Closing a Door, Opening a Window: A Farewell and a Welcome

It’s been a really, really long time since I’ve written a blog post. And as I hit the keyboard again, I will deviate a little from my usual topic of interior design to share a bit from what has now become part of my past. In the last few months, I’ve had to travel a several times and dedicate a good amount of my energy to properly transitioning out of a major project that was my life for 12 years. Now I can fully embrace my interior design work. (Yay!). And while I’m at it, today is my birthday and I am excited to share this news as I celebrate life, my own story and the wonderful opportunities that the world presents us with!

13 years ago, I was presented with the wonderful opportunity to found and lead the Chile chapter of the largest global movement of children and youth who are working to make the world a better place: Design for Change. In 2013—the same year I married my wonderful husband, James—I threw myself into this endeavor where we were using the design methodology to empower school-aged kids to identify situations in their own environment that bother them and collaboratively design and implement appealing, simple, long-lasting solutions to them. Over the 12 years I ran this non-profit, we reached every one of Chile’s 16 regions and hundreds of counties, villages, towns, and cities, including Easter Island which sits so far out into the Pacific Ocean. About 8,000 children of all ages from 3 to 18 years of age participated and drove their communities forward in the process of making positive, impactful change and learning to say I CAN!

A group of 4 year-olds from Patagonia sharing their story of change with children and youth from all of Chile.

But everything has a moment and place, and I came to see that it was time to find a new home for the project. As life would have it, though, right before doing so, one of the top documentary film agencies in Chile invited me to be part of a docu-series of 10 episodes called 10 Chilean Women Changing the World. One of these episodes would be about my work with Design for Change Chile. What a gift and what a beautiful way to close a stage of my life that was driven by my love of design—in this case applied to education—and my desire to make an impact in my home country. The series was aired on Chile’s largest broadcast TV channel in late 2024.

Teenagers from northern Chile and southern Chile who traveled to Shanghai, China to present their story of change.

And timing is always quite amazing. Just two weeks ago I completed the handover of Design for Change Chile to the new team. Earlier this week I received notice of the documentary published with English subtitles. So today, I celebrate the beautiful gift of having the chance to impact all these lives. I also want to celebrate the privilege of having the opportunity to bring my talents into interior design and serve people by helping them create beauty and build soul into their own homes. There is so much to hope for, even during these uncertain times we are living.

Group of students who traveled to Uruguay to present their amazing story.

If you so feel inclined, please feel free to take a look at the documentary with it’s English translation and celebrate with me. Click on the photo below to watch the documentary.

YOUTUBE: https://youtu.be/3_D8bvamwIA?si=3fUWaSqn0Tzfk02F

CHEERS!