087: Consistency in Business
Michele (0:01) On the podcast, today is Veronica Solomon of Casa Laura Interiors out of Katy Texas. Veronica is a designer, design mentor, blogger, speaker, and micro-influencer. Veronica and I first met on Facebook in her designer group, oh gosh, back in maybe 2018. And then we met in real life at High Point Market in the spring of 2019, where we shared about building a business and looking for a new hire specifically for her company. Veronica is the real deal. She has the heart to help and she does it in a very straightforward and grace-filled way, in that she absolutely speaks my language. And our conversation today Veronica shares her journey to profitability and it is not a straight line by any means. It is inspirational and it's actionable. But you also will notice a big vulnerability in her share. I hope you enjoy the conversation and take away a new idea or even just grace for your own business journey.
Michele (1:38) Hey, Veronica, welcome to the podcast.
Veronica (1:40) Thanks for having me, Michelle.
Michele (1:42) Oh, it's my pleasure. I have been super excited about talking to you for almost a year now. Trying to coordinate back and forth and things getting lost in Facebook land, so I'm glad that we were able to work it out finally.
Veronica (1:56) I am too, I am too.
Michele (1:58) Veronica, there's so much about you and your story and so many things that I have gathered either from having a conversation with you or watching you and being part of your group on Facebook. To me, you have a very inspiring story. And so, I would like to be able to talk about some of that on the podcast today. I've been in business for myself 20 years, and you've been in business for a very long time for yourself. It's not always a straight upward trajectory. People, to some degree, feel like they should come in and if they do all the work, even when they work hard and roll up their sleeves, They think it's just gonna be this elevator to the top, really fast. Zoom your way up, and it's all good. I hate to use the analogy, but it's almost like in Nashville or somebody where they finally find this great singer, and they're like, "Oh my gosh, we just found you." He or she's like, "I've spent 20 years in a smoke-filled bar playing for you to just find me." I want to just dig into some of that. But to get there, tell us a little bit about how you started in interior design and primarily in business for yourself.
Veronica (3:10) Okay, so I'm gonna give you the short version. Okay. But I moved here from Jamaica when I was 24 years old. So that's probably about 20 something years ago, I had no concept of what the interior design was, didn't see that growing up, we kind of grew up in very humble beginnings. And of course, when I got here, I started kind of seeing TV shows and realizing interior design was a thing. And I realized that I had such a good interest in it, and I had the talent for it. So I started pursuing it, decorating my apartment and things. Then eventually decided to go back to school. I met the love of my life at that time as well and eventually had to drop out of school because he got sick and he ended up passing away from cancer. And we moved from Florida. This was all happening in Florida and we moved away from there, me and the kids. I needed to find work. And I wanted to stay in interior design and make something of it. But the economy was about to take that crazy turn for the worse. I still ended up just deciding you know what, I'm gonna go for it. I'm gonna start a business. I did not know how to run a business. I was just starting as an interior designer. I had dropped out of school, so no formal training. So everything was just about just learning on my own and just trying to figure this thing out. And so yeah, there were a lot of struggles in the beginning.
Michele (4:27) What year was that? Was that around that 2007-08 timeframe?
Veronica (4:31) Yep, It started between 2007.
Michele (4:32) Okay, yeah. When people start saying the bottom fell out, My mind immediately goes 7,8,9. That's kind of the pain point of that. If I understand correctly, not only did you have this horrible loss in your family, and you are a mom, so you now need to help your children. You also moved, stopped school and needed to start a business.
Veronica (4:58) Yes.
Michele (4:58) So it was a super easy time in your life.
Veronica (5:02) It was so easy there, you know! Even the whole thought of moving, it was a lot of emotion behind the move. My husband and I worked hard to buy our first home. It was our first home and he did not even get to enjoy it because he died pretty much within a few months after we moved in. And so I kind of hated the house because of it because I just felt like he just didn't get to live that so the major driving force for moving. Also, I started looking at the numbers and how am I gonna afford to maintain our lifestyle and make sure these kids are provided for and so moving to Texas at that time for me where the cost of living was lower. I could have sold the house and got a little bit of money out of it. So I had a little bit of a nest egg because of that and so I decided to do that for my kids.
Michele (5:47) How did you choose Texas? I mean, there are multiple states.
Veronica (5:50) Oh my god. It was a random thing. I was looking at Atlanta at first and a friend of mine here on business in Texas on some business in Houston. She was like, "You have to look at Houston." I'd made two or three trips to Atlanta and I just did not feel like it was a place to be for me and my kids. And she told me about Katy, Texas, and I'm like, "I've never even heard of that." So I started going online and researching and found a house and put an offer on a house without even coming here. And then I came here and looked at the house. This is where we need to be.
Michele (6:23) Wow, that must have been a good friend if you trusted her enough to put an offer in on the house online. I can't say I've heard that one before.
Veronica (6:31) Yeah, it was crazy.
Michele (6:34) Okay, so you moved. And so now these details matter. You now are in a strange town or city that you and your children don't know. Your lives have been in upheaval. You're trying to now create this balance and settle things back down, right, with young kids at that time. And you're also trying to start a business in an area where you don't have a full formal education. Good or bad people have their opinions on that. But still, there are a lot of moving pieces and parts for you. How did you get started?
Veronica (7:11) So I ended up working for a builder, a prominent home builder here. And so honestly, I never really thought I wanted to run a business. I mean, even as an interior designer, even though I was pursuing interior design, my goal was to just go work for somebody. I never set that as a goal to start a business. And so I worked for this homebuilder and I was a project coordinator. So I was kind of involved in the little subdivisions that they were putting up so there was never in any design capacity at all. But that was my goal. My goal was to get into their design department and help to decorate beautiful model homes. And of course, as soon as I thought about my job, first of all, they needed me. I thought I was indispensable by the way but I wasn't. I was one of the first to get cut. And so as soon as they saw the first sign of danger, I was out there. They gave me a little severance package. So I was able to kind of survive a little bit on that. I still had a little bit of savings from selling my house. So I had a little bit of savings. But that ran out so quickly. And I was kind of looking for jobs and interior design fields, couldn't find anything because of course, nobody was hiring. And then I just said one day, "I'm going to start a business." And I remember I got to my little home computer and printed out some little flyers. I went door to door handing out flyers to my neighbors. And I told them, "I'm starting a business. I'm an interior designer, hire me." Two of them hired me. My design fee was $450 each. I look back now I'm just like, "What?"
