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60: Power Talk Friday – Krista Coupar: Managing Work-Life Balance (The Key Questions to Ask Yourself)

Krista Coupar

It’s power talk Friday! Krista Coupar is with us again!

Today she is to talk with us about work-life balance. The key questions we need to ask ourselves to arrive at this perfect equation.

Show Notes:

  • Are hours wanting to work and amount of money wanting to make realistic?
  • How do you make more money working less hours?
  • Math vs finance
  • Why is it so important to simplify?
  • Why is it important to understand the seasons in interior design?

For the rest of the Show notes, please visit: https://windowworks-nj.com

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59: A Special Visit with the Sr. Director of Merchandising for CuratedKravet.com

Will Hunt Lewis

Guess what? This is our six month anniversary! I have two very special shows for you this week. The first show we are going to meet one of the masterminds behind the fabulous curatedkravet.com platform. Curatedkravet.com is celebrating a few milestones of its own. This spring marked the one year anniversary of the hugely successful curatedkravet.com!

Our special guest today is Will Hunt Lewis, Senior Director of Merchandising of curatedkravet.com! In this position, he oversees all business done with merchandising and product development for all product category. Today Will Hunt and I are going to talk all curatedkravet.com from quality, delivering times, to the designers that curate the rooms.

 

Will Hunt’s previous experience includes One Kings Lane as Buyer of Furniture, and Jonathan Adler where he oversaw all aspects of merchandise planning for all distribution channels.  Prior to moving to New York, he owned his own home furnishings and gift retail store in Mississippi.

 

For the rest of the Show notes, please visit our website: 

Website: https://windowworks-nj.com

 

If you haven’t subscribed yet, please visit our social media at: 

Instagram:    https://instagram.com/windowworks

Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/windowworksnj

Twitter:   https://twitter.com/WindowWorks_NJ

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58: Maria Killam: Color-When You Can Own It As An Expertise, You Can Charge Higher Fees

Maria Killam

Maria Killam is the founder and CEO of Understanding Undertones of Colour. She’s a decorator, author, speaker and internationally sought-after Colour Expert. Transform the way you see color at https://www.mariakillam.com

Maria’s has 5 Fall Specify Colour with Confidence workshops scheduled, get all the information about what they include and upcoming dates here.

 

If you want to learn Maria’s system of Understanding Undertones and finally get your paint colours and finishes right, go here. Maria’s second ebook White is Complicated: A Decorator’s Guide to Choosing the Right White takes the mystery out of the thousands of whites available and you end up with the 5 useful whites that you’ll use every time you need to specify a white for trim, cabinets, woodwork and walls. 

 

Choosing exterior colour this season? Maria’s How to Choose Exterior Colours with Confidence 60-minute webinar will give you a step-by-step process and includes Maria’s go-to exterior colours.

 

For more expert tips, visit:

https://windowworks-nj.com

 

Join us on: 

 

Instagram:   https://instagram.com/windowworks

Facebook:   https://www.facebook.com/windowworksnj

Twitter:   https://twitter.com/WindowWorks_NJ

 

 

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57: Power Talk Friday – Alice Seale – Thinking About Leasing or Buying a Studio Space?

Alice Seale

Welcome to another Power Talk Friday! My guest today is Alice Seale, who has over 30 years entrepreneurial experience as a realtor in the retail design industry. She is the founder of Seale Realty Advisors in the Dallas area. Alice has co-authored the book, Winning Ways in Real Estate. She has great advice for entrepreneurs. Join us!

What you’ll hear in this episode:

  • Alice’s path to real estate in retail design
  • What to look for in a realtor
  • How a design center is born and developed
  • The mix of wholesale and retail
  • How Alice spots the trends in “pop-up” design centers
  • Rent or buy? How do you decide?
  • Alice tells you what questions to ask up front
  • HVAC—why you MUST pay attention!
  • Watch expenses on taxes and insurance!
  • Consider leasing with an option
  • Ask for any accommodations up front
  • Find a realtor who has YOUR best interests in mind
  • Why renting is a good option to start out in business
  • Know what’s going on in your city and its development
  • How to know when it’s the RIGHT time to purchase
  • How to ask your landlord to “put some skin in the game”
  • Make a wish list of renovations and negotiate adding value to the property
  • Establish financial relationships early: Be a PERSON at the bank and not just an account number!
  • Consider obtaining a letter of credit instead of paying a large security deposit
  • Why Alice recommends that you have a female banker

Get all the details from Alice here: https://windowworks-nj.com/alice-seale

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56: Terri Lind Davis- 2 Ways to Build Your Pipeline

Terri Lind Davis
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Hi, welcome to another episode of A Well-Designed Business! If you are a loyal listener—thank you for tuning in again!

