What a Team!
In the last 5 years the staging business has grown by leaps and bounds due to their passion of turning ordinary into extraordinary. Their perfectionism and bubbly personalities shows in the work that they do.
Jill Copeland
I was raised in the Bay Area all of my life. Eventually ending up in Fremont where I graduated from Mission San Jose High School. What was funny when we first moved there, my parents thought they were moving us to the country! Later in life, I migrated to Pleasanton with my wonderful husband & my lil dog Gucci for another adventure.
I had the bug for design at a very early age. It started in high school when my mom would undergo her own painting and decorating projects. I would love the whole process, but the feeling of satisfaction when we were done was amazing.
I have been in the Interior Design & Construction industry for over 30 years. In the middle of this career, I graduated 10 years ago, in 2000, from the California Culinary Academy in San Francisco. Two of my passions, Interior Design and cooking! I became a general contractor 16 years ago, after doing so many fixers with my husband. We would buy the worst house, polish it up, and then wallah!!! We would then have ourselves a jewel box! Then on to the next! We staged all of our vacant homes before staging was called staging. The idea is to make the house warm and friendly, and appealing to most.
How I met my business partner Kathy, was as a referral. She hired me to do her interior design at her home in Castro Valley whenever her husband left for his golf or business trips. We soon became very good friends, and we encouraged her and her husband Mic to move here in Pleasanton. When I built her home in Pleasanton, and as we did the finishing touches, I realized that she had the knack for design. She started as an apprentice with me. For the last 6 years, she has been working with me on all of the staging jobs. Her marketing and people skills have been a blessing. We both have similar ideas and goals which make this partnership solid.
Kathy Donohue
Raised in the Midwest, Kansas and Missouri, edging my way across the United States, I graduated from Arizona State University and finally landing in beautiful California making it home. When I lived in Southern California, I spent several years as a human resources professional. I used that experience and bought a Snelling&Snelling personnel agency. I loved the people industry, but my real passion has always been interior design. It has been my good fortune to have met Jill in that it has enabled me to pursue what I love to do. For the last 6 years, I have been working closely on most of the design and staging projects. It has given me the most personal satisfaction. We have now joined together in M Design Staging to pool our talents and offer a different experience to the real estate industry.
I am active in the Pleasanton Downtown Association as a volunteer to help keep our downtown vibrant and our local small businesses successful. I live downtown with my husband of 17 years and our rescue companion, Graci. You probably see us walking all over!
