Meet Brianna Love | Furniture Designer

We had the good fortune of connecting with Brianna Love and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Brianna, can you walk us through the thought-process of starting your business?
I started fərn (pronounced fern) because I’ve always loved furniture design and couldn’t find what I wanted in the market. Ever since I was a kid, I truly loved designing furniture and home objects that were fun, interesting, and practical. When I started looking for furniture for my own apartment, I noticed a dearth of interesting, sustainable, and accessible options. Most furniture nowadays isn’t built to last and uses cheap materials and underpaid labor. I try to make ethical choices when I purchase things like food and clothes but really struggled to find creative pieces that were transparent in their manufacturing process to decorate with—thus fərn was born 2 years later. I had a hard time finding sustainable furniture options beyond used furniture. Fərn is an exploration into what it means to be a sustainable furniture company in the modern day. At fərn, sustainability includes the environmental and financial impact both in the short and long term of the design. The pieces are built to last multiple generations and my made to order manufacturing process minimizes waste. I source materials as locally as possible, from responsible sources, and prioritizing long lasting materials over disposable ones. I understand that fərn is more expensive than say mass-manufactured options and we understand that a majority of the population is underpaid, which is why we offer financing and split payments to make fərn more affordable.
In terms of design, I design pieces that I would actually use in my home that push the bounds of what has traditionally been seen as furniture and blur the lines between form and function. I draw a lot of inspiration from nature, literature, and history, as well as my travels. I like creating furniture that makes you do a double take but also reflects an individual style while fitting seamlessly into not only your life but your space.

Can you give our readers an introduction to your business? Maybe you can share a bit about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
I think what sets me apart from others is, I really don’t back down from a challenge. I’ve designed some pretty complicated objects mostly because I can. In my mind there are no limits to what can be designed and built. I will always figure out a way to bring my designs to life. I think I’m most proud of getting my business up and running so quickly. I’ve always enjoyed designing and building furniture but I never really saw a path forward. My past jobs connected me with a number of entrepreneurs and I realized they were figuring their businesses out as they went along—so I could too. Fərn started as a way for me to showcase my designs and my process, and potentially attract new clients for custom work. About 3 months ago, I decided to take the plunge and turn fərn into a full-fledged business. Bringing a business online in 3 three months is incredibly difficult, especially when you don’t know the first thing about running a furniture company. I’ve overcome all of my challenges by asking for help, full stop. I posted in groups like the Startup Communities Community and my alumni Facebook groups. I googled and asked for insight from family members and friends of family members. Asking for help and trying new things is the formula I’ve always used to advance my career. I think this is also one of the main takeaways I want the world to know about fərn, we won’t back down from a design challenge—it might take a second but I’ll figure out a way to do it.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
Two of my closest friends have dietary restrictions so I would highlight a mix of vegan and gluten free restaurants like: Slutty Vegan, The Gathering Spot (also a great place to meet new people and network), Bread and Butterfly, the Southern Gentleman (for Brunch specifically), Gunshow, Umi, Aria (specifically for dessert), and El Tesoro (because we really love tacos!). We’re all also really into art so I would definitely urge them to visit: Arnika Dawkins Gallery, FreeMarket Gallery, ABV Gallery, the Spelman Art Museum, Peters Street Community Center and the High Museum of Art. I am also personally a fan of the Georgia Aquarium and would definitely try to take them to it towards the end of the trip.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I know it’s probably been over said but my friends, family (especially my sister, Porsche), and a few of my former bosses have helped me so much. I’ve gotten to this point in my life because of so many people, truly a community’s worth, if I were to list every single person it would easily be three pages worth of names. Each person played a different role and was key in helping me get to this point. They each provided a different type of support or perspective that guided me to the point I am at today. My parents and grandparents instilled a “just try” attitude. My friends believe in me (and so do my parents). My last boss and supervisor, as well as the faculty members who really took the time to teach me about different industries and fields, helped me immensely. A number of somewhat random strangers and partners explained their work and what I needed to know to excel in different fields. Specifically, three graduate architecture students who explained all the skills I would need to be an architect as a first-year undergraduate student; without them I would not be as proficient with technical software and able to design half of the things I do. Then there are the people and experiences who challenged my expectations and normal, which encouraged me to be more comfortable being me while also questioning what was possible. I learn and grow from those around me, so it’s a little difficult to pinpoint only one or two people or even books and organizations that I would like to dedicate my shoutout to, because so many people had a hand in getting me to this point.

Website: https://fernco.space/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/fern.space/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/FerncoSpace

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ferncospace/

Other: Webshoppe: https://shop.fernco.space/ Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/ferncospace/