Just because you live in a small town, doesn’t mean you have to sacrifice style and function in your home design. In Botwood, throughout central Newfoundland, and across Canada, Krista Vaters has been amping up her clients’ personal style for the last three years.

Vaters – a professional interior designer for nearly 20 years – launched Krista Lyn Vaters Interior Design in July 2021, offering in-person and virtual design consultations and full-service interior design, after being inspired by a very personal project during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“I never planned or wanted to become an entrepreneur,” she says, explaining she helped her mother through a kitchen renovation during the pandemic. “People were re-evaluating the importance of their homes and there were little to no resources to fill that need. Finish options were limited and often the same things would be chosen to go in home after home. I saw this as a need … and Krista Lyn Design Studio was born.”

The business has been growing ever since, offering design services for small or major renovations, as well as new built homes. Whether you’re looking for cabinetry design or someone to source finishes and home decor, Vaters loves to turn her clients’ vision into reality.

“I believe everyone deserves to love being home and their home should be a reflection of them,” Vaters says. “My job as an interior designer isn’t to create a space worthy of a magazine cover. It is to create a space that visually tells a story of the people who live within its four walls … “I feel I am in a position to bring more of those options to this area. Because the people of central Newfoundland deserve to have a beautiful home too.”

Becoming a business owner has allowed Vaters to be creative – not just in her designs – but also in how she approaches her business’s growth. She attributes at least some of that growth to the support she’s received from CBDC Central.

“There is no doubt that I would not have the business I have, or be the entrepreneur I am today, without the assistance of CBDC. They were always there to answer my many questions, informed me of things I wouldn’t have known, and pointed me in the right direction time after time,” Vaters says. “The relationship I have with my advisor … makes me feel like I have a partner in my business. Being a sole entrepreneur can be very overwhelming, intimidating, and lonely at times, I know I can find the support I need from her, every step of the way.”

Vaters took advantage of several CBDC programs including the First-Time Entrepreneur Loan, the CAS Program, SEA Program, as well as Business Counselling and Training.

Thank you to our Government of Canada partners at the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency (ACOA), who collaborate with us to support small businesses and aspiring entrepreneurs. Together, we will continue to build a stronger Atlantic Canadian economy, fostering job growth and strengthening our rural communities.