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A Well-Designed Business® | Interior Design Business Podcast

In today's world being a talented interior designer isn't enough to ensure that you have a profitable and successful interior design business. Design school doesn't always teach you the critical business skills to be sure your interior design business be everything you imagined it would be! A Well Designed Business is here to fill in the gaps and give you real live business skills from some of the top interior designers. Your host, LuAnn Nigara shares her 35 years of success in the interior design industry, and she finds the most successful guests to share their interior design business best practices.
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Now displaying: November, 2018
Nov 30, 2018

Welcome to Power Talk Friday! As most of you know, on Fridays LuAnn talks to people, from any industry, who can share something with us that will enhance, grow, or make our business or personal lives make sense. Today we are very happy to have Julie Broad, an Amazon Overall Number 1 Best-Selling Author, join us on the show. Julie has a background in real estate and in branding. Having generated over six figures in revenue from her book sales alone, she now teaches authors how to build their brand and boost their business through her new company, Book Launchers.Com. Listen in today to find out how Julie could help you make a bigger impact with your interior design business by writing, publishing, and selling a top-quality book.

Julie was born in Canada. She grew up in rural Alberta in a house attached to a 20 room Motel. Collecting the pop cans and beer bottles from the motel rooms, she used the money to invest in gold stocks which she used to pay for her first year of undergraduate education. When it was time to do her MBA, she used her savings to buy investment properties instead of fund her education. Student loans paid for school, and then the seven properties she owned by the end of her MBA paid off her student loans. Julie continued to apply the entrepreneurial lessons she learned from her parents (not her MBA, because that degree was pointless) as she grew her real estate portfolio, launched a real estate training and education company, and began to write books. She became an Amazon Overall Number 1 Best Selling Author, an International Book Award Winner, and recipient of the Beverly Hills Book Award for Best Sales book. Listen in to find out how Julie helps people achieve their goals.

Show highlights:

  • The benefits of self-publishing.
  • Producing a book to give clients will really benefit small business owners or designers.
  • Producing a book really demonstrates that you're an expert in your field and it can earn you tons of media as well!
  • How much content has to be in your book for Amazon to sell it and provide you with printed copies of it.
  • You can increase the content of your book by spacing it out and filling it in with pictures.
  • How getting some assistance with structure, from someone like Julie, can really help to bring out of you what you already know.
  • Friends and family probably won't tell you if your ideas really suck.
  • The ways that Julie helps people position their book to appeal to their ideal reader.
  • Putting your own flair into ordinary things.
  • Some things to help you get to the heart of your brand.
  • Some mistakes people make in communication that deludes their message.
  • A tip about body language to help you become more confident.
  • With self-publishing, it's 100% your book.

Links:

Website: Book Launchers

YouTube: Julie Broad

Facebook: Book Launchers

Instagram: @juliebroad @booklaunchers

Twitter: Book Launchers

Nov 27, 2018

Welcome to today's show! We are really happy to have John and Theresa Dorlini, the dynamic duo behind Circle Design Studio, with us today. The idea of CIRCLE was born in 2001 when, on their first official date at a sushi restaurant in downtown Tempe, John and Theresa made a pinky promise to build a design empire. On the show today we have a really great conversation with them about how they built their business and the way that they run it. Listen in today, to find out what they have to share with you.

Circle Design Studio is located in Roanoke VA. Since its inception in 2005,  John and Theresa have expanded the CIRCLE family to encompass full-service design, including architecture and general contracting.

John is the principal architect and he holds professional licenses as a Certified Interior Designer, Class A Contractor, and Architect in the states of Virginia, North Carolina, and West Virginia. Those qualifications, combined with his background in design and construction administration for large-scale public projects, ensure a thorough drawing set that leads to accurate bidding and execution.

