As a young designer, Kevin Isbell reveled in the on-the-job portion of his design education, which he spent working for established firms and top designers. Now, he’s treating his current role of design principal the same way—and learning what leadership means as he lives it.

Kevin Isbell on finding success with a small firm

Business of Home's editor in chief Kaitlin Petersen talks to interior designers about nurturing creativity, finding a firm’s financial footing, setting goals and discovering their own version of success as a result.

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Brian Paquette on why aesthetics alone won’t make him say yes to a project, what he learned from downsizing his team, and how a focus on simplicity inspired his approach to billing.

How the pursuit of simplicity defines Brian Paquette’s fee structure

Michael Hilal on why he’s not afraid to hire a team with more experience than himself, why he’s rethinking his approach to media after a whirlwind of early press attention, and the fine line between inspiration and copycats in the design industry.

Want to build your brand authority quickly? How Michael Hilal looked abroad

Georgia Zikas on why her whole team is involved in the hiring process; how she manages offices across two cities, and why she hired a CFO to keep her firm’s goals in sight.

Why Georgia Zikas prizes people over process

Christine Lin on the process of finding projects that are more closely aligned with her firm’s aesthetic, why she would never equate her business with a retail store to defend a product markup, and how she established professional development paths within her firm to help her team grow.

Christine Lin on putting client experience first

Wesley Moon on the realization that expanding his team was the key to boosting revenue, why understanding his employees’ strengths and weaknesses guides his approach to building a team; and the changes he made as he reckoned with the fact that his firm’s success had come at the cost of his social life.

Kevin Isbell on finding success with a small firm

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