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458: Power Talk Friday – Savour Partnership: Designing Wealth Into Your Business

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Welcome to today’s episode! We have a very special show for you, sponsored by Savour Partnership, which is owned by principals Leslie Carothers and Sam Henderson. Leslie and Sam both appeared previously in episode #209 when they first launched their company and they spoke to us about the importance of email marketing. Today, Leslie joins us. She is a visionary who has had a significant impact on our industry and she really knows how to help designers pivot and then come out of the change far stronger than ever before. Currently, Leslie and Sam have a new mission- to create awareness around the changes that are happening within the design industry and to help designers thrive in this new environment. Whether you are an interior designer, a retailer, or a brand, Leslie and Sam have the answers to successfully navigating the changes that are coming. Tune in today, to find out what Leslie has to share.

Leslie’s strengths are in strategic planning, online copyrighting, social media campaign execution, content marketing, and advertising.  Sam’s strengths lie in graphic design, video production, and e-commerce photography. Listen in today, to find out about this dynamic partnership, which is fully committed to helping you understand that you need to build and design wealth right into your interior design business.

Show Highlights:

  • Taking e-commerce matters into your own hands by designing wealth into your website.
  • There are ways to continue making money selling products one-on-one to clients.
  • Leslie invites you to join her Design Wealth Facebook group. Design Wealth
  • Leslie explains how to design wealth into your website.
  • Leslie talks about how you can thrive with the changes.
  • Building your business from the foundation.
  • Why you need to have digital products available on your website.
  • Creating your own online magazine is a great way to make money.
  • Leslie talks about her business partner, Sam, who is a master graphic designer.
  • The products that Leslie and Sam provide for their clients.
  • To see the fabulous mini-magazine that Leslie and Sam created for Window Works, go to Window Works.
  • Leslie explains how her Email Opt-in Mini Magazine will help you make money.
  • Making a little extra with affiliate marketing.
  • About Leslie’s special offer for her very comprehensive online course called Design Wealth- How To Design And Market Your Own Online Courses For 24/7 Passive Income.

Info on Savour:

Leslie Carothers and Sam Henderson, Savour Partnership’s principals, came together to form their business collaboration based on their complementary strengths: Sam’s in graphic design, video production and e-commerce photography and Leslie’s in strategic planning, online copywriting, and social media campaign execution, content marketing, and advertising.

They are convinced that beautiful design in online visual communications is a key competitive advantage and helps businesses build a valuable business asset with long term financial value.

Savour Partnership produces magazine quality, custom-designed, downloadable e-publications, each of which can include ( but doesn’t have to include) affiliate marketing links to help businesses generate revenue 24/7.

Our publications help our clients: 1. Elevate the visual experience of their brand, online, to help them gain a competitive advantage. 2. Build their email lists. 3. Build a sellable business asset. As income is generated 24/7  via our beautifully presented affiliate product links, a recurring revenue stream is created. As this revenue stream increases over time, it leads to a financially valuable, sellable business asset. 

Our service packages include options for:

Affiliate marketing set up and training.

Uniquely branded 3-5 page magazines, (scroll to Package 2 and click to see our brochure) to use as free email opt-ins to help build your company’s email list.

Completely custom branded downloadable catalogs, e-books, online magazines, look books, portfolios, of any size. These can include video, custom animations, etc. ( see an example of a custom magazine Sam designed,  here. )

 Custom e-newsletters.

 Custom media kits.

Previous episodes mentioned in this show:

Megan Molten #455

Brea Hammil

Carla Aston #242

Leslie Price #413

Links:

Website: Savour Partnership

Instagram: Savour Partnership

Facebook: Savour Partnership

Groups: Design Wealth

Price Style and Design

Leslie’s email – leslie@savourpartnership.com

Leslie’s very comprehensive online course, called Design Wealth- How To Design And Market Your Own Online Courses For 24/7 Passive Income, is available to you for only $297 if you go to Design Wealth and use the code LUANN. (The normal price is $497)

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457: Dane Austin: Confidence & Clarity Come From Experience

Confidence & Clarity Come From Experience

Welcome! Today, Dane Austin, of Dane Austin Design, joins us on the show. Dane founded his award-winning, full-service interior design firm, which specializes in luxury residential interiors throughout New England and North America, in 2009.