Theresa is the principal interior designer and creative director. Her strength is seeing the “big picture”.  She has 20 years of interior design experience practicing in Arizona, Florida, and Virginia, and she works closely with all their clients, both residential and commercial, to develop a cohesive design concept that reflects their personal style or branding. Theresa is passionate about design education and she's taught at James Madison University, and also at her alma mater, Arizona State University. Listen in to find out more.

Show highlights:

  • Their way of explaining to a client why they would do well to make use of a designer, as well as a builder and an architect.
  • Why they invest so much in their 3D visualizations.
  • The programs that they prefer to use for their 3D visualizations, and why.
  • How 3D modeling can help prevent disconnect with the various players working on projects.
  • How it really helps to have an architect on board with their projects.
  • The benefits of having a large body of work to show their clients.
  • Words are just words, so images really help!
  • They are busy creating a coffee table book.
  • What they do to make projects easier to understand for their clients.
  • Following the steps of a tried-and-true-process.
  • Explaining to their clients, when discussing fees, that they're paying for John and Theresa's expertise.
  • Everything about design comes really easily to Theresa.
  • Designing seems really easy for some people, so it's easy for them to underestimate what actually goes into it.
  • A book that John recommends is The Business of Design by Keith Granet.
  • All about the vision statement they are busy creating.
  • Being at the glorious point of being able to recognize the really valuable clients and let the others go.
  • Realizing that it's all about serving the client.
  • You have to be really good at what you do to work with the luxury market.
  • Learning to be honest enough to just say 'no'.
  • Putting things in writing can save your butt!
  • Setting boundaries with clients.
  • Creating a dual-purpose welcome-packet for clients.
  • Ways to protect yourself from customers who tend to take advantage.

Previous episodes mentioned in the show:

Darla Powell #330

Jason Byrne #311

Charles Pavarini #113

Resources:

Book mentioned: The Business of Design by Keith Granet

Links:

Website: Circle Design Studio

Facebook: Circle Design Studio

Pinterest: Circle Design Studio

Instagram: Circle Design Studio

Blog: Curata Home

Nov 23, 2018

Welcome to Power Talk Friday! We have Samantha Parker and Kathy Rasmussen, the partners in the Badassery Community, with us on the show today. Samantha and Kathy are the co-founders of Badassery Magazine, the co-hosts of the Badassery Podcast, and they also have a book out, called Badassery Styled Community. These ladies are very real. They are trailblazers and they are on a mission. Together, they are creating an ultra-engaged community of women entrepreneurs who are fully committed to living bold and passion-filled lives. On the show today they share some great guiding principals on being authentic and doing things your way. Listen in to find out about the very significant work that these two dynamic ladies are doing.

Badassery Magazine is a resource for female business owners to navigate and embody the Badassery Lifestyle. The magazine features articles written by their community of contributors on topics including Entrepreneurship, Branding, Marketing, Mindset, Self Care, Health & Beauty, Home, Family, Travel, Food & Drink Recipes, Entertainment, Music, and lots more.

Samantha is ridiculously passionate about living a life of true Badassery. She believes that we all rise together and she puts community over competition. She has been featured on NowThis, The Daily Vee, Bold TV, and numerous interviews and podcasts.

Kathy is an idea cultivating machine and can strategically birth your idea to life. When she’s not busy connecting other entrepreneurs with fabulous experiences, you can find her being featured on NowThis, Bold TV, numerous interviews and podcasts. Kathy is passionate about owning who you are and stepping into the spotlight. Listen in to find out more.

Show highlights:

  • The backstory of how the Badass Community was started.
  • How Samantha and Kathy first met.
  • Kathy explains what she does, as an implementation strategist.
  • Knowing your where your passion lies and what fulfills you.
  • About the brand pillars of the Badass Community.
  • Some pillars that would benefit designers.
  • Embracing who you are and letting your authentic personality shine through.
  • Thinking about what you want to be known for.
  • Creating consistency throughout all your messaging.
  • Determining what your brand pillars should be.
  • The process of welcoming people to a community.
  • Growing your design business through a Facebook community.
  • Cultivating conversations within a Facebook community.
  • Giving value and sharing your expertise within a Facebook community will get people to hire you.
  • Getting loyalty from the personality brand you're creating.
  • Things that are necessary, but not obvious about the backend of running a community.
  • Some of the things they do that really make the members feel special and want to stay in the community.
  • To restrict your community or not?

