Welcome to today's episode. We have Jane Dagni, the new editor-in-chief of Designers Today Magazine with us on the show today. Jane is a really well-regarded and true professional and today she will be talking to us about her new position as editor-in-chief, her take on the design industry, and also her future plans for the magazine. Listen in today to find out how Jane has really earned her respect in the design community.

Jane Dagni became an assistant editor at Country Living Magazine, a B2B magazine for professional interior designers, decorators and related businesses twenty-six years ago. She spent fourteen years at Country Living, where she wrote and produced at least a hundred-and-fifty feature stories and wrote countless columns. For the next eight years, she worked on writing gigs, short projects, and substitute teaching to support her family. Her clients included Benjamin Moore, Bob Vila, the Cottage and Gardens Magazines and Fort Lauderdale Magazine. In 2014 her colleague, Amy Flurry, recommended Jane as a communications manager at a tech startup that was creating a project management sourcing software for small boutique interior design firms. When the company closed Jane was hired as the editorial director at Steel Yard. Then, in December of 2017, Jane became editor-in-chief of Designers Today Magazine. Jane also participates in industry panels and Listen in today to find out more.

Show highlights:

• What makes Designers Today such an awesome magazine.
• Jane's mission for the magazine.
• Designers Today is becoming a subscription magazine. Go to Designers Today to sign up.
• Jane explains what's happening with her magazine at the moment.
• What makes Designers Today really stand out from other magazines.
• The thrust of the magazine.
• Some fun and unexpected things about Designers Today.
• Building trust is really a big thing for Jane.
• What Jane looks for in new designers.
• The way that Jane is changing the structure of the magazine.
• How Jane plans the issues of the magazine.
• How Jane would like designers to communicate their journeys with her.
• Why Jane really doesn't want people to feel intimidated.
• Bypassing the small talk.
• The kind of inspiration that Jane gets from vintage magazines.
• The way that Jane is bringing the magazine back to life.
• All about Jane's Designer Experience. Go to Designer Experience.
• Jane's blog is a great way for designers to find out what she's looking for.

Other episodes mentioned on the show:

Laurel Bern #342

Amy Flurry #323 and #108

Laura Thurman # 272

Judith Taylor #340

Links:

Designers Today's website: Designers Today

Instagram: Jane Dagmi

LinkedIn: Jane Dagmi

Twitter: Jane Dagmi

Jane's email: jdagni@designerstoday.com

Books Mentioned on the Show:

Big Magic: Creative Living Beyond Fear by Elizabeth Gilbert

Recipe for Press: The Designer Edition by Amy Flurry

Recipe for Press by Amy Flurry

Welcome to the show! We have the pleasure of introducing you to an Australian designer today, Belinda Nihill, the principal of Nest Design Studio. After the birth of her first child, and working as a qualified interior designer for more than fifteen years, Bel started a blog focused on children's spaces. On the show today she explains how her really small, niche blog, Nest, progressed to becoming a really successful boutique design firm with clients in Australia, USA, France, Ireland, Dubai, Canada and many more places around the world. Listen in today to discover how Bel managed to really set herself apart from other Australian designers.

Nest Design Studio was founded in 2010 and is known for its classic and creative style. Recognised both nationally and internationally, Nest has been featured in more than 25 magazines worldwide and has also been profiled on a number of other media outlets. Nest was included in the House and Garden Top Fifty Rooms of 2015 and in 2016 Bel released her first book, Beautiful Babies Rooms. Building on her reputation for being a leader in the children's interior field, and due to demand from her clients, Bel has now extended Nest to include residential and commercial interiors as well. Bel is a member of the Design Institute of Australia. Listen in today to find out more.

Show highlights:

• How Bel's blog was born, soon after the birth of her child.
• How Bel went about creating her blog.
• Bel has completed nearly 500 nursery and children's room projects in the eight years that she's been in business.
• What helped Bel's blog to grow and feed her business.
• What Project Nursery is all about and how it helped Bel to grow her business.
• Finding what you're really passionate about as a way to grow your business.
• It took about six months for Bel's blog to gain some traction.
• Some of the things that really helped Bel grow her blog.
• What prompted Bel to start doing e-designing.
• How Bel worked out how much to charge for e-design.
• What Bel has learned about systems in the eight years since she's been in business.
• What Bel learned from the episode with Chaney Widmer (#327).
• Bel explains how her business has grown.
• The kind of budget that Bel works with for children's rooms.
• What's to be found in Belinda's book.
• Belinda's plans for the future.
• The steps that Belinda is taking towards her future plans.
• How Belinda sources her products.
• Belinda's advice for new designers.
• Some tips for building community on Instagram.
• Some of the challenges Belinda has faced with running her business out of her home.

Other episodes mentioned on the show:

Cheryl Janis #41

Laurel Bern #342

Chaney Widmer #327

Christina Perry #05

Rachel Moriarty #55 #214

To register to become an Article trade member go to Well Designed Article. Well Designed Article

If you would like to be in Luann's mastermind, email her assistant at Christie@luannnigara.com to set you up for a chat.

Welcome to today's episode of Power Talk Friday! We are very happy to introduce you to Peter Lang today. Peter is a really smart CPA who has niched his business around helping designers with their unique financial challenges, like unconventional sales tax situations and budgeting around the massive upfront payments from clients. Many designers and artistic professionals find that ordinary CPA's are simply not equipped to cope with their specific needs. Peter, however, is a proven expert in helping interior designers with the kinds of financial duties that they weren't taught in art school. On the show today Peter discusses the years he spent learning how to help our constantly under-served industry and he also explains why he chose to follow his dream of starting a firm of his own. Listen in find out more.

Peter started out at a large firm in Boston, where he became aware of the kind of problems that artistic professionals, like interior designers, were facing. He moved to a smaller firm but soon became bored with being a traditional CPA. He noticed that interior designers were constantly being under-served by standard CPAs, so he followed his heart and started his own business in Rhode Island, where he now lives with his family. Listen in today to find out what Peter has to share with you.

