The Chaise Lounge Podcast

High Point Spring Market 2018: Disruption or Innovation?

High Point Spring Market 2018: Disruption or Innovation?Today in The Lounge we continue our coverage of High Point Spring Market 2018, kicking-off the episode with highlights from The Nick May Morning Show co-hosted by Dixie Willard and Rachel Moriarty of Design+Style Podcast  to interview Lindsay Paoli of Design Manager, Shayla Copas of Shayla Copas Interiors, and Holly Hollingswoth Phillips, Florence Broadhurst Brand Ambassador/owner of The English Room and Florence. Find the live video on our Facebook Page.Next, Nick facilitates a panel called "Navigating the Turmoil of Industry Consolidation" -- inspired in part by the controversial acquisition of IvyMark by Houzz -- but the panel becomes a broader discussion about what's going on in the industry and how some designers are adapting their business models. Panelists are Cheryl Kees Clendenon of In Detail Designers; Laura Thurman of Thurman Design Studio; Neil Mackenzie from Universal Furniture; Rebecca Gins of Perigold; and Shawn Hughes of Steelyard.Enjoy the Nick May Morning Show, and stay tuned this week for the rest of our HPMKT coverage!

Chaise Lounge Updates

EXTENDED DEADLINE: Don’t forget about the #makemychaise design competition! Click this link for more info.Nick is in Dallas for Dine and Design. Follow along on our Instagram!

Our Events Page

Resources

Datacolor–If you’ve ever worked with a Benjamin Moore dealer and asked for a color match, then you’ve probably worked with Datacolor without even knowing it. Now, Datacolor has announced the ColorReader, a tool that identifies paint colors from any surface and provides you the closest existing paint match right on the spot! Stop cutting out your drywall or scanning fan decks and start saving time by confirming color with the help of the ColorReader. Revolutionize your color tools and visit www.datacolor.com/may for more information.Moore & Giles, JLF Collections, Design Manager, Benjamin Moore, Porcelanosa, Universal Furniture 

Upcoming Events

HD Expo – May 2 – 4ICFF – May 20 – 23NeoCon – June 11 – 13

More About Our Sponsors

Wrap Up

If you would like to hear more episodes, please visit us on iTunes or on our website at TheChaiseLoungePodcast.com. Lastly, find The Chaise Lounge on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter or post a review on iTunes, you may even hear your review read live on our next podcast. With that said keep dreaming big, and keep designing a great design business. See ya!

High Point Spring Market 2018: Passion Sucks

Today in The Lounge Nick sits down at High Point Market with an all-star panel to discuss “Passion Sucks. It’s All About the Money!” a forum on taking an interior design business from dreams to not only creative but financial success. On the panel is Robin Baron of Robin Baron Design in NYC; California-based designer and real estate star Barrie Livingstone (who was also Nick’s first-ever guest in The Lounge!); and David Charette of outstanding design firm Britto Charette in Miami.Also, enjoy highlight os The Morning Show with Barrie Livingstone who joins Nick as co-host to interview Jeffrey Johnson of Jeffrey Design LLC, Gary Pettit of Seasonal Living, Libby Langdon, and Kelli Ellis. Find the full live video on our Facebook Page.The Nit and Grit of GrowthNick and the designers agree that there’s no shortage of passion in the interior design industry, so the difference between firms that sink or swim are smart business practices. The panel tackles everything from liability reduction and software use through management and hiring practices, where everyone has their own style of doing things. David, in particular, offers valuable insight into management at Britto Charette, where employee perks like great healthcare, free lunches and happy hours, and potlucks aim to keep staff loyal and hardworking -- but most importantly, happy. David also discussed the challenges and blessings of partnering with his spouse, and recommends working together but in different market sectors.No Lack of PassionNick’s questioning then turned philosophical with discussions into definitions of success, motivation, and the real value of money. For Robin, success is making a difference in the life of a client -- and failures are your best teacher; for Barrie, winning means getting everyone involved in a project on the same page and feeling like they’ve won, too; and David says he is still searching for the job that frees his passions but doesn't see himself ever retiring -- so he's got ample time to chase his creative spark!

Chaise Lounge Updates

EXTENDED DEADLINE: Don’t forget about the #makemychaise design competition click this link for more info.Nick is in Dallas for Dine and Design. Follow along on our Instagram!

Our Events Page

Resources

Datacolor–If you’ve ever worked with a Benjamin Moore dealer and asked for a color match, then you’ve probably worked with Datacolor without even knowing it. Now, Datacolor has announced the ColorReader, a tool that identifies paint colors from any surface and provides you the closest existing paint match right on the spot! Stop cutting out your drywall or scanning fan decks and start saving time by confirming color with the help of the ColorReader. Revolutionize your color tools and visit www.datacolor.com/may for more information.Moore & Giles, JLF Collections, Design Manager, Benjamin Moore, Porcelanosa, Universal Furniture 

Upcoming Events

HD Expo – May 2 – 4ICFF – May 20 – 23NeoCon – June 11 – 13

More About Our Sponsors

Wrap Up

If you would like to hear more episodes, please visit us on iTunes or on our website at TheChaiseLoungePodcast.com. Lastly, find The Chaise Lounge on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter or post a review on iTunes, you may even hear your review read live on our next podcast. With that said keep dreaming big, and keep designing a great design business. See ya!

