Whitney Manahan grew up in Southwest Minnesota and Northeast Tennessee. From a young age she was interested in art and design. Whitney attended the University of Tennessee where she earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Interior Design in 2009. In 2012, Whitney returned to take part in the Master of Architecture program at UT. Through architectural history classes and working with a local developer restoring Knoxville's downtown buildings, Whitney has developed a great appreciation for historic architecture and adaptive reuse. Whitney is currently working on a Thesis Project involving the adaptive reuse of non-inhabitable industrial structures.