Welcome to another episode of Power talk Friday! Today LuAnn has Stephanie Chung with her on the show. Stephanie has a company called Stephanie Chung and Associates, where she offers Sales Training, Executive Coaching and also Small Business Mentorship, to companies nationwide. Stephanie also has a course, called High Ticket Selling Made Simple which has been designed to help business owners sell more and make more. Listen in to find out more about Stephanie and her company.
Stephanie used to work as a Sales Executive in the Aviation and Private Jet Industry, where she mastered the art of high ticket selling. She has mentored and coached numerous people, including some of the highest paid, most elite Sales Professionals in the country. She serves Business leaders, Entrepreneurs, and Sales Professionals, using her proven Executive Coaching and Sales Training. Stephanie is a contributor on ABC, CBS, and NBC and she's authored Profit Like A Girl- A Woman's Guide To Kicking Butt In Sales And Leadership and also Embrace The Suck- How To Grow And Succeed In Business. LuAnn is really beyond tickled with all of this, so listen in now, as she and Stephanie discuss the mindset moves that are necessary to really scale your sales.
Show highlights:
Links:
Stephanie's website: www.stephaniechung.com You can find loads of free resources there.
To get a free download of Stephanie's book, go to: www.profitlikeagirl.com
My guest today is Judi Kieffer, who has over 24 years’ experience in hospitality, luxury residential, and restaurant design. Her portfolio is full of top-tier projects and satisfied clients. In our conversation, she shares advice about how she built and now manages her design firm in Boise, Idaho. Judi is involved as an advocate for the personal and professional development and for sustainable products and developments.
She participates in several local philanthropic and civic groups and is a mentor for women’s and children’s organizations. She was recently appointed as a spokesperson for the American Society of Interior Designers and is a certified Green Globe auditor. Her passions are yoga, fine wine, riding horses, hiking, and inspiring other designers to run more profitable and enjoyable businesses. Join me for this conversation with Judi!
What you’ll hear in this episode:
Resources:
For the free WindowWorks newsletter, text 444-999 and enter “designbiz”
www.usgbc.org (Find out more about green building products)
Search the GreenWorks or Green Standard group in your local area
Judi recommends the following books:
ECO-preneuring by John Ivanko
The Northwest Green Home Primer by K.L. Smith and Kathleen O’Brien
The Philosophy of Sustainable Design by Jason F. McLennan
Women in Green by Kira Gould and Lance Hosey
Value Pricing for the Design Firm by Frank Stasiowski
A Guide to Principles and Practices for Interior Designers by Harry Sigel
Marketing and Selling Design Services by Mary V. Knackstedt
Interior Designers Business Handbook by Mary V. Knackstedt
Welcome back! Our guest today has been in the interior design business for 17 years! Andrea Schumacher started her own eight-person firm, Andrea Schumacher Interior Design, including herself in Colorado in 1999. Andrea has experience in commercial and residential spaces and she has set design for television at Days of Our Lives and Columbia Pictures! She has a BA in interior design from the F.I.D.E.R. accredited Colorado State University and a certificate in Universal Design from the Graduate School of Design at Harvard University. Today she is going to share with us how she does things at Andrea Schumacher Interior Design and how she makes everything more efficient and successful and how you can too.
Show Notes:
For the rest of the show notes, please visit our resource center: Window Works
We have Kae Whitaker with us once again on today's Power Talk Friday- this time for her fifth appearance on the show! She appeared previously on episodes #26, #66, #114 where she discussed branding, how to hire and train interns, how to conduct a proper year-end review of your business and last month on episode #259 she spoke about the subject and content of a typical sale funnel email sequence for interior design firms. Today she's back to talk some more about email marketing and she will be explaining how to set up an email marketing system, with some great tips for doing it really effectively. She will also be discussing the main idea of email marketing, the difference between broadcast emails and triggered emails, how your blog actually connects and supports your email marketing and how to segment your list and what to do with the different lists. Listen in to find out more.
Kae is the owner and CEO of Kae Whitaker Solutions. She uses her more than ten years of experience in retail sales and marketing development to really focus on helping small businesses to stay competitive in their respective markets and to surpass their revenue goals.
