From palatial design to vaalwater design mogul Trisha Wilson takes on the world. Trisha Wilson is blonde, honed to a state of patrician?perfection, and wears broad belts and bling that operate?as semaphores for aristocratic cachet. As many people?know, she launched a design career that eventually spanned?continents and encompassed projects that, by comparison,?make the most haute of resorts seem like drab hostels for?wayward youths. Says she, ?Oh, I?ve designed palaces.? This?is intoned with a voice that?s a hybrid of Texas swagger and?feminine insouciance. However, she doesn?t say this to gloat.?In fact, there?s not one snobbish bone in her diminutive?body. She readily admits that she started her career by selling?mattresses at a now defunct department store and bowling during her lunch hour. This is especially refreshing since she?now rubs shoulders with kings, sultans, and fashion moguls.?So if she is going to talk about the extraordinary arc of her?life, there?s an inevitable dose of celebrity wattage involved.
That being said, she has come to terms with her luxe lifestyle?and, ironically, learning to fully appreciate Wilson requires?jettisoning our own affectations regarding glitz, because?that?s not what defines her. Not at all. Her story offers positive?proof that you can, indeed, achieve success and ?get there?from here,? but only if you dive deeply rather than opt for?a lazy surface float. Put simply, she has effortlessly punched all the hot buttons pop-culture gurus have been touting for?decades. For instance, failure never enters her mind as an?option. The reliability with which she constellates success is?more constant than laws of physics, and these days her every?move is an invocation to make the world a better place.
Wilson is from Dallas?Highland Park to be exact?and,?interestingly, this has often translated into suppositions that?are only marginally less subtle than rammed earth. However,?the truth about Trisha Wilson transcends any compendium?of information that can be gleaned from published articles or flamboyant photographs that thread their way through?the Internet. One particular image shows her in a brilliant?blue gown with her arms hovering midair and festooned by?loads and loads of bangles. She addresses the camera and?seductively thrusts a hip as deftly as any Hollywood celebrity.?Thus, we think we know her. Well, we don?t.
While it has been repeatedly noted that she?s from?Dallas?s most exclusive enclave, there?s more to the story.??That?s true,? she says, ?but we actually lived in the northern?part of University Park, close to Caruth. We had a two bedroom,?one-bath house and, back then, sheep grazed on?the property.? Consequently, her home was never remotely?considered close to the epicenter of Highland Park. Wilson raises her eyebrows and pauses for a moment before rounding?out the scenario, ?My parents had divorced and that was?rare back then. They were also alcoholics and pretty much?defined the term ?dysfunction.??
This is hardly the information expected to emerge from?the attractive socialite depicted in photographs at balls,?luncheons, and award ceremonies. But, equally importantly,?none of this is conveyed with shame, anger, or lament. If?that were the case, it wouldn?t be the story of Trisha Wilson.?In fact, if a page of advice mysteriously issued forth and was?dubbed ?The Wisdom of Trisha,? a straightforward means of dealing with everything would emerge. It would boil down?to ?Always, always move forward and never take ?no? for an?answer.? In her case, she also makes it clear that a grand first?step is gratefulness for what you do have. She notes, ?I went?to UT and studied architecture on the GI Bill. What that?actually means is that my parents were broke. But once I got?to Austin, I heard plenty of stories from other students and?many of them had a much more difficult time than I did.??So there you have it. For anyone looking for a pity party,?there?s not one within a light year?s radius of Wilson?s radiant?center. As one of her colleagues effusively puts it, ?She?s?just magnetic! She?s simply magnetic, isn?t she?? Yes, she is. And perhaps now the vivacious blonde wearing bangles is?comprehended more accurately. Her svelte figure, spendy?jewelry, and splendidly cut hair are hardly de facto echoes of?her familial ?Highland Park? homestead. Thus, her story is a?lesson writ large with regard to making assumptions.
