The Mood Board Interview Series

This week I’m excited to talk with Byron Cordero, Principal at Cordero Consulting to give us the deets on the importance of PR and interior design. Byron has been in PR since as long as he can remember, and he ‘s in one of the most competitive PR markets in the world—New York City. Little do interior designers know that the real matchmakers that help your business grow are people like him.  Byron and I also discussed the hurdles that he has experienced as a man of color in the interior design industry, and why allyship and calling out a racist incident when it happens are so important to begin to move forward with these issues.

Replay of an interview I did in February to discuss the relevance of Black voices in the interior design industry with Tavia Forbes and Monet Masters, the founders of Forbes + Master, an Atlanta-based interior design firm.

This week I'm catching up with A-List interior designer Joy Moyler in another interview a part of the series, Where Are The Black Tastemakers Now? I wanted to learn more about Joy's new job at Veranda Magazine as contributing editor, and what can we expect from her IG Live weekly interviews, High Tea with Joy. But more importantly than all of this, what's the story with Joy's bike Camille, what happened? 

This week I’m doing another interview a part of the series, Where Are The Black Tastemakers Now?   I decided to catch up with Clarence Gabriel,  who is a photographer, real estate agent, interior designer (and the  list goes on and on). The last time we did an interview together was in 2016, and he owned a furniture store called 7th & Spring in Los Angeles.  Well, a lot has changed since then, and now he lives in Atlanta and does photography, real estate, and multiple other projects.

I’m excited to be kicking of season three of The Moodboard podcast with Editor in Chief, Jenna Talbott of New England Home magazine. This publication  is dedicated to showcasing the unique architecture, design, and  building  that defines the luxury home in New England.  Jenna and I discuss what's on the horizon for magazine, now celebrating their 15 year anniversary; and what is this publication doing to create more representation for people of color in front of and behind the camera? 

This week we are going to talk with Michiel Perry, Founder of Black Southern Belle and a 28 Black Tastemaker, about how is she managing her business in the new normal and how are Black owned art galleries being impacted by the pandemic. But more importantly (LOL), learn why Michiel calls her sofa, Purple Rain and discover why Black farmers could be the new hipsters. 

Replay of the Interview with Kennesha Poe-Buycks, author of Restoration House: Creating a Space That Gives Life and Connection to All Who Enter. 

As we creep closer and closer towards the end of summer, I’ve been trying to think of ways to hold onto that feeling of summer bliss. Well it took me no time to realize that I should reach out designer Rebecca Atwood.  Rebecca is a designer, author, and artist whose original collection of homegoods focuses on the  artistic process. Rebecca’s collections span pillows, fabric-by-the-  yard and wallpaper, are they all designed and ethically produced in small editions in the United States.  In this week’s interior design game, Rebecca and I played the LOVE IT or HATE IT game, and why?  This week’s trends were from Better Homes and Gardens, fortunately Rebecca loved all of these trends, but there were some caveats.

I don’t know if you’ve noticed it or not, but in interior design plants are definitely getting their 15 minutes of fame and then some (and I don’t get it).   So I decided to reach out to Hilton Carter aka The Plant Doctor and find out what is all the fuss about plants. Plus in this week's interior design game, I wanted to get Hilton's thoughts on the latest plant lingo.

I decided to do an interview this Nicole Jackson-Bertrand, she is a DIY guru and whenever I look at the jaw dropping beautiful photos of her home, and her backyard oasis I like to virtually transplant myself there, so I thought you might want to do the same  (but for real, check out her IG design_it_vintage_living).  I decided instead of hearting her photos everyday, I wanted to learn more about her interior design business NJB Interiors. Plus, I wanted to pick Nicole’s brain about when should you DIY vs. Hire A Pro in this week’s interior design game.