Interior Motives (Designing a Career With Passion)

“This is a book about approaching your life creatively by keeping your interests alive rather than pushing them aside or worse — actively giving up on them.”

Author Debbe Daley begins her at turns funny and heart wrenching reflection on the ups and downs of making a career as an entrepreneur with the question, “What is going to make me happy? ” That’s a question she finds herself needing to answer carefully at various transition points — like getting married, having a baby, getting divorced, starting her own business — up to and including the present moment, when she’s presented with yet another opportunity to creatively shape her own life.

Interior Motives takes the reader on a journey through Daley’s attempt to establish a career as an interior designer in the New England area. Along the way, Daley offers readers insight into the role that negativity plays in keeping people from doing what they love. “Focusing on the monetary costs of the change we want to make is one of the most convincing ways that we set up obstacles for ourselves, ” Daley writes, before offering readers a hearty dose of encouragement. “ If you want to do something that’s going to make you happy, there will always be alternative paths than the first ones — or the easiest or fastest or most expensive ones — you imagine. There are always other avenues to take. The important thing is committing to taking the journey, believing that it’s worthwhile, getting on that path in some way or other, and seeing where it goes. ”

Daley’s career narrative is intricately interwoven with stories of family, friends, and love, and even offers readers a unique take on design industry challenges. She tracks a field undergoing its own major transitions from the 1980s, “...when a room full of traditionally trained designers gasped at the suggestion that there would be a major shift within the profession away from a more formal aesthetic,” to the 2020s, where she joins, “a room full of relaxed and talented young people dancing and celebrating everything that was new and different about the design world.”

Having made her way in life and career by laying claim to the value of hard work and independence, Daley leaves readers with an equally convincing message about the need for entrepreneurs to be surrounded by people who can push them forward, keep them learning and engaged, and cheer on their successes. “In the end, there’s no going it alone,” she writes, reminding her readers that answering the question, “What is going to make me happy?” always involves and reflects our relationships to the people closest to us.