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What were your first impressions of New York-do you remember?
I was kind of scared,
And I remember the first time taking the subway. I went down there and was like, "Oh my god,
you must need headphones because it's so loud."
So I only took busses for a while, then I finally go into
the New York frame of mind where you have to do things quickly.
I was like, this is like a day trip to get across town or up town.
When I came to New York it was kind of on a whim. I was working
as an intern with an architectural firm in Washington DC after I finished school.
I had a friend that had a friend that had a large apartment, he said "Come and stay for the weekend."
I didn't even know there was an east or west side, so it was kind of exciting that
I knew nothing.
After I think two years I finally learned now somewhat the city.
Well first of all let me tell you the story of how I came upon him.
Like I said when I moved to New York I didn't know there was an east and west side
And that was the old days when you used to carry your big portfolios around.
I had taken a couple things out of magazines, of
people's work I liked. It was very clean.
It was a doorman building.
The doorman was nice enough to let me up.
It's funny, I didn't even have an appointment.
And I think it was the second person I met with and Lloyd hired me right away.
it was a great experience, and I think
first of all just as somebody right out of school, is to learn
the whole procedure of
how to deal with the client,
how to handle a project, the steps involved, how to present to a client.
It was a great learning experience. I stayed there I think
a little bit more than a year.
and then from there I went to Renny Saltzman.
There is where I think I really learned
a lot of my craft.
I still kind of model my office kind of how Renny had a small office,
it ran kind of fluently.
Again how he dealt,
and kind of mixed styles, though I'm not
as traditional and antique-y
as Renny was. I learned a lot there.
I think what I like to
point out is most of my cliental are young couples
or single people, buying their first house,
maybe a weekend house.
I think what I bring to the table
is the patience to deal with a client that really doesn't know the business.
To me there are really two types of designers. I always say one, that you open a magazine and
start in the back
and not even see the first page and already know it's so-and-so.
I think theres a category that I fit into.
That you're opening
the clients eyes to whats available today in the market place,
how to mix styles, and how to edit,
some clients have very good taste
but to push them to the next level. I think thats where
I fit in as a designer.