Inspiring Conversations with Alva Horton of The Assemblage Studio

Today we’d like to introduce you to Alva Horton.

Hi Alva, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself. 
I started my career as an Interior Designer (with an educational background in Design & Studio Art), which I practiced for several years until I made a switch for financial reasons to Architectural Sales. Following the economic downturn of the late 00s & a rapid shift in the building industry, I decided to go back to school for one of my loves, Architectural History. I stayed on in Northern England for a bit after grad school working in a marketing capacity for a designer there. So, it was a natural shift to start my own marketing firm in 2013. For the last 10 years, I’ve worked with all sorts of clients in various creative pursuits from jewelry designers to furniture makers. When one of my clients approached me with the opportunity to work on the Orenge project in a new capacity – a 3 story, 22,000sf historic renovation, I jumped at the chance to combine all my loves from the ground up with a fully branded and designed space. 

I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
I find folks who have smooth roads suspect…and it definitely hasn’t been easy. 10 years in as a business owner and I’m still in shock most days that I’ve continued to make it work (especially through a global pandemic). There are also things I’m still figuring out like bookkeeping/taxes, communication styles, self-promotion, imposter syndrome, managing to work in a vacation, etc. And, of course, there are giant systemic struggles as well – it’s not easy being a woman in the male-dominated building industry. 

Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?
The Assemblage Studio is a creative agency that specializes in marketing and design. What sets us apart is our ability to combine aesthetics with functionality and user experience at all touch points of the business to create brands that go beyond simply selling a product. 

Our services include: commercial interior design, space planning, & styling as well as packaging procurement, social media management, Squarespace website design, e-marketing, branding, strategic planning for brand growth, graphic design, photographic styling, event planning, and trade show sales. 

What we’re most proud of is the brands we’ve worked with! Thriving community spaces like Orenge Durham, award-winning services like Kitchen Mastering (Grammy), and designers like Boudov & Elijah Leed who have repeatedly been seen in magazines from Garden & Gun to Marie Claire. Not to mention the non-profits like North Carolina Arts in Action and the brands truly cultivating positive change like Bright Black Candles. We’ve truly worked with an array beautiful people in every sense of the word. 

Is there something surprising that you feel even people who know you might not know about?
Hmmm… most people probably don’t know that I really enjoy teaching and hope to (one day) go back to university to get a Ph.D. so I can become a professor before I officially retire from it all. I do a little bit of teaching in the OLLI Continuing Education program at Duke, and I love it more than anything else I’ve done professionally. 

Pricing:

• At the Orenge workspaces our desks start at $225 a month
• Our private offices start at $525 a month
• Our Airbnbs start at $182 a night
• Our photography space is $150 an hour
• Assemblage services are a la carte based on scope

Contact Info:

• Website: www.orengedurham.com, www.the-assemblage.com
• Instagram: @orengedurham @the_assemblage_studio
• Other: tiktok @orengedurham

Image Credits
Brett Seay
Brad Bunyea
Chris Charles