{"id":137255,"date":"2026-03-13T11:10:09","date_gmt":"2026-03-13T11:10:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/137255\/"},"modified":"2026-03-13T11:10:09","modified_gmt":"2026-03-13T11:10:09","slug":"philadelphia-interior-designer-partners-with-drexel-on-internship","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/137255\/","title":{"rendered":"Philadelphia interior designer partners with Drexel on internship"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Sponsor<\/a><\/p>\n

The Grow Philly series<\/a> is supported by the Philadelphia Department of Commerce. Technical.ly is a free news resource thanks to financial partners like this one! Want to see your business profiled? Take the quick survey<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Traditional institutions shut Dominique Calhoun out of pursuing interior design, but she didn\u2019t let it stop her.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThe real-world experience, when it comes to this business, is just as important as the classroom experience.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dominique Calhoun, Remix Living<\/p>\n

Instead, she built her Philadelphia-based firm, Remix Living<\/a>, with the goal of widening access to both the field and the services it provides.<\/p>\n

The company offers tiered interior design packages \u2014 including lower-cost DIY options \u2014 and creates hands-on training opportunities for aspiring designers through partnerships with programs like Drexel University\u2019s<\/a> co-op initiative. The model is shaped by Calhoun\u2019s own struggle to enter the field without a formal design background, and her effort to reduce industry gatekeeping.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe try to give access to design at many different levels and not have people feel like design is not accessible because of what their tax bracket is,\u201d she told Technical.ly.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Calhoun\u2019s desire to be an interior designer goes all the way back to high school. When she applied to design school, her top-choice program rejected her, so she pivoted to studying fashion merchandising and business administration instead.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"ADominique Calhoun (Courtesy Remix Living)<\/p>\n

The itch to pursue interior design never went away. She was inspired to revisit a career in design while renovating the first house she bought at 22, but established Philadelphia firms turned her down because she didn\u2019t have formal training in the field.<\/p>\n

So, she did it on her own. Calhoun launched Remix Living in 2016, quickly learning that keeping her prices low and showcasing her work on social media helped grow her business organically, she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt that time, I was just doing my own house, which was a blank palette for me to showcase my work,\u201d she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

An internship that gives back\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Calhoun makes it a priority to mentor the next generation of interior designers, hoping to help break down the barriers she once faced.<\/p>\n

After a decade, she built the company up through \u201ctrial and error,\u201d she said. Now, she\u2019s looking forward to growing her team, mentoring aspiring designers and someday moving into the hospitality space.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Initially, Calhoun was hesitant to take on any interns because she didn\u2019t feel like she had enough time to put together a valuable program for them, she said. When Drexel University approached her to host a co-op program, though, she decided it was time to give back.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"ModernRemix Living showroom (Courtesy Remix Living)<\/p>\n

Remix Living hosted its first co-op cohort last year and plans to do it again, she said. Students from the program work with the firm for six months to gain paid, real-world experience while learning about both the creative and business sides of the company.<\/p>\n

Students also participate in the company\u2019s free consultations. It\u2019s an opportunity for people to get design advice, while also giving students a chance to interact with potential clients, she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThe real-world experience, when it comes to this business, is just as important as the classroom experience,\u201d Calhoun said. \u201cI am grateful that we\u2019re able to give back to these students.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Grow Philly series is supported by the Philadelphia Department of Commerce. Technical.ly is a free news resource…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":137256,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[4877,5398,34267,5935,69,71,70,12516],"class_list":["post-137255","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-philadelphia","tag-arts","tag-entrepreneurs","tag-grow-philly","tag-mentorship","tag-philadelphia","tag-philadelphia-headlines","tag-philadelphia-news","tag-small-businesses"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/137255","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=137255"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/137255\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/137256"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=137255"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=137255"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=137255"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}