Everick & Lisa: Love By Design

MUSA Tell us about your upbringing. What was that like?

Lisa Go Everick.

Everick We were both raised on the west side of L.A. I always describe our upbringing as we were raised inside the industry but I always felt outside of the industry. Because my mother had a jewelry store most of my life but she catered to the industry. Where as Lisa was actually in the industry. Her mom was a model, they hung out with everybody. All of our friends were people like Lou Rawls Jr., David Higgins. So these are actors and musicians and even sports people. Kim Davis and Sandy Ford were daughters of baseball players. These were our closest friends and we were in and out of their homes. So basically we grew up in Hollywood.

MUSA So you guys grew up together?

LISA We did. Went to elementary, junior high and high school together. We had separate lives socially, at home. My experience growing up was similar but different. We had the same neighborhood in common. So our upbringing was very similar as we were in a very diverse community. Our friends were very diverse, our parent’s friends were diverse. Even to this day we have a lot of the same close friends in common going all the way back to elementary school.

MUSA You both have had successful careers prior to interior design. What was that like?

LISA I worked in corporate America for 26 years. I sold real estate. I did marketing. I enjoyed real estate, I didn’t love corporate America at all. So I didn’t really find my passion in it. I found it very stifling. So I think for me being able to join Everick Interior design just opened up my world. It changed my trajectory.

EVERICK So I spent 16 years in corporate America. I was in retail/ merchandising. So I worked with the likes of Macy’s, J.Crew, Coach, DFS. My last job in corporate America was GMM, men’s merchandising for J.Crew. So when I was inspired to start my own business, meaning I got let go from J.Crew. Because back in the day, the senior executive teams were on a cycle. Where you got a year or two before you got let go. Most people would of thought I would of gone into my own business as fashion merchant. But I chose home for a lot of reasons. One it was my passion. Two it was a business I thought had indicators that were easy to read. Like the home industry and the housing industry. That coupled with my passion for architecture, interiors, textiles and colors culminated into a business I formed called EBD Home. I had a store in Westchester. Then opened my second location in South Norwalk, Connecticut.

MUSA You have a blended family. You were both previously married. Lisa you have a son and Everick you have two children. How did you two come together and find each other?

LISA I was living in Los Angeles, he was living in New York. And he attended a High School reunion. I called my best girlfriend to see what she was doing that night. She said she was going to the reunion and even though they’re a year ahead of me I was close with all of them and decided I would crash. And that’s where we reunited. I called my sister that night and told her I met him. I don’t know how I’m going to work it out but I met him. And we had a 15 year bicoastal relationship until I finally moved to New York.

MUSA He said. She said. Come on Everick.

EVERICK The part that’s often left out is that when we first started talking to each other we were counseling each other on our relationships. I would be asking her what was the female perspective on this. My ex would say something and I was wondering how should I respond. Lisa would interpret and say, “What she really means is this.” Then she would say the same thing to me about her ex. So it really started off as this relationship where we were engaging and counseling each other. Then one night I had. Lisa was like I also had a dream last night.

LISA We both had dreams around the same time of night. We both had this really clear dream about each other.

EVERICK Mind you we hadn’t seen each other in six months. We were talking by phone. It’s not like we were meeting up. Friends that reconnected.

MUSA So here we are. You have Everick Brown Design. Modern classic with a global perspective. Tell us about your company.

EVERICK A lot of people overlook that design is about solving problems. Coming up with solutions right? And the thing that people really overlook it’s about relationships. It’s about working with people and making people happy. So when you look at the firm Everick Brown Design and you look at Lisa as our Operating Officer. She’s focused on logistics, business and bringing on the deals. I’m focused on the creative. We’re a match made in Heaven. You’re getting the best of both worlds. You’re getting a very creative situation with a strong foundation of logistics because of what Lisa brings to the table. More importantly you get the relationship part of it. Which a lot of people can’t offer because you don’t have a team. In this case often I don’t have to be involved even though I am. We both love people. I would put the people part of what we do as a design firm at fifty percent of what we are.

MUSA So tell us what was the most exciting project and also one that was the most challenging?

LISA Exciting and challenging are very different ( laughs) They’re all challenging in different ways. I think what makes them more challenging in ways that make you want to pull your hair out are clients that really don’t want our advice. ( laughs) It’s fine because our objective is always to elevate the clients vision. It is not project our vision on them or our design style on them. We can work with anybody. Classical, traditional, extremely contemporary or modern. We just want to help you express it. We are all about understanding your language and helping you deliver on your vision. In a more pulled together way. In a more elevated style. When clients are stuck in their way and not at all open it can make it very challenging. If they give us their mood board and their idea of what they like and they let Everick run with it. It will come out perfectly. They will be happy. I’ve seen it over and over again. We’ve been doing this for 20 years. He knows when it’s wrong. And I know when it’s wrong. If he is allowed the freedom to execute he really will deliver the perfect space. Everick can talk about what’s exciting. We have a lot of exciting projects.

EVERICK And the projects vary. We do projects where you’re breaking ground and building a whole new structure. Which is probably the most exciting because you get to help create a concept from nothing into everything. To where we’re just renovating a space that’s a one bedroom. When you talk about design style I think of it like it’s a language. Whether it’s classical, traditional, updated or modern. If you break that up into Italian, Spanish, English. We’re fluid in all of those design categories it makes it really easy for us to relate to most people. I like to describe us as multilingual it just makes us different from other people who only speak one language. We like to combine different looks. One of my favorite inspirations or mentors Jim Grissom, we happen to share the same birthday. He’s passed on but he used to say, “Every good thing or nice thing goes with every other good thing or nice thing.” Which means that you can mix modern with classic with updated. That’s what I subscribe to. I also like to mix and match refined with unrefined. Or expensive with inexpensive. Old and new. The reason is you begin to create dimension within a space. So another way I like to look at that is creating music synthesizing notes. So if you’re looking at space whether it’s color, texture and or the space itself if all the notes are a high note. Meaning everything is expensive it flatlines. It doesn’t make music. To make music you have a high note, a low note, a double beat, a crescendo and a release. Now you’re synthesizing notes to create music. And that’s the way we approach design.

MUSA Your story is not just about design. It’s actually a love story. What ingredients go into a successful partnership?

LISA Being the right person and finding the right person. Always being kind to each other and thoughtful. And knowing you’re in it for the long haul. Even if you’re going to have arguments and disagreements which you are. Just looking at that from the perspective you’re in in for the long haul. And this to shall pass. Respect each other’s differences and have adult conversations. That make a big difference. Always be able to laugh at yourself and laugh at each other. Everick is always nice to me. Almost 100 percent of the time he’s nice to me. So I can only respond with doing my best to be as close to being as nice to him as he is to me. Which I don’t achieve as frequently as he does. He’s just a super nice person and that makes a difference. During the pandemic we’ve been able to really spend a lot of time together. It’s always about loving each other first.

EVERICK My take on that is it’s a competition. Generally you think in a relationship competition is bad. But in this case I think when competition is to please the other person. And to see who can out do the other is where you reach the highest elation. So if every morning I wake up and I want to please Lisa. She tries to out do me. She wakes up and wants to out do me then you find yourself in a situation where you’re not only trying to make each other happy but it’s one where there’s respect. So I always say respect keeps peace in the world. So if you can subscribe to respect in your relationship you’ll have a lot of peace. But the thing I think that really motivates us is this. I know that someone has my back. No matter what I do. And I’m not easy to relinquish anything when it comes to me. But I know when Lisa is doing something for me she has my back whether it’s design, personal, children, financial. She’s got me.