244: Get Uncomfortable by Choice in Your Design Firm
Michele 00:00
Hello, my name is Michele, and you're listening to Profit is a Choice. Joining me on the podcast today are Joann Kandrac and Kelly Kole of Kandrac & Kole Interior Designs based here in the Atlanta area. Kelly and Joann have been together for about 18 years, and they do something every year that has just really been inspiring to me. They go on a mission trip to Guatemala to help others in need. On the podcast today, Kelly and Joann are going to share about the process of how they came together as business owners, how they implemented and embraced this mission trip, and how they look forward to it every year. There is truly profit in giving to others and you're going to experience that on the podcast today.
Every day, empowered entrepreneurs are taking ownership of their company's financial health and enjoying the rewards of reduced stress and more creativity. With my background as a financial software developer, owner of multiple businesses, and the interior design, industry, educator, and speaker, I coach women in the interior design industry to increase their profits, regain ownership of their bottom line, and have fun again in their business. Welcome to Profit is a Choice.
Michele 01:30
Hey, Joann, and Kelly, thank you so much for coming on the podcast today. I have been a big admirer, not only of your podcast but of your design work for many, many years. We're all in the same general location in Georgia and have met multiple times, but I'm just super excited. You guys have a lot of really fun, interesting things going on, and I'm excited for the listeners to hear about that today.
Joann 01:55
Well, thank you for having us.
Kelly 01:57
Yes, it's awesome.
Michele 01:58
Thank you. I'd love to get started just to kind of set the tone for what we're going to talk about, which is kind of that idea of building enough profitability into our company that we can if you will use those resources well, and maybe give our time, our energy, our money to other things that are near and dear to our heart. I know we had a little pre-conversation, making money and having a successful business isn't just for us as the owners, and certainly are going to reap the benefit, but we're also going to reap the difficulty if it's not profitable. We're the ones who ultimately pay that price, but the goal in all of this is that we can bless others and that we can do other things in our lives, not just accumulate more stuff. Would you agree with that?
Joann 02:48
Yes. And when I'm not lately, when you're not stressed about money, you're in a better headspace for sure.
Michele 02:54
Absolutely. Since that's going to be kind of the main thrust of our conversation, I'd love for our listeners to hear you guys are a dynamic duo. How did you start your business, did you start separately, or did you start together? How did you pull this love of interior design into the same pathway? How did you get to where you are now?
Joann 03:17
Well, we've been in business together for 18 years. I believe we knew each other for 2 before that, but we both worked at a store way back called Decorating Mart. It was a big showroom that sold wallpaper, fabric accessories, all that kind of thing. At the time, I had worked there for several years doing the buying and merchandising of the showroom. Kelly then came in and started working there, and we really liked each other, we had fun. One day the owner was at the front area, Kelly happened to be up there, and another designer came in and said, “Would you like to do a show house? We're doing a show house at Governors Towne Club”, which is an up-and-coming neighborhood at the time. He was like, no, no, no, we don't do that kind of thing. Kelly said, Byron, we should do it. I think it would be great, Joanna, and I'll do it. She didn't even ask me, and she said I think it'd be great. Then he was like, okay and that's kind of how it all sort of started. We worked on the show house together, we did the second master suite, and we were in sync with our design, our personalities, and our lives were very similar, and we really, really enjoyed it. After we got done, and we were working for a little longer, I don't know, Kelly, did you come to me or I came to you and just kind of said, do you want to go off on your own?
Joann 04:41
Well, some other changes came about, and I was like you know what, this isn't fine. I think we’re ready. I'd only been there 4 years, but you'd been there 13 or something crazy and we were just totally ready to go off on our own. We went straight down to City Hall and signed ourselves up for an S Corp, got an accountant, got a sales and use ID, and hung a shingle like we meant business.
Michele 05:16
Wow, you did that quickly. Let me ask you this, I'm curious, did you stop and do all of the big business planning? Did you talk about how you guys were going to work together? Did you go are we 50-50 in this or are we 40-60? What are we both bringing to the table? Did you do any of that preplanning? Or was it like, I think we're both going to be alright, let's just make it work and figure it out as we go. What was your mindset around that?
Kelly 05:45
I think it was a little bit of because I did a business plan, just because I did one in school, and I figured that was what we were supposed to do. Whether we ever looked back on it, I'm not sure. But I figured if we go to an accountant, and we want to do a buy-sell agreement, and we want to do all these things, he's probably going to ask for it. But, we definitely have learned from one of our good friends, from our ladies who launched days, Tanya, who had said to us when you start your own business, you're kind of like a boxer in the ring. The boxer, when the bell rings, goes to his corner, and he's got all these people putting water on him, and fixing injuries, you have to have those people in your corner. And so, you have to have your attorney, your accountant, your buy-sell agreement. You must know your business, but you have to have those things in place. So, we took that seriously, we did do all that in the very beginning. We decided early on that we would be 50-50, 100%. And that's probably been one of our secret sauces because it has just made life so easy. I was coming in with a little black book of clients that I've had over the last four years, but Joann was coming in with a lot of buying knowledge, she'd been to High Point a million times and we both were coming to the table with some serious assets. So, 50-50 was just the way to make it the most fair.
