Tales of Resilience Town Hall Part 3

Join IDC for the third part of the ‘Tales of Resilience’ town hall series, focused on personal stories of interior designers who experienced the effects of an economic recession or financial crisis. Hear their tales of setbacks, survival, and ultimately, success.

This event is free and intended for student and intern members to learn from newly graduated students working in the industry, senior designers, and industry leaders, to ask questions, and gain insight on how to move forward in their careers. The event will be moderated by Trevor Kruse, CEO of IDC. All members are invited!

Panelists:

Caroline Hughes, Retired – Principal Emeritus Figure3

Caroline’s 35 year career in corporate interiors is characterized by one key strength: design thinking. As strategic principal with figure3 for 15 years, Caroline developed human-centered discovery processes designed to uncover the needs of the people impacted by figure3’s work for large and small clients, helping figure3 to become one of Canada’s most-awarded interiors firms. Today, Caroline is retired from active practice but stays involved in our industry primarily with IDC as it develops the VODA awards program, training and symposiums geared to support Canadian designers interested in building their own design thinking skills.

Donna Verlaan, Branch Manager, E.Roko Distributors Ltd.

Donna has 16 years of experience working in the interior design industry in Vancouver. Her work has been featured on HGTV Canada, JoyTV, and at IDS West. She is also a contributing design writer for Boulevard Magazine, Vancouver. Donna has also held senior design and management positions for leading kitchen design firms and manufacturers. She brings distinctive knowledge to the interior design community.

Rochelle Jones, Studio Director, Interiors, FORREC LTD.

Rochelle is a registered interior designer with a degree from Ryerson’s School of Interior Design. Her career has spanned the entertainment, commercial and retail sectors of design, working with many Fortune 500 companies across the globe. During this time, she earned two ARIDO awards, has been featured in industry magazines, and presented at IIDEX and an IFMA conference.

Currently, Rochelle is the Director for the Interior Design studio at FORREC, a global experience design company, based in Toronto. Since joining FORREC in 2015, Rochelle has built a talented team of designers while fostering their growth in the industry and providing them with strong mentorship, including advising interior design students in the higher education programs across Ontario. Rochelle’s projects have taken her around the globe. She has personally managed theme park projects in China, a Visitor Centre in Banff, and multiple family entertainment centres in Singapore, the USA, and Toronto.

Dr. Tiiu Poldma, PhD. FDRS CFERDIE, IDEC, IDC, Designer d’intérieur certifié APDIQ®

Dr. Poldma is a professor at the School of Design (Université de Montréal), Director-FoCoLUM Lighting Lab/GRID, and CRIR regular researcher. She holds a BID, Ryerson (Honours), MA, McGill (Dean’s Honour list) and PhD. (McGill), Fellow Design Research Society (2015), Compagnon FERDIE (2004). She is an award-winning certified professional interior designer with over 350 projects completed. She is co-recipient of CFI grant for innovation (3.65M$, 2006-2010), « Nouveau theatre de reelle” and co-investigator/executive member, RehabMALL Living Lab (2011 – 2016, 1.4M$ awarded). She was Vice Dean, Graduate Studies (2006-2014) and Vice Dean Research (2006-2010), Faculty of Environmental Design (Universite de Montreal).