The Market Makers

What if the secret to building a successful design firm wasn't choosing between creative and strategic—but refusing to choose at all?

Rasheeda Gray is the founder of Gray Space Interiors, and her superpower is operating with both hemispheres of her brain at full capacity. She spent 15 years in marketing for insurance and financial services, rising to Assistant VP at Chubb Insurance. When she launched her design firm, she didn't quit her day job—she worked three jobs simultaneously for three and a half years: corporate 9-5, mom and wife from 5-9, and building Gray Space from 9 PM to 2 AM.

Rasheeda shares how she turned a stuffed animal into a designer book bag at 12, why she suppressed her creative side early on because "you can't make a living being creative," and how her corporate background became her competitive advantage. She talks about her detailed questionnaire that converts emotions into design choices and how her husband became a licensed general contractor during COVID so she could stop relying on unreliable contractors.

She explains how a DM to designer Cheryl Luckett and her first High Point Market in 2017 shifted her entire business model toward profitability, and wraps with her vision for the next decade: product licensing, television, and evolving Gray Space into a brand, not just a design firm.

Follow The Market Makers wherever you get your podcasts for more stories of transformation from the people shaping how we live, work, and gather.

What is The Market Makers?

Every creative professional knows the power of a before and after. It’s a classic transformation arc - whether it’s a renovation, glow up, or an old-fashioned make over. But reinvention doesn’t just apply to products or spaces. It also holds true for our lives and our careers. The sketch on the napkin that becomes a collection. The risk that changes everything. The work that turns a brand into a lasting presence.

The Market Makers is a weekly podcast from ANDMORE, home to markets that have been the stage for so many of these transformations. Hosted by CEO, Jon Pertchik, each episode pulls back the curtain on the lives of creative professionals across design, furniture, home, lifestyle and beyond.

From industry icons like Thom Filicia to leaders at heritage brands like Bassett Furniture, guests share the moments that shaped them, not just the before and after, but the process in between.

Whether it’s finding your aesthetic, carving out a niche, scaling a business, or turning a side hustle into a lasting brand, The Market Makers goes beyond the showrooms and into the creative lives of the people shaping how we live, work, and gather.

Follow The Market Makers wherever you get your podcasts for new episodes every week.