I am so excited to be talking to you today. I'm actually so excited that I didn't wait and get all dolled up to be on the video part of the podcast. I decided in the middle of my work session just to stop and go ahead and share this message. So, I hope you are excited as I am, because we are going to talk about four strategies that will stop you from being underpaid. Do you know what it means to be underpaid? It means a high tolerance for low pay. I think that it is a problem, especially for creatives and certainly in the interior design industry. Now, some of you may be listening to this podcast and you may be thinking, hey, no problem here, I get paid all the time. But my question would be, do you take the money out of the company with ease, without feeling stressed? Some of you may be listening to the podcast and thinking, oh yeah, I have a high tolerance for low pay. Instead, I'm a people pleaser and I want to do great things for other people. Stay tuned because we're going to talk about the four strategies that will help you not be underpaid, but to be paid fairly and to be able to have a profitable company - at the same time.

One size does not fit all. Okay, I just said it. I know that's going to be hard for some of you. But in our haste to get things done, to keep moving, to provide a service, often we're looking for that shortcut to success. We're looking to ride the elevator to the top instead of taking the stairs. Today, we will explore how to choose the right offer for our company and ultimately, for our customers. 

Today we are airing an episode that we launched in 2020. Many of us are seeing changes in buying patterns, budgets, and selections. While the details are different from where we were in early 2020, the rethinking our business part is the same. In this podcast we will examine how to dissect our businesses so that we can analyze them and perhaps put them back together again in a different way. Really knowing the pieces and parts, as well as what we're great at, or core competency, helps us to determine the best ways that we can show up and then serve our ideal client. Let’s focus on how to be nimble in an ever-changing world. How to grow and scale while maintaining our flexibility, which is not always easy. That will allow us to maneuver through any change. I hope you enjoy.

Today, we are going to just put it on the table. Burnout, frustration, lack of inspiration, need of support. Do these words and phrases resonate at all? If so, hang around as each of these elements are discussed on the podcast today.

Have you ever thought to yourself, “This is all I know how to do?” I have. And therein lies the opportunity to find someone who knows more than you do about that topic. And what you do next depends on the resources you have. Maybe you have lots of time, then you might want to investigate, listen to podcasts or read books – perhaps even take a course. But what do you do when you don’t have time, and you do have money as a resource? You invest in finding the right answer to fast-track you where you want to go. On the podcast today we are going to dig into the question, “Have I taken my design business as far as I can alone?”

With me today is Lesley Myrick of Lesley Myrick Interiors. Lesley is fun and has a super cool style. She is going to share with us on today the challenges of moving 3 times in 5 years and constantly restarting her business. There are some lessons learned and insight gained from these moves that can assist us all, no matter where we are in business. Listen in as Lesley shares how simplifying her offerings has been freeing and more profitable in her business, and as she shares the one big thing that helped launch her business in a new state.

Joining me on the podcast today is Morgan Mostinger of Lot35 Homes. Together, Morgan and her husband, Ryan, own 5 businesses. Morgan and I have coached together for a year, and in that time we discovered her superpower – starting businesses. In this episode, Morgan will share how she made peace with being a starter and how conquering fear allowed her to have more experiences in her personal and professional growth. I hope you enjoy the podcast.

For the third year, Ceil DiGuglielmo, of the Sew Much More podcast is joining me to review the year we have just had, what made it different, how we approached moving forward, and lessons learned. Make sure to go back and listen to the last two-year end recaps, they all have something to teach. I hope you enjoy!

With me today is Anastasia Harrison, Principal Architect of AHD and Co. Through her extensive experience in complete home design, Anastasia has created a unique niche for her design firm incorporating architecture and interior design together. Her team strives to help clients live beautifully through outstanding design and to provide complete custom spaces that set a mood throughout the entire home.

In addition to running AHD & Co, Anastasia heads up the New Jersey chapter of Savvy Giving by Design, creating safe and cheerful environments for medically fragile children to heal.

Our conversation is going to focus on how she created a firm that mixes architecture and interior design as well as the steps she is taking to grow her firm with intention. Enjoy the podcast.

Joining me on the podcast today is Tracie Bresnahan of Custom Creations. Tracie owns a full service, turn-key, to-the-trade workroom supporting designers. Tracie is the President of the Window Coverings Association of America (WCAA) and she is sharing with us today some of her challenges in scaling a workroom. As you all know, these are the same challenges in many cases that we have no matter the business type. Listen in as we discuss changing locations, hiring, adding project management solutions and the timing of it all.

