We recently caught up with the multi-faceted designer to talk to him about his career, his clients and his blue-collar roots.

We know that you are originally from Cleveland, Ohio. What was it like growing up there, and where do you call home now?
It was fantastic growing up there. I think anyone will tell you that if you migrate west and mix your life with people on the west coast, you find that the Midwest really instills roots in people. It teaches you values. I grew up in a small neighborhood, so the idea of being very community-oriented was a great asset to who I am today as a person, as well as in my career. My family moved from Cleveland to Raleigh, North Carolina when I was 13. Back then, that was a big move. They pretty much established themselves there - all my siblings, my mom, everyone is there. My grandparents were my last ties to Cleveland, but they have passed away. There has been a question of Clean House doing a makeover on the road in my hometown, and the network asked me "Where would you call your hometown?" I would have to say that even though I am originally from Cleveland, I would consider my real home to be Raleigh, because all of my family is there.

At what point in your life did you decide that you wanted to pursue a career in design?
This is actually my third career. My first career was in exercise physiology - that is actually what my master's degree is in. My first job out of college was with Jane Fonda. At that time, in the early 1990s, I brought her to step videos. Although I actually don't talk about this much, I am actually in those videos, teaching with her, so there are two videos that live out there that I am on camera with her, teaching. It seems so long ago! I was working with Jane Fonda and the number one fitness company in the world at that time. I had launched a cable network called Cable Health Club, now called Fit TV, I was traveling all through Europe training instructors, had products on QVC, and I felt that I had done everything I could possibly do in fitness. I just got really burned out on it. So, at that point, I went into my second career.

Sandra Bullock is someone who I knew in college. At the time, she was coming off the movie Speed, which was of course a huge hit. She wanted to start a production company, so with my experience in doing video production with Jane Fonda, she asked me if I would start the company with her. It was a big leap, since I had only been here in LA two years, and had gone to school for exercise and all that. But I knew I wanted to work in entertainment, and, if anything, that is what working on Jane Fonda's videos taught me. I knew I wanted to work in the lifestyle genre where I could create products that improved people's lives and empowered people to be the best that they could be.

So we started a production company, Fortis Films, and had a deal with Disney. Over the next five years, I headed her development and we did nine studio films. My first film with her was While You Were Sleeping, which remains one of my favorite films, for a lot of reasons. It was shot in Chicago, which I love, and it is just a very sweet film. It was at the beginning of Sandy's meteoric rise, and it was just a good group of people making a great film. After we did nine films, including a couple at Sundance, we brought on the George Lopez Show, which Sandy actually executive produces. So I sort of ended my film career in a producer deal to develop television shows, which is what I decided to get into. For me it was like an exit strategy, because I realized I wanted to do what I love, and I didn't love working in film. There are so many people involved in the process of making a film that it is very difficult to feel like you are actually a part of it and that you are actually contributing - that was something I felt was missing in my work.

I actually grew up in design - my mom is a very successful and established interior designer in North Carolina, and my grandfather, from Cleveland, custom-built over 50 houses by hand in his lifetime. So my entire childhood was entrenched in walking construction sites, going to flea markets with my mom and really learning at a very early age about different styles of furniture, such as turn of the century, vintage, modern, all of that. When I really took a hard look at my life, coming out of film, I knew that the thing I had always loved was some form of design. It was sort of in my blood. At the time I wasn't even positive that it was going to be interior design specifically - I just knew that I wanted to utilize my gifts in the area of aesthetics.

I was actually in the Hollywood Hills, talking to a friend about a mohair throw, and I made the mistake of opening my mouth and saying to her, "Well, if I lived here, this is what I would do," and she hired me. It was just my calling, I guess. I thought to myself, "I can do this. I'm ready." So I started working on her house. At the same time, I took a job at Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino, where I designed some very high-end events for Daimler Chrysler, Coca-Cola, Bacardi - million dollar events. It taught me very quickly how to manage big budgets, how to work with clients, and it really reinforced my ability to design and accomplish projects. That was really my entrée into the professional aspect of design. Cut to six or seven years later, today, and I have now done over 25 houses on both the east and west coasts, a couple of restaurants, and over 100 episodes of television. So, that's sort of my three careers.

