What Mick Jagger Taught Me About Design
By Katherine Ingressia
Mick Jagger always said that if he wasn’t a Leo, he wouldn’t be Mick Jagger.
He’s said it himself, that audacity, that uninhibited strut, that ability to walk onto a stage and act like a rooster in front of thousands of people is what makes him. If he stopped to think about it for even a second, he’d probably run the other way.
I use that same kind of nerve in my role as Executive Director of Design at Barker Nestor.
Here are five things you need to build a successful career as a restaurant and bar designer, as told by Mick Jagger.
1. Confidence, Moxie, Balls
People pay me to make decisions. Design is subjective, and therefore ambiguous. Anyone who has painted a room or picked out a couch understands how arduous it can be. Imagine that process but for someone else, for an entire restaurant.
People have been asking my opinion since I was six years old. “Do you like this or that?”
“That. One hundred percent.”
I learned very young that people respond to strong opinions – especially in creative fields where nothing is objectively right or wrong. If you’re going to lead projects where millions of dollars are at stake and dozens of stakeholders are involved, you cannot hesitate every five minutes. You must be decisive. Even if you’re scared. Even if you’re wondering, “Who do you think you are, lady?”
That’s the Mick Jagger moment.
He laughs at himself. He knows how absurd he looks sometimes. And he goes out there anyway. You have to wave your freak flag and act before fear talks you out of it. What’s the worst thing that happens? Your phone doesn’t ring? Then you get a job. You pivot and try. Nothing ventured, nothing gained.
2. The One-Woman Freak Show
For years I was what I lovingly call a “one-woman freak show.” A solo operator and conceptual powerhouse. But I am not tech savvy. I don’t document. I don’t gravitate toward invoicing or tax strategy. I know exactly what my strengths are — and what they are not.
Mick Jagger is the frontman. But he’s nothing without the band. You need your manager, you need your financial brain.
Some of those people are visible on stage like the drummers and back-up singers. In my world those people would be the General Contractor or the Architect. Others are invisible — the documentation team, the site administrators, the sound guy, the light tech.
No one walking into a restaurant says, “Wow, incredible documentation package.”
They say, “This place is amazing.” Success requires both.
3. Does Anyone Know What a Rolodex is These Days?
I used to carry an actual Rolodex. A physical one, with cards. The bigger your ‘dex, the better you were. It held the glass blower, the iron bender, the muralist, the calligrapher, the lighting rep, the fabricator who could make magic out of nothing. You can draw something beautiful. But who will bring it to life?
Your network is connective tissue. It’s the bridge between concept and reality. It’s how imagination becomes built form. Today it might not be a Rolodex…It might be LinkedIn, Instagram, your contacts list on your phone. But the principle is identical: collect excellence, nurture relationships, and know who to call. You need what? I got a guy.
4. Two Mentors Make A Career
Mick Jagger is one of my mentors. I’ve never spoken to him and I never will. But he’s my North Star!
To give some background: I grew up with three older brothers who were rock and rollers. I had Mick Jagger on my wall when other girls had Donny Osmond. When I was young I went to see The Rolling Stones perform in Rockford, the town where I grew up. I did not know it then, but it represented something much bigger.
Mick represents permission.
Permission to be outrageous. Permission to be confident without pedigree. Permission to say, “I’m doing this,” and then just do it.
But you also need tangible mentors. Someone you see everyday that cares for your personal growth and has your best interests at heart. Someone like accountant who understands large merchandise purchases. A business advisor who can say, “Here’s how you structure this.” Someone who can answer, “What do I do when the client doesn’t pay?”
Inspiration without infrastructure is chaos. Infrastructure without inspiration is dead. You need both.
5. For 100 Swings, One Hit Is All You Need
When I first went out on my own, there was no internet. No Instagram. No websites. I made beautifully packaged folders of my visual merchandising work — photos, titles, a band around the outside — and mailed them to one hundred companies. It cost a fortune.
One phone call came back. One.
But that one was enough. Because once I had that first client on my resume, everything changed. Today the tools are different. You might need a website. An Instagram. A LinkedIn presence. A TikTok if that’s your language. But the principle hasn’t changed in decades: You cannot wait to be discovered. You must declare yourself. And yes, it takes gall. It takes sending one hundred things out and hearing silence. It takes applying to a thousand jobs and getting three responses.
But you only need one.
A Final Thought: You Don’t Need Pedigree. You Need Moxie
We live in a time obsessed with credentials — where you went to school, who your family is, your last name, your lineage.
I’m a Sicilian peasant and a Leo. That’s what I’ve got. And if Mick Jagger can build a career on audacity, charisma, and relentless self-belief — then anyone can build a career in commercial design with the same ingredients. There are people walking around right now with the moxie inside them. They just need permission to use it.
Wave your freak flag, build your band, grow your Rolodex, find your mentors, announce yourself. And then walk onto the stage like you belong there.
Because you do.