The interior designer once questioned whether she belonged in the room. Now she’s learning that purpose isn’t simply about where your talent takes you—but who you become along the way.
There was a time when Paige Jenkins preferred being somewhere behind the crowd.
Not necessarily because she lacked talent.
In fact, other people often recognized something in Paige before she fully recognized it in herself. They saw the creativity. The work ethic. The potential.
Paige wasn’t always as convinced.
She remembers questioning whether she was good enough, smart enough or outspoken enough. She worried that other people were better. Sometimes she could talk herself out of an opportunity before she ever gave herself the chance to discover what might happen.
That woman hasn’t completely disappeared.
But Paige is no longer allowing her to make all the decisions.
“I’ve had to outgrow thinking I am not worthy,” she says. “That I don’t belong in the same room as others, and that I don’t deserve to be where I am.”
Then comes the part that tells you something has changed:
“It’s the part of me that always liked to be behind the crowd and not be a leader—not anymore.”
For an interior designer, transformation is familiar territory.
You look at what exists, imagine what could exist instead, and begin the work of creating it.
Paige Jenkins has discovered that sometimes a woman must learn to do the same thing with her own life.
The Dream Started on a Sunday Drive
Long before design became Paige’s profession, creativity was simply part of who she was.
She describes herself as an “introverted extrovert,” a quiet, somewhat old soul who has been creating for as long as she can remember—drawing, developing ideas and looking at the world a little differently. Her family helped cultivate that curiosity instead of trying to contain it.
Some of the seeds for her future career were planted during ordinary family drives.
Her parents would tell her they were going to “take a ride” on a Saturday or Sunday evening. Those rides took young Paige through neighborhoods with striking homes and areas with prominent architecture.
She looked.
She imagined.
She dreamed about what she might design one day.
Floor plans fascinated her. So did houses and downtown architecture.
Eventually, two possibilities emerged: architecture or interior design. Interior design won—not only because it allowed her to lean into creativity, collaboration and relationships, Paige jokes, but also because math wasn’t exactly her favorite subject.
More importantly, she discovered that interior design extended far beyond residential decorating. It could become a real, sustainable career.
The little girl riding through neighborhoods had found a way to turn what captured her imagination into a profession.
But finding the path and walking it would prove to be two different things.
Atlanta Wasn’t Waiting With Open Arms
At some point, dreams require movement.
For Paige, movement meant leaving Nashville and coming to Atlanta.
There was no nearby family.
No circle of friends waiting for her.
And breaking into Atlanta’s design industry wasn’t easy.
Then, only a few months after moving, Paige lost her job.
She was frightened to tell her family.
The job loss itself hurt, but underneath it was another fear: Had she failed almost immediately?
Going home would have been understandable.
Paige didn’t want to go home.
She had come to Atlanta to build a new life, and even though she couldn’t see exactly how that life was going to come together, she decided to keep searching for a way forward.
She reached out to every resource she could find. For several weeks, she even took an unpaid internship. Eventually, a connection with a former university classmate helped her land another job.
“I had no clue where I would land,” she remembers, “but not going back to Nashville kept me moving.”
There is something important in that part of Paige’s story.
Perseverance doesn’t always look fearless.
Sometimes perseverance is being scared and continuing anyway.
Give Yourself Permission to Fail
Ask Paige what adversity has taught her, and she doesn’t pretend that fear disappeared somewhere along the journey.
She has delayed things because of it.
What changed was her relationship with failure.
Her career’s trials and disappointments eventually taught her something she now carries with her:
“I give myself permission to fail but never permission to give up.”
That distinction can change a woman’s life.
Failure says something didn’t work.
Fear tells us that means we don’t work.
Paige is learning not to confuse the two.
Even rejection has taken on a different meaning.
A no, she says, doesn’t necessarily mean forever. One person’s no can become someone else’s yes. Rejection can be an invitation to sharpen your skills, accept constructive criticism and keep moving.
It’s a lesson she wants other women to understand, particularly those who have convinced themselves that their opportunity has passed.
“There is no set time for success or when to start,” Paige says. “The only missed opportunity is the one you don’t choose to take.”
Her advice?
Make the plan. Go after it. And if you fail, “fail fast, learn, & try again!”
When Social Media Makes Everybody Else Look Ahead
There is another challenge Paige is willing to admit.
Comparison.
She sees other designers creating beautiful work. Sometimes they make more money. And like many women trying to build careers in an era of carefully curated feeds, Paige knows how easily social media can make someone else’s life appear to be evidence that you’re falling behind.
“Social media can truly trick you & make you feel inadequate,” she says.
Her answer has been to return to something deeper than the comparison:
“I believe that what is meant for me is for me & that God always has a plan.”
Faith has become increasingly important to Paige.
She describes her relationship with God as ever-growing and says it has played a significant role in how she interprets the difficult seasons of her life. Her belief is that God hasn’t brought her through those situations only to abandon her in them.
“Whatever God has in store for me,” she says, “I am open and willing to follow.”
