Morning First name / friend,
I have a few things to get off my chest.
Don't worry - nothing mean, nothing bad.
Things I've seen and heard and that I KNOW need to change.
But first, let me back up a second to give you some insight into why I am absolutely obsessed with the interior design industry.
It's not just the pretty things, the benefit of a perfectly laid out space, the comfort and joy from being surrounded by things that make me feel like me, the intentional areas we've created throughout our home where our kids read, lay on the floor and play, take daytime catnaps, or work on crafts.
HOME CHANGES EVERYTHING. And not everyone has the luxury of having a safe, private, restorative place to call home.
Growing up, my parents did foster care (no clue how they managed it with five kids of their own + my dad's restaurant and catering business + restoring our historic home).
But for several years of my childhood, I had anywhere from 1-6 (SIX) foster siblings. Our house was bananas most of the time. And my parents didn't just do foster careâŠit was treatment foster care, so the kids we helped had suffered major trauma, had behavioral issues or developmental delays, or were struggling with medical issues.
It was a lot.
As a child, I was witness to a lot of pain and suffering. Darkness.
I knew the stories of our foster kids and what happened to them. We fostered babies straight out of L&D, kids and teens, children whose parents were no longer fit to parent.
Sharing this story makes me emotional as I think of all those sweet babies and kids we helped, even if just for a bit, to have a normal, safe, loving environment.
We saw many of our foster kids thrive while living with us; some of the older ones âgot their lives back on track.â The younger ones worked through trauma with the help of my mom and therapists. The parents got themselves into a better spot so they could have their kids with them again.
But mostly, our foster kids were able to live a normal life while in our home. That meant simple things, like family meals, playing outside in the backyard, doing crafts and playing Legos or Barbie on rainy days, bath and bedtime routines, sibling bickering. The usual.
But those things were NOT usual for them before they came to live in our home.
So, while a house is just a thing, it is also everything. I know what our home meant to the kids my parents fostered. Home meant safety. Home meant no more fear. Home meant being a kid again.
So, when I get heated about interior designers and how amazing they are, it's because I saw how our home was the foundation that allowed my parents to be able to do what they did. And I saw what it meant to those kids.
Now, I get it, I get it. Your clients are probably not fostering 700 kids at a time, and they might just want to keep up with the joneses or have the nicest house on the block. Doesn't matter.
Because home really can change someone, support them in a way they didn't even know they needed, send them out the door feeling more grounded, calm, confident.
So, the things I want to share with you:
- You will not be for everyone. And that's okay. If someone wants something you don't (or won't) offer, let them go find the designer who will do that thing for them. It is much better (more enjoyable, more profitable, more efficient, more successful) to work with the people who want exactly what you can offer them.
- People who are less talented than you with less experience in the industry are charging more than you. And it's because of their marketing. I couldn't shake something a designer shared with me this week about her business (how she has been undercharging for years and didn't realize it until she joined the DTS Method) and now that she's seen how much she's been undercharging, she can't NOT raise her prices immediately. âHere's the thing: I want everyone who reads this newsletter to have a thriving, successful business. I want you to work with clients who love you. I want you to have a team that supports you and your big dreams. And pricing plays a big role in all of that. Now, someone did send me some hate mail telling me all I care about is money (đ§ deep breath, deep breath đ§) but that's not true. It's not WRONG to be compensated well for the work you do. It's not wrong to make enough money to hire other creatives so they can do work they love. It's not wrong to make enough money so you can invest it back into your business so you can do even BETTER work for your clients. It's not wrong to make enough money so you can fund your retirement, put money away for your kid's college, or contribute to your family. It's not wrong to charge appropriately. It's not wrong to make enough money that you can dedicate time and resources to supporting your community. It's not wrong to role model for your children how to go after what you want and be respected in your field. So, if you feel âbadâ for charging correctly for your services, ask yourself this: who IS paying when I'm not charging enough? Your physical health? Your kids? Your mental health? Your partner? Your clients? Your team? Your business?
- If you start every project the second a client signs on, your goal this month is to figure out how to stagger your project start dates and manage your capacity. Every service you offer should have a clear timelineâŠregardless of the scope. đ± And if you have a full service project going and know you're going to be heavy in design phase for the rest of May, guess what, we're not going to kick off another design project until at least June 1.
- You have a unique story to tell. A reason your business came to be. Something you do in your process. A talent you have. Your background before becoming a designer. Your design philosophy. Your style. Your beliefs. â When I spot these things in designers we work with, I tell them, âYOU HAVE TO SHOWCASE THIS!! THIS NEEDS TO BE IN BOLD, LARGE FONT IN YOUR MARKETING. NO ONE ELSE IS DOING THIS.â So, in a world that is noisy, where designers are skipping the line and having robots create portfolio images for them of rooms they didn't design (sigh), and where there is not a high barrier to entry, you have to stand out. You can't be vanilla. Even if everyone wants the same look right now for their design, they also have a certain personality type they are naturally drawn to and will work the best with. Let people in on who you are!
Okay, this was a novel. I hope you enjoyed it.
Be sure to read what I have for you down below, too. Yes, there's more.
xo