Small Business Feature: Wendy Glaister of Wendy Glaister Interiors – Ripon, CA

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Jan. 24

Written By Rachael Venema

This is a very special small business feature. Wendy Glaister of Wendy Glaister Interiors is truly one of the most hardworking and talented people that I know. I was honored to capture her family portraits last year and get a glimpse into the process of working with Wendy, so I had to feature her on my blog!

Wendy took the time out of her busy schedule to let me ask her a few questions so that we could get to know her business and mission, along with hearing why she chose to have her family portraits done. You'll love what she ended up doing with her family portraits.

Ripon Small Business Wendy Glaister Interiors

I hope you enjoy learning more about the delightful Wendy! She shared the beautiful story of how she started her business and more about her experience working with me to take her extended family's portraits. Wendy's responses have been edited for clarity.

1.) What's the name of your business along with the mission and vision of your business?

My business is Wendy Glaister Interiors. The mission of my business is to actualize God's vision for each client's home so that they feel uniquely seen and cared for by God. There are many prayers involved in every job to bring each project to life.

2.) Can you share more about what you do and who you serve?

I'm a residential and commercial interior designer. I work in the Central Valley in California. I primarily serve families or empty nesters who want beautiful but practical homes, and I do remodels or homes from a blueprint. I feel like I have an obligation not to make the house what I think it should be but what my clients actually need, so I pray about it a lot so I'll get it right.

3.) How long have you been in business and how did you start?

I've been in business for 16 years. I always loved decorating but wasn't sure if I could do it as a career. When my son was in first grade, my grandmother became very ill. She and I were always very close so I visited her every day. One day, she said she'd like to know what I was going to do with my life. I really didn't know how to answer her. She encouraged me to follow my passion for interior design. At the time, there was a lady who wanted to hire me to do some things for her. My grandmother knew I had been asked and encouraged me to make this phone call and report back to her by the next day. I didn't want to disappoint my grandmother, so I made the call, and I was hired that afternoon. I have never been without a job since.

4. How do you choose which contractors you work with and why?

I can’t let just anyone into my client’s homes. I found a lot of my contractors from referrals from people in the business I already really trust. I try hard to keep people who share my faith and value system in these clients' homes. I avoid people with an arrogant attitude because it really makes for an awful project. Their attitude has a lot to do with whether we do a repeat job or not.

5. What was your portrait experience like with Rachael?

I met Rachael through the Chamber of Commerce, and then I followed her on Instagram. I really liked her messaging and faith. Since she is also a woman-owned business, I felt that we had a lot of things in common. This led me to reach out to Rachel to take our extended family portraits.

We collaborated to make our portrait experience into a fun event for our family to look forward to, including a catered dinner. Rachael helped everyone in advance to prepare for the day with outfit suggestions which was really helpful. Rachael came and visited me at my home to help prepare me for how it was going to go, and she went to check out my parents' backyard where we were going to take pictures. She went above and beyond supporting my family with wardrobe guidance so that everyone felt confident and beautiful the day of the shoot.

It's challenging to coordinate multi-families, but the day for pictures came, and everyone was in such a good mood! In fact, our session went 45 minutes past what Rachael committed to because everyone wanted different pictures with family members. She kept her cool and let everyone get what they needed from that session.

We're so grateful to her. She truly offers a luxury portrait experience for her clients from the pre-planning support to the product ordering appointment. She thought of every little touch to make it even more special. Even with some resistance from family members, she navigated it all with so much grace and with such a prayerful attitude. She was outstanding, and I can't recommend her enough.

6. What did you choose to do with your portraits?

We decided to do a feature wall and, because I’m an interior designer, I had all kinds of things I wanted to do with frames, mattes, glass, and sizes. I even have the wall lit a certain way which really makes it beautiful. Now when my family comes over they all find themselves on the wall.

7. Finally, how can readers connect with you?

They are welcome to follow me on Instagram, visit my website, or check out my Houzz which has a profile showcasing my work.

Ripon Multi-Family Photography

As Wendy’s friend, I am proud to not only support her Central Valley businesses by sharing her story on my blog, I’m grateful that she worked with me to photograph her entire family and trusted me throughout the process. Her family portrait wall turned out more beautiful than I could have ever imagined!