Having worked with some of the nation's largest retailers, Kae has now utilized her expertise in retail sales and marketing development to create her premium coaching programs that really assist small business owners to tune into what matters most in their marketing efforts and to streamline their processes while maximizing on their clientele. Kae's highest achievements come through helping others to reach their goals, and she would love the opportunity to help you to take your brand to the next level, so listen in to find out what she has to share with you on the show today.
Show highlights:
Previous episodes mentioned on this show:
Links:
Kae's email: kaewhitaker@kaewhitaker.com
Kae's website: http://kaewhitaker.com
Welcome to today's show! We have Dixie Willard, of Dixie Willard Design in Tennessee, with us today. Dixie is a co-host of the Design and Style Podcast with Rachel Moriarty, of Rachel Moriarty Interiors and today we will be talking to her about the Design and Style Community and about how her partnership with Rachel and their podcast came about. Today, Dixie also discusses her own business and she talks about the Community Projects that she's involved with too. Listen in, to find out more.
Dixie got her Design Degree at the Chaminade University of Honolulu, where she graduated with honors. She has worked for an Architecture Firm as well as having worked as a Designer and a Bookkeeper, for a high-end furniture store and she has done e-design for Pottery Barn Kids, PBTeen, and West Elm. In the middle of all of that, she also managed to earn her NCIDQ Certification.
After traveling around the world, Dixie and her Air Force husband have finally settled down in their forever home, in East Tennessee. Dixie loves taking continuing education classes for fun and reading Design Blogs, to keep up with all the latest trends. Listen in today, to find out more about Dixie, her Podcast and how she's really changing lives, out there, one Designer at a time!
Show highlights:
Links:
The Design and Style Podcast website: www.designandstylepodcast.com
Design and Style can also be found on:
Instagram
Facebook
Pinterest
iTunes
Youtube
Previous shows mentioned in this episode:
Today’s guest is Laura Thurman of Laura Thurman Design Studio in Nashville, Tennessee. She specializes in a global aesthetic that is filtered through a modern lens influenced by her upbringing in Los Angeles, as well as her world travels. Laura Thurman Design Studio services include custom interiors, re-design, weekend styling, and in-field developer selections. Laura talks about the importance of educating clients about the interior design process. To that end, she explains on her website to clients and potential clients the difference between “off the shelf” and “custom made.” We also discuss how she is harnessing the power of building meaningful relationships with peers and industry leaders in helping to grow her firm. In fact, our meeting is a direct result of her commitment to getting out her “box,” reaching out and asking for advice, and for remembering to return the favor. Laura is always thinking of ways to give value back to the new colleagues and mentors she has met. Laura is a delight, and I’m sure you will like her and learn much from what she has to share about intentional networking.
What you’ll hear in this episode:
Resources:
Episode 108, Amy Flurry
Episode 203, Darla Powell
Recipe for Press: Designer Edition, by Amy Flurry
Welcome to today's episode of Power Talk Friday! LuAnn has a really special treat in store for you today - her husband, Vince will be joining her on the show! LuAnn has recently had a lot of people asking her to address the topic of husband and wife teams, working together.
She recently interviewed Syd and Shea McGee, of Studio McGee (#270) and there are also a few more interviews scheduled with husband and wife teams, which are to be aired in the near future. Vince has already appeared on the show once before, where he talked to LuAnn about the kind of advice that he would give to new entrepreneurs just starting out in their business. He discussed establishing a mission, core values and also systems. So if you're interested in finding out more about any of that, please go back and listen to episode #78. Today, LuAnn and Vince will be talking about how they've managed to be in business together for so many years, and still, like (let alone love) each other! Listen in to find out more!
Vince is the brains behind the finances at Window Works, with a degree in Accounting and also an MBA in Business. He has been the fearless leader at Window Works for thirty-five years this December and he has achieved a very recognizable level of stature within their Window Treatment and Awning community. He has served on a number of Marketing and Operations Advisory Boards, for Window Works and for Dorosol (The Awning Company that they use most often) and he served for just less than two years as the Vice President of Franchise Sales, for Decorating Den. Listen in today, to find out more about how Vince and LuAnn have managed to work together, really successfully, for so long.