On the podcast today we're going to look at how to dissect our businesses so that we can analyze them and perhaps put them back together again in a different way. Really knowing the pieces and parts, as well as what we're great at, or core competency, helps us to determine the best ways that we can show up and then serve our ideal client. And so in the podcast today, we're going to focus on how to be nimble in an ever-changing world. How to grow and scale while keeping flexibility, which is not always easy. That will allow us to maneuver through any change. I hope you enjoy.

Kimberly Sundt is with us on the podcast today to discuss all things branding. Kimberly, in her business, focuses on the 4 C’s of Branding: clarity, communication, consistency and conversation. We will discuss why being super clear on your branding will increase your confidence and actually make “selling” your services so much easier. We also discuss why client experience and perspective matter and the roles they play in your brand story. 

Joining me on the podcast today is Alyce Lopez. Alyce owns and operates the True House, which is a full-service interior design firm that specializes in residential design for busy young families. Alyce began her career in interior design after purchasing a fixer-upper with her husband. She describes it as a 1950’s rambler and learned so much, documented it and her business just blew up. She also has young children who are at home. She's a mom and a wife and a business owner.

On the podcast today is Veronica Solomon of Casa Vilora 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. Then we met in real life at High Point Market in the spring of 2019 where we shared together about building a business and looking for a new hire. Veronica is the real deal. She has a heart to help and does it in a very straight forward and grace-filled way. In that, she speaks my language. In our conversation today, Veronica shares her journey to profitability – and it is not a straight line, by any means. It is inspirational and actionable. I hope you enjoy the conversation and take away a new idea or even just grace for your own business journey. 

Today, I am going to share with you some of the training that I've been offering my private group. I really believe that this is information we should all have. It's also going to be information that you're going to be able to catch in video form in my blog post later this month, and there's a downloadable PDF that will come in the blog post.

In this process, that we're going to look at today, it’s about creating a transition plan and a restart plan. I am an advocate of doing all the planning in advance as much as we can. So that when it comes time to execute, we already know what to do. It’s kind of like where you're thinking about what's the worst-case scenario or even a best case scenario. And then when it's time to do it, you just do it. So, with that we are going to be looking at how to create a transition plan. What is a transition plan? Why do you need one? All of those good details and hopefully it's going to help you not only manage during this time but prepare for what's to come. Stay tuned and enjoy the podcast.

Welcome to the podcast today.

You know, most of my podcasts are recorded well in advance of when you are going to hear them. Sometimes one or two months in advance and they're normally planned out. Right now we're in a time of very dynamic changes to information. And what's happening can change in a matter of moments. What we start with in the morning may be something different than that we know or are learning about in the afternoon. I want to make certain that I am being dynamic in our podcast with what is happening and not to miss that. And so we're going to be changing up just a little bit. Feel free to take notes and think about how to create a new perspective for your business as you listen to the podcast today.

With us today is Todd Palmer, CEO of Extraordinary Advisors. He is an executive coach, author, and speaker committed to helping business owners tackle their obstacles and clear a path to success. Todd understands struggles, as he will share on the podcast today. He has had it all and lost it all – from a thriving business to $600k in debt – then finding his way out.

On the podcast today is Meg Casebolt of Megabolt Digital. Meg focuses on SEO to help her clients have their websites be easily found. What I love about her approach is that it is crafted to allow for the individuality of each client. The term SEO can be so off-putting or something that we don’t really want to think about – but it is necessary in an online world.

Brita DeRemee is joining us on the podcast today. She has over 30-years of experience helping clients create homes they love to live in. She is their trusted design partner for everything from renovations to custom home furnishings. Brita is passionate about leveraging art to inspire design and loves the collaborative and layered process. Her Swedish roots and modern sensibilities make her a natural advocate for craft and sustainability. She embraces the pragmatic and spiritual, the functional and the beautiful. Brita serves a wide variety of busy professionals, art lovers, dog lovers, busy families and empty nesters in Minneapolis, the greater Twin Cities area and beyond.

On the podcast today, I'm going to be sharing with you the focus in my company on scaling your business. If you've listened to a lot of the past podcasts and blogs, you've noticed many of them were on scaling. Scaling simply means growing. And there's more than one way to do that. So my goal is to help the businesses, that I work with, implement business principles early on as quickly as they can, so that they scale with intention and not out of control. I hope you enjoy the podcast today.