Hidden Gems: Meet Jerica Banks of Interiors By J.Michelle

Today we’d like to introduce you to Jerica Banks.

Hi Jerica, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I started my Interior Design Career immediately after graduation from O’More College of Design in December 2011 at a small locally owned residential furniture store in Huntsville, AL. They offered High end furnishings and in house design services. I met amazing clients, I loved the clientele of residential design, and I knew that this was my niche. I also knew that I wanted to maximize my potential as a design professional by dabbing into the commercial design industry where I could for one potentially earn more money, get experience with building codes, permits, by working with million-dollar corporations and thirdly see if it would be an industry that I wanted to embark on in my journey as a designer.

After about two years of working in the residential realm of design, I got a call for a job opportunity I had applied for my senior year of design school. This would require me to uproot my family and move back to Nashville. This would also take me from a career in design sales with no cap on my income to a career that offered me a salary-paying job that would turn out to be a pay cut.

This required a huge leap of faith and a whole lot of convincing to my husband who at the time had his own business. I had to prove this would all be worth it in the end. It’s funny because I remember my salary was right around 27,000 annually. The company had a high turnover rate, but I knew that with my designs and sales background, I had what it would take to go in and impress. In my contract, I remember a stipulation that stated every three months of working there I would get a certain percentage in raise until I capped off at 35k which would be my base salary. When I took this back to my husband, well let’s just say his response was not a nice one. But I proceeded in accepting that offer and this change in career was pivotal to who I am as a designer and business professional today.

I stayed with this company almost 3.5 years before I was recruited by a larger corporation. In those 3.5 years, I had a 75% increase in my salary, which set the bar for my next job as a corporate Interior Designer. I also picked up a part-time job teaching at Belmont University, being the only African American professor in the Interior Design program there on campus. I was flourishing in my career I begin mentoring young design students, I became more involved in the design community, and I quickly realized I am one of very few in the African American design community here in Nashville, and that alone did not sit well with my spirit. I wanted to make it a goal of mine to make this a change. This is where #Designerblack was born. I created a brand for myself, and I begin to express the importance of this to students. How we should brand yourself as a designer and really capture the essence of what you want your brand to represent. #Designerblack would be the showcase to designers who looked like me and showing that they too could be successful. I started an Instagram and Facebook handle @_Designerblack in 2019. By 2020 the pandemic hit, and my “corporate” job was beginning to see that affecting their business and we were furloughed at 50%. This was God’s sign to give me the push I needed.

I took this downtime and started my business Interiors by J.Michelle, LLC. in August 2020 specializing in residential and small-scale commercial design. This was something I thought would be part-time to make use of “staying at home”. How I could use this to benefit my professional growth and continue to prove to my family that it’s only up from here. Well, that part-time gig turned into over 45k in revenue in less than a year’s span, all while still working in “Corporate America”. Was it hard? Absolutely. Was it worth it? Absolutely. I wanted to stop many of times and cry many of nights. In fact, I did. At this point, I was working my corporate job, teaching and running a side business that was starting to become full-time.

Fast forward to November 2021 a week before Thanksgiving Day, my corporate job was still feeling the hardship of the pandemic and decided to completely get rid of their furniture and design vertical market. No pre-warning, no clear signs, just a simple teams call at noon that day that would let me know I, alongside hundreds of others, would not have a job by 5:00 pm that very day. This is where I like to say God told me, I have seen you struggling, many of nights no sleep so I am going to adjust your life and it’s going to be quick so “GO!” 

In 7 short years, my life changed drastically. I gained tons of knowledge, I picked up clients of my own and designed two locally owned brick and mortar restaurants here in Nashville (IL Forno as well as Fait La Force Brewing). This plus a design portfolio of close to 50 clients in less than two years of being in business part-time on my own. I am here in Nashville to offer affordable design solutions to my clients, giving access to great design not only the high-end market but to those who never in their lifetime would have thought they would be able to afford a design professional. I am working towards making every little brown girl and every woman who has ever felt they were not enough realize that “little gig” is no longer that. You can be profitable at doing what you love. It’s your time to thrive!

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
I have encountered a lot of obstacles in my career, one being one of few African American Interior Designers in my community and gaining the respect of the design community for being my authentic self, taking pay cuts that I knew would one day benefit me in the long run, knowing my worth as a design professional and never settling for anything less than that. Realizing as redundant as it may seem, there is no such thing as failures; they are all lessons along the way.

We’ve been impressed with Interiors By J.Michelle, LLC., but for folks who might not be as familiar, what can you share with them about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
I am a small black and female-owned Full-service Interior Design business local to Nashville. I specialize in both residential and small-scale commercial Interior design and Edesign Services to the mid-market client. I work with potential clients to determine which of our services are best for them and what they are trying to achieve in their spaces. I have a BFA in Interior Design not to be confused with a “decorator”. My professional portfolio includes residential, commercial, corporate, healthcare and hospitality design. Having the ability to implement codes, reading construction documentation, and having knowledge of permits and zoning is important when you run into some of the more strenuous design dilemmas the average decorator or DIYer could not handle.

Do you have any advice for those just starting out?
Go for it! Simply put, no one is ever ready. That is a factual statement, but you can only fail if you fail to start.

Contact Info:

• Email: [email protected]
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/_designerblack/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Designerblack

Image Credits
Mauria Media Interiors by J.Michelle, LLC. Duke Renders