Joann 07:28
I think not having separate businesses to start with probably helped. Because we both did not have our own businesses a certain way, we kind of came together and we created it. Because we've had other designers come to us and say, you know, we want to merge our businesses, what, what do you think about that, and a lot of those have been a little bit tricky. So, I think you're starting kind of from scratch, that really helped, but then organically we just had different strengths, too. I mean, Kelly is great with window treatments, I knew more about wallpaper. A lot of the things were even unsaid. We'd worked on a certain project, and we just knew who was going to work on what. It's really, really kind of scary.
Michele 08:19
Yes, so a couple of things I have made note of and that I've seen is that you guys, I think you are different. You do have different strengths, but you also both seem to have this wonderful sense of humor and this true affection and respect for each other, but you also bring this laughter. When I think of Kandrac and Kole, I always think of two smart women, but they don't take themselves so seriously that they can’t laugh at something. I think we can't underestimate just the joy in your heart that makes you just laugh over things. I think when two business partners come together, and it's so serious like it's such a transactional time together, it can get super serious. And let's be honest, if you guys have been together that long, you've been through a lot of ups, a lot of downs. The industry has changed, the economy has changed. There have been a lot of times, and I'm sure not everything has been, you know, easy. I'm certain of that just because I've been around that long too, and I know. So, there are times that we have to kind of hold on and find lightheartedness and laughter in the journey.
Joann 09:31
Well, two words that you said are very true: affection and respect. I think we've always had that for each other, and we realize that we're better together. We may have very small disagreements, but they come and go very quickly. So, I think that's, that's a big, big part of it is you have to really respect and like the other person. I think our lives are very similar too. We have the same type of husband, we both have two girls. There might be a little bit of different stages because of their ages, but if a wedding is going on and I need time off, or another one's moving, we don't beat ourselves up. We make them feel good about it and yes, you can take that time off. I'm not going to make you feel guilty about that, because I'm going to need that time off. So, we help each other out that way.
Michele 10:24
I love the idea that you said that we both didn't have a business, so we could kind of build a business together. Sometimes, the business couples that I've worked with, either come at it because they both think that they each have a great business, but then also come at it thinking they have to agree on every single thing. You take any two people, they're not going to agree on every single thing all the time, because we're individuals, but that doesn't mean we can't work together and have the foundation for the care and the respect for what the other one does and brings to the table. The fact that you guys early on, even if it wasn't maybe in the forethought, acknowledged the strength of the other person and how it was different but complementary to your strength. I think it is probably a huge part of your continued success. Would you see it that way?
Joann 11:35
Very much.
Kelly 11:38
So yes, and I mean, let's be honest, we work in luxury design. Really? What are you going to get upset about? That the mattress doesn't fit through the door?
Michele 11:27
Louder for the people in the back? Kelly, say that one more time.
Kelly 11:33
We work in luxury design. I mean, what are you going to get upset about? You know, the mattress doesn't fit through the door? I mean, come on! We are lucky to be working in the industry that we're in. But honestly, I think it wouldn't even matter with the business per se that we were in. From going through some personal things recently with your husband, what's more important than your health and giving back to people who aren't in a good spot? I mean, there's not much we can get uptight about.
Joann 12:10
I was just going to say, I think the aura that you portray, and a lot of people say you guys are always smiling, I guess just because we've been in a good place for these 18 years. We work really hard and we’re very proud of the business that we've built. We don't ever take it for granted. It was so funny that yesterday, we had a new client and we asked her about how she found us. She said, Well, I had read some things online and then I went to your website, and I looked at your faces, and you look so friendly as she thought, I'm going to like those girls and so that's why I called. And I thought, wow, sometimes you go to an interior designer’s website, you may never see a face, you may see really beautiful rooms, and sometimes people get intimidated or think, oh, they're going to be expensive. I think the fact that we are approachable, or people tell us that we are, has helped us in business.
Michele 13:01
Oh, I would agree. I feel the same way. I think I walked up and introduced myself to you guys years ago because you are approachable. Kelly made the comment that we work in luxury design, and there are sometimes that you can hear some branding expert make it sound like in luxury design, you should set yourself apart, like to almost look aloof. That's not really what we want. I would say most of us want. We want to have an air of respectability, but we don't want to sing flighty and crazy, at the same time, we have to make the process fun. Because you know, and I know, interior design and entire home, yes, we're blessed because it's luxury, and we get to do it. But there can be a lot of details that can be overwhelming, that can shut us down, that can go wrong, and that can feel expensive. There are a lot of other real-world challenges that also come with making it look so fun and effortless. So, to have designers or people that say this is going to be a process and there are going to be bumps, but we're going to get through it and we're going to enjoy it. And you can come talk to us if there's a challenge or we need to be able to talk to you. That just allows your ideal client to go, that’s who I want to work with. I want to work with people who take it seriously but also keep perspective. I think, Kelly, that's your point. We take it seriously, Joann, you too, we're here, we have fun, but we take it seriously enough to know that if we're asking you for big dollars and big investments for your home, we're going to manage those resources well for you.
