Welcome to Calla Lily Homes & Designs Blog

We are in action, finally. Welcome, I am your Host, Doresha Banks, Founder & Designer at Calla Lily Homes & Designs. We will be discussing everything home & lifestyle. From interior design inspo, houses we renovate, to recipes we cook (and yes I loveee to cook). I will be taking you on all of my various journeys through life, project by project, home by home. The ultimate goal is to truly inspire and share with you what I do best, through out all of our places of peace, home.

For years Ive been wanting to do a blog but, just never fully sat down and put the time and effort into it. Running two companies will certainly drive you a little insane but, thanks to COVID-19 it allowed me to realign, readjust and discover what I really wanted out of life.

So a quick backstory about me. I am a graduate of North Carolina Central University #eaglepride a degree in Exercise Sports Science. I just absolutely knew I was going to become a Physical Therapist and make the world a better place. Landed a job my senior year of college at this five star resort & spa, in the spa where they had this huge wellness initiative for their hotel guests. They brought me on as spa concierge, as well as their personal trainer, through my Performance Enhancement Specialist Certification. Alongside work, I had to complete several internships. My first at Duke University with their Physical Therapists and my second an intensive 200-hr internship. I ended up doing 40-hrs a week at UNC Chapel Hill while still maintaining a full-time job.

After completion on my internship, I was off to apply for the Doctorate of Physical Therapy programs. My coworkers in the spa convinced me to do massage school instead, after I learned they were started off at $50/hr at the hotel. That was like gold to a college graduate. And the program was cheaper and only 9-months!! Sign me up, I just did four years this will be a breeze!!

Fast-forward a year later, I am a licensed massage therapist working at the hotel. Loved every bit of my job and the relief it provided every single guest.

So here's where my entrepreneur journey began. A regular client of mines was the CEO of a Biopharmaceutical company in the Research Triangle Park. He asked, why don't you come and contract with my company and provide chair massages in the office, I'll do $85/hr, 9am-5pm. Out of that, in December of 2014, The Social Wellness Club was born.

The Social Wellness Club was created and designed to serve #corporatewellness programing. Specializing in chair massages, yoga/fitness classes and educational workshops that are provided on-site, while at work. Starting off with a team of five licensed professionals in NC to over 25 providers now serving the Atlanta area.

Now March of 2020, boom a world catastrophe hits. EVERYONE IS WORKING FROM HOME!! Wait, now what do I do? We just started working and landing deals with some of the top companies and we are put on pause? This can't be! I felt as if I was at the drawing board trying to figure out what my next move was.

So right before the actual shut down of COVID, my old neighbor had been begging me for years to help redo her home. I wasn't sure how I would have found the time prior to. All of my adult life, my friends and anyone that came into my home was always asking for me to come do their home and their closets. It was like my little hobby that I thought nothing of.

(Other backstory, I am a military kid, with my father as a Lieutenant Colonel, we were ALWAYS moving and my favorite thing to do was decorate all of our houses and help my mother pick out furniture. My great-grandfather was a carpenter, so I just completely grew up with everything designing and decorating houses.)

Okay so continuing on, I decided to take on my neighbor as my first paid test client to figure out how I would lay everything out. Of course I charged her like pennies but, it was a start to see how long each room would take to the cost points. This project took foreverrrr!! COVID of course with importation a major player. Check out her Suburban Transformation here.

Now here we are 2023, fully established with Calla Lily Homes & Designs and of course The Social Wellness Club back in full action. We've been able to touch countless homes and certainly leave our mark in every home. Our clientele varies from hedge-funds, private investors looking to rehab properties to families of all sizes, catering to whatever needs there may be.

Follow us on this journey we love the most while we share each and every piece that we design. Oh and don't forget to subscribe and yes we are on allll social platforms!!

I can't wait!!

With Gratitude,

Doresha Banks