Jenny Tredway (B.I.D. ’00) is an associate, registered interior designer at Looney & Associates. Her career has taken her across the United States, most recently to Hawaii. Tredway said stepping foot on the University of Arkansas campus felt like stepping into a new home. Although the interior design (now interior architecture and design) program wasn’t yet part of the Fay Jones School when she attended, she said she is honored to be considered an alumna of the school.
When did you become interested in interior architecture and design, and why?
When I was quite young, I would often use an opportunity of my parents leaving us kids alone in the house to rearrange one room. Usually it was my bedroom, but not always. My desire was to make the spaces feel “better,” even if I was too young to realize what would actually be better.
Later, when I reached high school, there was a course called “housing” offered for seniors, which was a loose interpretation of a design class (mostly cutting pictures from magazines and gluing them into collages — not unlike Pinterest boards, now that I think of it). I took it as a correspondence course (the timing conflicted with one of my core classes), and after this, I was set on my course.
Why did you choose to go to the University of Arkansas?
Since I knew I was going to be entering a degree program for interior design before graduating high school, I researched and toured many wonderful schools in different states, mostly in the SEC. The last school I visited was the University of Arkansas, and after stepping foot on campus, it felt like stepping into a new home. I knew before the first hour was complete that this was the school I wanted to attend. At the time, the interior design program was not part of the Fay Jones School, but it was a transition that our design class knew was on the horizon, and I’m so pleased that the program was shifted shortly afterwards. It is an honor to be considered an alumnus, even if I wasn’t initially part of the school.
What has been your career path so far?
I was recruited, along with a few other of my classmates while in our final semester, to join the team at Corgan in Dallas. During my time there, I was able to work on all design phases for small-scale projects as well as design and documentation for the then-new Terminal D at Dallas Fort Worth International Airport. Both opportunities gave me a wealth of experience in the design process and valuable documentation knowledge that I was able to take with me as I made the move to Leo A Daly three years later. This was a pivotal change for me, as I was finally able to jump into the amazing realm of hospitality design, which has become my passion. I had a very exciting tenure with the team at Leo A Daly, learning from every project, honing my skills and gleaning knowledge from seasoned veterans, architects and interior designers as well as consultants and contractors. At about my 15th year in the field, I had an opportunity to join the family at Looney & Associates, which is headed by a fellow Razorback and Fay Jones School alumnus, Jim Looney. I have had the privilege to lead teams on some spectacular projects at Looney, and each one drives home to me that it truly makes a difference working with people that you trust and enjoy spending time with.
What has been your favorite project to work on?
This may be a tie. My first project after joining the group at Looney was the Wailea Beach Resort, on Maui. The property underwent a very significant repositioning, and every facet was considered, from the story being told in the artwork of the guestrooms, to the introduction of hanging pendants in the banyan trees along the entry drive, to the reveal details between stone and metal on the wayfinding signage between the seven different guestroom buildings. It was my first taste of working in Hawaii, and it was my first opportunity to really spread my wings on a master planning effort. And now the client has trusted our team to yet again breathe new life into the property with another renovation. It is a little surreal to renovate a project you have worked on in the recent past — but very rewarding to find that your previous designs remain intact and in great shape!
But the property that has my heart is the Mauna Kea Beach Resort, on the Big Island of Hawaii. The place is magical, from the mid-century modern board-formed concrete architecture to the stunning Asian and Pacific art collection, it is truly like stepping back in time. And the setting is unparalleled. So, to have the opportunity to partner with this team to update this Hawaiian landmark, to find the balance between respecting culture and history while providing updated touches for the modern guest, this project is the true test of all I’ve learned to this point in my career.
What is the most challenging part of your job?
The challenges of your job (and your life) change as your job changes. Five years ago, I was struggling to manage an overloaded slate of projects while working in our Dallas studio but had the autonomy of working on most of them by myself. So, I only had to manage my own time. Jump ahead to today, and I’m in the Hawaii studio, managing fewer projects, but more people, and juggling the need to keep the office running smoothly, maintain client relationships and forge new ones — all while working in a time zone four hours away from office leadership. I know tomorrow and the years to come will bring new challenges, and the ones I’m facing today will seem like a distant memory, and I try to maintain this perspective as I approach the 25th year of my career.
What unique experiences or perspectives do you have that make you stand out in interior architecture?
Very early in my career, I developed a distaste for leadership who couldn’t put their money where their mouth was — or in other words, who couldn’t do the tasks they were asking me to perform. I made it a point to expand my knowledge and skills to include both design and documentation, to be in the early groups embracing new design software tools and to learn from the experts in various fields how our built environment comes together. I didn’t realize this made me unusual in the field until I looked around and realized that there were very few people in my peer group that could tackle any task on a project if needed. So, now I find myself in the unique position of being able to fill in when my teams are in a jam — I can draw the millwork details in both CAD and Revit; I can prepare renderings of a space and place them in InDesign presentations; I can write the furniture specs, review the shop drawings, and make fabric selections, all in the same day that I’m sitting in value engineering meetings with ownership, reviewing staffing loads with company leadership and communicating with the general contractor and project management team that we’re on budget and on schedule.
What are your interests or involvements outside of design?
I have always had a deep interest in plants and flowers, the beauty of the outdoor environment and how those outdoor elements impact our hearts and minds. At times I thought I should have changed my major to landscape architecture, but I think your hobbies should stay separate from your career, or they lose some of their luster. Living in Hawaii, I have really been able to dig my hands in (pun intended) — everything grows here, and I love fostering that growth in my own little garden. I’ve become very interested in the culture of lei making and have been studying the different meanings behind the flowers commonly used in leis, as well as learning more about the flora native to these islands and how I can do my small part to restore native habitats. I also took up painting again during the early COVID years, and I’ve really enjoyed combing through my memories for tips and training given in the courses I took in the art department as part of my art minor.
Who have been your biggest supporters?
This may sound trite, but my parents have been my biggest supporters. They weren’t always; I think my father struggled with my decision to join the interior design program early in my education. He felt I was wasting my math and science skills (I had been in many advanced math and science courses in high school) because he didn’t really understand interior design. However, the first time I was able to walk with them into a property I had been a part of renovating and show him what interior design involved, and he met the on-site team who were so excited about their new space, and he saw the guests experiencing this amazing space — it was a turning point. He’s always been proud of me, but it made a difference to me that he understood what my chosen career meant to me and to those for whom I work — the owners, property team and guests.
What’s the best part of your career?
I absolutely love meeting new people and forming new relationships. That’s one part of interior design that you don’t understand while still in school — this is a people-centric career. As your experience and confidence grow and develop, you’ll cultivate more and more connections with people. Every decision is ultimately approved by your clients; every material you select has a manufacturer or vendor representative who has helped you make informed choices; every project has a team of people who put their hand into construction. Each of these people is someone you need to forge a relationship with, because you are all part of one team to make the project a reality. It’s a wonderful realization when it hits you.