Previous episodes mentioned on the show:

Nancy Holla #377

Colleen Prim #359

Nicole Heymer #125 and #137

Claire Jefford #237 and 325

Rachel Moriarty #55 and #214

Dixie Willard #273

Links:

Website: Badassery Magazine

Facebook: Badassery Magazine

Instagram: Badassery Magazine

Badassery Mag: Badassery Magazine

Badassery Podcast: Badassery Podcast

Nov 20, 2018

Welcome to the show! You're really in for a royal treat today! We're very excited to share LuAnn's interview with Charles, the 9th Earl Spencer, as he unveils the Royal Funiture line for Theodore Alexander. LuAnn did this interview live, in person, at the Theodore Alexander Showroom in High Point, North Carolina. Lord Spencer is the younger brother of Diana, Princess of Wales. He is also a British nobleman, peer, author, journalist, and broadcaster. The Althorp Living History furniture collection was designed in partnership with Theodore Alexander. And it encompasses replications of furniture found in the 500-year-old Althorp Estate where Lord Spencer and Diana grew up. Listen in today to find out what Lord Spencer has to share about the Althorp Living History furniture collection.

For five centuries, Althorp - a sprawling English estate in bucolic Northamptonshire - has served as the primary residence of the Spencers, one of the most distinguished, aristocratic families in England with ties to Winston Spencer Churchill and the ancestors of George Washington.

It was this combination of rich legacy and the home’s warm, beautiful interiors that drew fine furniture maker Theodore Alexander to Althorp. The resulting collection of furniture and upholstery pieces in Althorp Living History draws inspiration from treasures gathered during the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries by Althorp’s famous inhabitants.

Theodore Alexander is renowned for unmatched craftsmanship, exquisite finishes, and extraordinary design. Covering a diversity of periods and styles, their collections encompass thousands of unique lighting, home accents, case goods, and upholstered furnishings. Theodore Alexander and its licensed collections (Althorp Living History, Keno Bros. for Theodore Alexander, Jamie Drake for Theodore Alexander, Michael Berman for Theodore Alexander, and Steve Leung for Theodore Alexander) are available throughout the world at fine furniture galleries and design centers. Listen in today to find out more!

Show highlights:

  • The “Spencer heritage” — 500 years of history in the Althorp Estate and how that history is captured in the furniture.
  • The wonderful responsibility of being heir to the Althorp Estate.
  • Retaining Althorp as a place of entertainment.
  • For Lord Spencer, history is about people- not about dusty, dry facts.
  • How the relationship between Lord Spencer and Theodore Alexander began.
  • Lord Spencer enjoys the passion that Theodore Alexander has for the heritage of the furniture collection.
  • Lord Spencer is able to provide the backstory of every single piece of furniture in the Althorp Living History line.
  • How Theodore Alexander has helped to preserve the Althorp history and heritage through the furniture line.
  • Lord Spencer talks about his favorite pieces in the collection.
  • What buyers can expect when purchasing an Althorp/Theodore Alexander piece.
  • Owning a cherished piece of history with the opportunity to create your own heritage with pieces with a rich history.
  • What designers should know about the value of the Althorp Living History furniture collection, and also of Theodore Alexander, as a company, when considering introducing the furniture line into their projects.

Links:

Theodore Alexander's website:  Theodore Alexander.

