Episode 275: What Makes a Space Iconic? | June Reese | NAACP Image Awards Nominee & Interior Designer
What does it take to be iconic? In this episode, Kara talks with June Reese, NAACP Image Awards nominee, interior designer, and author of Iconic Home: Interiors, Advice, and Stories from 50 Amazing Black Designers. They dig into what it means to lead with authenticity, why representation in design matters, and how June is building both a personal brand and a movement. June shares the origin story of Iconic Home, what it's really like to grow a design business with your partner, and how she's creating opportunities for the next generation of Black interior designers. This episode covers creativity, entrepreneurship, community leadership, and why Pinterest might be your most powerful design tool.
“Creating something from scratch, dreaming it up and putting it out in the world, that requires you to step into your power.”
-
55th NAACP Image Award Nominee
Black Interior Designer Inc. (Non Profit)
Visionaries Brunch (Entrepreneur Brunch)
Iconic Home - Interiors, Advice and Stories from 50 Amazing Black Designers Book
Christina Kim Interior Designer
Valerie Roberts of Robert’s Carpets
Upcoming Events for House of June Interiors:
Join June and @keiamcswain as they step into the realm of empowerment and inspiration at Freedom Apothecary during Essence Festival weekend July 5-7th, 2024! Join for a captivating discussion on how our black-owned female businesses are revolutionizing interior design.Discover how Interior Designers use sensory elements, colors, floor plans, mood boards, flat lays, and more to create spaces that nurture mental health, rejuvenate the spirit, and promote relaxation.
A comprehensive exploration of entrepreneurship. Network with fellow visionaries and participate in an interactive panel discussion.
BID Conference in New York in SeptemberShow up to the conference and donate to one of the programs. The scholarship that should be up and launched soon. Contributing to BID will help in all kinds of ways because it'll allow them to continue to put the people in place that they need and to build out the programs that they’re doing.
-
Follow along using the Transcript
Chapters:
(00:00:01) – Leading With Authenticity as a Black Interior Designer(00:02:15) – The Mission Behind Iconic Home and Representation in Design
(00:05:30) – How June Reese Started Her Interior Design Business
(00:07:15) – Building a Design Career and Finding Mentors at High Point Market
(00:10:20) – Educating Interior Design Clients and Finding Your Style
(00:12:50) – Houston’s Creative Scene and Running a Design Business With a Partner
(00:17:30) – Community, Mentorship, and Supporting Emerging Designers
(00:21:00) – Scaling a Design Business and Expanding Her Platform
(00:25:10) – Writing Iconic Home and Uplifting Black Interior Designers
(00:28:30) – Mental Health, Burnout, and Creating From a Place of Truth
(00:30:45) – Powerful Ladies Reflections: Defining Power on Your Own Terms
(00:33:00) – Honoring Your Body Through Rest, Ritual, and Intuition
(00:35:15) – Grief, Spirituality, and the Energy of Design
(00:36:50) – How to Support June Reese and Black Interior Designers Inc.
Creating something from scratch and putting it out or dreaming of something and actually bringing it in into the real world, that it just, I think it requires you to be authentic. That's the baseline of being powerful because once you become your true self and you do what you know you're supposed to be doing, there is a power that is literally unlocked for you.
That's June Reese. I'm Kara Duffy, and this is The Powerful Ladies podcast.
Welcome to the Powerful Ladies Podcast. Thank you. Thank you so much for having me. I'm really excited that you're here today. I've been following you online. And you're doing such incredible things in the interior design space and in the advocate space. Let's begin by telling everyone your name, where you are in the world, and what you're up to.
Awesome. So I'm June Reese. I am based in Houston, Texas. And currently it's hard for me to say what I'm up to. I'm always doing way too many things at one time. But I would say at this. Right now I'm gearing up to get ready for us to plan our 2024 conference for the nonprofit that I work for, BIV Inc.
I'm also getting ready for a Visionaries brunch as an, which is an entrepreneur branch that I'll be hosting in Houston in June. And then I'm also working on a new book. I think, I think it, it's still in the early phases.
Let's tell people for about your current book that's out.
