Betsy Vohs knew her life calling ever since she was a little girl. She was constantly rearranging rooms in her home and even asked for a budget for her birthday one year to renovate her room. To her surprise, her parents agreed, and she was off to the design-races. She is still proud of that room renovation.
“It was charcoal grey carpet, there was a beautiful wall covering…gosh knows where I found this stuff. Painted flowers, cool lighting, draperies…I had the love of it and the constant need,” Vohs said.
Betsy studied architecture through college, and she figured out her true love is human experiences – where people interact with space. Betsy learned that design changes behavior, even a small change within a space, can lead to a positive trajectory to those who utilize it.
“Design can really change your life. What’s your dream kitchen? Imagine what you could cook in that. What if you had a sports team and they wanted a better stadium? Maybe they’d play better. Whatever it is, design can really take a problem and fix it and make things a lot better,” Vohs said.
Betsy’s career spans from working at smaller firms to large, global firms. She has also worked with famous architects. With all her experience, she wanted to add another title to her resume – Founder. So, she took the best aspects of her career and held on to things that mattered. And out came Studio BV, which is now one of the fastest growing design firms in Minneapolis.
“I started the firm with two agendas; to be really happy because I love this career but sometimes people lose sight of the magic of design because they’re chasing cash and growth. And I really wanted to do transformational work; I really wanted to take time to work projects to their fullest execution,” Vohs says.
Studio BV focuses on making every project unique – not using the same ideas periodically but making things customized to the client. In the architecture world, this forces her workers to challenge themselves to let their design tell a story – something her studio is known for.
“We have to have great projects and clients that let us push design. I do think we want to be the firm that people call when they want to do something interesting or new. We try to do work that’s pushing. If you wanted to do a new concept for a retail store or advertising agency, talk to us – that’s for us,” Betsy said.
Listen to the full podcast here