Page 67 - Lighting Magazine October 2019

sMall spaces arE big
LISA DAVENPORT
Originally considering a career in graphic design, Lisa Davenport soon decided that working from a cubicle all day wasn’t going to be the right fit. She happily put her creativity and outgoing personality to
work as a visual merchandiser for a clothing company based in Middletown, Ct., where she had responsibility for all of the merchandising displays at the company’s five stores. The experience she gained building those sets proved to be an ideal lead-in for a career in design.
She got her first taste of client design when a local woman, impressed with Davenport’s talent, asked her to select paint, wallpaper, and a valance for her bedroom. Davenport found the experience to be rewarding and enjoyable to see how happy the woman was with the results.
Shortly afterward, however, her daughter was born and Davenport thought it was time to “stay home and be like Donna Reed and vacuum wearing my pearls.” But the same need for personal interaction that kept her from pursu- ing graphic design – and the gratification she felt from using her creativity to decorate for that client’s bedroom – made her realize that a career in design would be ideal. Not one to waste any time, Davenport earned a degree in design before her daughter’s first birthday.
Davenport enjoyed 15 years as a partner in a 6,000-sq.-ft. showroom; seven years ago, she started her own design business in Connecticut, and later opened a studio in Naples, Florida. She credits her success, in part, to surrounding herself with good people whom she trusts will help her make solid financial and business decisions. Her team includes a CFO, an office manager, several designers and assistants, and a social media pro.
“When I mentor designers and design firm owners, I tell them that a key to success is finding as much fulfillment in creativity building a business as in the design work itself,” Davenport states. “You never want to be the smartest
person in the room.”
She also credits a handful of design profession-
als who have inspired the way she approaches projects; one of them is Barry Dixon. “I like to say that our industry is full of generous, giving people,” she comments. “But Barry is that and more. He’s one of kindest, most talented, and ‘real’ people I’ve met in this business. He has no ego, and his designs reflect that. His work is a pure reflection of his clients.”
Davenport describes her signature design style as “Cashmere and Blue Jeans.” She jokes, “My husband has always said, “’This wife of mine can walk into a room in an evening gown and stilet- tos, and the next morning she’ll be barefoot in the garden with no makeup on.’”
october 2019 | enLIGHTenment Magazine 65