Halina-Mastering Scale, Subconscious Detail, and Client Guidance in Luxury Residential Design

In this episode of the AEC Women on Top podcast, host Lauren Homme sits down with Halina Mark, the Lead Designer for Refined Design—the specialized, in-house interior design studio at DJK Custom Homes. Drawing from her unique professional trajectory and structural eye for residential environments, Halina pulls back the curtain on the complex operational orchestration required to build and execute high-end custom homes. The conversation targets a critical tension within the Architecture, Engineering, and Construction (AEC) industries: the delicate balance between a homeowner's idealized digital vision and the harsh technical, financial, and spatial realities of construction execution.

Halina discusses the strategic evolution of Refined Design Studio, which was developed over three years ago to serve as a vital protective layer and consultative roadmap for luxury residential clients. Moving past surface-level aesthetics, she explains how a dedicated professional design resource protects clients from the costly, cascading errors that often arise during multi-phased custom builds. The episode breaks down why custom residential architecture cannot simply be handled independently by a layperson, drawing a clever structural parallel to leaving a vehicle at a mechanic shop, establishing design as an empirical, technically disciplined field rather than a casual hobby.

Listeners will gain tactical business insights into how Halina and her team navigate the widespread cultural phenomenon of the "Pinterest Fail." Halina dissects how subconscious structural components—specifically spatial scale, color undertones, material transitions, and microscopic detailing—dictate how a human being experiences a physical space. By prioritizing proactive alignment and seamless structural collaboration with DJK's construction crews, Halina provides a masterclass on how women leaders in AEC are leveraging empathy, analytical precision, and deep system guidelines to redefine client trust, drive financial efficiency, and protect both the creative vision and the bottom line of major capital developments.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:01

Welcome to AEC Women on Top, the podcast celebrating women and shaping the future of the built environment. I'm your host, Lauren Homie, a marketing and business development strategist with over 15 years of national experience. Along the way, I've met some powerhouse women. And each episode, I'll sit down with them to explore their career journey, the support they wish they had, and some of the tough lessons they learned. Whether you're just starting out or already leading the charge, these stories are meant to inspire. Today we have Helena Mark. Helena, thank you so much for joining us. I would love to get an introduction where you can tell us a little bit about who you are and what you do.

SPEAKER_01 0:43

Thank you so much, first off, for having me. It's so exciting to be talking with you and um just having this conversation. My name is Helena, and I currently work at DJK Custom Homes, which is a new construction home builder, but I'm the lead designer for the in-house design studio for DJK called Refined Design Studio. So Refined Design was recently developed three plus years ago to help our clients who come in and build these luxury homes help them do the design. I mean, it's really, really complicated for some people who obviously don't do this every day. So they need someone to help them through that process of one, just the selections, but two, we're taking a step further. I feel like anyone who's building a new construction home really needs to have a professional who does this every day in their back pocket. I always kind of revert back to the Pinterest fail, right? You kind of see this picture on Pinterest and you know what you like, but at the same time, when you go to do it yourself, it's just like, man, that didn't look anything like what that Pinterest image looked like. And so we are here to really make sure that we know the reasons why it doesn't end up looking like that. And a lot of times it's scale, it's the wrong color tones, it's you know, it's making sure that you're really being um conscious of all of those details that you don't think make up the picture, but they really do. Like subconsciously, they're all like pulled together, all these beautiful details. And that's what makes that feeling that you get when you see a picture. And so we're there to be really cognizant of all those details and make them, you know, come to life. And so it's it's like the same, same thing if you were going to any other industry, right? Like you don't go into a mechanic shop and bring your car in and then just say, Nah, you know what, I I I got this actually, after just being there for a couple hours. Like you need someone who's actually knows what they're doing and doing that for you.

SPEAKER_00 2:56

I am a DIYer, but there's a lot of things I won't DIY, like my car. So one of the things I want to talk about is how you got to where you are because you haven't always worked in this industry, but you've always had a design eye.

SPEAKER_01 3:07

Yeah, it is funny because I didn't go to school for it right off the bat. I went to school to do uh marketing. So I got my marketing and management degree at DePaul. It wasn't my passion, right? I knew that from the start. And I think that's why when you look at my LinkedIn profile, if you were to take a look at it, I have a two and a half year departure on every job I've had in the marketing, you know, profession. Now, that's not really that short in that in that field. I feel like a lot of people jump around that quick, but it also was a reflection of the fact that it just wasn't what I was passionate about. And so anyway, I went back to school after my first job. I went back to school and I thought I'm gonna go get my real estate license and I'm going to get my design degree. And I just thought those two things went hand in hand. And so I went and did both of those on the side, of course, while I'm working with my marketing job. And I was at my marketing job for quite a while. It was it was very difficult to walk away from because at that point, you know, you had already started a career and and you were building up and you were getting um, you know, higher up in the chain there. So it was hard for me to step away from. But ultimately, I decided to step away from it um when I had kids and I started my own design business, which was kind of short-lived, to be honest. I think that the fear of being on my own for the first time got to me. I was a little scared about that because, of course, coming from a consistent, you know, weekly paycheck, it seems a little bit uh daunting. The way I actually got to this particular job, so I did do the design on my own, but the way I got to this particular job is I walked into what is the cavalcade of homes. And the cavalcade of homes is a bunch of tours for home builders in the area. And I always loved walking into homes, getting inspired, seeing what they have to offer. And when I walked into DJK, I was just really pretty um taken back by their design, especially in comparison to all the builders that I walked to previously. I struck up a conversation, really kind of applauded the team for what they had put together. And one of the salespeople at that time was that said to me, Hey, do you ever consider working with the builder? And and really, actually, that was one of my things that was on my list of goals. And uh, and from there on out, that's kind of transpired to this whole thing, and it's great. You know, it's it's become you know a great thing for DJK and for me. And we're opening up our own standalone shop now in Naperville. So it's it's pretty cool, but it's it hasn't always been design. So that's how it's kind of transpired. A long story, but here I am.