Show highlights:

• Peter's experience of being told that he helped people too much while working at a cut-throat firm in Boston.
• The importance of being comfortable enough with your accountant to ask him whatever you need to know.
• How it happened that Peter started helping interior designers.
• The difference between gross profit and net profit.
• Why you need to keep track of your expenses in order to set your goals.
• Financial mistakes that designers often tend to make.
• How Peter helps new designers to really understand their financial situation.
• The way that Peter helps designers to increase their profit margins.
• Situations and ideas that could get designers into financial trouble.
• Peter explains how putting your money into a number of different bank accounts can help you to better manage your finances.
• Why you really need to trust your accountant.
• How Peter helps designers navigate their way to success by finding the right software for their business.
• Choosing the legal entity that best fits your specific business.
• When it makes sense to change your business to become an S-Corporation.
• Understanding more about taxation.

Other episodes mentioned on the show:

Michelle Williams #180

Fresh Books #265

Links:

Peter's website: The Designer CPA

Peter's email: peter@thedesignercpa.com

Peter on Facebook: The Designer CPA

Peter is also on Instagram

Welcome! We have Albie Buabeng with us on the show today and she's one smart lady! Albie will be sharing with us her journey into interior design, which has lead her to becoming exclusively an e-designer. She will also explain how the success she's enjoyed as an e-designer inspired her to produce a conference and a community called the E-Design Experience. The E-Design Experience was created specifically to help designers, just like you, on their journey to becoming a more efficient e-designer. Listen in today to find out more about Albie and her community.

After creating a comfortable, stylish, and functional home for her family of three in her NYC Hell's Kitchen studio apartment, Albie made the transition from retail visual merchandising to interior styling and design. And she hasn't looked back! She helps creatives and influencers in their fields decode their spaces and create beautiful dreamscapes. Listen in to find out what she has to share on the show today.

• Show highlights:
  Why Albie has chosen to follow the e-design path.
• The importance of having well-structured systems in place in your business.
• The way that Albie has refined her processes.
• Albie uses an automated email platform to ensure a smooth process for her clients from start
  to finish.
• How Albie moved into teaching e-design to her colleagues.
• Where the biggest challenges that Albies students are facing lie.
• Albie's business model for the E-Design Experience.
• The kind of designers that Albie attracts to her E-Design Experience community.
• Where the different e-designers source their products.
• The way that e-designers market their businesses.
• How Albie managed to find her voice as an e-designer.
• The social media platforms that Albie dropped out of while figuring out her specific path.

Albie describes her ideal client.
Other shows mentioned in this episode:
Article.com #301
Chaney Widmar #260
Nicole Hymar (Curio Electro) #125 #317
Links:
To become an Article trade member go to Well Designed Article to register. http://welldesigned.article.com
The E-Design Experience
Website: Albie Knows Design
YouTube: Albie Knows Design
Instagram: Albie Knows Design

Welcome to another episode of Power talk Friday! Today we have Mikael Dia, a digital marketing expert and the founder of Funnelytics, with us on the show. Funnelytics is a software company that helps entrepreneurs and marketers to convert traffic into more profit. And Mikael is a really extraordinary entrepreneur and marketing expert who is really passionate about helping business owners, just like you, to get your message out in a way that is more impacting, more direct and way more focused. On the show, we talk with Mikael about his Growth Accelerator program with its nine phases towards success in growing your business online. Listen in today to get Mikael's really helpful advice.

Mikael has two master's degrees- an MBA from the Hult International Business School, and a master's degree in civil engineering from Ryerson University in Toronto, Canada, with a specialization in project management. Mikael's first venture was a Mandarin language school that he started in London in 2012. It grew quickly and Mikael and his business partner were able to exit from it successfully within eight months. Mikael has since grown his marketing agency, White Coat Digital, to over a million dollars in just eighteen months. He is known for his expertise in scaling online businesses very quickly and this has allowed him to raise over a million dollars in angel and seed funding for his ventures. Mikael,  originally from Montreal, now lives in Toronto with his wife and eighteen-month-old daughter. Listen in to find out what he has to share on the show today!

Show highlights:

• The best way to look at sales funnels.
• Guiding the conversation with your potential clients.
• How to start the process.
• Finding the top of your mountain.
• Discovering your ideal client and appealing to them in the right way.
• Getting to understand your ideal client.
• Putting out the right message to attract the right person.
• The power of your marketing message.
• Finding the emotional reasons for people's motivations.
• Measuring what's working and what's not.
• Creative ways to work with the numbers.
• Mapping things out in a colorful, visual way.
• Ways of keeping track of your Facebook ads.
• All about Mikael's 16-week Growth Accelerator program.
• The awesome support that Mikael's program will be offering.
• Mikael's process is all about growth.
• Why you really need to simplify everything.

 Links:

Other episodes mentioned on this show:

Adam Urbanski #280

Nancy Ganzekaupher #256

Kae Whitaker #274

Kae Whitaker #259

Claire Jefford #325

To find out more about Mikael's Growth Accelerator program go to The Dia Project

Mikael's other website is  Funnelytics

You can reach Mikael's PR representative, Ester (Pinky) Kiss, on (323)770 3530 or find her at Born To Influence

To find out more about LuAnn's group coaching program or mastermind group starting on September 12, email Christie at christie@luannnigara.com to make the necessary arrangements.

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:

• How DNLUD concept came about and why they decided to do it.
• How they started their own company while still working part-time for another firm.
• The kind of confidence they had, starting out.
• Their process of legitimizing their brand.
• The kind of legal assistance they used for their business.
• Some of the things that Yashlie and Taylor do to assist designers.
• The close attention that they pay to the details.
• The way that they really have their systems locked down.
• How they go about managing their projects.
• Their way of being transparent with their processes, in real time.
• The really organized process that they use with their clients.
• The fees that they charge and the way that they get paid.
• How they create a visual package for their clients.
• How they understand the design holistically.
• The way that they protect their clients' confidentiality.

