wanted something more than just designing for the rich and thought outside of the box to figure out what she was really passionate about.
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This has been my favorite speaker thus far! One of my favorite take-aways from this talk was “every good design begins with an even better story.” One of the primary goals of design is getting people to connect with your work. Having a great story also makes you proud of your work. It doesn’t matter if some people don’t care for your work as long as you are proud of it. If you are excited about what you do, others will be too.
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Richelle is so full of wisdom! It was so significant for me to hear her say that “for every 1 success, there will be 100 fails”. As artists, I think it can be difficult sometimes to feel that our work is worth it. Especially, during a process full of frustrating mistakes. It was comforting to realize that even artists out there who become successful and “make it”, are the ones that still fail sometimes, just as much as we do.
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Richelle had some really wonderful quotes, and she was a very skilled speaker! I appreciated her encouragement to speak out, even if it makes one nervous. Everyone is just as nervous and unsure, even if they appear confident. It’s nice to hear someone who is accomplishing a lot of amazing things admit that there can still be moments of doubt and struggle, since it shows that such doubts can be moved through, and will not stop one from succeeding in her goals.
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The highlight of having Richelle speak to us is hearing her say that her type of work is not like a television show because a lot of people who asks me if I have watched Project Runway, I kind of feel like they truly don’t understand the type of work that goes into our work. I liked how Richelle told us that she is always working to finding a deeper meaning because sometimes it is always difficult for us artists to know what we are doing with our lives and if we are more than just an artist. It was definitely reassuring to hear a professional talk about how it is a great thing to collaborate with other people because the past speakers did not agree.
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I agree that sometimes, the most ridiculous ideas you make are the best ones. I remember how surprised I was when a ridiculous idea I made was actually supported by other people I was working with.
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