9/3/25 - 2110: Designing Spaces, Reflecting God

Jim: You've tuned into iWork4Him, the Voice of Collaboration for the Faith and Work Movement.

Martha: And we are your hosts, Jim and Martha Brangenberg. Our mission is to inspire every workplace believer to recognize their workplace as their ministry place, where they work with God every day. What can that look like in your world? Let's find out right now.

Jim: Interior design. Is that a kingdom skill? Is there anything about designing the interior of a building that reflects an attribute of our God, the creator?

Everything he designed was outside, right? Until the 1800s. That's what we, everyone thought. And then we discovered the incredible riches just below the soil and just below the skin layer. That was interior design, right? What about the human body? Talk about incredible planning and layout. The human body is the most incredible interior design of all time.

So if there's any doubt at the beginning of the show, there's no doubt now, interior design is a kingdom skill that reflects the creative and planning attributes of God. Emily Miller of Miller Interiors of Columbia, Missouri, is here today to tell us her story of God in her business and of a special Main Street event that she's part of later this fall. Emily Miller, welcome to iWork4Him.

Emily Miller: Thanks, Jim and Martha, I'm happy to be here.

Jim: All right. So before we get to hear your faith and work story, let's talk about when you became a follower of Jesus. What's your story?

Emily Miller: Sure. So I grew up in St. Louis, Missouri, so pretty close to Columbia, in a Christian family. So to be honest, I don't quite remember a time when God wasn't part of my story. I guess specifically I think my faith became more real and personal when I was in elementary school. My parents have been strong Christians my entire life, setting a really significant example for me, and I've been really blessed to have close friendships with other godly men and women my entire life. So really my faith has always been a part of who I am and my identity and my story.

Martha: Thank you for sharing that and what a blessing, and then you get to share that with future generations as well. So let's talk then about your career. Why did you pick interior design? Is it something you always knew you wanted to do or how did you get into it?

Emily Miller: Yeah, so I actually, I went to the University of Missouri for college and I started my freshman year as an education major. So growing up I thought, oh I'll be a teacher. That will be the right career path for me. And when I started taking some specific education courses, I honestly kept thinking about what my classroom would look like, and I slowly just began to realize I like kids. I don't know if I wanna spend eight hours a day with kids.

And so from there I looked into what is the architectural studies program at Mizzou and just fell in love. I had always been creative and appreciated beauty and aesthetics but just hadn't really thought maybe that was the career path for me until starting those education courses. Just fell in love with it specifically. The program I was in focused mostly on commercial interior design. And it just, it's such a fun combination of creativity and problem solving. That is just a challenge I still love to this day.

Martha: I love that. So you're saying, like you were more into okay, what's my classroom gonna look like? And then you might have wanted to move on at that point. So that was good that you had that assessment of yourself at that point.

Jim: Did you ever get to implement any of those designs in your friends' classrooms?

Emily Miller: So I worked for Mizzou, actually, for the campus for a number of years. So I, I did higher education design, which was really fun. And I will say, I think the relational aspect of education that was intriguing to me. There's carryover, right? In design. One of my favorite parts of my job is working with clients and identifying their needs and helping meet those needs, and even just getting to know them as people. Yeah, there's definitely carryover from education, but I don't think God had me created for the classroom environment. (chuckling)

Martha: There you go. I know so many friends that are teachers that, boy, the aesthetics of their classroom set the tone for the whole year and teachers do pour a lot into that. So as we're back to school and all the things for the. Fall, thank you, teachers, for all that you do. I'm just gonna throw a shout out there because I believe we have a lot of teachers that listen to the show and are trying to incorporate their faith in their work. So there you go. There's my shout out.

Jim: So having gotten our first jobs in the late eighties, knowing that interior design in the corporate world was non-existent. It was buy a big square building, put walls and walls of cubicles up, and there you go. That was designed, and maybe a creative design was, maybe a color, a two-tone cubicle, not a one-tone cubicle. Is it really possible to make office interiors exciting or enjoyable or even pleasing?