And whether you are new or returning, please go over to our Facebook page and like us there so you can be a part  of the conversation, to be in the know about all things A Well-Designed Business podcast and Window Works. Find us at https://www.facebook.com/windowworksnj

 

So on the show today you will meet Terri Lind Davis from Tampa Florida. Terri has 30+ year career in interior design and today we discuss the path her business has taken. From the beginning right out of college to today where she is revitalizing her business with a return to one of her passions and talents, painting.

It’s sort of a memory lane conversation but see if you can identify the 2 major things in her career that have created and sustained a pipeline of clients for her in 2 Florida cities over 30+ years…

So stay put, I’m going to tell you about Kravet Inc, our show sponsor and then we’ll meet Terri.

So what were Terri’s 2 pipeline builders?

They were the position at the high-end furniture store and the years associated with the luxury homebuilder. Both of these not only brought in clients in real time, they both resulted in repeat business with these clients and referrals from those clients year after year, long after she left the store and after the builder retired.

And you know what I’m thinking?

While Terri didn’t necessarily strategically plan her 2 pipeline builders, you certainly could. If you are starting out, could you work part-time at a luxury furniture showroom or a kitchen showroom, a tile showroom? Somewhere you could meet a new stream of potential clients? Of course  you would be up front and discuss policies with the owner but as Terri said, it is good for them too…you can agree to bring any purchases of their product line back to the store…win-win for both of you.

Or another avenue is to reach out to builders and realtors…And don’t just send a card or a packet…make a meeting, explain you want to develop a long-term relationship with them that brings value to their clients. Explain that they can proudly tell their clients they are associated with a talented, trusted interior designer to help them with their new home purchase.

Paint the picture for the builder or realtor so they can see the relationship and how all 3 parties involved- you, them and the client are enhanced by their suggestion to use your services…

Do either of these sound like something you could do? I’d love know if you do one or the other. Go to our Facebook page and tell about what you did and how it went. If you hit a roadblock, let me know that too, maybe I can help you through it.

Terri had a few more words of wisdom earned over her career so go over to https://www.windowworks-nj.com/terri-davis for your free pdf of The Things I Learned From Terri Davis.

 

Remember to follow me on Instagram, Twitter, FB and let me know when you use the lessons from our talented guests.

Have a great day!

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55: Rachel Moriarty – Message to Solopreneurs- Act As If the World is Watching

Today I would like to introduce, dare I say my first fan: Rachel Moriarty!

She has been so supportive from the beginning on social media. I would like to give her a huge THANK YOU! One of the conversations that we had on social media about more episodes with solo entrepreneur shops and firms. It’s nice to show appreciation for the big influencers on the show. We can see where a business can go. But we need to take the time to also have good conversations with people who run fabulous businesses all by themselves.

Show Notes:

  • What was Rachel’s motivation to talk about solo entrepreneurs?
  • What is a creative entrepreneur mindset?
  • What kind of systems and programs does she use?
  • What is a “work jam”?
  • What is her design process?
  • Why “Go Red for Women”?
  • Who does her photography?
  • Look vs feel in a room
  • What advice does she have for new entrepreneurs?

Please visit:

https://windowworks-nj.com for the full episode and show notes.

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54: Power Talk Friday – Diane Gardner- What is a Tax Coach and Why You Need One

Diane Gardner is a tax coach and the author of Why Didn’t My CPA Tell Me That? and Stop Overpaying Your Taxes. You are going to be blown away today by the information Diane shares. She saves her clients thousands of dollars in taxes with every consultation. Many times we look backward in dealing with our taxes, and a tax coach looks at the future and plans it exactly how you want to be.

