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Career Spotlight Profiles

Susi Crawford: Interior Design Career Profile

 

 Susi Crawford, a recent PTEC graduate, now a successful interior decorating consultant, a volunteer at a Pinellas County middle school, and a mother of three beautiful girls, did not always know that this would be her career path. At one point in time she was attending college for a degree in nursing. However, while in college she never received hands on training to realize that this career wasn’t right for her. One day, her daughter was in an accident and needed nine stiches. In the moment that Susi saw the blood on her daughter’s foot, she knew that she wasn’t meant to be a nurse.  Susi dropped out of nursing school and focused on her family. She made a connection with a cabinet contractor that recommended that she look into interior design as a career path based on her analytic problem solving skills and creative aptitudes. She altered her life plan to attend PTEC for training in interior design. PTEC offered her affordable tuition, small class sizes, and on-the-job training experience which proved to her that she loved the interior decorating industry. As an interior designer, Susi is responsible for creative solutions to enhance the function, safety, look and style of interior spaces. She is currently working on a local doctor’s office and says that she draws inspiration from different fabrics, textures, and tones and is working out how different colors, furniture, lighting and space work together. She wishes that high school students had the guidance and hands on training that PTEC gave her to help them decide what is the best career path based on their true talents and aptitudes. Susi says, “I would suggest to get a job in the field that you enjoy. Sometimes we think we want to work in a particular field and the joy and excitement does not match up with the duties of the job. Exposure to the industry can be very revealing, and sometimes you have to take a bite of the pie in order to know if you like the taste. The student may discover skills and areas that he or she is very good at or interested in, and lead him or her into certain specialization.”