A Well-Designed Business® | Interior Design Business Podcast

Guess what? This is our six month anniversary! I have two very special shows for you this week. The first show we are going to meet one of the masterminds behind the fabulous curatedkravet.com platform. Curatedkravet.com is celebrating a few milestones of its own. This spring marked the one year anniversary of the hugely successful curatedkravet.com! Our special guest today is Will Hunt Lewis, Sen...

Maria Killam is the founder and CEO of Understanding Undertones of Colour. She's a decorator, author, speaker and internationally sought-after Colour Expert. Transform the way you see color at http://www.mariakillam.com Maria's has 5 Fall Specify Colour with Confidence™ workshops scheduled, get all the information about what they include and upcoming dates here.   If you want to learn Maria's syst...

Welcome to another Power Talk Friday! My guest today is Alice Seale, who has over 30 years entrepreneurial experience as a realtor in the retail design industry. She is the founder of Seale Realty Advisors in the Dallas area. Alice has co-authored the book, Winning Ways in Real Estate. She has great advice for entrepreneurs. Join us! What you’ll hear in this episode: Alice’s path to real estate in...

  Hi, welcome to another episode of A Well-Designed Business! If you are a loyal listener—thank you for tuning in again! And whether you are new or returning, please go over to our Facebook page and like us there so you can be a part  of the conversation, to be in the know about all things A Well-Designed Business podcast and Window Works. Find us at www.facebook.com/windowworksnj   So on the show...

Today I would like to introduce, dare I say my first fan: Rachel Moriarty! She has been so supportive from the beginning on social media. I would like to give her a huge THANK YOU! One of the conversations that we had on social media about more episodes with solo entrepreneur shops and firms. It’s nice to show appreciation for the big influencers on the show. We can see where a business can go. Bu...

Diane Gardner is a tax coach and the author of Why Didn't My CPA Tell Me That? and Stop Overpaying Your Taxes. You are going to be blown away today by the information Diane shares. She saves her clients thousands of dollars in taxes with every consultation. Many times we look backward in dealing with our taxes, and a tax coach looks at the future and plans it exactly how you want to be. In this ep...

Today we are going to talk about going to market with Deb Barrett! She specializes in a niche for attending the different furniture and accessory markets: High Point and different markets around the world. Now she is specializing in bringing groups to these markets so that they have the best experience at market as opposed to walking in circles and not knowing where to go. Today we are very lucky...

LuAnn Nigara is an award winning window treatment authority, author, and host of the 5 star-rated podcast, A Well-Designed Business, which serves the design industry as an overall business dynamo. Based in Livingston, New Jersey, LuAnn got her start in 1982 when she, her husband, and cousin, purchased a franchise of the Florida based, full service window treatment company, Window Works. With LuAnn...

Welcome back to another Power Talk Friday! I’m happy to let you know that we have David Duncan Livingston with us today! He is a professional photographer from the San Francisco Bay area. He has worked in over 40 states and 4 provinces! His particular skill, in addition to his photography, is that he works with interior designers as a producer, art director, and stylist when doing professional pho...

Today we have a treat because Veronica Solomon is a rock star powerhouse woman in interior design. I came across Veronica and I thought she is a smart lady, she has some great things to share and always seems to have good advice. Then I browsed her website. I had to be picked up off the floor. Once I was off the floor I probably spent as much time on her website as I have on other designers’ in th...

On the show today we have James Swan! James is the host of the podcast Million Dollar Decorator. This is in addition to his illustrious career as an interior designer. Being the host of this podcast and speaking with James about being guests on each other’s podcasts I really started doing research on him. I am very impressed at what a high level accomplished interior designer he is. Let’s be hones...

Welcome back to Power talk Friday! I am pleased to have Fred Berns back with us! If you remember he was on the show a couple of months ago and he discussed how to create a killer bio. I am aware that you all love his show so much that Fred and I have been talking about him coming back on the show. So he is here today! If you have not heard his episode you should go back and listen to it! It has a...