Absolutely. So iconic home is actually an anthology. It is a collection of 50 black interior designers. I'm actually the 50th, so there's 49 other black interior designers included. And it just dives into their backgrounds, where they came from, how they got where they are, but then it's also serves as a pretty good resource, I think, for homeowners to pull inspiration.
And there's also some really great tips in there on how to implement. Implement, designer worthy strategy into your own space.
Yeah. Love that. I think when we look at the media landscape of interior designers and who's getting recognition on TV and their own Netflix specials, there's not a lot of women of color.
Yeah. It's, so does that enrage you? Like how, what should people know about how everyone who is an interior designer. Isn't white and doesn't love beige. There's so much more in the space.
There's so much more. I wouldn't say so much. It infuriates me. I think maybe earlier in my career it definitely upset me.
And that is of course why I'm in the space that I'm working in now, where I'm able to create these opportunities, different programs, benefits, things like that for other black designers. And like you said, there's just not a lot of diversity, right? We get to show maybe one or two seasons and then.
It's onto the next. And so we are here, right? And we're starting to see us come up. This organization is over a decade old. And so it's taken some time, but now we see the representation happen happening a little more organically, I think, which is, awesome.
And it's not, it's a really big deal that you were nominated for an NAACP image award.
That's
a big deal. You lose your mind when.
Oh my God. Literally someone DMed me on Instagram. They were like, Hey, did you know you were nominated for an NAACP award? I'm like, what? Wait, what? So yeah, I definitely, me, my husband looked at me and I just looked at him and we were just okay.
Yeah. I wanna go back to 8-year-old. You would, she have imagined the life you have now, the business you have now,
I.
Oh, it's so funny.
I'll say no, but also, yes, I think from an early age, I always knew that I was different. I always knew that I was really creative. I always knew that I would do something big, like even like my yearbook close.
Everything's I'm gonna do something big. I'm gonna own a business. I'm gonna do this. But I wasn't I didn't have the actual vision. So this. It's even beyond my, wildest dreams like an NAACP award nomination on my first book. Is it? It's unheard of. It's probably not unheard of, but I wasn't expecting it.
I didn't write the book for the accolades. How did you get into interior design? I ended up on Google and I came across the Art Institute of Houston. At the time, I think they're closed now, but I went to do a tour, I think. A week or so before I graduated or a week after, something like that.
And I literally moved in to the off campus housing like three days later. So it was like I'd been introduced to it accidentally and then when I was looking for a career path outside of what I thought I would be doing with this journalism. It just steered me naturally in that direction.
You.
Having any business is challenging. It has its rollercoaster moments and I think creative businesses add an extra layer because it's not something that you can put down at the end of the day. Like you are always a designer. That's just who you are and I'm sure you're like going on all the searching, everything, making your board, saving images, looking for new like vendors all the time.
What has that journey been like for you and. How have you persevered when times have been tough?
Oh man. So the journey has been so interesting for. I think I got really lucky. I started I'm very proactive. So I started internship maybe a year or two after I'd been in school. And so I had a really great experience my first internship.
I literally helped that designer set up a storefront, so I learned a ton of information about vendors and things that I wouldn't have learned until later. And then I fast forward and I ended up having a few other like internships or jobs where I was immersed right into. Like vendors shopping, high Point Market, obviously that's the biggest market that we have.
It's two or three times a year. And because I'm met Kim Ward, who was the founder of BIDN, so Black Interior Designers Network, which is now BD Inc. Black Interior Designers Incorporated. She one of my first trips with her within a few months was to High Point Market, so I was like. Into the chaos that is High Point Market.
I have a lot of clients who are interior designers, so I know all about High Point. And my parents actually live in North Carolina right now, so when I direct drove past it, I'm always like sending them photos like, are you having. Is this a good image or am I giving you some trauma with this image?
Because High Point is intense.
It is intense. It's really intense. And my first few trips were just like Alice in Wonderland. I feel like. Yeah, kind.
Yeah. Yeah. And it's, those conferences matter so much and every industry has them because you get to be in a community filled with people like you. Who are talking about all the new things, and I'm such a believer in people having a coach and a community.