Dane has a signature design process, which he calls the Dane Austin Design. He created this highly-organized process because he truly understands the value in building profit centers around creating packages. This customer-driven plan delivers custom solutions for full-service, turnkey projects and Dane uses the packages feature from Mydoma Studio to explain, quantify, and smoothly sell his services to his clients. Listen in, to hear what Dane has to share on the show today.

Dane is the artist, interior design his medium, and the client his muse. Today, we have a conversation with him about finding yourself, both as an individual and as a business person. He talks to us about how he found his Fred Berns ‘only’, about the significance of the ladybugs on his website, and about finding your voice within your career journey. Dane is a delightful, warm, and generous person, so tune in today, and enjoy this opportunity to get to know him!

Show Highlights:

  • It takes time to figure out who you really are.
  • It’s important to dress the part.
  • Your attitude is the most crucial thing.
  • A lot goes into making your way to the top in the design industry.
  • The human connection matters the most in the end.
  • Helping each other be better and grow.
  • Dane discusses his approach to his work.
  • Bold and daring use of color really works for Dane.
  • Identifying a thread through all his projects.
  • Marketing yourself in a way that will attract the people you’d really like to be working with.
  • Investing in really good images is very important.
  • Finding the right element to create the wow factor.
  • Delivering beyond the level of the client’s imagination.

Previous shows mentioned in this episode:

Nicole Heymer – Curio Electro #125 and #317

Nate Berkus – #433 

Links:

Dane Austin Design

Email: Dane Austin Design

Facebook: Dane Austin Design

Instagram: A Colorfull Life

Twitter: Dane Austin Design

Ask me anything” coaching Strategy Session

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456: Window Treatment Friday: Custom Made vs Ready Made Window Treatments

Window Treatment Friday: Custom Made vs Ready Made Window Treatments

Welcome to the second episode of Window Treatment Friday! Starting this new series has rekindled a lot of excitement for LuAnn around window treatments! And she and Vita are both very excited to share with you that on the 24th of September, at the Design Trade Resources in Devon, Pennsylvania, they will be presenting a Continuing Education Unit, sponsored by Stout, on demystifying window treatments for interior designers. In today’s episode, this dynamic duo will be discussing the pros and cons of using custom, versus ready-made window treatments. This show will set the scene for all the following episodes of WTF, so tune in now, to find out more!

Vitalia (Vita for short) Vygovska is the award-winning window treatment specialist.  Her company, Vitalia, Inc, is an all-encompassing fabrication, measurement, installation, and project management service exclusively for interior designers.  In business for over a decade, Vita and her team are experts in their narrow field, providing designers with superb quality product and excellent communication.  Most importantly, they take off the stress, save time, and give peace of mind in the job is well-done. Listen in today, to hear what LuAnn and Vita have to share with you.

Show Highlights:

  • Vita explains the main differences are between custom and ready-made window treatments.
  • Custom is not necessarily the only way to go because different situations call for different things.
  • When you would use ready-made, rather than custom window treatments.
  • The way that Vita supports the designers she works with.
  • When you would need to use custom window treatments.
  • When the budget allows for it, custom will always be the better choice.
  • Leading the conversation with your client to where you want it to go.
  • Why most interior designers would prefer to do only custom window treatments.
  • Some important things designers need to be aware of when they’re faced with a situation where they have to use ready-made window treatments.
  • Ready-made drapes often take a lot of work to make them look like the picture on the package.
  • Some ways to improve ready-made drapery.

Links:

To learn more about working with Vita and Vitalia Inc: Vitalia Inc  

To learn more about working with Window Works: Window Works  

To receive a free subscription to Window Fashion Vision Magazine

To attend the IWCE where both LuAnn and Vita will be presenting: IWCE

To learn about the WCAA (Window Coverings Association of America) WCAA

To learn about Exciting Windows

To attend our upcoming event in PA, De-Mystifying Window Treatments go to: events@designertraderesources.com

Facebook: Vitalia Inc

Instagram: Vitalia_inc

LuAnn’s website: Luann Nigara

LuAnn’s email: info@luannnigara.com

The information about the upcoming CEU on the 24th of September, at the Design Trade Resources in Devon, Pennsylvania, will be on Luann’s website, under ‘Events and Coaching’.