What, however, is utterly evident is that Wilson created a?perfect storm of beauty, texture, and style that set the bar at?stratospheric heights for the world?s most lavish properties.?In fact, she handled projects that are so spectacular that?they invoke numb astonishment. A mere partial list reads?as follows: The Armani Hotel, Dubai, UAE; The Atlantis,?Dubai, UAE; The Elysian Hotel, Chicago; The Fairmont Monte Carlo, Monaco; The Four Seasons Hotel, Hong Kong;?Ritz-Carlton Residences, Vail, Colorado; The Takanawa?Condominiums, Tokyo; a private palace in Abu Dhabi, UAE;?and the lobby at The Venetian Macau Resort Hotel as well as?an equally lavish casino in Macau, China.
The spaces pulse with an array of voluptuous lighting,?draperies, patterns, and shrewdly contrived vistas of every?sort, ranging from wall-sized aquariums to natural landscapes?revealed so deftly that they seem nearly immodest. Praise?for Wilson has come from Andre Agassi, Giorgio Armani,?Oprah Winfrey, and an entertainer, Yue-Sai Kan, who has?been called the most famous woman in China. The latter?regaled Wilson with an atmospheric evening of dining,?singing, and dancing staged in a majestic 15th-floor Shanghai?condominium that was heavily punctuated with designers,?CEOs, and moneyed luminaries from both the East and?West. Eventually her unstinted pace of delivering d?cor on a?feverishly imaginative scale led Wilson to South Africa, about?1.5 hours from Johannesburg.
In the 1980s, she was tapped by hospitality mogul Sol?Kerzner to design a 343-room opulent resort inspired by a?mystical, lost African tribe. Dubbed The Palace of the Lost?City, it is, indeed, palatial. In fact, it?s a confection of frescoes,?molding, columns, and soaring ceilings that was constructed?in the least likely of locations, the South African bush. Wilson?laughs, ?I was told we had a choice of three carpet colors.?There was nothing there. Nothing.? She located craftsmen?and began importing both manpower and materials to create?what would become one of the most lavish properties on?the planet. Remarkably, she also ensured that a new roster?of companies doing stonework thrived in a place where?there had previously been none. She went on to do still more?extravagant projects in the Middle East, including another?Kerzner project located on the famously exotic Palm Islands?in the UAE. It consists of two-story rooms wherein the first?floor is below sea level; thus, bedrooms afford an underwater?view that, as Wilson notes, ?makes guests feel as if they?re?sleeping in a fish tank.? Take that.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, at various points during her?ratcheted-up private and professional life, Wilson repeatedly?returned to Africa ?to stay grounded.? The topography of?the place is so splendid that South African novelist, Alan?Paton, minted the following language to capture it: ?The?hills are grass-covered and rolling, and they are lovely?beyond any singing of it.? The superlative prose describes?the gorgeousness of a very special place to which Wilson?rapidly succumbed. She opted to build a lodge in Limpopo?Province and it became apparent that a pivotal point in her?already extraordinary life had been reached. Wilson certainly?had more than enough lolly to do absolutely nothing. But?again, that would not be characteristic of ?The Wisdom of?Trisha.? Thus, instead, she launched a new enterprise that?now occupies much of her time, The Wilson Foundation.?Its purpose is nothing less than an effort to reshape lives??and even save them. Thus, the woman who is known?for designing palatial structures can sometimes now be?found amidst shacks and dirt alleyways, and surrounded?by a population ravaged by an AIDS pandemic. She notes,??You can?t just sit and watch. You just can?t. You have to do?something.? Thus, it appears that the immovable object finally?rendezvoused with the proverbial irresistible force. And the?AIDS acronym has taken on a new meaning for Wilson and?those who help with her cause. Under her guidance it has morphed into ?Am I Doing Something?? And if that wasn?t a?question for us before, it should be now.
