Trisha Wilson’s awards, accolades and magazine covers filled the corridor walls of her eponymous firm for more than 42 years. She is a member of the prestigious Interior Design Hall of Fame; a recipient of the coveted Hospitality Design Platinum Circle Award; the distinguished Legend Award from Contract magazine; the Manfred Steinfeld Humanitarian Award from Hospitality Design; an Honorary Doctorate from the New York School of Interior Design; The University of Texas at Austin’s Distinguished Alumni Award/School of Architecture Distinguished Alumni/Outstanding Young Texas Ex; Working Woman magazine’s “Working Woman 500”; National Council of Women “Woman of the Year Award in Arts and Business”.
Trisha founded one of the top hospitality design firms in the world, Wilson Associates, over 40 years ago. After a successful tenure as CEO and Founder, she transitioned from Wilson Associates in 2014. Trisha is proud of the international projects completed under her leadership at Dallas-based Wilson Associates, which grew to include global offices in New York, Los Angeles, Singapore, Shanghai, Kochi, India, Abu Dhabi and Dubai, with over 400 professionals worldwide. Because of her notable success, the distinguished Harvard Business School conducted a four-part case study in 2000-2002 on her ability to manage creative talent. As a world-renowned creative strategist and leader, real estate moguls and royal families around the world solicited her firm’s design talent.
Trisha forged a name for herself through a winning combination of charm, instinct, ability, and sheer dint of will, and gradually grew her two-person Dallas-based firm into Wilson Associates. With a keen eye for architectural details and design, Wilson Associates blossomed into an international enterprise. Blending experience, innovation, technology, sustainability and solid business principles, the firm grew under her leadership and created properties that define luxury and elegance.
Through her frequent travels to Africa while designing The Palace of the Lost City in South Africa, she fell in love with the continent and her surroundings. She designed and built her own private game lodge and home in the African bush and continues to regularly visit the country, hosting VIPs, celebrities and royalty. Her home and its luxurious African-inspired design was featured in Architectural Digest, September 2006.
Her tireless work ethic, innate curiosity, strong intuition and inevitable charm crafted an empire but her generous philanthropic spirit is what continues to define her legacy. Trisha approaches life with the motto “It CAN be done,” knowing no dream is too big to actualize; no problem is too big to solve.