Today we’d like to introduce you to Lauren Lozano Ziol and Michelle Jolas.
Lauren and Michelle, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
We’ve been friends for years and always respected that we were business owners in creative industries. We wanted to combine our creative energy, shared passions and ambition. We brainstormed a couple years ago and about creating our own line of wallpaper and calling it SKIN. One New Year’s Eve, we had an idea to write our own book (still to be published), which we wrote in the car at the end of our vacation. Also, on that very same vacation, we came up with the idea of 8 and 16 hour Interior Design Packages for clients who want to manage their own projects. That was the birth of SKIN. We spent a year experimenting with the idea and building a top notch website. The website evolved and grew into a much bigger idea, more than just interior design, a lifestyle brand that encompasses all of our skills and our dreams. It all started to make sense. Our interior and graphic design services, our own line of furniture, photography, jewelry and home design shopping excursions to cities around the world all for a purpose…a rewarding and key element…our charity called Projekt SKIN. Projekt SKIN believes that great design is for everyone. We are a non-profit organization that transforms the existing spaces or places of other non-profits through design services and in-kind donations.
Our vision for SKIN is global, therefore our website domain skinyourworld.com.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
We were 2 women with families and owned our own individual businesses. When we added our new business SKIN, we were still trying to do it all. We had a good friend that told us to jump off the deep end and combine our businesses or else we would never accomplish what we set out to do. Letting go of what we both worked so hard for was difficult but proved to be very rewarding once we took the leap of faith. It’s serendipity!
SKIN – what should we know? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
Passion. Design. Partnership. Purpose.
Introducing SKIN, where art meets design with a purpose. Interior Designer Lauren Lozano Ziol and Designer Michelle Jolas merge their talents to launch SKIN, a new interior design and lifestyle brand. Lauren and Michelle have a combined 40 years of interior and graphic design experience. We not only cater to clients with large projects but we also offer 8 and 16 hour design packages for smaller projects. We bring a cosmopolitan perspective to design by introducing Bon Voyage Maison, customizable, luxury interior design shopping excursions to cities around the world including London, New York, Paris and San Francisco. SKIN also features Lauren’s furniture line, Michelle’s photography and vintage jewelry collection.
Another key element of their joint venture is Projekt SKIN. “We wanted SKIN to have a purpose and we wanted to do something to help others. A portion of our company’s proceeds will go to interior design services for spaces or places in need. Environments influence how you feel and design should be for everyone” says Ziol.
“I have worked as a Creative Director for big ad agencies and most recently owned my own boutique agency before creating SKIN with Lauren” says Jolas. “My love of design has always spanned from graphic to interior design. The reason why I joined forces with Lauren is her love of furniture history and combining styles takes design to a whole new level. She would easily combine a Louis IV table with Milo Baughman chairs. I push the envelope with my love of art and graphic design, we challenge each other.”
What moment in your career do you look back most fondly on?
Lauren:
I felt like I was content in my paradigm running my own business. It felt easy but I was soul searching for the next phase in my life. Creating SKIN with Michelle makes me feel like I can do anything I set my mind to. I was also searching for a way to give back. I wanted help others in a more profound way than just donations and bags of coins my boys and I save to give to people at stop lights. Projekt SKIN makes me very proud.
Michelle:
Launching SKIN is like a rebirth. This has helped me release all the other creative energy that I have been wanting to do for so long. My insane love of interior design, photography and vintage jewelry have now come to life in SKIN. I can’t even sleep well anymore because my head is spinning with excitement and ideas.
Contact Info:
- Address: 3317 North Bell Avenue
Chicago, Illinois 60618 - Website: skinyourworld.com
- Phone: 7734195057
- Email: michelle@skinyourworld.com,lauren@skinyourworld.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/skinyourworld/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/skinyourworld/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/skinyourworld/
Image Credit:
Andrew Miller Photography (for all the room shots)
Andrew Kephart (for the turquoise Oliver Chair designed by Lauren Lozano Ziol)
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