20 QUESTIONS WITH kayla
What is procurement? And what makes KTI’s procurement department so unique? Our in-house procurement team provides a seamless client experience from design concepting to final install, ensuring the perfect end result.
Meet Kayla! As our Procurement Project Manager serving our Luxury Residential clients, Kayla is the orderer of all things and keeper of vendor relationships. She’s the one who gets our clients the best price, the fastest shipping, and can tell you where in the world your barstool is.
1. What’s your KTI story?
I started at KTI back in 2018 as a Procurement Assistant. I’ve spent the past five-ish years fostering vendor relationships, purchasing millions of dollars worth of furnishings, and have since grown into my role as Procurement Project Manager.
2. How would you explain your job to a child?
I make friends with the people who sell furniture and other home items, so that I can negotiate the best price for our clients. Then, I buy the items clients want for their projects (everything from furniture to dishes!) and make sure it gets there when and where it needs to be.
3. Did you know you wanted to work in the design industry?
Nope! I ended up here through a long line of different jobs that magically landed me at KTI and I haven’t looked back since.
4. Which studio do you support at KTI?
When I first started at KTI, I worked on both Luxury Residential and Hospitality projects, but now I solely support the Luxury Residential team. Hospitality and Interior Merchandising also have dedicated teams to do their purchasing.
5. What’s one aspect of your role that you love?
I really love my team. The people I get to work with every day are the main reason I look forward to coming to work.
6. What’s one aspect of your job that’s challenging?
A challenging part of my role is the supply chain issues that are out of my control. Freight issues and backorders can be particularly frustrating.
7. What do you consider your greatest achievement?
I’m really proud of our Opposites Attract project and how well the installation went. The project overall was a long process and my biggest Luxury Residential project yet to coordinate (over 18,000 square feet!) I have my team and our installers to thank for their cooperation but I’d like to pat myself on the back a bit for its success 😊
8. Are you type A or type B in your work? What about at home?
This is so funny, because at work I’m very organized and type A! I think I use up all that energy at work, because outside of work, my life can be pretty chaotic.
9. What’s the best part about finishing a project?
For me, it’s seeing it all actually come together before my eyes. Since I don’t design, most of what I see until an install is PO numbers, pricing, and tracking numbers. To actually see the whole concept collide in person is like magic every time!
10. What’s your favorite KTI project?
This is such a difficult question, but I think I have to go with Funk It Up! The clients were so wonderful and I am obsessed with how fun they were willing to go with the colors and patterns throughout the home.
11. What are you listening to currently?
If you know me, you know I’m probably always listening to Taylor Swift, but my music taste is actually all over the place. I also have been listening to The Basement Yard podcast a lot. Those guys crack me up!
12. What’s your spirit animal?
I’ve always been very drawn to foxes. So much so that I had to ask that gifts no longer be fox-related; it got a little out of hand!
13. What’s one food you couldn’t live without?
Pad Thai. It’s my deserted island food for sure!
14. Take us through your 5 to 9 after your 9 to 5.
I’ve gotten pretty good at going to the gym once work is over with the KTI gym crew (represent!) Then, I am typically going home to make something for dinner, take some time to either practice guitar or doing something creative like painting. Then I’ll either watch TV or a movie until it’s time to read myself to sleep.
15. What’s your biggest passion in life?
Traveling! I’ve been to about 20 countries and I’m in the process of planning my next big destination for 2025.
16. If your fingers could dispense 5 beverages, what would they be?
I’m addicted to Waterloo sparkling water so it’d be my top flavors: Cherry Limeade, Peach, Strawberry, Grape, and Tropical Fruit!
17. Where would you live if you could live anywhere in the world?
This is the hardest question, but a town I lived in Australia sticks out to me called Katoomba. It’s in the Blue Mountains and was one of the places that felt like a home away from home to me!
18. How would you describe your personal style? Have you picked up any tricks from working with designers?
It’d be a mix. My home is a biophilic-eclectic-vintage-contemporary sanctuary for me. I learn something new from the designers every day, but they might need to be the judge on if that’s translated to my home…
19. What’s a hobby you hope to pick up one day?
I’d really like to get into sewing. I’d like to be able to alter my own clothes, and maybe even make my own one day.
20. What do you hope to achieve in 2024?
We have big things coming this year on the Luxury Residential team so I’m excited for some big and successful installs. Outside of work I’m hoping to visit some new National Parks and get a lot of camping in!