Meet Quest Maker Linda Varone
Quest Makers are women in their 40s and beyond who've declared
"now it's my time," and then set off on their own journeys to realize their dreams. Every month a Quest Maker is featured in the FREE e-newsletter, Your Next Quest Chronicles. Click here to enjoy archived issues.
Quest Maker Linda Varone
"The common thread for me is helping people heal themselves."
As an entrepreneur myself, I have watched Linda Varone grow her business, achieving one milestone after another. In 2007, she was recognized as Best of Boston Feng Shui Consultant for Boston Magazine. Last year, she published her first book, The Smarter Home Office, which since then has moved from the #12 to #2 in the Home Office Design category on Amazon.com. As she says: "Next stop is #1!"
When Linda set out on a quest that has taken her from being a nurse in a hospital's child and adolescent psychiatric unit to a design consultant, she had no idea she would also become a professional speaker and published author. Through it all is a common thread connecting her quest every step of the way, helping people heal themselves.
At what point in your life did you decide to embark on your quest?
I spent most of my nursing career working with children and along the way I earned a masters degree in psychology. Then I worked for about seven years at Boston Children's Hospital in its inpatient child and adolescent psychiatric unit. That was really very intense because most of the children were there as a result of some form of abuse.
Burn out led me to look beyond direct-care nursing. A friend suggested I get tested by the Johnson-O’Connor Research Foundation, which does aptitude testing that reveals what your innate talents are and make research-based career recommendations on what careers use those talents. One of the careers that fit my profile was interior design.
I took a couple of evening school classes, enjoyed them and got great feedback from my instructors. Toward the end of my time at Children's Hospital, when I was about 40, I started moving away from a conventional job as a nurse, I joined the interior design program at Boston Architectural College with the idea of designing health care facilities.
I finished up the interior design program just in time for the financial bust of 1990. It became clear that if I wanted to work at something I really love then I needed to make it happen myself because firms just weren't hiring interior designers, architects, contractors. In fact, they were laying off people.
What led you from nursing to architectural psychology and Feng Shui?
I had gone into nursing as part of the generation inspired by John Kennedy’s “Ask not what your country can do for you. Ask what you can do for your country.” Well, replace the word “country” with the word “humanity” and I went into nursing. Then I found myself drawn to psychology and helping people heal their emotional wounds.
While I was studying interior design, I took a class at Tufts on architectural psychology and it just totally blew my mind. Professor Anita Olds was a pioneer in the field of architectural psychology with a focus on developing healthcare and school settings for kids. She was absolutely passionate about providing the best possible environments for children to learn in and children to heal in. I was delighted to learn the field of architectural psychology existed—I could combine two things I really love.
What is architectural psychology?
Architectural psychology is a 60 year old western social science that observes and measures how people behave and relate to their work or other people based on how room is designed or arranged. It's the overlooked human factor in design. How a space is set up subconsciously influences how you feel and react to others in that room.
Here's an example: People often spread out furniture to fill the room. Inadvertently they have created “shouting distance” between places where people sit. In architectural psychology they talk about inter-personal distance. At certain distances, it's easy to have a conversation and to make eye contact. Further away, it's hard to do that. People become exhausted from the attempt and don't understand why it doesn't feel right to connect. When a client has a room set up like this, I'll suggest moving sofas and chairs closer together. My clients experience this as a room feeling more “cozy” and welcoming.
Adding the right kind of light to a room can also make a huge difference in how welcoming a space can be. Light is a people magnet. By placing a lamp next to a chair you will draw people where you want them to be.
When I got in touch with one of my clients a week later for our scheduled follow-up phone call consultation, she told me her young daughter had remarked: "I don't know why, Mom, but I feel like hanging out in the living room now." This is the room that nobody wanted to go into! The solution was adding—very simply and without a big expense—the right kind of lighting.
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About a year later, I accidentally happened upon on Sarah Rossbach's Interior Design with Feng Shui. Feng Shui seemed very similar to architectural psychology, except on a more subtle and spiritual level. That was in 1989. After I finished my interior design program that same year, I decided to pursue Feng Shui as a private consultant.
What is Feng Shui?
Feng Shui literally translates to Wind and Water. It is a 2,000-year old Chinese approach to arranging your environment, indoors and outdoors, inside and outside, with the idea of balancing energy called chi, pronounced CHEE and sometimes spelled Qi, is the Breath of Life. By balancing the chi (it can be as simple as adding more light in a space or decluttering a space), you absorb that positive energy and it helps to balance your own energy. It's just another way of thinking about your space beyond function, beyond appearance and addressing that subtle quality of how you feel in the space. (Learn more about Feng Shui from Linda.)
Did you go to school for Feng Shui?