Kelly 14:35
Yes, I think that the mentality that I'm speaking of is one that we internalize. I mean, in the face of our clients, of course, we're very lighthearted but we're incredibly serious, we're incredibly professional, and we're incredibly hard working so that no detail is left unattended. At all times we’re enormously high touch. But for ourselves to stay safe sane, and to have a good attitude all the time, that is kind of where we come from that we have our heads on straight. I have to say giving back and going to Guatemala and all those things have helped us to maintain that, so we don't get too wrapped up in ourselves and stupid stuff.
Michele 15:26
I've been reading a book, I don't know, if you guys have read it, my entire coaching team or all my clients were going through it, and it's called The Gap and the Gain, I highly recommend the book. But what it talks about is the way that we set up, let's say, ideals. And in these ideals, we then somehow measure ourselves, our business, our life, whatever, against an ideal. Most of the time, when we're measuring against an ideal, we always fall short, because the ideal is always changing. The ideal is like the horizon, it is always moving. It's better if we take an ideal, use it for inspiration, and then set goals, and then measure against the goals. When we do that, it's better if we take a step back and say, This is where we were and this is where we are now like, and look how far we've come. So that we're dwelling on what we've gained. We're dwelling on the positives, we're dwelling on the blessings, instead of dwelling on, look at the gap. But we didn't get this. But we didn't make that. But we're not there yet, which we're never really there. Right? Because when we get there, we move the there, if you will. I think that's what it feels to me that you're expressing as well is, we are looking at what we've gained. Not to say that there's not room for improvement, not extra goals that we can set but you're also looking at perspective, look how far we've come, look how we've been blessed. Yes, we work hard. Yes, we do all these things. But you're looking at that which keeps a more positive attitude than falling into a fear-based attitude or a negative attitude by always looking at what's missing. I tell you, once we go to Guatemala, once you go somewhere, and see what they're missing, compared to what we're missing. Talk about changing your perspective that will do it.
Joann 17:17
Yes, I think perspective is a really big deal. Because you need to be reminded, you get kind of on that wheel and if you don't remind yourself, you can get carried away. So, I feel like we do have a really good perspective, we don't work ourselves to the grind. We just had Michele Boyd on our podcast, and we were talking about that, how, you know, sometimes you can get yourself working so hard that all of a sudden, you just get so into it that you're not allowing yourself, for your mind to go somewhere else. Take a vacation, and do these different things so that you are not so in your business that you can't work on your business. Kelly and I do that a lot. We have our Panera days where we just get out of the office, we sit at Panera with our computers, and we don't we don't look at our email. It's like, alright, what are we going to focus on now and it's because otherwise, there's never any time, you’ve got to make time.
Michele 18:13
That's right, that time has to be crafted. It has to be set apart. Here's the thing, as a business coach, I tell people I come in to help you design your business, the way that you're helping other people design their homes. The only way that you can help somebody with designing their home and making the presentation to them is for them to block their calendar to meet with you to give you that information. So, if we're not doing the same thing for our business, there's no way for us to design the next place or the next thing, it doesn't just happen. I wish it did just sometimes happen while we slept at night. But that's not how it works. I'm curious, how long into your business relationship was it before you all thought about how do we give back and maybe a more substantial or a bigger way? How do we How did you get started with even the thought process that took you into kind of what you all have been doing for the last few years?
Joann 19:10
I think the initial one was Erica Ward. She was doing Service Atlanta, and she had asked us to help with that.
Kelly 19:22
That was like so at the beginning. I mean, that was probably a year.
Joann 19:26
Very much in the beginning.
Michele 19:28
Yes, I love her. I've coached her before and she's been on the podcast. She's amazing.
Joann 19:32
She's one of the nicest people so genuinely love her. I think her reaching out to us and us doing that project, was like, wow. It was the United Methodist Children's Home, and we did a room for the boys. It was a location where boys who had come out of the foster system and who were then turning 18 but needed help further so it was their dorms, like a halfway place. The before and after gave you the chills. We thought, wow, this is really life-changing for these guys. So that kind of was what started it. Dwell with Dignity, we've done work with them. Then Guatemala, Kelly, just go ahead and can you tell you got started, and then how it ended up being what it is.