How has your community of fellow interior designers and just women of color that are in the design space, how has that changed how you viewed yourself and how you felt about your business?
Oh, so again, meeting Kim Ward, it was such a pivotal point in my career to meet Kim because I was in a place where, I didn't feel seen, I didn't feel welcome at a lot of the things that I was attending because this was in 2011, right when I started college.
And so the industry has. Since that point, but I was at a place where I actually was considering a career change. I was considering finding something else to do, and when I met Kim, it reignited that spark that I initially felt for design. By meeting her, I came in contact with this huge network.
I think maybe it was a hundred people at the time, a hundred black designers across the country operating at a really high level. Tiffany Brooks has been on HGTV. She's probably one of the longest running black women on HGTV. So meeting her in person, Nikki Chu had a fabric line and a rug line at the time when I first met them.
It again, it was like, oh, so this is a thing that we do. And we can do it, and we can do it well and, really excel in this industry. Like it's definitely possible. So it was definitely rewired my confidence and rewired just the ball that I have to go after everything within this industry.
Yeah. How would you describe your style to someone who hasn't seen your work or your webpage?
I would say I'm very modern. And not in a sterile way. I think more up to date or it feels recent, but I think it also has elements of like sophistication and classic, so it, it doesn't feel dated.
I do a really good job of that. Sophisticated was always the word I got in college, so I use that a lot. A lot of my work is sophisticated, but it still a little fun. It's still a little playful in different areas. So I think the overall term is probably eclectic. Technically because there are layers from all design styles if it works.
And that's where I land.
It's such an interesting world to be in as well, because it's a dance with you and your clients and some are more involved, some are like, just do your thing. I'm gonna, I'll be back in six months. There's such a variety to it. So how do you balance bringing your clients?
Personality into their spaces, and then also not letting them ruin a beautiful house at the same time.
Ooh.
So funny enough, I had those clients at the beginning. Once you start to raise your, raise, figure out what you're charging and yeah, up your minimum budgets, you start to get a different league of clients where they're like.
This looks good. Thanks. Sign off. Good to go. But I definitely dealt with those clients in the past, and so trying to educate them, that became a really big part of our company because a lot of the people that we worked with were first time. They never dabbled in this industry. And so we just did a lot of education.
If they wanted something, I was most of the time able to articulate or explain to them or provide them another option that makes more sense based on what I know. And so just educate, like a teacher or and a psychologist, as we all know in our industry.
And Houston has so many amazing, powerful women that have come from Houston, of course Miss Beyonce.
And there's just, I don't think it gets enough recognition at a national level for what's happening there in the city. How would you describe the climate and culture of Houston, and why are all these powerful businesses, women coming out of that city?
Oh man, that's a loaded question. I think we're all trying to figure it out, right?
We dunno. But you're right. Like when our list of, icons and people who have operated at such a high level that, their name is household, like everybody knows them it really is. Interesting. Honestly. I dunno why I do not know. Obviously we're a really big miling, but I think we're probably one of the most diverse cities.
So I didn't grow up in Houston. I think that'll, that's a good way to start that. I grew up outside of Houston, so Katy Brookshire kind of in the country outskirts area. And so I've only been in Houston a little less than a decade now. And what I will say is that it does. Still life opportunity.
Like I, I'm inch closer and closer to downtown. I'm like officially in downtown after seven years. And it just, there's always something happening. The community is really good about networking, getting together, like there's always something to do. There's always some new restaurant to try and I think.
Here we're just immersed in a lot of different cultures. We're immersed in, just, a lot of people are really hustlers here, honestly. People on nightclubs they're brokers. They have restaurants, coffee shops record shops, and, but they do all these other things too. Like marketing. So I think it's just a really huge melting pot of, people having come from the outer.
People haven't come from other places. And then there's a lot of people that were born right here, like Beyonce that just exude excellence,
the perfect way to say it. Excellence. Yes. It's also not very common to marry your high school boyfriend in these days. My parents are high school sweethearts. How have you guys. Grown together. And how does he support you in the dreams that you have?
Oh man. So you're right, it's not that common.