Michele (7:13) Yeah, that wasn't the consult fee. That was a full-blown design project.
Veronica (8:27) And I was buying retails, I did not make any profits on products. It was just getting in there getting things done. I remember my poor little kids would just walk around the neighborhood in the hot sun, and we'd hang door hangers on doors. I mean, they were little troopers. And as far as those clients, they ended up referring me out and I started a little referral business. And so people were just having me come in and do window treatments, help them to fluff pillows, just little things that I could get. Anything that I could get into their door and get my hands on something. Then I could take pictures and showcase my work to somebody else.
Michele (9:14) It reminds me a little bit. I mean, certainly, there are some aspects of parallel to my own story. I remember the first drapery panels I made were $25 because I didn't know how to charge for them. I was so excited that I got to come in and then I went to Joanne's fabrics and bought everything that I needed to make them. So like you, I made very little on that job. But this also reminds me of the story of the founder. I cannot remember her name but of Chicken Salad Chick. She had gone through a divorce. She had small children. She needed to find a way to make some money. She started making chicken salad and put them in a wagon and pulled them around the neighborhood trying to sell with a little cooler of chicken salad. And so down in our area, she went to Auburn in Alabama. But if you go to some of our Chicken Salad Chick, it's a franchise. There's Carol's chicken salad and Sarah's chicken salad. And those were named after her neighbors and how they liked the flavor of the chicken salad. But the thing that strikes me is that at that point, you're now a single parent. You've got small children, you've got to take care of them. It's a down economy. What most people would hate to do is go cold calling, but that's exactly what you've had to do. I know Cory Damon Jenkins made the same comment on Loann's podcast. It was like 700 ish things that he handed out. But I think one of the points that I want to make about this is people ask me all the time as a business coach, can I make money at this? And this could be whatever they fill in the blank for right. And my answer back is always how hungry are you?
Veronica (10:50) Right.
Michele (10:51) Right and I've seen you post that similar sentiment as well. Success isn't just, we build it. We go to school, we've got this. Now we sit down and wait on the doorbell to ring. It's hustle, it is a grind. And I'm not saying every moment needs to be hustling, grinding, killing yourself. There should be some ease. But there has to be this hunger, or you wouldn't have done that.
Veronica (11:14) Absolutely. I mean, when it boils down to it, I had to realize that first of all these two kids are looking to me. And I had to provide. There's no excuse, there is no, "Kids, hey, well, that's how it is, you know, Mama can't feed you tonight." I had to provide for them. So I did whatever it took. I mean, I am an introvert. First of all, I'm not necessarily the person who is going to be the first one to come up to you and say, "Hey." I had to step out of my comfort zone and make it happen. And I was even shocked that people hired me just from going door to door. People were just like, "Oh my goodness, I was wanting this and here you are." So yeah, it took hustle and I still hustle to this day, but yes, I don't have to do it as hard as I did back then. But it's still such a big part of me because I realized that this whole machine could slow down or it could just come to a screeching halt if I don't keep at it. So I'm always in that mode of, "Okay, how can I build this and develop this for?"
Michele (12:10) Yeah, at that time, I'm sure that a $450 design fee helped them hire you. Right. But a couple of things about that one, it got your foot in the door, and it got you some experience, right? And I am certain because you are a super smart woman, that you realize pretty quickly those rates need to go up. Like I'm sure they didn't prolong for 10 years. So when you realize that you started changing what you did, right?
Veronica (12:38)) Right.
Michele (12:38) But I also see this in the heart of your posts that you put out there. I'm one of those people that I read between the lines of the post, right. Which most of us probably do, but I can tell in your post and you are... I'm just gonna say it this way. This is one of the many things I love about you. This is one of them. That you can appreciate the extreme luxury client with all the money in the world to spend, and you give the same honor and grace to the person who has that 450 to spend. And so where it could be maybe easy to say I only serve people in the 52,000 square foot palaces, right? And you may have those gigantic clients now you've earned your way into being able to serve that community. But I love how you always say, "But there's something I can usually help them with." There is something that I... even if it's a, here's a DIY package, here's a style guide. Here's something. I love how you've not forgotten the humble beginnings that you have just shared. In such a luxury industry, it could be very easy to do so.
Veronica (13:52) Yes. You just hit the nail on the head. It's just about remembering where I started. Because honestly when I was struggling and hustle, those were the people who trusted me. And I feel a sense of loyalty. Now I'd still try to do things at a high level. Now I'm not going to just be abused, because I feel a sense of loyalty. But of course, I try to find a way to serve them. That's going to benefit them and benefit me as well. And so for me, it's just that grace. And that's true humility. And that's real gratitude that I get to do this every single day and make money doing it. So yes, I and that's why I carved out my services in a way that I have, where I provide services to pretty much anyone who comes my way. So when I see other designers kind of posting these things. I'm okay with that. I'm not telling anybody that they should do things differently. But I just know for me, that's what fuels me. That's what keeps me going. I need to have these smaller projects coming in because they keep me humble. They keep me grateful for just doing this every single day. So yes, I love that about the services that I offer.
Michele (14:57) Well, I want you to know as well from the outside looking in. It's not like we're best friends and I know everything about your business, I've been able to read that through your post, and it is inspiring and encouraging. Because some designers may decide that's the entire community they want to serve. And the point of the matter is you can make a good living, no matter which part of the industry or the homeowners, whatever demographics you serve. As long as you are doing good work and have great business practices and fair pricing to you and to the consumer in that space. And I think that's what you have shown, again, not bargain basement, you're not giving it away. It has to be of benefit to both sides. And you've done that well. So I'm certain that you probably changed your pricing all along. Right. What were some of the drivers in those early days, Veronica that made you realize, yeah, I can't keep buying retail and charging $450. I'm sure that the very first year of eye-opening expenses, and everything else got your attention. And as it did mine, but what was it that became a turning point? And how did you institute the change from what you were doing to where you needed to now move to be able to make this sustainable for you and your family?