Furniture Collection:

Email: c@clairemontcommunications.com / msmiley@theodorealexander.com / ostrowski.anna97@gmail.com

The video of this interview is available on LuAnn's Youtube channel: Youtube

Nov 16, 2018

Welcome to today's show! We are very happy to introduce you to Nancy Hala today. Nancy is a branding expert and she's also co-host of the podcast This Is Fifty With Sheri and Nancy. LuAnn truly loves and enjoys what Nancy and her co-host Sheri Salata are doing! Nancy and Sheri joined forces when they were both in their mid-fifties, to launch their company, start their podcast, and begin living The Pillar Life. They decided at the time that it's never too late to make the rest of their dreams come true. And both still had a ton of dreams left that they really wanted to come true! On the show today, apart from picking Nancy's expert brain, as a brand strategist, we will be talking to her about The Pillar Life, and leaning into starting a new life with career changes. Because sometimes you just have to take a leap of faith and trust that the universe will support you. So listen in today to find out what Nancy has to share with you.

Nancy is a chief visionary of The Pillar Life. And This Is Fifty with Sheri + Nancy is a popular podcast about redefining and rebranding the middle of life. Sheri Salata and Nancy are lifelong soul-sister friends. And on their podcast they’re having conversations with experts, teachers and uplifters about fueling their imaginations and igniting the eight most important pillars of their lives: Health + Wellness, Spirituality + Happiness, Romance + Sex, Friends + Family, Creativity + Innovation, Adventure + Discovery, Sanctuary + Beauty, and Money + Abundance.

Nancy is also the innovator behind BrandStory, a trademark combination of brand strategy, storytelling and audience building, helping organizations articulate who they are, what they stand for, and where their brand’s spirit meets its mission. Nancy extends her business brand practice into personal brand development, working with individuals and groups in bespoke workshops designed to help participants understand and express their own personal brands. Listen in to find out more!

Show highlights:

  • Nancy shares her (and Sheri's) core beliefs.
  • Nancy believes that taking the risk and trusting in the support of the universe will open doors for you.
  • Learning to dream without limitations.
  • Most people really love their brand, or their organzation, as an extension of themselves.
  • Their first mantra, when Sheri and Nancy started their company, was 'dream big'.
  • Shedding old beliefs about safety and security creates fun and excitement!
  • Starting your own company or creating your own brand is one of the most creative things you can do as a business owner.
  • Having a business is all about connecting with people- so you have to speak to them in a way that they can hear and understand you.
  • The stories we tell ourselves make our dreams come true.
  • Creating a really great narrative for your brand.
  • Nancy's four v's: vision, values, virtues and voice.
  • A vision is the foundational component of a brand story.
  • Your virtues set you apart from your competitors or your peers.
  • Your voice is the energy behind your brand.
  • You need to be interested in something in order to be successful at it.
  • Getting to the core of what really sets you apart from the rest.
  • Getting into the virtue of what you do with authenticity and fearlessness.
  • The Pillar Life consists of eight areas of life (or pillars) that we need to focus on, expand our energy over, and elevate our experience around.
  • Nancy discusses her and Sheri's reckoning moment.
  • Content has to have a framework. And The Pillar Life has become the framework for Nancy and Sheri's narrative.
  • Finding your own, unique point of view on each pillar.

Previous episodes mentioned on the show:

Amber Lewis #169 and #184

Nicole Heymer (Curio Electro) #125 and #317

Links:

The Pillar Life 

10 Easy Steps to Launch The Pillar Life

Nov 13, 2018

Welcome to today's show! We have Catherine French, the founder of Catherine French Design, located in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, with us today. Cat has been listening to this podcast since it first started, about two-and-a-half years ago. This was around the same time that she started her design business. Recently, Cat sent LuAnn a really nice email, telling her about the things she had learned from A Well-Designed Business. In the letter, she listed the things that she has really taken seriously from the podcast and implemented in her business. And right from the start, she has really been tremendously successful! Cat's firm is currently approaching half-a-million dollars in gross revenue per year- in under two-and-a-half years! So listen in today, as Cat talks to LuAnn about her business, and gives some context to the way that it all began for her.

