Hot Young Designers Club | Interior Design Business Podcast

We know we left you hanging, but we're back with some major updates, and ways for you to help us sustain HYDC!

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Rebecca's new showroom: Happy Hour Design Collective

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This week we have a big announcement about the future of Hot Young Designers Club.

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Stuff they mentioned:

Rebecca's. new showroom: Happy Hour Design Collective

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This week we're talking about setting our projects up right. Yes, a big part of our job is creative. But we spend a lot of time setting client expectations, so we break down some ideas through automation, emails, forms, and templates. Since so much is out of our hands, we can at least take these steps to help prepare our clients!

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Stuff they mentioned:

Sub-agreements in Dubsado

How to send an email later in Gmail

Rebecca uses Airmail for her email

On today's show we're sharing some secrets of styling and talking about the art of selling accessories. And we have some exciting past guests to share their own process. We get into profitability, efficiency, and how to retain the joy of design. If you've been wondering how everyone else does it, this is the show for you

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Stuff they mentioned:

We talk about the benefits of hiring a stylist for photographs and editorial instead of styling for client installations.

How to help clients understand the value of creating fully styled spaces

Using fully accessorized and styled rooms to help advertise for the next ideal client and project

Most designers are investing their own time and energy to bring in accessories and styling items for clients

We realized that many are not confident that their process is the ideal way they want to handle things long term

We explore a little about why running a retail store isn’t ideal for everyone

We wanted to leave more confident in our own process and feeling comfortable with experimenting on new styling processes

Eneia shares her own process for purchasing accessories and how she bills it to clients

We talked about creating a single lump line item on proposals for accessories. 

Rebecca is trying the Sortly app for inventory management

Lauren from Studio Laloc has a little bit of a different process she shares with us

Kravet accessories

The journey of buying vintage and antique items and maintaining an inventory may not be for everyone

Consider the space needs, temperature control, insurance, and the need to sell merchandise to build profit into your business model

We weigh some of the pros and cons of new wholesale accessories vs. purchasing vintage and how to make money off it 

Ginny Episode 6

Eneia Episode 38

Lauren Episode 29

In Part 8 of our Process Party series we're breaking down how we set budget expectations with our clients. Whether it's furnishing our remodeling projects, we have to set proper expectations early. Because money isn't just part of the conversation - it is the conversation! Head to our show notes for details on how to download our free HYDC Client Budgeting Guide.

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Stuff they mentioned:

We're continuing our Summer Skip Schedule to publish new episodes every other week

We would love to take a Summer sourcing trip to France or Morocco

Rebecca is worried about everything she needs to accomplish before her Hawaiian vacation

Shaun's vacation plans for Provincetown, MA didn't come together, stay tuned for other vacation plans.

Shaun's loving Carolina Irving's Almaty Velvet fabric

We want to be good stewards of our clients' money and where it makes sense for their budgets to be spent

Listen back to Episode 44 Process Party: Furniture Education when we started these budget conversations

In our interview with Jacob Medina in Episode 26, he talked about using a Good/Better/Best model with clients to establish budget expectations.

We need to move past our own money stories and emotional hangups to be the best advocates for our clients

Shaun has found it helpful to use the National Home Remodeling Guide to help clients understand costs of remodeling or construction projects

These honest conversations help establish our credibility as trusted advisors for our clients

Shaun also implemented a minimum furnishing and accessory budget along with construction projects as a way to create a more sustainable business.

Head to our Resources Page to download the free PDF of our Client Budgeting Guide.

On this week's episode we're excited to sit down with Asha Chaudhary, the CEO of Jaipur Living. Jaipur Living is one of our favorite rug and textile vendors to work with. Asha shares what it's like to run a business with her family and how they like to collaborate with textile artisans globally.

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Stuff they mentioned:

This episode is sponsored by Jaipur Living. Visit JaipurLiving.com/HYD to set up your account today.

We appreciate the family-owned attention Jaipur Living gives to their products and their customer experience.

Asha and her sisters are all helping their company build on their father's vision that started in India.

It was fascinating to hear about how the relationships with the artisans helps create a unique and beautiful textile and we love sharing that story with our clients.

Asha is on the steering committee for the Nest organization, a non-profit supporting the responsible growth of the artisan and maker economy.

The Jaipur Rugs Foundation is helping to uplift the artisan communities throughout India.

We talk about Jaipur's partnership with designers at Verde Home to create a unique collection based on what designer's are looking for.

And you know we enjoyed hearing about the supply chain impacts on their business so we can help our clients understand what's happening globally and build the right expectations into our business.

Asha also shares with us how the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted their families, artisans, and their business. It was a good reminder for us to consider the impact that individual people are having on the goods we bring into our clients' homes.

There are lots of great customization options in the work with Jaipur Living which is exciting as a designer to think about how we can create our own bespoke pieces for clients.

Asha shared how she has been investing in her own professional development recently through the StrengthsFinder book and online StrengthsFinder assessment.

This is the first episode of our new Vendor Bender series where we'll welcoming industry experts onto the show. We want to help designers run their businesses better, and we're starting of with Dalia Soles of Design Assisted. Dalia's company helps designers increase their efficiency through outsourced project management, design assistance, and procurement.

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Stuff they mentioned:

Dalia's background in both commercial and residential projects in Palm Beach, CA helped her identify a gap in the design industry that lead to the launch of her company, Design Assisted.

