Meet Noelle Robinson

We recently connected with Noelle Robinson and have shared our conversation below.

Noelle, so good to have you with us today. We’ve always been impressed with folks who have a very clear sense of purpose and so maybe we can jump right in and talk about how you found your purpose?

I wish this could be answered in a conversation face-to-face over a honey latte, but I’ll settle for writing out my answer. I want to define purpose in two ways: defining what I do and why I do it.

I have always had a proclivity towards design /creativity in some form: playing dress up with Barbies to creating a floor plan of a hospital to creating a themed dorm room in college. I believe finding my purpose began with asking the question: How did God create me? What gifts and desires have been woven in me by God? For me, design was the answer to those questions. Skipping many years ahead from the Barbie days, I thought I wanted to be in fashion design, then hippotherapy (equine-assisted therapy), then I thought I wanted to be a high school teacher. Then, when none of those really came to fruition, I found myself working a part time job after completing my master’s degree and completely confused with what am I supposed to do with my life now!

Nothing was as I thought it would be at that point in my life. But that season was not wasted! God allowed that season to be a time to strengthen and grow me, and I did not want to miss out! After 7 months of waiting on what was next, I got a full time job as a project specialist, which allowed me the finances to be able to go into purchasing a house with my mom. We bought a total fixer upper, and I had zero clue/experience designing anything with a house, but my mom did! We tag teamed a whole house (3 bed, 2 bath, sun room, and raised the pitch of the roof!). During that process, it brought me joy, excitement, and a desire to do more homes! Through much processing, prayer, and asking for clarity, I knew interior design was something God had created me to do.

Now that I was confident in a career path, I have had to wrestle with the “why” of interior design. Why would we spend money, time, and effort on creating something beautiful? To define my “why” behind interior design, I want to zoom out to see a larger picture: creating something beautiful is a reflection of the God who is the creator. We get to be co-creators with him. I believe that we can look at a piece of art, a dress, a building, a hand-made plate, ect and behold beauty. I believe we can do that because we were created to behold God’s beauty.

My “why” behind interior design is to be constantly reminded of the beauty of the Good News: God created this world as good, beautiful, and perfect until the relationship between God and man was broken. Everything became distorted and not how it ought to be. Amid the brokenness that filled the world, God had a redemptive plan to rescue his people: giving up his one and only son, Jesus Christ, to pay for our sins by dying on a cross and being raised to life again. Because of what Jesus had done for us, it paints a picture of beauty and redemption.

Being able to renovate homes paints a picture of the Good News: brokenness and despair turned to beauty and purpose. That message is all around us, and I love being able to see a faint picture of that through restoring homes and bringing life, function, and beauty to serve our clients.

Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?

At Robinson & Co. Design, we specialize in home renovations with a turn-key experience. We focus on giving our clients a first class experience to home renovations that helps them to bring their dreams and needs to life! We focus on bringing form, function, and beauty to each space we design.

There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?

For me, one quality that helped propel me into into starting my own business in interior design was tenacity. Being willing to meet other designers I did not know, read books, listen to podcasts, or talk to a stranger on the phone, I knew I had to do those things to learn and grow. Being willing to try and fail was a something I had been working on in small ways in my life (that looked like speaking up in a meeting, or suggesting we try something not knowing how it would turn out, ect.) and now it meant trying something even bigger and taking greater risks! Lastly, being ok to say I don’t know it all, but I will learn keeps you humble in starting your own business-and even in each project! I learn something with each and every project we do-no matter the scale of it.
I would encourage readers to reach out to others in your field. Treat them to coffee, ask good questions, and learn from others! That has served me well and I have built amazing relationships with some of the people I met blindly! You never know what can come from one conversation!

To close, maybe we can chat about your parents and what they did that was particularly impactful for you?

I love this question because I have amazing parents, but I also acknowledge that question can be difficult to others who might not have had parents that were loving or invested in them. I know being able to answer this question with confidence and real examples is a gift. One of the most impactful things my parents did for me, and still do for me, is live out what they believe. They have laid a foundation that our faith is not just lip service, but it impacts every aspect of our life. And now owning a business, everything I do is influenced by living my life according to what God’s word teaches. That plays out when I have accidently overcharged a client for an item and ought to refund them the amount instead of justify it by convincing myself that it’s only $8, that’s not a big deal. Or when I have approved the wrong measurements and need to own it and make it right. When I am dealing with someone who is frustrating, how I respond to them matters. All in all, my parents laid a foundation of faith in action that helped change the trajectory of my life, and I am so thankful for it.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.robinsonandcodesign.com/
• Instagram: robinsonandcodesign
• Other: noelle@robinsonandcodesign.com

Image Credits

Britt Latz-photography