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455: Megan Molten: Another Side Hustle Success Story

Megan Molten: Another Side Hustle Success Story




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Welcome! Today we are really excited to have Megan Molten on the show with us. Megan reached out to LuAnn in an email a while ago, telling her that she learned everything she knows about the business of interior design from this show, and it’s changed her life. She went on to explain that after twelve years of being in health-care sales and having listened to the podcast every day for the last year, she finally quit her day job to become an interior designer. Listen in today, to hear Megan’s story.

Before quitting her job, Megan managed to have an incredible 29 interior design clients on the side, over six months, while still working full-time, for fifty hours a week! Now, a year later, she has a full-time business manager, a full-time designer, she has leased warehouse space, she has a studio space, she has an e-commerce business, and she has 19 000 followers on Instagram! In her first year, Megan brought in $600 000 in revenue, and she also planned her wedding and got married last May! She has been featured on eighteen different sites, from Serena and Lily to Apartment Therapy and Bungalow. Megan has achieved all of this because she truly understands that to make her dreams a reality, she has to actually do the things that she learned from the different guests on this show. In today’s episode, she talks to us about the things she learned and how she’s applied them. Tune in now, to find out more!

Show Highlights:

  • Megan talks to us about the moment that she finally decided to quit her day job.
  • It all began with social media, with Instagram in particular, for Megan.
  • One of the first things that Megan did was to hire a photographer.
  • Starting afresh, both professionally and personally.
  • Having the support of her entrepreneurial parents really helped Megan a lot.
  • Do what you do best, and outsource the rest.
  • Making her first hire was one of the best decisions Megan has ever made.
  • E-commerce makes so much sense but it really takes a lot of work.
  • Using the services of a purchasing agent.
  • Having conversations and making connections.
  • The importance of finding the blind spots in your processes.

Bio:

Megan’s love for all things interiors has been around for as long as she can remember and soon became a reality after she purchased her first home in Charleston, South Carolina and started the design process herself. She began sharing with the world all of her favorite finds and amazing transformations on social media and the world responded! It was this incredible response to Megan’s designs that encouraged her to start helping friends, then friends of friends and eventually clients transform their spaces too. This exciting new “hobby” she devoted every hour to while not working her very full-time job in medical sales quickly turned into a business. She quit her 12-year career in corporate America to chase a dream-a dream that was her true passion in life-helping others achieve beautiful spaces they love.  Her passion for light and airy design, go-getter attitude and attention to detail has quickly created a strong following and brand for #designsbymeganmolten and she can’t wait to continue to watch her big dream grow!

Links:

Megan’s email: megan@meganmolten.com

Website: Megan Molten

Shop: Megan Molten Shop

Instagram: Megan Molten

Facebook: Megan Molten

Pinterest: Megan Molten

Houzz:  Designs By Megan Molten

Previous shows mentioned in this episode:

Shea McGee #236

Cheryl Luckett – Dwell by Cheryl #291 and #397

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454: Power Talk Friday: Jamie Lieberman: Hashtag Legal – Lawyers That Speak Designer

Welcome to Power Talk Friday! Jamie Lieberman is with us today. Jamie is an attorney, a podcaster, and an entrepreneur. She is also the owner and founder of Hashtag Legal, and she’s dedicated to making the legal field accessible to creative professionals just like you. Jamie is down-to-earth, easy to get along with, and she is passionate about sharing the message that legal doesn’t have to be scary. Listen in today, to find out how and why she does this.

Jamie draws on her experience working with influencer marketing professionals, creatives, business owners, and interior designers, to help and protect them as they grow their businesses. She leads an all-female virtual team with a focus on providing clients with advice on all kinds of subjects, like intellectual property, contracts, privacy, FTC, and general business law, as well as negotiation strategies. Jamie is the co-host of the Fear Less Business Podcast and she’s an outstanding speaker with tons of energy! There are so many insights to be gained from today’s conversation. Tune in now, to find out how to gracefully dismantle a business partnership, keep your eyes wide open, and make sure that your contracts and agreements are all clear.

Show Highlights:

  • Daniele Liss (#171) used to be Jamie’s partner in Hashtag Legal.
  • Jamie really gets the intricacies of running a creative business.
  • Jamie makes it very easy for people to access her talents.
  • Managing the challenging nuances of running an interior design business.
  • Everything changes when money comes into play.
  • Negotiating towards a common goal, which is building a successful business.
  • Partnership agreements can be changed.
  • Covering vendor liability could put designers at risk.
  • A contract is actually a gift, it’s not a bad thing.
  • It’s perfectly acceptable to negotiate a contract before signing it.
  • You have to learn from the things that come up.
  • It’s all about clear communication.
  • Jamie is learning from her clients all the time. She likes it when her clients challenge her.

