Growing up in the 1960s in Berkeley, Calif., Mavis Wiggins was both academic and artistic. After taking courses at the University of California, Berkeley during high school, she moved to New York City to attend Pratt Institute but was not initially interested in interior design. “I was more interested in photography and fine arts,” says the recently retired managing executive of TPG Architecture. She crafted a five-decade career in interior architecture and workplace design for some of the industry’s most influential design firms. Wiggins, 72, cites her mother’s knack for decorating the family home and meticulous architectural drawings her father created in high school as steering her toward interior design. The choice was ultimately informed by the pragmatism of her father, a longshoreman. “I needed to make money,” Wiggins says, “and I thought that might be the safest way.” But Wiggins did more with her career than pay her bills.…