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:

Brittany Ems #149

Danielle Liss #171

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:

• How Chris came to understand the affluent market so well.
• What you, as a designer, need to understand in order to be successful in reaching the affluent market.
• You don't sell to the affluent market- you fascinate them!
• What it takes to connect with the affluent market.
• Creating something that is uniquely yours.
• Why you need to constantly be honing who you are and what you do.
• Why it is really so important for you to have the courage to express your own, singular point of view.
• How Chris helps designers.
• Chris explains his 'Laws of Luxury'.
• Why you should not align your brand with fashion.
• The different kind of business model and sales strategy that is applied to the luxury market.
• Evoking desire for your brand.
• Having money doesn't necessarily make you a luxury consumer.
• How to market to the truly affluent.
• Scarcity is another pillar of luxury.
• How logos define you.
• Ways to get known within the really affluent market.
• Collaborating is always a pillar of luxury- but you really do need to have enough money to advertise.
• Why you really don't want to be perceived as isolated.
• Surprising and delighting your client in a way that will drive loyalty to your brand.

 Links:

Chris Websites: The Home Trust

Email Chris at:
cpr@affluentinsights.com

cpr@thehometrust.com

Other episodes mentioned on the show:

Nicole Heymer #125 and #317

Studio Thomas #314

Nancy Ganzekaupher #9

Jo Buckerfield #320

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:

• How Raquel starts her relationship with a new client.
• The importance of using the right styling to create the perfect composition.
• Why Raquel does not email her clients.
• How Raquel prepares for a shoot.
• Raquel also assists with the styling at times.
• Photographing a full house really takes a whole lot of styling!
• Raquel and Charlotte's work was featured recently on the cover of NY Cottage and Garden, and also in a ten-page article.
• How to tell if it's really worth investing in a talented stylist for a photo shoot, or not.
• What Raquel has learned from previous episodes of the podcast.
• Why you really have to be ready, to work nationally.
• The different specialties and skill sets of photographers.
• Some things to look out for when taking photos with your iPhone.
• Some tips for working with a photographer.
• Some tips for designers, when thinking about hiring a photographer for a project.

Previous episodes mentioned on the show.

Charlotte #138

Ashley Hotham Cox #321

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:

• How to blog effectively, in order to attract your ideal client.
• Steps you should take right from the start in order to create a successful blog.
• Your blog needs to live on a really well-built website.
• What your 'about' page is truly all about.
• The nuts and bolts of creating a successful website.
• Why you need to have a navigation menu on every page of your website.
• Selecting the most appropriate font for your website.
• How to avoid overwhelming your readers.
• How to use primary keywords
• People want a lot of knowledge, but they also want to be entertained.
• Figuring out your special secret sauce, and your own, unique voice.
• Your content has to be rich with relevant information.
• The importance of having your blog posts indexed.
• Some things that will help you to create magic in your blog.
• You can even take your own photos with your phone.
• Some tips to enhance your photos.
• Awesome ideas for free gifts for your readers of your blog.
• Why Laurel loves using Wordpress.com.
• Selecting information to place in your sidebar.
• Ways to keep your readers on your website for as long as possible.
• Learn about the $250 000 that Laurel left on the table for five years of her blogging career.
• Why you should get yourself onto an advertising network.
• The importance of blogging consistently.
• Ways to encourage people to take your surveys.
• Laurel has written a document called Six-figure Income Blogger, and it's really simple and full of the strategies that she's used, and lessons that she learned the hard way. Go to her website laurelberninteriors.com to get your copy for $199. It's in the first link in the main menu on the left-hand side.

Previous episodes mentioned on this show.

Claire Jefford #325

Linda Holt #97

Carla Aston #242

Stephan Spence #238

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:

• The importance of having certain foundations in place, in order to be seen as an expert in your field.
• Why you need to be really clear about your goals.
• What you need to do to cover all the necessary bases, in order to get more clients.
• Positioning yourself to gain more credibility through publicity.
• The steps involved in creating an awesome bio to suit your specific needs.
• An example of a bio containing really compelling information.
• Creating a bio that will really earn you credibility
• The next step towards getting some publicity, once you have your bio and website locked down.
• How to really set yourself apart from the rest.
• Learning to understand the problems that your potential clients would be facing, and to think the way that your potential clients would be thinking.
• Creating your Intentional Media Message Content.
• Creating different pitches to suit different situations.
• Connecting your expertise to what the media is already interested in.
• Choosing the right talking points to suit specific media situations.
• Ways to connect with the right people in the right spaces.
• Why you should get some local TV experience before attempting to get onto national TV.
• Examining your underlying skill sets.
• Looking at big, current news items and connecting to that, to get publicity.
• All about Pinky's online study course, Publicity Empire.
• The right time to hire a publicist.
• Pinky has a free giveaway of her Media Positioning Checklist. Go to borntoinfluence.com/checklist to get it!

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

Pulp Design Studio episodes #176 and #310

Christy Leu episode #182

Ren Miller episode #12

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:

• All designers have a friend that they don't want to say 'no' to, or that they wish they hadn't said 'yes' to.
• What to do when you're approached by someone at a dinner party and they ask for some free advice about interior design.
• How to gently lead friends to the front door of your business.
• Using the right language to make it very clear that you are dealing with a business transaction.
• Sometimes there could be a fair payoff from working with friends or family.
• Establishing firm boundaries can be really tricky with friends.
• How a small favor can quickly snowball.
• Giving yourself a chance to reflect on the reality of the workload of a personal favor.
• Dealing with friends and family members who push your boundaries.
• Being clear about what you will and won't do.
• Explaining to friends and family the amount of work that goes into what you do.
• Handling discounts appropriately with friends and family.
• Why you have to be willing to have the hard conversation with friends and family.
• About the soon-to-be-launched furniture line that Judith has developed.

