I’m the Founder and Owner of Braid & Wood Design Studio. We are a San Diego, CA based product design firm that specializes in creating modern home décor products for houseplant lovers (think plant stands, vessels, wall mounted and ceiling suspended plant hangers).

Our products have a modern, minimal, scandi-vibe that helps consumers bring more life into their homes in a design-centric way. Everything is made from quality hardwoods to achieve a high-end designer look that’s also very affordable.

I started the company in July of 2019 after spending 18 years working in the non-profit and education sectors. I primarily held positions that specialized in marketing, social media management, PR, creative content development, and website design.

I did not have the typical university-based experience. I went to community college, I took classes at night mostly and worked full-time. I eventually got a Bachelor’s degree in English with an emphasis in Rhetoric & Writing from San Diego State University.

As long as I can remember, I’ve relished any opportunity to be creative. I just love, “making things.” I even started a few side hustles before Braid & Wood: a pillow shop on Etsy, a custom artwork service, a line of handmade concrete planters. But, those all eventually sparked out.

After a few pretty stressful years both my husband and I wanted to make a big lifestyle change. We both quit our jobs, we sold what we thought was our forever home, and we moved into a small two bedroom apartment (our parents thought we were nuts!).

My husband went to work for a small tech start-up and I began to plan out what I wanted to do next.

When I started Braid & Wood something clicked. I was finally able to fuse my professional skillsets with my passion to create. I initially thought Braid & Wood would be an interior design firm. I absolutely love interior design and I still do projects here and there for a few select clients. However, the plant hangers I was creating for fun started to catch some traction on Instagram and with a few local boutiques and plant shops. So, I began to dig deeper into product design.

I knew absolutely nothing about designing & manufacturing products at scale when I started. But, 5 years later we now have some incredible overseas manufacturing partners, a 3rd party logistics company that handles inventory + fulfillment, and a product design team that helps with industrial drawings for future product lines.

Early on we had a bit of success selling into national retailers like West Elm, Magnolia Market, & Uncommon Goods, we were featured on the Today Show and in House Beautiful magazine, and we even won Best New Product (twice!) at two different industry-only national trade shows. Recently, we've seen a lot of success since launching our own direct-to-consumer website.

Braid & Wood has come pretty far since I was making plant hangers in my sweet little apartment.

Seeing my products in my customer's homes is seriously the most rewarding thing about this whole process. So thank you for supporting a woman owned small business. Your support is beyond appreciated and means way more than you'll ever know.

xoxo