Kelly 20:29
Now, I want to say it was not that far in, we’ve been together for 18 years, so maybe five years in. I needed to get my head out of some places and my church was having this mission trip. I dragged my best friend with me, Dina, and we went and, and it was great. I didn't quite love the way that particular program was run, but I loved the country, and I loved some of the people that we met there. I figured I'd just go back, and I'll just do this my own way that I'm more comfortable with. I stayed in touch with one American missionary couple that I had met there. I went back the next year with my daughter and two friends and that was 10-12 years ago. Now we go I go every June and I rally a team. I've had 26 people, 15 people, and I've had seven. We stayed with our friends at Catalyst Resources International, the people I met from the very beginning. It's kind of changed a lot for us in terms of our headspace, and just the feel goods and it's good. It's grown organically into a side thing. It's been great PR for us, but it was never meant to be that. But I think people view us differently when they see that we do make time to give back. Anybody who is a big philanthropic, you know you get way more than you give. It’s the blessing of it all.
Michele 22:16
Yes, what types of things do you do when you go to Guatemala? What are some of the things you all do on your trip?
Kelly 22:23
The trip we do, it's kind of it's almost the same every year. I change it up a little bit, but we always go to build a home. Catalyst Resources International has a plan. We build a little to two bedrooms, it's like a three-space home. We literally arrived in Guatemala to a small plot of land where they and the pastors have worked together to grant the house to a family in need. I'm not lying, it's a pile of wood, a pile of lumber, a 12 x 13 concrete pad, and two Rubbermaid bins filled with nails, drills, gloves and what have you. We have a foreman on our team who knows kind of how we're going to start framing and building the walls because it's the same house they've built hundreds and hundreds of times at this point. We then build the home. Catalyst Resources International also supports two orphanages and another friend of mine has an orphanage. We always visit the babies and see what they need and bring them a whole bunch of goodies. We spend a day or two doing some higher-end activities where we enjoy the country, and we might stay at a monastery turned five-star hotel for a night and we drink wine and enjoy the countryside and love on Guatemala. And shop of course.
Michele 24:09
You’re giving back and you're giving back in all kinds of ways. Right?
Kelly 24:14
Yes, we support the economy, don't worry.
Michele 24:16
One thing just to even think about perspective, a 12x12 or a 13x13 home with three spaces that is smaller than some people's bedrooms, one bedroom in these homes that we work in and that we have right.
Joann 24:36
But what's interesting, Michele is what they lived in prior to that was literally, the silver corrugated stuff. It's literally like an A-frame, and the houses look like playing cards and that's kind of how they are. The floor is dirt, and some people are lucky to have gotten a mattress from somewhere, but if not, they're just either sleeping on the floor or they're all sleeping together. Everything they own is in this little shack.
Kelly 25:09
It’s in bags really.
Michele 25:10
Let's think about perspective as if it is a point in the middle here, like right in front of my face. Let's think about perspective being a point in the middle. They are over here in a shack. So, from the shack to this home that is what we were talking about The Gap and the Gain, that for them look at that gain.
Kelly 25:31
Oh, it's hard to wrap your head around. They have windows, they have a door that locks not just a cloth little doorway. They have a concrete floor, they can sweep. They won't get wet when it rains. They won't be cold. They are secure and safe.
Joann 26:41
The appreciation that they have on the day when you dedicate the house and present everything to them. It's so emotional. I have that lump in my throat; I'm trying so hard to keep it together. But it's just undeniable because you see their faces, and they're so overwhelmed. We know that their lives have been changed drastically.
Kelly 26:22
Yes, forever. I mean, when you think about the psychology of it all and, and how if you sleep better, you're feeling better, and you feel safer, then you can do more work. You might go to school today because you feel better and then the education rolls. The benefits of having a safe, healthy, and soft place to land at your head at night are just beyond. We furnish the whole thing with beds and sheets and blankets and lots of food and a water purifier. And this time we just went in June, there were only seven of us, but we went to like the local like Lowe's. We were whipping out our credit cards as you've never seen that woman had more in that house than any of her neighbors and or any of her relatives. We got her a pila, which is like this concrete basin. It's huge, it sits outside and fills with rainwater, but that's how she washed her dishes and clothes. So, she doesn't have to carry all of the clothes, several miles into town to the public basin. We bought them this huge reservoir that holds rainwater with a tap so that they can then fill the pila or put that water in their water purifier. We also bought and built them a stove that cost 150 bucks, I mean seriously, but it's a beautiful stovetop and it vents outside of their house, whereas prior and their little, tiny shack, they were cooking over an open flame, and all that smoke and black is all in their lungs. Every baby in Guatemala is sniffling and has respiratory issues because this is how they cook in the villages.
Michele 28:23
So again, let's look at the perspective there. The perspective that we would have to live in the homes and the luxury and the things, even our non-luxury is more luxurious.
Kelly 28:33
Oh, and keep in mind, they don't have electricity or running water. But they have just they are the Prince of Bel Air.
