Meet Lisa Masteller | CEO + Principal Designer

We had the good fortune of connecting with Lisa Masteller and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Lisa, what do you attribute your success to?
If you were to ask yourself why you like your “perfect spot” and the reasons why it “just feels good”, be it a cozy, rooftop restaurant, or a quiet, cubby in a library, or a massive art display wrapped inside a woodland park trail, the reason may surprise you.

Its influence is by design whether it be natural or crafted with intentionality.

As a designer, I have always loved the process of collaboration and the internal skill it takes to execute. Having worked with several creatives and trades within our company, each layer of design exposes a language and knowledge that helps shape our spaces into a functionally and esthetically pleasing environments.

It’s the left and right brain of collaboration which make up the beautiful equation of immersive design.

I believe the most important factor we bring beyond our inventive creativity, is a placeholder as both student and teacher for collaboratives.

Since, we as creative humans are trying to be seen and heard, we want to be a place where we offer this not only to our clients, but to those we work side by side.

This approach affects our clients, visitors and guests who: walk ,sit, eat, stay or play in those environments.

Alright, so for those in our community who might not be familiar with your business, can you tell us more?
At SASS+CO., the strength of our brand reflects a simple elegance with a slight “wink” in the room. This has become a staple within our designs. By framing our clients’ story, we take both an intellectual, and emotional approach and use this as the main ingredient to our designs.

Being a creative while also running a business, our projects average anywhere from several hundred thousands to millions of dollars per project. This means when we sit with our clients, we work from the top down . From logo and, branding to the entire exterior and interior design. That is an abundance of answers we have to provide. I can honestly tell you showing up like this always requires me to be brave.

My “being brave” started way back to my childhood, where I was plagued with incredible insecurities regarding my intelligence and significance.

The journey of arriving to where I am today has been shaped by: adoption, dyslexia, the loss of my father, and family turmoil. These struggles alone taught me perseverance and acceptance of my current and future self. A strong work ethic coupled with empathy drives the majority of our behind the scenes operation.

I know now that our bravery and suffering matters. Instead of it being wasted by exhaustion or measured at being “too hard”, the opportunity lies in pushing you to stand rather than “turtle in.”

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
If you were our guests, for starters, you would receive a homemade batch of brownies from yours truly. It’s how we like to say hello.

Next, we would give you a list of places which we have made for out of town guests, that lists a smattering of places deemed worthy of a visiting. First, we suggest you shake it up and traverse some by car and some by Lime scooters that are available anywhere downtown.

For a good morning breakfast, we suggest our local cafe, Jubala Coffee, from there the Farmers Market for a little stroll, proceeded with a visit to Pullen Park to take in their newly renovated grounds. Perhaps a ride on the historica Carousel or a splash with the swans in one of their paddle boats.

For lunch, we would offer a local favorite at the historically renovated train station, Logans Garden Shop. The covered seating is just yards from the original train tracks, and the smell of flowers and plants will help one replace and unwind while eating.
After lunch we would go to our office located downtown and scope out a few stores. Some of our favorite spots are: Deco Raleigh, which is a quirky boutique gift store. and Decree Company, that shows a very inspiring showroom of large, vintage letter presses for their custom stationary.

All of these exciting stops would call for another cup of coffee at the beloved 42&Lawrence, which has the greatest seasonal, crafted lattes. Then we back head back over to some vintage finds at Father & Son Vintage, followed by a treat over at Videri Chocolate Factory. I highly reccomend their frozen hot chocolate.

To close out the evening, we would have dinner at the new Madre in SleepyHollow. Madre, one of the most elegant feel good restaurants in town.

To conclude before dropping you off at your hotel, Heights House Hotel, we would leave you with a beautifully colored box filled with some goodies inside by Layered Croissanterie for some early morning snacks as you begin day two of your visit.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
On a personal level, I have had several supportive people in my life. None of these worked in Design, but their way of looking at the world and how they show up in life spoke volumes to me.

My early childhood, where it didn’t click until later -is the influence of my photography. My experiences played a large role in the way I now look at the world with awe and wonder.

The underlying theme to my life as Designer and friend, is being the best I can be and use what I can to help others.

In highlighting two influential people, I would mention Barney Paradise, and LuAnn Nigara.

While “cutting my design teeth” on retail, window display, and set design, I had a gentleman by the name of Barney Paradise, from Nevada, who offered to shadow me on a project he was on and teach me the ropes of commercial design.

This very first design build with him, was a 5,000 square foot cafe and bookstore that “proudly served Starbucks”. This was the introduction to many projects and clientele thereafter.

I would have to say one of the most pivotal influences has been the onslaught of information from a wonderful human, LuAnn Nigara, of ‘A Well Designed Business’ podcast.

Her podcast has been the “kick in the pants”our, business needed. Her entire mantra is continually and actively shaping how we as creative business owners become excellent in our field holistically speaking.

Website: www.sassafrasstudios.net

Instagram: sassafras_studios_

Image Credits
Style photography by : www.Tawnyelisephoto.com Renders by SASS+CO.