DESIGNLIFEINC. Interior Design Business Podcast

Are we CRAZY?! 😅 Short answer: maybe. Long answer: moving provinces, buying a house under pressure, on a tight timeline, in a totally new place was not exactly the master plan… yet, here we are. And we've been slowly making the best of it! In this episode, I spill the whole story: 👉 how my husband and I moved to Ontario 👉 the house purchase that came with plenty of anxiety attacks, second-guess...

Hey, Happy New Year! I've been a little MIA on here for a while... and let me share why quickly in this episode before I jump right into a few of the things I have planned for 2026... AND then let's get right into the nitty gritty of 3 private coaching calls I recently had with interior designers just like you . In this episode I talk in more detail about 3 coaching calls I had with design...

Ok so here's the deal... there's a little secret I'm going to share with you: I will wager a guess that over 85% of interior designers out there right now - EVEN the ones that have been in business for several years - have zero clue what it takes to: actually pay their living & lifestyle expenses actually pay their overhead and keep their lights on actually build a profit into thei...

This episode is a little different than all the other episodes I've launched so far... but f*ck it - I feel this message couldn't come at a better time for us interior designers ... I've talked to so many designers in the past two months and so many are feeling somewhat defeated and down-right depressed by the slowdown of our industry in Q1, 2025. Not to take this lightly - I'm weathering the cool...

If you could ask a rock-star interior designer ANYTHING about the secrets behind running a highly successful design business... you'd do it, right!!?? You're in luck! My guest today has over 20+ years of experience under her belt, and is no stranger to the Canadian design scene... Laura Thornton of Thornton Design just north of Toronto sits down to discuss the ups and downs of running an interior...

I meet the most AMAZING people through social media (don't we all!!)... some of the most inspiring and tenacious designers who've jumped right into launching their interior design businesses - the personal journey stories I learn about my followers are so incredible! In this episode, I chat with Laura Fendley of Laura Fendley Design - her story begins in small-town Ontario, establishing an early c...

Hey listeners!! I'm back ... thanks for hanging out while we were away in February, I'm so excited to release the next batch of interviews in the coming weeks! This short episode is all about the "NO CLIENT" hack that literally changed my business and how I run my life... So, I don't book clients on Monday's or Friday's. Yup. You read that correctly. In order to reduc...

My guest today is a bad ass visionary, successful digital creator, and fellow interior designer! But don't let her soft-spoken nature fool you... she single-handedly took on one of social media's biggest platforms and created a huge knowledge-based community for interior designers, design students, & architects all on her own! With over 35k followers and 1.5M+ views on YouTube, Andrea...

So this episode is one from the Life Chat (Youtube series) archives - but it's a good one! I chat with a former mentor client of mine, someone who didn't come from a formal design background but grabbed life by the horns anyway and broke into the design industry on her own. Melissa Heaman is the founder and principal designer of Harbour Mill Design. Focusing on an artistic approach of mixed design...

She's Baaaaaaack........ we pick back up right where we left off in Part 1 ( episode #16 ) for Part 2 of our sit down/catch up together! I just love this incredible soul - today's guest is one of the most genuine and authentic people I've yet to meet in this industry - who rocks at roller derby and manifested her way onto ⁠The Marilyn Denis Show⁠ twice! We first crossed paths several years ago whe...

Meet Anthony Bruno, the creative force & mastermind behind Anthony Bruno Interiors, a New Jersey-based residential interior designer with a flair for drama... literally! Before transforming homes across the United States, Anthony was once a theatre kid turned director and set designer, weaving incredible stories on stage. But as the pandemic hit in 2020, the universe handed him a new script: l...

I'm not too proud to admit that I didn't actually use a contract in my interior design business for EASILY the first 5 years I was working with clients... what was I thinking!? But over the years, and after finding valuable mentorship of my own, I realized just how dangerous (and stupid!) not having a contract or Terms of Service was. In this episode I dive into all things interior design contract...