Previous episodes mentioned in this show:

Daniele Liss #171

Amanda Berlin #420

Jenny Maddon #332

Peter Lang- The Designer CPA #349

Tori Alexander #445

Links:

Jamie’s website: Hashtag Legal

Jamie’s email: jamie@hashtag-legal.com

Jamie on Instagram: Hashtag-legal

Jamie on Facebook

Jamie on Linked-In

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453: Carolyn Flannery: Impact Your Pipeline With This One Strategy

Carolyn Flannery

Welcome to the show! Today, Carolyn Flannery, the principal of Carolyn Rebuffel Designs joins us on the show. Apart from designing interiors, Carolyn also heads up Workroom C, a textile company which offers pillows, drapery, bespoke soft goods, and fabric by the yard. Carolyn built her design business in a rather unusual way and she has a really organized approach to running it. In today’s episode, she shares with us how she intentionally focuses on families with children, who understand the value of having family-friendly spaces with durable, multi-functional furnishings which are also beautiful. Listen in today, to hear about Carolyn, her business, and how she markets specifically to her ideal clients, using one strategy that has been keeping her pipeline full for more than 10 years.

With over a decade of hospitality experience under her belt, Principal Designer Carolyn Rebuffel Flannery brings a thoughtful approach to each project she completes. At her namesake design firm, established in 2006, Carolyn believes that your home should be a retreat that provides you with a sense of ease and calm. After building a career as an antique store owner, buyer, and merchandiser, Carolyn transitioned to interior design, crafting practical yet beautiful interiors that reflect her clients’ unique lifestyles.

As a mother of four, Carolyn understands the value of creating family-friendly spaces with durable, multi-functional furnishings. Her work highlights unconventional lighting, savvy design solutions, and a healthy mix of high and low pieces. In addition to designing artful interiors, Carolyn helms WorkRoom C, a textile company that offers fabric by the yard, pillows, drapery, and bespoke soft goods. She holds a BA in Art History from the University of California, Santa Barbara, and a MPS in Hotel Administration from Cornell University. Tune in now to find out more.

Show Highlights:

  • How Carolyn started with her unusual business strategy.
  • Carolyn explains her free, and her paid consultation processes.
  • Carolyn has grown her business so that she’s in a position to direct it in any way that she chooses.
  • It’s not always the swankiest private schools that make the best clients for Carolyn.
  • Some clients tend to experience some fear when using the services of an interior designer for the first time.
  • Being really clear when explaining your processes and pricing to new clients.
  • Staying on track with the amount of time that’s been allocated for a consultation.
  • You don’t have to have children to be able to tap into the schools’ PTA donation market.
  • It may take some time to tap into Carolyn’s kind of market.
  • Carolyn talks about how she started with the fabrics that she’s designing.
  • The complicated reality of providing exactly what clients want.
  • What Carolyn learned from Amy Flurry about PR.
  • You have to have an intention behind everything that you do in your business.

Other episodes mentioned in this show:

Amy Flurry #108 and #323

Andrew Joseph # 39

Krista Coupar #24 #45 #60 #81 #150

Links:

Carolyn Rebuffel Designs: Workroom C

WorkRoom C

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452: Power Talk Friday: Revel Woods & American OEM: A Hardwood Flooring Company with Heart

Allie Finkell

Welcome to Power Talk Friday! Today’s show is a special episode, sponsored by American OEM,  one of our nation’s leading hardwood flooring manufacturers.

We’re really fortunate to have Allie Finkell, the executive vice president of American OEM, with us on the show. This past spring, Allie and American OEM asked Revel Woods to invite several designers for a tour of their factory in Nashville. LuAnn and Vin were lucky enough to be included. This remarkable Tennessee-based factory is called the Prison Industry Enterprise because it operates within a penitentiary. In today’s episode, Allie talks about their unique prison-based business model, she gives us a breakdown of the difference between hardwood floors made in the US and those made in China, and she discusses the relationship that American OEM has with Revel Woods, and why and how that had brought Allie and LuAnn together. Listen in today, to find out what Allie has to share about this unusual enterprise.

