Maybe it follows that a creative person like Randy Tilinski, who has a keen eye for design, would also recognize in an instant a person to whom he is attracted. When he was still managing a popular rock band, The Black Crowes, back in the mid 1990s, he and the musicians often stopped into an Atlanta design shop in which his now-wife, Courtney, was working as general manager. “I kind of couldn’t speak in front of her, or to her,” admits Tilinski, so smitten was he with the stylish woman. “I had a huge crush on her from the very start.”

Trained as an accountant, Randy was used to easily solving financial problems, but not necessarily ones of the heart. When he found out that Courtney was soon to take a trip to New York City, he, as he describes it, “tricked her into going on a date with me. I had just returned from New York and pretended to want to fill her in on all the right places to go.” 

“I don’t exactly remember all the places Randy told me to visit, but I do remember Barney’s being one of them,” says Courtney. “Later, after we were married, we started going to New York a couple of times per year, in particular to see the design stores in SoHo.” 

This story appeared in the Winter 2022 issue of MILIEU. To read the complete story or to see all photos, visit the MILIEU Newsstand to purchase this issue in print or visit Zinio.com to purchase this issue in digital format.  

WRITTEN BY DAVID MASELLO

PHOTOGRAPHY BY HEIDI GELDHAUSER-HARRIS