Today we’d like to introduce you to Ria Beckford.
Hi Ria, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
Growing up in the Bronx, New York I didn’t see a lot of business owners that looked like me. Most of the places I frequently visited were owned by people that were not where I was from nor did they grow up there. It is a rather daunting thought when you think about it because inspiration was not readily available to me.
What I saw was poverty and most people living check to check to make ends meet. Including my family. My mom was a raising two daughters as a single mom and trying to give us the best education and opportunities possible. Yes, my father was involved but he did not live with us as my mom and dad divorced when I was too young to even remember.
I attended catholic schools my entire educational career until college. First St Mary Star of the Sea located on City Island Bronx NY, graduating from there and then attending Cardinal Spellman High School.
I was a pretty average student, however I was also a stellar athlete. Where some kids wanted to excel in school, I wanted to excel at life as a whole. High school was a pretty confusing time for me in reference to navigating what I wanted to do professionally. Like I stated earlier, I did not have a lot of examples in front of me.
I always had an eye for design and all things aesthetically pleasing; this has always been a part of me. Whenever I was bored as a kid, I would rearrange the floor plan not only in my sister and I’s shared bedroom but throughout the house. My mom would come home and her living room would be completely different from the way she left it. She always left it as I had “designed” it. I guess she liked the changes as well, change was always welcomed in our house.
Soon I went to college and although my family supported my design inclination in their homes, I do not think they believed this could actually be a career choice. If they did, no one was able to support that inclination because they all had to focus on providing. Catholic school is not cheap they would say. I ended landing in college as a psychology major. Little did I know how much a psychology degree would help me navigate my own business in interior design down the line.
I worked various jobs after college, but as a creative I questioned it all. “This can’t be all I am meant to do,” I would say to myself as I would ride the trains. I met my husband in high school, but we reconnected and soon I had my first child with him. My daughter was born and we then found out shortly after I was pregnant with my son. We were married as I was pregnant with him and became a stay at home mom in the midst of all of that.
We saved up for a while to move because we both wanted to present a better lifestyle to our children. We found ourselves in Florida. We loved the weather, the palm trees, and the access to the beaches. The weather was the true selling point. We bought a house in Davenport and we settled in nicely.
Then the pandemic hit. Wow! Just wow! No one was ready for that complete turn of events. Which brings me to how the studio was founded. We were founded in the pandemic! It took a worldwide event to force my hand and start the business of my dreams. It’s funny how something good can be birthed from something horrible. The pandemic made most of the world sit with themselves and truly figure out what they really wanted out of life. It was a reset in the worst way possible.
Today, I am a proud African American female business owner from the Bronx, New York. I am the business owner I needed and desperately wanted to see as a kid. So as my business grows, I of course have many plans to give back to my community. I need my children and other children like my children to see that we exist. We run the business of our dreams and they can too. I am driven by my childhood and the memory of being lost, not knowing what I wanted to do or how I would even make that happen. The community where I am from and lots of communities like mine need visible and tangible heroes.
Ria Beckford Studios stands on our passion, professionalism, integrity, and our work ethic. We are passionate because design is literally life, it is how we live our lives daily. We take pride in our professionalism because good business is the only way to do business. Our integrity is an integral part of our business. When integrity is grouped with our other values these key principles will always ensure longevity. Lastly, work ethic is what makes this all possible. Great work ethic is what allows our studio to be seen and heard, we produce good work because of our awesome work ethic.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
It has not been a smooth road at all. Being a first-generation business owner; I have literally had to learn everything on my own. It happens to be a lot of research, reading, and conversations with other business owners to sort out the ins and the outs.
I have had struggles with pricing my services. Pricing services is hard because it requires you to take inventory of where you are in your field, the level of knowledge you have of the industry, your confidence level of providing a particular standard of service, and plain ol’ numbers. How can we stay in the green, what do we need to make in order to achieve that goal.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I am an Interior Designer and I transform and enhance homes. We specialize in creating something where there was nothing. We bring life to your space. Most people know what they want when it comes to design however they do not know how to get there or what it takes to get there. I am the person that comes in to help you direct your thoughts for your space and achieve realistic goals within your budget.
I would say I am known for changing the feeling in a room/space. Have you ever walked in a room and felt blah or annoyed? Something in the room just was not right, maybe the furniture was not suited for your lifestyle, or maybe the colors were working against each other rather than together. Well, I am that person that comes in, hears your complaints and your expectations for your space, and we make reasonable goals together for a nice change in scenery.
I am most proud of implementing lifestyle in a person’s home. I like to know what makes you happy and how can we get you to have that feeling every time you enter that space in your home. How can we help make your bad days better once you reach home.
What sets me apart from others is that my personal aesthetic never interferes with what is best for the client. Meaning we believe in designing spaces that meet the needs of our clients. Aesthetically and pragmatically, it could be going from a minimalist with a sleek space in a Brooklyn loft to a maximalist in an RV. We transform and enhance space.
Any advice for finding a mentor or networking in general?
When networking, what helped me get passed that intimidation factor (because there is an intimidation factor, especially if you are an introvert like myself) is to be completely and utterly yourself. Some people will feel your vibe, others simply will not. The key is to be ok with either outcome.
Contact Info:
- Email: me@riabeckford.co
- Website: www.riabeckford.co
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/riabeckfordstudios/?hl=en
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/RiaBStudios
- Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@riabeckfordstudios?lang=en
Image Credits
Brittny and Eric
