'Bigger is not better' suits this industry giant.

An interior designer, Jean Young naturally studied that subject in college. But she also credits a few classes in psychology for much of her firm's success.

"There are 5,000 people out there who do fabulous designs," she said.

It's how you listen to a client, how flexible you are and "how you provide the service that makes it all work," she added.

That attention to a customer's needs and desires have given her firm, Young + Co. Inc., a reputation for designs as original and varied as they are attractive.

"We try very hard not to create something that has our stamp on it," Young said.

Visitors to the pediatric wing of Paradise Valley Hospital, where a colorful "village" complete with storefronts and individual mailboxes helps cheer up sick children, would be surprised to learn the same firm was responsible for the sand-colored walls and flowing drapes that give a sense of Old World serenity to the Deepak Chopra Center for Well Being in La Jolla.

Doing the interior space planning and design for projects like those has brought the firm professional and financial success.

The Paradise Valley Hospital project won an orchid from the San Diego design community last fall, and Young + Co. has also won several awards from the American Society of Interior Designers.

In its 15 years, the firm has grown to nine employees and had revenues in 1996 of $1 million.

Not only is the firm one of the larger interior design offices in San Diego County, Young + Co, also does work for giants in the health care industry like Kaiser Permanente and has competed with large firms across the country to win projects from the Carolinas to Northern California to Taiwan.

But Young has been careful to balance her business goals with her passion for designing, as well as her family's needs, and has no plans to greatly increase the size of her office or open additional offices in other states or cities.

"I don't want the headache," that comes from managing an enterprise that large, she said. "Bigger is not necessarily better. ... I enjoy designing and that's my forte."

Young is one of those lucky people who knew "what she wanted to be when she grew up" by the end of grade school.

Raised in Northern California, with a mother who was an interior decorator and a father who was a real estate broker. Young was exposed to the design field at an early age.

She first thought she'd be an architect, but then turned her attention to the inside of buildings at the University of Oregon, one of the few schools to offer a degree in "interior architecture."

She and husband, David, a teacher at Mission Bay High School, moved to San Diego in 1971.

It wasn't until 1985 that she started her own business, fueled by a $6,000 loan from her mother.

Knowing the interior design business is largely done by referrals from clients or other professionals, Young worked to develop contacts and a solid reputation before plunging into her own business.

"Timing is everything," she said.

There's a time in everyone's career where it's probably too early, and a time when it might be too late, she added.

On the other hand, she freely admits that it takes a certain "blind optimism" to start any business.

"If you're a pessimist forget it," she said of the rigors and challenges of running any enterprise. "You'll find an excuse every day not to keep the business going."

She also credits her success to a willingness to ask for help in areas like bookkeeping where she's not an expert, and for learning to trust her instincts over the years.

Doing the Chopra project in La Jolla for example. Young just had a feeling about asking a certain architect. Jim Galvin, to work with her on the proposal for the project.

As it turned out, Galvin had designed the home Chopra was living in, the treatment center he was using at the time, and the home of the former owner of the building Chopra was planning to renovate in La Jolla.

Hardly surprising then, that she and Galvin were chosen for the job.

"If that's not good karma, I don't know what is," said Young with a laugh.

When she started her business, her motto was "no job is too small." Small projects generally lead to bigger ones, she said.

The firm started out doing a wide variety of commercial interior design work, including banks and restaurants.

Young + Co. still does all kinds of projects - for example, it's currently working on remodeling the local offices of McGladrey & Pullen, LLP.

The project is using the concept of "hoteling" or making work spaces as flexible as possible to maximize the number of employees who can use the space.

Over the years, however, Young + Co. found a niche in the health care field.

Health care was an area where she could "take advantage of my expertise" and where "there was a little less competition," Young said.

In the '80s, interior work in health care usually meant the remodeling of or additions to physicians' offices.

In the '90s, with the emphasis on managed care and cutting costs, much of that market has dried up. But there's plenty of work for health maintenance organizations (HMOs) and in retrofitting hospitals for new regulations, like those dealing with earthquakes.

"I see nothing but a fantastic future ahead for commercial interior design in health care market in Southern California," she said.

Like all projects, Young enjoys the challenge of melding good design with the myriad of building code and other regulations that exist these days.

In particular, however, she enjoys creating spaces that can help improve a patient's health or any person's sense of well-being.

Studies have shown that the amount of natural light and other conditions in a room can make a big difference in how productive employees are, Young said.

The South County Medical Office Building for Kaiser in Play Mesa that she's working on will combine clinical care with natural gardens within the complex.

Heath care facilities are more and more integrating clinical care with facilities that promote a sense of well-being. Young said.

"It"s exciting," being part of that integration process, she said.

YOUNG + CO. INC.

President: Jean Young Founded: 1982 Employees: 9 1996 Revenues: $1 million Headquarters: 3625 Fifth Ave., San Diego Business: Commercial interior design with an emphasis on health care projects