Cat loves color, pattern, texture, form, and has a passion for working with people. She focuses on color and balance to make rooms more warm, inviting and habitable. Her design is a unique blend of psychology, culture, color, and function with an emphasis on the principals of design and art taken from her formal Arts education and training.  Embracing full collaboration in creating a harmonious space, she spends time in the spaces with her clients developing their vision and then guiding them through the full process of a turn-key installation.

After obtaining her Bachelors in Psychology from Wake Forest University, Cat later went on to pursue her Master of Fine Arts in Interior Architecture from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. While teaching the Environmental Design Studio at UNCG, she presented her work at several State and National conventions as an expert on Interior Design and Historic Preservation. Now Cat leads a passionate and enthusiastic team of design professionals that guide inspirations into reality at Catherine French Design. Listen in to find out what Cat has to share with you on the show today.

Show highlights:

  • Cat talks about the beginning of her business, two-and-a-half years ago, and everything that happened at the time.
  • Enlisting the help of a stylist for the first time.
  • Taking advice from this podcast turned out to be one of the best things she ever did.
  • Cat enlisted some help from a neighbor, Jamie, and he's still with her business now, almost two years later.
  • Now, Cat's team is really diverse and wonderful!
  • How Cat came up with how much to charge her first clients.
  • Cat explains why she mostly still charges an hourly rate.
  • All about how Cat managed to have the hard conversation with one of her very first clients and hire someone to get the project finished on time.
  • Cat had to make time to be with her family, or her business would have been pointless for her, so her whole firm does not work in the evenings or over weekends.
  • Cat's way of dealing with unforeseen problems.
  • Hiring the right person at the right time.
  • What happened when Cat realized that she couldn't make payroll one month.
  • How Cat learned that you have to always have to show up and put your team first.
  • How Cat first started marketing her firm with blog posts to get SEO exposure.
  • Showing her team that she wasn't giving up!
  • Dealing with accounting problems in her business.
  • Working out how much needs to be brought into the business, in order to keep things running smoothly.
  • Talking to Caroline Hipple, co-author of Pathway To Profit.
  • Making everyone in the team feel important.
  • Maintaining boundaries and being brave enough to only work with clients that are the right fit.
  • Untangling from projects that aren't the right fit.
  • The importance of maintaining an attitude of professionalism and respect.
  • LuAnn's second book, co-authored by Michele Willaims of The Scarlet Thread, will be launched at the next birthday celebration in February, next year.

Other episodes mentioned on the show:

Dina Holland #354

Michele Williams #137 and #180

Resources:

Book: A Pathway to Profit by Caroline Hipple, Anita Pugh, Chris Matthies, and Dixon Bartlett

Links:

Website - Catherine French Design

Instagram - Catherine French Design

Pinterest - Cat French Design

Facebook - Catherine French Design

Nov 9, 2018

Welcome to today's Power Talk Friday! We have Bonnie Fahy with us on the show. Bonnie is the creator of Source It!, which Forbes once called "the world’s premier education in online hiring and outsourcing for entrepreneurs". Although outsourcing is the obvious thing for a number of businesses to do, LuAnn wasn't a hundred percent sure that it would be transferable to the design industry. After having a conversation with Bonnie, however, she decided that it was viable for us. Because there are so many things that go into running a business and you really don't have to do it all yourself. So you could consider employing a virtual assistant. And Bonnie specializes in helping people understand the best process for hiring VAs. Listen in today to find out what Bonnie has to share with you.

From her humble beginnings as a balloon artist, Bonnie Fahy has grown to become the ultimate hiring guru, helping hundreds of overwhelmed business owners balance their dreams with a work lifestyle that suits them best. She stumbled on outsourcing early in her internet marketing career and she was amazed to see her profits quadruple in only three short months! This really inspired her, so she began consulting with, and helping other entrepreneurs to grow their businesses to six and seven figures using the same strategies and methods. Bonnie has helped a roster of prominent entrepreneurs take back their time by leveraging high-quality virtual assistants, web developers and graphic designers for a fraction of the cost. Her business insights are based on the foundations of personal development and human psychology, and the shortcuts she teaches her mentees have helped them spectacularly transformed their lives. Listen in to hear about Bonnie's powerful strategies.