Gail Davis has a very interesting past that would be very helpful to her colleagues. Interior design is her second career. Her first career was in fashion. When you hear her story about her career in fashion, I think everyone will understand why she went into interior design! Show Notes: How long was she in fashion before switching to interior design? Why interior design? How did she “walk” into h...

Welcome back everybody! Barbara Viteri has such an interesting trail leading to where she is today with her Designerlebrity™ Barbara had a very successful business called Viteri Style Management where she was a consultant for interior designers. But Barbara is pivoting her career now. She is going to share with us about how she got to where she is now. Show Notes: What did she do in Viteri Style M...

 Krista Coupar of Coupar Consulting returns to the show to talk about billing and hourly fee’s. How To Effectively Bill Out Using an Hourly Fee Structure: • Step 1: Understand your existing pipeline • Step 2: Do an analysis of your current client base and your average monthly billing • Step 3: Determine utilization rates for yourself and your team • Step 4: Match up current project initiatives wit...

Today on the show we have Michael Mitchell and Tyler Hill! They have their own design firm in Charleston, South Carolina. They also deal with fine arts, have a retail store and deal with gallery events. Putting on an event is one thing but putting on 10 to 12 events a year successfully is quite another thing. They put on an event at least once a month usually.  Michael and Tyler are going to share...

Today we have Farrha Hyman on the show! You may be thinking where have I heard that name before? Farrha is the designer that Kae Whitaker mentioned in her interview from a previous episode! She is going to share with us her story and what can happen to your design firm when you reach out and get help and expertise from someone who knows more than you do. Show Notes: When did she realize she needed...

On our show today we have Rachel Laxer! Rachel runs a pretty big firm that is based out of London and New York City. She is a member of the British Institute of Design, and ASID here in the states. She graduated from Washington State with a BA in Political Science and History and from NYU with an MBA in Finance and International Business! She has been featured in Ireland’s Home, Interiors and Livi...

Our guest, Cheryl Janis has been an interior designer for more than 19 years! She has a background in full service interior design for residential design, restaurant design, office design, the whole she bang. But in the last 2 to 6 years she has thought about a direction change for her business. Cheryl has decided to specialize in independent healthcare physicians that are visionaries and embrace...

Today on the show we 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. Show Notes: How did she build her business? Why did she move her business to Manhattan? What s...

Today on A Well Designed Business we have a treat! We have Andrew Joseph who is the principal of a design boutique public relations firm in New York city! This is a big time firm and he has clients from all over and his reach is worldwide. He is going to share with us his tips on how to hire, take advantage of and understand what a PR firm can and cannot do for you. Here's a bit about Andrew:  Pri...

Today on the show I’m excited to have Patrick Cain! He is a custom furniture designer based out of Los Angeles. He specializes in furniture made from wood, metal and concrete. The designs are gorgeous! He is going to share with us a little about the pieces and how he got his business started. Show Notes: What two objectives does Patrick try to put into his furniture? What is the definition of recy...

Leslie Myrick is an interior stylist and has not only built her business from the ground up once but three times! She has been in Canada, California and now Texas! She has very specific ways how she has built her business in such a short amount of time that really stand out. She has a blog and YouTube videos and has really created a good body of work in a short amount of time. We are going to talk...

Susan is founder and principal of award-winning Sweet Peas Design, which she launched 13 years ago in the Chicago suburb of Libertyville as a one-woman firm. Today Sweet Peas Design is a full-service studio with a staff of six in downtown Libertyville and a branch office in Chicago. She and her team work with a broad-based clientele of entrepreneurs, corporate executives and professionals.   Susan...

Today on A Well Designed Business we have Jerri Eskow! She is a full-service interior designer and has been in business for more than 20 years! After becoming friends on Instagram I went to her website and did a little research. Sometimes when I have guests on the show I already know what their special skills, talents or lessons are. But with Jerri Eskow I was just so impressed with her as a whole...