Journey to becoming OlivaCreate

 In my early teen years, I realized I had an innate sense of design. I lived in Greece for a number of years and was bitten by the Mediterranean culture and landscape which became a formative part of my stage design. I felt drawn to the rustic elements that the Mediterranean lifestyle offered both in landscape and décor and that inspired my company name “Oliva”- Latin for Olive. 

My journey of design matured when I embarked on a career in the hospitality industry. It started when I enrolled in hotel school in Vienna, Austria. I was captivated by how the Viennese see hospitality as an art and not a mere task. The synergy that exists between 18th century architecture and ingrained skill of service was realized when I started working for the prestigious Relais & Chateaux hotel group,.   Relais & Chateaux properties strive to achieve "Art de Vivre” every day, with every guest; through a vision shaped by the values of Excellence and Soul and Spirit. 

 The emotional impact became eminently clear that it is more than the experience of the guest's stay, but most importantly the memories it creates.

 That awakening of how design (your home) and hospitality plays a similar role when you entertain added another foundational piece to the design process that I ensure is captured along the way.   

The idea of approaching design from a "coaching" perspective came to me from utilizing "coach thinking" from my 20 years as an Executive Coach in the field of Change Management.  Coaching incorporates those critical thought process which are found in coaching models and Organizational Development design elements (Discover, Dream, Design & Develop).

 In fact, those models and elements had such a profound impact on how it provided clarity to people in an organization, that I realized when replacing the word “Organizational” with “home” I can get those same results through a structural process of home design combined with applying creative and visionary thinking.