Every now and then we run into somebody and they're like, oh, we're too. I'm like, that's so cool. My aunt and uncle actually are as well, so they were, together in high school when they're married, they've been married, they have kids my age. So for us, we, like you said. Grow together because we were literally kids when this started.
And so I think I always talk about how lucky I'm to have had someone through my entire adulthood. Most people have to figure things out alone. I've never had to do anything alone. There were times we laugh about this now when we were in LA for the awards we were riding around and we were laughing about the times where he was delivering pizza.
And I would speak to his job and ride in the passenger seat. And he's just always been like, he's given me the room, I think to be this like really big kind of all over the place person. And it's just I don't take it for granted. Like I think it's. Just completely underrated of how a good partner really can elevate you and, help you get to goals that maybe neither of you are clear on, right?
Yeah. Because him coming to work for me or work with me, not for me. We launched our company in 2019. He left his job and so far, you have to do those kind of side things to make ends meet as an entrepreneur, but we haven't had to go back to work. He's trusted me to say, okay, this is gonna work.
We're gonna do it. And it's. We've literally gotten it done.
It's so rewarding, I think, to realize what you can do together.
Yeah, totally. Like a hundred percent because, and we say that too, we're like, look at us in the middle of downtown, because we used to say, we're gonna live downtown. We're gonna live downtown.
We're gonna travel. We're gonna go to LA and go to Malibu. Like we've done. We're starting to do the things now. So it definitely is.
When you think of the words powerful in ladies, how would you define them? And do their definitions change when they're next together versus apart?
Powerful ladies.
I think if we start with the word powerful I think. Everything boils back down to authenticity to me or as of late. That's the buzz word for me. Just being true to yourself. I think there's something powerful about being who it is that you are putting out art. With not without fear, because that would not be true.
But creating something from scratch and putting it out or dreaming of something and actually bring it in into the real world as a powerful person in general. That it just, I think it requires you to be authentic. That's the baseline of being powerful because once you become your true self and you do what you know you're supposed to be doing, there is a power that is literally unlocked for you.
Now ladies, if we, this is the separate version. Ladies, obviously, we, I think that we would do an awesome job running the world. I think we, time and time again have shown that, despite the emotions and the empathy and all the things that we have we're able to take those things and connect them with the powerful part.
And just create these really larger than life themes and moments and experiences for people. And so of course they change when they're, not together, but powerful ladies together. I think there's something that, women or ladies we have when connected to us being in our authentic self is just a beautiful thing for everyone.
You mentioned earlier how Kim opened up so many doors for you. How have just the women in your life in general, how has that changed your life and helped you along your journey?
So when I met Kim, I actually met Kia as well, who's the president of BID with me. And so we've been friends thick as thieves at this point for almost seven years.
I get the math wrong sometimes. But she's been. A, an excellent mentor to me as well. Even while we were both kind of figuring things out and we're still figuring things out, we tell people that like we, it might look like we have it all together, but we're both learning from one another.
And so that's been a really rewarding relationship for me over the past six or seven years. I think also Nikki Fu is someone I love to mention because I worked for her design firm for almost three years. And I learned so much about business and like really running a firm and juggling multiple projects.
And different levels of team members. She had tons of team members. And so just learning to manage, learning to lead I learned a lot of things working for her as well. And so I think those two, and then Valerie Roberts, they own of Roberts Carpet. I worked for her in Karen for two years.
Think. And so I worked in their store and I did a lot of things. Again, learning about vendors and how to keep a store up, things like that. So I've actually had some really powerful, all of my mentors so far. I just have found my first male mentor. But in a decade, I, all of my mentors have been women, literally.
There are so many changes on a psych cycle, cyclical, excuse me, basis in interiors, just like there is in fashion and other trends. What would you advise someone who's looking to redecorate their house now and is trying to find their style? How would you recommend they start? What are some tips you would give them?
I think you said it fashion. That's one of the things I always direct my clients to. Looking at what you actually like to wear, what do you buy the most of? What colors, what type of patterns? If they have no idea, I think that's a good place to start because it at least tells you what you like.
But also I have a public Pinterest board for anyone who would like to look at it, and there are tons of design styles that are actually broke down, and so clients can literally just go in there. Serve from different design styles and screenshot or take the things that they actually like.