SPEAKER_00 5:59

You know, when we first met, you were still working downtown in a high-rise and wearing a suit and doing the whole corporate thing, right? What makes some of that hard to walk away from isn't just the paycheck, it's what the paycheck provides, right? What do you think helps you do that? Like, what was it? Did you have like a support system? Did you have some mentor that helps you with these are the 10 steps you need to take? Like, how to talk to me about that transition.

SPEAKER_01 6:28

Well, as far as having a mentor, I mean, everyone does need a mentor. I don't care what position you're in. You need someone to look up to in a professional way, in a personal way. And you know, you might not just have one mentor, it could be just coming from other people. So I think that, yeah, the people that were around me were very supportive in that. And they they kind of knew my background and you know, just those like little cheer, cheerleaders in your ear of like, oh, you could totally do this, Alina. You know, you could do this. And yeah, I I think it was just again having the right people around you, people who are better than you. You always want to sort of surround yourself with people who are better than you. Uh, you always want to aspire to to greatness, right? Like, and and you learn greatness from other people anyway. So I just think that like having that support system was really important. And then ultimately it's just like kind of believing in yourself too, right? It's just like, nah, you know what? What what are we doing, right? If you're not happy in a job, you need to pivot. You need to pivot. There's no reason for you to just struggle every day. You have such a short life. Like, what's the point? So I just made the leap.

SPEAKER_00 7:40

Can you tell me what problem you solve?

SPEAKER_01 7:44

Yeah, I I solve the problem I feel of anxiety. I feel like that is a very common thing uh to have and to get to when you're building a house with all of the elements that are that are coming at you. And uh, I know it kind of sounds silly, right? But really that's what I'm here to help alleviate is that anxiety during a build because I do have the background and knowledge to guide you through that. I have been doing this with many, many, many houses. And so I uh, you know, I'm there to break it down to a more palatable, digestible, you know, kind of grouping so that you're not walking into, oh my God, I'm building a new house and I gotta do countertops, I gotta do appliances, I gotta do the roof, I gotta pick up the exterior. What a floor and I would hold on, right? Like, and that's where we are there to really help break down the process and knowing what needs to come first, mostly also from a construction standpoint, because we need those materials to keep with the construction schedule, but I'm there to also kind of kind of bring you at ease, knowing that you have someone that's going to be checking and you're not going to be making wild errors, and that I'm there to give you the what-if scenarios, uh, never to really try to upsell you. Like I really don't care what people put in their houses, but I always do bring up many, many what might be perceived as upgrades simply because you don't want to build the most expensive purchase of your of your life and then be like, God, I wish I did that. I wish someone told me that that was an option. And so I'm always bringing people options and I'm always walking them through the process and uh giving them guidance. But also just, you know, that's just more so on the selection side, but really on the design side, I'm like really, I feel like I'm I'm I'm helping them live like a fantastic life, really, because at the same time, think about how much time you spend in your house, right? And it is so important to feel just great inside your space. It changes your mood when you walk into a space and it's all clean and it's just designed right, and you're like, oh my gosh, I live here. And so so I'm really there to kind of also help your day-to-day life and making sure that that design fits exactly what you need.

SPEAKER_00 10:22

Uh so I got into this industry because of the impact that the built environment has on your psychology. Yeah, if you don't like your space, your performance is going to be low. You are helping people have a better quality of life.

SPEAKER_01 10:38

Yeah, I think so. It's it's it's much deeper than just me picking a countertop. Like that's such a surface level statement, right? So it's that's why I say I kind of bring it down back to the emotional sense of like, no, I'm helping you reduce your anxiety and I'm helping you improve your life after you're moved in. If if your if your space is just riddled with just problems, you you can't relax. You sit down and you just zone in on those those problems and overanalyze, like, oh my gosh, when am I gonna get to that corner of the house or that room? And so it really does design is so important on the day-to-day.

SPEAKER_00 11:16

Well, and like being able to find things, yeah. I feel like if everything doesn't have a place, then you can't put it away appropriately, and then you can't find it, right?

