I’m not an attorney, never wanted to be a political activist, and never in a million years did I think that anyone would refer to me as a “lobbyist!” I’m just an interior designer who could not sit by idly and watch the profession I love be destroyed.

I now find myself in a totally unforeseen career –organizing and mobilizing grassroots activists and traveling the country with pink slingshot and pink boxing gloves in tow.  

And I am loving every minute of it. It’s been one wild rollercoaster ride, but second only to motherhood, no other endeavor has ever been so gratifying. I know, it’s not curing cancer or solving world peace, but saving thousands of jobs every time an anti-competitive bill is defeated, well, that’s something good.

I became actively involved in 2006 when a bill was introduced in my state that would have put me out of business. I organized grassroots opposition and we resoundingly killed that bill. Instead of returning to interior design, I responded to pleas from designers in other states to help them protect their businesses and soon earned the nickname, “Mother of the Movement.”

But by the end of 2007, I had assisted in the defeat of 24 bills, and no new legislation had been enacted.  After considerable soul-searching, I accepted that my passion to protect the rights of all interior designers had become a driving force in my life, and I made the decision to jump in with both feet and make a career change.

In 2008, I founded the Interior Design Protection Council (IDPC), a national organization whose only mission is to protect interior designers.  Little did I know the enormous amount and work this endeavor would take — bylaws, business plan, strategy plan, fundraising plan, a board of directors — while simultaneously working with grassroots across the country. Phew! Every night I prayed that the next day would hold 25 hours… And every night my husband and two children prayed they would not have to endure another dinner of fish sticks or frozen pizza!

As Executive Director; I run the day-to-day operations, track and analyze new bills and assist designers to reach out to their legislators; I also travel across the country to train grassroots activists, lobby legislators, and speak at town hall meetings, conventions, press conferences, and testify at hearings.

My biggest accomplishments have been enlisting the support of 27 national trade associations to join our crusade and helping to defeat 113 attempts to expand or enact new interior design legislation – saving many jobs in the process. It was all accomplished through grassroots activism and disproving licensing advocates’ claim that public safety is threatened by unlicensed interior designers. Facts and statistics are mighty powerful tools when juxtaposed against mere opinion and rhetoric.

Interior design is a dynamic profession that celebrates innovation, creativity and diversity. The attempt to impose a one-size-fits-all licensing scheme on the profession could not be more contrary to those values. Arbitrary licensing threatens our Constitutionally-protected right to freely convey our vision, concepts and ideas to consumers. 

It’s true….one voice can make a difference. If you get nothing else from reading about my journey, I hope you get this: you need to participate in the process to affect the outcome you desire – whatever that is. 

Lord Alfred Tennyson said, “What rights are those that dare not resist for them?”

What rights indeed!

For more information, www.IDPCinfo.org.