Pinterest is, I think, an extremely underrated tool for designers and for clients because I've been able to like really effectively communicate with my clients by them going in and identifying, even if it's one thing in a photo that they like, they can point that thing out. I really like this chair because X, Y, Z.
And so we just break it down from there and it makes it easier to build the space on top of what they said they liked specifically.
I do think Pinterest and then LinkedIn are the two most underused social media platforms for business in general. Like when I meet with somebody who, especially is in a service-based industry and they don't have those two earmarked like TikTok, whatever, but if we want long-term reliable, yeah.
Pinterest, LinkedIn changes things and now Instagram is like a website. You have to have an Instagram, otherwise you're not real.
Literally, someone said that to me. This is basically your business card. If you don't have one, I'm oh, why don't you have an Instagram? But yeah, I totally agree, especially about LinkedIn and I think a lot of people are like me, like we have our LinkedIn, it's set up and every few years we go in and add three things.
But I do wanna be more intentional about it because I've heard about how powerful it actually is.
It's a great place to have conversations. Like a lot of the things that work on LinkedIn are prompting people like, Hey, here's what I thought about this article. What did you think? Or, here's my five favorite tips.
Do you agree, disagree? So people actually wanna have a conversation there, which is really interesting because there's so many. Yeah. Even Pinterest is save and there's no interaction. LinkedIn actually has it.
But Pinterest is where I go when I need a break.
Like Pinterest. Someone said Pinterest is literally like Instagram without all of the talking is really yes.
Yeah. And I think it's, at least for me, like I was always ripping things outta magazines. I always had my closet door covered in things like, yeah, I've always been a save collagey person.
And so yeah. Having Pinterest is a dream come true. Whoever invented it knew really knew what my 13-year-old me wanted it.
Brilliant. Literally, the amount of boards I have on there for just random things. Yes. Dinner parties, just anything that you can think of is fair.
Yeah, completely. As you are looking at where you're going next, you talked about the second book, you're growing your business.
What are you really focused on this year and what kind of year is it for you? Is it a cruisy and enjoying the ear? Is it a really go into stretch mode? How would you define it?
Ooh, it's always the in between. With me. I'm never like one way, that's my problem. So I did define a word of the year I started to do that.
And so my work of the year was expansion for me. Not in a really hustle kind of way. I think a lot of people would ask me after the book came, I'm like, so what's next? What's next? I was so exhausted when the book came out. I was like, I don't know. I don't, I just need some downtime.
Yeah. So I've pretty much had a lot of like mental downtime aside from work. And now I've gotten back into that creative space where I'm like, okay, so what does this expansion mean? What happens next? And so I know. Primarily growing BID because a lot of what we wanna do, ch kids programs, more career days, which we did our first one in December at KIPP Memphis.
Just growing those programs because we do wanna start to introduce more, kids in lower income communities, black kids from different backgrounds and diversities to interior design a lot earlier. And so we collaborated with Benjamin Moore. We're hoping to collaborate with.
Kohler, who we've worked with and different brands like that to bring these really cool like interactive trade days to different schools. So that's a big one for me. And also, like you said, my brand, so I haven't really announced that, but it's not a big deal. We'll be rebranding our design firm just to better, I think, encompass all of the things that we do.
And so that's a pretty big. Skill things for me this year. And then aside from that, just writing, I wanted to be more intentional about writing and like actually commit to some sort of timeline. So I think for me, like I said, it's more of a go with the flow, but also a year where I'm being really intentional about the things that I put my energy into, does it align with what I want? Does it align with where, i'm going? Does it align with what needs to happen for me to be in seven years? So I say I always 40. That's probably not gonna happen. But, if it's possible, what can I do now that might set me up to retire as soon as possible?
And I just disappear, right? But be in a place where I don't have to be the face, I don't have to show up. I don't have to design if I don't wanna. That's the goal. So laying the foundation maybe is what's happening for me this year.
And I'm glad that you brought it up that way because there's.
I love the phrase small business owners do, and entrepreneurs create systems to scale, and I think we step over. Going from just creating a job for ourselves to really creating a business that we can run instead of be doing. And so many of the clients I work with are stuck in that doing space, and it's I'm working harder than when I had a job.
