On the show today we have James Swan!

James is the host of the podcast Million Dollar Decorator. This is in addition to his illustrious career as an interior designer. Being the host of this podcast and speaking with James about being guests on each other’s podcasts I really started doing research on him. I am very impressed at what a high level accomplished interior designer he is. Let’s be honest there are interior designers who make it big in their hometown and have a good 25 to 30-year career. But then you have interior designers that do things in a high level way and that is James! And this is what we are going to talk about today.

Show Notes:

• What’s the scoop on his career background?
• Delegate!
• What are some things to think about when starting a business?
• Why is training so important?
• What’s in his book?
• Will there be another book?
• How did he end up in Maine?

To learn more about James Swan, please  visit https://windowworks-nj.com/james

Gail Davis has a very interesting past that would be very helpful to her colleagues!

Interior design is her second career. Her first career was in fashion. When you hear her story about her career in fashion, I think everyone will understand why she went into interior design!

Show Notes:

• How long was she in fashion before switching to interior design?
• Why interior design?
• How did she “walk” into her internships?
• What is the biggest difference interning at a younger age vs being older?
• What sort of questions should you ask yourself when designing a room?
• Were there certain things that were the same between the two designers?
• What business practices did she learn?

Resources:

Instagram:  gmdinteriors  https://www.instagram.com/gmdinteriors/?hl=en

FB:   https://www.facebook.com/gmdinteriors/ 

Welcome back, everybody!

Barbara Viteri has such an interesting trail leading to where she is today with her Designerlebrity™

Barbara had a very successful business called Viteri Style Management where she was a consultant for interior designers. But Barbara is pivoting her career now. She is going to share with us about how she got to where she is now.

Show Notes:

• What did she do in Viteri Style Management?
• What exercise can help with hiring?
• What is Designerlebrity?
• How did she come to her new career move?
• Be real! Don’t pretend!

Resources:

https://www.facebook.com/barbaraviteri

https://www.instagram.com/barbaraviteri

https://www.twitter.com ~ @viteristyle

viteri@viteristylemanagement.com

https://www.viteristylemanagement.com

On our show today we have Rachel Laxer!

Rachel runs a pretty big firm that is based out of London and New York City. She is a member of the British Institute of Design, and ASID here in the states. She graduated from Washington State with a BA in Political Science and History and from NYU with an MBA in Finance and International Business! She has been featured in Ireland’s Home, Interiors and Living magazine, participated in the Holiday House in New York City, Westchester House in New York and Design on a Dime. Rachel came to interior design in a rather unusual way. She is going to tell that story on the show today!

Show Notes:

• How did Rachel begin working with Kelly Hoppen?
• How does she predict trends?
• How does she use her degrees in interior design?
• What is the key to mixing periods of time?
• What are the challenges having an interior design business in two “homes”?
• Use the people you know will do a good job!

Resources:

https://www.rlaxerinteriors.com

https://www.windowworks-nj.com/rachellaxer

Our guest, Cheryl Janis has been an interior designer for more than 19 years!

She has a background in full service interior design for residential design, restaurant design, office design, the whole she bang. But in the last 2 to 6 years she has thought about a direction change for her business. Cheryl has decided to specialize in independent healthcare physicians that are visionaries and embrace the whole health philosophy. She is going to share with us why and how she has come to only specialize in this specific nitch.

Show Notes:

• What kind of specific healthcare spaces does she design for?
• How did an accident when she was 17 years old impact her life in such a big way?
• How have her designs affected these businesses?
• What is a generalist?
• What was scary about making the leap to specialize?
• What is evidence based design?
• What are some things that can help with recovery in design?
• Why does Cheryl have a newsletter?

You can read the full show notes at https://www.windowworks-nj.com/cheryl