Growing up in colonial Northern Virginia and later in the rustic foothills of Colorado, Adam realized his passion for diversity and the balance of differing styles, beliefs, and tastes. His earliest interior inspiration was from his mother who had their Colorado home professionally designed. The space focused on vibrant colors, large-scale art, and a variety of tribal artifacts. One example that sticks out in his mind is multi-colored African mud dolls hanging on a vibrantly painted wall with a framed Navajo woven rug above. Seeing the process in which a home is created and styled helped support and awaken the budding artist inside.

After graduating high school, Adam moved to New York City and studied theater at NYU/Tisch School of the Arts. During his 15 years living in NYC, Adam performed with the Ashes Theatre Company Off-Broadway while owning and teaching full-time at a Bikram Yoga Studio. Through his ownership of the yoga studio in upper Manhattan, Adam served a diverse cultural and socio-economic community. Running a small business in a neighborhood where many people had less financial resources than other areas of NYC forced him to think outside of the “boutique-fitness” box and become more creative with marketing. Adam focused on ways to dispell the myth that fitness and well-being were only “allowed” to people with certain means. Through word of mouth, more competitive pricing, classes that supported local charities, and providing work-study positions to over 30 people per week, the studio was able to build a large, loyal, and diverse group of yoga students and staff. During his time spent in this holistic career, Adam wanted to incorporate physical growth with spacial healing and completed his online Feng Shui Consultant Certification course at Feng Shui Institute of America.

Before leaving NYC, Adam was a Resource Librarian for an architecture firm on Park Avenue and it was during that time that he realized being a designer was an achievable goal. Upon moving to Portland, Adam was a home stylist for West Elm and is currently in charge of the social media and showroom logistics for the trade-only Nest Showroom located in NW Portland.

Heritage has been the education that Adam needed to make his dreams a more tangible reality. The course work, individual attention and motivation, along with the professional environment of the school has also made it easy to see interior design as a career.

Adam’s business will have a focus on commercial design and helping small business owners develop new services and products to the Portland community. The motivation behind this comes from his desire to help people achieve their dreams.