A Day in NYC with Modern Age's and Ringo Studio's Madelynn Ringo

Madelynn Ringo is the Head of Studio Design at Modern Age, as well as the Founder and Creative Director of Ringo Studio. Her day involves material sample reviews, site visits, suitcase items exchanges, and of course, a few selfies.

6:30am: The morning starts in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. My husband is traveling this week so I was able to sleep with our window blinds fully open! I love waking up with the sunrise, it motivates me with the energy to start moving. The first thing I do is read a few emails from bed and look at my calendar for the day which is very packed.

Last night I returned from a mini-vacation in Mexico with my family. Traveling is always a great source of inspiration; I’m always snapping photos of interesting stores I see abroad or unique material textures that I discover while walking around. I flipped through some photos I took and starred a few favorites for a new project we are kicking off this summer.

Time for sample reviews! Photo by Anna Morgowicz.

7:00am: There are multiple material sample deliveries that needed to be unpacked and sorted through. I am obsessed with the Material Bank platform. It has re-defined the dusty office material library and allows me to access my samples no matter where I might be, easily sending back the ones that I don’t need and frees my work environment from the clutter of unreferenced samples. I lay out the new materials on my dining table — fabric swatches and matte concrete tiles in the perfect color palette for a West Coast project for Bala. I snap some photos and upload my feedback to the team Slack channels.

8:00am: I open up my laptop for a Zoom call with Jo, the Ringo Studio office manager. We review the current projects, discuss onboarding a new team member, and go over a few scheduling items. Jo lives in London and the time difference is convenient for early morning meetings.

9:00am: I call a Lyft to head to the Funny Face Bakery site on Lafayette Street in NoHo. On a busy day, I like to take a car so that I can use the time to work on my laptop during the ride to create some efficiency in the travel time. The bakery is opening in a few days, and it’s time to review the final millwork install.

I meet my team - Anna, Madison, and Danya - on site. Everything is looking so good! We go over some outstanding items, talk through the lighting, and, of course, test the selfie mirror. The design is an explosion of the brand’s playful vibe — every inch of the space is painted in the brand’s sugary Grape Ice hue as if the store itself was a cookie, freshly piped in delicious icing.

Funny Face Bakery interior. Photo by Anna Morgowicz.

10:00am: Onto the next location! I walk uptown to the Flatiron neighborhood to stop by the Modern Age Flagship Studio, NYC’s first destination for aging wellness. I am the Head of Studio Design and I also oversee all creative touchpoints that make up the physical customer experience for the brand.

We had recently wrapped up construction on the project and we are preparing the space for the public launch. I incorporated special details into the space such as the fresh floral installs designed by my friend Laurel at Dead Flowers NYC and the studio’s art collection, curated by another friend, Alex Stoller from LK Art Consultants. The Modern Age art collection seeks to recontextualize and modernize thoughts around aging. Our entire construction team at Modern Age is led by women, from real estate, lighting design and architecture to millwork and construction management — even our inspector is a woman! It was really inspiring to be on the construction site with so many strong female leaders across every aspect of the project.

I grab my second coffee and set myself up in the back office to bang out some millwork drawings and join a team brainstorm to discuss ideas for the Brand’s upcoming social media content.

2:00pm: Time for a break and a bit of movement! I walk around the Modern Age studio and take some documentation photos….and a few selfies!

5:00pm: Tonight Ringo Studio has an exciting project kickoff meeting that is hosted at Soho Works in Dumbo. On the way over, I browse the brand’s Instagram page and on my headphones, I listen to a podcast featuring the founder’s incredible story. I enjoy learning about the founder’s path to success and getting to know what drove their passion for starting their company. I typically work directly with the brand’s CEOs allowing me to experience first hand their incredible passion and energy which greatly motivates my own daily workflow.

6:00pm: After the client meeting, I request a tour with one of the managers to see if it might be a good fit as the team continues to grow. I began Ringo Studio in fall of 2020 and remote was the only option. With more projects and more team members, I am interested in finding less traditional and more flexible spaces for the team to collaborate IRL together. This seems like a space that comes with the added bonus of great networking opportunities.

7:00pm: I grab dinner at the Time Out Market downstairs and make my way back to Williamsburg. I didn’t yet have a chance to unpack yesterday’s suitcase which is a very convenient problem to have considering I was flying to Bermuda for a wedding early the next morning! I exchange the flip flops for heels and tossed in a formal dress.

9:00pm: With the challenge of leading a growing business as well as working for a startup, there is always a never ending to-do list, endless Slack messages and emails and additional ideas to consider. There is a constant tension between being so excited and motivated by what I am working on and the need for sleep to re-energize my creativity and to be efficient with my time. Tonight, lighting a small candle helps transition me into a wind-down routine. I rolled out a yoga mat and grabbed my Bala power ring and placed it on the mat in front of me. I may or may not have actually done any balacizing, but the shape and texture of their products bring me joy anyways.

10:00pm: I check into my flight to a friend’s wedding the following morning, water my plants and put my suitcase by the door. I set approximately 500 alarms so that I don’t miss my early flight and queue up my favorite Headspace Sleepcast, Cat Marina.