Meet Michelle Garforth-venter

We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Michelle Garforth-venter a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Michelle , so glad you were able to set aside some time for us today. We’ve always admired not just your journey and success, but also the seemingly high levels of self-discipline that you seem to have mastered and so maybe we can start by chatting about how you developed it or where it comes from?

Disciple is about getting up when you are knocked down, and ensuring a fast, back-on-track process. I’ve realized that dancing from age 5 has brought my innate backbone of discipline. The ability to push yourself further, and harder, to stay in the pain and enjoy that space. That thinking is what makes brings physical flexibility, and skeletal muscle strength. Life paths and work paths are generally fraught with problem-solving. I’ve learned that unfortunately, there is no reaching a mountain top and now relaxing. The path of living consists of many mountains to climb and requires discipline to overcome obstacles and find moments of success. Dancing is mentally and physically about never being good enough and always reaching for a better form, The dancer’s brain and mindset are unique, and I highly recommend starting dance for all kids, as the skills learned hold you in good stead for Life’s path.

Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?

Riaan and Michelle Garforth-Venter work in the residential construction industry building new homes and remodeling existing houses. Riaans Designs is the name of the company. I know the surname is really long! When Riaan Venter and I got married, we both had long-established careers, and decided to change our last name to include my surname, Garforth. Radio talk shows in South Africa, which is where we are originally from, had a field day when Riaan changed his last name to include mine. The general chatter was “we know who wears the pants in that relationship!”
Riaan builds homes, and I am the office coordinator for all things construction and decor. I chose to dovetail my skills into Riaan’s building career purely because I am now a mom and know that his talent is monumental for building anything. We emigrated from South Africa to Atlanta in Oct 2015, Riaan was South Africa’s Darling-DIY-TV-Guy. A household name for 14 years, viewers tuned in to watch ‘DIY WITH RIAAN’ and learn how to make it themselves. I was the Executive Producer overseeing Sales & Sponsorships, plus everyday logistics of the 20-person strong TV Production Company.

Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?

Communication is key to fluid relationships. The root of quality communication is passion. The root of passion is reading and research, which assists with your why factor or purpose. Hone your passion, shine it up, and be all-encompassing with the depth of your knowledge. Communicating what you wish to achieve now becomes a whole lot easier!

Who is your ideal client or what sort of characteristics would make someone an ideal client for you?

We are creative builders with the skills and knowledge to think outside the norm. Riaan and I are known for sustainable living building. We produced a book and a 26-half-hour TV series ‘Love and Mortar’ which aired on HGTV and documented the build of the first Bio-Climatic house in South Africa entirely off-grid. Our ideal customer is a homeowner who wants to push the boundaries and build with the planet in mind, taking into account water quality and water saving, insulation aspects of the house for energy savings, and waste management from the build plus materials used. We would very mich like to meet and engage with sustainable-living-aware architects in the Southern States, architects that have built green or wish to build green.

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