Maybe I just get a job and you're like no. We can fix it.
Yeah. It's no scale, hire somebody else. Outsource. Yeah. That's definitely, and I've never heard that before, but that makes sense. Like small business owner and entrepreneur are definitely different things.
Just different focus and there's nothing wrong with wanting to be the doer.
But if you are someone craving more freedom and more just ability to be in the thought leader space versus again, the doing space, it's a different strategy to be taking.
It is. It really is. 'cause like you said, once you, now you can be in that thought leader space once you're not doing all the time.
And I think that's where I want to be, but I know I have to set the business up for that first.
Yes. Yeah, exactly. How did the Iconic Home book come about? Because. I cannot wait for mine to arrive. I love the cover. It's beautiful. Like it's a book that you want on display, let alone want to know what's inside, which I'm sure you did intentionally.
'cause I'm sure you use lots of books when you're designing. But where did the book idea come from? How did this all happen?
Oh man. So the book idea, let's start there. I have this post on my Instagram because I went through my notes and found it. I'm a huge advocate of write things down.
Write it down. Because as entrepreneurs we're always like some new grand dot. Idea. And so just writing it down, write things down. And so on April, I wanna say 18th or 19th of 2019, I wrote, iconic Home coffee table book. There was no real details. It was just something that made me pop into my head and I'm like, okay, one day.
It was also something, a coffee table book was something Kim discussed with me before she passed. And I can't remember the full conversation, something about having a coffee table book, like it was something she hoped. For the organization or for us to have as a community. And so in 2019, I wrote it down, moved on for me because again, in 2019 I'm not like, I'm not about to write a book.
That's not where my head is. I'm not there yet. Surely that's five, six years out, at least for me. And in 2020 after George Floyd's murder and all of the kind of unrest that was happening in America. We had a, of people who started to connect with us, we saw, how the media happened, but a lot of people connected with us, asked how they could help us increase mission.
Doug reached out and he's Hey, do you have something you would like? I'm like, yeah, we do actually. And so we started the process in 2020, literally. And I think we officially started the actual process in 2022. It took quite some time to do the whole process but I think it was always a thing.
That was supposed to happen. That's why I think I was so surprised when, we were nominated for an award because I'm like, oh, I didn't, I didn't intend on getting nominated for awards. I didn't know the award existed. But it was just a thing that I knew, needed to be created.
And that's been a big thing for me over the last few years. It's. Creating things that I could have benefited from or somebody, behind me could benefit from. And that just happened to be one of those things, I think not just black kids, right? Anybody can read this book. People who want to be allies, people who want to know more about the community, like it's a resource for everyone.
Yeah. When you look at what you have created and you look at the influence you're having today. Does that inspire you? Does it feel, do you feel pressure from it? Like how are you stepping into this new space you have?
That's a good question. I think there was definitely a lot of, I was overwhelmed and, everybody would say, oh, how do you feel now that it's out?
And I'm like I'm a little overwhelmed, but I'm like, in a good way. It's not negative, it's just, it's a lot happening. And even though it's it's coming, it happened. And it's actually really weird because a book is released and you're expecting this like huge thing and then you realize.
That's it. And so I think I did feel at that
you.
And so I've been able to just ride, like you said, the wave of people. Like I've gotten really sweet dms from people just people really excited about the book. People excited about what the content of the book the whole idea behind the book. Everybody's excited for different reasons, and like I said, I knew people would be receptive.
I knew people would enjoy it, but I think that I was still surprised by how much.
People
enjoyed it. So it's definitely inspiring, inspired me to actually be more authentic. I think that's why authentic continues to come up because I'm very much a perfectionist. And so that book, I literally, I laugh about this.
I'm like, I have to go to therapy. I knew I needed to go to therapy prior to, but I ended up in therapy in the middle of this process because it was so much more work than I thought it would be. It was so hard. It was just a lot of challenges in addition to all the things that I already needed to deal with.
So it, it definitely taught me to just be more authentic, be more honest. Because I had to ask for help. I had to be okay with putting something out that everybody was gonna judge, which was like terrifying. And so now, things like creating content was something I always wanted to do, but I was always too anxious too in my head or too scared.
