A Well-Designed Business® | Interior Design Business Podcast

The guest on today’s Power Talk Friday is Fred Berns, the only Interior Design Industry Business Coach, and Speaker.  Fred was a Speaker at the Design Blogger’s Conference, held in L.A. In March, where he spoke about how to create your bio, so this show is tagged onto the Design Blogger’s Series. This is the fourth time that Fred has appeared on this show and LuAnn is really happy to have him back...

Today With Josh Kasper of Studio Kasa: Art is one of the most overlooked, and under-monetized, elements in interior design. In this sponsored episode, LuAnn sits down with Josh Kasper, founder of Studio Kasa, to talk about how designers can approach art differently, not just as a finishing touch, but as a strategic part of both the design and the business. Josh shares how his firm helps designers...

Today With Duke Renders and Jenna Gaidusek: AI is everywhere right now. Some designers are excited about it. Others are frustrated by it. And many are quietly wondering… Is this actually helping my business or just adding more noise? In this episode, LuAnn sits down with Mina Duque of Duke Renders and AI expert Jenna Gaidusek to cut through the confusion and get to the truth. What is AI actually g...

Welcome to A Well-Designed Business! On this episode, LuAnn sits down for a chat with Denise Wenacur, the principle of DW Design & Décor in Croton on the Hudson, which is a beautiful community just outside of NYC. Design-build is the hot topic of the day, and you’ll learn the importance of having an interior designer as the point person for the client between the architect, the builder and themsel...

Today With Rachel Usher and Rick Campos: The Business of Interiors Community Summit: The Room That Changes Your Business What if the thing that changes your business isn’t another course, another podcast, or another late night Googling session, but simply getting in the right room? In this episode, LuAnn talks with Rachel Usher, founder of The Business of Interiors, and Rick Campos, creator of the...

Today with Amy Lynn Allard: Welcome to A Well-Designed Business. Looking for advice on systems to turbo-charge your business? Amy Lynn Allard of Boston’s Amy Lynn Interiors learned to thrive using well-crafted, meticulous systems. She is big on time blocking, but that’s not all. Amy walks through two of her most powerful systems, the team agenda and an invaluable spreadsheet she uses to create a m...

Today With Aga Artka and Jenny Rebholz: When you hear the phrase "personal brand," do you immediately think of your color palette and your website layout? What if we are getting so caught up in the visual pieces that we are forgetting what a brand really is, and why it has to reflect who we are as humans?  My guests today, Aga Artka and Jenny Rebholz, authors of The Brand of You, join the show to...

Today With Gage Edward: In this sponsored episode of A Well-Designed Business, LuAnn sits down with entrepreneur and former Flipping Out star Gage Edward to talk about a challenge every designer knows well: coming home from market with hundreds of photos… and no clear way to organize or use them. After more than a decade leading business development for a nationally recognized design firm, Gage sa...

Today With John McClain: Welcome to A Well-Designed Business. Today I am joined for the second time by John McClain. John is an accomplished interior designer, business coach, and author of The Designer Within. In this episode, he shares a bit about his back story with us—from crisis to conquest. John is here to help you understand that you can learn and grow from your mistakes, and success can be...

Today With Kandrac & Kole: What does it actually take to stay in business with someone for more than two decades? In this episode, Joann Kandrac and Kelly Kole of Kandrac & Kole Interior Design share what has sustained their 21-year business partnership. And no, it’s not just friendship. We talk about defined roles, decision-making authority, handling disagreement without ego, and the operational...

Today With Bri Ussery: Today with Bri Ussery, we’re talking about a topic most of us think we’ve mastered but probably haven’t: communication as operational infrastructure. Bri, a strategist and fractional COO for interior design firms, explains why even the most well-built systems fall apart without clear, intentional language supporting them. From weekly update emails to onboarding decks to meet...

Today with Jessica Matteson: Welcome to A Well-Designed Business. Jessica Matteson started her business with lots of experience but little time and money to invest in getting Jessica Matteson Landscape Architecture off the ground. Jessica shares her journey from starting with just $35 in advertising postcards to running a successful luxury landscape architecture business. Pick it apart: [14:28] Je...

