Meet Cassandra Buckalew | Interior Designer

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

Hi Cassandra, how has your perspective on work-life balance evolved over time?
I’m adamant about work life balance. For many years I worked non-stop until I completely ran out of gas or was totally burned out. I went at such a hard pace building several businesses, sitting on community boards and committees, chairing events, attending weekly networking events and volunteering my time. I worked days, nights, and weekends and loved it for quite a while. Running several business that operated at all hours of the day, night and weekends with numerous employees, equipment responsibilities, and the behind the scenes demands of owning a business, meant I was getting calls, texts and emails at all hours. I felt like I was never away from it. Now that I’m only focusing on my design business, I don’t answer email on the weekends and guard my weeknights and weekends vehemently. We need time away from our work, even if we enjoy what we do. We need time to fill up our creative tanks again. We need to read, go hiking or biking and be out in nature, go to museums, play an instrument, study a language, develop and engage in hobbies, spend time with family and friends. Dare I say, we also need time to do absolutely nothing, which is often frowned upon in our culture. Just being rather than doing all the time is perfectly acceptable, too. Most of the time in order to solve a problem at work, we need to be away from it, so we can have inspired thought about it. We need to use different parts of our brain, and being on all the time, responding to texts or emails, puts us in a reactive state and doesn’t offer us the opportunity to be away from it to gain the creativity and clarity we need to solve problems. Sure there are times when we have to work late or work a weekend, but I try not to make it a habit. My personal time with family and friends and growing myself as a human being are precious to me, therefore I try to protect that time. Work is demanding enough during the week, so I try not to let it bleed into my personal time. Every day I write, exercise, and meditate before I even look at email. When I’m done with work, I don’t check email. My best advice is turn your email notifications off. I promise it will still be there when your work day starts, and truthfully most things are simply not that important. Set expectations and boundaries and let others know there are times you are not available. The right people will respect and understand that.

Alright, so for those in our community who might not be familiar with your business, can you tell us more?
Cassandra Buckalew Interiors is a full service interior design firm practicing both residential and commercial interior design. Due to covid, residential design projects are primarily our focus right now, because people aren’t opening businesses like they were. Commercial design gives me such a great sense of pride and fulfillment. It’s such a joy to walk that journey with someone opening their own brick and mortar business. I relive the excitement I had when I opened my first business each time with a new client. I know how hard it is to have a brick and mortar storefront and serve the general public each day. I know the struggles and what they are up against. I think having done that, it gives me great perspective on what a new client needs and how we handle the customer experience through the design of their space and hopefully generate more sales. Because I do both residential and commercial design and because so many of my clients have different brands and products they sell that must tell their story and speak to their customers, Cassandra Buckalew Interiors will never niche or have a specific look. I was drawn to design because I love all design styles and eras. My mind is like a library of designs just waiting for the perfect client to read that specific book with. I want to be able to express myself with all design styles. Recently I finished yacht interior design school at Westlaw Institute of Marine Technology, and I look forward to being able to do a yacht some day.

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?
Day 1 -Of course, Marietta Square, since it’s where I live. First a bike ride on the Mountain to River trail out to Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park and a spin through the visitor’s center including the brief video of the Battle of Kennesaw Mountain. Then to the Square to grab a coffee and eat at Sugar Cakes Patisserie followed by shopping, gallery hopping, and an afternoon pick me up at Tiny Bubbles Tea Bar. Then dinner at House of Lu followed by a show at the historic Art Deco Strand Theatre. Day 2 at Westside – Shopping at Le Jardin Francias, Billy Reid, Brick and Mortar, Perrine, Mashburn, Bungalow, and many others, followed by lunch at a favorite standby either JCT Kitchen or West Egg, and then of course Jeni’s ice cream. After gallery hopping throughout the district in the afternoon, we’d end the night at Le Fat. Day 3 Arts District -High Museum and MODA (Museum of Design Atlanta), lunch at 1280, then to SCADFASH. Patio drinks at the Livingston overlooking the Fox Theatre’s breathtaking design, and just to see interior of this historic building. Then dinner at the Consulate and a show at the Fabulous Fox . Day 4 Walk the Belt line. Is it possible to do two food halls in one day? Why not? I enjoy progressive dinner style grazing at Ponce City Market, because there are so many good places it’s hard to decide. I do love Ton Ton’s ramen for sure. Definitely a stop in at Goorin Brothers for a hat and Archer because I love pencils, paper and any sort of design, sketching and journaling supplies. Then to Krog Street for dinner at Superica. Day 5 A restful day at Serenbe eating at the Farmhouse, shopping, walking the grounds, enjoying the design and architecture, and strolling the shops.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
My clients deserve the biggest shoutout in my success. I have been so fortunate to have clients who put all their trust in me, my talents and abilities and most of them have become good friends. Without them allowing me to take some creative risks that pulls both of us out of our comfort zones a bit, I would not have the variety of work in my portfolio. I learn a great deal about their businesses in the process of designing for them, which in turn helps me grow mine. My girlfriends are also a huge support system for me. Many of them own their own companies or run organizations, so I have the benefit of mutual mentorship where we are constantly learning from one another. There is a bit of tacit learning in our friendship where we watch how one another handles situations in our community work together or hear how one another handled an employee situation for example. It’s such a great benefit to build your high vibe tribe.

Website: casssandrabuckalew.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cassbuckalew/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CassandraBuckalewInteriors

Image Credits
Alison Church Marc Mauldin