Links:

     Judith's furniture line can be found at Silver 4 Home

     Blog "Point of View": Judith Taylor Designs

     Instagram

     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:

Lee Cockerell #222

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:

• Craig and his organization have a really pro-active approach to taxation.
• Why good relationships between business owners and their accountants are really all about great communication.
• Some questions that designers who have recently started out in business should be asking their accountants.
• How proper communication with your accountant can significantly affect the amount of taxes that you will have to pay.
• How to know if an accountant will be the right fit for yourself and your business.
• Craig explains the way that he works with his clients.
• Knowing if your business is healthy enough to hire an employee.
• How Craig's services help his clients make informed decisions.
• Craig's kind of pro-activity.
• Some typical tax-mistakes that Craig comes across.
• Some awesome tax-rebates for home-office designers.
• Crazy tax-deductions for working kids!
• How Craig's services differ from those of other accountants.
• Craig talks about his book, The Ten Most Expensive Tax Mistakes That Cost Business Owners Thousands.

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:

• All about Orlando's zany brand new book, Get It Together! An Interior Designers Guide to Creating Your Best Life.
• The creative process that Orlando went through, writing his book.
• Why Orlando's book really stands out from all other design books.
• Orlando's humble and unpretentious upbringing.
• What influenced Orlando's creativity, growing up.
• Why Orlando really likes to make things.
• Why Orlando loves Martha Stewart so much!
• What it was like, being on TV, and what Orlando has learned from the whole experience.
• Orlando's really lucky break!
• Orlando's humble attitude towards his strokes of luck.
• Learning to appreciate the good things that come your way, in life.
• The struggles that Orlando has gone through, since graduating.
• Orlando discusses his blog, Hommemaker.
• Orlando's plans, going forward.

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

Welcome to Power Talk Friday! We are very happy to have Fred Berns back on the show today! Fred has been our guest many, many times before and he continues to bring value every time, getting right to the point with his really actionable topics. If you're new to the show, Fred has been on episodes #22, #48, #96, #174, #226, and #289 of the podcast. He is the only interior design industry business coach and speaker who creates personal bios and promotional material for design professionals all over the world, so listen in to find out what he has to share today, about how to set and get higher fees for the work you do.

Fred has more than 25 years experience training design professionals from Dallas to Dubai and creating their online profiles, website, and social media copy, blogs, and marketing forms. In addition, he offers a wide range of business coaching services, ranging from his High-Performance Coaching Program to his Bio Briefing and Website Onceover. As one of the biggest names in the business of interior design, he speaks at design conferences and other events throughout the U.S. and around the world. He also develops sales and marketing programs for international franchise organizations and companies within the interior design industry, and trains manufacturers, retailers, and others on how to increase sales to design professionals. Listen in to find out more.

Show highlights:

• Why Fred really loves what he does so much.
• Why so many designers, who work so hard, just aren't realizing the abundance and the prosperity that they deserve.
• It's been Fred's passion over the years to convince designers to increase their fees dramatically.
• The number one obstacle that's preventing designers from charging higher fees.
• What Fred has discovered about some of the most financially successful, high-end designers in the world.
• High-end clients are used to paying designers high-end fees.
• Making the decision to make more money- and then focusing on that.
• Why earning more is all about your mindset.
• Having the guts to appreciate your value and raise your fees accordingly.
• Create a list of twenty reasons why you can actually double your fees.
• You can raise the standard of the whole design industry by charging higher fees.
• Learning to run your own business by your own rules.
• Explaining your value to your clients.
• People with money always have money, regardless of the current financial climate.
• Focusing on the pain points of your high-end clients, then painting yourself as a caregiver.
• Positioning yourself as a partner to your high-end clients.
• What you have to do to double your fees.
• How to deal with any objections to your price.
• Small thinking brings about small results.
• Give yourself permission to earn what you really deserve, and to enjoy financial prosperity!
• All about Fred's new Platinum Package.

Links and contacts:

Fred's website: Interior Design Business.net

Fred's email: fred@fredberns.com

Fred's phone number: 3035893013

Welcome to the show! We have a special episode today, with Kim Hoegger, the award-winning owner, and designer of Kim Hoegger Home. On the show today Kim talks to us about her passion for antiques, retail store ownership, her days as a restaurateur, and also about her thirty plus years of experience in residential and hospitality design. Listen in to find out more.

Kim's business sense, her Southern charm, and her hospitality have all helped her create a design firm that delivers sophisticated, yet livable interiors to clients that return project after project. She is a designer with an eye for fresh, personally curated interiors and she brings a sense of warmth to each and every interior project she creates. With her classic, yet eclectic style, she easily mixes the old with the new in a refreshing way. From coastal to cottage, rustic to chic sophisticated, Kim creates interiors where her clients feel at home in spaces that enhance the lives they lead. Listen in to find out what she has to share on today's show!

Show highlights:

• About the exciting launch of Kim's new textile designs!
• What to expect when you dive right in and go after your dreams.
• Where to go after working out your initial design concept.
• Some things to think about that may not have occurred to you before.
• Having to wear many different hats, as a designer.
• The awesome advice that Kim received, that really took her to the next level.
• How Kim managed to align with just the right person!
• What it really takes to build a platform with your brand- and recognition too.
• What Kim has accomplished in a really short time, by hiring a publicist.
• Finding the right balance with a new endeavor.
• Why you should really get your work professionally photographed.
• Going after your dreams with your eyes wide open.
• How Kim handles the sale of her fabrics.
• Having a licensed product is no sideline- it's another whole business!
• All about Kim's new retail showroom.
• Kim really knows her clients well, so her buying process is very streamlined.
• What's coming up for Kim in the future?
• Kim's way of re-branding her products.
• Kim has also started coaching new designers and business owners.

