Hello and welcome to episode 164 of Design Curious Podcast.
I'm your host and mentor, Rebecca Ward.
Today on the podcast, we have creative Julie Stevens.
Let me tell you a little bit about her.
She is a dynamic designer and spirited entrepreneur whose
passion shines through her work. With a signature aesthetic that
merges beauty with function, Julie has created stunning high
end spaces alongside unique glassware and custom golf
products. Her award-winning ready to drink
cocktail brand Btini Spirits brings effortless elegance to
entertaining. Currently, she's excited to
unveil her new cocktail and mocktail line while transforming
A historic theater into a vibrant music venue for emerging
artists. Recognized as one of the 100
Women to Know in America by JP Morgan Chase, Julie continues to
inspire with her innovative spirit and dedication to
craftsmanship in every endeavor she undertakes.
I really enjoyed talking to Julie and finding about all the
creative avenues she loves to explore.
So let's get into the interview. You're now listening to Design
Curious, a place where you, creative one, are here to learn
about what it really is like to be an interior designer.
And I'm your host and mentor, Rebecca Ward.
If you're worried about how to succeed in a creative career, if
you're ready to learn your next steps to become an interior
designer, and if you want the satisfaction of doing something
you love every day, you are in the right place.
Grab a coffee, a notebook, and let's dig into today's episode.
Hi Julie, welcome to Design Cares podcast.
It's great to have you here today.
Hi, thank you so much for having me.
I'm so excited. Me too, and we were just talking
about how you are a designer and also an interior designer.
And so I would love for you to talk about your path getting
into just a creative career in general.
Like what sparked you to be creative?
Oh gosh, I think I was born like that.
I don't think I had a choice. I literally started sewing by
the time I was like 8 years old and took oil painting classes.
And at first I went to school for fashion design and then
branched out into other areas, graphic design and interior
design. And I've done several interiors,
but I would say that my passion is probably more on product
design, so. Interesting.
So you're multi design passionate, we'll say.
Yeah, if it's creative, it's fun.
That's how I feel about it. Yeah.
OK. First let's talk a little about
the interior design portion of it.
So when did you start doing interior design?
Probably around 2000 I started to do dabble in interior design,
working with different contractors and also designing
furniture for people. So that was a lot of fun, yeah.
OK. And so then with the product
design, you've been doing that longer?
Actually less. I got a less design in like
2011, 2012 and got my first patent in 2012.
I was like, look, I'm a patented designer.
What was the product? It was a golf gadget, it was
like a executive putting cup and it was just a new innovation.
So I actually got a utility patent on that, which is a
little bit harder. Since then I've designed bottles
for Btini Spirits which is my alcohol brand and some stemware
and several other like consumer goods products that you know.
Just fine. I'm so curious.
OK, so tell me, how do you get inspired for the different
products that you are designing? For me everything about design
is form and function. Like it needs to be beautiful,
but if I walk into a space it also has to feel good.
I want to feel happy and and maybe even calm.
Our everyday is so stressed that when I come into someone's home,
I just want to feel happy, good vibes and not have another
stressful environment where you know the furniture is so tightly
done that you're afraid to sit on it.
Yeah. It's more about just how does it
feel? How does it make you feel?
When you sit on a sofa, do you feel like comfortable and you
just sink in or are you sitting on the edge?
If you pick up a product, does it feel natural in your hand or
are you struggling to like my bottle?
I put a taper on it so it has kind of an hourglass figure and
it's much easier for a smaller hand to hold and things like
that is it has to look good, but you want it to feel good when
you pick it up. So yeah.
That's really important. Did you have people in your life
that were already doing this or what sparked you to be like,
yeah, I can create product? No one in my family and I come
from a family with seven kids. So this is thing something.
No one in my family was creative from a visual standpoint.
There's some musicians, but not visually creative.
I really feel like it's something that you're kind of
born with. And I always think a lot of
people have creative outlets, you know, maybe they're into
quilting or something. But I think people that are
innovating, it's really, you know, that's your gift.
Everyone has a gift and I was lucky to get that one so.
Yeah, I don't know if you've heard the working genius
assessment, but there's innovator is definitely one of
them. Like where your son of geniuses,
I'd say you are definitely an innovator.
So it's probably what you love doing.
What's your medium that once you get an idea, do you sketch it
out? Do you like to play with it on
the computer? Yeah, I'm a huge fan of Adobe
Illustrator, Yeah. So I feel I can't draw anything
in in Adobe Illustrator. I do thumbnail sketches at
first, of course, so that you don't spend too much time.
But most of what I design, I really design pretty fully in my
head before I start putting it into the computer so I can kind
of walk through space, is in my own mind.
