Meet Renata Burns, chief designer and founder of fashion and interior design company, Renata Philippe.

How do you write a love post about a friend?

That is my task this week with the first installment of our interview series.

What has persisted over the years, from our days at Greensboro Elementary to the University of Delaware and beyond, is that Renata is one of the most creative and quirky people I know and that’s what I love about her. I can always count on her for out-of-the-box ideas or off-the-cuff remarks and she is definitely a “ride or die” chick. Renata is also kind and generous and I was known to sleep on her couch regularly when she lived in Philly.

I am proud to call her my friend and present a piece of her story to you. I say a piece because I could not include everything she discussed in this interview and her story is still being written as we speak.

I hope her tenacity inspires you.

Some quick fun facts about Renata:

• She's an army brat, but for the last 20+ years, we've claimed her as a native of the Eastern Shore of Maryland.
• Received her B.S. in Apparel Design from the University of Delaware and M.S. in Marketing from Wilmington University.
• Studied abroad in Paris, France and Barcelona, Spain. She also traveled extensively during her military career.
• Self-proclaimed geek, cornball, and observer.
• Recently got married, hence the Philippe (congrats Renata!).
• Her design aesthetic references Swedish and African influences.

I also pulled some inspirational nuggets and tips from Renata's interview for your reading pleasure.

• It's possible to fall in and out of love with your dream, but in the end, you always return to the source of it.
• The key to maintaining good relationships is communication. Also, the key to making sure other people's dreams and goals don't come before yours is, you guessed it, communication. Communicate your dreams and goals to the important people in your life.
• Desire healthy competition. Interact with those who encourage you and push you to do better.
• When you live your dream, you inspire others to do the same.
• The key to leading a good life is having a clear vision and goal you want to conquer. (Read The Minimalist Guide to Setting SMART Goals)
• A parting thought and quote, "Feed the seed that is you".

Renata is a wise woman and I'm honored to call her my friend.

Connect with Renata Burns

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Comment below with your take-away from Renata's interview.

Check out more interviews.