Designing Women: Channeling Julia Sugarbaker

If you saw my post, on growing older or bolder, you know that I was going to be considered for an upcoming television series based on an interior design firm in the south. The cities in contention are Atlanta, Dallas, and New Orleans. This was going to be my design team and myself trying to impress the television producers in LA that they should use a talented 61 year old woman who runs a very successful interior design firm. This caused me to reflect on my favorite television show of the late 80’s , Designing Women, where Julia Sugarbaker ran the show and didn’t take crap from anyone.

I absolutely loved this show, not for it’s comedy, but for the way a woman was being portrayed in the 80’s as a woman who spoke her mine and was strong in her beliefs and her convictions. Julia answered to no one and every week I waited for her to go off on some poor fool. Julia was an intelligent woman with a quick wit, deliciously southern, and who had the best one liners. Dixie Carter was the actress who portrayed Julia Sugarbaker and was 47 when the series began in 1986 and 54 when the series ended in 1993. (Yes, I’m leading up to the age of the actress for a reason. Hang in there.)

I started my interior design business in my 40’s in New Jersey and moved the company to Atlanta 6 years ago. We choose Atlanta as the city to retire in because I had lived in Atlanta in the 80’s as a flight attendant. I love how beautiful Atlanta is and it has so much to offer people of all ages. It is a very diverse city where my interior design firm has clients who have moved to Atlanta from different areas of the United States, some are Gen Xers, mostly baby boomers, professional athletes, and high powered executives who want to enjoy their time away from work and not be spending time decorating or renovating their home.

I have appeared on Good Morning America, been featured in dozens of magazines, and have had the honor of being selected to be a featured decorator in designer showhouses. My work appears on Houzz and HGTV, and the one thing that has never disqualified me from getting a client is my age. No one has ever asked me how old I am by looking at my body of work. My interiors do not shout out, “Hey this room was designed by a 61 year old! Age is not relevant when designing interiors. Years of experience and knowledge is why a designer stays successful in 2018. God willing, I can run my design business well into my 80’s if I want to, but I am a lucky woman who can decide how long I want to work.

Question: Is this a Business or a Hobby?

Seriously I was asked this question about my interior design business by the casting director!

I had a very quick witted response (channeling Julia Sugarbaker again) and said to him that it was an insulting question, in so many words.  But television has made people stars on HGTV with no education or experience in the interior design industry so he was asking a valid question. It just is insulting for designers who have an education and years of experience to be competing against people who have a “flair for decorating” and are “television ready”.  Perky breasts and personalities do not make for good interior designers! (Perky breasts on a seasoned veteran in the design industry is a whole nother topic which I won’t touch on here.) I can tell you horror  stories of stupid people proclaiming they are decorators and totally screwing up a project only to have us (REAL interior designers) rescue the poor client left in tears! It happens in all trades. Ever used a cheap contractor who wasn’t a licensed contractor? Come sit down and tell me about it………

Working After 50

I have talked to many women over 50 who are finding it difficult getting a job today. I had asked this question in a group of  over 50 year old women on Thursday about age and sex discrimination and many said they have gone through so many interviews and filled out so many job applications they have felt so defeated. We have so much talent and experience as productive and viable employees, yet companies look at us as being OLD. For a growing number of highly qualified, professional women in their forties and fifties, they are struggling to get a foothold in the job market. Many have taken career breaks to look after children or elderly parents. Some are forced back to work after a divorce or the death of a spouse. For many of the women I spoke with, these challenges arose just as they were freed from the family responsibilities that slowed their career progress when they were younger.  As mothers, they were subjected to assumptions about whether their family obligations interfered with their commitment to work.  And when their children grew up, they raced back into the workforce, only to see their careers stalled by a reduced tolerance for aging women at work.

My friends careers are blocked because someone younger in the Human Resource Department thinks we are not viable and productive employees. So we begin to reinvent ourselves. We keep moving forward. Many friends of mine go back to college to get a Master’s degree in their field to become consultants.  Many reinvent themselves as artists or creative women because the road to employment has been blocked by the age factor.

We begin to think outside the box. Remember we are not defined by our age, but by our talent.

I am very lucky that I run my own business and I don’t need to worry about age discrimination in today’s workforce. I am busier today and very fortunate to have built a successful interior design business. Since I started my business at the age of 45, (just like Julia Sugarbaker) I didn’t see my age as a handicap in the design business. Every designer I meet at design events are between the age of 40- 70ish! The young designers are still working for design firms and won’t venture out on their own for at least 10 years. We get hired for our talent but we’re running businesses that demands a lot of our attention.

I started out as a one woman show and now I have 2-3 people working for me as well as interior design students. I hire companies to run my website and SEO marketing. I have learned that in order for my design business to grow I must hire people to do the work I know nothing about. I have young designers doing CAD ( Computer Assisted Design) and being Minnie Me on my design projects and I have my daughter running my office, bookkeeping, and is my project manager. Not bad for a 61 year old woman who started her business at 45. I built a business from scratch because I run it like a business, not a hobby.

My look for the Skype call with the casting director last week began with a black top but as my daughter said to me, “Mom let them see your personality in your bright happy colors.”

And so I took her advice and put on my latest spring outfit from Chico’s. The top is new as well as the pants,  but the jewelry is from last summer. I purchased the sandals in two colors after I had the navy ones for my son’s wedding. I tend to buy shoes in every color when they are comfortable.

I still don’t think we will be selected because I am not a Southerner, but a girl from Minnesota who landed in Atlanta twice in her life for 2 different careers at 2 different times in her life. Television also has a tendency to be age basis. I wonder what Julia Sugarbaker would have said to the casting director if she felt her age was the deal breaker?

“Frankly my darling, I don’t give a damn?”

It was fun being asked to the party!

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Thank you for stopping by today!

Do you find sex and age discrimination at work or have you reinvented yourself after midlife?

I would love to know!

Hugs,