Today we’d like to introduce you to Susan Semmelmann.
Thanks for sharing your story with us Susan. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
They say I am a woman on a mission, a mission to use my gifts and talents for the greater good of everyone in my reachable sphere. My new branded company, Susan Semmelmann Interiors, is an integral part of this outreach. My mission statement reads, “The spirit of living is in the giving.” Those words are much more than a tag line beneath my logo; they are my lifeline to the world around me.
As a businesswoman, wife, mom, and philanthropist, I am not one to compartmentalize my life, but to weave all of the threads together to create a tapestry of purpose and passion. One glimpse into a day in the life of Susan Semmelmann, and you will quickly realize that I genuinely love everything I do, and my family, employees, and friends are directly by my side as I go.
My business is so much more than simply designing a home; my focus is to create a place of beauty and community for my clients. These are not just design jobs; I see them as my clients’ dreams. I often tell them, “your style is my style, tell me what you want, and we’ll create it together.” Throughout my 23-year interior design career, I maintain that every home is equally important and unique.
“A home is personal; it is about you and your lifestyle, how you live, and what you want to feel when you are in your happy place. It’s called home because it is where we find life. I want to give you what you want in design so that you will get back the experiences and memories, knowing it is designed around you and what you see for yourself, and sharing it with those you love.” Home is a sanctuary. Family is everything. Faith is the foundation. Giving is the response.
“I have been married for 26 years; I have a beautiful family with three children and love being involved in the community and working with charities that are very personal to me. I appreciate all of life’s blessings, and I want to give back all that I can. Life isn’t about what you get, it’s about what you give, and I want to give what I have to you.”
I attended Texas Christian University and graduated with an education degree. My son if attends this next fall will be the 17th person in my family to attend the university. Growing up with my parents being school teachers is all I knew until 1996, I knew there was more and I had an eye for design. A God-given talent of creativity my husband and I started building homes and the rest is history. Since I have established an incredible and stable company that allows me to hopefully impact lives every day. I do take my teacher’s background and speak to students in high schools around the community on architecture and design.
Aside from family, my charitable work is my driving force, I work to give, and my heart is anchored in the knowledge that life is precious. We gain a clearer vision and purpose through hardships, and the Semmelmann family has been through our share. I have started the Susan Semmelmann Interiors Foundation and this is where I grant one charity a year a makeover for their offices to allow them to be fed while they are selflessly feeding others with their voluntary time and efforts.
In 2010, my husband Marc was diagnosed with a rare form of bone cancer. While he was at MD Anderson in a fight for his life, I took over running his business while already working with my design firm and raising three young children. To this day, Marc is the only survivor in the world of this particular kind of cancer, and this offers a very unique perspective on life.
During this season, my family also lost our home on Possum Kingdom Lake in the 2011 fire that devastated the area. It’s about perspective and response and the ability to get back up. Overcome, rebuild, embrace life, pay it forward. That is precisely what I will continue to do. During Marc’s stay at MD Anderson, a charitable organization called Raquel’s Wings for Life flew me back and forth to see Marc in the hospital for 11 months at MDA while having three children that didn’t drive. After his treatment and recovery, Marc got his pilot’s license and now has a few airplanes he donates to the fleet. He currently flies patients and families to and from MD Anderson several days a week.
I have a strong connection with the Fort Worth-based non-profit, a Wish with Wings. For 35 years, this organization has been granting wishes to Texas children fighting life-threatening medical conditions. Pulling from my resources, I recently surprised them with a fully custom makeover of their office lobby. It is my absolute joy to give to those who selflessly give to others. This is where the heart for the Susan Semmelmann Interiors foundation was inspired.
Through association with these organizations and many more, Marc and I have come to be known as the “wing people,” and we love it. We want to use our wings to elevate others. Now, we both counsel others on the importance of faith and hope. It is with these things in mind that I launched my new brand, so I can help my clients realize their home design dreams and, in doing so, open up more opportunities to pay the beauty forward. I will tell you that I did it scared, but I did it anyway, and it has paid off in spades. My mission is to bring joy and life to those around me and want to believe fully, mission accomplished!
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Launching my new brand was stepping out on faith and passion. I did not know what was about to happen but since the day I started, I have never looked back. I have 24 design projects going and have so many in the 2020 pipeline that will be coming up. I love the song “It’s going to be a bright sunshiny day.” I can see now and there are no obstacles in my way. I wake up each day with passion ready to take on all the responsibilities of running my operation. I have 10 employees and these people are family to me. I believe you are getting what you are getting because you are giving what you are giving. The more we give, the more fulfilled we are. Each and every one of my clients I can give them so much more in time, resources and product. At Susan Semmelmann’s interiors, our motto is the ” spirit of living is in the giving” and that is what we all stand for.
Please tell us about your business.
We are an interior design firm that is more than just a place to do design. We are an actual design studio that offers endless products from all over the world. We carry 100’s of lines of furnishings and we manufacture drapery and bedding. We go directly to mills and resource our products all over the world. We attend national and international markets to stay cutting edge in the industry. What sets us apart is I built homes from the ground up for 12 years and know construction well to work with architects and builders to know what we can and cannot do. We have an eye for design that allows us to create one of a kind projects for our clients and make their home, home, a happy place to share life with friends and family. What I am most proud of as a company is a fact that we are a company with strong morals and values and believe in supporting each other along the way. Each client becomes a friend because we invest ourselves in what “they” want, not what we want. We always say, our style is our client’s style. We are very active in the community and support many charities. This is a huge part of my personal life in which I live to give. We are passionate about sharing our gifts, resources and talents with not only charities but with every one of our clients, no matter who they are, we give all we have.
Do you look back particularly fondly on any memories from childhood?
One of my favorite childhood memories is when I was a little girl I would spend hours and hours rearranging my room. I had no idea I would be an interior designer but I knew I always loved creating design spaces. I would color, paint, needlepoint, work with fabrics and art. I would arrange my dolls and stuffed animals so each one could be displayed the way I wanted them to always be. I felt each doll and animal deserved that one space so they could be all they could be in the space they were given.
Contact Info:
- Address: 4374 West Vickery Blvd Ste 1000, Ft Worth, Texas 76107
- Website: www.semmelmanninteriors.com
- Phone: 940-577-1000
- Email: Susan@semmelmanninteriors.com
- Instagram: @susansemmelmanninteriors
- Facebook: Susan Semmelmann Interiors
Image Credit:
Realty Pro Shots
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