How did you land the job on Clean House, and what has it been like working on that show?
At that time, I didn't even have the desire to be in front of the cameras, so this was all very serendipitous. I was actually in a tile store on Melrose, and I met a sales associate there. A couple of days later, some producers from MTV came in to the store, and they were looking for a young, hip designer. The sales associate told them about me, and I ended up doing a pilot for MTV called CribCrashers, a spinoff show of Cribs. After that, some executives over at the Style network asked me to do some episodes of the show called AREA, where we had two days and $2,500 to make over a room. I ended up doing 15 episodes. At the time, Clean House had just launched its first season and was struggling. The designer on the show ended up leaving to do another show, and my tapes were handed to the network. I got a call one day, and they loved my work and asked me if I would consider doing the show. At the time, I hadn't even heard of Clean House. I knew they were going to bring on a new executive producer, so I thought that the show could really find its legs. And here we are - the show is getting ready for its 100th episode. We're in our sixth season, and it is the number one show on the Style network. Niecy Nash is fantastic to work with, and we have assembled a really great team. We have amazing chemistry, and completely love and support each other.

TV design is different than private design. You are designing under the gun, time wise, with very little money (since our money really is contingent on the yard sale and any gifts that are given), and there is more than one client - you're got the homeowner, the network, and the viewer. It's a constant dance between keeping your finger on the pulse, continuing to build the library of what people can see and are inspired by, but at the same time making everyone happy. I consider that my talent.

How tough is it for you to come up with design ideas for the families on the show - do you worry about their reactions to your designs?
It's not difficult - I have a really good sense of people and their space. I ask them a lot of proprietary questions, such as "If you could go anywhere in the world tomorrow, where would you go?" or "If you died and were reincarnated as a piece of furniture, what would it be?" At first you might think, "Wow ... what's that really going to tell me?" but your answer says a lot to me as a designer - it says a lot to me about your use of color, how you like to live in your environment, your feminine side ... it says a lot. For me, your answer is a well of information. If you ask a client ten of those types of questions, you can just nail people.

We actually did an episode of the show where a lady hated everything we did, and she singlehandedly taught me something very valuable in my career. When I do my design work, it is specifically tailored to that person - it is not about me. There is no Mark in the design. It is truly about the person and how they want to live in their space. When I do my design, and it's done, and we're getting ready to reveal, I feel as though I've done everything I possibly can. I've given my best effort, I've listened, I've held their hands ... I've done everything I can do to create the optimal environment for them. So at that point, I close the book. Sometimes it's great - people cry, jump up and down, tell you what they don't like or they are even like this particular woman, who had a meltdown. As much as I appreciate the acknowledgement, it's kind of the icing on the cake at that point. The cake is baked. It's done. And that is a hard lesson to learn. I spent many a season going home at night thinking "Is she going to like this?" or "Why did I put that color on the wall?" pacing and beating myself up. At a point, I realized that if I don't get behind my work, no one else will.

One of the most memorable episodes of Clean House was when the crew remodeled the home of host Niecy Nash's mother. What was it like filming that episode, and how did Niecy handle it? It seemed a lot more personal than the show's other episodes.
Yeah, it was definitely more personal. We actually had to play different roles. Niecy is usually the one who sits down with the homeowners and does the moment of truth of "Why are you living like this?" That was my job on this particular show. In the episode, I sit down with her mom and she tells me about losing her son, Niecy's brother, and about how she has dedicated her life to the non-profit organization she founded based on his death. It was really more emotional than any other scene I have done, because I felt like I was right there with her. It's so easy to walk into someone's home knowing you are going to leave five days later - you're kind of detached. But in this episode, with Niecy and her mom, I was just so in for the ride. That is the only reveal I actually cried at. During the reveal, she looks up at the drawing her son had done of himself that I had framed and hung on the wall above the chaise lounge. We actually didn't get the chance to say this on the show, but that picture was discovered in his locker a week after he was shot. It had so much poignancy and meaning. I really wanted to frame it and place it in such a place that when she sat on her chaise, she would be able to look at it and really appreciate it.