Outlook Magazine - Fall 2024

here’s something about a blank slate that stirs ideas in a creator. The sky is the limit. Toni Kallies (’12) sees the possibilities every time

come to life. We make sure it’s the design they expect and the quality they’re looking for,” Kallies said. She has worked on about 400 jets since joining Gulfstream in 2015. She also oversees interior refurbishment for customers who request an upgrade. She earned a master’s degree in project management in 2017. Kallies graduated from UW-Stout in apparel design, and her first job after college was in that field before she found Gulfstream. She found that the general concepts of design she learned at UW Stout transferred seamlessly to interior design. “I never realized until I started working at Gulfstream that design is pretty much in all industries.” Plus, she’s still working with fabric. One of her most impactful UW-Stout courses was in technical clothing design, recalling helping design a mining safety suit that won a national competition. Technical considerations are important in aerospace. “Everything in the air flexes. We have to think about how the materials are reacting to the pressure and the flex of flying,” she said. Designing beautiful dresses was Kallies’ original career goal, but by the time she graduated she realized the beauty of functionality as well. “Design has to be functional in an aircraft. We create these functional furniture pieces but also make them absolutely gorgeous. There’s definitely space for both to exist. Stout prepared me well for the practicality of the industry.”

Gulfstream Aerospace produces a jet in Savannah, Ga., and flies it to Wisconsin to a company completion center in Appleton. The jet, which could be for a CEO, high wealth individual, celebrity or star athlete, is a shell waiting for Kallies and a team of interior designers to bring the cabin to life. While Kallies and team don’t so much design the Gulfstream living spaces, they guide the customer through thousands of options to match their needs and style and help make them feel at home high in the sky. With a $60 million average jet cost, the sky often is the limit in terms of interior customization. Gulfstream has showrooms in New York, London, Dallas, Beverly Hills and Appleton. Kallies helped develop them. “The process is like ordering a custom car but on a grander scale,” she said, noting that customers can see finished planes while choosing their own floor plans and every detail of the living space — wood veneers, fabric for seats, countertops, cabinets, table inlays, flooring, curtains and much more. The visualization team assembles the array of options, which the FAA regulates, and chooses from them to present digital renderings for the customer. Once plans are finalized, workers in Appleton build out the interior to order while the planes are parked in hangars. “We build everything in house, and the design team reviews it all. To see it put together is really breathtaking — and to know the customer is going to be so delighted to see the choices they made

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Outlook 2024