Welcome to today's show! We have Taylor Dietrich and Yashlie Negron with us and they are the co-founders a firm that works both in real locations and virtually, called Do Not Let Us Design. And that's a catchy name that really piques your interest, right? On the show today Taylor and Yashlie discuss their interesting journey in the industry, starting out as interns, being promoted and eventually graduating into project managers and junior designers. They have come up with a very interesting concept, so listen in today to find out more.
DNLUD as a name comes from the misconception of misjudging someone who might look too young or easygoing. Taylor and Yashlie have embraced any negative connotations and turned these to their advantage while striving to produce really unique and stunning interiors.
Yashlie grew up around construction zones and witnessing places transform before her eyes instilled in her a desire to create a similar kind of magic. She graduated with a BFA in Interior Design from the New York School of Interior Design. Since graduating, she has worked with various design firms.
Taylor, inspired by travel and all things foreign, became inspired to contribute to the arts through interiors after spending a semester in Florence. After graduating from the University of Rhode Island in the Textile, Merchandising, and Design program, she quickly jumped into the trade. She specializes in project management.
Listen in to find out what these two really savvy ladies have to share on the show today.
Show highlights:
Links:
Yashie and Taylor's website: DNLUD
Email Yashlie and Taylor at yashlieandtaylor@dnlud.com
Yashlie and Tayor on Instagram: dnlud
Other episodes mentioned on the show:
Welcome to today's episode! We have Chris Ramey, the president of The Home Trust International and Affluent Insights/Retail-Rescue, on the show with us today. Chris is a marketing professional who is very well versed in both our industry and the habits and traits of affluent people and he truly understands all there is to know about the client and the consumer base, particularly within the affluent consumer market. He's pointed out to us that research has shown that the biggest problem that interior designers are facing lately is finding clients. So today Chris, who really knows the kind of pain that many interior designers are experiencing right now, explains what luxury really means and how to interact with the extremely wealthy market. Listen in to find out more.
The Home Trust is an aggressive marketing agency with hyper-focused marketing programs to help them really penetrate the market. It is best known for its rich consumer-facing website which is aimed at high net-worth families, where they find the world's best products and services for their homes. Chris is a consultant and a speaker, consulting and speaking to organizations with all luxury categories. He is the most quoted independent authority in the luxury segment and he has, in the past, been president of The Luxury Marketing Council Miami and The Luxury Marketing Council Palm Beach, as well as president and founder of Savvi Formalwear, and president of International Design Guild.
Chris is a member of National Speakers Association, a columnist for Hearst Business Publications' Floor Covering Weekly, and he has earned the 'Top 5% appellation' from Gerson-Lehrman for his work with private equity firms investing in home and luxury segments. He also sits on the Retail Wire Brain Trust panel and he is a director for Domestic Estate Management Association Palm Beach.
Chris, originally from Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, now resides with his wife in Palm Beach County, Florida. Listen in to find out what he has to share with you on today's show.
Show highlights:
Links:
Chris Websites: The Home Trust
Email Chris at:
cpr@affluentinsights.com
Other episodes mentioned on the show:
Nancy Ganzekaupher #9
Welcome! Today we have a very smart lady, Lori Paranjape, of Mrs. Paranjape Design and Interiors with us. As well as being a really talented designer, Lori, affectionately known as Mrs. Paranjape, is also an excellent businesswoman and on the show today she's going to be offering lots of really practical advice for designers. She has had her work featured in People, HGTV Magazine, and Domino, as well as in many other publications. Listen in today to find out what Lori has to share with you.
Mrs. Paranjape Design and Interiors, which specializes in luxury residential and new construction projects, was started in 2008. Lori is a self-taught and extremely motivated designer. She started out helping friends and acquaintances with their homes. As time went by, referrals continued to pour in and Lori began working as the in-house designer for Redo Home and Design, the well-loved home retailer to generations of families based in Nashville. Listen in today as Lori discusses the really innovative relationship she has with Redo Home and Design, and she also encourages designers and retailers to build awesome partnerships, just as she has done with Redo.
Show highlights:
Lori's explains the details of her 'Design Collective' business model that she has set up in Nashville.
The wonderful, symbiotic relationship that Lori has with her business partner.
