Christie Fleming: From Occupational Therapy to Interior Design

Episode 832 of A Well-Designed Business®

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832: Christie Fleming: From Occupational Therapy to Interior Design

Today With Christie Fleming:

Welcome to A Well-Designed Business. Today, I’m joined by Christie Fleming, principal of Lennon Nora Interior Design.

If you would have told me that there were any similarities between Occupational Therapy and interior design, I would have thought you were telling a joke. But for Christie, her experience as an OT led to her perfect niche, the one that let her leave her old career and strike out as the go-to designer for Aging in Place design.

Pick It Apart

[1:56] Christie shares how she went from occupational therapist to interior design.

[6:52] LuAnn and Christie discuss the value in working for another firm at the beginning of your career.

[14:03] Christie talks about how she stumbled onto her goldmine niche.

[17:45] Christie discusses Aging in Place Design and what it entails.

[35:58] Christie shares how she markets such a specific niche.

LuAnn Nigara and Christie Fleming’s Ah-Ha Moments

“I’m a huge proponent of working for another firm. Some of the most successful designers I have interviewed stayed with other firms for 5 or 6 years. There’s a difference there when you work for another firm, even for just one year. You’re seeing more than you would have on your own.” -LuAnn

“I didn’t know how much OT and interior design truly overlap until I really got into the business aspect of it. I just knew that my area was so saturated and I wanted to figure out how to make myself stand out from other designers.” -Christie

“I get this question all the time. People will say, ‘I don’t know how to figure otu what my Fred Berns only or my transferable skill or my pot of gold.’ One of the big things is just to get quiet with yourself and to just really keep insisting on going through a mental inventory of all the things that make you you.” -LuAnn

More About Christie Fleming:

Christie Fleming is the Owner and Principal Designer of Lennon Nora Interior Design based out of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Lennon Nora Interior Design is a full-service residential interior design firm with a focus on primary residences and vacation homes serving Philadelphia, PA, the Jersey Shore and all surrounding areas. Christie is a valued Allied Member of American Society of Interior Designers (ASID), Designer Society of America and is a Certified Aging in Place Specialist through the National Association of Home Builders. She has a unique healthcare background where she practiced as an Occupational Therapist for many years and has now created a successful interior design business where her clinical expertise has created a new avenue for potential design projects.