Although you don't have to go to school, I enrolled in a one year program in New York and then traveled around the country to study with various Feng Shui masters over the course of several years. Learning from more than one teacher really enhanced the depth and the breadth of my understanding of Feng Shui. I got to learn different approaches and different interpretations.
Have you applied Feng Shui to your own home?
Through my business, Nurturing Spaces, I encourage my Feng Shui clients to have fun decorating their spaces. I have on occasion kindly pointed out to clients that they suffer from “an excess of good taste” – everything is beautiful, but it is stiff and impersonal. I have photos of family and friends around my home, things that I have inherited from my mother and fun and beautiful mementos of the people, places and events that mean the most to me. Those things are the source of wonderful energy for my home.
Is there a difference between architectural psychology and Feng Shui?
About ten years ago, a client presented me with several dilemmas in her home that Feng Shui alone could not help. I went back to my architectural psychology class notes and books and re-discovered insights that explained the “why” of the problem and led to solutions that where simple to implement. Seeing the results of these changes on how my clients and their families felt in their homes convinced me architectural psychology was an important tool for helping my clients and people I speak to.
There is a really strong overlap with architectural psychology and Feng Shui in that they have similar goals, similar takes on what spaces need but they present them in two very different languages. Feng Shui uses a lot of metaphor and symbolism and architectural psychology uses a lot of dry statistics. With either approach, it is amazing how fine-tuning one's space can really have a powerful effect on how people function and respond.
Here is an example of how Linda transformed a space using her combined skills in design, Feng Shui and architectural philosophy.
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| "Jane’s home office displayed her personality but was not comfortable or efficient. She had back and wrist pain. Jane worked at a small computer desk with barely enough room for her monitor and keyboard and no room for her legs underneath. Her chair was borrowed from the dining room. She had a wonderful table lamp, but it was placed on a nearby bureau – too far away to illuminate her work surface. Her files were on the other side of the room, and there was no room for her reading chaise." |
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| "First we selected a larger desk with a keyboard tray and room for both Jane’s monitor and her papers. Then we moved her two file cabinets under the window to create a “working L” and to make access to her files easier. The table lamp was moved onto her desk and the tall bookcase in the corner was moved to the opposite corner, making it more accessible and allowing room for her reading chaise near a favorite painting. Then Jane purchased a real desk chair, which now gives her support and mobility." |
Looking back, what's one thing you wish you had known as you set off on your journey?
I would have shifted my focus a little bit from being the nurse, the "how can I help you?" kind of person, to balancing that with thinking more like a business woman. Money is an important part of the equation. It's not the whole part; it's not why I do what I do, but it is a factor. You need to take some time to get guidance from a business coach or a group of entrepreneurial people about the business aspects if you want to do is be in business.
What is the one essential quality that you'd tell women to pack for their own journey?
It comes down to two essential qualities. It's independence. Being able to do things on your own, do things for yourself, do things that are a part of your vision.
It's also perseverance because it takes not only a lot of work but time for something you want to have happen for it to really develop, blossom and grow.
What kinds of obstacles have you dealt with on your adventure?
About three years ago I attempted to produce a 60 minute webinar on office design. I spent several months learning special software called Camtasia to create a PowerPoint movie. Got that all done and the test webinar was a disaster. The Internet could not upload all of my photos in a timely manner. The images uploaded to participants more and more slowly until my live narration and the images were completely out of sync and the webinar ground to a halt. Several months of very focused work for naught.
How did you deal with obstacles?
I think I just keep pushing through. I don't know whether that is a positive or negative part of perseverance or tenacity. I just keep working at it until it happens. Or until I realize that it is just not viable.
What changes has being a Feng Shui and architectural psychology consultant brought to your life?
It has opened up my world in ways I had no idea it could. Every once in a while, if I get a little bit discouraged, I think "Wow! I have met so many wonderful people." I have so many great friends in my life because I am doing this, much more so than when I had a regular job. That was a totally unexpected benefit to this whole journey.
Has your journey evolved in any other unexpected ways?
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Yes, along the way, I wrote a book, The Smarter Home Office, which evolved as a way of taking some of the architectural psychology concepts that I use with my clients and that I talk about in my classes and I focus in on one particular area, which I think is a growing need.
More and more people are working from their homes, whether they are telecommuting or starting their own business or doing some variation on that. Over and over again when I did consultations, I saw that clients had set up home offices that were bare and barely functional. It was a desk, a computer, a chair and a printer. That was about it.
When you are working from home, you've got more choices then when you are in the corporate world! Recognizing what simple changes that can be made to make a space more comfortable, more functional and more inspiring was something that I thought a lot of people could really benefit from. It is a spin off and a deep focusing at the same time.