Veronica (16:11) So it's a funny thing that sometimes the things that you feel that are deficiencies in your life become the big motivators for you. So, the fact that I didn't finish design school, a part of me felt I was lacking something. Honestly, a part of me felt like I... In fact, at one point, I thought I was gonna go back to school. I eventually decided not to because it just didn't seem viable for my family. But because I wasn't a formally trained designer, I started to like running in circles, where overly the train designers would run in those circles. I would get online and kind of studied what they did to be successful in their businesses. And one of the first websites I ever came across was, I think it's called Designer Today, which is a newsletter that went out from High Point Market or something. It went out to designers every month or so, and I started diving into that. Realizing that oh my gosh, you can buy stuff wholesale. And that's what designers do. They go to the market and they don't go to retail shopping. And so I started to dive into that world of what real designers did because I didn't consider myself a real designer back then. And I just started to build my practice and my processes around that. And so that deficiency that I thought I had ended up becoming one of my major strengths. Now I knew how to start shopping the way other designers did. I started checking out webinars and programs and eventually joined AceIT and all that. So yes, it was because I felt that I needed to learn the industry from the inside out and went in that direction.
Michele (17:41) There's a great book called Atomic Habits by James Clear, and I've been working through that book for the last few months. And there was something that you said that resonated with a newsletter that I sent out recently to my group. It was that our beliefs fill our identity which fills our actions. And if you don't believe that you have enough that you're lacking, right, be it in education design or whatever, then you won't identify as a designer. Therefore the actions of what you try to do are not congruent with the identity of who you see yourself to be. And you just stated the same thing that all of us are still working out all the time. Who am I, what is my identity? And so I wrote in mine that I didn't necessarily see myself as an athlete, right? I just was never encouraged athletically growing up. I mean, I ran and played and did a little bit of stuff outside but I was never on an organized sporting team or anything like that. And so when I would try to go to the gym and workout I was always feeling like I'm not athletic. And here I am trying to do this, which always puts me in a less than position. It did not make me feel like I needed to be doing it. And I've been working over the last few months to go back to the belief that was driving my identity. It was pushing me to an action that I didn't want to have.
Veronica (19:05) Yeah.
Michele (19:05) And so I went back and said, "Okay, I have a healthy body that can work out. I, therefore, am an athlete." What do athletes do? Athletes go work out? And so the same thing with you, what do the real designers that I want to emulate? What did they do? What is their identity? What is the belief that's fueling that identity? And then what are the actions that flow from that? And so I just wanted to point that out, because I think that's huge. And I know, I just did that in one of my group coaching sessions lately and everybody was going, "Okay, that was an eye-opener."
Veronica (19:39) Yeah.
Michele (19:40) Even today, I bet you've had to do this more than once. I know that was an exercise at that point. But as your businesses scale and as you do other things, you're constantly having to say, "Okay, what would that person do? And now, can I do it?" Right?
Veronica (19:55) Absolutely. I mean, as you're looking to scale like what's the next step? Who can I emulate? And who's doing it well and how can I adapt that for my own business as well. And so I'm always looking to grow and to not just sit in the same position. It's just so easy, especially when you're achieving some success. It's so easy to sit there and just feel so proud of yourself and then you don't realize that, Okay, so there is the next step. There are other things that you need to be doing as well so yes, I'm always kind of looking for that next way to grow in this business.
Michele (20:28) Well, I love that you did that. You went out and said, "Okay, I want to make this work. What I'm doing here is some construct evidence that is not supporting me. So what do the other designers that are being supported? What is it that they're doing? How can I fast track to getting to that?" Okay, so you start this business you're doing it house to house if you will, door to door, little kids door knocker to door knocker. I love it. I love it. My poor kids, they got drugged so many fabric stores and everything else. One point my husband said to me, "You have got to put him in five-day preschool because all he's doing is walking around talking about fabrics. And he's like, "This is crazy. Michelle, you cannot drag him to every store to go do all this." So I was like, "He should probably learn to read and write instead of being able to tell a poly from satin, but that's okay." Whatever. And so, a question for you though, so when did you move it out of your house and decide to grow it? I'm looking at you right now nobody else can see you and you are overrun with fabric books and wallpaper books and all of that behind you. And I know from having run a drapery workroom in my house, we got stuff. Stuff takes over very quickly. So I'm certain that your home was taken over very quickly, with stuff. Even more so if you are receiving goods or doing anything. How long were you able to stay in your house the first time and work?
Veronica (21:50) I believe it was about five years. Year number five, I decided I was gonna venture out and find a space and that was, well, I'm gonna use the word failure, but I didn't don't like to use the word failure.
Michele (22:01) That's okay. Because we learned from them right?
Veronica (22:03) Yeah, we learn from that. Exactly what that was, I was such a learning experience. I was able to accumulate a little bit of money where I could rent a little space and I was supposed to get a bank loan to help me fund it. And I did all the build-out of that space and the loan fell through at the last minute, I did not get the funding to put furniture in there. So I was sitting in a blank shell of space for about a year, no business was coming through the doors, nothing was happening. And I was in debt to my landlord. They eventually asked me kindly if I could leave. But they were nice about it. They didn't kick me out. So that didn't work out. But instead of kind of like just going back home and crying, in a fetal position in a corner, I decided to lease another little tiny space. It was a little house, and I could just use some of my own little furniture and set it up with little vignettes. So I think that was in 2000. I want to say 2013. I can't remember dates at this point, but so I moved into that little house. I just set up little vignettes and had all my fabric books displayed. And it was almost like a confidence booster at that point, it was like something that changed my outlook because it felt defeated when I lost out on that other space. And it didn't quite work out the way I planned. And then in this new space, people were just coming in, and they were admiring my work because now they can see a little vignette setup firsthand. I did my first One Room Challenged from that little space. And so it was a little bit of energy booster for my business. And I think that's when I started to see my business taking a turn for the better.