Emily Miller: I've spent a career doing it, so I hope so. I sure think so. I really, I believe that your space and your environment really matters. And a business and or a corporation that prioritizes that and prioritizes the comfort for their staff and ease and flow of a space and just the overall aesthetics, I think it's important, I think where you work matters. You spend a lot of time there. So I've had a lot of fun working on a variety of office projects. Yeah, I think it's important.

Jim: All right. I can't wait to walk into one of those office environments that you've designed and be able to do the "ah."

Martha: Yes. But you know what, Jim? I will say, we are not experts, but we rent offices to small businesses. And one of the gals, she had decided this was too far away from where she lived to stay here, but her biggest struggle with leaving here was she says you've got it decorated so pretty, and I love it here, and I'm gonna have to go figure that out on my own.

And she's a counselor, so she needs an environment that is a certain way. And it did matter for her. And we do feel good in an environment that is to our taste and is comfortable and all the things, you are way better at that than most of us. But when she said that, I was like, oh yeah, I get that.

Jim: We can have you come down to Marionville, Missouri, and do an analysis of our office structure. All right, so you're a mom. You're a wife, you got two kids, six and nine years old, and you run a successful business. How do you manage all that together?

Emily Miller: That's a good question. I think you have to eliminate the desire for balance. I don't think that there's a world where you, every single day feel balanced and everything's under control. I think, personally, I've had to lower some of my expectations on a personal level, a family level, definitely on a career level. And we can get into that a little bit more later, but I also have an incredible husband who is an incredible partner, and it's truly 50 50.

So I've always worked as a mom and really from the early stages of being parents, we sat down and in a very practical way said, okay, what are you managing? What am I managing? And that's how our household runs. Some things are backwards. He actually does most of the laundry. I do most of the finances. Like we've figured out what our strengths are and we're a team. There are some weeks, like this morning I realized we were basically out of lunch food for school.

And there's ebbs and flows and I just, you have to be gracious with yourself. Sometimes your inbox isn't as organized as you want it to be, and your home isn't as organized as you want it to be. But I think you can define what are cultural expectations I'm putting on myself, and then what are godly expectations I should have on myself?

Jim: That's why Oscar Meyer came out with those Lunchables. I can't make a sandwich. Here's a Lunchable. (laughter)

Emily Miller: They would love that. They would love to eat the yellow nacho cheese Lunchables every day. They Love that.

Martha: I'm guessing she's not allowing that to happen. Jim, I love the fact that she's like very specific. It's a different generation. We just look at it this way: our bodies have a lot more preservatives in them, so we're gonna last longer because we're well preserved, right?

When you talk about all the different roles that you do have and that you manage, it can be hard to manage all those different hats that we wear in our day, but to be a good steward of what we do manage, it's often important that we find other people that can come alongside and take care of the things that are within their expertise. So at iWork4Him, we choose to have SaferNet by our side to protect all of our digital devices. Their web filters, VPN, and virus protection keep the bad guys out so that we can focus on the things that we need to manage and let them manage our devices.

Check out SaferNet.com and let them know that iWork4Him sent you. All righty, so what does it look like for you to live out your faith and have your faith reflected in your interior designs?

Emily Miller: Good question. In some ways, I guess I don't really think through in a physical, tangible way how my faith is reflected in my designs. Maybe that's something I should think on a little bit more. But I do think, there's a long detailed, often complicated process from when a client engages us for a project to its completion.

And just thinking of that path, there are so many ways that my faith should be integrated and impact the process. And, I think it's just having integrity. Most of our time is hourly billable and having integrity to be honest in that, I think it's being thoughtful.

Right now I have one employee and looking to grow my team and so I think it's being really thoughtful and how can my leadership give my team a flourishing life? It's not just a paycheck. I want them to feel meaning and purpose behind their work. And how can I pause in the crazy, busyness of our project load and think through what team members specifically need on a personal and a professional level? I think it's really being patient and thoughtful when clients are thinking through their project and defining their needs and not rushing past that and just trying to think through how can my skills, how can my team skills, really bless and honor this business?

Whether it's an office renovation or a clinic or a hospital, how can we really pause and use the gifts that God has given us to honor our clients and then even honor people that are gonna use those spaces that I will never meet? So yeah, I think it's just reflection, it's pausing, it's integrity, just being thoughtful.

