KBB 2025 Person of the Year
Sharon L. Sherman, CKD, CID, NCIDQ, Founder of Thyme & Place Design, Wyckoff, N.J.
For more than 20 years, Sharon L. Sherman has been a force in the interior design community. She is an award-winning designer who shares her insights through her active “Tips From the Trade” blog – which was recently ranked among Feedspot’s 2025 Top 100 Interior Design Blogs. Her Instagram handle, @thymeandplacedesign, interacts with more than 3,400 followers.
Photo (above): Alyssa Peek, Peek Photography
Sherman is an active member of the American Society of Interior Design’s New Jersey Chapter, the Interior Design Society, the National Kitchen & Bath Association and the KBB Editorial Advisory Board and serves on the Interior Design Community Board of Directors. For five years, she has been donating 40% of her initial design consultation fees to the Social Services Association of Ridgewood and Vicinity, a food security organization in her community.
Sherman launched her design firm in 2002 and has developed a myriad of CEUs over the years. Through this and countless other initiatives, our 2025 Person of the Year is well known for her support of and collaboration with the design community she has come to know so well and love so much.
In January, Sherman launched the “The Ultimate Guide to Kitchen and Bath Business Success,” a series of guides to help K&B designers successfully plan a remodeling project. She believes this is a great way to provide information and process systems for anyone to use through a free downloadable tool kit and/or a paid set of guides.
As far as the future? The sky is the limit for Sherman. Recently named a designer
ambassador for the SKS Design Collective, she plans to bring a different perspective on how designers think and develop educational materials and presentations to allow them to become more comfortable working with appliances and technology. She has designed a line of furniture based on her extensive travels that is adaptable to both interiors and kitchens and baths and hopes to find a partner to launch that soon. Sherman has no plans to slow down on her blog and article writing and conference presentations.
Congratulations, Sharon Sherman, this one is for you!
Praiseworthy Picks
Photo: Caroline Bramlett Broome
Cyndy Cantley, CKD, Principal Interior Design, Cantley & Co. Inc., Birmingham, Ala.
Cyndy Cantley believes in giving back to the kitchen and bath design community through leadership, education and advocacy. As an NKBA Global Connect Ambassador, she has traveled to Germany and Italy to learn about new innovations overseas and to represent the American design perspective on an international platform. She has had open dialogues with three universities in Alabama about design career paths and serves as the president of the ASID Alabama Chapter, where she has increased membership by 20%.
Photo: Kate Romero
Shannon Ggem, Owner, Shannon Ggem Design, Agoura Hills, Calif.
Shannon Ggem has been helping build back the Altadena community after the Eaton Fire destroyed 6,000+ homes. She led a team of interior designers to rebuild the kitchens and baths in the salvageable homes, with a focus on easing project decision fatigue, applying evidence-based design and prioritizing sustainability. As part of her involvement in this initiative, Ggem and her team have created 10 furniture, fixtures and equipment specification books for kitchen and baths for the homeowners rebuilding after the Altadena disaster.
Photo: Adahlia Cole and Colin Peck
Summer Jensen, NCIDQ, CEO & Principal Designer, Hawk & Co., Laguna Canyon, Calif.
As a Certified Green Innovator, Summer Jensen promotes the hashtag #makesustainabilitysexy and believes our industry should build more efficiently to preserve our resources. Jensen’s firm donates 50 trees through One Tree Planted for every 1,000 square feet of homes it builds to offset the timber used in its projects. Hawk & Co. recently received a Green Business Certification from the California Green Business Network, and Jensen’s latest achievement was obtaining the DNA Paris Design Award in the Interior Design/Sustainability category.
Photo: Devon Stoebe Photography
Lauren Lerner, Founder & Principal Designer of Living With Lolo, Scottsdale, Ariz.
When Lauren Lerner and her beloved team have excess inventory or pieces that can’t be used in client projects because of minor imperfections, they donate them to local charities for people in need. She has integrated AI into her client communication, project management and marketing platforms. She uses it for such tools as sending personal and intentional project updates, building an advanced procurement system to track all details and analyzing engagement and performance data.
Photo: LX Hausys
Mike Morici, Senior Director of Surfaces, LX Hausys America
As host of the 2025 Atlanta Stadium Series Showcase at the Mercedes-Benz Stadium earlier this year, Mike Morici was pivotal in highlighting the brand’s range of offerings and educating attendees on the company’s sustainability initiatives. He is passionate about employee training, professional workforce development and domestic manufacturing. He is also an advocate for low-silica surface technologies for safer, sustainable fabrication. The company now offers a low-silica quartz product, and its HIMACS products can be recycled into new applications or refurbished.
Photo: Christina Kramer Photos
Rose Ott, AKBD, Owner & Principal Designer, Rose Ott Design, Long Beach, N.Y.
As the advocacy chair for the NKBA Manhattan Chapter Board, Rose Ott was awarded a grant to help host The Skilled Labor Career Day: Career Connections. The initiative connected high school students with industry professionals to educate them about how rewarding a career can be in the skilled labor trades. This year, the designer also launched her LB Soul wallpaper and fabric collection, which was inspired by the cherished landmarks of her town of Long Beach, N.Y.
Photo: Sarah Shields
Tiffany Skilling, Founder & Principal Designer, Tiffany Skilling Interiors, Indianapolis
Tiffany Skilling has launched the TSI Apprenticeship Program to inspire the next generation of skilled tradespeople. With an in-house workroom staffed by professional upholsterers and seamstresses, her goal is to preserve traditional craftsmanship while opening new opportunities for artisans. Skilling believes quality, hand-made goods are a cornerstone of sustainable design and lasting beauty. Deeply committed to the community, she and her firm support Habitat for Humanity Women Build, Women for Riley and countless other local organizations that focus on direct impact.
Photo: Jenna Anderson
Tyler Swartzmiller, CEO & Principal Designer, Haus Studio Designs, Columbus, Ohio
Tyler Swartzmiller founded Curated Columbus, a collaborative environment for local designers to foster mentorship and learning. His goal was to provide a dedicated space for interior designers to connect with and support one another. Swartzmiller has also launched the “Curated Coffee Chat,” where young designers meet with seasoned professionals in an intimate setting of less than 10 participants. His “Designing Dreams in the Haus” podcast helps homeowners learn about the design-build process through interviews with tradespeople, architects and product experts.