Michele (23:35) So a lot of people in that first situation that didn't work out the way you wanted to, that could be termed as a failure, huge learning experience. A lot of people would have stopped right there and given up. Did you consider that?
Veronica (23:51) I mean, I've never... and I know it's such a bold statement to make. I've never looked at my business and thought I'm going to give this up. I'm mentoring somebody right now and she's kind of at that point where she's kind of feeling like she wants to give up. And I'm trying hard to kind of get her to see that if you feel that way now, but just kind of keep at it. If this is your heart and this is your passion it will work out, If I have a side hustle it and work full time... I've worked full-time jobs. While for my business, I was just up at midnight pumping out the project. And so I do whatever it took to make sure that there was this business still going on in the background. It never sorrowed me and never once thought that I was going to give this up. I really worked harder to make sure that I did not have to be side hustling it. And so now that experience only taught me that okay, "You need to make sure you're prepared." In fact, this location I'm in right now, I was fully prepared to be in it. I had all the money saved up. Everything was paid for in cash. I had a year's worth of my rent saved up just in case. I had the what-if situations, like what is the little retail part of If it doesn't work, can the other part of it support it? So I did all of my research and homework. And that all came from that first experience I had.
Michele (25:07) Yeah, so I was about to say, the lessons from that are, we have to be prepared. And it's not just prepared because we think we need more space. But there's this huge financial preparation. I am the... you know, as I'm a Profit First-person. I'm the same that feels like if you're going to hire somebody, I want to have three to six months of their salary saved before I hire them. Because you don't know when that loan is gonna fall through. You don't know when that next promise isn't going to come. When the job gets put on hold or whatever. And if we are running so lean, that we can't make the next payment. We're really jeopardizing everything that we've built. And so are you in your third location now or second?
Veronica (25:46) So the first one, yeah, I guess it's the third one. If you consider that very first one. And in fact, right now I am looking to scale up again because I quickly realized that we're on year number three now.here in this location and click I realized that I want to do my receiving. So I'm actively looking for a space that has a warehouse. And where I can now just have like a showroom in the front and just kind of do more of my workshops. I love doing consumer workshops and inviting them in. It kind of feels a little bit restrictive in this particular location. So I'm looking to change that now and get a slightly bigger space. And so I'm even putting all that together to make sure I'm ready for that. And so I'm in the research stage right now.
Michele (26:28) How long do your research stages take? I mean, I know it varies, but I'm just saying, You're not talking like a week of research here.
Veronica (26:35) No, no, no. I mean, I've been dreaming about this now for about a year. Which people would be like, "Well, Veronica, this is a nice space. Are you already wanting to move on?" And it's not discontentment. It's just you know. I think I'm a prayerful person. And I know when I pray and ask God to just show me. I trust when He shows me because I feel so strongly. And I feel like okay, this is the right move. And of course, you never know what's going to happen. And He doesn't show it to you all at once. So there's some faith involved here. But I feel like, in my heart, I'm fully prepared for it. But yeah, it does take a while to kind of put it all together and get the costs involved. The what-if scenarios, in case this happens, can I do this? So yeah, it's not a week. It's a lot more than that.
Michele (27:20) That's right. That's right. I just wanted to point that out. Because sometimes it's like, "Oh, yeah, I've gone and gotten a couple of costs on square footage, I think I can do that." Versus really running some financial modeling and scenarios to see what it might look like with shifts and the buying habits of consumers or whatever. Also looking at the cost savings, because to receive yourself, I mean, there are certain things you have to have with docks and trucks and all that. But there are some cost savings that you might have been paying out on the other side, and the fees can sometimes still apply. They just get paid to your company instead of to another company to do that same work. That also can be its own small business model that needs to be looked at in its fullness which I know that you're doing. Veronica, you're always changing. You're always growing, you're always doing something, you in particular. Can you ever sit still and relax? Or is that just really not part of your personality? Because I also know from reading your post and talking to you, you love what you do. I mean, really love what you do, and you love to work.
Veronica (28:26) I thrive on that. I was having a conversation with a friend behind the scenes on Facebook this morning. And she's very much like I am and I, we were talking about, like, this is how we thrive. Like if I had to sit down... In fact, she was sick for about a week. And she was telling me how she's sick, and she has to like, take it easy. And I'm like, "How are you managing?" Because we're so much the same. I always have to be going, I need to be doing something that I feel is productive. And it's not just busywork that is not leading anywhere. For me, I try to be very purposeful in everything I'm doing. And so I could be doing something as simple as watching TV but I'm multitasking. I'm like doing something else at the same time that is productive. And it's not anything that's like work to me. It's actually what I want to be doing. I want to be pumping out this blog post as I'm sitting here watching a show that I'm not even really focused on. So for me, I thrive when I'm doing and I thrive when I'm on the move. And if I was to slow down, I think I would just shrivel up and die.
Michele (29:23) Yeah, I think I would have to do the same thing. So you mentioned being a woman of faith and a prayerful woman. Have you also still had fear? When some of these things have come up? And how did you handle that fear?
Veronica (29:37) I face fears every single day, honestly. Like I said before, you don't always know what the big picture is going to be. You go into it with as much research as you think you can do. As prepared as you think you're going to be and then you can get thrown a curveball. So there's that aspect of what if this happens and I cannot fulfill this obligation. I just put my heart into everything I'm doing in and truly trust and believe that I'm doing the right thing. And at the end of the day, that's all you can do is just do the right thing. Just know that you're trusting something higher than yourself. And you're following this will. I know that there's a purpose for my life. Because I prayed about that for a long time. I had my whole church praying for me at one time because I just didn't understand why this was a purpose. Why was this something that was what I'm called to do? And how does this benefit anybody? Once I got a grasp of the fact that this is what I'm meant to be doing in this lifetime. I want to leave this world with this legacy that somebody can say Veronica did this when she was here. And so that drives everything that I do. And so every little decision that I make somehow that's in the background is in the back of my mind. And so when the fear pops up, I just think I'm doing what I'm supposed to be doing. I'm doing what I'm meant to be doing. And so that kind of gets me to the next step.