Show highlights:

  • Why Bonnie thinks that a VA is such a viable resource for a small business owner.
  • You can hire a much higher level person from the Philippines at a fraction of the cost.
  • Hiring the right person for the task.
  • Taking responsibility for clear communication.
  • Systematizing things is vital.
  • Your VA can actually help you to create and document systems.
  • Where hybrid sourcing comes into the picture.
  • People are often unsure about which tasks to delegate.
  • Bonnie has loads of free content on her website.
  • The kind of tasks an online assistant could do for you, as an interior designer.
  • Mastering the art of communication through conflict.
  • Tools for protecting passwords while allowing someone else to use them.
  • Freeing yourself up to do the things you do best.
  • The kind of person to look for as a VA.
  • Where to go, find the best VA.
  • Writing a really compelling job ad.
  • Testing for agreeableness.
  • Finding the perfect person for the perfect price.
  • Doing 'get to know you' calls.
  • Resources for finding online assistance outside the US.
  • Remember that it's always about the process.

Other episodes mentioned on the show:

Madeleine MacRae # 315

Resources for finding online assistance in the US:

Craig's List

Indeed.com

Facebook

Recommended resources for finding online assistance outside the US:

International Facebook groups for VAs.

OnlineJobs.ph

VirtualStaff.ph

Links:

Bonnie Fahy

Bonnie Fahy

Get Source It

Bonnie's Free Training

For the automated webinar go to The Live More Formula

Nov 6, 2018

Welcome! Today you're in for a treat! We have Ellie Mroz joining us, and she's a really talented designer and also an astute businesswoman. We're very fortunate here at Window Works to be doing the window treatments for all Ellie's projects. Today, Ellie discusses her niche with us. And get this- her niche isn't a particular style of design or even an ideal client. It's it's the town where she and her husband grew up, fell in love, and started their family! On the show today we also take a look at the hard conversations that you will need to have with vendors and clients when unforeseen things happen. Listen in to find out more.

Ellie’s passion for interiors began in the world of fashion. After she graduated from Cornell University, she enjoyed several years of internships in ready-to-wear and jewelry design, merchandising, and public relations. Finally, her love of beautiful things brought her into interior design. This transition was natural for Ellie because her husband’s residential home remodeling business, Michael Robert Construction, started growing. And his clients started asking Ellie for her help in choosing all the finishes. From there, the husband and wife design/build team grew and a boutique interior design firm was born.

Since 2015, Ellie has been asked to appear in several episodes of George Oliphant's show, George to the Rescue NBC, as the on-air talent who helps families in need create beautiful spaces. And these beautiful spaces really improve the quality of the lives of these families, as well as the quality of their homes. Listen in to hear what Ellie has to share with you today!

Show highlights:

  • Ellie talks about her involvement with George To The Rescue.
  • Why it's really worth investing in a receiving warehouse where they hold all your goods until you're ready for the majority install.
  • Designers really need to be there when the delivery for an installation happens.
  • Setting expectations with a new client right in the beginning.
  • Ellie and her husband, Mike, have two separate companies and they don't always work together.
  • Ellie talks about her really unique niche.
  • Ellie prefers to take on few jobs and really make them profitable.
  • Ellie has recently added a new service called Design Therapy.
  • Ellie tailor's her style to each client.
  • Some really great advice that Ellie received from a photographer.
  • The joy of owning your niche fully.
  • How to deal with it when things go wrong working on a project with contractors, subcontractors, and vendors.
  • Some tools and tactics for avoiding dramas.
  • Why you should never ditch old emails.
  • The value of spending real time on site with your contractors.
  • Developing the skill set to have the hard conversation with clients.
  • What's coming up for Ellie in the future.