SPEAKER_01 11:26

For sure. I mean, and like how good does it feel after you clean your house, right? I mean, it's everything is in its place, and but if you had it where your design called for a specific location that each thing was meant to go in, it would be so much easier to clean because now you're just not, you know, you're not just shoving stuff in a drawer. You're like, no, no, this is this has a home. This I designed this so that this goes to there. And so it actually ends up making it much easier to clean, too, and keep it clean because everything does have a home and a space. It just feels so good when everything is, you know, put away and looking the way you want it, and and you're like, oh, now I can relax, you know.

SPEAKER_00 12:14

Do you have like um a process or like a philosophy or principle or something that you love to apply to your designs? Um, a philosophy.

SPEAKER_01 12:26

Um well, I I do think, and and this isn't a new one, but I do think that there's gotta be an inspiration driven for each room from something that is really strong and always present. I don't really care what it is. It could, you know, it could it could be just the shade of shade of a color of something, or it could be an object, or it could be a texture. It's gotta be some some kind of jumping off point for a room is important. Um, and then I just think that really putting yourself in the situation of living in that room and understanding that and talking about that out loud is really important for me to understand how to design a space for you. And um, so that that I think is always critical is just okay, we're we're a year from now, you're sitting in your chair. What are you doing in this space? Um, or you know, talking about the present. Okay, you're sitting in your office. What is messy? What is super annoying that is out and creating a problem, like a printer or something, right? You know, I always like to hide printers or make sure wires aren't getting draped over over tables, you know. So I'm always trying to be really mindful of how do you live. So that that's kind of like my my philosophy, I guess, is just be mindful of how do you live and how and maybe more importantly, how do you want to live, right? Because just because how you live right now, especially in a new construction setting, this is a wonderful opportunity for you to fix a bunch of problems that are currently existing at your house. So it's it's also important to understand, okay, what are the problems you're having at your house right now?

SPEAKER_00 14:21

So I know in like corporate workspace, we talk a lot about future proofing. How do you future proof a house?

SPEAKER_01 14:32

Oh man, that's a tricky question, especially because of the fact that trends come and go so quickly, I feel. To to future proof your house is tricky. But you know, of course, everyone um strives for that. Oh, gotta make it a timeless look, right? Sometimes I feel like sticking with neutrals is kind of the key there, right? And not really committing, I guess, to uh to a certain style too hard, knowing that you might be switching out that piece and then not having to really invest a ton to change the rest of it, right? And so I do think like sticking with a new a pretty neutral um palette is is going to be key for you to be able to switch in later on in the future. Um and also just be kind of mindful of the things that you do invest in, right? We don't always have to be spending a ton of money on every single piece, knowing where to be mindful of how much money you spend on each piece is going to be critical, right? I guess to summarize, stick with neutrals for the primary big scope that costs a lot of money to change, and then just be mindful of how much money you do invest because I don't I don't know that anything's really foolproof. And even if it is timeless, Lauren, I feel like your mind isn't isn't foolproof. Meaning my design is is real is fine right now, but I'm sick of it, right? Like I'm personally sick of it. So it's like it might still be fine for right now, but mentally, it's just not fine for me because I've been looking at it every day. And so it's like, I just don't know that we need to take design that seriously to make it last for 30 years. And you know, it's like nah we we can we can redesign this in five years or 10 years, it's fine, you know, it's it's it's okay to do, but um just again be mindful of like the big ticket items, right? And keeping that pretty neutral.

SPEAKER_00 16:36

Well, if you have time to answer one more question, I'd love to hear what you would tell your younger self.

SPEAKER_01 16:42

You don't have to fit into a mold. I want, you know, I would want to take more risk when I was younger. I would want to not feel an obligation to follow what we think we need to be doing after college or thing. I I think that uh I would just tell myself to take more risks. I would have told myself to take more risks. I would have told myself to to just do it because at that age, there's something about when you get older and and you're now either accustomed to a certain lifestyle or you are expected to be at a certain lifestyle because you're at a certain age, then it it then it's a little trickier to take those risks because then you're like, oh man, what if I lose everything? And you know, I'm just I'm I'm used to to to driving in a nice car right now. Like so, so but when you're younger, right, you don't kind of have that taste yet, right? Like you don't have that, like you're you're you know, it's expected that you're gonna have ramen noodles. You're it's expected that you're gonna live in a crappy apartment, right? And it's like that's fine because that's that's that expectation, and that's the perfect time to take risk. And then, man, could you really reap those rewards of those risk taking in your early years later down the road? Don't feel this obligation to fit into a nine to five job, have a more entrepreneurial spirit, and and get into something early on and build something.

SPEAKER_00 18:23

Thanks for listening. Until next time, go shine your light. I know.

SPEAKER_01 22:47

I think you should do that. I don't think it's like, you know, you don't have to be cheesy about it and be like, oh, I've got to set goals. No, but you really probably should because time goes by super fast, right? And you're just like, oh my God. I I thought I was going to be somewhere else at this point. And that's where people start getting depressed and you know, not really being happy with themselves, is because they're not mindful of the goals and putting timelines on where when they want to hit those goals. Um