Michele (30:57) Yeah, same here, Jeremiah 29:11 is mine, I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord. Plans to prosper you to give you hope and a future not to harm you. And then just trying to stay within that. And the reason I asked about the fear part, even with faith, some people think they can't fit together and they do fit together. I mean, I'm still fearful of things. I'm not to the point of I can't move, but I'm just saying it's not that successful people have conquered fear. It's that we act in the face of fear. We have some courage there. And so it sounds like you have a group of people encouraging you the same way to keep moving. I know you do that in your Facebook group so much the same way that I try to do, and that is to encourage people to keep going. It's not always easy.
Veronica (31:47) I know, and I think that's why I'm so passionate about sharing my journey with people and the successes and even the failures. People can easily look from the outside and say, "Veronica seems to be doing it all." They don't know the bigger stories behind you. I love to share those things. You just have to get to the point where the fear is quieted out of your life sometimes. I was just on TV this past week. And for the longest ... Two weeks before I was supposed to appear on the show, I found that it was a live appearance. And I started just worrying that I was going to say the wrong thing. I was gonna look silly, and I was so afraid for like two weeks straight. And the morning of the show. I just got up and there was just this peace. I was just like, "I'm gonna do Okay, I'm gonna be fine. What's the worst that can happen?" And I went on to the show, and I was just like, "I don't think it was magnificent, but I did not say something silly that I'm going to be embarrassed about." So sometimes we just kind of build up this whole crazy scenario in our heads. And it's just all in our head. What's the worst that can happen?
Michele (32:54) Yep. What do they say that fear is false expectations are false experiences appearing real.
Veronica (33:00) Yeah.
Michele (33:00) And I love the verse that says don't borrow trouble from tomorrow today has enough of its own. And then if we're borrowing that two weeks, you now did two weeks of worry that you didn't need to worry because it was all going to be good on that day, don't borrow trouble. Deal with what's in front of you, plan, do the best you can and keep going. So I asked you that because you have continued to scale, you've continued to scale in multiple directions. And I'm a firm believer that there's not just one way to scale. We can scale by project size. We can scale by employees. We can scale by space. We can scale by offerings and services and products. I look at scaling more as growing, you are still growing. You're not in a maintenance mode yet. You may get to one, you may plateau a little and then grow again. I think it's just that your growth rate seems to be faster than many of the people watching. And that's why... right, and that's why people are like, "Are you growing again?" Tell me what are some of the things that you look at when you're thinking about growing, is it? Do you just look at the finances? Do you look at family/life balance? What are some of the aspects of...
Veronica (34:13) Obviously, money has to come into play at some points. And we're not doing this because it's just this hobby of ours, and we just want to do it for free. So I consider the fact that I do want to make money and more money. It's not necessarily the driving force for me. It's usually that okay, I feel in my heart of hearts that this is the next step for me. I know, I'm now ready for this. And again, it's usually okay, I have enough saved up or I have a team now. I hired somebody in here and she's doing a great job. And so I feel like okay, so now we're ready for the next step. We're taking on some bigger projects now. And so, it's a feeling for me, I know you have to kind of have your head in the game. But to me, my heart has to be in the game as well, too. I go back quite a bit. So it's kind of a good marriage between my head and my heart when I'm making decisions like this. But at the end of the day, the money will come I think, if you're doing the right thing. And you know it's the right time. I don't let that be the number one reason why I make the decisions that I do.
Michele (35:18) It certainly is a part of it. Right. In all just clearness here, you do a lot of due diligence. You don't just jump in.
Veronica (35:28) Right.
Michele (35:28) Right. And I'm not suggesting that you jumped in on the first space, but there was a huge risk factor there with the loan and everything. So you got in before the loan closed, which created the risk factor. I bet you wouldn't do it again that way because you learn from that, right. And the fact that you're telling me that when you moved into this third space, which was your second really full space, you had a year's worth of rent. You saved up and we're prepared. I also remember you and I speaking, I want to say it was Spring Market last year and you were looking to hire and going through a process. You didn't just run out and hire your best friend, because you needed a live warm body. You had already done a good portion of the work and we just had a conversation about, do you know exactly what you want them to do? And do you have a job description? And what are you going to pay them? And so you do your due diligence around that as well?
Veronica (36:21) Yes. I also took into account because I know it was something that I felt like needed to happen. It wasn't something that if I didn't hire somebody I was my business is gonna fall off the face of the earth. And I know my own personality. I knew what I was capable of doing. And so I knew that work was going to get done no matter what. I never felt like I was biting off more than I could chew myself. And so I did the work myself for a very, very long time. But I knew at some point that okay if I'm going to change locations in this situation, it was definitely time to bring someone else on. And so I was very diligent about who I was looking for, even though she's sitting right there right now probably listening to this conversation. But at first, I told her no, twice. I actually did. And then I thought about it and I thought, "You know what, she reminds me of me." She was very persistent. She did not have 100% of all of the skills that I was looking for, but she is very persistent. And she's very teachable. And that's what I needed. Someone, somebody who was open and was happy to be here. And we can make it happen from there. And so that was the deciding factor for now.
Michele (37:34) Yeah. That teachable spirit is huge. That's a really big deal. As well as being able to adjust the needs. We think we want this... what we want is perfection.
Veronica (37:46) Yeah.
Michele (37:46) Right. What we want is perfection. We want the employee, in this case, that can do all of these things. And if they can do only nine of them, we're like, "They can't do all 10 and it's like, come on." Even at that time, it wasn't that you weren't getting the work done. But you knew that to scale and grow, you needed to delegate. That was kind of the conversation, it's time to start delegating, and not just outsource delegating, but in house delegation, right. And so then sometimes we can even stand back and think, maybe there's a different way to delegate. I thought it could be delegated in one direction, but I've got a resource now that I could switch. And here's a different model that I could use, it could still work beautifully, and still free you up. What is it that you have found that you think has contributed the most to your success? What types of things have contributed to your success? Tenacity and perseverance for sure.
