You know the type. You see them at the charity galas, you see their names on the donor lists, and you see their perfectly curated lives on social media. It is easy—lazy, actually—to look at someone like Lakesha Draine and think, “Must be nice.” You see the high-profile marriage to a Chicago TV legend, the thriving design firm, and the effortless style, and you assume it was handed to her.
But that’s the problem with looking at the finish line without walking the track.
I’ve spent years deconstructing how people build empires, and let me tell you, Lakesha Draine isn’t a story about luck. It’s a story about sweat. Before she was picking out marble slabs for luxury high-rises, she was grinding it out on the track, literally setting records that stood for decades. This isn’t a fluff piece about a socialite; this is a blueprint on how to take raw competitive drive and channel it into a business that dominates a brutal market.
We are going to take a long, hard look at Lakesha Draine. We aren’t just listing her resume items. We are going to figure out how she thinks, how she operates, and why she has managed to succeed where so many others burn out.
Also Read: Barry Morphew and Joseph Toney
Key Takeaways
- The Athlete’s Mindset: Lakesha Draine’s background as a record-breaking sprinter (1987 state record holder) is the foundation of her business discipline.
- Scale Over Speed: With L Design Group, she didn’t just do small renovations; she tackled over 600 interior selections for major developments.
- The Double Threat: She merges culinary expertise with interior design, creating a “lifestyle” brand rather than just a service.
- Identity Management: Despite being married to Jim Rose, she has successfully carved out her own independent professional reputation.
- The “Whealthy” Concept: Her philosophy bridges the gap between health, wealth, and living well, influencing how she designs spaces.
Where Does the Drive Come From? Is it Nature or Nurture?
I always look for the “zero hour.” The moment before the money, before the fame. For Lakesha Draine, you have to go back to 1987.
Picture a track meet in Illinois. It’s loud, it smells like hot asphalt and nervous sweat. Lakesha is running for Shorewood Troy. The gun goes off, and she doesn’t just win; she destroys it. She clocked a 26.92 in the 200-meter dash.
Why am I talking about a junior high track record in a business profile?
Because you don’t run a 26.92 by accident. You don’t get that kind of speed without spending hours in the gym when nobody is watching. You don’t get there without understanding pain. That record stood as a testament to her wiring. Competitive sports teach you something that business school can’t: If you stop moving, you lose.
Fast forward to today, and you see the exact same energy in her business dealings. The construction industry—and make no mistake, interior design is part of the construction industry—is not for the faint of heart. It is full of delays, angry contractors, budget crises, and demanding clients. A softer person gets eaten alive in that world. But the girl who sprinted past everyone in 1987 is the same woman staring down deadlines today. She knows how to push.
How Did She Turn “Good Taste” Into a Scalable Business?
Let’s be honest. Everyone thinks they can be an interior designer. You watch a few episodes of HGTV, pick out a nice throw pillow, and suddenly you think you’re a pro. But there is a massive canyon between “having good taste” and “running a design firm.”
Lakesha Draine crossed that canyon by focusing on one thing: Scale.
Most designers get stuck in the trap of the single client. They spend six months agonizing over one living room for Mrs. Smith. It pays the bills, sure, but it doesn’t build an empire. Lakesha went bigger. Through her company, L Design Group, she positioned herself to work with the heavy hitters—the developers.
Here is a stat that should make your jaw drop: She has managed interior selections for over 600 condos in Chicago’s most desirable high-rises.
Do you have any idea how hard that is?
Stop and think about the logistics. We aren’t talking about picking one sofa. We are talking about 600 kitchen backsplashes, 600 flooring choices, 600 lighting packages. We are talking about supply chain management on a massive level. If the tile is late for Unit 402, it delays the closing, which pisses off the developer, which costs the bank money. The pressure is immense.
Lakesha Draine didn’t just survive that pressure; she thrived in it. She built systems. She built a team. She proved that she wasn’t just an “artist”—she was an operator. That is the difference between a hobbyist and a CEO.
Is She a Designer or a Chef? Why Not Both?
This is the curveball in her story that I love. Usually, people stay in their lanes. If you are a designer, you design. If you are a chef, you cook. Lakesha Draine looked at those lanes and decided to merge them.
She is a chef and a specialist in the art of entertaining.
At first glance, this might seem like a distraction. But dig deeper. It is actually a brilliant business move. What is the most expensive room in a house to renovate? The kitchen. What is the emotional center of the home? The kitchen.
By understanding the culinary arts, Lakesha brings a level of functional expertise to her designs that a non-cook simply cannot match. A standard architect might place the stove on an island because it “looks cool.” Lakesha knows that if you put the stove there without the right ventilation, you’re going to smoke out your guests during a dinner party. She understands the “work triangle”—the flow between the fridge, the sink, and the stove—because she has actually worked in it.
This allows her to sell a Lifestyle, not just a floor plan. She isn’t selling you cabinets; she is selling you the perfect Thanksgiving dinner. She isn’t selling you a patio; she is selling you a summer cocktail party. That emotional hook is powerful. It separates her from the thousands of other designers in Chicago who just want to talk about color theory.
How Does She Navigate the “Jim Rose” Factor?
We have to address the elephant in the room. Lakesha Draine is married to Jim Rose.
For those of you outside the Midwest, Jim Rose is royalty. He spent 41 years at ABC 7 Chicago. He is the face of sports and news for generations of Chicagoans. They got married in 2011, and they are a staple on the social circuit.
