Deeply Rooted in Bailey Island Maine's Community, Brett Johnson Makes a Life in Interior Design

I have with me in the studio, Brett Johnson, who is a dear friend and also an interior designer and business owner. Thank you for coming today. Thanks for having me, Lisa, I'm so excited to hear about your business, because I know this is kind of the, the fruition of many, many years of thought and hard work and kind of creating and coming forth with a dream. Yeah, it is. It's, um, it's, it's really remarkable. Um, about two and a half years ago, um, I fell in love with a building in bath and really, um, the madic building and it was, it was moderately available. Um, and, um, got in touch with, uh, Sean Ireland, a developer, um, who was doing the, doing the project and, and, um, kind of sold him on the idea of main street design company coming to front street, um, and really having main street come back to main street, um, and the grand vision of the Portland design studio, um, and design center, um, being the mothership and the madic building and bath being the flagship for, for main street design company. So, and then opening the store in the middle of COVID was challenging to say the least. Um, and then also at the simultaneously, it, uh, became, uh, possible for me to buy handle it hardware in Portland. So, uh, I also, in addition to, to the other MSD co brands, um, branded, uh, MSD co hardware, uh, which is within the store in bath, and that's doing really, really well as, as well. So it's a lot of moving parts, but I've got a great team that, that helps me pull it all together. So you've actually, it's more than just the store. It's really the expansion of, I guess, the Johnson empire, Uh, let's call it the, an empire it's, kind of, I think it's, um, it's the culmination of the MSD co brand. Um, and, and, and really actually, um, being able to have, have a brand that's that's, um, that can live on beyond Brett Johnson. Um, and, and that's certainly, there's certainly a, a portion of the business still that's that's me. And certainly my design clients, um, seek me out for my abilities to communicate their dreams and wishes in their homes. Um, but really, but really it is, it is building a brand that, um, can live on beyond my, um, my ability to keep working as hard as I am. Well, I, I joke about the empire, of course, , I mean, I know that you've put so much time and effort into it yourself. Mm-hmm so it's simultaneously both you, but also you are empowering your team to work together to co-create Yeah. This Business. Absolutely. And that's been a, that's been a real, uh, learning, uh, lesson for me too in, in, um, in my own personal maturity is, um, is being able to let go enough, um, to it's I'm not a parent, but I think that, I think there's some similarities there where, where people who work for me, um, become people that work with me. And, um, and then some of those people at this point are working on their own within the, within the, uh, structure of main street design company. But they're really able to, to, to realize some of their own abilities and strengths at the same time. So it's kind of fun. So when you say parent, you mean the evolution of their skills and kind of starting from a, a place of learning to moving to a place of maturity? I think a lot of the people that a lot of the people on my team, um, look to me to mentor them. Um, I know, um, Darcy Foche, who's my number one. Um, she, she wanted to work with me forever and ever, and ever she was raising her boys, um, and, um, you know, being an amazing mom and amazing wife, but she really had a passion and a desire. And, and she, um, she found a way to, to come to work for me. And she was, she was green as they come, but so energetic. And so, um, so hungry for the desire. And now at this point, she teaches me things, um, cuz she still has that desire to learn and she's going, um, doing research and listening to podcasts and, and um, really bringing a lot of the, a lot of new, fresh ideas to, to the firm. So it's really, it's really cool. And other people too, in the, on the retail side, um, very similar, very similar situation. So you have several different elements to the work that you do in you, you have the retail side of things, but you are still actively engaged in design work. So you're out in the field quite a bit as Well. Oh yeah. My 90% of my, of my existence is, um, managing my design clients. Um, and um, in big projects and that, you know, that really is at the core of the business, the other stuff kind of supports it. Um, certainly feeds it and reinforces the brand. The retail is very on brand, um, which is challenging sometimes because retail retail is so customer driven in sort of small segments. So the, it really it's the challenge there is keeping the shop on brand, um, on a regular basis and not letting it stray too much into the kind of gift shop realm. Um, but we do a pretty