Today With Jenna Gaidusek: AI is not going anywhere. But how you use it inside your design firm? That’s a leadership decision. In this follow-up conversation with Jenna Gaidusek, we move beyond what AI can do and dig into what it should do inside your business. Because here’s the thing: Ignoring AI is not leadership. But using it without standards? That’s not leadership either. In this episode, we...

Today with Meryl Santopietro: Welcome to A Well-Designed Business®. Today, I’m thrilled to have Meryl Santopietro. She is going to be sharing with us about her career and her decision to move her business to Manhattan. Meryl’s business was based in Rhode Island until she moved her business to Manhattan. She also has the pleasure of working with her two daughters every day. More About Meryl Santopi...

Today With LuAnn Nigara: A Well-Designed Business® 10-Year Anniversary Series, Part 5 What happens when your business finally works? The referrals are steady. The revenue is consistent. The team exists. For many entrepreneurs, this is where survival ends. But it’s also where drift can begin. In Part 5 of the 10-Year Anniversary Series, LuAnn shares the leadership shift that happens after stability...

Today With Christa O’Leary: Today with Christa O'Leary, we explore how her background in psychology and marriage and family therapy completely transformed the way she approaches design. Christa shows us that great design isn't just about aesthetics, it's about creating environments that support wellness, help clients thrive, and make them feel how they want to feel when they walk through the door....

Today With LuAnn Nigara: When your business starts working, everything changes. In Part Four of the 10-Year Birthday Series, LuAnn shares the shift that happens when success creates complexity — and why growth without structure leads to burnout. What began as one microphone and one clear promise eventually became something bigger. More responsibility. More demand. More opportunity. And with that c...

Today with Marie Flanigan: Welcome to A Well-Designed Business®. Today, I’m thrilled to have Marie Flanigan back on the show. Marie has more than a decade of experience as a thriving designer, one whose list of accolades goes on for days. In today’s episode, Marie is answering questions from listeners about how to make big decisions in your business— how to attract the clients and projects you tru...

Today With Megan Dahle: If your books are clean but your decisions still feel heavy, this episode is for you. My guest today, Megan Dahle, is a fractional CFO for creative business owners, and she has a unique way of helping entrepreneurs understand what their numbers are actually telling them without shame, overwhelm, or judgment. In this conversation, Megan shares her four-part framework for loo...

Today With LuAnn Nigara: In Part Three of the A Well-Designed Business 10-Year Birthday Series, LuAnn moves the story forward into the phase almost no one prepares you for. The moment when hustle stops being the solution. Not because the work disappears. But because the work changes. By this point, the podcast no longer depended on LuAnn doing everything herself. It depended on something else enti...

Today with Sarah Magness Welcome to today’s episode! We’re really glad to have Sarah Magness, of Magness Design, with us today. Eight years ago, Sarah hatched as a ‘baby designer’ and launched right into the luxury market. Today she talks to us about the real-life experience she gained during this time, before opening her own firm. She also talks about the “New Heights” program at Marymount that s...

Today With LuAnn Nigara: In Part Two of the A Well-Designed Business® 10-Year Birthday Series, LuAnn picks up where the story left off last week. The decision to start the podcast had been made. The show had launched. And then something else happened. It started working. In this episode, LuAnn shares what it actually looks like when consistency turns into responsibility, and when momentum begins t...

Today with Kae Whitaker Welcome to another episode of A Well-Designed Business. Everyone can start doing their happy dance today because we have Kae Whitaker on the show! After doing her really great series all about Facebook, LuAnn was considering doing another series, about landing pages, click funnels, email responders etc. She was out there, in Podcast Land, listening and looking out for the r...

Today With LuAnn Nigara: Ten years ago, A Well-Designed Business® didn’t exist. There were no downloads. No sponsors. No audience. There was just a decision. In this first episode of a four-part anniversary series, LuAnn takes you behind the scenes to the moment before the podcast, before the brand, before this became a business. She walks you through what her life and work actually looked like in...

Today With Katy Cassaw, Kat Benson, Heather Peterson and Jillian Richey: In this Overheard episode of A Well-Designed Business, I sit down with four powerhouse designers — Heather Peterson, Jillian Richey Echevarria, and Katy Cassaw and Kat Benson of Nest Interiors — to talk about what it really means to step into the CEO seat. Each of these women has worked with business coach Desi Creswell to mo...