Show highlights:
Links:
Previous shows mentioned in this episode:
Welcome to today's show! We really have the most amazing surprise for all of you today- we have Syd and Shea McGee, of Studio McGee on the show with us! Shea was on the show about a month ago, (episode #236) where she talked about how Studio McGee was created in a spare bedroom and then, after many late nights of brainstorming and sharing their dreams, Shea and Syd decided to turn what was a small business for a stay at home mom, into something way beyond that.
Today, you will hear Shea discuss how she always knew that she wanted to do high-end Design. She also talks about two business decisions that Syd was instrumental in making very early on, which allowed them to attract the kind of client that they really wanted to work with and she explains how Syd has also really helped her to approach certain problems in business with the right perspective. Listen in to find out more about this dynamic duo and their approach to running a really successful business.
Studio McGee has been featured in House Beautiful, Domain Home, Design Sponge, Apartment Therapy, SMP Living and One Kings Lane, as well as many others. This show will also appear as a video on LuAnn's Youtube channel. (Go to Youtube for A Well Designed Business.) Listen in today and experience the really tangible love, respect, and admiration that these two have for one another and discover how Shea's dream to build a Design Empire is fast becoming a reality.
Show highlights:
Links:
Shea and Syd's website: www.studio-mcgee.com
You can do your purchasing from: www.mcgeeandco.com
Shea and Syd on Instagram
Shea and Syd on Facebook
Shea and Syd on YouTube
Follow A Well Designed Business on YouTube
For your free offer, from MyDoma Studio, as a listener to the podcast, go to: www.mydomastudio.com/awelldesignedbusiness.
Welcome to today's show! We have Nina Magen, the Principal of Contour Interior Design, on the show with us today. Nina is a very savvy lady, who has a lot going on, on both the business and the Design side. The fact that she is driven is evident in the nine-year rise of her Design Firm and it also shows in the way that she runs her business. Today we talk to Nina about the significant impression it made on her and her business when she was on American Dream Builder TV show. We also talk to her about her staff: how she hires and what she looks for when hiring someone. So listen in to find out more.
Contour is an international, full-service Interior Design firm, with offices both in Houston and Miami. There is a long list of award-winning interiors in the Contour portfolio, which have received recognition from NBC, Bravo and HGTV Networks, as well as acknowledgment for Best Interior Architecture and Best Commercial Interior, by Paper City. ASID also awarded them Best Commercial Interior. The work of Contour has been featured in Rue, Elle Decor, House Beautiful, Interiors Magazine and Lux Interiors and Designs, to name just a few. Listen in today, to find out more about Nina and her approach to running Contour Interior Design.
Show highlights:
Connect with Nina:
Go to www.mydomastudio.com/awelldesignedbusiness to find out how MyDoma Studio can help you to run your firm more efficiently. There's a special offer there for you too, as a podcast listener.
Previous shows mentioned on this episode:
Welcome to another episode of Power Talk Friday! We have Ashley Faulkes, the CEO of Mad Lemmings with us on the show today. Ashley creates Wordpress websites and he also is an SEO expert, which is one of the main reasons that LuAnn invited him onto the show. She knows that there are many of you out there, wondering about the merits of blogging and wanting to find out how to go about doing it. This is a topic that we really can't seem to get enough information on, so listen in and learn from Ashley, who is an expert when it comes to blogging and creating websites.
Ashley, whose company is fourteen years old, is an Australian who is now living in Switzerland. After skiing one time, on the last run of the day, Ashley fell, twisting his leg and breaking it in thirty-seven places. He then had to spend three days immobilized in hospital, waiting for the weekend to be over and for the surgeons to get prepared to operate. It was well worth the wait, however, and he was also really lucky because they ended up doing a first class job and getting excellent results with his leg. The spin-off of this was that it brought Ashley to blogging, which then brought him to a whole new endeavor, which he became really good at, through getting educated and also teaching. Listen in now, to find out what Ashley has to share with you about SEO and Website Creation.