good job with that. When you say on brand for people who aren't familiar with that, it's, it's a bit of a term of art. You mean things that fit within the vision that you would typically have for your design work? Right. I don't, I, I like to have things in the store that I would want my clients to have in their homes and things honestly that my clients want to have in their homes. It's part of the it's it's, it's those, it's those small, um, final layers of a project that really, um, make it more, um, more personal. Um, and so, um, that's, that's really the goal. That's really the goal and, um, it's not so much personal, um, like my personal taste. Um, but, but sort of going back to the, going back to that sort of brand that, um, part of the biggest part of the brand is the communication of design for other people's ideas. Um, and that's just kind of me being a conduit and I do the same thing when I buy for the store. So that seems like it would present an interesting challenge because you want things to reflect what other people want. And also you are trying to help them further their own vision. Mm-hmm and you're buying things in a little bit of a, an abstract you're you're furthering this vision that other people have for themselves, but also that you have for them mm-hmm it just seems like there's a lot of layers there, There are a lot of layers there and sometimes it's, sometimes it gets a little murky. Um, and like right now the shop is busting at the seams with merchandise. So how so? And in a relatively small space, how to, how to allow the merchandise, um, and, and the salespeople to sort of make a statement and tell a story and to have that, have that story be evident enough so that people want to make those items part of their story. Um, but I lean on, I lean on my heritage. Um, I'm very, um, very happy to have, um, some kitchy things , which, you know, especially in the summertime, um, lots of lobster things. Um, we also have like, if you need to sh an oyster we have, and we have like 20 different oyster knives and things like that. So it's, it's, it's really, that it's really, it's really good. We, we also have, we also have some really cool small main artists that we, that we represent in the store, um, that, that also help us tell the story. What is your story when you talk about your own heritage? I, I know that you, you went to Mount era mm-hmm high school mm-hmm I did. And the university of Southern Maine mm-hmm and you have a Bailey island connection so play that out, your family story. So my family's story is, is kind of interesting because it's, um, on my mother's side, my grandfather's French Canadian, um, um, to Burge, my grandfather worked in a paper mill, but he was also an entrepreneur. Um, they, my grandparents had a popcorn stand on main street in Brunswick. Um, and, but my grandfather also was a wallpaper hanger. And, um, so there, there was that, in fact, he lost an arm in the paper mill and, um, and, uh, we have a newspaper article that was inside his wallpaper table, which I now have my aunt gave it to me. Um, and there's a newspaper article about him. And he really was the one arm paper hanger , which was very kind of maybe a little morbid, but he was an amazing guy. So, and then on the other side, I come from a lobster fishing family. Um, but my, my Bailey island family and my Bailey island connection in the, in those generations that preceded me, the, um, the town of Hartsville didn't have a high school, um, like Mount era. So they tuitioned all of their kids to go to school elsewhere. So my grandfather and my great aunt, his sister were very well educated and, um, and worldly. So even though they, they settled on Bailey island, they brought a tremendous amount of, um, information back, which they, which I was, um, lucky enough to share growing up. Um, so I love books and literature and my great out, um, was a poet and had lots of artist friends and, um, and Bailey island really was kind of an artist community. My grandmother painted, I have some beautiful little paintings that she did that are, um, really lovely and cherished. So that's the, that's that kind of, I think that was the spark that, that, um, drew me back home to Maine and also, um, helps me, helps me to this day tell other people's stories that love, love Maine and the coast. How did the two sides of your family get together? Because they seem, I have a French Canadian side and then I have an Irish Catholic side and both main oriented, but back in the day, those two sides did not mesh. So I'm kind of wondering the same thing about your family, My French, my French Canadian family, um, moved to O island. And, um, and my mom is one of five children. She's the middle. And they bought a house on ours island. They built a motel. And then when my SIS, when my mother and her friends needed a summer job, my grandfather built a coffee shop in an ice cream stand and they