Jen Bernard founded Bernard Interiors in 2008 and has gone on to complete luxury commercial and residential projects throughout the UK and abroad.
What was your first job and how much did it pay? My first job was when I was 15 at the Stencil Library in Stocksfield. It was for work experience initially, but then it became my regular Saturday and school holidays job. It used to take me an hour to get there each week, but I loved it and got to learn really valuable lessons about business and design. At one point, I was tasked with designing sets of stencils for Elle Decoration and sold stencils to Cher and Ralph Lauren in New York, which was really exciting. I think that was what sparked the passion I have for design.
What is the best advice or support you’ve been given in business? Someone once said to me: "You have to fail if you want to succeed". And that has always stuck with me. If you fall, you just get back up again and again and never stop moving forwards. It’s all about striving to improve every day and in turn, being able to empower and motivate your team. Another piece of advice that I love is: "Employ people who are better than you." Our team is definitely reflective of this. There is so much talent at Bernard Interiors and I really am in awe of them every single day.
