Business Owner Turned Designer: Finding the Light at the End of the Tunnel

While building my career in hospitality, I launched my vintage clothing business, Experiment 27-Vintage, operating from a shared space at The Vintage Freak in Retro Plaza, Bedford, TX. However, when a competitor bought me out, I took a pause from creative and business pursuits, eventually relocating to Denver, CO, where I devoted myself to a career in hospitality until a year prior to the pandemic.

It was shortly before this time, in search of creative renewal, that my lighting design series was born. Using repurposed components of beverage containers and their packaging, I birthed a series called “I Can Afford This Now,” amplifying my consistent environmentally based message that there is too much waste in the world—and that creativity can be a force for sustainability. The project became a reflection of resourcefulness, resilience, and a refusal to conform to the cycle of disposable consumerism that others too often try to force on me due to outdated ideals of how something should be assigned value. Now I am actively working on a new lighting design for my series, inspired by identity and the constellations in the night sky—symbols of connection that have watched over humanity since the beginning of time. Stay tuned for updates on my Zodiac creations that are sure to light up your world. Once I have completed them, I will enthusiastically be reaching out to galleries to showcase my environmentally conscientious pieces.