Allie is known as royalty in the wood flooring industry because she is the great-granddaughter of L. W. Anderson, who was the founder of Anderson Hardwood Floors, and she has spent her life immersed in the hardwood flooring industry. Following early career sales and marketing experience in New York City, Allie eventually joined the family business, taking on a sales position covering the Northeastern US. During that time, Anderson was acquired by Shaw Industries, and Allie helped lead the introduction of hardwood, laminate, ceramic and vinyl into Shaw’s commercial product offering. In 2013, Allie took on the role of Director of Marketing for Mohawk Industries, building another commercial hard surface program from the ground up.

Allie followed her family roots back to hardwood in 2014 when she joined American OEM as executive vice president, helping grow the Anderson-Finkell legacy of beautiful, enduring American-made flooring for the next generation.

A graduate of Furman University, Allie holds a bachelor’s degree in Economics. Tune in now, for more!

Show Highlights:

  • Allie talks about the remarkable prison industry enterprise.
  • How hardwood floors are made within a prison environment.
  • The benefits of this unique business model to all concerned.
  • How the landscape of the hardwood flooring industry has changed over the last ten to fifteen years.
  • The way that the Chinese have begun to erode the hardwood flooring industry.
  • The difference between the quality of the Chinese and the American product.
  • Allie discusses the quality of the product that her company produces.
  • The difference between hardwood and LVT flooring.
  • Some things that designers could ask builders about hardwood flooring.
  • Character does not have to mean rustic.
  • Designers can purchase American OEM flooring via Revel Woods.
  • Allie explains what makes Revel Woods so special.
  • Hearth Wood is Allie’s family flagship brand. It’s her family’s way to leverage their history and continue their legacy in the industry.

Previous shows mentioned in this episode:

John Dupra of Revel Woods #329

Links:

Revel Woods

American OEM

Hearth Wood Floors

Instagram – Revel Woods

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451: Elissa Grayer: Starting From the Ground Up, After 19 Years

Starting From the Ground Up, After 19 Years

Welcome to A Well-Designed Business! Today, we have Elissa Grayer joining us on the show. Elissa is here today, just like so many of our guests over the years, to share her lessons in business. Today’s show is a little different, however. Because, often, our colleagues have shared with us the lessons they’ve learned in hindsight or the past difficulties that they experienced in their careers, that they weren’t sure they would ever manage to overcome. Yet today, Elissa, who is going through an unusual season in her business, bravely shares something with us that she is knee-deep in, right now. In today’s episode, she talks to LuAnn about what she’s been going through over the last six months, some of the lessons she’s learned, and the action steps she is taking to remedy the situation. Listen in, to hear her story.

After graduating from Amherst College with a B.A. in Psychology, Elissa spent 10 years in the fields of education and business, earning three masters degrees along the way. It took the joining of two individual apartments into one family-friendly space to convince her to turn her passion for interior design into a business. She was then asked to oversee another major renovation project on the Upper West Side, and thus her career began. To further her education, Elissa also studied at both the New York School of Interior Design and Parsons School of Interior Design.

Launched in 2001, Elissa Grayer created her namesake design firm and quickly become the go-to talent for young families transitioning from New York City to the idyllic suburbs of Westchester County. Since then, the firm has also become known for its mastery in the planning, design, and project management of grand estates, luxury apartments, and vacation retreats across New York, Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Florida. Tune in now, to find out more.

Show Highlights:

  • Elissa’s business has changed significantly because, since January, her turnover has taken a drastic downturn.
  • Elissa describes what she’s been going through over the last six months.
  • Elissa recommends outsourcing your business management to Studio Webware.
  • The value of working with an excellent business coach and having the support of like-minded business owners.
  • It’s really important to keep checking your numbers consistently. And to act timeously, if necessary.
  • It’s all about setting goals and being accountable.
  • Elissa has never worked for anyone else, so she hasn’t had the opportunity to learn business fundamentals from a seasoned business owner.
  • Today, you have to actively market your business.
  • The great incentive gifts that Elissa has been giving to realtors.
  • Waiting for the right time to approach realtors to introduce your services to them.
  • Building the skill of rainmaking.
  • Elissa has been building time-blocking into her schedule.
  • If you ever have downtime in your business, you can make good use of it to get started with some new processes.
  • Learning to trust and use your intuition.
  • Looking for the lessons in the hard times.