Other episodes mentioned on this show:

Amy Flurry #108 and #323
Andrew Joseph #39
Steve and Jill McKenzie #304

Welcome to Power talk Friday! Today we're talking organization and we're really happy to introduce you to our guest, Jane Stolly. Jane is a Lifebizz Organizer, author and university Instructor who found her passion in decluttering spaces, business processes, and closets. The Structure Strategist loves to help companies and individuals getting more organized.  Pretty impressive, right! Listen to today’s episode to find out more!

Where Jane's organizing knack comes from? She believes it must be her Swiss roots. Jane's love for organizing began when she was six years old: As a young girl she was often found happily lining up her cats by size, her stuffed animals by color, her books by publication date. What makes Jane's organizing approach unique is her holistic method. She starts redefining your office and continues at your home - or vice versa. The end results of her seminars, coaching and/or consultations? Reduced stress, increased happiness and productivity. "Organizing is a lifestyle, that will help you conquering anything."Jane strongly believes that custom-tailored organizing systems and routines will massively enhance your work and life. By now, she did not only convince numerous friends and her family but also various clients of this mantra. Listen to today’s show to hear Jane’s awesome advice!

Show highlights:

• Learn how to makeover your home or business!
• Declutter your home and your life to reduce stress.
• Make your system work for your lifestyle.
• Learn how to set things up so that you make the most of your time.
• Learn how Jane’s passion of organizing evolved to a different level of helping clients organizing their businesses with sustainable systems.
• Reaching out for help with organization is crucial for individual and personal growth.
• Learn how valuable “outside eyes” looking at your business can be.
• Re-organizing your business systems or marketing can save you time and money.
• Jane shares how to look at physical things from a different perspective.
• Organizing your priorities can save you time.
• Learn the importance of starting small when organizing.
• Jane shares how she markets her business outside her circle of influence.
• Jane shares how she overcomes fear in her own business.
• Jane shares how she has time to help others pursue their dream businesses.
• LuAnn encourages designers who are thinking of starting their own businesses to realize they have a lot to offer others and to get started.

Links:

Order your copy of Organizing for Your Lifestyle: Adaptable Inspirations from Socks to Suitcases is Jane’s book.

Website: Organizing for Your Lifestyle

Instagram: Organized Jane Stoller

Facebook: Organizing Jane

Twitter: Organizing Jane

Linkedin: Jane Stoller

Welcome to the show! Today we have a great opportunity to showcase another career you might consider if you're looking for a slightly different angle within the design industry. We have Debbie Pegher, a long-time listener who is also an all-around amazing cheerleader of this podcast as our guest! Debbie is the showroom manager of   Century Furniture, in the Washington Design Center and she has more than thirty years of experience as a designer working in retail, a design studio, and having her own design firm before she became the manager at Century. Listen in to find out more.

Debbie serves as the board of directors of The Washington Design Center and she regularly hosts events for the design community in the 5000 square foot Century showroom. She served as membership director of the ASID Washington Metro Chapter from 2014 to 2016. Century Furniture was awarded Best Made in America, in 2012, by  Made, a non-profit which honors excellence in American design, with Debbie's expertise. Furniture from Century was featured at the National Reagan Airport, and this honor culminated in an invitation to the US Capital, to watch the fireworks show, on 4th July. Debbie's leadership has earned her and the DC team at Century Showroom of the Year twice, most recently in 2017, with the best sales record recorded, for their showroom! Debbie credits and shares this with her co-worker, Gloria Domingez, a seasoned and talented design-oriented member of this two-person team. Listen in to find out what Debbie has to say today!

Show highlights:

• Debbie gives a detailed explanation of how being an interior designer for so many years has informed her ideas and decisions at Century Furniture.
• The wonderfully welcoming approach of the staff at the Century Furniture showroom towards designers.
• About the fantastic team at Century- including those based at the factory in North Carolina.
• The real human kind of client experience that's to be found at the Century Furniture showroom.
• The willingness of Century to customize items, if required.
• The importance of treating all designers, including the young and junior ones, really well.
• Some of the things that Debbie has instituted at the showroom to welcome, and also to teach designers.
• Although it's a trade-only showroom, they still encourage the public in to come in and browse.
• How it really pays off for designers to create great relationships with design showrooms.
• The awesome events that Debbie hosts at the showroom at the Washington Center.
• The new and exciting events that Debbie has coming up for the Summer season.
• It's all about who you know- and who knows you!
• How Century services work 'the Century way', to avoid any problems.

Previous episodes mentioned on this show:

Kristen McLaughlin #319

Links:

Welcome to today's show! Do you ever feel overwhelmed with all the zillions of ideas running through your head about how to improve your business? If so, you are not alone! We have heard so many of you saying in coaching, mastermind or one-on-one sessions that as much as you love the podcast, it can sometimes be the at the root of that feeling of panic. Running your own business is crazy and when you come to the podcast for help, you get it and then you land up with a notebook full of everything that you should be doing in your business.  But, this can really be daunting if you don't have someone to help you prioritize and execute those ideas, so listen in today, to find out how we've been inspired to help you with this.

The Power Talk Friday Tour is one of the solutions that LuAnn has come up with. She is inviting you to spend the day with her and with four selected experts from the Power Talk Friday shows and they will all deliver their very best to you. As long as you have a genuine desire to do the work, we promise to help you figure out the plan that is best for you. And it really doesn't matter if you're six months, six years, or even thirty-six years into your business! If you're interested in working hard and working smart, we're interested in working alongside you and we want to give you the tools to make it possible. Listen in now to find out more about the Power Talk Friday Tour -Las Vegas!

