Riana LeJeune is an award-winning upholsterer, entrepreneur, and founder of Repinned Luxury Upholstery, a nationally recognized workroom known for preserving craftsmanship while pushing the industry forward. With over a decade in the skilled trades, Riana has built one of the country's first registered upholstery apprenticeship programs and is passionate about elevating artisan work through education, sustainability, and fair pricing. She's also the founder of Renewabl, a tech platform helping furniture professionals visualize design, close sales with confidence, and build more profitable businesses. Riana is a fierce advocate for neuro-inclusivity, skilled trades, women-led businesses, and proving that craftsmanship and innovation can—and should—grow together.

Repinned is on Instagram and Facebook

Renwabl is on Instagram and Facebook

Links and Resources;

US Department of Labor

Thank you so much for being on this journey with me!

Links and Resources;

Episode 113 - Opportunity Thinking Series with Jeanelle Dech - Feedback, Failure, Bankruptcy and Girl Scout Cookies

What a fun podcast this was to record!

Thanks to the Jersey Girls for taking time to chat with me!

Irene Hurley Designs

Instagram: @irenehurleydesigns

Interior Couture for Cottage and Castle

Irene Hurley Designs is a boutique design and sewing studio offering custom window coverings, interior accessories, and artisan quilts.

Sue Berry - Designer and fabricator in business for 13 years

Sew Stylish Designs Llc

www.sewstylish.org

Diana Nolan

Diana Nolan Custom windows LLC

Instagram @dianadnolan

Diana is a drapery workroom both retail and to the trade for 25 years in southern New Jersey.

Suzy Daruwala

Sew Bella Home

www.sewbellahome.com

The skilled hands at Sew Bella Home create beautiful, fine window coverings, pillows, custom bedding and accessories using couture methods while keeping your specific requests in mind. Our designs are all about you and the feeling you want your home to evoke.

Kelley Garfield, Owner

Kelley's Custom Home Interior's LLC

Website: http://www.kelleyscustomhomeinteriors.com

Instagram: @kelleyscustomhomeinteriors

Over 20 years in the window treatments and soft furnishings business, adding the "jewelry" as I like to call it, to your spaces one stitch at a time!

Robin Matthews

Seams Sew Right - soft furnishings workroom since 1999/2000. Mostly to the trade

Website: seamssewright.com

FB: Seams Sew Right

Insta: @seamssewright

Kate Winton

Kate Winton Designs

Designing and fabricating visual delights

[email protected]

https://www.instagram.com/katewintondesigns/

Cathy Cohane

Curtain Cathy is a custom window treatment design, fabrication and installation company, in business over 25 years. We love making houses homes.

Find us @Curtain Cathy on Instagram

Rosemarie Garner, owner of R Garner Custom Designs in Northern NJ, a To The Trade custom workroom, specializing in detailed custom fabrication of Roman shades, draperies and all soft treatments.

Links and Resources;

Link to Daniel Pink's Video

The Twelve Year by Brian Moran and Michael Lennington

(Some of the links I provide, specifically to Amazon and a few others, require me to let you know that if you use those links and make a purchase, I will make some money. I won't make a million dollars, but I might be able to get a cup of coffee, so thank you!)

Here are the three questions:

• Please use your phone, not your computer. Phones tend to produce much better audio quality.
• Find a quiet space where you won't be interrupted.
• Aim for 60 to 90 seconds. If you're unsure, err on the shorter side.
• At the beginning of your message, please share your first name and, if you're comfortable, your location.

If you would prefer not to leave a voicemail, please send me an email to [email protected].

Here are the three questions:

• Please use your phone, not your computer. Phones tend to produce much better audio quality.
• Find a quiet space where you won't be interrupted.
• Aim for 60 to 90 seconds. If you're unsure, err on the shorter side.
• At the beginning of your message, please share your first name and, if you're comfortable, your location.

If you would prefer not to leave a voicemail, please send me an email to [email protected].

Kelly and Lee Nanney are a dream team when it comes to fulfilling customers' window-covering needs. Creating custom-designed draperies to compliment the look and feel of each individual home, Kelly and Lee find joy in providing clients with high-quality and timeless curtains, shades, valances and more. With each project, Kelly and Lee pay great attention to all the small details and maintain the highest standards for the outcome of every piece. Kelly's Designer Drapes provides fabric selections, in-home consultations, measuring and installation for your convenience. Window treatments are a necessity for any home, but Kelly's Designer Drapes turns these functional pieces into works of art that complement the furnishings in your home.

Instagram

Facebook

Here are the three questions:

• Please use your phone, not your computer. Phones tend to produce much better audio quality.
• Find a quiet space where you won't be interrupted.
• Aim for 60 to 90 seconds. If you're unsure, err on the shorter side.
• At the beginning of your message, please share your first name and, if you're comfortable, your location.

If you would prefer not to leave a voicemail, please send me an email to [email protected].

Mandy Szigethy discovered upholstery while completing her Theater Technology degree at Indiana University and decided to forsake the stage in favor of the workshop. She has had the unique opportunity to work in both furniture manufacturing at Beachley Furniture and now custom upholstery as the owner of Rose City Upholstery in Portland. She has received training in both modern materials and traditional methods through Upholstery Education and is now able to apply time tested techniques to all of her projects. Her love of learning lead to her to co-ownership of Upholstery Education in 2025 where she hopes to foster the same enthusiasm in others. Her passion for revitalizing and repurposing home furnishings has led to an in depth--if unintentional--study of older and newer furniture, and the potential of any antique store or curbside find.

Jonathan Bennet, owner of Unsprung Upholstery is originally from Martinsville, VA.

He caught the sewing bug from his great grandmother at a young age.

He moved to Richmond, VA on a whim in August of 1989 and earned a BFA in Fashion Design from Virginia Commonwealth University.

Directly after graduation, Jonathan taught in the Fashion Design department as an adjunct professor for 13 years.

He started his first workroom job in 1997, learned how to make various types of window treatments, cushions, pillows, and more; since then, he has done freelance workroom client projects in his home for over 25 years.

Jonathan opened Unsprung Upholstery LLC in August 2019 and will continue this beautiful journey for the rest of his life!

Website: UnsprungUpholstery.com

IG: UnsprungUpholstery

FB: Unsprung Upholstery Company

Links and Resources;

Real Workroom Tours Video with Jonathan, Jeanelle Dech and Kelly McCrory

The Drapery & Design Digital Digest November/December 2025

Jonathan Bennet, owner of Unsprung Upholstery is originally from Martinsville, VA.

He caught the sewing bug from his great grandmother at a young age.

He moved to Richmond, VA on a whim in August of 1989 and earned a BFA in Fashion Design from Virginia Commonwealth University.

Directly after graduation, Jonathan taught in the Fashion Design department as an adjunct professor for 13 years.

He started his first workroom job in 1997, learned how to make various types of window treatments, cushions, pillows, and more; since then, he has done freelance workroom client projects in his home for over 25 years.

Jonathan opened Unsprung Upholstery LLC in August 2019 and will continue this beautiful journey for the rest of his life!

Website: UnsprungUpholstery.com

IG: UnsprungUpholstery

FB: Unsprung Upholstery Company

Links and Resources;

The Custom Workroom Conference

Window Covering Association of America Scholarship Info