ran it. And my father being a healthy young man, um, took a liking to my mother, actually. Um, several of the young ladies that worked in the coffee shop were, um, he was smitten with, uh, my mom ended up being that, and that's how the two families come together. kind of a, kind of a Grover's corners. small island community story. And so my, and our, and our families are very enmeshed actually at this point. So if you had made a different choice with another one of the young ladies, then you might not be here today. Well, that's interesting because both, both my parents were engaged apparently to other people from the island. And, and in both cases, we ha we are friends with their subsequent children and we're like, you could be my brother and then, or you could be my sister and oh, but none of us would be here if , it was a different, if it was a different pairing. And that's just how that worked out. Everybody picked who they picked and, and here we are, but that's, that also is, that's also part of the, of the kind of fun and, um, in the realization of just how tight knit a small community is. And, um, you know, now nowadays we have, I think people have a lot more options as far as who they end up with, but, um, but, but I'm, I'm glad that my parents got together and had three great kids. My, my siblings and I are very diverse from each other. My sister's a minister and my brother's a boat builder. Um, and, but we also, we also end up with the same core values that were created on the islands. One might think looking at the piece around your neck, that perhaps this is somehow related to this, this family background in Maine, however, it is not, you actually went on a grand adventure fairly recently. Tell me about that. I did I, um, a year, a year out from, um, a major transition in my life, um, where I unpartnered, um, I had always had a desire to travel and, um, and even though I've D done a little bit of it, I've, um, I've, I found a real need to, to travel. I ended up, um, with an opportunity to go to Denmark, to Copenhagen, to see a, a friend, um, who, um, Anna who lives here in Maine and her family, she's from Denmark. And she's going to Denmark to, um, be with her family because she hadn't seen them since the beginning of COVID. And I said, oh, I would like to go to Denmark while you're there. And she said, I'll do it. So the next day, without even telling her, I made a flight reservation on Iceland there to go to Copenhagen and, and really want, really wanting to go to Scandinavia to, to kind of, um, feel some of the energy of my Viking route, which I know exist. So Iceland air is, and I'm, this is gonna be like an advertisement for Iceland air, which if all American airlines were as good as Iceland air, we would all have a much better experience flying. So Iceland dare allows you to add four days layover in Iceland, um, to either end of your trip. So I decided, um, because I'd always wanted to go to Iceland that I would do a small layover of two days in Iceland, and that was like nothing I'd ever experienced. The greatest thing was it was the time when the days were getting longer, that quite long. Um, so my body clock didn't know what time it was. So of course I stayed up, I definitely found my Viking drinking roots um, but just also this, um, this amazing culture and spirit of the Iceland people is so remarkable. They are so proud and they're essentially on a big giant island. They're pretty much gathered in small communities. Um, and, and I found some amazing similarities to, to, um, a way of life that we, some that we experience here in Maine, um, an amazing connection, um, so much so that I will definitely go back to Iceland. I'd like to ski in Iceland. I think that would be just sort of a fun, a fun thing to do. Um, , um, it's a very barren place. Um, but at the same time, it's extremely cultured and they have an opera house, a concert hall that is that like rival Sydney, Australia. It's, it's, it's amazing in the city of Reiki. Vic is smaller than Portland. Um, so that was, that was amazing. Um, and then the Denmark time, the 10 days I stayed in Denmark wa um, I, I rented a lovely VRB at O um, flat in a historic part of Copenhagen on a canal. And it was like just, it was like romantic and saw things in, in Denmark that were just, just amazing. Um, it's, it's, it's so European, um, their connection to the Royal family is so, um, amazing. And then, and then to think about Denmark Denmark too, is like a little island and you look at the map and you see Sweden and Finland and, and, um, and Norway, and they're ginormous compared to little Denmark, but Denmark is just so small and mighty and proud. And, and there's also this amazing connection between Denmark and Iceland, because until the late 18 hundreds, um, Denmark, Iceland was part of Denmark. And so in, in Iceland, they speak Iceland, Danish, and they SP in English and, and they still do that