Antoinette Jordan and Mark Snipes make a dynamic duo as business partners and interior designers for Jordan Gray Interiors. While Jordan is a heterosexual female and Snipes is an out and proud gay man, the two complement each other in many ways, they say.

“It’s great working together. We have a lot in common,” Snipes says. And, yes, that includes men, he laughs.

Jordan, who began the company on her own five years ago, befriended Snipes at Joseph A. Bank, where they both currently work. The two have been in business together six months and they hope to eventually make their jobs with Jordan Gray Interiors full-time.

“We met and became friends and I found out he used to have an interior design business in Charlotte, N.C.,” Jordan says.

“We have similar design aesthetics and he is able to do stuff that I’m not good at, like the technical stuff,” she adds. “We work really well together. We shop well together. Personally, it’s easier to me to shop with a man than shop with a woman.”

“We’re like two peas in a pod,” Snipes adds.

Snipes says interior design is a passion because it is a way for him to express himself.

“I like designing a space from scratch and seeing it come to fruition,” he says.

Jordan says she enjoys the challenge of working with clients who are not sure what they want, then coming up with a concept based on what they like.

“It’s a great way to help people,” she says.

The company is named for Jordan and her mother’s maiden name.

“I’m paying respect to the halves that created me,” she says.

The business does not have a website yet but is slowly gaining a customer base despite rough economic times, Snipes says.

“Business is going well. We haven’t had any problems. It hasn’t stopped,” he says.

“We’re fortunate because we have regular jobs,” adds Jordan. “We are able to get some clients through Joseph A. Bank and are looking to leave our 9 to 5, or our 9 to 9 jobs and do this full time.”