We had the good fortune of connecting with Shana Francesca and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Shana, we’d love to hear more about your end-goal, professionally.

I love this question. What I imagine for myself is continuing to explore what is possible with my firm, Concinnate. At this moment, Concinnate is a national interior design and life design firm. I see us having a digital learning experience that invites others to be more intentional, supporting them in designing their lives. I want to see us work with clients consistently around the globe. I see us designing more homes from the ground up and helping to transform people’s perception of what it looks like to work with an interior designer/design firm on large scale residential projects. I see Concinnate purchasing and transforming property around the world for the purpose of creating curated and highly customized experiences for individual and client groups around life design, mindfulness, wholistic health, and living a more conscious lifestyle in ever expanding ways. These curated experiences being a deeper dive into intentional living. I see ‘harmony by design’ which is the distilled definition of the word Concinnate, being a guidepost for us all to remember the impact of our individual and collective choices. I see us creating semi and fully customizable inclusive and sustainable furniture and clothing brands and/or partnering with companies who already are in this realm. I want myself and Concinnate to be a significant voice in the proliferation of what it looks to live your life with AND at the forefront instead of OR and what it looks like to create space for others to do the same.

I see myself as a person speaking around the world to groups small and large ushering us all into curiosity and creativity, and how it can/will change the world through our relationship with ourselves and others. I would also love to be a part of the discussion of bringing back apprenticeship (for higher education specifically) as a way of learning rather than leaning so heavily on an education system whose price tag limits and financially cripples so many people. I want to be a part of changing the narrative of our legal system and how we interact with individuals who are coming back into the workforce after serving time. I want to be part of the discussion around caring for those who are in foster care and how we can transform what it looks like to provide consistent support while preparing to ‘age out’ because we never ‘age out’ of needing a support system.

Many of the things I mention are things I am taking steps to accomplish now and I imagine, that, if I live long enough, many of these things will morph, change and expand and the thought of that delights me. I love surprises so I think what I look forward to the most, is how what I am able to accomplish will surprise me.

Alright, so for those in our community who might not be familiar with your business, can you tell us more?

Concinnate is a national interior design and life design firm. I grew up in a very abusive environment. Exploring ways to set the stage for the life I imagined was what led me to get my degree in interior design. For the decade following design school, my work focused on commercial office interiors. However, I knew I wanted to create space in a more authentic way leading me to found, what is now Concinnate, five years ago. I see our homes and the places we dwell as a vision board for our lives. A way of reflecting back our beliefs about ourselves, who we are, who we want to be, who we are becoming.

Building Concinnate at times has not been easy. From the beginning I knew building this business would demand personal growth. That growth has fueled my journey in unanticipated ways supported by reading, journaling, meditation, connection with other leaders and consistency in self care. What I have learned, is that we are more resilient than we know. Appreciating the growth that comes from struggle is all a part of finding joy. This led me to wonder what place luxury has in our lives, and what is it?

I see luxury as that which make our life worth living. Luxury can be experienced in moments like taking a hot bath, walking along the beach with our toes touching the water or a beautiful conversation with a friend over a glass of wine. Designing our homes and our lives to make space for those moments is critical for a life full of joy. It comes down to being intentional in all aspects of our lives. I founded Concinnate to be able to explore that understanding with clients in a variety of ways. We design beautiful space in harmony with our clients and their projects needs, working primarily with residential, restaurant and hospitality clients.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
Things have obviously been a little weird the last couple of years so I lean more towards a low key house party on the beach in Malibu these days. That being said, I highly recommend the Beverly Hot Spring Spa, it is one of my very favorite things. The body scrub is life changing. WeHo Bistro is a great spot. love eating outdoors sometimes a bit too much. Gracias Madre is a great spot for tacos. Ooh and Olivetta I am a sucker for the decor. I also love Fratelli Cafe, I eat mostly vegan during the week and vegetarian on the weekend and many of my friends have medically restricted diets so finding places that have a great vibe and food options for everyone is fantastic. I love hiking in the Santa Monica mountains there is a ruin of a home with a ton of fireplaces. Each one of them is different which makes it all the more interesting. I can never remember the name of it but it is nestled back at the end of a low key trail and has gorgeous shade and the ruin itself is interesting architecturally. Also the view from the top of the Santa Monica Mountains is stunning. The view of the ocean while hiking never gets old and to be able to hike down hop in the car, cross the PCH and put your feet in the water is wonderful. I think it is the variety of options that makes LA amazing, the ocean, the mountains, the hot springs… it is all right there for you.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?

There are so many persons and things who have helped me along the way. My friend Ashley Owens, Ashley Assists, she has come to my rescue so many times. I call her and tell her what I am working on and how I am stuck and she always has a person to direct me to or a solution I did not see. She has literally listened while I sobbed for 2 hours when I first took my business full time. She is an incredible friend. Sheel Bhuta is one of my soul sisters. When I called her to discuss my company values and all I was imagining for the rebrand of my design firm, her intuition helped lead me to the name Concinnate. Keith Ferrazzi, his books Never Eat Alone and Leading Without Authority helped to transform the way I looked at building myself as a leader, in the way I connect with other leaders and in building my team. He also happens to be an incredible human who I am thankful to know.

There are so many books that have changed my life and encouraged me along the way. It was Jen Sincero’s book You Are a Badass that helped give me the courage to keep going when times were tough. Francesca Gino’s book Rebel Talent gave me ‘permission’ to continue being a rule breaker. Three more books that gave me courage in other aspects of my life are Malcolm Gladwell’s Talking to Strangers. It helped me to recognize fear in myself and others in a new way and encouraged me to lean deeper into curiosity about my own unchallenged beliefs. Give and Take by Adam Grant reinforced my desire to be a leader who is a giver but helped me to see how critical boundaries would be on my journey as a leader. Finally, Untamed by Glennon Doyle, reminded me that I do not need others permission to be myself, that it is important to protect my wild and others as well. There are so many more people, books and podcasts that I could mention. What I have found is that continuing to pursue knowledge and wisdom is the fuel for my curiosity and creativity, and something I will spend my lifetime inviting into my life.

Website: https://www.concinnate.world/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/concinnate.world/

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shana-francesca-36b79217/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Concinnate/

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCAFmDzdt3-CutdjGR8NNIxg

Other: https://linktr.ee/CONCINNATE

Image Credits
https://www.inbetweenrivers.com/ Photo Credit for all Photos is to Briana Sposato, InBetweenRivers

Nominate Someone: ShoutoutLA is built on recommendations and shoutouts from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.