Alumna Britany Simon, a finalist on Home and Garden Television's "Design Star," always knew what she wanted to be when she grew up.
A Phoenix resident, the 28-year-old spent her childhood redecorating anything she could get her hands on.
"I knew I wanted to be a designer," Simon said. "I would redecorate my room every couple weeks. I would rearrange everything and start from scratch."
Simon's father, an ASU alumnus and residential homebuilder, enhanced her interest in interior design.
She said she often worked with him on his projects.
"I was fortunate enough to ... see the process of building a home," Simon said. "(My dad) would let me go with him to select model home furnishings and finishes for the houses when I was 10 to 12. I loved it."
Simon graduated from ASU in 2005 with a degree in business and interior design and went straight into the residential builder market.
"ASU was a great program for me," Simon said. "It's given me a leg-up, being from Arizona, knowing the builder market and building a name and brand."
She began working at a design center picking out interior finishes for new residential homes and has since started growing her own business, Britany Simon Design.
While building her business, Simon works part-time at Interior Logic, a new residential builder company in Tempe.
Simon most recently became a contestant on HGTV's seventh season of "Design Star," which began filming in January 2012.
According to the HGTV website, "Design Star" is HGTV's top-rated reality competition. The show follows 12 finalists, including Simon, through a series of design challenges. The show winner will get their own show on HGTV.
Simon said she attended the casting for the show in Las Vegas, was later sent on to the semi-finals in New York and found out she was a finalist in December 2011.
So far, the television series has aired four episodes in which the contestants have designed spaces ranging from their own living area to remodeling an office space in California for Kris Kardashian Jenner, mother of Kim Kardashian.
Simon said throughout her professional experiences she has learned to love everything about home design, "all the way from building the whole house from the ground up and picking all the structure and bath design, to interior furnishing and styling."
Reach the reporter at dgrobmei@asu.edu
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