Veronica (38:45) Yeah, I would say consistency, If I had to sum everything up, I think consistency is one of the biggest things. When I faced those times of uncertainty and it felt like this was not working out. Nobody is reading this blog post. I'm not gonna put out this newsletter because nobody seems to be opening it. I just kept going at it as if I had an audience. In fact, I think this was a godsend for me when I stopped sending out my newsletter, for example, one time, and one of my clients reached out and she was like, "Veronica, why am I not getting your newsletters anymore?" And I'm like, "Well I decided to stop sending them out." I was honest with her, "Nobody's read them." She's like, "I love reading those newsletters every single month." And I'm like, Okay if this one person is reading my newsletters, it is worth sending out. And this was like two or three years ago, two and a half years ago, maybe. And I've sent them out every single month ever since just for that one person. And now I'm getting business for my newsletter. So that consistency is so key. Yes, you want to look at your analytics and you want to make sure you're doing things that are working. But don't just stop something just because you're not getting that immediate results. You have to keep going because, in the end, you will never know what you would have achieved if you just stopped short of the goal you have.
Michele (40:01) Yeah, there's the other book that I've been pushing a lot lately for people to read is called, 212 The Extra Degree.
Veronica (40:08) What?
Michele (40:08) 212 The Extra Degree. And the premise is at 211 degrees, water is hot, but at 212 degrees, water boils. And when water boils, it produces steam, which can power a locomotive. And we tend to stop at 211 degrees and not keep going. Or we're angry that water's not freezing and we've not yet got it below 32 you know what I'm saying? In the book, it goes on... it's a tiny book, but it just talks about being as committed to the end goal as you are to the process of achieving it.
Veronica (40:45) Yeah.
Michele (40:46) And it looks like your distance runners or your Olympic swimmers that it is like hundredths of a second that is the difference between first place and second place. And it's that continuing to go and go and go consistently day in, day out. Show up and practice and give it your best. And I think we are in such a time in the history of instant gratification, that it can be very easy to let it feed into our mindsets that we tried it, it didn't work, go try something else. It doesn't work. And we're constantly just trying. Like this octopus trying stuff all over the place and not choosing. I'm not saying we don't have to be smart about it, right. But choosing something and then digging in and staying consistent. Because it's the consistency that pays off. Not that I'm going to do one print ad. Well, I did one post on social media, nobody responded. And therefore... We read that a lot online where people are outdone and frustrated and they did it once or twice. And they're not realizing that this is a marathon.
Veronica (41:51) Yes. And so it's the same, you start your business and a lot of people expect that they're just gonna scale up like in two years. And they don't realize that they kind of have to go through that start. And then they have to go through some growing pains and some issues and work it all out. They're gonna be problems. You can't just start and scale and get to the pinnacle within two years. By year number two, I was struggling like crazy. And I'm not by any stretch, saying people need to go through what I went through. But I learned so much when I went through those things. And so I think it's such an important part of growth is to go through some of those failures and issues and things that come up. Those are what may stick in your mind a little bit more than somebody just telling you. And even though my goal as a mentor is always to try to save somebody from some of the craziness I went through. You still have to go through your own version of craziness sometimes to understand and form your own processes, formulas, and systems. Then you know really what your goals need to be. So I always remind people in fact, one of the first things I say on my mentoring calls is, "Okay, give yourself credit for what you've already accomplished." I think they will easily forget what it took to get from wherever they were to where they are right now. But they're so anxious to get to the next step that they forget to be thankful for what they've already accomplished.
Michele ( 43:14) Yeah, I talked about that with my group, too. We call it The Gap and the Gain. The gap is the difference between where you are and where you want to go, that scaling piece. The gain is from where you have been to where you are. And there's this balancing act. Because if we're always looking at what we've gained and lived in the past, that could be depression. And if we're only looking at what we've not yet done, and going, "Oh, my gosh, I've not done all these things," that produces anxiety. So it's this balancing act of, I've worked hard. I've learned these lessons. This is what I've attained. I'm from here to here. And then that is also what gives us the confidence to get from where we are to where we want to go next or where we're called to next, right? We can't just look forward or just look back, we've got to be that whole in the present kind of thing. But if we can look at the gap and the gain and keep them kind of in equilibrium, I think we can see a more well-rounded picture of what's happening and not so weighted on one side or the other.
Veronica (44:16) That's true.
Michele (44:17) So you attend High Point Market. Tell me what you love about going to the Market. You probably go to multiple markets, but tell me what you love about going to market and how it has impacted your business.
Veronica (44:30) Oh my goodness, that's a story that I love to tell. Because I remember my first time going through High Point and honestly, I can't remember the year now. I forget dates a lot. I went there not having a client at all. Hardly having any money. I stayed in a dirty little motel honestly, and probably had fleas. I've no idea. But it was like a motel six or something like that, I stayed in. When I went there, something just took over me. I was like, "Oh my goodness, I'm among my people." Again remember, I kind of felt like I was lacking something on the back end as far as not having a formal education. So I was among people that knew what I was feeling and experiencing. And then I was seeing these wonderful products. I was like, "I need to put these products into people's homes I have too." I left that first visit to High Point Market so inspired, so dedicated to doing this. This is what I'm called to do. This is how I'm going to make people's homes beautiful with these beautiful products. And so it changed my life. And I go to pretty much every single Market. I go to High Point because that feeling comes back every single time. It's almost like a vacation for me now to be honest with you, because I don't take huge vacations during the year. When I go it's work but it's it revitalizes me and I feel so inspired and feel so good. And now it's even better because I know people now, people know me. My first few Markets, I was just there by myself. Now it's just like this big community of people that just get together. We celebrated and we were happy to see each other. So for me, it's just it's so needed. And I would encourage young designers to really go for it because it definitely changed my business. It really did.
