15 Minutes of Fame on Apartment Therapy

By now, a lot of you probably know my story: pandemic ruined my career in events, got into interior design, “pivoted,” yada yada yada… But for those of you who DON’T know the whole story, it started with transforming my space during quarantine last spring, eventually leading to a feature on Apartment Therapy.

Apartment Therapy is one of the largest online media publications in the accessible interior design space. I’ve absolutely loved following them and I thought “hey, why not submit my photos!” So I sent them photos of my apartment and little descriptions of what I did to decorate, mostly focusing on how I’ve used every inch of space I possibly could.

I wanted to emphasize that everything was done intentionally to keep my small space feeling clean while leaving room to decorate with items that make me happy and still enhance the design. When you’re working in a rental apartment on a budget, you have restrictions, but I wanted readers to know that it shouldn’t hinder you from finding creative decorating solutions. Adding shelves, thrifting decor, upcycling projects, and collecting sentimental pieces are all ways in which I made my own space feel special without the huge price tag, and that’s exactly what I shared in the article.

Within a day after submitting in July, I was told the story was approved with no other information about its release. One day out of the blue, my personal Instagram started gaining tons of followers really fast. I saw I was tagged by Apartment Therapy and knew what was going on. Of course, I was on my way to the Adirondack Mountains in upstate New York, and swiftly lost service before I could see all the comments, likes, follows, and messages come in!

The next day after I finally got on wifi, I saw all the love pouring in… and it was shocking! I had never experienced a “viral internet” moment personally, and it was cool to see it. Overall, I only gained about 600 followers, but the post itself gained over 40,000 likes and I had lots of comments asking me about my space. Furthermore, it gained me attention from my own peers and network. So many people were reaching out to me personally or messaging friends of mine saying “can Maggie come do my house?!” I was so flattered that people were legitimately interested in having me help them redo their space.

In that time, I was also contacted by the NY Post for a story about New Yorkers who painted their walls during the pandemic. This additional piece of press just fueled the fire more, and I was even more inspired to really make something of this momentum.

When I was unfortunately laid off shortly after these articles came out, I knew it was my time to make a change and develop this idea into something bigger. Something I could really do for a living. Something different than what was out there. I was grappling with the intense emotions of losing my absolute dream job working as an event designer for Little Miss Party. I was devastated to be parting ways from a team that I loved to work with every day. All these emotions just helped me to focus on my new venture even more. When I was up at night and unable to sleep, worried about what the future held, I would brainstorm more ideas for Nestia. I would think about business names. I would consider how the process should work. I would think about my target audience. I would think about the mission I was trying to accomplish in finding the dream clients.

Long hours of thought provoking conversations with family and friends as I pitched my idea were had between August and November. Many rounds of edited names and brand pitch decks. Hours of planning for branding and site design. Days spent planning my brand photo and video shoot. Thousands of dollars spend to establish an LLC and create a beautiful online presence. And all because a bunch of people saw me on Apartment Therapy and thought “hey, this girl could design my home…” I’m eternally grateful to all those people who believed in me and gave me the confidence to do this. I am thankful each day for the ability to chase this dream.

xo

Maggie