Show highlights:
Links:
Ashley's website: www.madlemmings.com
Ashley on Youtube: Mad Lemmings
Previous shows mentioned in this episode:
Lisa Escobar #258
Welcome to today's show! Our guest for today is Rasheeda Gray, the Principal of Gray Space Interior Design, which is located in the Philadelphia Metro area. Gray Space is still a side hustle for Rasheeda at this point in time and yet in just under two years, she has already had more than twenty projects! You're probably wondering how she has managed to do this, so today she shares three strategies that she has used, to land these twenty plus projects and also her thoughts on what it takes to succeed in the field of Interior Design. Listen in now, to get some really actionable tips from Rasheeda, to fill your pipeline.
Rasheeda holds a Bachelor's Degree in Marketing and International Business, as well as a Master's Degree and she currently works full time, in a corporate position. She also has a husband and two kids. Rasheeda brings her business skills to her Design Firm, so listen in, as she explains how she's managed to achieve as much as she has, in such a short time.
Show highlights:
Links:
To take advantage of the special incentives that are being offered to you, as a listener of the podcast:
From My Doma Studio, go to: www.mydomastudio.com/awelldesignedbusiness
and
From our newest sponsor, Fresh Books, go to www.freshbooks.com/luann
Today we have Remya Warrior on the show with us and she's a New Jersey Interior Designer with a Master's Degree as well as fourteen years of experience in the field. She is active in both the WCAA (Window Coverings Association of America), where she is currently the Vice President of the New Jersey chapter, and also in ASID in New Jersey, where she is the featured Tech Talk host. Listen in today, to hear all about what that is and also to find out about Remya's very actionable Seven Step Process that she uses to really knock her networking right out of the park.
Remya really loves to cook for her friends and family and she firmly believes that the kitchen is the heart of the home and it is this that has her specializing in Kitchen Design. Being an active member of the WCAA has led her to her falling in love with window treatments and specializing in that area as well.
On Remya's website, there is a line that says that she helps busy, middle-income families create a home that they love and this is something that LuAnn found very interesting because she really enjoys finding out what makes you, as an Interior Designer, different. LuAnn loves researching and finding out what really sets certain Designers apart, for the purposes of the show, and she points out that your clients also want to find something on your website, that really sets you apart as a Designer. Listen in now, to find out more about Remya and the really interesting things that she does with her business, to set her apart from the rest.
Show highlights:
Resources:
Remya's website: www.rwarriordesigns.org
Remya on Facebook-Remya Warrior Designs
Remya on LinkedIn-Remya Warrior Designs
Remya learned this networking technique from her friend Paul McManus!
You can also search for Remya on YouTube and Ted Talk.
To get 10% off your entire first purchase from Curated Kravet, go to www.curatedkravet.com and use the code C K Podcast at the checkout.
If you'd like to be in one of LuAnn's Masterminds, email her at info@luannnigara.com to see if you're a good fit.
Please leave your review for the show on iTunes - LuAnn will really appreciate it
Welcome to Power Talk Friday! We have an interview with FreshBooks today. A few months ago, FreshBooks and LuAnn started talking about them becoming a regular sponsor for this show. As pretty smart business people, they both wanted to find out more about one another before joining forces, to see who they would be getting involved with.
FreshBooks asked to do a trial of two or three thirty second ad spots. Before LuAnn agreed to do any commercials for them, however, she wanted to know if they really were right for you, her listeners. And what better way for LuAnn to know if they are the right fit than to apply her ninja interview tactics to them? Listen in to find out more.
LuAnn wanted the chance to ask any and every question that she thought would be helpful, for you to decide if FreshBooks is right for you because she thinks they really are a terrific platform for helping you to track the money side of your Design business.
Today she talks to Julie Kerr, the Marketing Communications Strategist at FreshBooks, about FreshBooks and how she sees them as the perfect side companion to My Doma Studio. Listen in now, as Julie explains how this platform was designed, specifically for the small, serviced-based industry, to take the fear out of accounting and to help you to efficiently input, track and analyze your operations, your projects, and your business.
Show highlights:
Resources:
You can get a free 30 Day Trial with FreshBooks! All you have to do is go to www.freshbooks/LuAnn to sign up!
If you still have any questions, you can email their Support Team at support@freshbooks.com, or you can give them a call at 1-866-303-6061.