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ASID NJ Announces Programs for Student & Emerging Professionals Week
March 18,
2025 by Karen Parrish in Business Strategy, Designer Weekly, Industry 
The New Jersey Chapter of the American Society of Interior Designers (ASID NJ), once again orchestrated a diverse and enriching roster of programs during its Student & Emerging Professionals Week, Feb 19 - 22. Highlights included a CEU at Metropolitan Window Fashions; NCIDQ training; a Career Festival with resume/project review, mock interviews and a panel on getting hired; and last, but not least, a virtual presentation, “Untold Truths of the Design Industry.”
Marilyn LaVergne, ASID Associate and Chapter President, who established her own firm Marilyn LaVergne Interiors, after having had her own furniture showroom and art gallery and then working at Cabinets to Go, the nation’s largest cabinetry showroom, opened the Untold Truths panel. She offered keen insights that one doesn’t always hear.
She emphasized that interior design is a business; that’s it’s about building relationships and the importance of believing in what you are selling. She recalled the phrase, “People don’t buy what you do, they buy what you believe in.”
She shared that creative work is subjective work and that you need to establish boundaries for yourself – understanding who you are and what you intend.
“Protecting your confidence is essential,” she noted. She had a colleague who said, “I walk into a meeting like God sent me.” Good advice for everyone! She also had a tip of the sartorial kind – dress in colors, that way you stand out and end up in the photos.
Next, up Tammy Bolden, ASID Allied, who worked in marketing, public relations and sales, including a tenure with a large furniture manufacturer and several years as a real estate agent, before opening Bold Interior Designs in 2011. She talked about the importance of a mission statement, to know who you are and what you like and to sell your voice and your ability to the client.
She advised creating a niche for yourself and having a specialty. Bolden also touched on the importance of developing vendor relationships and working with regular ones.
Getting involved in the industry was key to her message: take internships, go to trade shows, collaborate with others. She cautioned that mistakes can be big and costly and brought up the adage, “Measure twice and cut once.” She concluded with the exhortation, “Keep learning – you’ve got to change with the industry.”
”I didn’t really know that interior design was a thing that I could do,” is how Denise Pough, ASID Allied, the third and final speaker began. She explained how her life pivoted. She worked in hospitality at The Sky Club, The Waldorf Astoria and Leading Hotels of the World as a young woman after college.
After marriage and moving to New Jersey with her family, she built a real estate management business with her husband that honed her entrepreneurial skills, all while earning her interior design certificates. After passing the Residential Interior Designer Qualification Certification (RIDQC), she launched A-Jay Interiors by Dee, in 2019.
She stressed that you have to know how to sell yourself, without selling yourself but by engaging others and asking questions. With that entrepreneurial spirit, she also said that there are no excuses as to why you can’t do something. LaVergne echoed the sentiment at the conclusion of the panel, saying “Develop your own voice, there’s no limit to what you can do when you put your mind to it.” And to one query from a participant as to what to do when you make a mistake, she added, “You’re going to make mistakes, just don’t stay there.”