1. Who Is Alicia?
Without a doubt, Alicia is one of the most fascinating, creative intellectuals in our industry. Alicia began working at the age of 9.
Originally following a career path in Neuroscience at UMASS, she soared academically: award-winning, honor student, scholarship
sponsored and upon graduation, Alicia began her lab work clocking time towards her goal of obtaining her PHD/MD in
neuropsychology and/or neurosurgery.
She spent several years studying a connection between Anti-depressants and Autism Spectrum Disorder research (a study that
ultimately was proven this year). Funding issues arose often, research stalled and Alicia and a ex-partner bought income property
in a multi-unit home fixer. She jumped in to re-furbish the property, and kept on working in the industry while waiting for the
medical world to get on board. But try as I do to capture the woman, I can’t cover it all. You will want to know her. Come meet
Alicia at Khrome Studios, demonstrating her work and product. Wednesday, September 19th
5-8 PM
As most highly talented people don’t like to write about themselves, I took creative liberty and lifted info from her website, official
bio and our personal interviews:
Hammers and Heels is an interior, furniture, and lighting design company which has been featured on the cover of San Francisco
Magazine, Apartment Therapy, and Fab.com. They design and fabricate all of their pieces, meaning you get custom heirloom-
quality pieces handmade in the SF Bay Area of locally sourced and up-cycled or reclaimed materials. Where she started:
Fascinated with the brain, principal designer Alicia Engman studied Neuroscience at UMASS on an academic scholarship.
You already know that at this point, her passion for design over-ruled her desire to beat up drug companies. And Alicia had been
helping friend renovate their homes working in more traditional construction realms such as plaster and flooring. Soon her hobby
grew and she began taking jobs in multi-million dollar and multi-family homes. Her keen and unique design eye quickly caught her
much attention and solely through word-of-mouth her hobby had become a full-fledged home design and décor company.
The retail and custom design division of the business was born while Alicia was taking general contracting courses in the midst of
renovating a downtown Boston loft. Seeing that off-the-shelf furniture and lighting just wasn’t cutting it, she began to design and
build her own pieces. Each piece was handmade by Alicia until the orders began to increase, and she had not yet been able to
clone herself or grow extra arms, so why not hire some? Hammers and Heels has since grown into a team of SF Bay Area
craftspeople who bring to life Alicia’s designs using thoughtfully and locally source materials.
And the name?
The name Hammers and Heels was chosen as a tribute to strong women-whether you are the stay at home mother who juggles
two children while cooking dinner or out swinging a hammer on a construction site. Hammers and Heels is an equal opportunity
team with female and male welders, woodworkers, glassblowers, contractors, and architects. Irie, the Hammers and Heels official
mascot (also a strong woman), is her loving rescue dog and is a prime example of her passion for animals and animal well-being.
Alicia has spent over 10 years volunteering at local shelters, fostering dogs and campaigning for animal welfare.