Dress, Summer’s own.
Summer Crawford: Founder/Lead Designer, Summer Crawford Design
Written by Dawn Anderson, Rocko Jerome and Taylor Riley | Photographed on location at the Frazier History Museum by Kylene White | Styled by Christine Fellingham and Melissa Gagliardi | Hair and makeup by Sarah Allen, Kassandra Cazares Aldana, Kayla Greenwell, Breanna Peters and Michaela Reeves
The field narrowed from over 400 nominations to 89 nominees and finally to the 16 award winners you will meet on the following pages. Representing each of their categories with distinction, your 2023 Most Admired Women bring humility, grace and a great capacity for change to their roles as leaders in our community. We asked each of them to reflect on how they got to this moment, what your votes and this award means to them and where their journeys might take them from here.
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“My grandmother’s sense of design always inspired me,” Summer Crawford says. “As a little girl, I remember so much smart expression in the way she used colors. She had such an amazing eye. She always showed such creativity in her personal style, her wardrobe, and in decorating.” That gift would be inherited by Summer, and she shares it with the local community… but she took an unusual path to get there.
“I found myself working in social services, where so much of my heart still resides,” Summer recalls. “It was very rewarding, and I loved doing that kind of thing. But then, four years ago, I had the privilege of designing the home I share with my husband from start to finish.”
“If you show me your interests, the things you love, value, and hold dear, I’ll give you a peaceful place to come to and land. Our homes are sacred places, and we should treat them that way.”
As it happens, he works in homebuilding and flipping, found her work extremely impressive, and needed someone who can do what Summer can do. “I never expected it, but one thing led to another, and from that starting point, it’s grown into this wonderful business. We began with nothing, then built this small thing, and I feel it is growing into something really substantial. I feel very proud.”
Summer Crawford Design isn’t just a woman-owned business, but all five team members are also women, all fantastic in their fields of expertise. The SCD team is exceptionally multifaceted, offering staging and interior decorating for all purposes, including real estate, personal residences, and Airbnb. You name it, and Summer can make it beautiful for you with a name synonymous with quality.
“It’s all about building personal relationships,” says Summer. She has a huge heart for people and uses it to help her clients clarify their vision and bring it to vivid life.
“It all comes from the basis of a person’s style,” she says. “Sometimes, they’re not even quite sure what it is, and we talk through it until we find it. People come to me with ideas of what they want, and then we bring them together. If you show me your interests, the things you love, value, and hold dear, I’ll give you a peaceful place to come to and land. Our homes are sacred places, and we should treat them that way.”
So how does it feel to be one of our Most Admired Women? “Oh my gosh, it’s such an honor! One of my team members nominated me, and I didn’t even know. I was blown away. It’s just an incredible feeling. We’re an all-woman business, and I think we are living proof that if you set your mind, you can do anything. I just hope to inspire other women to keep pushing boundaries. I feel blessed beyond measure to do what I love and be able to “bring style home for my clients.” — Rocko Jerome
