Mary Levy was born and raised in the Silicon Valley, but has called Portland home for 26 years. As a child Mary collected dollhouse furniture and would spend hours wallpapering and rearranging the furniture in her dollhouse. As she grew up, she kept a file stocked with photos of homes and rooms that inspired her.

For the last 12 years, Mary has taught French at Lake Oswego High School. While she loves teaching French, she longed to do something more creative. Mary worked with a career coach to help her plan her next career move. In her sessions, Mary kept returning to her love of color, homes, and creative work, she realized interior design was what she really wanted to pursue.

While Mary knew she wanted to take this next toward her dream career, it wasn’t easy at first.

I am not by nature a risk taker. I do not like change. It took me two years of intentional planning to work up the nerve to leave what was a good job. For me, telling my principal that I wouldn’t be coming back was like jumping off a cliff.

The decision to come to Heritage is a life changing decision for many students – we are so proud of Mary for gaining the courage she needed to change careers. And, it’s already paying off!

Soon after graduating from Heritage, Mary began working at Sherwin Williams as an In-home Color Consultant.

For the time being I want to learn as much about the science of color as I can. By the end of 2020, my goal is to have some clients in my pipeline as well!

In addition to working at Sherwin Williams, Mary is also working with her first clients to help them design their new home! They have a fabulous art collection, which Mary has used to inform all of her decisions on colors, surfaces and even lighting. In general, Mary draws inspiration from:

Paris, Portland, textiles, art, antiques mixed with contemporary pieces, and my classmates in the Fundamentals of Interior Design course.

As Mary continues to grow as an interior designer, she is remembering the advice from her career counselor: Just take one step, then another, then another. You don’t have to know what’s around the corner, just keep moving forward!