Talk Shop: Pamela Frisoli & Susannah Heyworth // The Gussie Podcast
ABOUT PAMELA & SUSANNAH
Greenwich, CT based interior designers and entrepreneurs Pamela Frisoli and Susannah Heyworth of Trovare Home have quickly become Insta friends of ours—and when we saw they launched “The Gussie,” a brand-new weekly podcast for design junkies—we couldn’t get enough! The duo’s cheekily named episodes touch on all aspects of the design industry, featuring designer guests and candid chats on design styles, vintage finds, upcycling, Marie Kondo, budgets, carpets, drapes, textiles, favorite design books and more.
Frisoli and Heyworth also run their brick and mortar shop, Trovare Home, which offers a fine selection of modern and vintage furnishings. Their distinctive design style is a unique blend of new and curated vintage, which we can always get behind.
You’d think a full time design firm, retail shop and a podcast would be enough to keep this duo busy, but the Trovare team is also designing a collection of upholstery and case pieces inspired by their favorite vintage items, including a number of select, trade-only fabrics, which will be available on The Gussie website just in time for the 2020 holiday season. We’re so excited for Pamela and Susannah, and couldn’t wait to sit down with them and Talk Shop. See their answers below!
Describe your style in three words or less:
P: Vintage, Traveled, Collected.
S: Worldly, Whimsical, Wallpapered.
What have been the three biggest influences on your aesthetic in your life:
P: Travel, Shopping in curious and collected boutiques, Hotels.
S: Old movies, Jane Austen novels, NYC.
How did you start your company, and/or what is your favorite thing about what you do:
P: I started my design store Trovare Home 15 years ago on a wing and a prayer. It took a lot of grit. The best part is I have created my dream job…and no one can fire me.
S: The Gussie podcast was born of gusto. One night at the shop after a long day, we opened up a bottle of rose and began talking about our own personal paths towards design careers. I had been binging design podcasts for the past year and as a designer, I found these shows super educational and validating. At the same time, I had been thinking about how these podcasts are really skewed towards industry insiders, rather than design clients, people who design for themselves, or even the chic women who shop at our store. Suddenly it clicked: we live and breathe design, we love sharing what we know, and we love to talk…we should do a podcast. Of course, I just threw it out there assuming that like most ideas it would live in the ether, but Pamela is a woman of action. The response has been overwhelming! My favorite thing about this new venture is that I don’t know what is going to happen next. A little suspense is good for the soul.
Do you have a mentor in your career, and if so, how have they helped to shape your trajectory:
P: I don’t have a specific mentor, but have had plenty of support. I owe a lot of my success to having a partner who helps me live my dream.
S: Pamela is definitely my mentor. Before I was a colleague, I was a client. She has an eye for talent and spotting latent passions and told me I needed to be a designer. Lucky for me, it’s hard to say no to Pamela.
What does your home say about you:
P: Everything has its place, even my collection of vintage French match strikers.
S: That clashing is a virtue.
Where do you find inspiration:
P: Art, Textiles, and Travel.
S: Design books, photography, Arts & Crafts Wallpapers.
Who are your style icons:
P: Kelly Wearstler, Carolina Herrera, and Jackie O.
S: Audrey Hepburn, Lee Radziwell, and Grace Kelly.
What are your key ingredients for entertaining:
P: A well-lit room with copious amounts of alcohol, and a truly irreverent group of friends.
S: Candles, my wedding china (what’s the point in having beautiful dishes that you don’t use?), and an impromptu piano recital by one or all of my three girls.
Do you collect anything:
P: I begin all buying with a collective mind-set. Sometime later I give up and move on to the next object that amuses me.
S: French blue and white opaline water goblets. I inherited the collection from my grandmother and continue to add to it periodically.
Favorite Instagram accounts to follow for inspiration:
P: I follow food and woman empowerment sites more than design. @libbiesummers, @allbright to name a few.
S: @annaspiro is my end-all, be-all.
What design “rule” do you always follow, and which is made to be broken:
P: Follow: I always tend to group my tablescapes in three’s. Break: rattan and bamboo are not just for spring/summer decor.
S: Follow: I always wallpaper the powder room. Break: That rooms must relate to each other in a “literal” way. For example, so many of my clients feel bound by the notion that one room’s color story needs to pick up a color from a different room. To me, it doesn’t have to be so literal. It’s less about coordination, and more about whether the rooms are harmonious in an abstract way.
What are you working on right now:
P: Building a home and listening to my tradesman.
S: Launching our custom furniture line.
Wardrobe staples:
P: Great pair of Gucci sneakers or loafers, blazer, and the perfect white T (preferably not too sheer).
S: Christian Louboutin combat boots, Wolford tights, tweed-y skirt, and a black sweater
Best interior advice you ever received:
P: When designing a living room make sure to use ample amounts of drink tables, people don’t want to leave their drinks on a coffee table.
S: Buy things you love, even if they don’t match.
Best career advice you ever received:
P: Surround yourself with people and things that inspire you. Be present and absorb. Less talking, more listening.
S: Bet on yourself.
Types of home purchases you invest in, and save on:
P: Invest in quality and save on trend.
S: Splurge on your first floor and master bedroom; save on kids’ rooms—they trash everything and change their minds too often. Slime, stickers, and makeup have been the downfall of my girls’ sweet bedrooms.
Your greatest extravagance:
P: Coffee. I will waste time and energy to find the best coffee anywhere.
S: Wallpaper.
Favorite places to shop for home:
P: Consignment shops.
S: KRB NYC.
Most prized possession and why:
P: Time, nothing else compares.
S: Oh yes, time. Definitely time. But if I had to pick a piece of furniture, it would be the Baker chest that my mother bought me when I was decorating my first apartment. It’s lived in every home I’ve owned, and is currently in my dining room sporting a new lacquer finish.
Your interiors motto:
P: Go forth with confidence.
S: Everything finds a place.
Your life motto:
P: Same as design motto: Go forth with confidence.
S: Life is long and has many stages. Reinvention lies ahead.
Advice for someone looking to define their own interior style:
P: Spend more time exploring and traveling…less time on Instagram.
S: For someone at the beginning on their style journey, buy Domino’s “The Book of Decorating.” Or listen to The Gussie Podcast!
Take Ten: My Favorite…
Food:
P: Indian
S: Mexican
Drink:
P: Great Red Wine will do.
S: Cakebread Sauvignon Blanc or a spicy Margarita.
Film:
P: Goodfellas
S: When Harry Met Sally (or really any Nora Ephron)
Hotel:
P: Four Seasons, almost anywhere.
S: Four Seasons Resort Costa Rica Papagayo.
City:
P: San Francisco. I will always be a Cali girl at heart.
S: NYC forever and always.
Bedding:
P: Bamboo sheets.
S: Matouk for sheets; Leontine Linens for shams, duvets, and coverlets.
Tea or Coffee (and how do you take it):
P: Coffee with lots of crème.
S: Coffee with milk and sugar.
Playlist:
P: Late 70’s and early 80’s
S: Classic Rock.
Weekend Activity:
P: Taking a walk, cooking at home, enjoying my afternoon with kids, husband and dog.
S: Movie nights with my husband, three girls, and our dog Teddy.
Design Book:
P: “Billy Baldwin Decorates” published in 1972. “Classic in foundation, Modern in Spirit.”
S: Jeffrey Bilhuber’s “The Way Home.”
