As we approach the Studio’s third anniversary, I can’t help but think back to where this all started…recording a very awkward Instagram story, in between pumping sessions, in my (now) middle child’s nursery. I had spent the previous decade of my life working in advertising/art direction, and I just knew I couldn’t keep doing it for a minute longer. And yet, I didn’t feel totally qualified to make the leap into something new.

I was smack in the middle of my most difficult postpartum experience, dealing with a colicky baby, and by the end of most days it felt like I had done nothing for myself at all. I honestly felt like a shell of myself. When I started finding my way back to normalcy it became clear that the dream I had been putting on the back burner for so long could not be ignored any longer. If I was ever going to feel like myself again then I had to be honest with myself about the work I was really being called to do.

So, I took a chance and hung out my shingle as Studio Riggs. That first year we had 3 clients – one friend, one friend-of-a-friend, and one stranger on the internet who I will forever be grateful for.

Over the last 2 years we have learned and grown so much. There have been times when it was hard to continue, when there were big gaps between projects and I didn’t know how much longer I could keep posting the same 4 rooms on Instagram, but I have never wanted to quit. This business truly gives me so much life and joy.

“I feel honored by each home and each family, and it is never lost on me that it’s a privilege to get to do this.”

When I was in the depths of my postpartum depression it felt like I had nothing positive to give the world or my family. This business saved me, and made me feel capable again. It truly is like the old Elsie de Wolfe quote – “I’m going to make everything around me beautiful, that will be my life.”