Mayland had been an award-winning information anchor at NBC Connecticut, however a analysis of continual Lyme illness compelled her to chop again on her schedule and discover new concepts. She nonetheless sometimes sits in entrance of the TV digital camera, however now, due to a ardour that had been burning inside her for years, the Mayland who used to maintain viewers knowledgeable and up-to-date as an anchor now retains folks heat and comfortable as a house designer and rental cottage proprietor.

“It appears I’ve been adorning and designing my complete life — within the newsroom, for colleagues, even throughout my faculty days. Classmates would cease me and ask if I may assist make their rooms look extra like mine,” Mayland mentioned. “For so long as I can keep in mind, I’ve been serving to folks with their residing rooms, kitchens, bedrooms, patios and yards.” 

In essence, it’s a pure intuition that individuals appear to immediately acknowledge. When the pandemic started, that intuition induced her to create the Kerri-Lee Mayland Firm, an Avon-based umbrella agency beneath which sit a number of divisions and greater than a half dozen inventive associates. Inside and exterior transforming, furnishings design, portray, upholstery and a retail accent boutique are amongst its many providers.    

Cottage leases, which comprise one other a part of Mayland’s new skilled basis, additionally discovered her, in a means. In essence, it’s the results of her love of Connecticut. 

“There’s the Connecticut simply outdoors New York Metropolis, which is so vibrant. There’s the nation nook of Litchfield Hills, which is idyllic. There’s the Connecticut Shore, which I completely adore. In different phrases, it’s a complete world in a single small state.” 

So along with their Avon dwelling, she and her husband invested in two cottages, one in Lakeville and one in Westbrook. First she did some imaginative inside and exterior redesigning, then she found how keen folks have been to lease them for holidays and escapes. A brand new enterprise was born. Quickly, different folks started asking her to help them in turning their very own properties into charming, income-generating leases.  

“If you end up in want of a profession change, consider one thing you like or are actually good at,” she mentioned. That’s precisely what she did. “Take the leap, even when you’re terrified. I used to be! However if you observe your ardour, likelihood is you’ll understand you made the most effective resolution of your life.”

Born Kerri-Lee Halkett in Victoria, British Columbia, her unique plan was to review legislation in Canada. However Canada was saturated with attorneys, {and professional} prospects weren’t preferrred. 

“My mother instructed me a couple of story she learn in Reader’s Digest in regards to the Walter Cronkite Faculty of Journalism at Arizona State College on this place referred to as Tempe,” Mayland mentioned. “I didn’t know something about Tempe, however I used to be sick of the rain in Canada and prepared for some Arizona solar. I additionally wanted to unfold my wings.”

She got here to the U.S. in 1991, simply as Desert Protect was turning into Desert Storm. Twenty-four-hour information protection was nonetheless comparatively new. Mayland had each day stark reminders that she wasn’t in Canada anymore. However she preferred it right here and was decided to grow to be a citizen sooner or later. That sentiment was additional bolstered when she noticed a Fourth of July live performance the place Neil Diamond sang “Coming to America.”

After graduating from the Cronkite faculty, she started her profession at a tv station in Phoenix, then had profitable stints in Baltimore, Washington, D.C. and Boston, which was when she fell in love with New England. From 2002 to 2010 she anchored in Philadelphia. Whereas there, she twice received a Mid-Atlantic Emmy for Greatest Anchor — considered one of a number of awards in her broadcasting portfolio.

Then she met a busy company and environmental lawyer named Kirt Mayland by means of a mutual good friend from his faculty days at Dartmouth. A restaurant rendezvous was deliberate, and a relationship developed. They spent many weekends visiting his household in Connecticut. Earlier than lengthy, they made the choice to marry and to make Connecticut their dwelling, the place they’re elevating two youngsters, a son and a daughter.

In 2016, she formally grew to become a U.S. citizen.

When it comes to profession adjustments, she holds onto a private philosophy that cuts to the guts of her character. “Until what I do for a residing helps make another person’s life higher and extra stunning, then it’s not for me. I want to steer with my coronary heart,” she mentioned.

In truth, she’s talking on that subject this spring on the Palace Theater in Waterbury, in a program referred to as 2nd Act throughout which, along with the design studio and the leases, she’ll probably discuss her upcoming podcast, her bulletins and another new ventures.

“I believe I’m on to one thing right here,” Mayland mentioned. “I’m curious as to the place it’ll take me. However the day it appears like a job is the day I’ll strive one thing new.”