Ozark Living

Guest Columnist Living You and your wife started the NWA Design Association about two years ago, why did you start it? In general, we both felt that there was a need to bring together the design and building trades. At the time, we were wrapping up a couple of really large, super-high- end projects where the limitations weren't so much about budget as they were about the quality of materials and crasmanship. It was really neat to see things come together. I more or less came into this project in snapshots, seeing the process of casting a vision and watching the crasmen bring it to life. It was like Amy was the brush, the house the canvas, and the contractors were the paint. It was art. To me, I saw the possibilities of what a professional organization could do. We had built relationships with many of these guys and wanted to build additional opportunities to work with them on future projects. Honestly, with the gis some of these people have, they really need to be shared with others. So, the spirit of the Design Association is older than the organization itself? Oh yeah. I mean, I'm relatively new to the design world. Amy has been doing this for a long time. Her first job was in a fabric store when she was still in high school and her mom was an interior designer. When her mom retired, we inherited a lot of her accounts and picked up a few of her clients. Coupled with Amy's intense work ethic, we were set up very well for success early on. But this was the first time I had more than just a supportive involvement with Amy's day-to- day business, and I got excited. My business brain started going into overdrive and we started fleshing out Selah Design Studio. We had already built a pretty good-sized portfolio of accounts for fabrics, rugs, furniture, art and accessories and invested thousands of dollars opening accounts to get best pricing. We wanted to give others, and especially new designers, access to better products at better pricing. We started throwing parties— Selah Design Studio Happy Hours—for designers, to show off our studio and products, but also to bring together designers to collaborate on projects with sub- contractors and vendors. It was awesome. So much fun. If the Selah Design Studio happy hours were so successful, why continue with the Design Association? We referred to our Selah Happy Hours as priming the pump for something bigger. We saw the value in what we were doing and realized that many of the vendors who were coming to our events also had product and showrooms that needed to be shown off. And, honestly, I think we had reached a sort of plateau. I think there were many designers or vendors who wouldn't come to our events because they saw it as our thing, or us as competition. So, we decided that it would be better to turn it into a professional organization, to hand this thing that we had started over to the design community. It's been about a three-year transition so far. Selah Design Studio An interview with founder Brad Koogler ABOUT: Brad and Amy Koogler own Selah Design Studio, a full-service interior design firm specializing in window treatments, furniture, art, rugs, and accessories and they are the founders of the Northwest Arkansas Design Association. Brad is a Veteran, business consultant, and licensed Realtor with Coldwell Banker Harris McHaney & Faucette. 24 • NOVEMBER 2018 • OZARK LIVING

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