At the beginning of this summer we were on the hunt to find an intern who wanted a taste of what being an interior designer, specifically a senior living designer, was like. Meet our intern extraordinaire, Peyton Miller! Peyton has been a huge help this summer and we are so grateful she joined our team back in May.
Peyton is a rising senior at Auburn University where she is involved in the Chi Omega sorority organization and The Societies. She has also been on the Dean’s List multiple semesters and has held a high GPA, (over 3.3), the past three years. She is also learning two languages and is an avid reader!
For #NationalInternDay we wanted to do a Q+A with Peyton, to reflect on her summer with Studio 121.
S121: Tell us a little about yourself.
PM: I’m from Gardendale, AL and I’m an upcoming senior at Auburn University. I’m hoping to go into hospitality or commercial design when I graduate. I’ve had many jobs and a lot of exposure to design, but this is my first interior design job! I love all things outdoors, reading, and being with loved ones!
S121: What are you studying in school?
PM: I’m pursuing my Bachelors in Interior Design with a minor in Business, and I am also getting my LEED certification in the fall!
S121: What made you want to intern in Nashville?
PM: I had visited Nashville a couple of times prior to my internship and I just fell in love with the city. I want to move to Nashville after I graduate, so I thought why not do my internship there if I can! I also had heard really good things about S121, so I had to at least apply and see if I could intern there!
S121: What has been your favorite part of your summer internship so far?
PM: My favorite part has been the learning! I have grown so much in the past couple of months from interning, and I have learned so many things that you can only learn through actual work experience. I have also loved my coworkers, I can say with the utmost confidence that this is the best group of people that I have ever worked with!
S121: What has been something you have learned during your internship that you didn’t know about previously?
PM: I have learned how to successfully communicate within a team and with reps and other professionals in the field.
S121: What part of the design process are you most excited about?
PM: Personally, the conceptual design phase is where I feel like I have the most creativity! I love brainstorming and problem solving during this phase. I feel like a great project has strong foundations and to me, this phase is where you build those foundations.
S121: After your internship do you think you will focus more towards commercial or residential?
PM: I think I will focus on commercial rather than residential. I love residential, but I feel commercial design is more rewarding to both the clients and myself.
S121: What will you take back with you that will help you out most during your senior year?
PM: Real work experience is so valuable and a great insight into your future career as a college student. During my internship I have learned what I like and what I don’t like, and I think learning things like that and seeing how working in a firm compared to what you think your job will be like is what I will be taking back to school with me my senior year.
S121: What have you learned from SL Design?
PM: Senior living design is a different animal from other branches of design. I feel like there is so much more thought and meaning put into SL design. I have also become so much more knowledgeable and learned many technical facts about SL design that I had absolutely no clue about until my internship.
S121: Any advice for future interns?
PM: My advice would be to never be afraid to ask questions, it sounds cheesy I know. Your supervisors or designers love when you ask questions, it makes you seem eager and motivated about design. Another piece of advice would be to try and be as thorough as possible on whatever you are working on, it’s important to make the designer’s jobs as easy as possible as the intern, so do whatever you can to accomplish that.