Renowned interior design couple Syd and Shea McGee – better known as Studio McGee from Netflix’s Dream Home Makeover – risked losing it all to pursue their dreams.
The Utah based entrepreneurs graced the cover of People magazine where they spoke about their rocky road to success – which involved quitting their respective jobs and using up their savings – in order to pursue their now booming design business.
‘There wasn’t a backup plan,’ said Shea.
Risking it all: Dream Home Makeover’s Shea and Syd McGee grace the cover of People where they talk about risking it all to pursue their careers in interior design
At the time she was pregnant with their now seven-year-old daughter Wren.
Shea left her PR job after taking night classes in interior design, launching the first business from their temporary home in Southern California.
Shortly thereafter Syd, 36, was growing disgruntled with his tech job and decided to quit, forcing Shea to support the pair on her then lowly design income, as she revealed ‘we were stretching everything.’
Shea handled clients and Syd tried to manage the business side, but even their frugal efforts to curtail spending (no cable, no gym memberships, no eating out) were not enough to keep money in the bank.
‘We were selling things to make ends meet. It just progressed to anything and everything that wasn’t a necessity had to go,’ she shared.
High risk: The pair quit their jobs in PR and tech respectively – all while Shea was pregnant – while trying to get their business off the ground as Shea said ‘It was a hard time. There were a lot of tears’; September 2020
Life change: At their breaking point and nearly burning through all their savings, the pair made the decision to leave California and move back to Utah where they launched their first business in 2014; November 2020
The high stress situation also put a strain on their marriage – despite being college sweethearts – and they nearly hit their breaking point, forcing them to decide if they were going to throw in the towel on their dreams.
‘Money problems can be enough to break two people, and throw a new baby into it.. it was a hard time. There were a lot of tears,’ Shea said.
The pair made a big life change and moved back to Utah – where they met and went to college – as Shea said, ‘We knew it was less expensive and we were already kind of at a place where there wasn’t a backup plan.’
Leasing their first Salt Lake City office in 2014 they pulled themselves up by the bootstraps, as Syd shared, ‘We worked 16- or 17-hour days…We didn’t say no to anything.’
Big payoff: Following their dreams eventually landed them a Netflix show, a collaboration with Target, a furniture line and over 140 employees; pictured 2018
Despite what seemed like an uphill battle, the pair felt invigorated by the life change: ‘It was wild, but we were just so excited to be going for something.’
They slowly started to solidify their brand and client roster, using their social media as a way to get exposure, which was instrumental in landing the now hit Netflix show after making their own content via YouTube.
Less than a decade after they started their journey, Studio McGee now has over 140 employees designing 17 homes cross country, a collaboration with Target and a furniture line, as Shea shares, ‘Never in my wildest dreams did I think we would be here now.
‘We hoped to provide for our family, have some clients, maybe sell some products. But to have people from all over the world reaching out to us and telling us that we’ve inspired them to pursue a new career, or a new path, or design their home, I mean, that’s incredible.’
They are now pregnant with their third child and are expecting in July.
Dream life: ‘Never in my wildest dreams did I think we would be here now,’ the pair revealed, and are currently thriving both family and career wise, expecting their third child in July