That makes me sound like a crazy person I know, but.
No, that's, that's the creative, I think visual person because,
you know, interior designers, we do the same thing.
We like walk into a space and we can see what the design we have
in our head would look like in that space already.
You know, it's just. You can see it and you even have
as an interior designer, I feel like you even have almost an
internal, a measuring tape. You can see in your head even
how big things are and how small things are.
And I think I was almost 40. I got, I'm not really dating
myself now, but I was almost 40 before I realized that not
everyone can do that. I just thought that's how
everyone's brain works and to come to find out that most
people can't visualize to that degree in their own mind.
So it really is a difference, I think, in the way your brain
works. Yeah, for sure.
So with the furniture that you've designed, how do you go
about getting that to the right scale for a person?
Like are you modeling off of your own dimensions?
Do you think about taller people or shorter people or I just I'm
curious about. That it really depends on how
you're designing for. Like if you have a client and
they're 6 foot six, you're obviously gonna adjust your
measurements, right? On the flip side, if your client
is just average, then you could probably go, you know, if you're
just starting out, you could go to any store and kind of get
average dimensions of furniture and mirror those average
dimensions. You really need to figure out
who are you designing for before you figure that out, I think.
Yeah. Do you have any fun pieces of
furniture that you've worked on or really unique or so my?
Favorite things to design and furniture wise are things that
have dual purposes. I've done a couple really cool
billiard tables that had removable tops, so they became
the dining room table. And it it made the dining room,
which almost no one uses. We use it for Christmas or
Thanksgiving or High Holidays, whatever your holiday is.
Yeah, but we don't tend to hang out in there.
Everyone hangs out in the kitchen in the kitchen table.
That's where the action is happening.
And so if you can dual purpose the dining room for a a
billiards room and it acts like a whole nother space.
And then I found this really great wood artisans who could
create table tops that actually look like art.
And so you split them into two and hang them on the wall next
to it. And you can hang a painting in
front of that as well. And then it becomes a frame
around around, you know, like a backdrop to it becomes an art
piece. And then when you need it for
holidays or if you're having a formal dinner, you just pop it
on the on the pool table and now it's done your table.
So I'd love to do things that have a dual purpose, you know,
that form and function thing like cabinetry with art niches
carved out of them. So you have these beautiful
lighted art niches with glass art in them or whatever, and all
this cabinetry around it. It's like you're you're cleverly
disguising your hoarderness. It's around these heart niches,
right? Happen to be a very organized
hoarder when it comes to like entertainment things.
You know, you have so many glasses and plates and all this
stuff, it doesn't always fit in your kitchen.
So it's a way to like, even if it's just down a hallway, to
create this whole Bank of cabinets that looks like it was
on purpose and not like, you know, you're a hoarder.
Yeah, no, I'm the same way with entertainment dishware and
everything. Like I love bowls, like special
bowls. You don't have my.
Kitchen You have to have the right thing for every dish,
right? Exactly.
I get it. I get it.
But OK, Yeah. So you have been very thorough
like because I was going to ask with the billiard tables like,
well, what do you do with the top then once you're pull it
out? It's not like the extra leaf of
the table where you have to store it in a closet.
You. Can hide underneath.
No, it's not really good to hide underneath because the table
itself is already so thick that then it would be needs to hide
it underneath. I went down that path and then I
just decided to make it soup ready.
And of course, you have to protect it when you use it and
put, you know, a good pad on top.
But it actually turns out really gorgeous.
And that's. Yeah, I've done both ways where
the top itself was art with a true, you know, inlays and it
was beautifully done. And also where it just looked
like a cool frame and then dropped from the ceiling and oil
painting in front of it. So the table became this frame
around the oil painting that didn't have a frame that was
just like hanging in front of it.
And both of those options worked out really well and gave an
extra life to that space that usually sits empty for most of
the year. So creative.
Wow. So you have multi passionate
design, right? So what service do you really
promote to people when you're working with them?
I really don't anymore. I really just run my I run my
own companies like for my alcohol line and I'm working on
a couple other lines of products.
And then the music studio is a passion project.
A dear friend of mine is a Grammy award-winning music
engineer and my son is into music as well.
And I just find that kids these days have fewer and fewer
options through school. If they're not a STEM kid, what
do they do? And so this is a passion
project, really. It's to offer a place for kids
to come and have lessons to live stream their band if they want
to. We're going to have another
layer on top of the music venue just for classes for doing 3D
printing, glass, art, ceramics, you know, all the tactile stuff
that the school districts really don't have that budget anymore
to offer. Some school districts too, but
most don't anymore. And so that's what that project
is about. And then it has apartments on
top. So it's kind of like I'm going
to have the best home ever. It's like going to be a big, big
playground for me. Are you going to live there
then? And is this the historic theater
that it is it? Is yeah.