Joann 28:44
It’s so funny, the very first time that I went, Kelly had been several times before the time I went. Coming home, and most people will tell you, once they have this kind of experience coming home, it takes you a couple of days to really wrap your head around. You think about Costco, and what we have here is just so unbelievable, but we happen to be working on a bathroom at the time. When we got back, we got a call or a message that, you know, the couple had decided that they want to go with the temperature control for their shower, so that, you know her temperature would be there with just a button and then his would be with another. It just struck me, and I'm thinking, wow, these people don't even have water, and we have the luxury of creating the temperature when we walk into this beautiful shower for him and her. I guess whatever you're born into, it could be any of us. You know.
Michele 29:45
I was getting ready to make that same kind of comment. I went on a mission trip to Portugal, to work with Angolan refugees. They had fled from Angola during the war and had gone to Portugal, where they spoke Portuguese. It so it was kind of like some of our immigrant population coming into the US, they had gone there. We went in to help them set up house churches because they couldn’t do two things. One, they were looking for their way of worshipping as they had been worshipping in Angola at an Angolan church, but the cost to get there was prohibitive because they were going to have to take public transportation. They were not able to afford for the whole week, believe it or not, couldn't afford for the whole family to get on a bus to go to church once a week, they would choose one person who could go to church like it might be the son who would go or the daughter who would go. They would take turns on who got to meet in person. So, we went in to help them set up home churches, in the communities where they live, so people could come in. But I can remember, we went in one night in particular, it was our last night of working with them and their home. We were there meeting with other missionaries who were on site.
We had been staying kind of in a dorm complex. I mean, it wasn't five-star by any means. We were in bunk beds, dorm complexes, and things like that. But we had been warm, we were fed, we had the things that we needed. Then we took public transportation to get to where they lived to work within those communities. Those people gave up their meal, they made this huge meal, and they wanted us to eat first, we didn't know that they were going to make a meal for us, so we had already eaten. But we can't not eat. Yet they have not eaten and are waiting for us to eat so that they can eat. We have to eat so that they will. Do you see what I'm saying? Alright, so all of this happens, we're sitting here thinking about like both of you commented, how much they had given us perspective, how much they had brought us joy. We weren't expecting that, but we were blessed in completely different ways than them, but equally, if not more, in some ways. All that happens, they're thanking us, they're thanking our husbands for being willing to let their family unit change, not giving us a hard time because there's a group of women, we'd all left.
Long story short, I come back home to my husband and my sons, and I've just had this experience. I come back home to the ability to get in my car and go anywhere I want when I want to go, the ability to have enough food that I'm not worried about not having enough to feed myself for the day, or my kids. It was such a whiplash in some ways that first week or so, I then had to work through my own, I have too much I need to give everything away, I need to go down to simplicity, I need to, I need to. Where am I not focused on what's most important? Where have I built value where there's really no value? Where am I not seeing people and I'm seeing things? It shifts the way that I think when I have those experiences. I can remember my sons being in church youth group and going on mission trips and coming home and thankfully, I'd been on one, so I knew, but they as teenage boys were going through the struggles of how do I now see and how do I make sense of life. So, I think for us working in luxury environments, because it is such a big difference in some cases. Honestly, the longer we stay in our luxury ways and luxury businesses, the more we become accustomed to that, and it's important, I'm not saying any of it's wrong, it's just a very different view. The beauty that I think you have, in your perspective, is you've seen both. So what allows you to kind of hold them in that tension together? Whereas if we're only in a life of luxury, or we're only in a life of need, we don't always have that, the beauty of the tension, but the tension is heavy.
Kelly 34:13
Yes, and I would encourage anybody, no matter what your business is, and you don't pick up and leave for a week to Guatemala or Portugal but in some way in your local community or nearby get uncomfortable. Get uncomfortable, put yourself in that place, and go help somebody. Let them be a blessing to you because it'll change the way you deal with other people, the way you approach your business, the way you calm your anxieties, and how you are always chasing that gap that ideal that you'll never get and cause you to relax. It'll help you.
Joann 34:56
It's very rewarding on the other end and it just feels really good. There's a local company here called Sunshine on a Ranney Day. They started this where they have contractors and builders and designers, and they find families in the area that have children with special needs, wheelchairs, or whatever. This is all done through donations and there are a lot of places locally too where you can use your expertise if you're a contractor or a builder, and if you want to help out. You get so much from it.
Michele 35:34
Sunshine on a Ranney Day, I love that, and they have a store down in Roswell where designers and people donate. I furnished my entire bedroom upstairs guest room when I went there and bought things.
Kelly 35:49
Yes, it's like a high-end thrift shop.
Michele 35:53
It’s like a high-end thrift shop. A lot of different businesses that maybe have excess, you know, items that didn't work, they can donate them, they can take the tax write-off, and they can sell them.
Joann 36:04
They're opening a new place now, which I think is so, so great because the Sunshine on a Ranney Day store is mostly new stuff. But now they're opening Partly Sunny, which are things that are more that you could fix up and DIY. So, they're more things that are going to be priced less. Partly Sunny.