The hub of Wilson?s charitable work is Vaalwater, a?small town located on the Mokolo River in the ?Limpopo?province of South Africa; it has no national roads but it?does have a remarkable biosphere that includes the beautiful?and elusive ?Big Five? (lions, elephants, buffalos, leopards,?and rhinoceroses). Thus, when Wilson opted to build her?conservationist game lodge, Izingwe?Zulu for ?leopard???in the nearby and equally beautiful Welgevonden Private?Game Reserve, she looked upon it as a place ?to become refreshed and inspired.? However, while the adjacent?Vaalwater region is scenically spectacular, it is also a locus of?horrific disease and poverty. Thus, Wilson determined that?a portion of the proceeds from the lodge should go towards?The Wilson Foundation which had been set up to fund both?the Waterberg Welfare Society and the development of the?Waterberg Academy, both of which greatly benefit the region?by addressing its massive need for medical care and education.
Wilson becomes emotional while speaking about what?could be called her ?second home.? She beams when she talks?about Moses, a little boy whose schooling her foundation?paid for. ?He became a champion in an archery competition?for the whole region. Not just the little town, for the whole?region!? Wilson is every bit as enthusiastic about Moses as?a birth parent would be. She sits and flicks through image?after image on her iPhone and says, ?Look, look! Aren?t they?just adorable?? And they are. She then relates a story about?July Letsebe who was ravaged by AIDS but, thanks to the?foundation?s gift of antiretroviral medication, is now well?and helps his community by coordinating aid for the ill and?infirm.
An entire generation of orphans has been created by the?toll of AIDS and tuberculosis, and the already appalling rate?of disease continues to climb. Wilson observes, ?People see?the situation and simply find it to be too huge to confront.?It seems far too overwhelming and hopeless and, so, many?times they do nothing.? This is utterly contrary to a bit of?verbiage that has become a mantra for Wilson. For years she has kept a plaque next to her desk; it simply reads: ?It?CAN be done.? Indeed, it can. Wilson has proven again and?again that she thrives in conditions that would spell defeat?for most people. In fact, she seems to be to be nothing less?than a force of nature. When it became clear that building?medical facilities and schools in South Africa was a daunting?endeavor, Wilson simply bypassed governmental authorities and made tremendous progress by utilizing NGO?s (nongovernmental?offices). This proved to be a smart move and,?in fact, when Oprah Winfrey attempted to build her widely?lauded Leadership Academy for Girls in a nearby region, she?also met with huge frustration. She eventually telephoned?Wilson and questioned her about her own experience?developing schools. Thus, Wilson and her design team became an integral part of creating Winfrey?s Leadership?Academy, and the two developed a friendship. In fact, they?subsequently spent time together at Wilson?s Izingwe Lodge,?and both are fiercely pledged to making a huge difference in?the region?and beyond. Winfrey publically states, ?When?you?re changing a girl?s life, it?s not just that life. You start?to affect a family, a community, a nation.? Thus, the oftcited ?ripple effect? comes to mind?to save one life, quite?literally, means saving a world. Or, to imagine things from?yet another vantage point, the 13th-century mystic and poet,?Rumi, sums things up splendidly: ?Stop acting so small. You?are the universe in ecstatic motion.?
It?s obvious that Wilson understands the Persian poet?s?intent?and she is acting on it with a vengeance. She could?never ?act small.? Wilson does many things, and she does?them all on a grand scale. Moreover, she invites you to join?her and remember that the people in South Africa, every?single child and adult?as well as you (we)?are the ?universe?in ecstatic motion.? If Wilson, who has shared company?with the world?s most influential people, is willing to offer?aid, should we not do the same? After all, her work has a meaningful, even transcendent, import. It seems nothing less?than an embarrassment to fail to lend support that will, quite?literally, save lives. The corollary, then, is that it can also save?the world. Ask yourself ?Am I Doing Something?? And then?contact the Wilson Foundation. Decide to never act small again and become part of the?quite remarkable?generosity?that is ?The Wisdom of Trisha.? For more information visit?thewilsonfoundation.org. –P