Which languages do you speak?

Years ago, I moved back to San Francisco to work for Bank of America, in my first exposure to finance. “I'm going to get me some of this,” I quickly thought, meaning 'equity'. So I bought my first place, a COMPLETE DUMP in the Mission.

Then I redesigned it from the ground up, expanding it in two directions. I excavated and added a third unit. I was in complete heaven! For the first time, I brought together my father's architecture influence, my mother's interior design insights and my new-found finance knowledge.

I loved thinking about how people would walk through those spaces. Where would they put their keys? What types of molding are appropriate? Then I designed each unit in a totally different style because I figured, OMG, I'm never going to have a chance to do this again! And I just fell in love with what turned out to be my first foray into experience design and the built environment.

Since then, I like to say I'm multilingual. Design is my first language. Banking is my second (having spent 13 years as a creative in financial services). And now research is my third. I'm fluent in all three and together they allow me to enrich my projects and relationships with unique perspectives.

Which languages do you speak?