Michele (46:18) I agree. I have done Atlanta Market. I've done Las Vegas Market. And I've done High Point. Even though I live in Atlanta, High Point is probably the one that I more consistently go to. And I've gone looking around as a side and as a speaker and as a coach. I've looked at it from all different angles. And I'm just telling you if you can't get to High Point get to one of the Markets in your area. I do think that it creates this richness of experience you see people whose eyes don't glaze over when you're having the same conversation with them. They don't look at you like stop already. I think it also when we're talking about even just growing your business or even growing your offerings, it opens your eyes to different ways to style, It opens your eyes to different products to use, different price points, different ways of fabrication. I mean, you can even just go and do just the educational route and not even source products and come away with so much value. Don't you think? Just go and make a relationship with another designer and it could be worth its weight and gold or what that might do for you for years to come.
Veronica (47:34) And then your reps. I have had reps come in here and say to me, "Veronica, I'm going to invest in you because I see you invest in your business." It's because they see that I go to High Point, they see that I took a chance and got a space for my business. So reps are more likely to like okay, "She's serious about this. She's not just doing this as a hobby." So Market is such an amazing opportunity to connect with your reps so they can see your face and know that you're serious about doing business. I remember the first time I went to one... and I won't say the name of the Showroom, I kind of got the cold shoulder, they were very protective of their pricing. So they would not let me into their showroom. And I eventually made it to the point where the rep was now coming after me. And my last experience with the same showroom as I walked into the door, and they were expecting me because my rep set it all up for me. And it was like, it was the weirdest feeling. They were like, "Oh, Veronica, you're here." And they were like welcoming me with open arms. They might have been a little tipsy, I think but... But it was amazing to me that it was such a huge difference from a few years back when they would not even let me into that very same showroom. So it just tells me something that the relationships are so important, and the Market is a great place to make it happen.
Michele (48:51) I agree. So I want to encourage anybody listening who hasn't gone to a Market, if you need to start local and the one that's closest to you, but High Point is really one of the biggest Markets. If you get a chance... As I said, I live in Atlanta and I go to Atlanta Market. I have spoken down there. But it is a completely different thing to go to High Point Market. And it's twice a year. So you have two opportunities. And it's just like if you're going to scale anything, save for it, build for it. Start putting money away every month, and you'll be able to go do that. You also are, to me, one of the movie stars of the One Room Challenge, because you have done it, what eight or nine times. We were counting in the fall. Was it eight?
Veronica (49:37) Eight times, yes!
Michele (49:38) All I've got to tell you is okay... We will try to find some links to some of your One Room Challenges. I want to go to be in your laundry room. Whoever wants to be in a laundry room? And then I want to go hang out in your bathroom and your bedroom and then just choose another room. All of it is so fun. But how did you get involved with that, to begin with? Let's be honest, starting the way you started, did you find it difficult to put yourself out there and be visible in front of others and put your work up there for people to look at? We know... I mean there are some... Not my listeners, my listeners are kind and gentle and grace-filled. But there are some nasty people out there that are trolling the internet and they are putting just terrible comments when other people post. I work with some of my designers on the fear of putting their work out there for being shredded alive. But you do that, I mean your work is gorgeous, but still... How did you do that the first time? Were you shaking in your boots for the first One Room Challenge? To put your whole everything out there for the world?
Veronica (50:47) I was afraid but I've learned a long time ago that you have to take the good with the bad. I know it sounds cliche, but I'm open to like... It's so wonderful getting the wonderful feedback and it feels amazing. I know, for every wonderful Feedback I'm getting I'm pretty sure there's one not so great one. So I've got to take that too and try to at least see if it's something that I can learn from or just ignore and move on. So the very first one I did was my studio dining room. The store I moved into after the first one failed. It was a little dining room vignette, it was not even professional photography. I was not doing professional photography back then. I called up my workroom lady, and she just bought a new camera. And I asked her to come to take some pictures. She's not a professional at all. And so I don't even show that room anymore because it's not the greatest. I mean, they look good in person, but in pictures, it was horrible. But I went for it. Back then I was trying hard to break into the blog scene. I thought I wanted to be a famous blogger along with being a designer because I felt like it was going to drive business my way.
Michele (51:48) And that was a big driver back then. Let's be honest, I mean, I've worked with quite a few that started just blogging about their home renovations and it literally propelled them into Interior Design jobs, like big jobs. So it was a driver, no doubt.
Veronica (52:04) Yeah. So that was my goal is just to really start showcasing my house or my own space and start driving people. But you know, of course, in the end, the design business had to take priority over trying to be a blogger. And I still blog to this very day, but I'm not trying to be famous anymore in that way. But yes, it was just really trying to be a part of that community. And I've always had that strong belief that if I am going to present my clients with the idea of living their best lives in their homes. Or how can you achieve your own version of luxury, I was going to present that idea to them and that concept, I need to be kind of sort of living a little bit of it myself. So I can relate to them. So for me, I've always done at home even when I was like in my very first apartment moving here to the United States and I did not even really know what interior design was. I was going out to the dollar store buying accessories from my little apartment. So the interior design was always something I was doing and didn't even realize that it's something that I truly believed and surrounding myself with the things that I've enjoyed. And so the One Room Challenge was just a vehicle for me to just keep doing that. To just keep doing my own space and showing my design range. And I'm doing the things that clients don't always allow me to do in their homes. And from that clients are now asking me to do the crazy bold colors. But if I wasn't doing it for myself, nobody would ask me to do that. So...
Michele (53:25) Well, they wouldn't see it, because we've been so used to seeing white and gray and cream. Color is now shocking. I grew up in the '70s, back in the day, there was some color. In the '60s and '70s when I was little there was color. Then in the '80s, we had neon so...
Veronica (53:44) Yeah.
Michele (53:44) You know...
Veronica (53:45) Yeah. So I teach that to this day. Do your own homes and hear all kinds of excuses. I don't have the money. I didn't quite have the money there and I made it work. I somehow figured it out. So to me, it's such an asset for your business. So I've always done my home just to make it be my little space.
Michele (54:04) That's great. So if somebody was wanting to try to do the One Room Challenge, would you encourage them to go for it?
Veronica (54:10) Absolutely. Go for it.
Michele (54:11) Oh, but it's a lot of work in a short amount of time. So be prepared for what you're choosing to do. Right?
