Marylene Briere came to this country 31 years ago with $400 in her pocket. Moving here from her native France, she didn’t speak English and did not have any family members who came with her to the United States. After finishing her graduate studies in international trade, she began working in a series of positions at several different companies in various industries, spending about 10 years gaining valuable experience in the U.S. business environment.
It wasn’t long before she was making plans to start her own natural stone fabrication company, where she could focus on the part of the business she most enjoys. “I really love the interior design part of choosing natural stone for homes,” Briere says. “I started A Touch of Stone 21 years ago. I’m proud to be a woman-owned business with a great team of employees, some of whom have been with me since the company’s inception.”
Briere helps her clients find the perfect shade of natural stone tailored to their individual taste and their specific project, whether that is a kitchen or bathroom countertop, backsplash, fireplace surround, built-in bar, flooring or outdoor kitchen. “I’m different than other fabricators. My clients rely on me to come up with original designs and colors,” Briere says. “I often work hand in hand with their interior designers or directly with homeowners to help them select the color and edging styles that will give them the final results they want. Often, homeowners need help with envisioning how the final project will look, and that’s where I come in.”
She takes the scrappiness she has learned in a male-dominated business and applies that perseverance to tackling challenging client projects. “I want to create for them what is hard to find and use my knowledge of fabrication techniques to make their dreams happen. I will do whatever I have to do to get the look they want. I actually love to do something wild and different,” Briere adds. Whenever a client wants a bullnose wraparound made of stone to front-face an island, Briere has each piece of stone individually cut and attached by hand. She takes the extra time to ensure each detail is perfected—whether that’s book-matching natural stones for a dramatic effect or searching for an exotic, veined stone to match a client’s unique aesthetic.
It’s this philosophy of going the extra mile that helped Briere choose the name of her company. “A Touch of Stone is all about doing a little something extra. I love renovation projects and always want my clients to feel I’m always there for them,” she says.
Briere spent many years seeing all of the intricate stone carvings in European cities. The history and sights of those European carvings influence much of her drive to achieve beautiful applications for her clients today. She brings a taste of that classic, timeless style to all of her projects, whether the end result is a traditional, transitional or ultramodern look. “Stone is classic, no matter the application. I want my designs to stand the test of time. I guarantee my clients will still love the look in 10 years. They may come to me to design the fourth, fifth or sixth house they have moved into. If they want something different in the next house, it’s never because they didn’t like what we did before. That’s why timeless design is so important,” she says.
There are many stones on the market, but Briere weeds through all of the options for both homeowners and designers to narrow down what will work in their spaces to achieve the look they’re after. “Each stone has a story,” she says. “It is the Earth’s story. Every vein, fissure and color is the mark of an earthquake, petrified algae or heavy rain. The marks and colors tell a story and make each slab unique. It’s this uniqueness that I can bring to every client’s home so that their look cannot be found anywhere else. I may use the same stone in two different homes, but how I design the application customizes it for each homeowner.”
A Touch of Stone has installed hundreds of projects in the Atlanta area, and Briere’s team also travels to install natural stone for homeowners throughout much of the Southeast. “I love making each customer feel special, and I love my job so much I don’t even consider it a job,” she says. It’s this passion that drives her to work so closely with fellow designers. “We are not competitors; we are a community. I want to help designers select the best stones with bespoke details like novel edges to finish the look. I believe we should build each other up so we can all perform our very best. I enjoy working so closely with designers, and we develop a real trust between us,” Briere adds.
A Touch of Stone also works closely with commercial clients, including such hotels as The Ritz-Carlton, Hotel St. Regis and the Four Seasons, that are undergoing refreshes and renovations. Briere helps them achieve their vision through installation of natural stone that will serve as countertops in their guest rooms, at their bars and as accent walls. Briere also has overseen historic hotel renovations in tourist attraction cities such as Savannah.
Whether for residential or commercial projects, A Touch of Stone continues to receive positive reviews from its clients. One client says, “Marylene is personable, knowledgeable and takes time to make sure everything is perfect.” Another client says: “I upgraded my bathroom some years ago, and the pattern is ageless. The materials have kept their integrity and have required no touch-ups. Marylene helped me choose the stonework, and I am still happy to see it each day.”
Back when Briere started A Touch of Stone, there were few female entrepreneurs starting new companies. Today, there are many more women taking the leap. Worldwide, 43% of entrepreneurs are female; however, only 13% of them are in an industrial or construction-related field like Briere. Couple that with having to learn a new language and navigate a new country without relatives nearby, and you can see the tenacity that she brings to the natural stone industry and why she fights to achieve her clients’ dreams, too. “I am the true American dream; I got the white picket fence,” she says. And she wants to spread the love and help every homeowner achieve that for themselves by bringing to life their ideas, one stone at a time. *
Dana W. Todd is a professional writer specializing in interior design, real estate, luxury homebuilding, landscape design, architecture and fine art.
