Community Highlights: Meet Renu Mathias of Renu Mathias Interiors

Today we’d like to introduce you to Renu Mathias.

Hi Renu, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
I started traveling abroad at an early age. As the daughter of an immigrant family, born and raised in Iowa, my middle-class, working parents committed tirelessly to giving me and my sister the gift of travel to keep us connected to our heritage- and rather large family! I have dozens of first cousins. Seeing the world, and various cultures, at such a young age truly shaped who I am today. It has been the greatest gift my parents have given me.

While most of our travels centered around trips to India, we found ourselves making layovers in Europe and elsewhere. I was always drawn to local craft (particularly textiles), artisans, and more broadly, native qualities found in the fabric of the culturally rich countries I visited. Whether it was the beggars on the streets of Delhi or the splendor of Himalayan spa culture, I was enriched in some way and always left wanting more.

With a perennial desire to spread my wings and attend university outside of the midwest, I studied Marketing and International Business at Penn State with a 5-month internship in Milan preceding graduation. Immersing myself in language and art, I studied at an Italian University while taking a post as a marketing intern at the British Chamber of Commerce- while moonlighting to find ways into the glamorous world of fashion. Finagling my way into Sergio Rossi runway shows to attending launch parties at 10 Corso Como and gallery openings for Paolo Roversi, I knew there was only one place for me after Italy: New York City.

And so began my career in the other fashion capital of the world in 2000. I started in marketing and branding for some of the largest retail Fortune companies like Jones Apparel Group, Liz Claiborne, Nike, and VF Corporation. This ten-year period allowed me to build my foundation and network as a young professional in corporate America, navigate the Big Apple in my 20s as the world shifted overnight due to the unfathomable events of 9/11, and most importantly, meet my husband. I can tell you, if ever there is a time to live in New York City, it’s when you’re single, in your 20s, and finally earning a living. You won’t regret it!

After a decade of the subway, yellow taxi, and elevator rides, it was time to find new footing. Newly engaged, my fiancé and I packed up that NYC life and traveled around the world in search of good food, wine, and adventure. Cavorting across nearly 15 Southern Hemisphere countries in 90 days, I found myself scouring the local guides for every home and interiors store with frequent visits to DHL to ship our finds and found objects to my best friend’s office. Without an address to return to (in Berkeley – that much we knew), I most certainly didn’t have the space for these things but I convinced myself I would eventually find a home for them!

Upon returning from traveling, we moved across the country to the Bay Area for my husband to start his MBA while I embarked upon my next chapter in marketing/branding: startup life! When in Rome? Coupled with my first ten years in the corporate world, working for a range of startups fully enabled me with the toolkit to finally do what I had always dreamed of designing people’s homes.

I can’t say that I was intentional in charting a path towards realizing my “dream job”, but I can say that each step was a building block that organically culminated in a single event. Whether it was time, education, or resources, I always found barriers to pursuing my dreams until my a-ha moment in late 2019. After a fulfilling 20-year career designing brands and consumer experiences, I called my girlfriend asking for help setting up my LLC so that I could finally design my own brand, for my interiors business.

I was raised to believe that education is the single most important gift you can give and receive, and while there is a lot of truth to that, travel has proven equally important in my own story. It has inspired and shaped me in ways that no textbook could and given me the courage to start a second life and pursue a new craft in my 40s. And I hope my experiences will continue to afford me joy and busyness for years to come.

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
How long do you have?! My business was officially established in December of 2019 (December 31st to be exact). Here I was, a new business owner, pursuing a new craft after being a 20-year career marketer, with big dreams heading into a new year. Well, we all know how 2020 turned out…

Starting a brand new business at the start of a pandemic nobody could have predicted, was not fun nor easy. But like most things in life, if you’re passionate and dedicated enough, you find ways in. You get resourceful, you stay grounded, and be honest about not always having the answers. And you surround yourself with good people.

I was fortunate enough to have a strong first-year thanks to amazing clientele and trades partners, and have since just kept one foot in front of the other. As a small business owner (any owner really!), there is always ebb and flow. But as somebody once told me, things are usually never as bad as they seem, and things are usually never as good as they seem. This has always given me perspective.

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your business?
Pursue the Craft, Renu Mathias Interiors’ philosophy, is grounded in thoughtfully partnering with local artisans from the United States to indigenous communities around the globe — and sharing their stories.

It is my hope that by unveiling the humanity behind the form, the power of the story will unlock empathy, and help bridge some of the gaps across cultures today. Channeling design in this way, I hope to connect my clients’ own unique stories and life experiences to the broader world around them.

Renu Mathias Interiors specializes in residential interior design and is based in Chapel Hill, NC with clients in San Francisco, Chicago and locally.

What’s next?
I am looking forward to continuing to do creative work that inspires me and inspires my clients to live more happily – and uncluttered! I’m also looking forward to traveling abroad again and showing my own children the world around them.

Contact Info:

• Email: interiors@renumathias.com
• Website: www.renumathias.com
• Instagram: @renumathiasinteriors