to this day. So that was, it was like, uh, it was like kids met that. I put that trip together and I did call it my freedom tour , but it also, um, it also proved to me that travel is very possible. And tell me about this piece you're wearing around your Neck. So I bought this, um, I bought this from a street vendor in Iceland, um, and I saw it, um, six times before I bought it. Um, and this was a man, um, an old fisherman and very, um, very stoic and kind and gentle, but big and furry and, um, but, but just a, a lovely man. And I listened to his stories and, um, of fishing and collecting, um, whale bones, and, um, whale ivory, and, and other things on the coast of Iceland. And, um, and that, um, that connection with whaling, um, which really still exists to some extent in Iceland. Um, and what I know of, of my family, I just, I resonated with this piece. And so I finally, before I left, found him again and, um, bit the bullet, he changed the leather around it, cuz it had black and I wanted brown and he, I watched him tie the knots and um, and, uh, and this has not actually left my neck since I put it on there. Um, so it's, it's, it's pretty powerful. You told me that he believes that this was from a whales tooth. That was about 200 years old. Yep. Which, which, if you think, I mean, 200 years old, sounds like a long time, but in Iceland with, um, with people who were harvesting whales and things like that, probably not. So not so old, not so old. Um, so it's um, but yeah, to think about it, to think about it in the context of, of its age and, and, um, to, to really kind of like bring, bring your brain back to a time when, when whales were being hunted and um, and for, for all kinds of reasons and to, to, um, to have that sort of connection to, to the ocean is just it's, it, it, it's, it's fun to actually like bring your, to fantasize about what that might have been like When you are doing design work. Do people often bring a connection to the ocean into the work that you do with them? I think if they live on the ocean, there's no question that that's, that's the case. Um, in, in the work that I do, it's really, really important that people, that the things, um, the possessions that people cherish, um, in their lives, whether it's are or antiques or memorabilia or whatever connection that they have, um, to their history, um, is like super important for me to, um, help them incorporate into their design. So if somebody is living in the middle of the woods, for example, they might choose different design elements to go along With that. I think they would. And I would, I would, um, I would, I would challenge people to make sure that that were the case that their, that their interior is in harmony with their exterior. Um, it's a, it's always like, kind of driven me crazy. Like I've seen, I've worked on projects where people buy houses on the coast of Maine. This, um, happened in the eighties a lot. And people had all of this sort of Tuscan colorization and faux paint and foe painting. And I'm like, this is not Tuscany this is, this is Maine. And, and you, the minute you walk in you, you feel uncomfortable. Like, I mean, for me, maybe because I'm in tune with that, but I can't imagine that people don't feel uncomfortable. And when you bring the harmony and you bring the connection in, then people are like, Ugh, they can relax. They don't have to, their brains. Don't have to get all scrambled with mixed messages and things like that. Now, I suppose if people had traveled a lot and they had little items that, or little collections that were from their travels, that there would be a way to weave those into the, the story of their house, but not, not that I'm working on a project in Harville right now and the family, um, his family is, um, settled in new Sweden and his great grandfather built a Lu cabin, which his father was born in and the family property, um, the family property was sold and he had the log cabin, dismantled and reassembled as part of a house in, um, a house in HARs. Well, and now subsequently there's, um, Scott Simons is doing the addition. And, and so the interior of the core of the house is a log cabin, but it's a Cedar shingled house on the water, um, in Hartsville and that, and, and, um, Emma and I are working on some new art. Um, she brought in a barter piece, a great big fabulous fishermen and, um, and in like curating their collection so that the log cabin, um, has a connection to the water. Um, he's a Navy retired Navy Admiral. So of course there's a lot of that kind of thing. And, um, she has a connection to the lakes, um, and it's been really fun to sort of like deal with the subtleties of, of that, and also really fun to add to their collection of things that they're do, being able to do together. New Sweden is up more in the Northern part of a Maine. I would say that's like, I would say it's just sort of Northwest of here, like Sweden, Norway, and