I’m Amanda Wyatt, self-taught interior designer and founder of Design Insider. What I love about design is the power it has to impact people in the spaces I create.
Things I don’t love? Outdated, biased systems—but I’m also not afraid to fix them.
I started designing interiors when I moved to Western North Carolina about 8 years ago. My traditional education is in engineering, but my heart has always been in the arts (says the girl who placed first in every regional drawing and coloring competition since age 4). I landed in design after ditching a career in corporate America, opening a small chain of boutique bakeries, and then waving farewell to the hospitality industry in pursuit of better work/life balance.
I began building high-end vacation homes for clients in the area and soon I was being referred for jobs all over the Southeast. More and more clients started consulting me on their design decisions too because they trusted my strong sense of aesthetics. When I was asked to step into a project as the lead designer the little coloring champion in me beamed! It didn’t take much convincing me to dive right into the deep end of interiors…
I loved it, but shifting to interior design professionally was not easy.
I trusted my eye to create great spaces and I had the experience needed to drive a project home, but there were some crippling moments of self-consciousness in there too. Many people (established builders, favored architects, popular local designers) doubted that I’d earned my place in the industry and were not afraid to tell me.
The dynamics were tricky: I had already been the only female builder in the area at the time, and now I was also the youngest interior designer. The pressure to prove myself was magnified, and I didn’t feel comfortable admitting how much I still had to learn by asking my peers for help.
I knew I was starting out under-resourced but there was no incentive for me to draw more attention to the fact that I wasn’t already in their club. I’m not sure how much you know about the interior design industry, but here’s the dirty little secret: it’s not a team sport. Many designers hold their cards close to the chest keeping their sources private, and often vendors have items and programs that are only available to you if you know about them.
Design Insider is about rejecting this club mentality. We make membership available to everyone: no license, credentials or training required for full access! It’s a place where I share my contacts, tips from experience, and all my design secrets with anyone who is interested. Whether you’re dreaming about transforming your home, building your own design business, or just want to know how to buy a trendy new couch with a discount, you’ll fit right in.
When I got started in the design world, I knew I needed a rolodex of reliable shopping resources, and I was determined to get one even though it was clear no one would be handing it to me.
As an engineer, mom, and oldest sister it’s just my nature to jump in and problem solve, so I spent countless hours reading design blogs and googling specific items I saw in photos to source furniture and materials.
The process was slow, tedious, and honestly kind of demoralizing. I’d finally find something I wanted to use for a project, then repeat the exhausting process of an internet deep-dive… search out where to purchase it, research how the vendors offered trade pricing, and set up numerous accounts just to get access to the item I wanted at a reasonable price. Figuring this out myself was a crash course in how the industry worked, and while it was effective I knew there was a way to make it easier and more fun.
I created Design Insider to be a champion for other design enthusiasts; to give support, share the shortcuts, and build the community I wished I had from the beginning.
D.I. is the first and only place in the industry where anyone can shop using a carefully curated list of quality design vendors, and buy from them at trade pricing. It all started with the plan to share the personal rolodex I’d built over the years with other designers online, but it’s become so much more than that.
We’ve added more tools for members like by the hour 1:1 accounting and bookkeeping support, design coaching sessions, and a platform where like-minded designers can come together and discuss challenges, celebrate wins, and be inspired by what others out there are creating.
There are no secrets, and absolutely no stupid questions. At Design Insider we believe that the world of design should be open to anyone who wants in.
Over time I imagine Design Insider taking many shapes, following the ebb and flow of what our members need as the industry and trends change. I’m committed to staying limber and keeping the focus on offering more features and services that feel authentic and truly useful to everyone who’s using them.
