Cléophée Poli: A Unique Interior Design Niche Serving English-Speaking Clients in Paris

Episode 896 of A Well-Designed Business®

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896: Cléophée Poli: A Unique Interior Design Niche Serving English-Speaking Clients in Paris

Today With Cléophée Poli:

Welcome to a Well-Designed Business today. I am very excited to welcome to the show a long-time listener, Cleo Poli.

Cleo is from Paris, but traveled abroad, living in several different places around the globe. She worked in interior design in London, but moved back home to Paris when she found out she was expecting a baby. It was there that she discovered her niche—her Fred Berns only—serving English-speaking clients in France.

Today, she’s here to share what she has learned embarking on an interior design career in Paris, establishing and developing her niche, and serving an unfulfilled need for English-speaking clients.

Pick It Apart

[4:00] Cleo shares her journey and how she ended up back home in Paris serving English-speaking clients.

[9:04] LuAnn and Cleo discuss how Cleo’s niche took shape and the importance of niching.

[14:54] Cleo explains how interior design is fundamentally different in Paris.

[31:16] Cleo shares how and why she uses a pricing structure that’s unusual to the area.

[41:21] Cleo reflects on her insights from the show and building her firm.

LuAnn Nigara and Cléophée Poli’s Ah-Ha Moments

“It’s important to know yourself first, right? Know yourself first, figure out your why, and then move. And it doesn’t matter if it’s the same or different than anybody else’s—it just matters that it’s true to you, that you know that you’re doing what you really want the way you want to do it.” -LuAnn

More About Cléophée Poli

Cléophée was born and raised in Paris and has spent the best part of the last decade living overseas (Malawi, Australia, England and now Paris again) with her Australian partner. This time abroad heightened her understanding of the need to have a home away from home as well as the chance to discover many different cultures and their affiliated designs.

Her father is an antiques and collectables merchant and her mother a multidisciplinary artist.

Growing up surrounded by art and vintage decor magazines, Cléo developed an eye for design from a very young age. Since she was a child, she scouted Parisian flea markets, museums and collector shows across Europe and the US. Design became a staple in her everyday life.

Her appreciation for good design and the arts has allowed her to tailor a very particular service offering, Kids’ Artwork, for her English-speaking expatriate clientèle based in Paris.