Eye for design
NBC Connecticut anchor finds new career with interior design
Not long ago, Kerri-Lee Mayland found herself in need of a new direction, vocationally speaking.
She didn’t have to look far. It found her.
Mayland had been an award-winning news anchor at NBC Connecticut, but a diagnosis of chronic Lyme disease compelled her to cut back on her schedule and explore new ideas. She still occasionally sits in front of the TV camera, but now, because of a passion that had been burning inside of her for years, the Mayland who used to keep viewers informed and up-to-date as an anchor now keeps people warm and cozy as a home designer and rental cottage proprietor.
“It seems I’ve been decorating and designing my whole life — in the newsroom, for colleagues, even during my college days. Classmates would stop me and ask if I could help make their rooms look more like mine,” Mayland said. “For as long as I can remember, I’ve been helping people with their living rooms, kitchens, bedrooms, patios and yards.”
In essence, it’s a natural instinct that people seem to instantly recognize. When the pandemic began, that instinct induced her to create the Kerri-Lee Mayland Company, an Avon-based umbrella firm under which sit several divisions and more than a half dozen creative associates. Interior and exterior remodeling, furniture design, painting, upholstery and a retail accessory boutique are among its many services.
Cottage rentals, which comprise another part of Mayland’s new professional foundation, also found her, in a way. In essence, it’s the result of her love of Connecticut.
“There’s the Connecticut just outside New York City, which is so vibrant. There’s the country corner of Litchfield Hills, which is idyllic. There’s the Connecticut Shore, which I absolutely adore. In other words, it’s a whole world in one small state.”
So in addition to their Avon home, she and her husband invested in two cottages, one in Lakeville and one in Westbrook. First she did some imaginative interior and exterior redesigning, then she discovered how eager people were to rent them for vacations and escapes. A new business was born. Soon, other people began asking her to assist them in turning their own properties into charming, income-generating rentals.
“If you find yourself in need of a career change, think of something you love or are really good at,” she said. That’s exactly what she did. “Take the leap, even if you’re terrified. I was! But when you follow your passion, chances are you’ll realize you made the best decision of your life.”
Born Kerri-Lee Halkett in Victoria, British Columbia, her original plan was to study law in Canada. But Canada was saturated with attorneys, and professional prospects were not ideal.
“My mom told me about a story she read in Reader’s Digest about the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism at Arizona State University in this place called Tempe,” Mayland said. “I didn’t know anything about Tempe, but I was sick of the rain in Canada and ready for some Arizona sun. I also needed to spread my wings.”
She came to the U.S. in 1991, just as Desert Shield was turning into Desert Storm. Twenty-four-hour news coverage was still relatively new. Mayland had daily stark reminders that she wasn’t in Canada anymore. But she liked it here and was determined to become a citizen one day. That sentiment was further bolstered when she saw a Fourth of July concert where Neil Diamond sang “Coming to America.”
After graduating from the Cronkite school, she began her career at a television station in Phoenix, then had successful 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. While there, she twice won a Mid-Atlantic Emmy for Best Anchor — one of several awards in her broadcasting portfolio.
Then she met a busy corporate and environmental attorney named Kirt Mayland through a mutual friend from his college days at Dartmouth. A restaurant rendezvous was planned, and a relationship developed. They spent many weekends visiting his family in Connecticut. Before long, they made the decision to marry and to make Connecticut their home, where they are raising two children, a son and a daughter.
In 2016, she officially became a U.S. citizen.
In terms of career changes, she holds onto a personal philosophy that cuts to the heart of her personality. “Unless what I do for a living helps make someone else’s life better and more beautiful, then it’s not for me. I need to lead with my heart,” she said.
In fact, she’s speaking on that topic this spring at the Palace Theater in Waterbury, in a program called 2nd Act during which, in addition to the design studio and the rentals, she’ll likely talk about her upcoming podcast, her bulletins and some other new ventures.
“I think I’m on to something here,” Mayland said. “I’m curious as to where it’ll take me. But the day it feels like a job is the day I’ll try something new.”