Bio:

After graduating from Amherst College with a B.A. in Psychology, Elissa spent 10 years in the fields of education and business, earning three masters degrees along the way. It took the joining of two individual apartments into one family-friendly space to convince her to turn her passion for interior design into a business. She was then asked to oversee another major renovation project on the Upper West Side, and thus her career began. To further her education she has also studied at the prestigious New York School of Interior Design and Parsons School of Interior Design.

Launched in 2001, Elissa Grayer created her namesake design firm and quickly become the go-to talent for young families transitioning from New York City to the idyllic suburbs of Westchester County. Since then, the firm has also become known for its mastery in the planning, design, and project management of grand estates, luxury apartments, and vacation retreats across New York, Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Florida. She strives to create beautiful and functional spaces that reflect each client’s personality in an elegant and comfortable way; Classic luxury design for modern living.

Elissa subscribes to the belief that creating a home should be a partnership between the designer and homeowner. Educating her clients and exposing them to the exclusive access that only an expert can bring, Elissa Grayer Interior Design creates smart solutions that fit within the homeowners’ budget and lifestyle.

Links:

Website: Elissa Grayer Design

Instagram: Elissa Grayer Interior Design

Facebook: Elissa Grayer Interior Design

Pinterest: Elissa Grayer

Exciting Windows

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450: Power Talk Friday: Bethany Mabee: Outsource the 80% Business and Do the 20% Interior Design

Bethany Mabee

Welcome to Power Talk Friday!

Have you ever wished that you could outsource your procurement process to a proven professional? If so, you will gain a lot from today’s show because we have Bethany Mabee with us, and Bethany is your lady if you ever want to outsource the procurement process of any interior design project! She makes it possible for you to work with her whether you’re a small interior design firm looking for some help with the procurement process of a one-off project, or you’re a larger firm with several projects going on at the same time, consistently. In today’s episode, Bethany explains the way that she assists designers, and she discusses the kind of accountability that she has built into her process. Listen in today, to find out how Bethany could mean real magic for you and your design business.

Before opening her firm, Interior Procurement Group, Bethany worked behind the scenes in the Interior Design industry for nearly 20 years. Her career began in 2001, at Eastern Accents, a Chicago-based textile manufacturer where she oversaw custom trade orders by communicating their specifications through to production. This was a perfect learning experience and stepping stone for transitioning to Gary Lee Partners, where she worked as the Architecture Firm’s Procurement Director from 2005 – 2009. Since opening her Procurement Group, Bethany has worked with dozens of designers, on a project-by-project basis, acting as an agent on their behalf. Her goal is to eliminate all non-design-related items for the designer during the furniture purchasing process so that they are free to focus on the other areas of the project that demand their attention. Tune in now, to find out more.

Show Highlights:

  • Bethany loves swimming in details and finding an organization in chaos.
  • Bethany works with different size firms and projects.
  • Bethany works with designers only during the procurement phase of their projects.
  • It’s great for designers not to have to train someone up in the area of procurement.
  • The vast range of procurement services that Bethany supplies.
  • The kind of admin that Bethany covers.
  • Why Peter Lang, the Designer CPA, specializes in the design industry.
  • About Kimberly Merlitty’s specialty.
  • Bethany discusses the monthly check-in that she does with designers.
  • Bethany supports interior designers at an expert level.
  • Sending regular status reports to her clients.
  • Confidentiality is really important to Bethany.
  • Bethany’s files are available to the designers at all times.
  • Keeping the designers up to date with the status of their purchases.
  • Working on the finer details.
  • Bethany offers her support, on-site, on installation day.
  • Bethany really respects designers. She sees them, she hears them, and she understands their value.

Bio:

Bethany has been working behind-the-scenes within the Interior Design industry for nearly 20 years.   In 2001, her career began at Eastern Accents, a Chicago-based textile manufacturer where she oversaw custom trade orders by communicating their specifications through production. This was a perfect learning experience and stepping stone for transitioning to Gary Lee Partners, where she worked as the Architecture Firm’s Procurement Director from 2005 – 2009.