In this episode you will learn:

  • What is a tax coach and why do you need one
  • How you can plan where your tax liability be
  • Why your accountant isn’t your tax coach
  • Why tax filing is different than tax planning
  • How your legal entity can make you pay less in taxes
  • Why it’s almost a guarantee that you are paying too much in taxes

Resources:

 

Website: https://www.adeptbusiness.biz/index.php   Book:  Stop Overpaying Your Taxes

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53: Deb Barrett – How Make the Most of Your Trip to High Point Market

Deb Barrett

Today we are going to talk about going to market with Deb Barrett! She specializes in a niche for attending the different furniture and accessory markets: High Point and different markets around the world. Now she is specializing in bringing groups to these markets so that they have the best experience at market as opposed to walking in circles and not knowing where to go. Today we are very lucky because high point is about two and a half months away! This is a great time to listen to Deb with her expertise and knowledge on how to make the best of attending markets in general but we are going to be talking about High Point because it’s coming up soon.

Show Notes:

  • Why should people attend High Point?
  • What is High Point?
  • How do you know if you should go to High Point?
  • How should you go about pre-planning?
  • How is High Point divided?
  • What advantages come with registering?
  • Why would designers want to think about expanding internationally?
  • Be up to date on business etiquette

For more details on this episode, please go to:  https://windowworks-nj.com

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52: Turning the Tables – An Interview with LuAnn

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LuAnn Nigara is an award winning window treatment authority, author, and host of the 5 star-rated podcast, A Well-Designed Business, which serves the design industry as an overall business dynamo.

Based in Livingston, New Jersey, LuAnn got her start in 1982 when she, her husband, and cousin, purchased a franchise of the Florida based, full service window treatment company, Window Works. With LuAnn at the helm of sales, they quickly expanded from New Jersey to serving the entire metro area from Philadelphia, to the Hamptons to Connecticut and became the leading showroom in gross sales of the more than 120 stores Window Works stores around the country.

“I have always been fascinated by sales and the components of a sale,” explains LuAnn, who brings an unmatched passion and expertise to the business of window design. “At ten years old my Aunt gave me the book, The Greatest Salesman in the World by Og Mandino and I quickly looked for every book like it. That was the beginning of what became my obsession with the art and skill of the sale.”

Soon after running Window Works leading franchise, LuAnn thought of something no one else had: Why not work directly with interior designers? “Back then I thumbed through the phonebook,” laughs LuAnn who recalls cold calling designers and asking them to partner with her. Today, she counts Sussan Lari Architects, Alexandra Angle Interiors in Los Angeles, Anyon Designs (San Francisco), House of Funk in NJ, Pembrooke & Ives and Charles Pavarini as clients.

After more than thirty years of designing, creating and installing window treatments for the most discerning clients, LuAnn is now recognized as a leading voice in the business of design. In addition to speaking at the American Society of Interior Designers (ASID-NJ) and the world-renown Hunter Douglas conference, she is regularly called on by Design NJ as a resource. She’s been featured in Design NJ and appeared on House Smarts TV. In 2012, LuAnn authored the e-book, 10 Things to Know About Window Treatments and was featured in Big Bold Business Women of NJ.

In the summer of 2015, LuAnn was searching for radio shows that spoke of her interest in the business of design–and found nothing. That was her “Ah Ha! Moment” and she decided to start a podcast. Today, she hosts a weekly 60-minute podcast ‘A Well-Designed Business.’ The twice weekly Internet show features in depth conversations with industry professionals on just about every subject on the business of interior design, from “Branding for Designers” “How to Get PR,” and How to Structure your Fees.

LuAnn lives in New Jersey with her husband. After more than three decades in business, she has no plans to stop any time soon.

Learn more about Luann and her work here:

https://windowworks-nj.com

 

Connect with her on Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/windowworksnj

 

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51: Power Talk Friday with David D. Livingston-Professional Interior Photographer

David D. Livingston

Welcome back to another Power Talk Friday!

I’m happy to let you know that we have David Duncan Livingston with us today! He is a professional photographer from the San Francisco Bay area. He has worked in over 40 states and 4 provinces! His particular skill, in addition to his photography, is that he works with interior designers as a producer, art director, and stylist when doing professional photography for you and your projects. He really works with you to get to the story that you are trying to produce with each project. I have to tell you that once you look at his website you will see that he does exactly what he says he does. For this power talk Friday David and I have to decide to talk about Houzz and we are going to pick his brain on how each of us can maximize our Houzz platform.

Show Notes:

  • What happens in the initial phase?
  • How do you decide what kinds of pictures to post on Houzz?
  • Is there such a thing as putting too much on your profile?
  • How do you organize an idea book?
  • Why is it important to keyword your photos?
  • What are some tips for iPhone users?

Learn more at: https://windowworks-nj.com/david