00:00So there's a client that I'm working with right now in Harlem, and he actually told
00:11me he found me on YouTube, and I was like, wow, because I'm lazy when it comes to YouTube.
00:16But it was interesting because he's told me that it was very hard for him to find a black
00:21queer designer here in New York, which honestly, when you think about it, it is really hard
00:28to find that.
00:29I mean, the market is so saturated with everybody else, but when you want to work with someone
00:35who looks like you and who understands you and who gets your point of view and who gets
00:38your references, it is very hard.
00:41And I think that's another reason why it's important for me to be visible, whether it's
00:45on social media, whether it's on YouTube, whether it's out in the streets getting it
00:50down at Next.
00:51It's very important to be visible so people can say, no, there are people out here like
00:56me.
00:57There are people I want to work with.
00:58Like, we're here.
01:03Next is a gay bar lounge in Harlem, and it's owned by black queer people for black queer
01:09people.
01:10So I actually went to college with one of the promoters slash owners, and he reached
01:16out to me and was like, hey, I'm doing this project.
01:19This is what we're doing.
01:20I want to work with a queer, a black queer designer and be friends.
01:25I love what you do.
01:26Come on, let's do this.
01:28And I went, I walked through the space, and immediately my mind started racing.
01:31I was like, all right, we're going to do wallpaper back here.
01:33Oh, yeah, it's feeling like me season, because you know it's feeling like our season.
01:36We're going to put that back here.
01:39So when you walk into the space, you see the wallpaper.
01:41You see the neon signs.
01:43So you see elements of myself, but it's a communal space for black queer people.
01:48So approaching this design process with Next, it was the same as with all of my clients.
02:00If I'm designing a space or a home, you think about zones and how you interact and live
02:04in each zone, whether it's the living room, bedroom, kitchen.
02:07And it's the same with a commercial space or a bar or lounge.
02:10So you have the bar.
02:11I want my drink.
02:12Give me my appetizer.
02:13And then you have your lounge area.
02:15I want to feel like I'm in VIP.
02:17And then I also want to be amongst the people.
02:19So I take everything in zones and just divide it up.
02:23Because when you're out, you want to feel like, you know, you in VIP, you the one.
02:30So we create those zones throughout the entire space so it doesn't feel overwhelming and
02:35it feels welcoming and still like, gosh, this place is for me.
02:47The biggest piece of advice I have for anyone who's out there who's looking at this and
02:52say, gosh, I'm a young black gay boy.
02:54I want to do just what he's doing.
02:56I want to be an interior designer.
02:58I want to live fabulous.
02:59I want to do all of that.
03:00I say, be yourself.
03:04Be unapologetic.
03:05Learn what you need to learn.
03:07Be observant.
03:08Watch people, people who you love and people who you want to aspire to be.
03:13Watch them.
03:14Talk to them.
03:15Ask for help.
03:16If there's somebody on social media that you admire, DM them.
03:19Ask them questions.
03:20Because you never know until you ask.
