
A Letter to You: 2025 Goals
As we enter the new year, many of us are setting fresh personal and professional goals and aspirations. At the Designer Society of America, we’re doing the same, outlining what we hope to accomplish in 2025 so that we can best serve our members and the interior design community.
Since 2003, DSA has been dedicated to advancing design education and advocating for the rights of interior designers to practice freely and thanks to the dedication and persistence of many, we’ve achieved incredible milestones and victories that were once only dreams.
However, with the challenges brought by COVID-19, from the rise of online education to the ever-changing demands of the design industry, it’s clear DSA must continue evolving. These lessons inspire us to grow alongside you!
For 2025, we’re setting our sights on supporting our members. You are the heart of everything we do. This year, we’re committed to creating new and exciting ways to support you in your journey as an interior designer. Here’s a glimpse of what’s coming:
Enhanced resources: We’ll be expanding our library of tools, guides, and templates to help you navigate your projects with confidence and ease.- Tailored programs: From specialized webinars to skill-building workshops, our goal is to offer education that meets you where you are in your career.
- Networking opportunities: We’re planning more member-exclusive events—both virtual and in-person—where you can connect, collaborate, and grow alongside like-minded professionals and students.
- Recognition and advocacy: We’ll continue to champion the incredible work of our members and amplify your voices.
- A mobile-first future: We're thrilled to announce the upcoming launch of the DSA mobile app! This app will bring DSA resources, events and connections right to your fingertips—making it easier than ever to stay inspired and informed on the go.
This next chapter is an exciting one, and we can’t wait to embark on it with you. With your continued commitment and passion, we’re confident that 2025 will be a year of innovation, growth, and meaningful impact for our community.
Let’s make it a year to remember—together.
Launching Soon: New Video Series with Jenna Gaidusek—Unlocking the Power of AI in Interior Design

DSA is thrilled to unveil an exciting new video series in collaboration with Jenna Gaidusek, owner of
Jenna Gaidusek Designs, and the founder and CEO of
AI for Interior Designers. This series is designed to inspire, educate, and empower interior designers by showcasing how artificial intelligence can revolutionize your business.
In this series, Jenna will share her unparalleled expertise in virtual design and her decade-long journey of integrating AI into her business. Having worked in the industry for over 15 years, Jenna has become a trailblazer in harnessing technology to elevate design practices. Her actionable tips and strategies have already transformed the workflows of some of the most talented professionals in the field, and now she’s bringing that knowledge directly to you.
As a DSA member, you’ll gain access to a special offer to explore Jenna’s acclaimed AI for Interior Designers courses and seminars.
- Tune in next month to receive 50% off the Daily Membership. Log into your member portal for more information!
- Receive half off the monthly recurring cost of Jenna’s Daily membership plan—this is your gateway to exclusive content, tools, and insights to supercharge your business.
AI is no longer just a buzzword—it’s a game-changer for interior designers looking to stay ahead in a competitive industry. Whether you’re curious about virtual design tools, automating mundane tasks, or enhancing client communication, this series will open your eyes to what’s possible with AI.
Stay tuned for the series launch and get ready to revolutionize your approach to design and business.
Member Spotlight - Train Your Design Eye
By Lindsay Field Penticuff
“If you ask me, what is helpful to creativity is training the eye to notice things, to observe closely and precisely, being careful not to make a muddle of it.” –Ian Graham, Archaeologist and MacArthur Foundation Fellow

According to “Merriam-Webster Dictionary,” training is teaching, or developing in oneself or others, any skills and knowledge or fitness that relate to specific useful competencies. It has specific goals of improving one’s capability, capacity, productivity and performance.
When we consider our businesses, our skills, and what we bring to the table as designers, odds are it didn’t just happen overnight. Some of us may have attended college and studied design, while others may have worked through a certification program or apprenticed with tenured interior designers.
But being good at our craft—improving our capability, capacity, productivity, and performance—is something we work toward by training ourselves.
Training the eye was the focus for Jennifer Fordham, owner and founder of Pembrook Interiors in Virginia. She remembers being asked early on in grammar school what she wanted to be when she grew up.
“I wanted to be an artist, and I drew a picture of myself painting,” she recalls. “That was always what I wanted to do, and even in high school, I thought maybe I wanted to do graphic design or something like that.”
However, Fordham’s great aunt, a commercial artist and designer for Chanel, convinced her to study business and be the brain behind the operation rather than solely focus on art.
“Those words sent me down an alternative path in business,” she says. “I was in investor relations for a big energy company, and while I was up in New York (April 1999), I stopped to say hey to my great aunt and I told her I had wrecked my life, saying I really should have done design and I asked her what I should do now.”
To this day, Fordham has a handwritten note from her great aunt following that visit framed and hanging on her wall.
“She said, ‘Darling, you have to start training your eye. That’s where we’re going to start. From this point forward, only look at good design and read everything. Always look at books. Make sure you’re very careful about what you absorb in the design world.’”
Fordham purchased stacks of books about design, first homing in an interest in authenticating antiques and valuation.
“That was what started my research into furniture and good design,” she says. “Because of her advice, I knew I needed to be able to recognize good design when I see it—the training of the eye.”
She also took graduate classes in art history and eventually purchased her own interior design franchise. In 2014, Fordham founded Fordham Interiors, which was renamed Pembrook Interiors years later.
“I had a successful career for over 30 years and just kind of dabbled in design on the weekends,” Fordham says. “It went really well, but I just always knew I wanted to do my own thing and have the creative flexibility to build my own business that was suited to the market.”
Learn more about Fordham’s journey and what leads her design direction with her interior design firm today in the Q&A
HERE.