Laura Maresca-Sanatore is renowned as an interior designer with more than 15 years of creating thoughtful and modern residences for clients in New York and Connecticut to her credit. Prior to entering the design industry, she pursued an education at Capella University, earning a Bachelor of Science in hospital administration and health care management. Subsequently completing coursework in nursing at the State University of New York at Farmingdale, Ms. Maresca-Sanatore has been certified as an EKG technician and phlebotomist.
Ms. Maresca-Sanatore ended up going into interior design after she moved, wanting to take a break from health care. From 2005 to 2017, she found much success as the lead designer for Hampton Design Interiors Inc. Initially hired to do their finances, gaining knowledge about sales in order to see where the business was making money. After a fellow employee left, she took their place, doing more ordering and customer service than working at sites. When the owner of the business decided to retire, Ms. Maresca-Sanatore was faced with the choice between working for someone else and striking out on her own. As a result, she established LMS Design, as she considers the transition to have happened naturally, and credits her loyal clients and strong relationships with contractors for her ease in efficiently launching the company.
A member of the business council of the Parrish Art Museum, Ms. Maresca-Sanatore was recognized as a Regional Top 10 Semifinalist in the Subzero/Wolf Kitchen Design Awards in 2017 and 2018. She fondly recalls sitting down for dinner in New York with some of the top interior designers and architects. In addition to her exemplary work as a designer, Ms. Maresca-Sanatore is a RYT500 certified yoga instructor and has taught Yoga at Good Ground Yoga in Hampton Bays, New York, since 2013.
Ms. Maresca-Sanatore attributes her success to being authentic and having a good team. She is not amazing without her team; it is the people she surrounds herself with that make her great. She wants people to feel like they have autonomy and know that being an entrepreneur is not for the weak, needing to have thick skin and be a “serial optimist.” Small businesses took a massive hit because of COVID-19, but Ms. Maresca-Sanatore has just held on. Quoting fellow Marquis Who’s Who listee Warren Buffett, “You don’t buy or sell your business based on today’s headlines.” Not every job goes the way you want to and not every client is who you think you are, but there is always a positive aspect and you just need to look for it.
What has kept Ms. Maresca-Sanatore motivated is her 5-year-old son and giving people a home that they want to come back to; she wants him to see that good things can come from enough hard work. She believes that the key to her success is her team and that she would not have been able to achieve to a high degree without surrounding herself with the right people. Looking toward the future, Ms. Maresca-Sanatore would like to recruit an intern and hopes to cement her firm as a place for willing new designers to learn.
