Emily Mingenbach-Henry ’91 is an interior designer who resides in Sante Fe, New Mexico. She is the owner Emily Henry Interiors and is currently working to expand her business. Her Campus™ Lawrence met up with her during the previous Lawrence Scholars in Arts and Entertainment summit and sat down to chat about her career, advice and what she values about a Lawrence degree.
Her Campus™ Lawrence: What does your current job entail?
Emily Henry: I have two: the first is designer and owner of Emily Henry Interiors. The interior design business has been mostly focused on high end residential but I have been working towards expanding my business to include hotels. We are excited that we just landed our first hotel job and this should be a creative and fun new project.
For the past 16 months or so I have also been starting up a new furniture line that I hope to launch this year. I have been researching, designing and writing my business plan, and am in the process of securing investors for this exciting new phase of my career. My dream has been to create a small boutique line of high-end contemporary hand carved wood furniture, reviving and updating a somewhat stale and stagnant Northern New Mexico woodworking cottage industry. The progress on this has been slow and organic: I began designing and making my furniture about 7 years ago in response to what I saw as a void in the marketplace.
HCLU: What was your first entry-level job?
Emily Henry: In 1998, my husband and I moved to Santa Fe from Pittsburgh. I put the word around town that I wanted to be a designer’s assistant and I was hired by a design firm to help in the office. What I didn’t realize, of course, was that I was walking into a crazy situation. They were in a lot of trouble financially due to very poor bookkeeping. I had no prior experience in interior design so I couldn’t understand what was happening at the time. With things falling apart, it was insane and very uncomfortable at the office. A break up of the firm ensued but I stayed on with one of the designers. I worked with her for a couple of years, watching her pulling it back together, paying back taxes and catching up with outstanding invoices. It was blood, sweat and tears, I tell you!
That experience, in the end, was the best thing I could have had so early in my career. I learned the importance of running a tight ship and keeping good books. I learned that running the business must be the first priority, and the fun stuff (design) must come a far second. I learned that when you get knocked down, as inevitably we all do, you pick yourself up and right the wrongs, learning and growing from our difficulties. The tragedy is not having tough experiences, it’s when we don’t learn from them. My first design position was so incredibly eye opening that it taught me enough to move straight on to start my own company, with amazing support and encouragement from my former boss. Difficult jobs teach you so much more than easy ones!
HCLU: What is the one thing you wish you knew about your industry when you first started out that you know now?
Emily Henry: What I’m about to say is more a statement about life. I have no regrets as wisdom is only revealed through life’s challenges, but it took me 40 years to understand that I have to be happy with the process of what I am doing. We are all so focused on the end result: “If I work hard I will get this house or this job or this job will go a certain way…,” and we are taught to focus on the result and to believe that the result we want will make us happy. That is never true. My life and career completely bloomed when I started focusing on the moment and appreciating and accepting things exactly as they are, not as they might be.
HCLU: Who is the one person who changed your personal life for the better?
Emily Henry: About five years ago, a man walked into my office and interviewed me. He was building a vacation home here in Santa Fe. About 5 months into the project, I finally got the guts to Google him, and what I discovered was terrifying. He’s this crazy big time publishing executive in NYC, super successful. I was glad to have started with him before I figured it out. I have a policy not to socialize with clients while I am working with them, but after we finished we began a wonderful friendship. He has mentored and coached me and is a source of inspiration. He believed in me before I believed in myself and taught me that a positive attitude is the most valuable asset one can have. He has encouraged me to have faith, to focus and then aim higher. While he has taught me to be more assertive in my financial affairs, he repeatedly reminds me that we have to do it for love. Fear of financial insecurity will take us down. But if we do it for love, the money will follow. I am very grateful for his friendship and guidance.
HCLU: What is the best part of my job?
Emily Henry: Creating beauty.
HCLU: What do you look for when considering hiring someone?
Emily Henry: An open mind and a strong work ethic. A willingness to go the extra mile. And nothing is worse than a newbie who walks in with crazy expectations and demands!
HCLU: What advice would you give to a 20-something with similar aspirations?
Emily Henry: This job is much less glamorous than it seems. It’s hard work and not for the faint of heart. Keep in mind that interior design is a service job. That makes it both very rewarding at times and very tough at times. Keep your ego out if it as much as you can, and be grateful for the opportunity to be of service. And remember that it’s not your money, it’s the client’s!
HCLU: What words of wisdom do you find most valuable?
Emily Henry: “We scout to see what we are missing, and end by missing what we are seeing” by Carol Moldaw AND “To loose patience is to loose the battle” by Gandhi
HCLU: Being a Lawrence alum, what do you find most valuable about a degree from a small liberal arts college like Lawrence?
Emily Henry: Lawrence was very challenging for me: I really struggled as a student. But all that effort taught me a few invaluable lessons. Very seriously, the first was learning how to read and write. The Second was how a good liberal arts education can help us look at challenges from many different angles, and then allows us to solve them in an inspired, creative way. Never let a good crisis go to waste: many of my shortcomings have turned out to be my most valuable assets. Lastly, just by showing up and trying my best, I am 90% there. The other 10% is the Universe. Inspiration is unpredictable, often fleeting and always a gift.