In this episode of Hidden Foundations, Kendall sits down with Barrett Widell and Christina Boschetti of Widell and Boschetti to explore how two very different childhoods, careers, and creative paths became one business partnership. What started as a chance meeting at a Philadelphia park turned into a design firm built on trust, risk, resilience, and a shared instinct to keep moving forward.
Barrett shares how leaving home at 14 to pursue ballet shaped her risk tolerance, independence, body image, and ability to reinvent herself. Christina reflects on growing up around hard-working parents, her mother’s wedding cake business, fashion design in New York, and how those early lessons shaped her work ethic. Together, they open up about partnership, conflict, motherhood, money, team culture, client trust, female leadership, and why design is only one part of building a successful creative business.
Timecode Specific Chapters
00:00 Meet Barrett Widell and Christina Boschetti
00:50 The Chance Park Meeting That Started the Business
07:12 Starting a Business While Raising Young Kids
08:06 Risk, Ballet, and Leaving Home at 14
14:05 Christina’s Fashion Path and Entrepreneurial Upbringing
19:46 Why Their Partnership Works Like a Marriage
24:38 Building the Right Team and Learning From Mistakes
35:30 Teaching Kids About Money, Work, and Respect
39:28 Dinner Tables, Wedding Cakes, and Family Lessons
42:03 Body Image, Ballet, and Refusing to Shrink
49:15 Trust, Mental Resilience, and Business Partnership
52:46 Listening to Clients and Building Trust in Design
58:16 Handling Difficult Clients and Protecting Integrity
01:05:48 Capacity, Culture, and Female Leadership
01:15:00 Teaching Kids to Follow Passion
A special thank you to The Franklin on Rittenhouse for graciously allowing us to record these episodes inside their hotel. Their hospitality, atmosphere, and attention to detail gave us the perfect setting to host thoughtful conversations and bring Hidden Foundations to life in Philadelphia.
Check out their hotel here: https://www.thefranklinonrittenhouse.com/
https://www.instagram.com/franklinonrittenhouse/