And now it's just opened me up to do more of whatever it is that I want to do.
We ask everyone on the podcast where you put yourself on the Powerful Lady scale. If zero is average everyday human and 10 is the most powerful lady you can imagine, where would you put yourself today and on an average day?
Ooh.
I think today and on an average day, despite how I'm feeling, I think I am in a space of i'm gonna say eight. Eight keeps coming up. Okay. I'm like, I think I'm in a place of eight. Because I said I'm now getting outta my shell. I'm now able to show up online and I'm doing things that I wanted to do, but of course, I think there's always room for growth.
So will any of us ever be at a 10? Beyonce. So I would say an eight, and I think I operate on an eight now on a regular basis where I'm pretty much, I tell people that like if I think I truly believe, like if I wanted to fly a plane and I applied myself and actually did what needs to do, I could fly a plane.
Like I actually believe that, and I think that and I think that about everybody. I think that if you actually apply yourself and you're patient. Give yourself grace, whatever it is that you wanna do, whatever it is I wanna achieve, I know that it's possible for me.
If you could go back and tell 18-year-old you anything, what would it be?
Oh, you'll figure it out. Definitely. Easily just because like I said, when I got ready to graduate, everyone's oh, I'm going here, I'm going here. And I'm like, I dunno what's about to happen. But we'll see. And so I think that's obviously a really scary time when everyone's oh, I'm going off.
Whatcha gonna do with your life now when you're like, I know, I thought I knew before I didn't get into UNT and now I didn't. So now I dunno. But I would just say, obviously you'll figure it out.
Yeah. This is a big community with lots of connections. Our people everybody wants to support each other.
So I've been asking everyone this year, how can we help? What's on your, to manifest or to wishlist, what do you need big or small that we can help make happen? Oh my
gosh. That is, that's definitely what don't I need at this moment. Gosh, for me personally. Anyone in Houston, I would love for you to show to my event.
This is my first local event. I'm as usual nervous about putting something on and putting something out that people are gonna come judge, but anyone who's local to just show up for that. Anyone who is local to New York, which is where the conference will be this year in September, show up to the conference donate to one of our programs, the scholarship that should be up and launch soon, contributing to BID will help me in all kinds of ways because it'll allow me to continue to put the people in place that we need and to build out the programs that we're doing. Purchase a book because of course that puts money in the organization's pocket. It puts money, a little bit of money in my pocket.
Just anything that's out there for you to attend, purchase for me, do that, that, that's always helpful.
Okay. And then we've also been asking everyone lately what are the routines or habits that allow you to be your most powerful self?
Ooh I'm really a shit show. I'm glad you said that's the only word I could use for that.
And I think people are always really surprised they know me intimately because.
So I off as very structured, very. I put together and organized, but I am a Sagittarius, so that is my son, and that is actually what happens internally. And so when it comes to routines for me I it's hard. It's really hard. I have severe time blindness. Some days I stay up too late. I have insomnia because I have not pmms, but pmdd, which is like really aggressive.
Pm. And so throughout the month, my mood is either up or down. And so I actually have really learned over these last few years now that I understand myself better. I do not force it. When I can get up I try to be up to four, seven grades. I get up, I do the same thing. I pray.
I drink my water. I might fold some clothes. If something says over, like I try to, no matter what time of day I get up, do the same things because it creates some sort of normal normalcy for me. But honestly, I just go with the flow. Now, it makes for a lot less stress. I don't have to feel guilty on the days.
I don't feel like working. I know people are like, you need to be consistent. Eh it, it doesn't work for me. It causes me more stress. Honestly to say I'm working at 2:00 PM even when I absolutely don't feel like it. And so I just really go with the flow. I, I get up, talk to God, I drink my water, and then whatever happens after that, depending on where my head is, that's just.
What has to happen? So I honor my body a lot more now, and I think I've earned that because I've worked really hard for a decade. So I think it's fair for me to say, I dunno what time I get up. I can't promise you anything before noon. And that's just that for me. And so that's what keeps me creative and what keeps me less stressed and healthy because I was so unhealthy before when I was just stressed all the time trying to meet these deadlines, trying to make sure I got here.