Jim: One of the biggest problems, hospitals, there's some beautiful hospitals out there, but you go inside, they all still look the same eventually. And it's the smells.

Emily Miller: I can't help with the smell. (laughing)

Martha: No, you can't control that.

Jim: But are you saying interior design can't impact the olfactory? That's a sense. Interior design's about the sense, impacting the senses. I think you need to work on some way to impact the smells, because if you could make walking into the waiting room a lavender experience, to bring calm, a little lavender when you walk in.

Emily Miller: I think that's the engineers in the HVAC. (chuckling)

Martha: There you go.

Jim: All right. When you're dealing with designs with people, they're sharing their heart. Not only are they sharing their wallet, like this is gonna cost me a lot of money to build this building, 'cause commercial building is so expensive, but they want their heart reflected.

So I imagine often you get involved in conversations with people where they're sharing their heart with you. Do you ever get a chance to pray with people after they've shared their heart with you, or to pray over a design as they're talking with you? Have you ever had that opportunity yet?

Emily Miller: I have not. I think it's a delicate approach. In some instances I want to be respectful of them and there's just a delicate line of being professional and not necessarily bringing your faith into a conversation that is more business related. I do have clients that are very vocal about their faith. I work with a health system that is Catholic and their mission, which is really beautiful and special. So I have had meetings where we've gotten to pray together and just talk through their mission, which is very much so aligned with my faith.

But I would say my approach is not so much let's pray, but I hope that through my work ethic and patience with you and the process and the end result, that they would sense something different about how I do business.

Martha: So good. If the fruit of the spirit is showing through in all that you do, you've said patience several times and I only can imagine in the design world where, oh, maybe I'm not gonna go with purple. I want everything yellow or whatever, it's okay, you have to regroup and and kudos to you for all of that. (laughter)

Jim: Emily, we made our connection because of the Main Street Summit event that's coming up here in November 4-6 in Columbia, Missouri, right where you're living. What's this event all about and why are you involved?

Emily Miller: Yeah, so Main Street is, it's really wonderful. It's about a two day long event focusing on small to medium businesses, business owners, operators, I would say anyone with an entrepreneurial spirit, would enjoy it. It is full of amazing speakers and some larger group sessions and then some smaller, more intimate group settings. A lot of networking, a lot of opportunities for conversations, honestly, just like this. And yeah, so last year I spoke at the event and really enjoyed it, really loved it. And they've asked me to come back. So I'll be speaking this year again.

Jim: And are you gonna give us a little hint of what you're talking about?

Emily Miller: Sure. I am in the faith and work track. So this year is a little bit different. They're defining seven different tracks, and faith and work is one of them. I will certainly be integrating my faith in the message but also want it just to be open to anyone interested in the topic I'm discussing, which is leading with purpose at work and at home, so talking through some practical strategies of managing home and work, which we've talked about this morning, talking through partnership with your spouse, and specifically a spouse that is also driven in their career and how to support one another and cheer each other on.

And then lastly, just talking through some biblical encouragement for working parents, something I have just really wrestled with in my nine and a half years as a mom is God's calling for my life as a working parent. I grew up with a mom who stayed home, which was lovely. My husband is a pastor. And I think this has changed and evolved in the church over, the last decade, but I do think specifically for women, we haven't spoken enough about God's calling to us as workers.

Jim: As marketplace leaders for sure, absolutely. Which is a great reason to plug our sheWorks4Him podcast that we've done all about Christian Working Women at Work. You can find that, access to that on our iWork4Him website. iWork4Him.com. You gave the plug so I did it.

We will include a link to the Main Street Summit in the show notes so you can find out about it. It's November 4-6 in Columbia, Missouri. The Faith and Work track is full of phenomenal speakers you've heard right here on the iWork4Him podcast, especially Emily Miller, who you get to hear today. And speaking of other great events in the faith and work space, there are several events Martha and I will be involved in 2026.

Two big events are the US Christian Chamber Expo in Orlando called Yes& and the National Faith and Work Summit in Cincinnati. The US Christian Chamber Expo is in April in Orlando and the National Faith and Work Summit Cincinnati, in june. Go to iWork4HIm.com/events to learn more about 'em. Choose one or both to attend and we'll get to see you there.

