{"id":3691,"date":"2025-02-04T14:08:53","date_gmt":"2025-02-04T19:08:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.trincoll.edu\/reporter\/?page_id=3691"},"modified":"2025-02-05T10:58:51","modified_gmt":"2025-02-05T15:58:51","slug":"jeanne-barber-07","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.trincoll.edu\/reporter\/the-trinity-reporter-winter-2025\/alumni-qas\/jeanne-barber-07\/","title":{"rendered":"Jeanne Barber \u201907"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"Degrees:<\/strong> B.A. in political science; J.D., University of Connecticut School of Law<\/p>\n

Job Title:<\/strong> Owner and lead designer, Camden Grace Interiors in West Hartford, Connecticut<\/p>\n

Favorite Trinity Memory:<\/strong> Living on the Long Walk with three of my closest friends (still close to this day!) and blasting the quad with our karaoke machine. We would crouch below the window so no one knew where the music was coming from and sing and laugh until our bellies hurt. While one roommate did a mean Tina Turner impression, the rest of us were not blessed with vocals, so we really tortured anyone who was outside listening to our antics.<\/p>\n

Why did you found your company?<\/strong>\u00a0Lawyering was my career, but design was my passion. In 2015, I gave birth to a premature daughter with health complications. It was a eureka moment for me\u2014life is short, why not follow my passion? Today I lead a seven-person award-winning interior design firm that tackles projects throughout the United States, from designing single rooms to whole homes plus renovations and new builds.<\/p>\n

What do you do in your role?<\/strong> When I first started, I was designing and decorating homes, but I was also the HR department, in-house lawyer, billing department, and marketing manager.\u00a0Luckily, as Camden Grace has grown, the number of hats I wear has been reduced.\u00a0While I still have a small hand in everything, now I am able to oversee the creative direction of all of our design projects and also play an active lead role on our larger projects and those that especially spark my interest.\u00a0I love designing homes that have soul, which to me means a home that reflects our client\u2019s interests and looks collected over time; mixing patterns, eras, and forms is our specialty.<\/p>\n

What do you enjoy most about your work?\u00a0<\/strong>No two projects are alike because no two clients are alike. We get to know our clients intimately. I\u2019m a people person, so I really enjoy the process of learning about their families, hobbies, traditions, and travels.\u00a0For example, one\u00a0of our clients was a Boy Scout who had saved all of his old badges, which we framed as part of an art installation. Another client brought back from her travels an Aztec stone rubbing we featured in her entry.\u00a0I love seeing clients light up when they see their spaces transformed with items that are meaningful to them.<\/p>\n

What are the biggest challenges you face?<\/strong> HGTV\u2014and\u00a0now AI\u2014can create\u00a0unrealistic expectations. First, things don\u2019t happen with a snap of the fingers like on TV.\u00a0Luckily, lead times have normalized since the COVID furniture shortage, but custom and bespoke items that are crafted by hand still take time.\u00a0Second, quality design requires an investment.\u00a0Cutting corners never pays off.\u00a0Do it once and do it right, even if it means\u00a0narrowing your project scope.\u00a0Third,\u00a0AI has\u00a0changed the game,\u00a0with clients showing us\u00a0AI-generated inspiration images.\u00a0While AI can offer cool ideas, they aren\u2019t always feasible to implement.\u00a0When\u00a0my daughter swooned over a bed that looked like it floated atop a pillowy cloud, I had to break it to her\u00a0that I couldn\u2019t pluck it from the sky.<\/p>\n

How did Trinity prepare you for your work life?\u00a0<\/strong>I learned at Trinity that if you\u2019ve done your homework, no question is dumb\u2014ask away\u2014and really listen to the answers.\u00a0Fully understanding the problem is the only way you\u2019ll be able to offer effective solutions.\u00a0This was true in my career as a lawyer and now as the owner of Camden Grace.\u00a0On a daily basis, I am asking clients about their lives.\u00a0The answers elicited\u00a0help us create a winning design strategy.\u00a0It\u2019s easy to make a room beautiful; it\u2019s harder to make it beautiful while also balancing\u00a0client priorities about functionality, durability, and investment.<\/p>\n

What was the most memorable course you took at Trinity? <\/strong>\u201cSexual Orientation and the Law\u201d with Renny Fulco.\u00a0This was 2005, when this area of law was newly evolving.\u00a0We analyzed court decisions that could potentially set a precedent for gay rights, including\u00a0Loving v. Virginia<\/em>, which struck down a prohibition against interracial marriage.\u00a0When the Connecticut Supreme Court legalized same-sex marriage in 2008, they cited this exact case, and I remember thinking, \u201cWow, what we learned in the classroom wasn\u2019t just an academic exercise.\u201d<\/p>\n

For what are you most grateful to Trinity?<\/strong>\u00a0My husband, Drew Barber [also \u201907].\u00a0Our Matriculation speaker told us our future spouses might be among the group of us seated \u2019neath the elms, and he was right.<\/p>\n

To learn more, visit the Camden Grace Interiors website<\/a> or follow on Instagram @camdengrace_interiordesign.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Degrees: B.A. in political science; J.D., University of Connecticut School of Law Job Title: Owner and lead designer, Camden Grace Interiors in West Hartford, Connecticut Favorite Trinity Memory: Living on the Long Walk with three of my closest friends (still close to this day!) and blasting the quad with our karaoke machine. We would crouch […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":139,"featured_media":0,"parent":3669,"menu_order":2,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-3691","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nJeanne Barber \u201907 - The Trinity Reporter<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.trincoll.edu\/reporter\/the-trinity-reporter-winter-2025\/alumni-qas\/jeanne-barber-07\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Jeanne Barber \u201907\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Degrees: B.A. in political science; J.D., University of Connecticut School of Law Job Title: Owner and lead designer, Camden Grace Interiors in West Hartford, Connecticut Favorite Trinity Memory: Living on the Long Walk with three of my closest friends (still close to this day!) and blasting the quad with our karaoke machine. 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