We had the good fortune of connecting with Marina Bargouti and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Marina, what do you attribute your success to?
To me, Success is a result of an individual’s hard work, personal goals achievements and the level of satisfaction. It’s impossible to define Success in one sentence. Some people find success in their happiness, some measure it by their wealth, source of income, professional achievements or, if it’s not even enough for them, they want power or fame. Many people look at success as a result of a healthy lifestyle, loved family or well educated kids. Success is also an actual process, for those who enjoys it the most! I’d say – Success – is all of the above and so much more! But most importantly, there must be a great balance between all of the factors. You can have the most loving partner/spouse and kids, but still feel empty and not complete as an individual without having personal growth. Or you can have all the power and wealth in the world, but will any of that bring joy if there is a health problem, for instance? No. Non of this matters, unless all of our aspects of life are taking care of. I strongly believe, Balance is a key to Success. You don’t have to be extremely productive or having the best career to be successful, as long as you love what you do, do the best you can and enjoy every minute of it. Another factor is how we set the goals and how satisfied we feel about our accomplishments. We might not get the desired results for years, but the process of learning, improving, gaining that experience and growing is already a huge success. The way how I measure success as if you have many tubes filled with liquid in front of you with each tube representing every important to you aspect of your life. My tubes would be labeled as Family & Kids, Relationships, Home, Friendships, Health & Beauty, Education, Personal Growth, Hobby, Career/Work, Travel, Finances, Sport and so on.. So the goal is to not just have all the tubes always full, but to have them filled evenly. It doesn’t matter how much of each factor you have in your life, but what does matter is the presence and balance of all. That is Success! It is for sure, one of the hardest tasks to do and to maintain, but what we do need to focus on. Because when we keep nutritioning each of those aspects of our life, “filling” them like tubes one by one, while watching all the others to not drain at the same time – that is when we find peace, happiness, motivation, growth and become successful.

What should our readers know about your business?
Born and raised in Eastern Europe, I moved to Miami later in life, where I fell in love with the upscale lifestyle. Though I had earned a Master’s Degree in accounting, I was not inspired to pursue a career in that direction.  I tried finding my true self in many industries, such as retail, supply chain management, jewelry sales, casino administration, marketing. While I found success in these roles and gained significant professional experience, I still did not feel complete. After getting married, I joined professional forces with my husband, who has, besides his main job, passion for real state and is also a certified professional, and together we began flipping houses. As a duo, we were involved in every step of the home flipping process:  from real estate research and acquisition to rebuilding and remodeling from the ground up, to designing, decorating, staging and selling. It was during this chapter of my career when I tapped into my talent for interior design and realized that I possessed a unique and elegant vision for interior spaces. After successfully buying, remodeling, designing, staging and selling our first few houses, we then purchased our dream home which we decided to make our own and raise our family in. We completely rebuilt, remodeled and redesigned it; giving me a 4000+ square-foot blank canvas to practice my skills and let my imagination and creativity run wild. I had two children back to back, my house to design and decorate and my wings to fly! It was during this time that I began sharing my passion for Interior Design on Instagram @Marina.B.Style; sharing my own home design and my client’s homes that I had a pleasure designing and decorating. My Instagram account quickly grew (with over 110,000 followers in 2.5 years), and without any advertising, I began to have followers reaching out to me from across the United States for help in designing their homes. I immediately saw the need for E-Design solutions and began creating online designs for clients near and far; providing guidance in decorating their homes in a modern, glamorous style. It did help me to spread my wings and to set new highs! I am so thankful to be able to make a career out of my hobby and passion.  I feel so blessed to have the opportunity to inspire people through my home, my style and my work. People often tell me that I have a very unique style and a natural eye for interior design and home decorating. I classify my style as “Modern and Glamorous”: sleek, clean, elegant and timeless lines, crossed by dramatic, luxury… an almost “untouchable” chic. I don’t work by the “book” of design and that’s why I strongly believe that no one can actually just “learn” how to be a successful Interior Designer, Home Stylist or Decorator.  They must feel it.  We can study law or science, but STYLE is within us. We may find inspiration in someone’s designs and ideas, re-create it with our own touch or even copy-paste it, but in the end, its a work of art that will always have our “signature” on it.  I love unique products, I love mixing what’s not necessarily “matching”, I even love mixing design styles altogether and I’m not afraid to be “different”.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
Oh, I would quit my job for a week or two and party hard (JK) LOL – In the Miami Zoo, Lego Land, Disney World and waterparks! If that friend had kids of course 🙂 If not, I would take her to a cruise to visit Bahamas and Virgin Islands for sure! There are so many beautiful places to see and things to do in Miami area that I can do over and over again and lifetime isn’t enough! First places on the list would be – the outlet mall for shopping, a spa day at the beach resort, take a boat ride on the intracoastal, South beach, Downtown Miami, dinner at the rooftop with the city & water view, pool party and so much more! … Hmm, thanks for making me remind myself about all the fun things we can do here besides work & #momlife 🙂

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
It takes a village! I’m honestly so happy that I live in the time of #WomenEmpoweringWomen. I feel there is not as much competition, comparison, as it was before, no racing and chasing, but it’s more about motivating, supporting and lifting each other up. I get so inspired by those, who’s willing to GIVE it all before even thinking to take some. I’ve been lucky to be a part of the Interior Design & Home Decor community that we’re building together on social media. If you think of it, there is not much new these days that you can really bring to the world, as a creator, everything can be found online and even free now – information, education, inspiration and more. But what the world needs the most, especially now, is kindness, wiliness and desire to help, to give, to encourage, to support and to show how. There are courses, videos, trainings and “How to” classes – people are exchanging all the information, experiences and knowledge in all areas, teaching and educating each other, couching and motivating one another. It’s always easier to climb a mountain together with a group of people by your side, than alone. Although not everyone can do a team work, because it does take lots of courage and self-improvement to keep up with everyone else. But the feeling of growing together, pulling, pushing and lifting each other up (Literally!), holding hands, watching each other shine, climb and win that mountain with the help and support of others – is 100 times more priceless and satisfying than if you did it all alone with no one by your side and no one to share the joy with! When they succeed – you succeed, it makes us all become stronger, it makes the industry to be more on demand, it creates even more opportunities for everyone and it sure makes it so enjoyable to celebrate each other! 
So to answer your question I want to give a credit and recognition in my story to the kind, giving, inspiring, loving, supporting Women in my Life – my mom, best friend and girlfriends, My Insta Family – friends/followers/supporters, Interior Designers and Home Decor Influencers! I Love what I do, but I love it so much more doing it all together! And I thank you all for that and give you all the credit.

Website: www.instagram.com/marina.b.style
Instagram: www.instagram.com/marina.b.style
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCJqrKxCcsoOXLjx-1g736RQ

Image Credits
Photographers: @ollyvento @luxuryliving_photography Outfit: @stepsnewyork

Nominate Someone: ShoutoutMiami is built on recommendations and shoutouts from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.