When Erin started her career as a service and interaction designer more than a decade ago, she didn't foresee entrepreneurship in the cards. She had followed up her BS in Journalism at Ohio University with a Master of Design at Carnegie Mellon University and was focused on building a career as a designer who understood business, but didn't run one. Yet after years of blue chip consulting in New York and a bold decision to move to Turkey (for love no less!), Erin found herself in the perfect position to start a design studio...in Istanbul. FourByNorth was born and Erin witnessed firsthand the power that a company centered around design can have, for team members, for clients, for customers. It was then that she decided to bring this same philosophy to an industry in dire need of fresh thinking: rugs.
Not only do rugs themselves embody issues close to Erin's heart — stellar design and craftsmanship, economic opportunities for women, rich historical and cultural influences — but finding and producing the cream of the crop requires one of her favorite past times: travel. Her work may take her far from her native Akron, Ohio, but she feels right at home working between Los Angeles (Floorplan's HQ), Istanbul, New York, and a handful of weaving centers across the globe.