It was built in 1912, was originally the town Opera House.
Don't get excited. Back then opera houses were just
big RIP brick buildings. There was no like beautiful,
like there's no beautiful feelings or walls.
Like it was just a big rectangular brick building.
It had been turned back into a retail.
It had been turned into a Persa theater, a movie theater, and
then into retail. And we are turning it back into
its original purpose for music. So very excited about it.
Very exciting. Yeah, I love that.
And I love that it's going to help the community.
But then you still have your hands in it.
And you could. Yeah, I.
Mean I really want to like, once I retire, to give back and pass
that baton of how to create and give kids that were like me an
opportunity to do that. So then you have several
businesses that you or are they under one umbrella?
They're under one umbrella, yeah.
Is that classic trend then? Yeah, the name of it?
Yeah, Yeah. Great.
OK. So how many different avenues do
you have under classic trend? Currently I just have Btini
spirits and then I'm working on another spirits line that's it's
both spirits and mock spirits because a lot of people are
choosing healthier choices. And.
It's called Well done. It'll be launching this coming
spring. I'm very excited about.
It. And it's kind of a plan words
for your line of well spirits that are in the well at the bar
and that it's well done. So we'll have two different
bottle designs, one that's square for the squares who don't
drink and one that's that fits in the well, very well.
And yeah, I'm really excited about that project, so.
Wow. I can just tell you just ooze
with creativity and you're so thorough and you're thinking
through of all the product design and everything.
It's very impressive. Yeah.
Thank you. Yeah.
So do you then take it to gift shows or trade shows or to
promote the product? Or is it mostly online?
How do you? Well, alcohol.
Has a lot of rules around it. Like when I had my golf product,
it was mostly online and then I had sales people that would go
like we were in all the top golfs and places like that.
And that did really well until COVID hit and then it kind of
killed that one. Yeah, mostly because I
manufacture went out of business during.
COVID. It was a really rough time, but
with alcohol, there's so many laws, like I'm only allowed to
sell to a distributor who sells to a retailer who sells to you,
and each of them, me included, has a different set of licenses
to sell into the market. So it's very restricted.
I'm actually really excited to start selling the mocktails
because it'll give me a lot more avenues.
Yeah, yeah, yeah. Because not to have that alcohol
license. OK.
So you mentioned that you had some challenges around COVID at
the time. And I learned to drive a
forklift during COVID because everybody went home by me.
Oh my goodness. No, true story.
I'm actually very good. If I ever lose everything I can
be, I can be a forklift driver no problem.
It's like a one woman show really.
Yeah, Everyone went home during COVID and I had one night I had
like the next day I had to send out the 23 pallets and I'm like,
I just didn't even know what to do.
Like I've never driven this thing before.
And I had YouTube videos on how to figure it out.
And somehow the truck driver was so patient with me.
I think it took me two hours to fill that truck the next
morning, but I thought it was. Actually pretty good with no
experience though with. No experience?
Yep. Wow.
So yeah, you definitely have a can do attitude of like you're
going to find the solution. You have to find a way.
Absolutely, yeah. So do you have recommendations
for people who might be listening that may not be quite
where you're at yet? Like what kind of mindset do you
have to have around this when you face unexpected challenges?
Especially in a remodel, you're going to face unexpected
challenges. Just go into it knowing there's
going to be unexpected challenges because it's going to
happen and try to approach those as opportunities instead of
challenges. They're an opportunity to pivot.
Or maybe along the way you had one of those, oh, I wish I would
have included this concept into this design.
Well, maybe this is an opportunity that you can.
The last thing you want to do is just put a Band-Aid on it
because really it's the end result of your design that
matters. It's not the original design
concept. So try and not be too married to
your original design concept because it is going to change in
the process. It has to with a remodel,
everything goes wrong, right? You open up the walls and worms
crawl out, literally. So you look at it and be like,
OK, what opportunity does this give me to do something really
cool and make this look like it was on purpose instead of being
upset that it's ruined your original design?
And I think if you can have that, how can we pivot and make
this even better attitude? It's better for you.
It's better for the client. It's way better for the
contractor who already feels bad that they've squashed your whole
design dream. So yeah.
That is really good advice. I think not holding so tightly
to that original plan because it's sometimes it's hard for
people to let go designers to let go of that original dream
because you're like, I already saw the house I.
Already saw it. I've already walked to this
office. I've lived.
In in my head I've already seen it.
In magazines, because I'm going to wear an award.
Do you think all those things and it's just not the case.