In 2009 after having her first child, Bethany wanted a chance to continue doing the work she loves, while also being more available to her son.   Noticing that many designers in the industry were juggling the purchasing process on their own and that most dreaded this time-consuming, archaic process.   Bethany decided to branch out on her own as a consultant and provide residential furniture procurement solutions to design clients.  Bethany has been able to work with a variety of clients across the country, from small boutique firms to independent designers.  Bethany works with designers on a project-by-project basis and acts as an agent on their behalf.   Her goal is to eliminate all non-design related items for the designer during the furniture purchasing process so that they are freed up to focus on other areas of the project that demand their attention.

Bethany remotely manages all aspects of the procurement process including purchasing, billing, and warehousing.   Once a designer’s specifications are finalized, Bethany takes over by generating client proposals, processing purchase orders, and communicating custom specifications and sample approvals to manufacturers/vendors as needed.  Throughout the purchasing process, Bethany tracks all costs and markups for designer profitability and maintains communication and records with the designer’s accountant.  Bethany also manages the installation process for her clients by facilitating vendor correspondence throughout production, communicating material timeframes to workrooms, maintaining project production status sheets, submitting regular updates to the design team, coordinating local and long-distance shipments with carriers, recording warehouse receiving reports, tracking freight and warehousing costs, coordinating damage claims, repairs and replacements, coordinating building installation arrangements and insurance requirements, attending and supervising project installations and handling any post-installation follow up and coordination.

Bethany has a unique understanding of the creative process.   Her office doubles as an art studio for her other work as an abstract artist.  As a painter, she understands that projects are the designers’ own works of art and that they deserve to be handled with the utmost attention to detail.    For years, Bethany would not even share with her procurement clients that she was also a painter.  She worried that it would discredit her abilities to manage the logistical tasks of their projects.  Over the years, Bethany has learned that these two roles ebb and flow together perfectly and some procurement clients have even become painting commission clients. She is grateful to interior designers for allowing her to fulfill her own calling to express both her logistical and creative sides.

Previous episodes mentioned in this show:

Peter Lang, The Designer CPA #349

Kimberly Merlitti # 361 and #442

Links:

LuAnn’s email: info@luannnigara.com

Interior PG

Bethany Mabee Art

For your MyDoma Studios trial, go to A Well Designed Business

LuAnn is running her Power Talk Friday One-Day Coaching Event on July 27th, 2019 in Las Vegas. If you’d like to get in, email LuAnn.

LuAnn will be at the Las Vegas Market on Monday, at 3 pm, at Uttermost.

Nancy Ganzekaufer will be in the seminar space at 11 am, with IDS, doing a presentation about body language.

The event is sponsored by MyDoma Studio and Interior Design Society (IDS).

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449: Design Biz Live: What We Learned at LuAnn Nigara Live, It’s About the Conversation

Design Biz Live

Welcome another episode of Power Talk Friday and Design Biz Live, with Judith Neary and Corey Klassen. It’s been several months since the last episode of the Design Biz Live series and today’s show is really going to be fun, especially if you were one of the 200 people attending LuAnn Nigara Live, It’s About The Conversation, last March, where Corey and Judith were both guest designer panelists. Tune in to today’s episode of Design Biz Live, to find out why everyone really needs a Vin man!

Judith and Corey are usually the ones to come up with the topics for the Design Biz Live episodes, and their topics are mostly about the things they’re facing in their businesses or the things that their colleagues are struggling with, in theirs. For today’s episode, however, they have decided to talk about the things that they learned from LuAnn Live. Corey and Judith both have tons of experience in the design industry, so listen in today, to hear what they learned.

Show Highlights:

  • Corey really enjoyed connecting with other like-minded individuals and sharing stories and experiences with them.
  • Judith, as a tenured professional in the industry, really loved the amount of information that was available at LuAnn Nigara Live, It’s About The Conversation.
  • Everyone needs a Vin man!
  • Corey talks about a moment of clarity that he experienced.
  • LuAnn explains where the magic happens.
  • Judith lists five of her take-aways.
  • Corey uses spreadsheets to track everything, so he really loved Michele William’s Profit First method.
  • What Judith loved so much about Fred Berns.
  • Your existing client base is the fastest, shortest way to putting money in your pocket.
  • The incredible value of referrals.
  • The power of adversity.
  • Judith gives a shout-out to MyDoma Studios.
  • The benefits of using MyDoma Studio’s packages.
  • Corey explains what horizontal revenue is.
  • LuAnn shares what she learned at LuAnn Nigara Live.

LuAnn Live 2 will be coming out in 2020.

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