THOM 1 | Fall / Winter 2013

trailblazer
M: So when did you decide to venture out on
your own?
S: I started our company when I was in San
Francisco. I worked with a woman who had a lot of
resources, but no clear direction. I knew I could do
what she was doing, but chart a better course for
my life. I thought, “I’m easy to be around. I want to
create my own environment, and be who I am, and
I know there are other people who want that too.”
So, honestly that was the driving force. It wasn’t
to get my art out into the world. I just wanted to
create a wonderful working environment for people
who wanted to be there. To show off their talent, do
their thing, and then go home at the end of the day
without their stomach in knots.
adapted well to small town life. You were raised in a
small town, did you feel a connection to your creative
side when you were young?
S: I’m from a little town, Corsicana, Texas.
Throughout my childhood I had great creative
experiences. I remember two really fabulous artists
in town. One was a watercolorist and another was
a color specialist who worked in oils. When I was in
high school a teacher said, “Susan I want to talk with
your parents about you going to Parsons.” I have
really great parents, but when I was ready to fly my
Dad said, “Forget it, you are not going to New York”.
He drew a line on the map and said you can’t go to
the east coast or the west coast, so what did I do? I
went to New York to California and back to New York!
So it happened that I was invited to India with a
friend’s mother. I went for a month and it was life
changing. I’ve always enjoyed going to places where I
don’t know anyone. I think I like the challenge.
M: India is known for beautiful fabrics, is that when
your affair with fabric design started?
S: Yes, right after my trip to India. My sister,
Katharine, had been at home with twins. They were
two and a half at the time. She had had too much
Sesame Street and was also ready to do something.
She’s a dynamic sales person and, when I say that is
her thing, I mean that is her THING. When I called
her and said I have this business idea and this is
what I want to do, she said great, it’s time for me too.
M: When did you get the gumption to fly the coop?
M: Does she share your artistic talent?
S: The minute I graduated from college. I moved
to New York and went to Parsons. It wasn’t entirely
what I expected, but I’m glad I had the experience.
Then I moved to San Francisco and I went to work.
For a while I worked in sales because I guess I knew
I needed to learn that. I’m super confident, but I
didn’t have the confidence to pay my rent off of
my art. At some point I started looking for a new
direction and ended up working for really interesting
women who all happened to be entrepreneurs.
S: No, but she is amazing. We probably wouldn’t
have our company if it wasn’t for her. No matter
what I’ve done, she’s always supported me. She’s the
dream partner. She’s never said “don’t do that” or
“I think that’s ugly” or “I don’t think that’s going to
work”. Never. In a way, I’ve had carte blanche. She’s
been open to whatever I wanted to do. That never
happens in business and I know how fortunate we
are. We created our business on a pure kind of love
for each other. She thought I could do anything,
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