Designing Her Dream Job
By: Kelley Freund | Categories: Alumni Association News
You might have seen this Yellow Jacket on HGTV's Luxe for Less. She's been featured in Architectural Digest and her clients include high-profile celebrities. But this stand-out designer took a non-traditional path to her current career.
By Kelley Freund
Photographs courtesy of Kai Williamson
For designer Kai Williamson, PP 06, MS PP 07, a background working for a nonprofit instilled in her a desire to focus on spaces that build community. Williamson’s work has been featured in Architectural Digest and earned her a spot on HGTV’s Luxe for Less. Over the years, she and her firm, Studio 7 Design Group, have worked on cultural centers like The Gathering Spot, a membership club with three locations across the country; restaurants such as Kevin Hart’s Los Angeles chain, Hart House; and personal residences, the largest of which features an indoor basketball court and aquarium.
But she took a nontraditional path to a career in design. Her interest actually began with fashion. As a public policy student at Georgia Tech, Williamson did not, as she puts it, “subscribe to hoodies and sneakers.” Instead, she had a unique style that people noticed. So Williamson developed a hobby that would lay the groundwork for her future career in interior design.
“Other students would ask me for help, so I would go shopping with them,” she says. “With fashion, you’re expressing yourself without words, and you’re making a statement. I wanted to empower women to have a feeling of confidence, and I realized I could turn that into a business.”
After graduating with her master’s in 2007, Williamson headed to New York to start her own image consulting business. When her mom fell ill, Williamson returned to Atlanta to become CEO of her mother’s nonprofit, Youth Enhancement Services (YES). The organization serves youth who have exited the traditional public school system, helping them enroll in junior and technical colleges, teaching life skills, and providing opportunities for character development. Williamson was just 23 when she stepped into the role, but her education from Georgia Tech served her well.
“I had really strong analytical skills, I was able to synthesize a lot of the data information, and I could handle the demands that came with taking on an organization that was working with both government and community entities,” she says.
While working for YES, Williamson continued her image consulting business on the side. When a client asked for help decorating their house, she found a new calling. After that initial project, Williamson moved on to a small kitchen renovation and then a gym, studying interior architecture and design at night. In 2014, she officially launched Studio 7 Design Group, a luxury residential and bespoke commercial design firm.
But breaking into the field was a challenge. Even though she had a formidable education, it wasn’t relevant to the industry, and Williamson said she wasn’t taken seriously.
“As a Black woman, I’m not someone you see in this space very often,” she says. “But there were some vendors who were amazing from day one, and I think that encouraged me. I was able to connect with two Black male builders and architects, and they would allow me to come on site with them and to their office literally every day. It provided me with an ‘in-the-field’ type of experience to understand how all facets of a project run.”
Today, Williamson’s firm does everything from custom home design to interior furnishing, styling, and art curation. Their largest commercial project to date is Hartbeat Productions, comedian Kevin Hart’s 40,000-square-foot Los Angeles office. Williamson and her team created a modern design featuring open areas, custom art, a red marble bar, and plenty of seating for collaboration. It’s a unique environment, as is any Studio 7 project. In fact, Williamson says her firm is not repetitive with design—they want each project to have its own character.
“I think ultimately our client’s vision should be driving the aesthetic, and our job is to elevate and execute that vision,” she says. “I don’t want someone to walk into a space and think it’s a Studio 7 project. I want someone to walk into a space and think it’s dynamic, welcoming, and elevated.”
In 2022, Williamson’s work earned her a spot on Luxe for Less. Initially she was hesitant about being on camera. But ultimately, the unique opportunity to be part of a predominantly Black cast on a network that doesn’t have much representation was too good to pass up. “The reason I decided to do it was because I realized I had the opportunity to show other Brown girls that this is a career,” Williamson says.
And although she took a circuitous path to find her dream job, it’s one she loves.
“I feel an extreme sense of gratitude to be entrusted with these personal and professional spaces,” Williamson says. “And on the commercial side, you’re leaving a footprint that is much larger than any one experience because thousands of people are able to experience these spaces. It allows you to leave a visual legacy.”
