What Professional Excellence Means to Me: Reflecting on the 2026 OWL Award

Recently, our local Chamber of Commerce called me with some news, that I wasn’t expecting. We’ve been members of The Chamber for year, and they do incredible work in our community. But truthfully, it can be hard to make many of the events and I wasnt sure just how visible we were within the community. It turns out we were being noticed. After a series of recent industry awards, projects getting published, and our 20th anniversary last year, we had made an impact. And with a group within the Chamber that I am incredibly honored to have noticed: The Women’s Biz Net. Female peers, entreprenuers and leaders had recognized the hard work and effort, and the business we had been building at KED Interiors.

I’m incredibly honored to have been named the 2026 Outstanding Women Leaders (OWL) Award recipient for Professional Excellence by the Barrington Area Chamber of Commerce Women’s Biz Net.

Being recognized alongside women doing such meaningful work in our community made me reflect on what professional excellence means to me and how much my definition of it has changed over more than 20 years in business.

Early in my career, I probably would have measured excellence by the work itself: a beautifully resolved room, a happy client, a project that came together exactly as I envisioned.

Today, I see it differently. This is what I had in mind as I started writing my speech for the event, and below is a summary of what I shared with the Chamber last week.

The Path to KED Interiors

In many ways, I think I was destined to become an interior designer long before I knew it could become my career.

I grew up visiting job sites with my dad and loved watching homes take shape. Even then, I was fascinated by all the decisions behind a finished spaceb and by the idea that a home could be functional while still feeling warm, personal and inspiring.

My mom likes to joke that she knew where I was headed because I couldn’t even sit in a bathroom without critiquing the design. Appropriately enough, one of the first design awards I ever received was for a bathroom.

But when it came time for college, design didn’t initially feel like the practical choice. I attended Marquette University and earned a business degree. During those years, I also had the opportunity to study in England and Paris, where being surrounded by European architecture, interiors and art made something very clear: design was not an interest I was going to outgrow.

I returned to school for interior design, not yet realizing how important that first business degree would eventually become.

Because there is a very big difference between being a good designer and building a successful design firm.

Building Something Bigger Than One Designer

When I started my company, I was thrilled simply to be doing the work I loved. I could design, work closely with clients and walk onto a job site imagining what a space could become.

As the company grew, my role had to grow with it.

One of the most important lessons I’ve learned as an entrepreneur is that you cannot—and should not—be the best person in your company at everything.

To me, professional excellence now means building something that doesn’t depend entirely on you.

It means surrounding yourself with talented people, creating systems that allow them to do exceptional work, giving people ownership and being willing to learn from the expertise around you.

That belief was a major reason we transitioned from Katherine Elizabeth Designs to KED Interiors three years ago. The new name represented much more than a rebrand. It reflected what the studio had become: a collaborative team with shared standards, complementary strengths and a collective commitment to our clients.

Today, KED includes multiple design teams, leaders across different areas of the business, our showroom and boutique, events, styling and services that have evolved because we listened to what our clients needed and gave our team room to bring new ideas forward.

A Culture of Wellness, Health & Collaboration

I’ve also learned that excellence isn’t only visible in the finished home. We couldnt continue to grow and evolve unless the culture was healthy. Wellness is an important concept in home design, and a meaningful component of creating a custom space for a family. I knew our culture had to be healthy internally, too.

At KED, we’ve become increasingly intentional about creating an environment where people can develop their expertise, contribute ideas and challenge one another creatively. We meet regularly as a team. We set goals. We have team-building days. We talk openly about what’s working and where we can improve.

And yes, sometimes we do team yoga!

At the beginning of each year, we create vision boards together. I love seeing how different everyone’s individual goals are and then discovering the common threads that give us a shared direction for the year ahead.

That culture of growth ultimately makes our work stronger.

Staying Curious

Interior design is creative, but it is also deeply technical. Materials evolve. Technology changes. Construction practices advance. The way families live changes.

Staying current is part of our responsibility to our clients. But j ust as important is staying creatively curious.

What are we seeing next in materials, color and craftsmanship? What can we introduce to a client that feels fresh without feeling fleeting? How can an architectural detail, a custom piece of millwork or an unexpected material solve a problem while adding another layer to the home?

More than two decades into my career, I’m still asking those questions.

Awards and industry recognition are meaningful to me and to our team. We’re proud of the more than 30 design awards KED has received and grateful every time our work is recognized.

But some of the measures of success I value most are quieter ones: when a builder asks to work with us again; when a client refers a friend; when an architect or trade partner trusts our team with another project. Of course at the top of the list is when a past client calls because their life has changed and they want us beside them for the next home.bThose relationships are built over years, and I don’t take them for granted.

An Award That Belongs to Many People

Receiving the OWL Award for Professional Excellence is deeply meaningful because it gave me an opportunity to look back at what we’ve built and ahead at the standard we want to continue pursuing.

There was no manual for building KED Interiors. I learned by doing, often before I felt completely ready, and I’m still learning today.

I’m grateful to our clients, who trust us not simply with their houses, but with creating homes around the way they live.

I’m grateful to the talented KED team, which continues to evolve, challenge me and get better.

And I’m grateful to the architects, builders, craftspeople, vendors and industry partners whose expertise and collaboration elevate everything we do.

Finally, I’m grateful to the Barrington community that has supported KED Interiors for more than 20 years, and to the Barrington Area Chamber of Commerce and Women’s Biz Net for this recognition.

I’m very proud to be a 2026 OWL and even more proud of the people and relationships that made this moment possible.

— Katie Wozniak
Founder & Principal Designer, KED Interiors