Trade Tales

Following first careers in different industries, Christina Samatas and Renee DiSanto joined forces to found their firm, Park & Oak , with a flexibility that could work with their schedules as busy parents. After posting a few early project photos on then-budding social media site Instagram, the client inquiries started flooding in—and almost overnight, the Glen Ellyn, Illinois–based duo found them...

Philadelphia-based interior designer  Nile Johnson  scored a  dream  client, one so good that she recommended him to all her friends. One in particular reached out to Johnson for a project, and he took it despite knowing the chemistry wasn't quite right. The project got off to an awkward start and never improved—but after the dust settled, Johnson revamped his firm, drawing on lessons he'd learned...

After rising through the ranks at an established design firm, Emilie Munroe felt the pull to start a firm of her own. But instead of rushing out the door with a new brand, the San Francisco–designer made space for her own aesthetic—and her firm—to develop over time. Along the way, she’s discovered that giving clients options makes for a more meaningful design process, and has developed a clear-eye...

Rasheeda Gray was successfully climbing the corporate ladder when she realized she needed to make a change to find her passion and purpose. She went back to school for interior design, founded her business, began connecting with her first clients—and even made her first hire a year before exiting her day job. On this episode of the podcast, she shares what it takes to execute a major career pivot,...

From building a team to navigating the industry’s supply chain challenges, Ramey Caulkins draws on lessons learned from her early career in sales at Ann Sacks. Today, the Denver–based designer is meeting the moment by building a supportive framework for her latest hires and tapping vendor relationships to find new solutions. This episode is sponsored by Gaggenau and Sidedoor .  LINKS Ramey Caulkin...

During his first career as a tax lawyer, Dan Rak didn’t have much bandwidth to dip his toes into interior design. Instead, he focused on the one space he had unlimited access to: —his own house. Soon enough, Rak was moonlighting as a house flipper and quickly realizing that it was time to go all-in on his design hobby. Now firmly established, he’s focused on taking his business to the next level b...

Modeling, acting, nursing and beauty school—Michel Smith Boyd tried it all before an encounter with an interior designer sealed his fate and sent him back to school to begin the journey toward the rest of his career. While still a design undergrad, he landed his first big gig—a one-night affair designing an extravagant party for a marketing executive. Though the event launched the young designer i...

Katie Hodges’s first big client felt like a dream come true—a gorgeous luxury home, flexible clients and a project that ultimately landed a glossy feature in a major magazine. The same structure, it turned out, was a nightmare with one of her next clients. Though the experience was bad enough to make the Los Angeles designer consider quitting, she instead took a long hard look at her contract and...

During her first career in marketing, Keisha Gilchrist slogged through a series of bad jobs. Between unlivable wages and male-dominated workplaces, the experiences gave her the fuel she needed to take the dive into design—now, as a real estate broker, design principal and general contractor, she’s finally in the driver’s seat on all fronts. The Washington, D.C.–based designer shares her journey as...

Peggy Haddad had every intention of hiring an interior designer to transform her own home—until she made a few calls and realized just how expensive full-service design can be. She launched her e-design business in 2019 with the idea that good design could be for everyone, but the Denver-based designer struggled at first to make the business model work. Then she discovered a suite of tech tools th...

A career in design was the only route Stephanie Sabbe ever considered. In this episode, the Nashville designer gets candid about how the unexpected challenges she’s faced along the way—navigating everything from her social media presence to her firm’s structure—have paved the way for greater authenticity and a stronger brand. This episode is sponsored by Gabby and Currey & Company . LINKS Stephani...

With an early knack for aesthetics, Traci Zeller seemed destined for design from a young age. Instead, she took a substantial detour, finding success in accounting, law and business consulting before pursuing her passion for interiors professionally. Now, as her firm grows, the North Carolina designer explains how she invested her early profits back into her business, why she’s always finding new...