I originally didn't aim to be a professional speaker but I received a phone call early on in my business asking if I could do workshop for a local group on Feng Shui and I found my mouth saying yes before my brain could say no! I ended up dong the presentation. I was very nervous and I found that I enjoyed myself and the audience enjoyed the learning experience. That was very inspiring for me. I found myself stretching in ways I had never thought of before.
After that first experience, I began offering classes at local adult community education programs in the Boston area. Over time, I have moved on to speaking at Fortune 500 companies, Build Boston (an annual architectural and design conference), as well as at the Yankee Dental conference.
An interesting side note to the testing I had taken was that I had the aptitude profile that is very important for teaching. While I wasn't interested in teaching at the time I did the testing, it may explain my success as a professional speaker/presenter on topics related to design and architectural psychology.
What have you learned about entrepreneurship along the way ?
When you want to make your business grow, you find yourself doing things you have never done before and really moving out of your comfort zone. It ends up happening so often, you don't realize "oh, I'm not comfortable doing that" and you just go ahead and do it! The more and more you stretch yourself, the easier it becomes.
From giving presentations, along the way to becoming a professional speaker, I learned how to edit photographs and create PowerPoint presentations. From writing my book, I've learned along the way I have learned writing, editing, book formatting and publishing. One thing leads to another.
How did you make time for your dream while you were still working as a nurse?
I made a very conscious decision to work part time, working three or four days a week instead of five, which meant rethinking my budget and my priorities. That allowed me to continue with something I was familiar with and that was secure and begin to develop my business and learn about the art and craft of Feng Shui as well as the nuts and bolts of business and marketing.
What helped you stay on your quest’s path?
What has been incredibly helpful, particularly around the book but also in other aspects of my business and my quest, has been the support of women entrepreneurs who have either gone through the same thing or who naturally share support has been a life saver. Through various groups and organizations I have connected to people who have given me good feedback, shared approaches and referrals of what has worked for them. They have become good friends whose support has been invaluable.
What are some of the groups that have been invaluable for you?
For over 10 years, I've been a member of the National Speakers Association (NSA) member. I decided to join because I really, really enjoy talking about Feng Shui, office design and architectural psychology and heard about this organization that helped people turn their speaking into a business. NSA focuses on the business end of how you such as how to get your name out there and how to work with event organizers. Everyone is very generous in sharing their support and what they have learned along the way themselves.
I have been part of a writing group, too, for the last three years. That was pure luck. I had been looking for a writing support group for non-fiction writers and mentioned it to a non-fiction writer friend. A few months later she asked me if I would like to join her and two of her friends to form a non-fiction writing support group. Would I!
We just clicked instantaneously. We met very regularly for the first two years. Now that our writing projects have gone in different directions, we keep less frequently. Or when the need arises, like last week when we met to help one of our members prepare for a reading now that her book is being published! My own book wouldn't have been written without the support of these women.
What's been the secret to reaching your goals?
Again, the support of other people. You have to do a lot on your own, but you can't do it all on your own. I have been part of several groups at different times on my journey or that have connected with different aspects of my journey. They have all been very important, each in their own way.
I also offer information, support and suggestions to others, too; it's never a one-way street. It makes the quest a lot more exciting and fun. It's richer experience when there's that exchange. It might not be with each person; you might get something from somebody and not able to repay them with information or a referral right away but you can offer something to someone else. It's kind of a larger loop, almost like paying it forward.
What's the best advice for your quest that you've ever received?
Do what you are really passionate about. You are going to need that passion to carry you through during the hard times or the slow times or the dry spots.
Is there a particular quote, a movie, a book or a person that has sustained you?
I have been inspired by Julia Child. I never met her, but everything I have seen and read about her describes her as being a person of contagious enthusiasm, able to make something intimidating into something fun and do-able, and deep generosity. I would like to be like Julia Child.
Do you have a new quest around the corner?
I am still really enjoying the quest I'm on. I have written a 12-chapter magnum opus on architectural psychology for the home, room-by-room. I had put that aside to write and promote The Smarter Home Office. I would like to revisit and revise my manuscript and submit a proposal to a traditional publishing house to have it published with gorgeous full-color photos and illustrations.
Is there anything else you’d like to share?
One thing comes to mind is that there is a thread that connects all of this going from nursing to architectural psychology. The thread is to help people heal themselves. I became aware of early on in nursing that even with the latest breakthroughs, doctors and nurses at most can only help people heal, they can't really do it for them.
With interior design it was to design health care settings that really worked for people. With Feng Shui and architectural psychology, it is to create spaces that feel really right for clients, so they can be focused in their work or be relaxed in their homes, connected with other people rather than with electronics or passive entertainment.
If you would like to get in touch with Linda, you can send her an email.
To sign up for either of Linda's newsletters, visit her websites: one for her business, Nurturing Spaces, and one for The Smarter Home Office.
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