Meet Alison Reuter

We had the good fortune of connecting with Alison Reuter and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Alison, how has your work-life balance changed over time?
First off, I’d like to offer a shift in perspective that was recently brought up by a business peer of mine; should we be framing this perception as work-life balance or life-work balance? If we’re looking at it as work-life, then we’re already prioritizing work over our personal lives, are we not? Since this intriguing conversation, I’ve started to shift my own mindset to embracing the life-work balance perspective as well.

Throughout my career, I’ve always said that I work to live, I don’t live to work… i.e., the work I do “funds the fun” & this concept is what I want and provide for my clients as well.

By choosing to work in an industry I’m passionate about, I’ve allowed myself the luxury to enjoy the day-to-day activities since each decision and step taken is to support my clients along their own journey toward balancing their own lives on the regular as well. Creating environments that allow clients to maximize the space in their homes (and businesses) makes their decision-making processes easier, streamlines how long it takes for them to get ready for & clean up after their outdoor/sporting activities, and ultimately aides in reducing stress throughout the process of shifting between their own life & work tasks.

Also, the art of balancing one’s responsibilities, in life & in work, is something that is always a work in progress in my mind. I’ve personally learned over time that establishing healthy boundaries is a practice that has greatly aided my own mental fitness (I could go down a rabbit hole on this topic as well, as I believe Simon Sinek makes a compelling argument for how it’s mental fitness, not just mental health… https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V_uRvUBvA0I ). By outlining what my company’s business hours are, when/how quickly we’ll reply to communications, & by what means we welcome communication, I’ve been able to cultivate an environment where work doesn’t invade my or my team’s personal lives without reason. In turn, it means our client’s personal lives remain their own as well, as we’re not popping into their lives at all hours of the day, night, and/or week either. Finding balance is a personal journey and sometimes all it takes is realizing the scale has tilted too far in one direction to be sustainable. We’re in the business of making our clients lives more fun focused, enjoyable, streamlined, & positive – part of how we accomplish these outcomes is by striving to live by example through the design & construction process we provide for them.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
Process, analytical creativity, & enlightenment. These are three things that my firm embraces from when we first meet a potential new client and hold onto clear through delivering the final installed product for our clients. By having built a business that focuses on these principles, we set ourselves apart from other interior design firms.

Process means we deliver a streamlined experience to our clients from start to finish. We always start with A and smoothly move through to triple Z in order, so we’re staying on track and on top of the details throughout the entirety of the project. As a mentor once taught me, “every project is different, yet the process remains the same,” it’s an extremely true statement that allows for an elevated customer experience throughout design & construction processes.

Analytical creativity is how we bring the creative artistry to life and present “the pretty.” We do so in a manner that’s organized & easily digestible for clear, feasible, and understandable communication & implementation. It’s also how we balance the knowledge that a simple change in material, or installation layout, can drastically change the selections and/or labor costs for implementation. We’re constantly playing a game of “if, then” in our heads while crafting the best designs possible (that respect their wishes, desires, & financial investment levels) for our clients.

Enlightenment begins occurring even before the creative concepts start to be formulated. We all need to be on the same page with how long design, and then construction, takes and how much of an investment organized, on-time, design development and construction implementation is going to be. As a result, we forecast both the design and construction schedules (complete with meeting dates, holidays, vacations, etc.), and breakout the design fees, design selections estimations, and construction costs estimations all before we’ve begun conceptual design. The cost of living, design selections, & construction (labor, plus materials) have increased by over 46% since 2019; thus, we provide realistic expectations upfront – nobody enjoys being low-balled & then having to pay copious amounts in change orders. The tedious process of researching numbers ensures the scope of work selected fits the desired investment levels and priorities of our clients before the hammers start swinging.

Embracing a few foundational principles allows us – your team of color & texture loving, numbers & data tracking adrenaline driven outdoor enthusiasts – to make your lives easier, so you can play outside more and fully enjoy the activities that make you feel whole.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
Keeping design, style, and a love for the outdoors in mind, my showcase tour of Colorado would include visits to: + Union Station for a step into a modernized depiction of the past, complete with a ride on the Zephyr train to view the mountains in one of the most relaxing manners of locomotion possible
+ The Fillmore for a musical experience at an intimately sized venue (that according to my late grandmother was once both a furniture store & a roller rink…)
+ Strawberry Park for a dip in the mineral saturated waters of our Rocky Mountains while enjoying the serene views & sounds of the river, the trees, & the moon hanging low in the night sky over the peaks
And, during the travel between each destination, we’d naturally stop at a few of the many impressively delicious restaurants found throughout the Front Range, High Country, Western Slope, and Middle & North Park regions for some culinary delights.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
This question makes me think of every actor, performer, musician, etc. that’s stood on stage accepting an Emmy, Golden Globe, Oscar, and/or Tony award, lol….

Oh my gosh, I don’t know where to start with all the wonderful people who have been a resounding influence on me throughout this journey….I need to thank –
+ the University of Denver, specifically the Daniel’s College of Business'[ International Business BSBA program & and the DU School of Art & Art History’s eMAD/DMS [electronic Media, Art, & Design / Digital Media Studies] program that was in conjunction with the Rhode Island School of Design for starting me off with a solid foundation in both business & design
+ Bridget Meegan for developing a rock start team within the complex world of retail design that was capable of taking on any brand environmental design challenge thrown our way and making it successful
+ the entire staff & director of Denver’s Heritage School of Interior Design for elevating my design & construction management knowledge base
+ Michelle Lynn for the badass Bakery program that mentors interior designers through the trials & tribulations of baking a personal design business from scratch (along with Charlotte Baldassari & Katie Rainey, two amazing “Bakers” who are now fabulous friends of mine)
+ Mike Michalowicz for developing & writing Profit First which guides businesses through cash management strategies that fosters cash-in-hand profitability
+ Renée Biery for her “Only Girl on the Jobsite” podcast and construction management program that reminded me I really do know what I’m doing when I was questioning my own decades-long established career
+ and, naturally, my parents & sister for guiding and supporting me throughout all the highs & lows of branching out from the corporate world and into the wild realm of establishing & running one’s own business…

Thank you. Truly, thank you to each and every one of you and everyone else along the way that’s been there for me – y’all know who you are! (And, if some of you need a subtle reminder….PC, AC, CP, MF, RF, etc. 🙏 .)

Website: www.A-Revelationdesigns.com

Instagram: A_Revelationdesigns

Image Credits
Gary Anderson Michelle Gardner