At Jenkins Baer Associates we pride ourselves on our work, but most of all, we take pride in the quality of professionals we welcome onto our team. Every individual employee at JBA brings talent, hard work, and great personality to the table. We enjoy what we do, we enjoy who we do it with and there’s no exception with new hire Rachel Pohlner, who joined the JBA team January 15th, 2018.  She’s been here for a week and she’s already fit into our work family seamlessly. We are thrilled to introduce Rachel as the newest Jenkins Baer Associate Designer. Get to know Rachel in the Q&A below…

1. Give a quick introduction about yourself.
I am a wife, a mother of 4 beautiful children and an interior designer.

2. What was your first job out of school? Call Center Manager. It was the first time I questioned what I really was doing with my life, and if this was the direction I wanted to go in. Clearly, I changed directions! LOL

3. When and how did you first realize that you wanted to work in the industry and business you are in? I was teaching at a private school in Baltimore and I kept thinking about how I wanted to rearrange my office! I shared the office with 2 of my coworkers and it wasn’t functional for us. So, we got down and dirty and started moving desks and bookshelves, etc. I started to realize how much I rearranged furniture in my daily life and found that it was quite often. I had many people tell me that I had an eye for it, and they always asked for my opinion on their spaces.
As a kid I would constantly rearrange my room by myself. My parents would come upstairs and my bed would be on the opposite wall and my dresser would be across from it. They were always amazed at how I would create more space for myself.  I literally would get on my bottom and drag the furniture around! The end result would always make me so happy. I finally realized that this was in me from childhood and that it was something I wanted to do all the time. So, back to school I went!

4. What do you like most about interior design? That’s a great question, and so hard to specify. I guess if I had to choose, I would say that once a room is transformed it can make you feel so good about yourself. It’s the feeling you get when you find those perfect jeans or you purchase those shoes you’ve been dying to have. You just feel so great about yourself and those pieces. A well designed space creates the same great feeling inside for me. It’s helping my clients feel really great about their spaces.

5. Whom do you count amongst your greatest creative influences? Georgia O’Keeffe. I remember learning about her in grade school and thinking how awesome it was that she was a highly regarded female artist. There weren’t many women artists that were talked about back then. Her use of color draws me in every time.

6. How would you describe your personal design style/aesthetic? I am not exactly sure what my design style is just yet. I love so many different aesthetics that it’s hard to pinpoint one as my favorite. I go off of what feels right for my space.

7. If any, what’s your design pet peeve? Art that is hung too high, or that is too big/small for a space.

8. If you could meet anyone in the world, who would you like to meet? And why? How can you not love Oprah!??? She’s just an inspiration. She worked so hard to be where she is now. Her determination, work ethic and poise are so admirable!

9. What’s your most prized possession? My family. My husband and my children. They are my world.

10. What do you look forward to in your new Associate position at JBA? Being able to make people happy through my own designs. I love seeing a client’s happy face after they finally have the house or space that they’ve wanted for years. Knowing that I helped them create that space is the best feeling.

11. What would you like people to know about you (anything is fair game)? That I am a jock that likes to get dressed up from time to time. I have a large extended family that I see often and that I adore. I’m a dog lover. I have two black labs that are 12 years old.

 

Welcome to the team, Rachel. We are exciting to see what the future has in store. Until next time!

XOXO, JBA