about

hello!

I'm Meg: a born-and-raised upstate New Yorker who fell in love with Philadelphia by way of her college sweetheart. After graduating from Syracuse University with a BFA in Environmental & Interior Design with a concentration in Print Media & Graphic Arts, I moved to NYC to kickstart my design career. I quickly discovered a passion for fast-paced problem solving, mentorship, and large-scale programming + space planning. My design background covers a wide variety of projects, from multi-family amenity design, to boutique hospitality, commercial office design, residential, and large-scale public activations.

I have 13+ years of professional experience in the design field and thrive off of honing & learning new skills, mentoring others, and making the world a slightly better place, one thoughtful design at a time. In my free time, you can find me either hiking deep in the woods with my two dogs, or happily entangled in a fiber art project.

E X P E R I E N C E

GROUNDSWELL DESIGN GROUP (2024 - PRESENT)

Lead Interior Designer & Project Manager; Urban Designer

• Hired in 2024 as a Designer, Project Manager & Procurement Specialist, flexing between the Interior Design and Public Space studios. Promoted to Lead Interior Designer in 2025 while continuing to support the Public Space studio in procurement, budgeting, and design.

• Lead interior designer and project manager roles for hospitality projects included: space planning cafes and restaurants alongside owners, architects, lighting designers, and kitchen designers; developing conceptual design packages, 3D modeling, and renderings; design development through material palettes, custom millwork, and furniture selections; drafting furniture and finish floor plans, elevations, material and fixture schedules, and millwork details for inclusion in construction documentation; creation of FF&E budget, procurement execution, order tracking, and warehousing/delivery coordination; and on-site installation, accessorizing, and staging.

• Urban Designer roles and responsibilities included: leading concept design, site planning, and FF&E selection for seasonal and permanent public space activations, events, and installations; managing purchasing, order tracking, and warehousing/delivery coordination; creating and managing public space project budgets ranging from $250K to $1.2M, inclusive of installation labor, permitting, custom fabrication, procurement, and event staffing; coordinating site installation partners and schedules; and on-site staging support.

• Authored proposals and project narratives for prospective hospitality and public realm projects, translating scope of services and design vision into clear, client-facing packages to generate new business.

WOODINWORK (2021-PRESENT)

Freelance Interior & Graphic Designer

• Interior Designer for Cleo Bagels, a boutique bagel shop in West Philly. Worked with client to select all interior and exterior materials, millwork design, color palette, lighting design, and backyard patio layout; facilitated communication with general contractor; mediator between sub-contractors and client.

• Delivering ongoing residential design and corresponding budget for a Mt. Airy (Philadelphia) home, mindfully curating furnishings, lighting, and accessories across interior and exterior spaces of a historic Queen Anne.

• Graphic design and concept collaboration for multiple international architecture competitions; consultant and designer of portfolios, resumes, and logos/branding for artists' websites.

EILEEN TOGNINI DESIGN (2016 - 2024)

Senior Designer & Project Manager

• Sole employee of a boutique design firm for 5 years, and manager/mentor for additional hire of an FF&E specialist for 2 years. Helped build business from the ground up from its founding in 2016; created company operations, systems & standards.

• Lead Designer and Project Manager through all phases of multi-family, commercial, hospitality, and residential projects; from project acquisition through programming & schematics, design development, construction administration, detailing custom millwork, subcontractor coordination, photorealistic renderings, creating & managing project schedules and budgets, punchlist walkthroughs, and staging for final photography. Workload consists of managing 4-7 simultaneous projects in various phases.

• Managing and overseeing budget estimation & execution from start to finish of a project, inclusive of budget proposal, FF&E selections, procurement, and warehousing/delivery coordination.

• Project experience encompasses a cumulative square footage of over 1.4 million with managing FF&E budgets of an average of 600K per project and designs ranging from demo kitchens, offices, coworking/remote work environments, lounges, roofdecks, and fitness centers.

• Graphic designer of all company-related branding, designing and building website/social content.

TPG ARCHITECTURE (2013-2016)

Associate Designer

• Began as an Intern in June 2013 and became a full-time hire in August 2013. Quickly became a Project Designer for large corporate office projects with a focus on advertising agencies. Responsibilities included: space planning & test fits; design development presentations; client interfacing; consultant coordination; selection and specification of furniture and finishes; construction documents; and construction administration for up to 4 large simultaneous projects.

• Designed office graphic and CAD standards and acted as the office standards implementation tutor for Illustrator & CAD. Authored “how-to” instruction manuals for the implementation of new office standards.

TPG ARCHITECTURE'S INTERN MENTORSHIP PROGRAM (2014 - 2016)

Program Co-Founder & Guest Lecturer

• Co-founded and led the Intern Mentorship Program for co-op and part-time interns. Responsibilities included recruitment, hiring, designing weekly guest lecture curriculum, and lecturing on beginner & advanced rendering techniques.

TEACHING ASSISTANT, SYRACUSE UNIVERSITY (2011 - 2012)

• Tutor for basic skills and advanced rendering techniques for interior design sophomores. Rendering techniques included pencil & marker sketching for rapid visualization, Sketchup, and Adobe Creative Suite.

EXHIBITION DESIGN ASSISTANT, SKYBOX AT 2424 STUDIOS (2012)

• Collaborated with Philadelphia-based curator Eileen Tognini to launch a massive-scale interactive and technological solo artist exhibition, Symphony in D Minor by Chris Klapper and Patrick Gallagher, that took place in October 2012.

• Designed print advertisements featured in POST magazine, email blasts, exhibition invitations, and wayfinding graphics.

E D U C A T I O N

SYRACUSE UNIVERSITY CLASS OF 2013

BFA in Environmental & Interior Design & Concentration in Print Media & Graphic Arts

Graduated Magna Cum Laude from a CIDA-accredited program.

A C C R E D I T A T I O N S

• LEED® Green Associate

• WELL AP

S K I L L S & E X P E R T I S E

AutoCAD; Google Suite; MS Office; Sketchup; VRAY; Enscape; Adobe InDesign; Adobe Photoshop; Adobe Illustrator; Bluebeam Revu

Verbal & Visual Communication; Rapid Visualization & Rendering Construction & Detail drawing; New business acquisition; Mentoring & training; Space Planning; Design Development; Construction Admin; Budget Management; Photography staging; Website design; Branding & Marketing

A W A R D S

Jesse Bone & F. Montague Charman Founders Award, Syracuse University, May 2013

Awarded based upon outstanding student design concepts

Chancellor's Award for Public Engagement & Scholarship, Syracuse University, April 2012

Awarded to the group of Design & Library Studies students and professors that collaborated to design and install three Little Free Libraries that repurposed unused phone booths on the Near Westside neighborhood of Syracuse, N.Y.

V O L U N T E E R

HETRICK-MARTIN INSTITUTE (2014-2015)

Volunteer graphic designer on an as-needed basis for print and web-based materials.

CONNECTED IN MOTION (2023)

Participant in the 2023 Adventure Trek, which is a hand-selected team of adults with Type 1 Diabetes who are passionate about community & increasing access to life-changing outdoor education for people living with T1D. Each team member raised $4,500CAD to help subsidize educational programs run by the Canadian non-profit Connected in Motion. The team then hiked the Teton Crest Trail in Grand Teton National Park, backpacking 53 miles over 5 days.