The Hybrid Designer
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About The Book
The Hybrid Designer talks about Bea Gardner and her “wanna-be” designer dream. How she came from a modest background, with no degree, to become one of the most well-known interior designers in Columbus, Ohio in a field that mostly catered to the affluent.
When Bea lost her father at the age of 14, her childhood came to an end. She and her older brother were thrown into the work force to be able to buy things like school clothes and have spending money. Her father was 35 years old and had no life insurance when he died unexpectedly leaving a widow with five children under the ages of 15. Bea and her brother contributed part of their incomes to helping their mother financially.
Gardner married at the age of 19 while most of her high school friends were finishing their first year of college. Three years into the marriage Gardner gave birth to their first child. That was when her husband insisted that she no longer work. That’s just the way it was back then. A women’s place was in the home.
She immersed herself into the world of Art and Design and home furnishings while fulfilling this new role of motherhood and homemaker. During those years, Bea took art classes in painting, sculpture, pottery and art history from some of the best art teachers in the area. While the kids were in school, she browsed through furniture stores shopping for furnishings for their new home and she especially loved a place called Garth Andrews Furniture and Design.
Because of her accumulated art and furniture background, Bea began to dream of becoming a decorator. But, as stated, her husband did not allow her to work. It was out of the question however, she did enter a decorating contest and the winner got to keep all the furniture and accessories in the room that was submitted in the contest. Bea won this contest.
A few years later, Bea found herself in the throes of a divorce. She had no real work experience after having her children. That was when she got an ultimatum from her divorce lawyer. “Without a job the judge will not grant you your divorce” he told her. You need proof that you will be able to support yourself and your children. It was that circumstance that forced Gardner to seek employment.
Under pressure, and at a time when she was not at her best, she had the presence of mind to reach deep within to find a way to try to become what she always wanted to become, an interior designer. She contacted the furniture buyers of the department store where she won the decorating contest and they came to her rescue. They pulled strings and helped her land her first job in the business and the rest is history.
As you turn the pages, will learn how two design competitions and one lucky lottery brought her full circle in the world of design in Columbus, OH.
Little did Bea know what struggles lie ahead. Being a woman with aspirations in a career and being a single parent was almost an insurmountable task during those years.
The Hybrid Designer is a memoir, specifically about Gardner’s long and winding road with White’s Fine Furniture, and her business relationship with Gordon Schiffman, owner of the White’s dynasty with whom she credits much of her success. She dabbles a bit with the struggles raising her sons and gives the reader a glimpse of juggling an adult “single” woman’s life in spite of career and parenting.