Veronica (54:17) Be prepared. Exactly. And just make sure it's doable because you don't want to take on something that you can't finish. The whole point is to bring your community and your audience along the journey with you. And so you do want to finish it because that's the whole point of it. I know people who start... they're doing the project way before the One Room Challenge and in the spirit of it, the whole idea is to do it along in real-time. Basically, do it along with the weeks that you're supposed to be doing it. It's fun for me, I actually love doing it. I'm even thinking of doing my garage now. I'm not sure if I'm going to do it but like okay, "I'm so addicted to this thing. I gotta do something else."
Michele (54:57) That would be kind of cool because that's not a space most people do. One of my designers went to the laundry room in a showhouse. And I'm telling you it was one of the most beautiful rooms in the whole house.
Michele (55:10) And it's funny you walk out of this mansion, and everybody's like, "The laundry room." And it's not what you would have thought. But it was striking.
Veronica (55:19) Yeah.
Michele (55:20) And so I would love to see a garage, let's do the garage.
Veronica (55:24) Yeah. I'm thinking I might do it. But I have so many other things going on around the springtime, that it may not happen, but a part of me really wants to just keep doing it.
Michele (55:35) Just a forgotten space, Veronica?
Veronica (55:38) Yeah.
Michele (55:39) Well, and who would think to really bring their designer into the garage. You might just open up a whole new scalable project there, right. I think you should do it. If everybody wants Veronica to do the garage, just reach out and tell her to go for it. So you've mentioned that you are looking to potentially Scale again and be able to offer to receive and your own location. What other big profit goals do you have? Or is that the one that you're mostly focused on right now?
Veronica (56:07) Yeah, that's what I'm focused on right now. And of course, I still kind of develop some of the mentoring things that I'm doing. But for the most part, my interior design business, as far as the foreseeable future, will be my number one thing. So that's where I'm kind of focusing my thoughts and ideas and money right now. And we'll see what happens because I'm not even planning on receiving for other designers immediately. I need to give it a run. Just to make sure I know what I'm doing. It's a whole new thing for me. And then if it's what I think is going to be then I'll start receiving for other designers shortly after that. For about a year, I'm just going to focus on my receiving.
Michele (56:43) Yeah, get those processes dialed in, right.
Veronica (56:46) Absolutely.
Michele (56:47) Is there anything else that you can think of... You've got so many people that you've mentored that are in your Facebook group, tell us what the name of your Facebook group is. I love the name. It's What They Don't Teach You In Design School. What They Don't Teach You In Design School. This is for those that have been to design school and those that haven't that are in the design world, right?
Veronica (57:04) Yes.
Michele (57:04) There's plenty of things that didn't get taught there. And it just the real world knocks, right, that's just the way that it goes. So great Facebook group, highly recommend it. And you do a great job at moderating it and keeping it very uplifting and encouraging and helpful. So I love that. But with all of that in mind, what advice or what encouragement would you give designers and those in the full design industry? We have stagers and workrooms and others that are listening. What would you give as just encouragement today?
Veronica (57:36) Just to stay the course. I've been seeing a little bit of that popping up around the internet lately with this whole mindset of oh my gosh, it's gloom and doom. And we're struggling and the industry has changed so much and it's just going to get worse. And you know what, it's such a great time to be a business owner. I mean, there's no better time to start a business. There are so many resources. When I first started, there were no Facebook groups, there were no designers just willing to hand out their whole design ideas and the way they run their business. Nobody did that. And so it's a great time now. You have to decide for yourself if running a business is for you. That's something that you have to figure out. But once you've made a decision, just know that there is room for you. That this is what you're meant to do. And you're going to succeed eventually. And don't fall for this whole gloom and doom and you're going to struggle if you're not doing this. Find your own way, figure out what makes you happy. Figure out the way your own personality, what drives you, and form your business around that. Build your business around those things. Because for me, I had to separate myself from trying to be like everybody else very early on, because I found that I was trying to be something I wasn't. And it wasn't authentic, and my clients could see that. The world could see that. And then when I just stepped into my true, this is who you are Veronica, just embrace that. That's when I started to see the changes. It came so much easier for me. So I'll just tell anybody listening right now just to stay the course, don't fall for the gloom and doom. Just know that you're doing what you're meant to be doing. And when the bad days happen, just know that there are some good days ahead. And it's a simple concept. But it's so true.
Michele (59:17) Yeah, I agree. And I'm with you, we have to build businesses that are true to us and true to our identity. That is based on our strengths, not our weaknesses. Your weakness shows up enough, but we don't need to go build a business on it. And so find the way that works for you. So I love that. Thank you so much. Veronica, it's been such a pleasure having you on today. Remind everybody what your website is, so they can go check that out too.
Veronica (59:39) So my website is VeronicaSolomon.design and I Solomon is s o l o m o n. People always want to put a little letter a in there...
Michele (59:49) All o's.
Veronica (59:50) Yes. All o's. Exactly.
Michele (59:53) Well, thank you again for your time today. Thank you for your insight, and just the grace with which you carry yourself and that you pour on others. It is just so important to me in this industry. We can't do it all by ourselves. And so to have that other kind of voice on the other side of the internet, encouraging is really great. And so I just thank you for that.
Veronica (1:00:13) Thank you to Michele. And I will tell you just before we go, that I really look up to you too, as somebody that inspires me and motivates me too. So I love seeing your posts and just the things that you put out there too. So thanks for that.
Michele (1:00:27) You're welcome. You're welcome. Have a great day.
Veronica (1:00:29) You too. Bye.
Michele (1:00:32) Thank you so much, Veronica, for joining us. Like Veronica, my journey has also not been a straight line to the top. In some cases, maybe like you, it was two steps forward and three steps back. But each time I learned something, and like the saying goes when you learn better, you do better. My coaching services are aligned to do just that help you know better so you can do you better. Focusing on strengthening the basic needs of a business, considering sales, profit and order is my focus. Helping you scale in whatever way you want to scale with ease so that you can reclaim your time while also maximizing profitability. You can find out more as ScarletThreadConsulting.com because we all know profit doesn't happen by accident.