Michele completed her National Diploma in Interior Design in 2005.
“I had a lot of catching up to do in first year,” she says.
“I persevered through the all-nighters and learnt everything I could from my lecturers and my talented classmates and graduated with a merit award. Those classmates are today some of my closest friends and I feel privileged to have been able to learn and grow alongside them for 3 years. “
Since graduating, Michele has had a meteoric rise to success.
After a 3 week internship at Antoni Associates in 2005, she was offered a job as a junior interior designer. Since then, she says, Antoni Associates has grown exponentially from a few people to over 35 staff members and she has been promoted to a partner at the company.
“My day at the office is jam-packed with team meetings, client meetings, jumping between various projects’ deadlines and brain-storming sessions; and plenty of prioritising and project programming! I work all the time – my heart and mind is constantly tuned in to being inspired by beautiful things, whether at the movies, listening to good music or ‘Pinterest-ing’ in a queue at the shops.”
“Working in a high-pressured, dead-line driven environment keeps you on your toes and pushes you to be better in many different ways – professionally and personally. You need to be able to roll with the punches, while keeping your cool. A good sense of humour and always allowing time for reflection to see the bigger picture helps. I’m lucky to be surrounded by some of the funniest designers and technologists I know at work.”
Michele’s advice to up-and-coming designers is to be the eternal student and never stop learning.
“Open your mind: Travel (anywhere and everywhere, as often as you possibly can); visit art galleries. Question things. Develop your own opinion about the world, art and design. Choose a company to work at that has a design philosophy that resonates with your values. Lastly, and most importantly - work hard and be nice to people.”
