Listen to the full interview with Jessica in a special Rising Star episode of The kbbreview Podcast. Listen NOW using the player below or go straight to this episode in Apple Podcasts, Spotify or YouTube. Alternatively, simply search ‘kbbreview’ wherever you get your podcasts.

For some, a career in design is something that happens unexpectedly, but for others, like Jessica Liu, it’s the result of years of hard work on a single, focused path.

An interest in drawing when she was younger led Liu to studying art for her GCSEs. This naturally led to graphic design, then studying interior architecture at university, and finally, to a career designing kitchens for a living.

“I love the idea that you get to see and understand how people live, and then being able to draw from that and creating a design that works for them,” she explains. “I really enjoy that process and it’s a journey that brings me a lot of joy.”

Her own journey in the industry began in 2022, when she joined Chisholm Design as a recent graduate. In the years since, managing director Rob Chisholm says she’s become both a talented designer and a key member of the team.

Aside from simply being a first-rate designer, she’s also not afraid to take on particularly tricky design challenges that might be daunting for even seasoned professionals, let alone someone just a few years into their career.

For example, one project saw her designing a kitchen for a 400-year old cottage in Hampshire, which was particularly difficult because none of its walls were actually straight.

“I spent a lot of time just making sure the cabinets would fit,” she recalls. “There were several that had to be made bespoke just to fit in pipework, or the wall itself where it started to curve, but it all turned out really well in the end.

“I’ve done another project like that recently where the wall was just really wonky as well, and again, it was the same kind of idea, trying to embrace the building’s architecture rather than just trying to just hide it.”

And according to Liu, her role extends far beyond just designing and managing kitchen projects. “We are quite small, but I really like all of the tasks I get given – that brings me a lot of variety. Because Chisholm is a nice little husband-and-wife company, there’s a nice element of closeness to our team, and that means we’ve got a really friendly environment too.”

Given she’s no stranger to a design challenge, Liu says her role is an incredibly a rewarding one, concluding: “When projects need something bespoke, I get involved with the technical drawings for that as well. Something I’m quite proud of is when you have to draw something that’s incredibly customised for the client, and it comes out exactly as you’ve envisioned it.”

Over the next several months, you can find out more about each of our Rising Star finalists at kbbreview.com, as well as on The kbbreview Podcast and in each issue of kbbreview Magazine. The winner will be crowned at the prestigious kbbreview Retail & Design Awards ceremony at the Hilton Birmingham Metropole on March 2.