Cordia Coleman designing her own destiny

At just 23 years old, entrepreneur Cordia Coleman is soaring to new heights of success, all because she dared to pursue her passion for interior design.

While growing up in Spanish Town, St Catherine, Coleman didn't know much about interior design but had a strong love for decor. She never imagined that such passion could turn into something successful.

"I just found out later in life that people actually get paid to design spaces, because when I was younger and mommy went to Courts or Singer, I was always happy to go and see the layouts. But in my head that wasn't a real job," Coleman explained.

"I think it was in fourth form [of St Jago High School that] my parents finally gi mi a little buss and got cable and I started getting into [channel] HD TV and I was like 'Wow, this is actually a job! This is actually a career,'" said Coleman. Following this 'discovery', she used the Internet to her advantage and learnt how to because a successful interior designer like the ones she saw on TV.

"I started looking online for videos, trying to find software that would help me to design spaces and I learnt how to do my renders and my drawing so I'm actually self taught," said Coleman. Although she is not formally trained, she did one interior decorating course at the University of Technology where she is pursuing a degree in marketing to help her develop her business, House of Cordia. She started it four years ago at just age 19, and so far has managed to acquire more than 50 clients.

"Marketing is a passion of mine but I don't think it takes up as much space in my brain as design does. I love to do designing but ultimately I would love to be a real estate developer. I would really like to build beautiful homes for families," Coleman explained. She also told THE STAR that when she initially started her business, it didn't get much attention. But rather than give up, she kept posting until she got her first client, music producer Jahvy Ambassador.

"I did a rendering for his studio. I had just started out by doing 3D renderings (a visualisation of the space being decorated) on my laptop and I just made a page and posted them.. In my head, I was like 'What is the point of just posting the renders?' But people kept encouraging me to post them and he just came across my page one day and he was my very first client," said Coleman. There is no project too small or too big for Coleman, who prides herself on being able to recreate any space. Currently she is working on a project budgeted at $17 million which is the largest she's tackled so far.

"It's very exciting because this is a designer's dream project to be able to do anything, no limits at all. And it is a huge undertaking because I was there from the whole knock-down and the building back up of the three floors," Coleman said excitedly, adding that she was honoured to be selected for such a massive project.

She encouraged those who have big dreams to take a chance on their passion and see where it leads them.

"Just do it! I think sometimes, even in my case, I felt like I wasn't supposed to be in certain spaces, I didn't deserve certain projects. In my head I'm not qualified to do this, I don't have any papers to do this. But I feel like when you're so good at something and it seems to be a God-given talent, then any room and any space is for you, and what should be yours, God will give it to you," Coleman said.