Previous episodes mentioned on this show:

Raquel Langworthy #343

Links:

Website - Ellie Mroz Design

Instagram - Ellie Mroz Design

Pinterest - Ellie Mroz Design

The custom home-building project that Ellie is documenting on Instagram: #Shadowlawndrive

Michael, Ellie's husband's website: Michael Robert Construction

Nov 2, 2018

Welcome to Power Talk Friday! We are very happy to introduce you to two very interesting women today. We have Susan Whalen, the president of Pollack, and Rachel Doriss, Pollack's design director, with us on the show. These women have both been in the design industry for decades and on the show today they talk to us about the types of opportunities that are available in the industry, other than doing interior design. They also talk about the leadership at Pollack and their company culture of encouraging creativity, loyalty, and longevity in their entire team. Listen in today to find out what it takes to create and lead a really exceptional business.

Susan earned a BA from The University of Arizona in 1996. She was appointed as president of Pollack/Weitzner in 2017 due to her forward-thinking vision. She began her career at Polack in 1999 as studio manager, working alongside the founding creative director, Mark Pollack. There she learned every aspect of design and product development for contract and residential textiles. In 2004 she shifted to the business side to work under Rick Sullivan, the founding president. Then, in 2006, she was appointed as vice president and chief operating officer. In the position of COO, Susan took the led role in Pollack's merger with Weitzner in 2011. She is currently spearheading the implementation of a new operating system and the development of improved digital platforms to support the future growth and adaptability of Pollack/Weitzner. Susan now resides in Brooklyn, NY. In her free time, she enjoys traveling internationally and renovating her weekend home in rural Pennsylvania.

Rachel has textile design in her DNA. She studied printmaking and painting and even taught batik workshops when she first entered college. But it was in the Textile Design department at the Rhode Island School of Design that she realized, for the first time, the practical application of her beloved woven and printed textile techniques. She graduated with a BFA from RISD in 1999 and designed printed silk scarves at Echo before joining the Pollack Studio in 2000. In 2007, Rachel was appointed Vice President, Associate Design Director. She took the helm as Pollack’s Design Director in 2012, overseeing the Studio and guiding the creative vision for each textile collection. In the Studio, she and her team always begin a pattern by first creating artwork by hand. Rachel’s designs for Pollack have been featured in national magazines, including Architectural Digest, Interior Design and Elle Décor, and she has been profiled on such sites as Apartment Therapy and House and Home TV. Two of her creations, “Mod” and “Curlycue,” are in the permanent collection of the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum. Join us today and get the inspiration do things in your firm to make it the kind of place people really want to be engaged with!

Show highlights:

  • Other kinds of career opportunities within the design industry.
  • What really goes into textile manufacture.
  • What it takes to become a textile designer.
  • You get involved in the textile industry for the love of what you do, not for the money!
  • The partnership between Pollack and Lori Weitzner.
  • How having a collaboration, or a licensed collection works.
  • Working with Gary Graham, a New York-based fashion designer.
  • The need for inspiration when creating a collection.
  • A quick run through the development of a fabric.
  • The whole chain of love and pain that goes into the design and development of a beautiful fabric.
  • About the really terrific "Pollack culture".
  • Some great tips for cultivating a really successful team.
  • Inspiring employees towards longevity with longer vacations.
  • Really creative "First Fridays" at Pollack.
  • An "Ugly Sweater" contest at the office!
  • Supporting employees through difficult times.
  • Pollack has their product in showrooms in most of the major territories.
  • Pollack has worldwide distribution- in Asia, the UK, and France.

Links:

Website: Pollack Associates

Instagram: @pollacktextiles

Facebook:  Pollack Textiles

Previous episodes mentioned on this show:

Lori Weitzner #308

Eileen Hahn # 363

Janelle Photopoulos # 364

Candace Olsen #74

Amber Lewis #184

Shea McGee #236 and 270 with Syd

Corey Damen Jenkins #127

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