JAVA-SEPT-2016

Spending so much time in Scottsdale made her miss Phoenix, so she decided
to take a position with Red Development, the company that built CityScape.
She helped develop the seasonal ice skating rink and worked on many details
around the complex, including at the Hotel Palomar. One of Rille’s main
passions is food and cooking, and during her time at Red Development, she
gained a lot of experience working with the restaurants at CityScape.
During this time, Celine and her partner, Kevin, had a baby. So that she
could have more flexibility raising the child, Celine decided to start her own
business. She launched Rille & Co. around the beginning of 2015 and landed
her first big client, DeSoto Central Market, shortly thereafter.
“At the time I was forming Rille & Co., my husband was the president of the
Evans-Churchill neighborhood association. He had been meeting with Shaun,
the owner of DeSoto, while they were still under construction. I was totally
curious and excited about the concept and wanted to pick this guy’s brain. I
tagged along and we just got chatting. He needed help with branding and the
interior design. I said, ‘Hey, I have a chef friend that I can pull in, too.’
Next thing I know, I’m working away at it,” said Rille. At DeSoto she was
able to have her hands in a wide variety of things, from the logo design,
to the soundtrack, to the aprons the bartenders wear—just to name a few.
Working with DeSoto was a huge boost for Rille, connecting her with other
chefs and restaurants.
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“I [still] remember opening day, the line outside and just the way that everyone
was experiencing the space,” said Rille. “I designed the wall of chalk and knew
that it would be a great focal point for photos. So many people post pictures of
themselves in front of it. Same with Tea and Toast, when you get your drink, you
also get affirmations. It helps people feel good about themselves, which was
exactly my goal. Coming up with those details was really fun for me.”
One of Rille’s proudest accomplishments is her work at the McKinley Club,
a co-work space located near McKinley and First Avenue. “My husband
was looking for a place to office for his real estate business,” said Rille.
“We were both actually looking for workspaces. He found the building
and fell in love with the bones of it. I could see underneath years of bad
renovations that it had the potential to be a really good space. We set
the bar pretty high for ourselves. We weren’t sure what it would become at
first, but then I decided it would be a great portfolio piece for Rille and Co., so
I went to town designing, furnishing it and decorating it,” she said.
Celine had spent the early part of her career working in uninspiring office
settings, and she didn’t want to continue that trend, so one of the core
components of the concept is that work should be fun and inspiring. The
McKinley Club offers three different types of memberships that provide
various perks to the members. What caught Rille off guard was the
community’s response. The building was full of members almost immediately,
and the community came together in ways that she couldn’t have imagined.
Rille hired Kim Larkin—former director of Modified Arts and current owner of
MXD Arts—to curate the art at McKinley Club. Larkin says she tries to make
selections according to the style of the space, which she feels represents