Libby Martin: No Designer Finer
If you know Libby, you'll know how warm and wonderful she is and how knowledgeable she is about home design! Hailing from Dilworth, Libby actually had baked cupcakes for one of our events a while back! How funny is it that she now works for us (and we can bribe her for cupcakes whenever we want!) In all seriousness, Libby brings a breathe of fresh air to the Design studio and is always so willing to go out of her way to help. Whether it's a client or the marketing department needing her assistance with mood boards (check out our Depeche Mood (Board) series) she is right there waiting! Get to know Libby below! Whatâs your favorite movie of all time and why? I donât think I have ONE favorite of all time.  Iâm not too hard to please when it comes to movies. All it needs is a little bit of depth, a lot of humor, and a happy ending. Also, Iâm not good at remembering titles to anything so Iâve probably forgotten the name of my favorite movie. Itâs that one about the thing with that guy and the other girl. You know? Speaking of movies, what is the current title for your life? Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close If you were a character on a TV show, which one would you be? Somewhere between Marge Simpson, Camille Braverman (Parenthood), and Kitty Forman (That 70s Show) Look at your last played song on your phone, what is it? Hozier â Almost (Sweet Music) Youâre up next at karaoke. Whatâs your go-to song and why? âJacksonâ by Johnny Cash and June Carter because I can use my southern accent and it requires a partner so I donât have to sing by myself. Chess or checkers? Chess, if I can remember how to play. Beaches or Mountains? Both, please! What is the craziest thing youâve done? Pretty much everything I did between 2003 and 2005. Living in LA will do that to a person, I think. Or showing up at home with a dog I adopted. If you could time travel, where would you go? 1920âs Iâd LOVE to go to a real Gatsby-esque party in a flapper dress. Whatâs your proudest achievement? Even though itâs not a personal achievement, what makes me most proud is seeing my children try hard at something and succeed or work to overcome adversity. Best piece of advice you have been given? I donât know if this is really advice, but when I was in my mid-twenties, I was facing a tough choice and I really didnât know what to do about it. I talked to my parents about it for a long time. My dad didnât say much until I had talked everything out and was ready to leave. He finally said to me âI donât know what youâre going to do, but whatever it is, I know youâll do the right thing.â It was so encouraging and freeing to not be given an answer, but to know that someone believed in me to make the right choice. Now whenever Iâm facing decisions, I just repeat those words to myself and do the best I can. What one topic/person do you wish you knew more about? I would like to know more about graphic design and internet-y things. Also mechanics and construction. I know enough, but Iâd like to REALLY know how things are put together and how they work. What are some small things that make your day better? Snaps from my besties, funny gifs exchanged between co-workers, hugs from my boys, when my husband makes dinner or washes the dishes, chocolate, and being greeted by my dog when I walk in the door. What does your daily life look like at Thomsen Homes Coffee, emails, internal meetings, client meetings, following up to client meetings, lunch, saving selections, printing drawings, looking over bids, asking questions, snacks, answering client questions, talking to construction managers and sales and draftersâ¦thereâs a lot designers do every. Making things pretty is only about 10% of the job. The rest is working with a whole team of players that make the machine run. I love the collaboration that happens when building other peopleâs dream homes! Also, food is my love language so it gets me through. If you could try another role here at Thomsen for a week, which one would it be? Ooh. I donât know. I love what I do. The closest thing would be maybe marketing, but Iâm sure Iâd be begging for my design job back by the end of that week.