Show highlights:

• For the Power Talk Friday Tour- Las Vegas you will spend time with Vince Nigara, Sarah Daniele, Nancy Ganzekaupher and Mark McDonough.
• What you can expect at the Power Talk Friday Tour.
• A great opportunity for you to access real-time advice and create relationships of quality and merit.
• Why we have included small breakout groups.
• An added bonus that you can expect from the sponsors.
• In addition to Sarah Daniele, Grace McNamara and John Dupra will be joining us too!
• What you can learn from Grace McNamara.
• How Revel Woods can help you be more profitable and serve your clients better.
• The awesome kind of connections that you will make with your fellow attendees.
• Re-listen to some of the shows to get to know your Las Vegas team of experts a little better: #78 Vin Nigara, #91 Sarah Daniele, #15, #159 and #256 Nancy Ganzekaupher, #110 Mark McDonough.
• LuAnn will be doing what she always does- break it all down, summarize it and give you ways to think about the new information.
• About the four books that LuAnn had in mind to support this endeavor.
• How the Power Talk Friday experts can really help you.
• The real beauty of the Power Talk Friday Tour!

Welcome to today's show! We have another in the series of husband and wife teams today and our guests are Jenny and Greg Madden, of Jenny Madden Design in Hoboken New Jersey. Today's interview is packed with valuable insights about knowing when it's the right time to employ an operations manager, how to work out if you can actually afford it, and the results that you could expect to get after placing someone in that role. Jenny and Greg truly are the real deal and they really have it together, so listen in today to find out what they have to share today.

In the interview, LuAnn makes a point of complimenting Jenny and Greg on their About Us page, so we have decided to give you their company bio here, so that you can have an opportunity to see for yourselves just how deftly it conveys Jenny's skill and expertise, how it calls to their ideal client and expresses the way that they handle their projects with respect to budget, time, and the overall client experience. Listen in to find out more!

Jenny Madden Design Bio

At Jenny Madden Design, we take great pride in our client focus. We will not push a cookie cutter, signature-style onto your home. Instead, we’ll listen to your unique needs, dreams, and goals to create spaces that align with your design style and enhance your lifestyle. We also understand the importance of sticking to a budget. We specialize in mid-to-high-end furnishings, which will be of lasting quality and uncommon design. To that end, we’ve built relationships with a wide range of trade-only vendors, allowing us to bring you those sources at an exceptional value, making the most of each client’s budget.

Jenny Madden Design has been in business designing beautiful spaces since 2011. Prior to founding Jenny Madden Design, Jenny acquired formal training from top-tier programs in both Architecture (BA, Columbia University) and Interior Design (MS, Drexel University). She then gained invaluable professional experience across multiple facets of the industry, including construction management, architecture, furniture sales and interior design. The years she spent working for a general contractor, managing large-scale construction projects, are particularly unique within the interior design industry. This breadth of experience places Jenny Madden Design in the distinctive position to not only design beautiful interiors but to successfully manage projects through to completion. Jenny is able to speak the language of the broader industry and build successful partnerships with architects, builders, and vendors. She understands that a smooth, professional project experience is as important to her busy clients as an excellent aesthetic design.

Jenny built out her team to ensure she has the right mix of talent to enhance and support your project. Stefania and Maggie support the design and drafting phases, while Greg keeps operations and budgets tightly controlled. Our goal as a firm is to maintain boutique customization while providing the systems and support typically reserved for firms with a larger headcount.

At the end of the day, we believe our portfolio speaks for itself. We love that our work has been recognized in local and national publications, both in print and online. But we take the most pride in our ever-growing list of happy clients.

Jenny Madden Design offers luxury interior design services in the greater New York City area, based out of our Hoboken, NJ office. Whether you are embarking on a new construction project, a gut renovation or looking to furnish your existing space, our interior design team will guide you through the design process and into your dream home.

Show highlights:

• The really awesome About Us page at Jenny Madden Design.
• Some tips from Jenny and Greg's experience of working together.
• Making the decision to put all their eggs in one basket.
• Why it was really necessary to have someone in an operations role.
• Greg as a pioneer in the work/family role.
• Greg and Jenny's really supportive relationship.
• The evaluation process they used for crunching the numbers.
• Their plan for dealing with their downward change financially.
• The benefits of having a fixed agreement for the business.
• How they've managed to keep on track with their projections.
• The way that their relationship has developed in the business.
• The importance of having great communication when working together.

Other episodes mentioned on the show:

Andrea Schumacher #86 and then a replay on #275

Links:

Contact details for Jenny Madden Design:

website: Jenny Madden Design
email: info@jennymaddendesign.com

phone: 908-273-1634
office: 50 Harrison Street, Suite 202B Hoboken, NJ 07030
showroom: W Hoboken Living Room, 225 River Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030

Welcome to today's episode! We're very happy to finally be doing our second show on Pinterest today and we have Kate Ahl, the owner of Simple Pin Media, on the show with us. Kate teaches Pinterest marketing and she is really passionate about helping bloggers, content creators, and small business owners to grow by using Pinterest for their business. If you don't really have your Pinterest locked down as yet, you can go back and listen in to episode #292 with Summer Tannhauser to get the basics, because today, Kate and LuAnn will take you onto the next step. You're really in for a treat, so listen in now to find out more!

Kate does full-service management of people's Pinterest accounts and she also does consult calls with people who really need to get their Pinterest house in order. Kate originally started Simple Pin as a way to help her blogger friends to focus on creating content for their blogs and now, four years later, she has worked with more than four hundred accounts and she has one hundred management clients on her books.

Simple Pin was started on a whim and a prayer that it could provide for a family financially when they were living off government assistance and only $1000 per month! Kate runs Simple Pin out of her She Shed in her garden, and she even has a Pinterest board devoted to her She Shed ideas. She finds working from home a peaceful way to balance her family life, as she has three kids and also a bonus foster baby to care for. Kate and her husband are passionate about running their businesses in a way that allows them the space to do great things that can really impact their community. Kate often gets asked to speak on Pinterest and she has spoken at Build Your Blog Conference, Indulge and Blended, SNAP, and Social Media Marketing World. This year, she will be speaking at Activate, Everything Food, and Fincon. She really loves speaking about Pinterest, so listen in to find out what she has to share with you on the show today!