After turning a house-flipping side hustle into a budding design practice, Sean Leffers started to grow his team—and reconsider his definition of leadership. By letting go of some responsibilities and empowering his team to master their own skills, the Los Angeles–based designer has created an environment based on autonomy and mutual respect. He explains how he stepped out of the scarcity mindset...

After leaving a job with tons of creative freedom to start her own firm in 2018, Eneia White had one speed: busy. The New York–based designer was saying yes to everything, but barely making ends meet. When the pandemic forced her to push pause, she finally had a moment to evaluate what was working in her business, find ways to compensate for what wasn’t going right, and lay the groundwork for land...

Heidi Caillier didn’t take the traditional route into the home industry. Instead, she pursued careers in public health, as a scuba diving instructor, and running a coffee shop before her nascent design blog helped her realize that actually creating the designs was her passion. Now the principal of her own firm, the Seattle designer is cultivating ever-better projects and looking to grow—though not...

Alison Giese has never followed a conventional design career path—she did medical sales and studied law before her husband’s career took the couple to Brazil and she fell in love with design. It's no surprise, then, that the growth of her firm hasn’t followed traditional lines either. On this episode of Trade Tales, Giese shares with host Kaitlin Petersen how she manages a staff of remote employee...

Everick Brown is no stranger to reinvention. His career began in the retail sphere, working for several luxury labels before a round of executive layoffs prompted a pivot. From there, Brown launched his own home accessories store, which enjoyed runaway success until the market crash. Finally, Everick Brown Design was born, bolstered from the start by the operational support and marketing expertise...

Following first careers in different industries, Christina Samatas and Renee DiSanto joined forces to found their firm, Park & Oak , with a flexibility that could work with their schedules as busy parents. After posting a few early project photos on then-budding social media site Instagram, the client inquiries started flooding in—and almost overnight, the Glen Ellyn, Illinois–based duo found them...

When Noz Nozawa left her 9-to-5 marketing job to start her design business, she took a major gamble with her career. It was in that precarious state that the San Francisco designer grabbed hold of what she could control, namely by tightening her purse strings. The firm’s slow, incremental growth worked to a point—until suddenly, Nozawa switched gears. In this episode of the podcast, she tells host...

Victoria Sass had a bustling career as a commercial designer—a job she liked, but didn’t love. After the birth of her second daughter, the Minneapolis-based designer took a critical look at what the next 40 years might hold and realized she wanted more. More, as it turned out, was a residential firm, Prospect Refuge, focused only on projects that fulfilled her. In this episode, Sass tells host Kai...

Max Humphrey’ s first career didn’t exactly lend itself to well-designed spaces. As a musician in a touring band, Humphrey spent most of his time traveling the country, crashing on couches and staying in dingy motels. When he finally settled down in his first solo apartment in Los Angeles, the bare walls staring back at him led to a creative firestorm—soon he was decorating. Since launching his ow...

Just as San Francisco–based designer Eche Martinez was putting the finishing touches on a small pool house project, he began to hear about the client’s master plan for redeveloping her 10,000-square-foot home. Before he had a chance to pitch himself for the job, he realized that he’d actually spent the past six months designing doing just that. The hands-on client who was obsessed with options put...

It took designing her own home in earnest to make Irvington, New Jersey–based interior designer Beth Diana Smith realize that, despite working her way up in the finance world, she was destined for a creative career. But that strong business foundation has shaped the way she built her firm, from the processes and order that help her thrive to the way she’s able to translate industry terminology for...

For years, Menlo Park, California–based interior designer Amanda Teal did what many designers do—she charged an hourly rate for her services, plus a markup for the products she procured. Eventually, a growing firm and a loss of passion for her day-to-day role in it led Teal to reevaluate her whole business and outline new parameters for the kind of work the firm would take on. It’s a story about g...

Philadelphia-based interior designer  Nile Johnson  scored a  dream  client, one so good that she recommended him to all her friends. One in particular reached out to Johnson for a project, and he took it despite knowing the chemistry wasn't quite right. The project got off to an awkward start and never improved—but after the dust settled, Johnson revamped his firm, drawing on lessons he'd learned...