Editor’s Note: This is the second in a series of features on the 2018 Central High School Wall of Fame inductees. Find the first article on Suzanne Matheny here.
Sandra Tucker “Sandy” Martin is one of the four Central High School graduates who will be inducted into the school’s Wall of Fame on Nov. 8.
Sandra was born in Fountain City, the second of the four children of Guy V. Tucker Jr. and Mary Frances Smith Tucker. She grew up on Bonita Drive and attended Sterchi Elementary School where she was an honor student and a cheerleader.
She graduated from Central in 1973 where she was co-editor of the Centralite, the school’s annual, a member of Charles Sanders’ chorus for four years and elected the Most Athletic in her Senior Class. She was a sprinter on the track team and ran both the 100-yard dash, where she placed second in the city meet, and the third leg of the 440-relay. Coach David Emory named her a “Timet,” charged with timing the boy’s track team during practices.
She entered the University of Tennessee to pursue her interest in interior design and graduated in 1977 with her bachelor’s degree in professional interior design. She had attained the highest grade point average in her college.
She spent six years working at Law’s Interiors in Maryville and McQuiddy Office Designers in Knoxville. Then in 1983, after two years as facilities consultant for Park National Bank, she formed her own company, Corporate Interiors, and the bank became her first client. She worked 14- to 16-hour days marketing her company, designing commercial interiors, ordering products and supervising installations. She also had her parents involved in her company full-time, and they became her most valued and trusted employees for 23 years.
In 1989, needing more room than she had at Emory Place, Sandra leased the entire freight depot adjoining the Southern Railway Station, which Marilyn Bullock had purchased at auction for $300,000. Sandra extensively renovated the space to provide offices and a showroom for her company, and she occupied the space for 17 years.
Utilizing her formula for success to deliver great service, great design and great product, the company had grown to 22 full-time employees by 1990. They were designing for important clients like Fort Sanders Regional Medical Center, the Roddy Coca-Cola Mfg. Co., Knoxville Utilities Board, the Mercedes Benz dealership and Bush Brothers.
By this time, the company had as many as 30-40 projects underway at one time. However, Corporate Interiors bid for the interior design work on the $20 million Thompson Cancer Survival Center, a 75,000-square-foot facility, and won the contract. Working as a team with the architects, they designed the various suites for maximum efficiency for the staff and the patients so as to provide functionality along with the positive psychological effects of color and design layout.
Another one of Corporate Interiors’ favorite projects was the redesign of Children’s Hospital. They designed a warm entry level with bright colors with stars, fish and paw prints on the floors. The emergency room had an underwater theme for a soothing effect. The second floor for cancer patients used a bright space theme. The third floor for the chronically ill had a jungle theme with a lot of greens. The fourth floor, the surgery suite, resembled the interior of a castle to encourage the young patients to consider themselves to be kings and queens during their stay.
By 2006, the firm’s client list also included the University of Tennessee, Ruby Tuesday, the Knoxville News Sentinel and Pilot Corporation. Corporate Interiors had become the largest commercial interior design business in East Tennessee. Martin had just turned 50, had managed a large business for 23 years and Synergy Business Environments of Nashville offered to purchase the firm. It appeared to be the proper time for her to pursue other opportunities, so she sold her company.
For eight years she was one of the top 100 dealers for Hon/Allsteel Furniture based on her sales volume and superior service. She also was honored for four years as one of the nation’s top sellers of Knoll Furniture. Mannington Commercial Flooring awarded her company first place in their national design competition for their design of Children’s Hospital.
Sandy Martin has been active in the community throughout her career. She is a member and past president of the Rotary Club of Knoxville (the second female president in 100 years) and has been on the board of Shannondale Health Care Center for 22 years. She was twice nominated for the YWCA’s Tribute to Women Award.
She has also served the following organizations: Knox Heritage, Tremont Institute, Historic Zoning Commission, Knoxville and Blount County chambers of commerce, The Development Corporation of Knox County, St. Mary’s Health System, Bijou Theater, Executive Women’s Association (past president), United Way of Knoxville and the Knoxville Museum of Art. She was credentialed by both the American Society of Interior Designers and the International Interior Design Association. Both organizations require their members to pass a two-day qualifying exam, NCIDQ.
She was in the 1987-88 class of Leadership Knoxville and was honored by the Girl Scout Trefoil Society in 2018. After she sold her company, she served as an adjunct professor in the UT College of Architecture and Design for five years.
She is also a University of Tennessee Chancellor’s Associate and served on the Advisory Council of the UT College of Architecture and Design, where an endowed scholarship bears her name.
Sandra is married to another Central High School graduate, A. David Martin, who served as treasurer of the University of Tennessee during the 1980s, before starting his own successful money management company, Martin & Company. David is currently on the Board of The Trust Company, East Tennessee Foundation and many other important local organizations.
Sandra’s two daughters are also very high achievers. Casey Lester just received her master’s degree in business administration and finance from Belmont University, and Erin Peterson is working on her master’s degree in clinical psychology at Regent University in Denver.
With all her other accomplishments, one might not expect that Sandra could have found time for the great outdoors. However, she is a member of the exclusive 900 Mile Club which recognizes those who have hiked all the trails in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. She is one of only two dozen people who have completed all the trails four times or more and is well into her fifth map. She is also an equestrian and practices dressage weekly.
The Central High School Foundation and the Alumni Association are pleased to declare Sandra “Sandy” Martin an honoree on the CHS Wall of Fame.
The 17th annual Central High School Wall of Fame Dinner will be held at the Gresham Middle School, 6-8 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 8. Tickets are $25 and are available at the CHS office and from CHS Alumni and Foundation representatives. Info: R. Larry Smith (922-5433) or Jean Payne (688-4165).