Show highlights:

• Pinterest is actually a search engine- it's like a visual Google!
• Some things that you really need to know, to make your Pinterest more effective and to drive more people to your website.
• The importance of having the right kind of images on Pinterest.
• Supplying the right information about your images on Pinterest.
• The two types of people to be found on Pinterest.
• Pinterest is a place where people go to dream and plan- and to save their ideas.
• How to specify where you are located on Pinterest.
• Telling your story with catchy phrases on your pins.
• Thinking about your clients' pain points when creating your posts.
• Earning people's trust with Pinterest.
• Thinking of your website as a central hub.
• Why you, as a designer, should encourage your clients to create a Pinterest board.
• Innovative ways of creating your various Pinterest boards.
• Why it's still really worth using Pinterest, even though it can take a while to build up steam.
• How Pinterest is actually designed to help people take action.
• Some tips for your best pinning practices.
• Why it's okay to use the same images over and over again!
• Why you really have to listen to the Simple Pin Podcast!
• All about Kate's Full Pinterest Planner- you can download it for free at Simple Pin Media!

Other episodes mentioned on today's show:

Summer Tannhauser #292

Allison Fannin #223

Leslie Carothers (Savour Partnership) #209
Links:

Welcome to today's Where Are They Now show, where we will be re-interviewing Darla Powell, from Darla Powell Interiors in Southern Florida. Darla originally appeared in episode #203, where she shared a lot of information about how she got her business off the ground and right out of the gate within the first seven months. On today's show, you will learn about everything that Darla has managed to accomplish over the last year- and she will also be announcing something brand-new, which will be making its debut on the podcast today! Listen in to find out more.

Darla has a fun, genuine and down-to-earth approach to the designing of beautiful spaces. Since she launched her career in 2016, she has grown her business almost exclusively by word-of-mouth and her clients have really fallen in love with her work!

In her past life, Darla spent almost twenty years as a Detective Sergeant in Miami Florida, so one might say that she is an expert on the importance of having complete tranquility at home after a stressful day at work! Also, her background has carried over many hidden perks- including a strong sense of integrity, accountability and a ready-for-anything-ness that is key for home renovation projects.

Darla's career transformation was fueled by her need to express her boundless creativity. She spent her childhood summers rummaging through her grandmother's antique store where she developed an extensive knowledge of antiques, collectibles and of pieces that look perfect together, so Darla's refined eye definitely sees those diamonds hiding in the rough! Above all, Darla really loves creating rooms that are gorgeous, elegant and soothing, so listen in now to find out what she has to share with you on the show today.

Show highlights:

• Darla talks about some of the things she's learned over the last year.
• The difference that the hiring of assistants has made to the growth of Darla's business.
• How Darla re-invented herself at the age of fifty.
• Why Darla has begun to delegate outside of her particular zone of genius.
• Why Darla's company has grown by leaps and bounds over the last year.
• Starting a business costs money, so you really need to have a plan.
• Some of the more challenging moments when Darla first started out as a designer.
• Darla's initial fears about raising her rates.
• The kind of clients that Darla attracted when she was charging lower rates.
• Finding your sweet spot in order to attract your ideal client.
• How Darla managed to attract the huge number of Instagram followers that she has!
• Keeping abreast with the latest Facebook algorithms.
• The importance of being authentic and engaging quality followers on social media.
• Using rich pins on Pinterest to drive traffic to your website.
• The awesome clients that Darla has attracted through social media.
• The benefits of sharing other people's work on social media.
• All about Darla's exciting, soon-to-be-launched new venture- Wingnutsocial.com.

Other episodes mentioned in this show:

Barbara Viteri (Designerlebrity) #155

Allison Fannin #223

Leslie Carothers #209

Summer Tannhauser #292 

Resources mentioned on the show:

Book: The Big Leap by Gay Hendricks

Welcome to Power Talk Friday! We have John Dupra of Revel Woods with us for an interview today and they are also the sponsor of today's show! Revel Woods' mission is to make the buying process of expert-curated, high-quality hardwood floors as easy as possible. Today, John explains the proprietary algorithm, and how it removes a large number of the technical barriers that one normally faces when sourcing a wooden floor. He also talks about the new website that they are launching, with a revamped pro-program, to help you, as designers, to make money on this sought-after, high-ticket item. Listen in today to find out about the really unique method that Revel Woods has developed specifically to enable interior designers to learn about and also to confidently specify hardwood floors on their projects.

John's father, Craig, started out in the wood-flooring business, working as an installer and a re-finisher before John was even born. Craig did this work for twenty-four years before eventually opening his own wholesale wood-flooring distribution company in Rochester, New York. While John was growing up, he spent all his summer holidays helping his father in his business. He then took a job with Saint-Gobain, a large materials manufacturing company, where he traveled the country as a sales engineer, working with flooring contractors for a period of eight years, before deciding to return home to join the family business in wholesale distribution. When John returned to the business, he joined up with the operations manager and together they developed an idea to put the boutique flooring showroom experience online. Their inspiration came from high-end fashion sites, like Stitch Fix and Trunk Club, and this was how the idea for Revel Woods was born. John has been featured in a number of the publications in the industry, including being recognized in Hardwood Floor Magazine's first ever forty under forty.

Listen in to find out more!

Show highlights:

• John talks about the supply chain in the industry.
• Where interior designers can go to see what the Revel Woods product looks like. (Revel Woods)
• How Revel Woods make their product equally and fairly available to everybody at the distribution level so that they are able to control the end-user experience from beginning to end.
• Why the Revel Woods brand is really a brand of curated expertise from top to bottom.
• The high level of care that's provided by Revel Woods.
• What happens when you complete the Revel Woods Selector and how it works.
• How flooring really forms the center of every design space from an aesthetic standpoint.
• How the Revel Woods product is designed to technically empower and also to provide a financial incentive for interior designers.
• What Revel Woods are doing with their brand-new website.
• How the new Revel Woods website solves pain-points for designers.
• The discount plus a rebate structure that Revel Woods has settled on for pro accounts, as an incentive for interior designers.
• How every aspect of the way that Revel Woods operates is very well thought out.
• How Revel Woods have closed the loop to help find qualified installers for solo or small business owners who want to source their product.
• Getting to really understand professional installers and the way that they think.
• The way that Revel Woods will really work well for less experienced designers.
• The incredible kind of support that Revel Woods gives designers.
• The awesome features to be found on the new Revel Woods website!