And so I'm not anti routine because I think it works really well for some people. It just doesn't work for me.
Yeah. And then I love your necklace. Thank you. What is the story for you behind that necklace? Oh wow. That is such a good
question. I. I, once you see this, everyone's so you're on the spiritual journey.
How'd you get here?
It's been it's for everyone who, sorry for everyone who can't see it. How would you describe your necklace?
So it needs to turn up. Which I think is really beautiful. I've been on this like deconstruction from religion journey, which I think a lot of people are now for various reasons.
For me, I think it's the same thing with the routines. For me, it just created a lot of stress and anxiety about every day human things for me and. 17. That was when Kim passed actually. So my grandfather passed in 2016 and he was a father figure to me growing up. And then in 2017, I, 20, late 2016, I met Kim and in 2017 she passed.
So it was a very short amount of time and I'd say right under a year where I went through like these huge losses. And I didn't. I understand grief. I didn't understand, even the anxiety and depression that I was experiencing when I was in college that was keeping me from being able to finish classes.
Like I didn't understand those things. And I was pretty, I was at a really dark space and I, it wasn't working for me like the thing, and I was like, pray, do this and that. I'm like, it's like it's not working. I don't even know exactly how I got introduced to spirituality. I don't, it just, it happened when it was supposed to happen for me, and ever since then, I've like just reimagined.
You know what, like my life is supposed to be like, not what I've been told, not what you know, people say I should be doing. Really just coming from honoring myself again, honoring my body and honoring myself has been really huge for me, and that's what, this means for me to be able to have eternal life, whatever that looks like is to be the best, most authentic version of myself.
I love that. No. Being someone who thought I would be an archeologist, I see that and I'm like, I know what that is. You, I definitely wanna also put you in touch with KJ Atlas. We had her episode came up recently, but she is a locational and business astrologer based in la but she's amazing and she's also just so cool.
She was just on a panel I did about how to have it all, and her journey is incredible, but doing readings with her is actually really fun. I love that. I had never heard of business or locational astrology until I met her. And then I was like, okay, yep. And plus she has red hair, so we're friends. Obviously you have to be right.
You have to be. No we're either, anytime that there's another redhead in the room, we're like, related, we're married. Like it's, I'm like, why? Why want you just, yeah. It's
community. It's community that it works the same for us, right? It's community. Like you have this person that you know understands you on some level.
I love it. For everybody who wants to hire you, support you get involved, how can they do all of those things?
If you find me on Instagram, if you have an Instagram, like you should have an Instagram, you can find me at be June Reese with two unders. And that's pretty much, I think my name across like Pinterest, TikTok, and Instagram.
And then of course June re on LinkedIn. But again, Instagram has that link and it'll take you to every single website or theme or interview that you might need that I have contributed to.
It's amazing. Thank you so much for being a yes to myself and the powerful ladies and sharing all your wisdom today.
This has been a lot of fun. It's been so nice to meet you.
It has. I had a really good time, so I can't wait to see the episode. Thank you.
All the links to connect with June Black Interior Designers, Inc. House of June Interiors, and of course, to get her book Iconic Home are in our show notes@thepowerfulladies.com. Subscribe wherever you're listening and leave us a rating and review. Join us on Instagram at Powerful Ladies, and of course, if you wanna connect with me, visit kara duffy.com or Kara under Duffy on Instagram.
I'll be back next week with a brand new episode. Until then, I hope you're taking on being powerful in your life. Go be awesome and up to something you love.
Related Episodes
Episode 179: Breaking Sustainability Barriers in Interior Design While Maintaining Function & Beauty
Episode 117: Co-Founder Refind Kitchen, Interior Designer, Registered Nurse & Planet Advocate
Episode 86: How To Build A Business & Change The World
Instagram: thejunereese__
Website: junereese.com
LinkedIn: june-reese
Email: thejunereese@gmail.com
Created and hosted by Kara Duffy
Audio Engineering & Editing by Jordan Duffy
Production by Amanda Kass
Graphic design by Anna Olinova
Music by Joakim Karud
