Emma

Kettering, an old market town in Northamptonshire and, famously, home to Doc Martens. My dad was a shoemaker. We're a generation of them. I'm half Irish, which apparently hands me one of the best passports in the world. I was always shy and very 'nice', and I've still got my best friend from when I was three.

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As a kid I never sat still. Jumping off things, climbing trees, swimming competitively, windsurfing. The only computer game I've ever played is Tetris. I think I always wanted to own a shop. I was obsessed with displaying things. But I started in drama. Theatre studies, set design, production. For my final show I told Harry I wanted to direct his version of Trainspotting, and I pulled it off. Still convinced it's the best thing I've ever done. It taught me that I love piecing things together.

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'What If' taught me business and marketing. This is 1998, and yes, we're in full revival mode. My first interior project was designing their space in Marylebone. Walking into a room you've transformed turned out to be the most exciting thing going. I stand by that today.

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I'm an optimist, still a little shy, somewhere in between introvert and extrovert. Always a 'fuck it, let's do it' sort, worry about the consequences later. These days I'd like more time outdoors. Indoors is for designing spaces. My dream project would be a hotel in the countryside. Still waiting for that call.

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Nadia

I'm from Street. It's that good they didn't bother giving it a proper name. Home to Clarks shoes. A strange coincidence given where Emma grew up. I was a bit of a geek. Not cool. Loved art and gaming. Megadrive, Xbox. Mum was an ICT teacher, so there was always decent tech in the house too. I once talked my sister into buying a console so I could play it. I'm highly competitive.

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My mum and I used to visit show homes, caravan shows, anywhere with little interiors you could poke around. Forever redesigning my bedroom, shifting things about.

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At twenty-one I landed a grad scheme role at a marketing company, so I left for London. It was ok but I longed for more creativity. I experimented with photography. I was brought in to manage a project that was going wrong. A young band called One Direction. The project did well. It was exciting. I switched into the music industry. Worked with the band and other Syco acts. Crazy times, lots of fun. It opened my eyes to creative careers being something I could do. I am forever grateful to Genevieve for lighting my path.

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I love colour and texture and figuring out why things are good. I appreciate craftsmanship and design.

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I met Emma on the anti-Brexit march. Then again on the Ginger Line. We sat down on a Friday afternoon and I've never left.

Something looks exactly as it should and works exactly as needed, without compromise. The balance between beauty and function that makes a product or space feel effortless to use and enjoyable to experience. It might be a well-loved object that only gets better with age or a meal shared with friends where everything just falls into place.

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It's environments that not only look considered but genuinely improve the way people live and work every day. The best design often goes unnoticed because it feels so intuitive, and for us, that’s what makes something truly dead good.