Links:

Website: Revel Woods

Facebook: Revel Woods

Instagram:  @revel_woods

Twitter:  @RevelWoods

Pinterest: Revel Woods

Welcome to today's show! We are very happy to introduce you to Catherine Hersacher, the founder of Bespoke Fine Interiors in Aiken, South Carolina. On the show today Catherine talks to us about how she translates and brings her worldly exposure and background to the small-horse community of Aiken. Running an interior design firm in a small, tight-knit community has some very specific challenges, but there are pro's to it as well. On today's show, Catherine also talks a bit about her consultation process. She is able to achieve a design for any project that is cogent with her client's tastes and context. Listen in today to find out more about working as an interior designer in a smaller market.             

Catherine, originally from Massachusetts, founded Bespoke Fine Interiors in Aiken South Carolina in 2012, with fourteen years of design experience behind her. She previously worked for some of the top firms in the country, in the high-end residential and ultra-exclusive hospitality sectors of the design industry. Catherine gained invaluable knowledge in the luxury residential design field while working in Palm Beach, Florida. Then, moving to the Northeast, Catherine joined an exclusive hospitality design firm as an interior designer and specifications manager. Many of the projects were five-star and boutique properties, including hotels, clubhouses, residential towers and conference centers. These projects were often located all around the globe. Catherine was part of the Asia team and was frequently sent to present and conduct site visits in China and Hong Kong. Listen in to find out what Catherine has to share on the show today.

Show highlights:

• Catherine discusses her backward approach to her career.
• Catherine's return to school to get an undergraduate degree in architecture and a master's in product design.
• Giving in to her horse addiction and moving to Aiken South Carolina.
• The importance of setting your limits.
• How Catherine manages to find the right work-life balance.
• The type of design projects that Catherine works with, in Aiken.
• Saying 'yes' to repeat work.
• Catherine explains her superpower.
• What Catherine loves the most about the market that she works with.
• The awesome relationship that Catherine has with her current clients.
• Working with a mid-level market.
• All of Catherine's work comes from word-of-mouth and most of it comes from builders.
• Why Catherine does not specialize in any particular market.
• What Catherine finds the most challenging part of her work.
• About Catherine's relationships with her contractors.
• Why Catherine never thought that she would ever own her own business.
• The way that Catherine has grown since starting her own business.
• Catherine describes her initial consultation process.
• Having the budget conversation in the first fifteen minutes of the consultation.

Other episodes mentioned in this show:

Susan Yeley #208

Natalie Hurst #172

Blanche Garcia #282

 Links:

Welcome! Today we're really excited to have Chaney Widmer, the founder of Mix and Match Design Company, back with us- and she is also the sponsor of today's show!  (She was previously in episode #260.)  We were really impressed when we first met Chaney because she was so well-spoken, so poised, and so directed and focused about her business. We were also really impressed with the way that Chaney's whole business is completely E-design and that she doesn't do any client-facing in-the-house work at all. Listen in today to find out more about Chaney's niche.

Mix & Match Design Company was founded by Chaney Widmer in 2015 with the goal of making interior design services accessible and affordable for everyone. By harnessing the power of technology and using innovative online tools, Mix & Match has been able to help folks create homes that they love in a fun and efficient way - all online through "e-design" -while maintaining a personal touch. She wants to take the intimidation out of interior design - whether you are starting from scratch on a brand new home or redesigning a room that's ready for an update, she's ready to help!

Over the past several years, Mix & Match has grown into a multi-faceted business that serves not only clients but other interior design businesses as well. On the client side, Chaney offers one-on-one e-design packages, and also shares inspiring and educational design content to a broad audience through twice-weekly blog posts and on social media. In February 2018, she expanded into the "B-to-B" world and released an online course for designers (or aspiring ones!) who want to launch their own online interior design businesses. This self-paced course is released a few times a year and provides a "quick start" guide to getting an e-design business up and running. Enabling others to pursue their goal of starting a design business is a passion of Chaney's, and she's very excited to help them succeed! Mix & Match Design Company is based in the great city of Philadelphia and serves clients locally and nationally.

At the end of the last show with Chaney, we mentioned that she was in the process of coming up with a course for her interior design colleagues who are interested in learning about how to run a profitable and effective E-design business. She has subsequently come up with that course. It's called How To Launch An E-design Business, and it will launch on the 4th of June 2018. Today we will be talking to Chaney about exactly what is in her course and she will also explain how it works. Listen in to find out what Chaney has to share with you today.

Show highlights:

• E-design is really flexible- it can either be your entire business or used as a side-hustle.
• The in-depth nature of Chaney's course.
• The way that Chaney has taken this aspect of design and systemized it.
• How Chaney's course will really save you time.
• How the principals in the course will be a good foundation for your design business.
• Chaney's course is recorded, so you can do it in your own time and at your own pace.
• The course can also be used to get the junior designers or design assistants who work for you up to speed.
• The major topics that are in the four videos in the course.
• Chaney really has her marketing well locked down!
• Chaney's belief is that designers should be providing everything that their clients need.
• Finding the right process for your clients.
• Most people accept that Chaney is an E-designer and so she won't go and do in-person consultations.
• The feedback that Chaney has had from designers who have purchased her course.
• Chaney's goals for the course that she created.
• Chaney is offering a free download from the course.
• What you will learn from the workbook of the course.
• Who the course is tailored for.

 Links:

To get your free download of The start-up checklist for an E-design business go to E Design Biz Checklist

You can find Chaney's course How To Launch An E-design Business at: E Design Course

To get onto Chaney's email list go to the course landing-page at E Design Course.