Michele 36:24
Now I have to watch for this. Is that going to be in the Roswell area? Awesome. They do such a great job. Let's talk for just a minute because you both went in that direction. How do they get started? I think first it's an attitude of saying, I want to have an attitude of giving back. An attitude of working, getting uncomfortable. I love that, Kelly, just get uncomfortable. And that's not a natural thing for most of us until we can start to remove the fear of being uncomfortable, but choose to be uncomfortable, and then sometimes look for a need. I think there's also a multitude of ways you guys are giving, with your talent, by the design, the decor, the pieces that you do, you're giving with your time you're giving with your money, and then you're giving with work. Like even the things that you don't know how to do. I can imagine the first time you went in, and they said we're going to build a house. You're like, Excuse me, I've never built a house. So, I can decorate that house. But it usually comes premade before I walk in there, right? So, I'm sure that there were some things you had to learn. I was thinking about it when you said, oh yes, we go in and build a house. If somebody said to me, Michele, hey, chick, come on, let's go to Guatemala and build a house, I’d be like Girl, I don't think I am your woman.
Kelly 36:41
We’re not as prissy as we look.
Michele 36:43
Right! But you make it seem accessible because there is somewhat of a plan, there is the lumber, there are things that we can do. Usually, in these environments, people will show you, and we'll help you and we'll come alongside you to do it. So, they're not just sticking Kelly and Joann out in the middle of Guatemala to build a house.
Kelly 38:07
I will say that Joann, on our last trip, you and Cindy and Jen, three women, cut every single piece of wood for that entire house. The three of them. I believe they leave me with a hammer, which, okay, I'm not going to complain. I've learned to swing a hammer. But yes, I was swinging the hammer.
Joann 38:30
You know, to look back at that house, it's almost like when we're there, you're kind of on autopilot. You're not sitting here thinking about, oh, I'm hungry, you're just doing it. You're with the group and everybody's doing it and it just kind of happens. It's really amazing. It really is, and I urge people to try to do it. If you don't want to go to another country, there are other places, like my husband belongs to Rotary. They do so many things for the community here.
Michele 40:01
My husband has worked with Habitat for Humanity. He went in and built houses around Atlanta years ago.
Joann 40:07
There's a lot of things that you can do there.
Michele 40:10
We're all in the general Atlanta area. There is a place that I took a group of women to, and we went and worked and helped with foster care. We weren't working directly with the children, but we were working with setting up the clothing and all the things so that when a foster child gets pulled out of their home in the middle of the night and gets placed with a family, the family doesn't automatically have sheets and clothing and all the things for that child and that child had to leave, So they can come into this is in Roswell as well. You can come in there and then you can shop for every season like the beginning of school. We got to go in and help. I mean there are all kinds of ways to do things even in your community. How would you say that the rest of your team members, and I don't just mean those who work directly in your company, but your vendors and your suppliers, support the idea? They know about what you've done, of course, and since people know it, because thankfully you post about it, to share and to show and I think that's what's so inspiring. What kind of feedback or response have you gotten? First from those people that are other businesses or employees, and then I'd love to hear how your clients react to hearing this. Because you have to say to them, we are going to be building a house in Guatemala for the next week. We're going to get your project to a great place, and then it's going to be cared for and we'll pick back up when we come back. Most of us are afraid to tell our clients when we're on vacation, but they have to know, especially if you're going to post about it.
Joann 41:51
They love it. I think a lot of them donate. A lot of them are so excited about it. We do have it as a link on our website because I think it's important. If people are stalking us, then they see that. I think we did get a job because someone loved the fact that we were doing something like that. It wasn’t the reason, but we've gotten a couple of jobs based on that because it shows the kind of people that we are.
Michele 42:27
No, I was just wondering,
Kelly 42:29
When she pauses, I pick up for her!
Joann 41:32
I forgot where I was going. Kelly, go ahead and finish for me.
Kelly 42:34
Yes, most of the time they want to know what exactly are you doing. Tell us about that. And you know, I'm always recruiting. I'm like, yes, you want to come? A lot of times that is how it happens. When we were gone just this past June, one of our clients was with us.
Joann 42:55
I was just going to say that, yes.
Michele 42:59
Well, I won't call her out on the podcast, but we have a joint friend who has said that she has started thinking about joining you. So, I will continue to encourage our joint friend to say yes to that opportunity.
Kelly 43:13
Yes, come one come all! The year I took 22 people, we built three homes, I almost killed myself because it was herding cats. I kind of like the 12 number, somewhere around there for our teams. But you know, it all works out.
Michele 42:30
You now have built this kind of into the rhythm of your business, and into the rhythm of your life, which then impacts the rhythm of your business. So, when you guys do your Panera days, do you sit down at that and say, okay, what is the week that we're going to be out next year? What do we need to do? Do you change up your processes a little bit so that if you're with a new client, you know we need to get most of our clients to here or we need to get these things done so that we can step away without having to worry? I'm sure cell reception is not always the best in some cases. So, what do you do in preparation for your business to allow you with a kind of freedom to go to like Joann said, be in the moment of what you're doing, as opposed to worrying about everything back here?
