If there was a low point in the history of Kamp Studios, it had to have been the day in 2010 when Kim Collins and Amy Morgenstern found themselves lugging every single quarter, dime, nickel and penny they had scrounged up from their apartment to pour into a coin-counting machine at a Brooklyn branch of TD Bank. The women, then partners in both work and life, were barely making rent while trying to keep their plastering business afloat. “We were practically the only customers in the bank and that machine was very, very loud,” Collins says. “It was mortifying.” They used the $117 they collected that day to buy groceries.

Plasterwork is famously labor-intensive, messy and physically demanding – but these weren’t the only factors that made getting a foothold in the homebuilding space challenging for Collins and Morgenstern. According to a 2024 survey by the construction workforce management platform Lumber, women make up 10% of the construction industry, and only 4% of on-site workers are women. “With the exception of the interior designer or architect, who are sometimes women, we are usually the only women working on a job site,” says Collins.

Fourteen years after the TD Bank incident, Kamp Studios is a favorite of interior designers and architects across the country. The company, whose craftsmanship and artistry have been called “the gold standard” by Architectural Digest, has expanded to three cities, including Los Angeles and Miami, and employs nearly 40 plaster specialists.

Collins, 53, co-founded the business in 2004 with a different original partner. In 2010, her partner left the company and Collins hired Morgenstern, a self-taught painter and former West Point student who was planning to be a doctor. In a whirlwind turn of events, the two women fell in love. Morgenstern, 38, dropped out of her pre-med program and joined Collins full-time.

Plaster is an age-old material that dates back to the early Egyptians. Plaster walls were standard in pre-war construction in the United States but declined after the 1940s with the advent of drywall, which requires significantly less time and labor to install. Fans say that the material that Collins and Morgenstern work with remains unmatched for its durability, tactile beauty and eco-friendliness.

The breakthrough for Kamp arrived in 2017. Athena Calderone, an up-and-coming lifestyle influencer, had recently purchased a house in Brooklyn with her husband. Calderone proposed a barter: if Kamp did all the plasterwork for free, Calderone would promote the company on her website, EyeSwoon.

On their first day at work, Calderone posted an Instagram Story (then a brand-new feature) of the two women creating an unusual fluted design (now one of their signature finishes) on a wall. “It was like a switch went on,” says Collins. “We had been working really hard doing our thing all those years, but until the explosion on Instagram, we had been in a bubble,” says Collins. “My phone started ringing and our business went haywire.”

Collins and Morgenstern ended their romance in 2019, but remain partners in plaster.

What’s it like to be women in the male-dominated industry of construction?

Collins: I’ve never felt like a girl on a job site. I’ve always carried myself with a lot of confidence and I have a big personality. I think also because I’m gay I can have this dynamic with guys where I can be almost like a bro.

Morgenstern: I went to West Point for college, where women are outnumbered 15 to one. I’ve also been a hardcore athlete all my life and I have very thick skin. So in a certain way, I was prepared for the construction industry.

Have you ever been met with outright sexism or discrimination on the job?

Morgenstern: The worst experience I’ve ever had was about five years ago, when I had just established Kamp in LA. I showed up at a site to do my first walk-through and the contractor literally said to my face: “You’re a girl? I don’t work like this. You’re going to be a prima donna.” But after about two weeks, I had that guy eating out of the palm of my hand.

How did you make the transition from doing every job yourselves to hiring workers?

Collins: After being the one doing the hands-on work for so long, I was scared to give up that control. But in 2018 when both of my parents got sick, I often had to go home [to Florida] to help out, leaving Amy alone. Amy eventually said: “I can’t do this. We have to hire help.” Once we realized we could train people and trust them, that of course allowed us to grow.

How much of the actual plastering are you both doing now?

Collins: I’m not on a wall anymore. I’m 53 and I stopped doing the work about seven years ago because it took a toll on me – it messed up my shoulder and I have three herniated discs.

Morgenstern: I’m still addicted. If I go for a week without troweling, I’m an unhappy person. But I have to be careful not to overexert myself because I hope to have a baby in the next year.

How did your personal breakup affect your working relationship?

Collins: The year that Amy moved to LA was really rough. I was working with a client in New York who was so bullying and sexist I called Amy crying, begging her to come home. But separating gave both of us a healthier sense of independence. As for the business itself, expanding to LA has been incredible. We have nearly doubled our revenue.

Morgenstern: We talk every day, multiple times a day. I would do anything for Kim and she would do anything for me. We are still like family.