Kathy Delgado
How Kathy Delgado traded commercial real estate for French antiques and built a business—and life—that she loves.
Through the late 80s and 90s, Kathy Delgado built a successful career in Los Angeles’ cut-throat, male-dominated world of commercial real estate. A transplant from Chicago, Kathy originally envisioned a career selling homes, but a mentor nudged her toward commercial real estate because it was more intellectually stimulating. Kathy was sold. She landed her first industry job as a runner, the catch-all professional who serves as connective tissue between the brokerage and the client.
But with talent and a tremendous work ethic, Kathy quickly rose the ranks to eventually become a senior vice president with a prominent brokerage. By then, she was juggling three assistants and two cell phones, winning industry awards, appearing on magazine covers, out-earning almost everyone, and servicing the who’s who of Hollywood. Kathy had reached the pinnacle of her industry and seemed to be living the dream.
“I made a lot of money, but I worked nonstop. I had no life,” Kathy said. That’s when she began flying to France for long weekends as a mental escape: “Everyone thought I was crazy—but I didn’t.”
Little did Kathy know that her Thursday-to-Monday jaunts would one day help launch a dream career.
For fun, Kathy began collecting vintage and antique treasurers that she’d find in estate sales and shops during her mini trips to Europe, falling more deeply in love with the French lifestyle. Then, as she was building relationships with vendors and pickers, honing her personal aesthetic, friends began asking Kathy for help decorating their homes. Meanwhile, her career in commercial real estate lost a bit of its luster—“the challenge was waning,” she said.
One day during this time, Kathy was helping film director and writer Michael Mann find new office space when he noticed some glass items from Paris on a shelf. He asked if she’d be willing to pick something similar for him on her next trip overseas.
“You’re really good at this,” Kathy recalled Mann saying. She explained that she hoped to do it full-time one day, but for now, with her cushy career, antiquing was just a hobby.
“He said, ‘Kathy, do not confuse money with happiness. You can excel at more than one thing! Do it while you’re young, while you still have the energy.’”
The advice percolated in the back of Kathy’s mind, but it wasn’t until the morning of John Ritter’s death on Sept. 11, 2003, at age 54, that she made a real decision to pivot. “It was the craziest thing,” she said. “I’ll never forget it.” Kathy was making coffee in the kitchen of her new house when she heard the news about John’s death on TV. She didn’t know him, but for some reason, it struck a chord. She put down her coffee, pulled up a seat at the table, and wrote a business plan for a new venture that morning. She was ready to pursue her dream as an antiques dealer and stylist, and Vintageweave Interiors was born.
It’s not every entrepreneur’s story, but Kathy’s fledgling business was met with immediate success. Within a year, she phased out of real estate and opened a brick-and-mortar storefront in a prime location between Hollywood and Beverly Hills. Additionally, she began selling antiques privately to high-profile clients and supplying decor to the set design industry, as well.
A few months after the shop opened, an editor from Los Angeles Magazine stopped by to inform Kathy that the magazine would feature Vintageweave in its “best of” edition. Confused, and well aware of how many spectacular antiques dealers there were in L.A., Kathy asked, in what category would she be featured?
“The editor looked at me like I was crazy—like I didn’t even know what my niche was—and then said, ‘Well, best Parisian imports, of course. Practically everything you have is French.’”
This was the clarifying moment when Kathy truly understood her unique offering. She stopped sourcing goods from London and concentrated solely on products from France. Later, she further honed a subspecialty in styling French kitchens, dining rooms, and food spreads for cooking shows, restaurants, and cookbooks. Her television work with personality chef Danny Seo on his NBC show, “Naturally, Danny Seo”, earned the team an Emmy. It also opened doors for Kathy to work with the Hallmark Channel.
Eventually, servicing private clients competed with Kathy’s ability to run a shop, so she let go of her storefront and moved the inventory to private showroom. (Today, in place of the store, she sells items online.)
From 3 a.m. phone calls with sources overseas, to adding a special, hand-written note before dropping a package in the mail, Kathy still loves it all. “I don't make the money that I made in commercial real estate,” she said. “I never balanced a checkbook then—and I do now. But I've never been happier. It's a dream. I rarely feel like I'm working.”
Connect with Kathy and Vintageweave on Instagram.
Thanks for reading,
—Steph for GeNext
Short Takes
What did you feel was missing from your career in commercial real estate?
To sum it up in one word, a life.
What was most challenging about the pivot?
I had a healthy nest egg put aside, but it's very scary to be a single woman and leave a job in which you have a guaranteed income.
What tips would you give others who want to pivot?
A plan is essential. Mine shifted along the way, but you need to have a plan written down.
Staying positive is a choice; you need to stay inspired. Don’t listen to the stories of failures.
If you think you're working hard for someone else, you're going to work 10 times as hard for yourself because now you're the dishwasher, the waitress, the cook, the server, and the accountant.