A Day in Brooklyn with Cary Living's Catherine Shih

Catherine Shih is the founder of Cary Living, a Brooklyn-based design company blending architecture and furniture design to create custom-fit murphy beds and storage solutions for flexible living. Her mission is to empower people to uncover the full potential of their space through inventive space-saving solutions. Prior to Cary Living she designed residential, cultural, and institutional buildings at Snøhetta and Joel Sanders Architect, and designed furniture and products with Brad Ascalon. Catherine's day involves morning centering, building a brand, and spending time with her labradoodle.

5:40am: I've always been an early riser and having 1-2 hours to myself in the mornings is my form of self care. Something about the quiet darkness before sunrise gives me so much peace, clarity, and centering.

6:00am: I grab a glass of lemon water and move into the living room, my morning sanctuary. My labradoodle, Winnie, trails behind me and joins me for morning cuddles on the couch. I typically read to wake up my mind and have a stack of five books that I choose from depending on my mood. Today I picked up Play Bigger by Al Ramadan, Dave Peterson, Christopher Lochhead, and Kevin Maney. It was recommended to me by a friend and fellow entrepreneur. I can usually only get through a few pages before I start jotting down all the ideas it inspires. It lets me think about the big picture and strategize on the goals for my business — what I’m offering, who I’m offering it to, and how to articulate the problem and solution.

I left my full time job only three months ago to focus my full energy on Cary Living, so at these beginning stages I’ve found these clear-minded mornings so instrumental in the development of the business. To allow myself time every day to step back and look at the bigger picture has been pivotal in making sure I stay on track. These little moments of inspiration feed my mind — little tiny breakthroughs of phrasing, wording, or a shift in perspective help to narrow down and hone my intent, center my mind, and get me excited to start the day.

6:30am: After my dose of morning contemplation, I typically cast a workout from my phone to my TV, turning my living room into my home gym. Growing up as a competitive gymnast and collegiate pole vaulter, moving my body and following a workout regimen has always been a staple in my life. It wasn't until my late 20s that I realized how pivotal it is for my mind! If I’m not doing a barre blend workout I’ll go for a run or do a yoga-meditation class.

Catherine at her home office. Courtesy Catherine Shih.

7:30am: I start my work day. As a new entrepreneur it's been exciting to have the flexibility to prioritize my hours the way I best see fit. For me, this means starting the day on the couch with my laptop reviewing goals and prioritizing the day. It's the beginning of a new month so I like to track wins from the past month and set new goals for those ahead. This month we’re looking forward to developments in marketing, product design, and manufacturing outreach.

8:00am: I switch gears to my first task. As the business is starting to grow it is just myself taking on most of the work, with support from my fiancé and co-founder when he's not working his full time job at an architecture firm. So, I wear many hats and it's been an invigorating challenge to learn about and navigate all aspects of operations.

Compartmentalizing my time has been the key to moving things forward. I treat each aspect of the business as if I was splitting time between design projects — one hour on finance, three hours on marketing, two hours on product design, one hour on business development, etc. Naming them helps me break down the tasks into buckets so I’m not overwhelmed by one long list. It also helps with jumping from one thing to another — the idea of switching gears completely into a new category keeps my energy going. I realize that I can’t touch on all of these in a day so I do my best to prioritize 2-4 of them and keep an active list of open items for each. Today I start off with marketing and become fully immersed in reviewing our outreach packet and pitch deck.

Preserving flowers and keepsakes, by Catherine.

9:30am: After a breakfast break, I transition to working at my stow-away desk that was built into the prototype wall bed feature wall in our living space. I move on to design and render out images of iterations for a client. Custom clients help establish the business and gain a better understanding of product-market fit — who is interested and why, preferences for finishes, trends in functional storage needs, etc. Ultimately the larger vision of making bespoke design more accessible involves mass customization, but at these early stages we are following our fastest path to revenue while keeping product development at the back of our minds. It's a balancing act of trying to stay patient on what we are working on now without losing sight of what we are working towards. To that end, I spend an hour sketching on an aspect of our product’s design.

12:15pm: While a lot of my day is spent working from home, every so often I leave for a client meeting, site visit, or tour. I head out to meet a client and potential fabrication partner for a walkthrough of their shop. We talk about previous work, capabilities, look over materials, and review designs. Afterwards, I visit the client's condo to take additional space measurements, look over the current design, and discuss design preferences in their space.

3:30pm: I head back home to take Winnie out for her afternoon walk. I try to combine all of the dog friendly activities I can think of into this time so we can get the most of our time together! Sometimes we go on an afternoon run or head to the post office to send off a few orders from my side hustle. Today we picked up a late lunch at a dog-friendly cafe nearby. We sit and eat and enjoy an afternoon coffee break.

4:30pm: I dedicate an hour or two every day to my side business, preserving flowers and creating keepsakes which I offer through Etsy. Making things with my hands has always been therapeutic for me, so I like to use it as a mental break away from a computer screen during the day when I can. It started as a hobby preserving wedding flowers and making gifts for family and friends. But after losing my grandmother last year, and realizing how much comfort it gave me to preserve her memorial flowers and turn them into remembrance keepsakes, I started offering it as a service to others for both the happy and sad moments in life. I clean off recently preserved flowers and mock up 3 designs.

Evening mode at home, courtesy of Catherine Shih.

6:00pm: For dinner my fiancé and I usually take turns cooking, or I'll start prepping before he gets home and finishes it off. We catch up on our day and just talk before going over things with the business — conversations from the day, reviewing marketing materials and next steps. After that we turn on an episode of TV to wind down. Today we watch “Lessons in Chemistry,” but our other staples are “The Morning Show” and “Taskmaster.”

8:00pm: After taking Winnie out for her night walk, I usually try to fit in another hour of casual work with the TV going in the background. I’ll review our current website design on the couch, draft emails, review contracts, or research manufacturers.

9:30pm: I slide into bed around this time. I am a sucker for an early bedtime. I do five minutes of Chinese Duolingo before winding down by reading a bit, journaling, and finally dozing off.