Last week I had the incredible opportunity to attend the Meridian Experience in Bellevue, Washington. I guess the simplest way to describe it is a conference for interior design influencers and creators, but really it felt like a reunion with my people, the people who just
get it. My friend Albie of
Albie Knows is, to my knowledge, the first Black woman to organize an event like this and I can’t tell you how amazing it felt to look around the room and see so many other Black women who are absolutely crushing it. I keep finding myself speaking in clichés, but my cup is full and my commitment to this work and the impact it can have on people is restored.
Creative work like this can feel really lonely. Writing, filming, designing alone in your house, and putting your work out into the ether can feel a little fruitless at times. But I think being in Washington with my peers, mentors and idols affirmed that this isn’t just some random thing I’m doing on the side. It’s a whole-a$$ business.
Are sofas going to fix the world’s problems? Of course not. But I do think that our homes are the places from which the rest of our world springs. Holding onto that thought motivates me to share the pretty stuff that at first glance might seem frivolous. My hope is that, by watching me create spaces in my home with my hands and a relatively tight budget, other folks will start to understand how they can do the same.
Sometimes the media and people more broadly portray influencers and content creators in a really negative light – there’s been a lot written on this topic, particularly about the way that this women-dominated field gets belittled. But what I experienced last week was anything but vapid. I can honestly say that the folks I spent time with seem pretty much the same in person as they do online. Folks are in this line of work to help people feel good and safe at home, and many of them are also exploring ways to take the home category beyond decorating. Decorating is fine on its own, but still, it’s cool to see multidisciplinary work because that’s what I’m trying to do, too.
It gave me some space to think about where I want to take this creative business of mine. I’ve always been one of those people who has a million interests, and I struggle to put myself into one box because my curiosity and my brain simply won’t let me. Will I be a city planner and work in a local government office? Will I join a think tank and advise clients on housing policy? Will I end up doing something completely different, and how does @dommdotcom fit into that?
A few days away from home won’t let me solve those existential questions, but it sure did reignite my fire. I had my first real practice at telling people about the ways I try to blend home decor with broader housing crisis themes and it turns out I want to work on my elevator pitch, lol.
One throughline for me is community – online communities have been my lifeline during the pandemic when I otherwise just stayed in the house. Of course, communities are at the core of a planner’s work, too. Strong communities where neighbors know each other and look out for each other tend to be safer and more stable.
As a person with online influence, I feel a lot of pressure to grow. Brands want more eyes on their products, and growing your audience is the only way to show that you can do that. I think I resist this on its face a bit; sure it would be nice to have 10,000 people subscribed to this newsletter and 100k catching up with me on social media, but as far as goals go it isn’t very salient. Like, if I wake up and my motivation is to teach people how the housing market works or how to feel more at home in your home, reaching a few dozen people is plenty.
Your support through this newsletter means so much to me. I hope to see you in
Summer Reading Club next Wednesday – and remember, we won’t have a new newsletter next week in lieu of the Clurrrrb.