Find Dalia online, on Instagram, and on Facebook

Dalia cut her teeth in the design industry working for Kemble Design in Florida

We love her spirit of figuring things out and being courageous to jump into a new career path and industry.

Dalia talks about thriving in environments where she can lift others up, and how her role as a Design Assistant can sometimes involve being a therapist for her designers.

We talked more about outsourcing in Episode 40

Dalia shares how she uses Trello and Asana to help her clients projects move smoothly

Bringing on a design assistant can help increase revenue through time billing and increase the designer's productivity

Dalia shares her love of Google Slides to help organize information and acts as brain dump for our full minds

We also talk about our various experiences with Enneagram and how our types effect our work and personal lives.

Dalia has recommended Willow & Jax to some of her clients as a resource to help define their processes.

She also talked about her mental health journey working with adult ADHD after discovering Chalene Johnson on Tik Tok

She's currently inspired by the dynamic work of Cameron Ruppert Interiors

This week we're boldly going where no Hottie has gone before. It's time for the 5th installment of our most popular series Just Stop. And do we have some good ones for you. We're talking about fighting the algorithm, getting paid in full, and hunting for unicorns.

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Stuff they mentioned:

Shaun had fallen off Instagram posting so he got back into it by starting Reels.

One of Shaun's reels has gone viral.

If you fell off the wagon too, try using an auto-posting app like Planoly or Later.

Rebecca is having a Mom Summer but has a vacation coming up

And if you're looking for the perfect bag to carry everything around, Rebecca is loving her Hulken bags.

The Hulken bag also holds her IKEA KUGGIS presentation trays

We're back for part 4 of the popular Just Stop series (Part 1, Part 2, Part 3)

Just Stop asking for magic unicorn solutions to problems during projects, put in the work and learn from your mistakes.

Just Stop asking what to do with 90s developer niches, just close them up.

Just Stop selling goods and products to clients without marking them up.

Just Stop worrying about what other designers are doing.

Just Stop complaining about the Instagram algorithm.

Just Stop complaining about how the internet and online shopping have changed our industry.

Just Stop acting like a bank for clients - they should be paying for 100% of goods before you order so you're not at risk.

This week we've got some bad news for you, you're being audited! Well...it's a brand audit. And we've got checklists and to do lists for you to get your business in order. It's the middle of the year, so it's time to revisit the goals you set for yourself at the beginning of the year!

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Stuff they mentioned:

Shaun got a new piece of original art from Meghan Spielman

He used some money principles from Episode 48 with Michele Williams to reward himself.

Rebecca has been enjoying her Miracle Mornings practices to start her days right

We're both reading Profit First

Rebecca's mornings when she fell off the Miracle Mornings was like OK, Go's music video on a treadmill

Thanks to Lauren at Studio Laloc (Episode 29) who recommended using Google Slides for presentations

We're building off of ideas we discussed during Episode 3 Does Your Brand Suck?

It's time to audit your brand and see if you're putting out the right messaging to your potential clients on all your platforms

We were definitely motivated by Kim Kuhteubl (Episode 49) addressing branding and visibility

You need to be on Creator or Business profile for IG.

That way you can leverage the insights and analytics to help plan your content strategy.

It also let's you use the Book Now button to be accessible to clients and create more enhanced profile data.

Rebecca started using Quick Replies in Instagram to help respond to DMs faster.

How to create and use quick replies guide

If you want to use autoposting features in apps like Planoly and Later you need to use a business profile, not a creator account

Get your IG bio right to grab attention:

1. Include your name
2. preferred pronouns
3. location/market you serve
4. develop a geotagging strategy (like Anastasia Casey discussed in Episode 9)
5. share your ideal client, ideal projects, ideal style in your bio too
6. cross promote your business profile in your personal account
7. if there's a hashtag that closely resembles your style or desired aesthetic consider having that in your bio too

Update your press or media kit periodically too, be sure the data is accurate

Review your website's About page too

Add new project photos to your marketing materials or website

It's time to get your portrait photos out there too and post them to your grid often to introduce yourself to potential clients

Consider cross promoting yourself through platforms like Facebook and groups that appeal to your potential client, like parent, school, or community groups.

Boring content alert! We're tired of romanticizing busy culture. We don't want to keep talking about how busy we all are so we're taking back the narrative and organizing our priorities. This week's episode focuses on taking our live's back, and designing our business around healthier and more sustainable practices for ourselves.

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Stuff they mentioned:

Rebecca is trying a new way to name her project files.

She was inspired by some examples she saw from Sandra Funk

If you're into an Australian drama, you might like Offspring on Netflix

Shaun's feeling good about his Botox journey

We walk about the dangers of a busy and stressful lifestyle

Why are we culturally promoted to be part of a busy culture?

Let's stop romanticizing being stressed, and let's stop talking about it.

Talking about how busy we all are is boring content.

Step away from the social media comparisons

Let's commit to doing better for physical and emotional well-being

Let's leave space in our lives to find new and different things other than our businesses and design.

Say no to the things you don't want to do to make room for the things you do want to do

Don't exchange your gratitude for what's happening to be stressed about it

It all linked back to mastering our time like we learned about when we read The Big Leap

Try new tactics like not scheduling meetings on Mondays or Fridays