Kelly 43:22
Nothing.
Joann 43:23
Yes, well, we usually book it around the beginning of the year. We know it's usually a week in June, and it's on our calendar. As we get closer to April, we might be booking things for June, so we're not planning to do anything during that time. So, it isn't that bad.
Kelly 43:44
Yes. I mean, the thing is, if you can't take a week off to go help the poor or go on vacation, because you're spent, then you're not really managing your business well at all. We take multiple vacations; we take multiple times off for philanthropic efforts. I mean, what are you going to do be mad at us for a week?
Michele 44:16
That's the whole point. It's not that hard if you just plan it. It isn’t like you wake up June 1 and say we're leaving on the 15th. Like, like you said, we usually plan it in January. So, in other words, you know that next summer, you're already anticipating that in June, we'll probably go again. Let's look at January. Let's make a plan. Let's put it on the calendar. And then as we get closer, let's just adjust the expectations of our team, our staff, and our vendors, that we will be gone that week, and then we pick back up and keep moving. I say that because sometimes for people who have never done this, this feels so big and so overwhelming, and like there needs to be so much that happens to be ready. That it really is about creating it the same way as if it is a personal vacation. It gets put on the calendar, you plan up to it, you work around it, and you keep going, would you say that?
Kelly 45:13
Absolutely. I mean, it's on the calendar, flights are booked commitments are made, do that part so you can't get out of it. Yes, we kill ourselves the week before, wrapping up all those little details and letting everybody know on our team, give the office their marching orders and everything's good. And we tell people we'll check email for an evening, but really, unless buildings are burning don't call us. We're not working this week. And it’s a week, really. I mean come on, what’s a week in the span of things?
Michele 45:53
Yes, that's right. I said, again, it's just perspective. Like, it's a week come on. And the truth of the matter is, I know that you guys aren't doing this just so that people will hire you like, that's not that that's not good at all. However, I will say this, I was coaching a client one time, and we were starting to look at her luxury clients, which they all are at this point, because it is a luxury to be able to call somebody to come do these things for you. We were sitting down trying to find what was the thread that made her really great clients really great and made the other clients not so great. Do you know what it actually ended up being? It ended up that the ones who were most philanthropic, were her ideal clients because they had hearts that saw the need of other people. They had hearts of compassion. They had money, but money didn't rule their lives. They did not come into the design thinking that they were owed something. Like they just had a completely different life perspective on their own, that they brought into it. So, then we realized when we looked at those others, they had a lot of money, but it was more because of their hearts, not to say that's why they were rich, they had a lot of money, but the way that they live their lives were maybe a bit more stingily. They were maybe more about what's in it for me, you're working for me. It wasn't collaboration, kindness and respect. It was more of a you're the hired help get this done for me. It was the philanthropy that we noticed was the tie. So, then what we did is in all of her interviews with clients going forward, we would start to ask questions about whether are there any philanthropies that are near and dear to your heart, because we give X percent to philanthropy, and we'd love to know what yours is. Then if they come back, we don't give any away, you can tell. And it started to become one of those things that allowed us to figure out if their view of the world was similar to the way that we run our business and run our lives so that we're not going to be at odds with each other on perspective.
Kelly 48:00
I think we can have a whole conversation on qualifying clients, and the ideal client, but we don't have clients that think we're the hired help, that is for sure. That comes across in the qualifying conversation. Could we meet on Saturday at five? No, no, no, Monday through Friday, happy to meet with you. We spend time with our families and so forth on the weekends.
Joann 48:29
There are a lot of there are a lot of people who look at you as the help, you know, we're just like the landscaper and the gardener and the nanny, you know? Our radar is up and we've been doing this long enough we can kind of pick them out.
Michele 48:47
You know, when people have a heart to give and a heart to support others and a heart to care about their community, it's really hard to then turn around and act a different way with somebody. So, I think that's why when they see your website, and they see your pictures, it does draw in your ideal people because they have the same want to help and to share their resources with others, whether it's their money, their time, or whatever. So, I think it really is fun. All right, I have one question for you. If you were to look forward, is there any philanthropy or thing that you would want to do on one of your trips that you've not yet done? Do you want to build a school? Have you not that I'm trying to make you build multiple schools, but is there anything that you are like, you know, this is something that's kind of on my heart and I hope one day the opportunity shows up? Or do you feel like we're just taking it as it comes and we're enjoying it where we are?
Kelly 49:44
I would love to take our podcast on the road more. Our podcast is five years old, and it's called Inside Design with Kandra and Kole for anybody who wants to listen. We've only gone remote a couple of times. Now we're on video and YouTube so we could bring the visual of our efforts to more people if we did that. I mean, we put it all over social media, but I would love to sit and like have a little conversation in Spanish with one of the little kids from the orphanage or one of the, you know, kids from that we're building a home for and show what we're doing. So, I think we'll get there. For sure. What about you, Joann?