We met online ! (But it's not exactly what you think). I just love this incredible soul - today's guest is one of the most genuine and authentic people I've yet to meet in this industry - who rocks at roller derby and manifested her way onto The Marilyn Denis Show twice! We first crossed paths several years ago when I attempted a quasi-rescue from the comments section of an online designer group (...

Raise your hand if you thought you'd be further along in your interior design journey by now when you first started out... (I'll raise my hand with you!) In this episode I'm sharing the chronological evolution of my own interior design business to help dispel some of the myths social media and hustle-culture has fed us about what the timeline of a "successful" business should look like... spoiler...

I LOVE hearing & learning about other entrepreneurial journeys...especially when it's about people I know and enjoy working with myself! In this episode I sit down with my friend Justin Kandola - supporter of local business initiatives, avid golfer, and the man behind the wheel at DK Modern Furnishings , right here in beautiful Kelowna, Bristish Columbia. He takes me through the tough decision...

This episode is a few parts humour, mixed with a few parts reality... and for any real-life clients out there listening, know we LOVE! you, but sometimes you say the wildest things. I've compiled 12 different statements & questions clients commonly bring up during a project that might make you cringe, and what they actually mean for you as the interior designer. DESIGNLIFEINC.: FOLLOW on Insta...

In this short but super impactful episode, I teach you exactly how to counter price objections from potential clients about your design fee... it's not complicated! Listen to find out exactly how to challenge the narrative the next time a client says they've already talked with another designer who said they can do it for less. DESIGNLIFEINC.: FOLLOW on Instagram ⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@designlifeinc⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ J...

What's the saying... "One bad apple can ruin the bunch?" Over the past 21 years working with many questionable interior design clients myself, I've learned to spot a bad apple or two! In this episode I get right into why you shouldn't work with everyone, how red flag clients can actually hurt your design business, and the 7 red flag archetypes I've come to recognize over the years that make me ser...

In this episode I chat with Tiff Cheng - inspiring, multi-faceted entrepreneur and face of By Tiff C based in Vancouver. We first connected on Instagram (she slid into the DM's!), and both share an absolute love of supporting and nurturing other creatives in business! We waste no time getting right into the sh*t show of going through an interior design degree (what they did and DIDN'T teach us!),...

It is currently the end of September - which means it's CRUNCH time!! We're right in the middle of the end-of-project-completion-prep-for-photos-&-awards-submissions phase, and I am definitely feeling the burn & pressure this time of year tends to bring... but we're pushing on through and it will all be worth it in the end! In this episode, I take you through my own process of on-boarding...

"True belonging doesn't require you to change who you are; it requires you to be who you are" - Brene Brown. In this episode I chat with fellow interior designer & The Designers Common founder, Leah Penner! Experiencing design school through the middle of the pandemic (online and disconnected ) fostered a deep need for connection and collaboration once she completed her program... thus emerged...

This episode is a clip from my Price Like A Pro: Insider's Guide To Calculating Fees & The Per-Square-Foot Method micro course! I get into 3 of the most common pricing methods for interior designers, the pro's and con's of each, and my experiences pricing projects with each... Spoiler alert: I DON'T use any of these to price my jobs now (I share how I price projects in an upcoming episode, sta...

This episode is a cool one - I chat with Chartered Investment Manager, Amy Bell... who ALSO happens to be a former client of mine! We get into why she decided to hire me for her projects, the importance of being comfortable talking about the 'money piece' from the very beginning with clients, and how to grow your own money confidence as women and interior designers. Amy is no stranger to the money...

What else can I say... the road to success is paved with failure. Lots of it! In this episode I pull back the curtain on my own start in the industry, the limiting beliefs I created for myself all the way back in design school, stepping (and crashing hard) into entrepreneurship... and the beautiful gifts & lessons I've learned that have brought me right here to mentorship and DESIGNLIFEINC. to...

As interior designers in business, we're always on the lookout for ways to improve our processes, our profits, our presentations... you name it. But have you ever truly stopped for a moment to consider the one thing I consider to be even more important than all of those combined: your mindset? In this episode I talk about the absolute importance of overhauling your personal beliefs and auditing th...