Shea Soucie, principal and co-founder, along with partner Martin Horner, of the Chicago- and Naples, Florida-based interior architecture and design firm Soucie Horner Ltd., spoke with Crain Currency about her progression from family business to interior design expert.
You and your partner came from the family business world to join forces on launching an interior design company focusing on an ultra-high-net-worth clientele. What was that experience like for you?
At the very beginning, we ran our business from Martin’s basement and my second bedroom. Even then we were lucky in that we both understood intuitively how to listen to clients and read between the lines to uncover their aspirations. Yet we also put in the hard work — which we were used to, since we both grew up with parents who ran family businesses. Working hard was a pillar of our upbringings, so we didn’t think twice about it. There was never any question we were going to deliver on our promises and stand behind our work. We’d seen firsthand the way that builds trust and grows reputation. We did whatever it took to get the work done. We loved what we were doing, so it never felt like work. It still doesn’t!
Today, your business has expanded to include a rug company called Shiir and a boutique property in Michigan called the Wickwood Inn. How do you expand into new areas while keeping the same ethos of your brand?
Martin and I talk a lot about culture and what it means to us. But it’s not enough just to talk about it. We actively nurture our culture with intention. We’ve been working with an organizational psychologist named Kris Lonsway for 15 years, who’s taught us the art of team-building and how to instill culture in those teams. Our people are the engine that runs our businesses, and we want them to feel inspired, that they’re learning and growing and that they have a voice. Culture is the foundation that supports our teams, so they want to lean into their work, which in turn supports our brand and allows it to expand.
The other part is that our core values — which guide every decision we make — are the same across all our businesses. It doesn’t matter whether we’re designing an interior for a client, selling a rug to a designer or hosting a guest at our inn. They’re all going to get something beautiful and luxurious from us that they can trust and have confidence in, whether it’s a room, a rug or an experience. That’s how we keep our ethos consistent.
How do you work with clients looking to design homes that are both residential and investment properties? How do you approach the two?
Soucie Horner is unique in that we’re as much about the business of beauty as we are about the creation of beauty. Part of that is understanding the need for return on investment for each of our clients. How much did they pay, and what’s the estimate on the architecture and the FF&E — furniture, fixtures and equipment — based on the scope of their project? What do they need the ROI to be, and does it make sense, given the scope? Everyone’s return is very different, and it’s our job to understand it and design to it.
In terms of key themes in the interior design space, what trends are you seeing your clients asking for?
Probably the biggest thing we’re seeing is that since COVID, our clients think of their houses very differently than they used to before the pandemic. Many of our clients have multiple homes, most often a mountain house, a beach property and a city dwelling. Today, they’ve gotten used to having fun and working from all three of those homes. It used to be that you’d get away from work by going to your vacation home. Homes today, though, aren’t for specific activities — they all need to accommodate work, play and relaxation, no matter where in the world they might be.
Where do you see your brand headed in the future?
We’re going to continue to grow and bring our clients, customers and guests along on the journey — a journey of design discovery. Whether we’re designing their home, customizing their handcrafted Shiir rug or creating a memorable experience for them at the Wickwood Inn, we’re going to continue to tell their unique stories in ways that are highly personalized. That’s what it means to us to be a lifestyle brand and to create for our clients, customers and guests the kinds of spaces, products and experiences that express their individual aspirations for living well.