Despite her early love of building elaborate structures with Legos and her practice of drawing maps, buildings and designs on any available scrap of paper Valerie went off to the University of Georgia as a pre-med student. In her second year all that changed after working with the counseling and testing at the university and finding out that her top suggestions for a profession were more in the creative vein – architecture, interior design, or landscape architecture. Since UGA did not have a school of architecture she switched her major to commercial Interior design. Since receiving her degree, she has worked locally in that profession for close to four decades. Her design career started with board drafting using a pin bar and has evolved over the years using the new technologies as they have appeared.

During her career she has worked on a wide range of project types both locally in and in the southeast. Hospitality and healthcare have been her main project type focus. The size of the projects that she has worked varies widely in scale from an x-ray room to a full-service design on a multistory hotel including all furnishing, fixtures, and equipment. She looks at each project as a puzzle to be solved and prides herself with creating spaces that are both pleasing and functional.