SAID - Something About Interior Designers

Beth Webb: Pause and Possibility

Beth Webb of Beth Webb Interiors is quarantining in Brays Island, South Carolina. From there, surrounded by nature, she is remotely operating her eight-person Atlanta-based interior design business, keeping up with the digital debut of her collection with Arteriors, working on a chapter of a travel book and getting to know her newest grandchild via FaceTime. While our phone call was not originally slated to be a podcast, Webb was open to recording, and we ended up with a candid and insightful conversation that touched on topics such as launching a collection during a pandemic, sensitive social messaging, and the challenges and solutions that come with working in a time of social distancing. Despite the unknown, Webb moves forward with intention, remains curious and looks for silver linings.

This podcast is sponsored by Houzz. 

 

Desi Creswell: Thought Control and Transformation

In her practice, life and interior design business coach Desi Creswell helps her clients get out of the state of overwhelm. By empowering them with the tools to shift their mindset and facilitating transformation, she is privy to watching her clients take control of their businesses rather than their businesses controlling them. On the podcast she discusses how to start gaining control over one’s thoughts, why uncertainty is truly a time of possibility and how designers need to get over feeling icky about selling their services at this tender time. She stresses the importance of marketing and visibility and offers additional guidance at https://www.desicreswell.com/marketingmistake. With respect to challenging circumstances coronavirus presents, Creswell says, “creatives are made for this.”

This podcast is sponsored by Houzz. 

Natalie Reddell: Recovery is her Superpower

Interior designer, social media whiz, IGTV star, and notable “Chic Happens” podcaster Natalie Reddell, aka Commander in Chic, is an extroverted introvert. At any given High Point Market, she can be found sitting on a panel discussing her social media success, sitting in a bathroom stall catching her breath or perhaps attending an AA meeting on a Sunday morning. Proudly sober for more than twelve years, Reddell overcomes daily challenges and willingly shares them all with wit, humor and authenticity, dispensing words of encouragement through years of experience.

This podcast is sponsored by Houzz. 

 

 

Kim Kuhteubl: She who coaches leaders

Kim Kuhteubl, author, coach, idea generator and storycrafter, is founder of MebyDesign, a coaching and consulting practice that serves the interior design industry. In this episode, Kuhteubl talks about the kind of client she attracts, how getting clear on one’s message lets everything else fall into place and the intangible value of care that designers bring to their clients. Canadian-born and now SoCal-based, this former television producer also shares how cancer taught her to get comfortable with uncertainty, how she has learned to curb her coaching at cocktail parties and why now is a perfect time to lead.

This podcast is sponsored by Houzz. 

Kristin Drohan: Designer and Manufacturer

When Kristin Drohan opened her interior design business in 2005, there were a lot of furniture companies who would not sell to her. No problem —  she decided to team up with a smaller and nimbler manufacturer in North Carolina, and design a line herself. In the first part of the podcast, we share Drohan’s “Design Talk” from the November Designer Experience where she recounts starting her business, how One Kings Lane put her on the map, and how she and colleague Richelle Plett have figured out a way to circumvent the SIT test when it comes to buying upholstery. In part two, we have a follow up conversation and Drohan talks about the effects of COVID-19 on business and the status of her project with Plett.

This podcast is sponsored by Houzz. 

Cheryl Kees Clendenon’s No-Bull Approach

Cheryl Clendenon, Pensacola, Florida-based designer, retailer, business coach and lifelong learner is a passionate, self-confessed type A personality with an interest in helping designers be better business people. Just check out her private FB group, Small Business, Think Big, as evidence of this. She is frank and opinionated, and her practical and tactical approach to running a business makes her a much sought after collaborator and coach. During our fast-paced discussion, Clendenon touches on how coronavirus has impacted her world, discusses locking down leads, client communication, trade programs and buying groups, and talks about her love of vintage glass collecting.

This podcast is sponsored by Houzz. 

Designer Lauren Clement emphasizes the importance of mixing function and fashion

As an interior designer, speaker, TV segment specialist and mother of two, Lauren Clement of Lauren Nicole Designs wears a lot of hats. In addition to all of this, she’s also just started two ambassador partnerships, one with Fabricut and the other Charleston Forge. In this episode, editor Alex Milstein talks to Clement about those two partnerships, how being a mother informs her design, as well as why she regularly speaks on two local news stations.

This podcast is sponsored by Houzz. 

Veronica Solomon Sets Her Path

Growing up in Jamaica, Veronica Solomon knew she did not want to follow the trajectory of many of her peers, but she knew nothing yet of interior design until, as a newly divorced mother creating a nest for her family, her natural talent for decorating was unleashed. Since being smitten, Veronica has spent her days building her interior design practice from the ground up, educating herself on all matters of aesthetics and business, and giving back to the community through information sharing and mentoring.

This podcast is sponsored by Houzz. 

Toma Clark Haines and Neil MacKenzie: Stay vs.Getaway

In this special two-convo episode, we check in with The Antiques Diva, Toma Clark Haines, from her confines in Venice, as well as MacKenzie from a photo shoot on Amelia Island. Ladies first, Clark Haines discusses how she’s turned quarantine into quality time and pivoted in times of uncertainty. Her realistic optimism mixed with a figure-it-out spirit is contagious ... in the best of ways. MacKenzie, director of marketing at Universal, is also very positive about the launch of Getaway, the new Coastal Living collection which premieres at pre-market next week. In addition to covering the ins and outs of licensing, MacKenzie traces the company’s designer-friendly evolution and announces a new offering in upholstery.

This podcast is sponsored by Houzz. 

Shayla Copas expands her influence

Designer, tastemaker and author Shayla Copas is now firmly ensconced in the world of product design. A little less than a year in the works, she will introduce The Shayla Copas Collection for Chelsea House to her peers at the High Point Furniture Market in April. Our conversation provides a look into her support team, the daily routine, her process of designing a collection and what makes it all worth it. This episode is co-hosted by Thomas Lester of Home Accents Today.

This podcast is sponsored by Houzz.