There's unlimited creativity. So create something even better
than what you thought of before and be.
That's the best approach, so. Julie, it's so good.
I love it. OK, so you obviously are a
fountain of knowledge and just natural talent.
Do you have tips for our listeners who are trying to
maybe figure out their next projects stepping into the world
of interior design? What would be your
recommendation to them? If you're in interior design,
likely you have a client unless you're just flipping homes.
And I guess my biggest advice would be listen 10 times and
design once. Really get to know your client.
Take them to lunch. Find out what their kids are
into. Are they taking care of elderly
parents sometimes? Like what is their day-to-day
like? And really try and like, you
know, the way you envision a space, trying to envision your
life as them in a space. Like what would make their lives
easier? If they have elderly parents and
they may be taking care of them at some point, maybe consider
recommending doing wider doorways so that when that
happens, you can have a mother-in-law suite that works.
Or if they're elderly, maybe plan ahead that their master
bathroom needs to be handicap accessible, not look like a
handicapped bathroom. But if they're coming in with a
Walker, they're not going to trip over things.
So you really think about how did they function?
Put yourself in their shoes and how do they function in the
space before you start? That would be my best advice.
Yeah, really, really good. So what is your next big
project? I know you have the mocktails
coming in and see I've got the. Mocktails, my big project from
business. And then the recording studio is
a huge design project because it does have so many layers.
It has retail in the front and then the recording studio in the
basement and the classes and then apartment.
So it's almost like 4 different design projects in one.
Like 4 different zones of. It's four different zones with
four different uses, so that's occupying a lot of my creative
brain right now. And then I'm mentoring a couple
people who are starting out of business, and that's a lot of
fun. OK, great.
Yeah. So just like business in general
or in the creative fields? No, they're not in the creative
field, but I mean, starting a business is a creative process.
So you need branding, you need packaging, all of that.
And so I'm trying to guide them down that path so that they make
good decisions. And yeah, just to help them,
just for fun. Wow, that's great.
OK, so tell everybody where they can find you if they want to
find out more or get inspired by all the different things that
you're doing. So B teeny is at
bteenyspirits.com and that's B like BE and then teeny like a
martini TINI spirits.com and you can purchase any of our products
online there and well done will be at welldonespirits.com
starting next year. So if you ever want to check it
out and really that's it. River Sound is the name of our
project here in Colorado for the Sound Studio and.
It's at River sound.com. All that's up right now is just
a landing page, but we'll be starting to post.
We just broke ground a couple weeks ago so we'll be starting
to post footage from the construction and everything
shortly. So fun.
I think that would be a really interesting project if you have
local design students that they would be interested in walking
through and talking with you about, like all the different
avenues of design that you have to consider for that project.
And it's a fun, I mean, I'm trying to be a little eco
conscious. Like when we gutted the
building, we had them save all the two by fours, 2 by sixes,
whatever, all the wood. And we're up cycling that into
sound diffusers, decorative sound diffusers, kind of like
making a mural out of wood pixels.
So it that's going to be on the walls.
Yeah. So just trying to really utilize
everything that came out of the building and and not be so
wasteful. Do you know the original date of
the building? 1912. 12 OK, so over 100 years.
Yeah, yeah, yeah. Wow, well so fun.
I'm definitely going to keep tabs on that.
That sounds like a great project.
I appreciate that. Thank you so much.
Well, thanks for coming on today.
Julie, is there anything else you wanted to share with our
audience? No, I think you asked me all the
questions. OK, good.
Well, we'll put all your contact information in the show notes as
well. So people are listening to this
while driving. They don't have to worry about
it. They can just go check it out in
the show notes. But thank you, Julie.
It's been great talking with you.
Thank you so much for having me, I really appreciate it.
So go ahead and check out Julie's contact information and
all the things that she's interested in.
I'm definitely going to keep an eye on that theater venue.
I think that's so interesting. She also sent me a sampling of
her Bittini cocktails and I pulled them out for a party I
was hosting and they're very well received.
It's like a skinny version of a cocktail, which I really
enjoyed, is very light and refreshing.
And so maybe check that out too. All right, that's all we have
from Julie this week. Don't forget, we've got boot
camp coming up. You can get more information
about that. And the show notes get on the
wait list for when January comes.
We can get your business started the right way.
We have also other downloads in the show notes and a lot of
great things for you. So check it out Next week.
We'll have another great episode.
And until then, stay creative. Thanks for listening.
If you love this episode, please leave a rating and a review.
This helps me reach other curious creatives like you.
If you have a topic request or would like to contact me, simply
head over to my website ourawarddesign.com or e-mail me
at podcast@ourawarddesign.com.