that's, um, a lot of the, the other cool thing is that he's a Johnson, so he's a real Swedish Johnson. I have no idea how , if that that's the case with my family, but, but, um, but yeah, so this log cabin made a big giant trip from, from the woods or actually a farm in Maine. And, um, Greg, the client tells a story of the, um, the log cabin got sided with Clavers or shingles, because at a certain point they didn't want to be, have the appearance of being so poor that they had to live in a log cabin. So they shingled the Lu cabin , but the inside and the inside I think was covered with like newspaper or something. But it's a beautiful, it's beautiful, beautiful space. And from the outside, you would never know that this treasure was inside When you're working with Emma Wilson and the Portland art gallery and other artists. What types of things are you looking for in art to compliment the design work that you do? So I think for myself, uh, a lot of what I look for is palette driven. Um, maybe more than, um, more than, uh, the composition of the painting or the subject of the painting. So, so in that, um, in that the, the, the palette really is the, the driver of really the whole, the whole project. So, so the art for the art needs to sort of follow suit in that. And sometimes, sometimes that is actually a Des disparate thing, um, where, where the art, um, needs to create a little bit of tension, um, in the, in the overall, um, concept or, and the overall feeling of things, um, and allow a place for the eye to, to rest and to sort of be transported and, um, where the painting or the art becomes kind of a, a portal, um, to something else. Sometimes it, sometimes the art becomes like another window that, um, people can look into, um, and experience that. So it's like the, the art and the art that people collect and resonate with is a huge part of what I do. We have a piece behind us that is bill Crosby, mm-hmm and you and I were talking before we came on air about the palette in this particular piece. Mm-hmm , but as you are describing this tension, there's actually, I would say some tension in this piece as well. Mm-hmm , but I hadn't thought about that before you brought this up. Yeah. The, his work, his work has found its way into many of my client's homes. Um, it's it's landscape, but it's just, um, it's it, they always have this kind of mood to them, which are, it's like that. It's like what you see if you squint your eyes and you kind of blur things a little bit. So then, so that like invokes this kind of mystery in this, um, it, it allows you, it allows you to sort of fill in the blanks a little bit. Um, um, but his palette is, even though it's, even though from painting to painting, it's, it's varies. There's always this kind of similarity. It's just slightly muted, gem tones, which are just so lovely and, and natural. Um, not like, you know, they're, they never hit you over the head and say, look at me, look at me. I'm, um, I'm colorful. Um, so it, so his, his work definitely like speaks to me. And fortunately it speaks to a lot of my clients as well. Brett, I know in listening to our conversation, there will be people who want to learn more about the work that you do, and also of the various elements of your brand, your retail space, the design work, how do people, uh, find you? So, um, so we have a, our design studios at five 11 Congress street in Portland. Um, and, um, we welcome people to come experience that our store, our shop, um, and a lovely branded apartment that I live in in the summer, um, is at one 60 front street and bath. Or you can go to our website@mainstreetdesign.com and, um, and that website is ever growing and ever changing and offering, um, uh, more and more Well, congratulations on continuing to evolve your dream and your dream team, I guess. , um, as you move forward with your vision, it's really been a pleasure to catch up with you today. Yeah. Thank you. I, I, um, I do want to close in that, that I, I learned, uh, something from one of my art teachers in, in high school. Um, Chris Chapman and she always said, remember, Brett, life is a journey, not a destination. So Why is words? I live my life that way. Well, I hope to continue along this journey with you in some way, shape or form, but today I've enjoyed touching base with you since been, you know, a COVID induced few months since we've actually seen each other. Exactly. It's good to, it's good to be in, in close proximity. yes. Well, thank you very much for coming in today, Brett. You're Welcome. Thank you. I've been speaking with Brett Johnson, who is an interior designer and, um, lovely, warm person that I hope that you reach out to and learn more about. Um, if you are considering your own interior design, if you are interested in hearing about bill Crosby and other Portland art gallery artists, please come join us in Portland or visit the Portland art gallery website.