126: Trād Talks: Sustainability, Creativity, and the Power of Responsible Resourcing

This week I welcome Jessica Phelps, the founder of Trād Furnishings, to the podcast to talk about sustainability, creativity, and responsible resourcing. Through Trād Furnishings, Jessica offers a great, sustainable solution to a problem most designers have at some point: leftover, unused materials from a job. Sometimes we order too much of something or it doesn’t work as we expected it to, but we aren’t able to return it. These items often sit for years, unused, or are discarded. So Jessica created Trād Furnishings to give these items a new life in another designer’s project.

Jessica shares the process of how she brought this business to life, why it can be a huge help to designers in San Diego, and her hopes for expansion in the future.

Join Jessica and me for a Sustainability Design Coven Training on Thursday, September 14. The event is available to Design Coven Pro members. To become a member, visit designcoven.com/join.

About Jessica

Jessica Phelps is a graduate of Design Institute of San Diego and has worked as an interior designer for over 20 years. Originally from Missouri, she grew up around her grandmother’s bridal shop and has always had an appreciation for beautiful fabrics and design. Early on, she obtained a degree in fashion merchandising and then, once she moved to San Diego, persued her career in interior design. After graduating, she passed her NCIDQ certification in 2005 and has been featured in San Diego Home and Garden magazine as well as mentioned on HGTV's website for a "Bright, Bold and Colorful Kitchen."Jessica strongly believes in working with a client and their style while guiding them to a beautifully balanced interior. She enjoys thinking "outside of the box" while respecting the fundamentals of good design and especially has a passion for designing tile layouts because of the infinite possibilities. In 2020, Jessica finally decided to take action on her idea of an online marketplace for interior designers to buy and sell items that didn’t work for a job.  Finally in mid-2023, Trādfurnishings.com was launched. Jessica is currently excited to see how Trād Furnishings will flourish and help the design community while, at the same time, continuing to grow and enjoy her interior design career.

Featured in this episode

Featured Tarot deck: Rider-Waite Colman Smith Tarot

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Are you an interior designer or are you interested in Holistic Interior Design? Check out my membership program, the Design Coven! This program is a real-world industry mentorship for Holistic Interior Designers that has everything you won't find in traditional design school curriculum. You'll learn from practicing interior designers working on real life projects, and get access to cutting edge vendors, suppliers, furniture makers, textile designers, and design resources that I've curated over my 17 years of design experience. As a member, you'll have the opportunity to build valuable relationships of your own. Learn more.

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