The clear distinctions between the different aspects of her partnership.
What constitutes a 'commissionable' sale within her partnership.
How Lori's commission is paid to her.
The intentional way that Lori sources everything that she needs.
How Lori's retailer provides everything that she needs.
The awesome and mutually beneficial kind of partnership that can be formed between a designer and a retailer.
The way that Lori and her partner work to utilize a relatively small showroom space to their best advantage.
Lori's unique, practical and real-life approach to designing a home for her clients.
The way that Lori really takes care of her clients.
Why you, as designers, really need to cultivate the skill of asking, listening, and then going a little deeper.
Lori's special way of discovering the personal details about her clients, without making them feel uncomfortable.
Lori's innovative ways of encouraging clients to spend more money on a project, if it's necessary.
Some tips for overcoming difficulties with clients around the cost of a project in a comfortable way.
The conversations that Lori has with her clients right at the beginning of their relationship.
When to simply say 'no' to a client.
Using candles and music to transform a room and create the right atmosphere.
Ways of gaining a client's cooperation in using their home for a photo shoot.
How to Find Lori:
Website - Mrs. Paranjape
Instagram - @mrsparanjape
Pinterest - Mrs. Paranjape
Welcome to this week's Power Talk Friday! We have Raquel Langworthy, a lifestyle, and interiors photographer, with us. Rachel's philosophy is one of partnering very closely with her clients, so today we are going to be talking to her about how she does that with her designer clients, by creating with them a thorough and detailed relationship, working with them side by side and supporting them all the way. Listen in to find out more.
Raquel is a Lifestyle and Interiors photographer based in Berkeley Heights, New Jersey. She services mainly the east coast but she's traveled the country for various photography assignments for both documentary storytelling and interiors. Raquel has recently been published in NY Cottage & Garden, for their cover story, as well as in many other online publications such as Domino.com and Architectural Digest online. Raquel moved to New Jersey two years ago, and although she still feels new to the NJ market she has had the pleasure of working with a host of talented interior designers and architects to capture their work and portraits. Her focus in photography is naturally lit bright spaces. Her goal when photographing interiors is not only to capture the overall space but captivate an audience through visual storytelling and well-styled compositions. Listen in to find out what Raquel has to share on the show today.
Show highlights:
Previous episodes mentioned on the show.
Amy Flurry #108 and #323
Links:
Website - Raquel Langworthy
Instagram - Raquel Langworthy Photography
Facebook - Raquel Langworthy Photography
Welcome to today's episode! We have Laurel Bern, of Laurel Bern Interiors on the show with us today.
Laurel Bern is an award-winning New York Interior Designer, blogger, brand ambassador and speaker. Her design work has been featured in national as well as Westchester County shelter magazines. She is known for a having a young-traditional aesthetic and is one to buck many of the current trends unless they happen to be classic favorites.
However, after 21 years as the principle designer in her firm Laurel Bern Interiors, she has turned her focus to blogging as a full-time occupation. Her award-winning blog, Laurel Home has drawn a large following – and by large- I mean with page views in the multiple hundreds of thousands every month- due to her candid style of writing, useful information and warm community of readers. You can see for yourself right on her website, laurelberninteriors.com she earns over $33,000 per month from her blog.
Laurel's Rolodex is a comprehensive shopping guide for home furnishings with links to the vendor/manufacturers and features a list of some 180 designer-friendly vendors for interior designers. No professional confidences are divulged. Laurel's goal is to help you make your home more beautiful, personal and a really comfortable place in which to live. You will want to savor every moment of today’s show, so join us today to discover more about Laurel ’s incredible, entrepreneurial journey.
Show highlights:
Previous episodes mentioned on this show.
Recommendations:
For really awesome geek help, go to Eileen Lonergan
Welcome to Power Talk Friday! We are really happy to introduce you to Esther (Pinky) Kiss today. Pinky is the founder of Born To Influence, a boutique publicity firm that specializes in helping experts and personal brands to get more publicity, leads, and sales. We will be talking to Pinky about how to get your ducks in a row, and understanding what you need to do, in order to be properly prepared for the marketing and PR process, and to gain credibility as an expert in your field. Today's show is geared for the interior designer who is in their own market, with a successful business, who would like to access PR and media opportunities specifically to create more business for their firm. Listen in to find out what she has to share on the show today.