Joann 50:35
No, I hadn't really, I hadn't thought about it, I guess, because this comes up every year. But now I need to think about it.
Kelly 50:42
We really don't say no that often. When a lot of local stuff comes to us like Sunshine on a Rainy Day or we support No Longer Bound or if like with Erica and Daqa did Room Service Atlanta or Dwell with Dignity approaches us, we never say no. So those kinds of things pop up, as well and we're always willing to give in some way.
Michele 51:09
That's awesome. Well, I really do have high respect and high regard for both of you for the business that you've built, and that you continue to stay in. That's no small feat. I also thank you for your hearts, especially in the Atlanta area. I do think that people watch even when you don't know. We all know that right? People watch and even if they don't always reach out like me calling you and saying hey, can we talk about this, but you do inspire a lot of women to do things that historically women might not think such as "I could go build a house". You also inspire as a business by being able to stop, take time off, and have perspective, and I think it's amazing. I think that's what most of us want to have, we want to give back and build a business that keeps the whole economy going everywhere. We're not just doing this for us.
Joann 52:05
Right. I think that's one of the things I really like about the podcast, because over the years, as we've done it, we've had a lot of people approach us and say, thank you so much, I've learned this, or I've learned that. And as time goes on, it's more and more and more. Yes, you know, we get emails, and people saying such great stuff. I was kind of joking; a woman had sent an email about a podcast episode she had listened to and thanked us. We had a session where we were asking head designers to call in with questions, and one of the designers talked about how to find a part-time person. She responded and said, “I have a degree in pharmacy, and I stayed home to be with my kids, but that sounds like something I might like, if you know somebody, let me know”. So, I hooked the two of them together and I said to Kelly, we're changing lives.
I mean, that'd be so great. I would feel so great. Just knowing you have a path because you don't know who's listening or what they're getting from it. But it's just really nice because a lot of people have given us feedback and have said, thank you, we appreciate your honesty about design, your business, and other things. So that is a really feel-good thing for us.
Michele 53:28
Yes, and you know what, let's, let's be honest, doing a podcast it's enjoyable, but it's not easy, and it is costly. There are costs associated with it, but at the same time, I love it. That's what I was telling both of you, I like that yours is very conversational. Mine's very conversational. You don't even realize the people that are being impacted in it is a blessing for us to be able to have the opportunity to have a platform to share our opinions or bring in the opinions of other people even when we don't always agree with those opinions. But to be able to change the landscape of thought just by having the conversation, the freedom to have the conversation. So, I think that is amazing. And it's fun to have you as my podcast friends. But I wish you both well. We're going to be putting your podcast link in the show notes. I want to encourage everybody to go listen to it. It is really, really fun and well done as you can tell your guys are a blast to hang out with. Tell us where we can find you on your website and social media. Where can people learn more about what you're doing?
Kelly 54:34
Well, we are. Our website is Kandrac-Kole.com and we are at Kandrac Kole on Instagram. You can find us in all the places from there.
Michele 54:53
Awesome. Well, thank you both so very much for coming on. I'm going to encourage my friend to reach out and say yes and who knows, maybe one day I will join you out there.
Kelly 55:04
You can do it.
Michele 55:07
I know I would love to. I can remember when I had my drapery workroom coming upstairs from the workroom, and I had on my tool belt with all my stuff on it, because the doorbell rang, and the UPS guy was there. 'm like coming up like that guns are blazing and he's looking at me, his eyes are big. I think he was not expecting that. So, girls rule, we'll just bring a pink tool belt and keep going. That's right. I like and I would swing the hammer with you, Kelly, because if you have anxiety and aggression, man, some hammer swinging can do it. I can use the compound miter saw like nobody's business. So, I could cut wood. If I had to do that. I have my own, believe it or not, not even kidding. But thank you both so much. I do appreciate it. Thank you. I look forward to hearing about your next June opportunity to go to Guatemala.
Joann 55:56
Okay.
Kelly 55:57
Thanks so much for having us.
Michele 55:58
Thank you. Joann, and Kelly, thank you so much for joining. I feel inspired, I'm ready to go look for the next thing and a way to give back to not only my community, our state, our area, and even around the world. Thank you for sharing about the opportunities that are out there if we just take the time to look for them. If you are looking for ways to strategize in your company, maybe you want to go on vacation or want to do something like this and you don't know how to take that week of vacation, you don't know how to communicate with your client, you don't know how to separate that time, I would love for you to reach out for a discovery call and that's exactly what I'm going to help you do. I can help you create a strategy to be able to go, a strategy to make money to be able to invest, or a strategy to hire the right team so that you can step away. You can find more at ScarletThreadConsulting.com under the Work with Me page. If you're interested in managing your finances so that you can make these decisions, check out MetriqueSolutions.com.
Choosing to be profitable is always about more than money. It's about spending our time and our resources in the best way possible. Anytime that we are investing in the lives of others it is going to come back as profit for us. So, remember, profit doesn't happen by accident.
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