Kia Weatherspoon’s Superpowers:
- Being the “only” in a room
- Dancing like no one is watching
- Speaking skills
Kia Weatherspoon ’10 is an Interior Design alum and member of Moore’s Board of Managers. In 2012 she started her own interior design firm, Determined by Design, which is dedicated to making interior design accessible to everyone, rather than a luxury.
“My vision was to make people feel something through interior design,” Weatherspoon says. In 2022, the year she celebrated 10 years of her design firm, Weatherspoon was featured in Oprah Daily’s Future Rising: A Celebration of Black Changemakers. The series seeks to uplift 50 Black trailblazers whose work is making the world a better place in a variety of industries. Weatherspoon’s story, which appears under the header “The Future Is Joyful,” discusses the ways that she enacts meaningful change through Determined by Design.
Looking back to when she first graduated from Moore, Weatherspoon had no clue she was going to end up where she is today, but she knew for sure that she was starting on a path of solid ground.
“I know I had the perfect foundation, starting my design journey at Moore,” she reflects. “The unknown is what I believe allowed me to be open to any possibility, as long as I led with purpose and love of creative craft.”
This notion sums up her advice for current and future Moore students. “Trust yourself! Master your craft! Always lead with empathy,” she imparts. “Oh! And being the only (person of color, woman, etc.) in a room is a superpower. Lean into that all ways and always.”
