Meet Natalie Greenside and Melissa Brown | Interior Designer, Principal MN Studio

We had the good fortune of connecting with Natalie Greenside and Melissa Brown and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Natalie and Melissa, what was your thought process behind starting your own business?
We crossed paths while working at an Architecture and Interior Design firm in Santa Barbara. Pretty quickly after we started working with one another we realized we were a really great team, worked well together, and had a similar vision for how we wanted to operate. Privately, we would say “someday when we have our own studio, we’ll do it this way” seriously but kind of as a far off dream. Throughout the years we kept on saying it to one another and then it just became apparent that we were outgrowing the firm and didn’t want to work for anyone else. We decided to take a business class through Women’s Economic Ventures (WEV) and it was here we developed our business plan and learned the basics of starting a business.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
MN Studio is a full service Interior Design firm founded by Melissa Brown and Natalie Greenside. Mel and Natalie both have an extensive background in working for Architectural firms and combine that with their wealth of knowledge of materials and abundant industry connections. We pride ourselves on being a highly collaborative firm and strong advocates for our clients.

We got to where we are today through a lot of hard work and support from our families, clients, friends, colleagues, and support from one another as business partners. Our first year in business, Mel had a baby. This was all very planned, but it still seemed to sneak up on us. When Mel’s son was born we were slammed with so many awesome projects, which was so great. It was overwhelming for Natalie to keep all of the projects moving forward while trying to give Mel the space to discover new motherhood, and it was overwhelming for Mel to discover new motherhood while trying to help move projects forward. It was an exhausting, emotional, and rewarding first year and if we can make it through that, we can make it through anything.

We struggled initially to find good qualified employees but we now have a wonderful team of experienced interior designers. We’ve learned how important it is to create an office environment that is truly collaborative, flexible, and creative. We genuinely value our employees opinions and are very interested in their views and suggestions and we also respect their lives outside of our office.

We have some really exciting projects we’re working on now and a number on the horizon! We have custom residential projects in Santa Barbara, Montecito, and Malibu all of which are unique and in completely different architectural styles which we love. In our hospitality division our team has been working on a boutique hotel in San Luis Obispo, and several really fun and entertaining bars are restaurants on the South Coast. We’re also amped to show off some recent workplace projects, one of which features a live tree in the center of an open office.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
Well, this is for Santa Barbara and we’re all about showing our friends the best time ever! For breakfast we would take them to Lilac Patisserie for the best quiche and cappuccino this side of Europe! We’d walk a block up and wander through the SB art museum then head to the Funk Zone for an afternoon of wine tasting and end up at Flor de Maiz for their duck confit taquitos for dinner. Day two we’d hit some of the local trails for a hike and early morning views then head to Summerland starting at Field and Fort for brunch and do a bit of shopping at The Well, Porch, and Botanik. Later dinner at Ca Dario, an Aperol Spritz at Good Lion and walk to the Santa Barbara Bowl for a concert under the stars. We’d have to make a special trip to Lotus Land, a former estate with the most avant grade landscaping. Truly, cannot be missed.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
We have had so many people who were supportive of us and our business. Our families were instrumental; they invested in MN Studio financially, encouraged us, and have helped us in navigating the ins and outs of running the business. The business skills we learned through WEV were also crucial in helping us build a solid foundation. Once we announced we were starting the business we had so many clients, consultants, friends, and colleagues offer their support. It was really overwhelming.

Website: mnstudiointeriors.com

Instagram: @mnstudiointeriors

Image Credits
Blake Bronstad