NEWH - Spring 2015 - 20

Q&A

One-on-One with
Valerie Coleman
President of the Washington DC chapter
and interior designer/consultant,
VBC Interior Design, LLC

How did you become involved with NEWH?
I was an interior design student at Montgomery College, and
my professor (Nancy Evans) was informing our class about
NEWH and its benefits, and encouraging us to apply for the
scholarship. I did, and was selected as a recipient. Then I
attended an NEWH event when they conducted tours of the
Marriott sample guestrooms, and I was sold. I knew I wanted to
work in hospitality, and because NEWH focused on hospitality
specifically, I kept up my involvement and got active in the local
chapter's board of directors.
 
What has NEWH done for you, both personally and professionally?  
NEWH has assisted me in the hospitality field by introducing
me to people and venues I might never have crossed paths with,
which I personally attribute to my landing the jobs I have in
this field. It has helped hone my planning and organizational
skills, as well as provided further training and practice in
leadership. By holding several chapter-level board positions,
I've gotten to speak at schools and various audiences to
promote NEWH, and I've been able to attend conferences and
international board meetings where I get to meet others in
this industry who do what I do, but in a different part of the
country! I've gained some great friendships because of NEWH-
meeting people who I have not only worked with or for, but also
who are part of my close circle of friends today.
In your role as president of the Washington DC chapter, what do
you have planned for 2015?
As the new chapter president, I am most looking forward to
throwing great programs so that we attract more members,
and I want to make sure we involve a lot more of our current
membership in the planning and organizing of events. For
2015 our chapter is planning some hotel tours, a kick off to the
scholarship season, another painting and wine sip event (which
was very successful in 2014), the launch of a new mentorship
program, and, of course, we'll continue with our staple events-
the annual golf tournament fundraiser, our scholarship awards
event, our community service initiatives, and to close it all out
with a holiday celebration. We're energized and ready, especially
after having attended the recent NEWH Leadership Conference
in Dallas.

20 www.newh.org

Tell us a bit about what's new with VBC Interior Design.
VBC Interior Design is my LLC that I launched while in design
school as part of a business practices course. I began by doing
small residential projects and learned how to get paid for my
services. The business sat dormant for some years once I started
working full time for various employers in the hospitality
industry. I had an epiphany a couple of years ago, and realized I
needed to restructure my work and personal life to achieve some
balance. I began a research process to fi nd out what I needed to
do to actually be a design consultant. My focus is on providing
interior design services for hospitality-specifically design
development, selecting fabrics/furnishings/fi nish materials,
writing FF&E specifications, and installations. I am involved now
on a contract conducting design reviews for new-build Fairfield
Inn & Suites properties by Marriott. Th is contract work, along
with teaching as an adjunct professor at Montgomery College,
has my time well occupied.
 
What is your business outlook for 2015?
I'd like to achieve some consistency in my work and continue
honing the skills I'm now gaining while working on my current
contract. I plan to continue to grow professionally in this
industry, which means attending more industry events outside
of NEWH.
 
What is the biggest challenge today in hospitality? Biggest
opportunity? 
One of the biggest challenges (at least from my designerentrepreneur perspective) is to keep up with the flow of work
with more constrictive schedules and tighter budgets. There
are many projects in the pipeline, but many have the same
purchasing and construction windows, which requires
creating cohesive teams from the onset of the project-
teams between the ownership groups, design and procurement
teams, and the general contractor. The biggest opportunity
is to target future industry design professionals and prepare
them with the soft skills that are required in hospitality-
the personal, interpersonal, face-to-face, hand-to-hand
opportunities that solidify relationships in our business.  ❙❘❚
http://www.newh.org
NEWH - Spring 2015

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