In many relationships like this, the spouse gets swallowed up. They become “Mrs. Rose” or “Mr. Smith” and lose their own identity. They become an accessory to the famous partner.
Lakesha refused to let that happen.
Watch how she moves in public. Yes, she supports him. You see them at the Chicago Loop Alliance gala or the Common Threads World Festival, looking like a million bucks. But she always maintains her own billing. She is introduced as “Lakesha Draine, Founder of L Design Group.”
This takes a lot of confidence. It would be very easy to rest on his laurels, to enjoy the VIP treatment and coast. But remember the track star? Coasting isn’t in her DNA. She used the platform that their marriage provided not to hide, but to amplify her own work. She matched his success with her own.
I think this dynamic is crucial for any entrepreneur in a relationship. You need a partner who supports your ambition, not one who competes with it or stifles it. They seem to have found that rare frequency where two high-powered transmitters can operate without jamming each other’s signals.
What is the “Whealthy” Philosophy?
You might hear this term associated with her: “Whealthy.” It’s a mashup of Wealth and Healthy. It sounds like a marketing buzzword, but looking at her career, it seems to be a genuine operating system.
The idea is simple: Success means nothing if you feel like garbage.
We have all seen the burnt-out executive who makes seven figures but has a heart attack at 50. Lakesha seems to reject that model. Her focus on food, on entertaining, on creating beautiful spaces—it’s all centered on well-being.
When she designs a home, she is manipulating the environment to promote health.
- Lighting: She knows that natural light boosts mood and productivity.
- Flow: She knows that a cluttered space leads to a cluttered mind.
- Social Spaces: She designs rooms that force people to put down their phones and talk to each other.
This is where the interior design industry is heading. People are tired of “pretty” rooms that you can’t touch. They want homes that heal them. Lakesha was ahead of this curve. She understood early on that your environment dictates your habits, and your habits dictate your life.
Why Do So Many Designers Fail Where She Succeeded?
I look at the failure rate in the creative industries, and it is heartbreaking. So many talented artists go broke. Why?
They fall in love with the art and ignore the business.
Lakesha Draine never made that mistake. Dealing with real estate developers is a masterclass in negotiation. Developers are sharks. They want everything yesterday, and they want it under budget. To survive in that tank for as long as she has, Lakesha had to develop a thick skin. She had to learn how to read a contract, how to push back on unrealistic demands, and how to manage cash flow when payments are delayed.
If you are a creative person reading this, take a page out of her book. Stop obsessing over the shade of blue and start obsessing over your profit margins. Stop trying to make everyone happy and start trying to make your business scalable.
What Can We Expect From Her Next?
Entrepreneurs like Lakesha don’t retire; they just pivot.
With her deep expertise in both food and design, the logical next step is media. A book seems inevitable—perhaps a cookbook that also offers design tips for hosting? Or maybe a product line? I wouldn’t be surprised to see “Lakesha Draine” branded cookware or home decor items on shelves in the next few years.
She has the name recognition. She has the credibility. And frankly, she has the look. She is camera-ready, thanks in no small part to being adjacent to the TV world for over a decade.
But whatever she does, you can bet it will be executed with that same sprinter’s precision. She doesn’t seem like the type to throw things at the wall to see what sticks. She aims, she fires, and she usually hits.
Conclusion: The Reality of Success
Lakesha Draine’s story is a reality check.
It reminds us that “overnight success” is a myth. It’s a comfortable lie we tell ourselves to explain why we aren’t there yet. The truth is much more boring and much more difficult. The truth is waking up early. The truth is dealing with the headache of 600 condo units. The truth is running the 200-meter dash until your lungs burn.
Lakesha Draine is a success because she did the work. She stacked her skills—athlete, designer, chef, businesswoman—into a unique pyramid that nobody else could climb. She navigated the social scene with grace but kept her boots on the ground in the business world.
So, the next time you see a picture of her at a gala, smiling next to Jim Rose, don’t just see the glamour. See the grit. See the record-breaking runner who never stopped sprinting.
If you are interested in the standards that professionals like Lakesha adhere to in the built environment, check out the resources at the American Society of Interior Designers (ASID).
FAQs – Lakesha Draine
What is the main focus of Lakesha Draine’s success story?
Lakesha Draine’s success story emphasizes her disciplined mindset, scale in interior design, merging culinary arts with design, strong identity management, and holistic well-being philosophy, demonstrating that hard work and strategic focus lead to achievement.
How did Lakesha Draine’s background as an athlete influence her business career?
Her experience as a record-breaking sprinter taught her discipline, resilience, and the importance of continuous movement, which she applies to her business approach, especially in the construction and design industry’s demanding environment.
In what way did Lakesha Draine turn ‘good taste’ into a scalable business?
She focused on scaling her business by working with major developers, managing over 600 condo interior selections, and building systems and teams that enabled her to operate efficiently on a large scale, rather than just serving individual clients.
Why is Lakesha Draine considered a merging of designer and chef, and how does this benefit her work?
She is both a chef and a design expert, which allows her to create lifestyle-focused spaces that evoke emotional experiences, such as hosting and entertaining, making her offerings more impactful and unique in the interior design market.
What does Lakesha Draine’s story teach about success and perseverance?
Her story demonstrates that success requires consistent effort, resilience, and doing the work, dispelling the myth of overnight success and highlighting the importance of dedication and skillful navigation through challenges.