Pinky has worked on campaigns in a variety of industries, including software as a service, mobile apps, and digital information. She also has a podcast called Born To Influence, The Marketing Show, where although she does not air new interviews at this point, there is still a library available, on iTunes, containing tons of information. Pinky has also been involved in bringing several book launches to national bestseller and New York Times status. Listen in to find out more!
Show highlights:
Links:
For the free training segment of Pinky's Publicity Empire online study course go to www.borntoinfluence.com/free-publicity-training
Previous episodes mentioned on this show:
Amy Flurry episodes #108 and #323
Welcome to today's episode. We have Judith Taylor, of Judith Taylor Designs, with us on the show and today we talk to her about navigating the murky waters of working with friends and family. She also talks about the new furniture line that she is launching and her multi-generational heritage of furniture design and manufacture. In addition to studying interior design, Judith also studied at Toronto School of Art, she has a bachelor's degree in psychology and business administration and a past career in IT. These added areas of understanding have provided her with the unique ability to combine practicality, psychology, and aesthetics into her interior design projects. Listen in today to get her really spot-on advice and tips for working with family and friends in a way that won't drive you crazy!
Judith is the founder and principal designer of her award-winning firm which specializes in residential design. She did her formal training in interior design in Toronto, where she received high honors for her work, which is inspired by broadly reaching disciplines. Judith started her career in IT, where she honed her skills in project management and developed a deep understanding of the process and an orientation to details. Today she lives in Toronto's Beaches neighborhood with her family. Listen in to find out more!
Show highlights:
Links:
Judith's furniture line can be found at Silver 4 Home
Blog "Point of View": Judith Taylor Designs
Pinterest: Judith Taylor Designs
Facebook: Judith Taylor Designs
Houzz: Judith Taylor Designs
To find out more about LuAnn's in-person coaching seminar on 28 July in Las Vegas go to Luann Nigara
Previous episodes mentioned on this show:
Welcome to Power talk Friday! Today we're talking taxes and we're really happy to introduce you to our guest, Craig Cody. Craig is a certified tax coach, a certified public accountant, a business owner and he is also a former New York City police officer with seventeen years on the force! Pretty impressive, right! Listen in to find out more!
In addition to being a public accountant for the last fifteen years, Craig is also a certified tax coach to a select group of tax practitioners throughout the country. They undergo extensive training and education on various tax-planning techniques and strategies to become (or remain) certified. With this organization, Craig has co-authored an Amazon best-seller, Secrets of a Tax-free Life. On the show today, Craig discusses the services that he offers his clients, and how he saves them money, tax-wise. He also explains how to develop the right relationship with your accountant, and how to ensure that he's the right fit for your business. Listen in today to hear Craig's awesome advice!
Show highlights:
To get your free copy of Craig's book, The Ten Most Expensive Tax Mistakes That Cost Business Owners Thousands
Links:
Welcome! Today we have Orlando Soria, the founder of the blog Hommemaker, with us on the show. Orlando is a really charming and thoughtful interior designer, writer, and visual artist, from Los Angeles, California, with an unpretentious attitude towards the world, and his place in it. Listen in to our conversation today and find out what he has to say about the way that design, art, and writing can influence the world and the way that people think.
Orlando got his start on HGTV as Emily Henderson‘s on-camera assistant on the home makeover series Secrets From A Stylist. A graduate of Cornell’s University’s College of Architecture, Art and Planning and The University of Pennsylvania’s School of Design, Orlando has been a staple of the design industry for years. His first book, Get It Together!, was released in Spring 2018 and in May of this year, Domino named him as one of the top twenty-nine designers to follow on Instagram. Listen in today to find out more!
Show highlights:
Links:
Hommemaker website: Homme Maker
Orlando on Instagram: Orlando Soria
Orlando on Pinterest: Orlando Soria
Orlando on Facebook: Homme Maker
Orlando on Twitter: Orlando Soria
To buy a copy of Orlando's book:
Get It Together!: An Interior Designer's Guide to Creating Your Best Life