Martha: All right, so you talked a little bit about what you're gonna be talking about at the summit, but being a speaker there, you're likely to meet other speakers who have things that you may want to learn about being a business owner. Since there's seven different tracks and speakers like David Green from Hobby Lobby, we've loved hearing the story of Hobby Lobby over the years.

Jim: What a sweet heart he has. We've gotten to spend some time with him.

Martha: I'm guessing you've looked through who else is gonna be there. Who else are you interested in hearing from?

Emily Miller: I should have a better answer to this question. I have looked through the list and every year , every single speaker I have attended has been phenomenal. It's often, though, been the speakers that I didn't know a lot about, maybe don't have a huge following that i've learned a lot from.

And then I think in addition to that, which I referenced earlier, just those sidebar conversations have been very meaningful. People you maybe sit by at a session and get to know, trade your information, there are still people that I met last year that I keep in touch with and we talk about business things, we talk about life things, and I think it's, I think all of the speakers are phenomenal. You will not choose a speaker you don't like. But I think as important as is just the connections that you can make.

Martha: Yeah. And that's true, Jim was talking about some events that we're gonna be MCing this year and in 2026 and both of them are in person, much like your event, because there's so much value there is in sitting next to each other. Yes, zoom calls are great. Yes, doing virtual things help us to continue to learn, but there is just something about that unscripted time where you're just getting to know people over a lunch or whatever that might be.

And so I wanna encourage our listeners, if you're looking ahead to your calendar, either for this fall or for next year, try to include an in-person event in your agenda. Yes, it takes more time. Yes, it takes more money, but it's just got a different value on it and I encourage that because God created us for community and sometimes that just has to be in the flesh and blood.

Emily Miller: I agree.

Jim: He created us all for community, but he didn't give us all the gift of creativity. But you, Emily Miller, have been given a gift from God, creativity, organization, and the ability to make spaces feel warm, purposeful. Do you see yourself as the hand of God, as you transform buildings and companies because of the spaces you create?

Emily Miller: I hope so. I think that what's really fun about my job is I get to take a client's needs and create a vision to meet those needs that they most likely couldn't create themselves. And I think that's so similar to our walk with God, right? God knows what we need and he has plans for us that we can't even comprehend.

And there are some times in our lives where we're able to pause and reflect and just thank God for what he's done. Just seeing, okay, you had a plan here that I couldn't have comprehended, but it was perfect for my life. And not to say that I am God, but I hope that, there are moments for my clients and like I said earlier, patients in a hospital or at a clinic or employees at a business that can enjoy the aesthetics and the comfort and the safety and the durability of a space that I have helped to create, and can just feel at peace. And so yeah, I hope that I can honor people in that way.

Martha: That's so good and it's good to reflect on that and to see where God has brought you in the journey. So what is one last word of encouragement that you could give our listeners right now about running their own business and their marriage and their family that you've maybe learned that you wanna make sure other people know about?

Emily Miller: Yeah, so I have a two word phrase that I have used a lot over the summer and it is "not now." Whether that is things in my home like a mess in the dining room or a disorganized toy room or it's things in my office that I wish looked different or even clients I really wanna go after, but I don't have the margin, I think just saying "not now" and finding peace in that and just, yeah, setting those realistic expectations is really important.

Martha: Oh. That's so good.

Jim: That was good. Very good. You could write a sermon series. "Not now." There might be a book. There's a book there. Not Now by Emily Miller. That's right. (laughter)

Emily Miller: Not now. It's definitely not a book right now. Nope. (laughing)

Jim: Emily Miller, thanks for being on iWork4Him today. Thanks for talking, just sharing your heart with us. If you're interested in meeting Emily face to face, check out mainstreetsummit.com and attend the event November 4-6. There's lots of great speakers who are gonna be there and Emily will be one of them. Emily Miller. Thank you.

Emily Miller: Thank you both.

Jim: You've been listening to iWork4HIm with your hosts, Jim and Martha Brangenberg. We're Christ followers. Our workplace, it's our mission field, but ultimately iWork4Him.