Redesigning Paige
Perhaps no metaphor fits Paige’s story better than the work she does every day.
Interior designers walk into spaces and see possibility.
A room may already have an identity, but that doesn’t mean it has reached its final form.
Paige has learned the same thing about herself.
“I often ‘redesign’ my life,” she says.
Earlier in her career, success looked like seeing her work in magazines.
Today, her vision is becoming larger.
“I think I want my work and journey to make a mark on others,” she says. “Design is not just about aesthetics but making an impact on others and their environment.”
Even her understanding of worth is changing.
Paige has learned—sometimes through difficult experiences—that she is more than the work she produces and that caring for herself must matter too.
That’s a powerful realization in a culture where ambitious women can begin measuring themselves by productivity.
The project isn’t Paige.
The résumé isn’t Paige.
The accomplishment isn’t Paige.
They are things she has done.
They are not the sum total of who she is.
Sometimes You Have to Take Your Own PTO
There have also been moments that confirmed Paige was moving in the right direction.
She was nominated by two different firms for Interior Design magazine’s 30/30 class in 2023 and 2025. Those opportunities led to events, trips, conferences and relationships within the design community. Paige says a trip to a 30/30 national conference in Chicago eventually helped lead to her selection as an Atlanta ambassador for the Young Designers Collective.
But there’s a small detail in that story that may reveal more about Paige than the recognition itself.
She took her own PTO to attend the conference.
Why?
Because sometimes, she says, “connections & knowledge are worth the effort.”
That is what investing in yourself can look like before anyone knows whether the investment will pay off.
You go anyway.
You introduce yourself.
You enter the room.
You learn.
And perhaps most importantly for Paige, you stop assuming that everyone else in the room deserves to be there more than you do.
The Women Who Built Her Foundation
Paige didn’t arrive at this point alone.
When asked about the women who shaped her, she begins close to home: her mother, grandmama, grandmother and aunt.
She calls her mother the most resilient woman she knows, crediting her with encouraging Paige to explore beyond what was considered normal and to pursue experiences her mother hadn’t had herself.
Her grandmama, a former librarian, and her aunt, a teacher, were consistent sources of support. Her paternal grandmother demonstrated another kind of strength: maintaining her smile even while dealing with serious health struggles.
“I hope to be even half of the woman they are now,” Paige says.
Now Paige is beginning to think about how what those women poured into her can reach another generation.
She Wants Black Children to See Another Possibility
Success once might have been measured primarily through career accomplishments.
Paige’s definition is changing.
Today, success includes peace of mind, accomplishing what she sets out to do and helping younger Black children discover possibilities they may not know exist.
She never imagined herself teaching.
Now she can envision helping underprivileged children understand that design is a career path they, too, can explore.
That matters to Paige because she knows what representation can mean.
She wants another Black woman looking at her career to understand that entering a field where she doesn’t see many people who look like her is not a reason to turn around.
“There is no age for wins and losses,” she says. “Perseverance is key.”
Her legacy, then, may eventually stretch beyond the spaces she designs.
“If I can leave just one positive memory or impact on a single person I’ve interacted with,” she says, “I think I’ve done my job.”
“Paige Elise…Look at You”
There is one question in Paige’s interview that seems to bring the entire journey together.
What would she tell the younger Paige—the girl and young woman who hadn’t yet experienced everything she knows today?
Her answer reads almost like a letter.
“Paige Elise….look at you…”
She would remind that younger version of herself how often she believed she wasn’t good enough, smart enough or outspoken enough. How timid she could be. How quickly she could convince herself that somebody else was better.
And then she would tell her what she couldn’t see at the time:
“You did it girl. You are strong, witty, intelligent, determined, and you are doing more than you imagined. It was always in you. I’m proud of you.”
Maybe that’s the real redesign.
Not becoming an entirely different woman.
Becoming able to finally see the woman who was there all along.
Paige isn’t pretending to have everything figured out. She’s taking life a day at a time, growing in her faith, correcting what hasn’t worked, strengthening her skills and working toward becoming a better version of herself. Someday, she hopes mentoring children will become part of that journey.
And when Paige imagines herself years from now looking back at this chapter, she hopes that older woman will be proud that she finally put herself first, found the courage to speak up and took leaps of faith even while she was terrified.
For every woman who is still questioning whether she belongs in the room, Paige leaves this:
“The path will never be straight. Let the downs fuel your ups. Never let others’ opinions of you define you. Be your own biggest supporter & advocate but also have fun along the ride because tomorrow is never promised.”
Paige Jenkins designs spaces.
But perhaps the most meaningful thing she’s learning to design is a life in which she no longer stands quietly behind everyone else.
This time, she’s stepping into the room.
And she’s beginning to understand that she belongs there.
Website: https://paigejenkins.
Social Media handles
– Instagram: @p.elise___
– LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/
– Preferred Professional Title: Interior Designer
– Business Email: pjenkins@meticulousda.com
– Personal Email: pjenkins994@gmail.com
