Today we’d like to introduce you to Julia Montanez.
Julia, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
I graduated with a finance degree during the recession of 2009. I quickly lost my job and spent the year jumping from internship to internship, trying to figure out what I wanted or did not want to do. Finally, my mother convinced me to spend a few months in Paris since we have family there and leave NYC while the economy recovered. In Paris, I spent all my time walking and discovering all the culture the city had to offer. I came across the Decorative Arts Museum, a lesser-known museum attached to the Louvre, where I came across their permanent collection of historically relevant chairs, organized by decade. It was eye-opening to see that functional design could be so historically meaningful and led me on my path to becoming an interior designer.
I soon moved to Los Angeles to reinvent myself, and as luck would have it, a successful musician friend of mine had just bought a huge loft and needed help designing it (for free of course!). I sent the project photos to a restaurant designer in NYC I admired, who asked me to come work for him in the summer of 2010. At the end of summer, he went to do a project in London, and I was back to feeling a bit lost and unsure how to continue to pursue interior design and make a living from it. I went back to DC where my family lives and ended up working in a furniture showroom while plotting how to get a job back in NYC. I eventually got an interview with Architectural Digest Design Show, completely unaware that it was not a magazine job but a trade show where I would be in charge of my own section called MADE, which featured furniture designs by emerging and independent designers.
I stayed with AD Show for seven years, the longest I’ve pretty much done anything and felt so much pride in my work for MADE. I felt very close to many of my exhibitors and would even advise them on what shows to do next when they felt they outgrew MADE. During this time, I convinced my boss to allow me to travel the world to see other shows and city-wide design festivals to scout new exhibitors and to see how AD Show could improve as a whole. This led me to create the concept for The Design Release, my startup, which has become my full-time job.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not, what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
There have been so many struggles in my career, and looking back, I would have told myself to put all my worries aside and push forward. A lot of my struggles were when I was in between career paths and I would have to come back to live with my family. It can feel a bit shameful sometimes, especially in your 20s when you care more about what other people are doing, but in retrospect, I know how lucky I am to have a supportive family who puts up with me and puts me up when I need to regroup. I even spent 15 months living with my grandfather during covid in 2019/2020 when I left NYC to save up while I built my business. Day to day felt a little difficult, but looking back, even though it wasn’t that long ago, I am so grateful to him for giving me that support.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about The Design Release?
The Design Release was built out of a personal need to organize and visualize all the exhibitions, trade shows, fairs, festivals, and events that happen all over the world in the field of design. When I was working for AD Show, it was so much effort to organize all the events I wanted to see during a bigger festival, like Milan Design Week or DesignTO in Toronto. With all the events in one place, a show producer can figure out the best time of year to host their event, a journalist can figure out how many events exist around one larger trade show, an interior designer can discover where to see the latest design talents, or a design aficionado can see what exhibitions are happening while they plan a holiday in a new city.
During covid, after I had left AD Show, many of my former exhibitors reached out about needing PR because they had created new furniture and designs that were not going to be seen in person due to all the event cancellations. My co-founder and I realized that this could be a necessary pivot, and we brought on three publicist friends to create TDR PR, which is now the most revenue-generating part of our business. PR is a much tougher business than I ever thought it was, where connections, great writing skills, and friendships in the industry are so important, but also there was a gap to fill for a certain type of creative who could not afford the retainers that more corporate PR agencies charge. We fit right in the middle, and our client list continues to grow and now includes international furniture brands, hospitality groups, government agencies looking to bring eyes to their local talent, and small emerging furniture design studios.
Do you have any advice for those just starting out?
I agree with the standard advice about turning your hobbies and interests into your job. I love furniture and design, so visiting design fairs to network doesn’t feel like a hassle to me (even though sometimes I get nervous at big events) because I get exposed to incredible works. Also, figure out what you are really good at, and you can find unique work in a niche part of an industry you love. I never knew design exhibitions were even a thing, and working for a trade show taught me that I am very good at being organized. My spreadsheets of events around the world and their contacts are the building blocks of what The Design Release would become.
I would also say that it’s so true what people say, “it’s who you know.” Take lots of jobs or internships if you aren’t sure about what you want to do with your career, and even if they don’t work out, just stay in touch with people because you never know if they will end up working somewhere cool and can vouch for you. Be easy to work with. Be a lifelong learner. Travel to places that speak a different language which will teach you adaptability. Write about what you love and see if you can get it published, that always helps with credibility as well.
Contact Info:
- Email: hello@thedesignrelease.com
- Website: www.thedesignrelease.com
- Instagram: instagram.com/thedesignrelease
Image Credits
Photography by Meredithe Ettrich
