On the podcast today is Katie Baldwin, the founder of Katie Baldwin Designs out of Lakeville, Connecticut. Katie is an awesome designer who has started shifting her business just a little bit to focus on some of the areas that she really loves, instead of doing what she thought she had to do. She's following her heart, her strengths, and skill set and finding that her joy has been increased. In addition this focus has brought great opportunities for collaborations with other professionals.

I hope that you enjoy listening today. Maybe consider taking a step back and looking at your own life and your own business. Ask yourself where you're doing what you think you have to do, and maybe where you have an opportunity to do what you want to do.

On the podcast today is Kara Cox, of Kara Cox Interiors. I’ve just got to tell you this was such a fun and a delightful conversation. It was recorded in mid-April while we are kind of figuring out how to work around the COVID disruption, and how things are going to start back up. What I love so much is Kara’s open and inviting personality. She just draws you in and has that beautiful southern speech.

Something that struck me in our conversation was the idea of how beautifully she was mentored and taken care of by another designer. This designer then also encouraged her to launch her own design firm. We don’t hear that very often, so listening to her share the story and sweet relationship was such an encouragement.

Kara goes on to talk about how she has worked really hard to figure out how she serves others; not only her staff and her clients, but her community. I think you will be encouraged. Hope you enjoy the podcast.

On the podcast, today are Darla Powell and Natalie Grafe of Darla Powell Interiors and Wingnut Social. Together Natalie and Darla manage multiple businesses (design, podcast, social media, fire-fighting, and a family business.) We are going to discuss how they started these businesses, how they don’t do it alone and have delegated with a team approach, and how they schedule time to pull away from the business. We are also going to talk a little about social media, some of the changes that have been happening and how to get started if you have more time than money. Hope you enjoy the podcast. 

On the podcast today we are going to tackle excuse that I hear sometimes. “I cannot do Profit First because I don’t have enough profit. I’ll get to that later when I am profitable.” What if I told you that not doing PF prior to having profit could be the problem. Listen in today to learn how to save your profit before you have any.

Ok, Let’s just get this out on the table early. I am a certified Profit First coach and have been since 2015. This method of managing your money works. I also have facilitated the Financial Peace education from Dave Ramsey. I serve creatives – like you – and my focus is to help you create and maintain profit in your company so that you can have a sustainable business. Let’s talk about how to create a profit first strategy even if you don’t yet have a penny of profit.

On the podcast today is Glenna Stone. Glenna is the owner of Glenna Stone Interior Design, located in the Philadelphia area. Her background is in engineering and we're going to discover how her knowledge of supply chain and prior work in the consumer products industry have formed her business model for her design company.

Glenna and I are having this conversation during the time of COVID-19 and we address some of the nuances that this business disruption has brought into our ways of doing business. We also talk about what we think business will look like on the other side of shelter in place. Glenda is such a smart businesswoman. She loves the numbers side and that thrills my heart. She is just gracious and sharing. I'm sure you're going to be inspired by all she has to share. Enjoy the podcast!

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.

On the podcast, today are Jeremy and Chandler Quarles. Together they own Peach and Pine Interiors and host the wonderful podcast, Love Where You Live. After pursuing other careers that were centered around music, they both are now focusing on building the interior and renovation business…with a little music still on the side. We are chatting today about how their business began, how they are integrating their home life and business life and focusing on the foundational aspects of business that will put them in a place for future growth. With a one-year-old child and a three-year-old business, you can bet they are busy – and how they support and listen to each other is inspirational. Enjoy the podcast.  

On the podcast, today is Stacie Kennedy of Atlanta Custom Interiors. ACI provides custom soft furnishings, upholstery, hard treatments, and dorm bedding to both the retail and trade. Stacie is sharing today in our Business Challenge podcast the question of how to grow two sides of her business at the same time. We talk about the right time to hire, and how to market to keep the new hires busy with steady work. Not something to take lightly. The focus is on timing, opportunity, and marketing.  Enjoy the podcast. 

With us today is Jessica Williamson, owner of JTW Design. Jessica is sharing a business challenge with us today focused on company growth. Her business has been steadily growing and she is feeling pressure to grow more. We unravel some of the feelings and expectations that she is facing so that she can make a plan to move forward and grow in a way that is true and authentic to her and her team – and that results in the best offerings for her clients. 

Joining me on the podcast today are my sons, Harrison and Brantley. They are in their 20's and have of grown up with me starting businesses out of the house for over 20 years. Many of you, after listening to the podcast with my husband Joel, asked if you could hear from my sons talk a little bit about how me being an entrepreneur or having an entrepreneurial parent had impacted them as kids. What they've seen and the lessons they've learned or taken is where we dive in. Hopefully, you'll have just a bit more of an insight into our, I would say, family entrepreneurial journey, and then maybe use some of these questions and go back and ask your own kids. I think you might be surprised at the answers.

With me today are Virginia Toledo and Jessica Geller of Toledo Geller. They have a boutique firm that excels at delivering turn-key, custom residences for singles, couples, and families who value exceptional design. Virginia and Jessica’s approach begins with a deep dive into how each client dreams of living and they get to know their clients intimately.