Vicky Serany: Southern Studio

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Today in the Lounge Nick sits down with Vicky Serany, founder, and principal of the interior design firm Southern Studio. They chat about the beauty of living in North Carolina, how Vicky has had tremendous success with her firm, and the pros and cons of business practices like outsourcing, management, and social media marketing.Vicky’s StoryVicky Serany hails from the beautiful city of Cary, North Carolina. Not only is Cary her favorite place she’s lived, but Vicky also loves to vacation at her family’s small beach cottage in the north of the state -- that is when she’s not exploring the world with her husband. She loves the beach and says her favorite childhood memories are of crabbing on the Chesapeake Bay with her family. Her favorite fashion accessory? Earrings, but more practically, glasses, and she’s partial to a Key Lime Martini in the summer after a day at the beach. Vicky knew that interior design was an interest around the second grade, when her mother let her pick out the color of carpet she’d have in her bedroom. Later, she visited a model home and felt a surge of creative energy. After volleying a few different careers and struggling to find her passion, Vicky went back to school for design at Meredith College while raising her kids -- and built such a successful firm that she never had to finish classes!The Firm: Southern StudioVicky built her firm in the midst of the Great Recession, and she actually credits the tough stretch for making her think deeply about various business models. From the beginning, she knew she had a passion for residential design and found that she loved the construction side of the business -- from exterior to plumbing, electrical, tile, and cabinets. But what she loved most, and still does, are the connections made while working with clients to design their dream homes. That guiding philosophy has been incredibly helpful: she says that business grew by about forty percent annually for six years! Now, Southern Studio has a team of eight full-time staffers to tackle management, studio administration, design, HR, and some bookkeeping, as well as an incredibly helpful intern. The firm outsources as much as possible for finances, bookkeeping, and warehousing, as well as much of their of PR and marketing. Vicky Serany says that this frees her team to be able to focus more on their strengths rather than management and administration.Challenges and Moving ForwardVicky wears a lot of hats as the head of her firm but says that her least favorite part of the job is saying “no” to clients that she knows will not be a good fit their firm. Instead, she’s instituted a screening process that her clients go through, including a rigorous interview, to ensure that they are the right fit, and the rest is a joy. She also has a fascinating definition of marketing: the connection of people. However, she’s still developing social media strategies to get that message across. Lastly, Vicky shares some sage advice: interior design is a game, and everyone plays it differently. Nobody has a handbook, and everyone is just figuring out how to do new projects. In the end, that’s what we love about interior design: we have the freedom to be creative, make mistakes, and move forward.

Chaise Lounge Updates

There are still opportunities to catch Nick at the Universal Showroom at High Point Market.

Industry: Phyllis Harbinger and Daryl Calfee

This Friday in the Lounge Nick is joined by Daryl Calfee, Vice President of Marketing for leather manufacturer and Chaise Lounge sponsor Moore & Giles, for a fascinating conversation on the history and art of luxury leather production. Plus, Moore & Giles will be giving away a FREE luxury bag for listeners who follow The Chaise Lounge podcast on social media. Details coming soon! Next, Nick chats with monthly speaker Phyllis Harbinger about hiring smart to make sure that your firm never suffers from employee issues.

Daryl Calfee: Leather is a Luxury

Nick sits down with Daryl Calfee, VP of Marketing for leather producer — and newest Chaise Lounge sponsor — Moore and Giles.

The Moore and Giles Story

Daryl says that you’ve probably sat on Moore and Giles leather — and may even have it in your home — without knowing it. The company has been based out of Lynchburg, Virginia since the 1930s, when its founder, Donald Gray Moore, was laid off from his gig working at a local shoe factory and instead became the factory’s leather supplier. Later, the company expanded into furniture sales. In the 1990s, however, the firm switched its attention to building a new luxury, worn-in leather product and partnered with Spain-based tannery Tanerias Omega. The first order was a whopping 50,000 square feet, and despite initial challenges, they learned how to develop institutional knowledge for natural leathers. Now, Moore and Giles are a fixture in restaurants like Starbucks, hotels in Vegas, and Boeing aircraft for their vintage, worn-in and waxy leather.

Passion for the Product

Daryl discusses the history of leather, which has evolved with humanity for thousands of years and has become a luxury good only relatively recently.  Moore and Giles, he says, invests heavily in sustainable, high-quality rawhides from different climates for different needs — whether that means sourcing from South America, where hides are very large but thin, or a northern climate like Germany for a naturally thicker hide and is generally more free of scarring. Aside from color saturation or some light waxing, Moore and Giles avoid painting on color — which Daryl says is a cheap move to cover up a low-quality rawhide (Nick likens to a faux finish). Instead, they embrace the imperfections and celebrate that each one is going to be different. Faux leather doesn’t exist, Daryl says — it’s something else entirely. And when passion for creation and expression trumps cheap manufacturing, the money follows.

Phyllis Harbinger: Hire Smart

Phyllis, a regular guest in the Lounge, shares the lessons she has learned while intelligently growing her firm, Design Concepts Interiors, from a “lean and mean machine” of one into a team of creative and self-sufficient individuals. She says that she hired her first — and second — full-time employee through establishing an intern program about fifteen years ago, and invested handsomely in both.

The Value of Nurturing Interns

“It’s not inexpensive, but you get what you pay for,” Phyllis explains. “When you find that talent, and nurture that talent, it goes places.” Initially, Phyllis focuses on teaching and mentoring interns before raising their pay from minimum wage when they become more competent and experienced. She even Ubers her current intern to and from work in order to nurture what she considers to be an indispensable relationship. Her third employee was a former student who showed promise and drive. In time, all three grew into positions that naturally fit their personality and freed Phyllis to avoid spending time on accounting or CAD and creatively run her business.

Respect Gets Respect — and Returns

Above all, Phyllis says employers should be guided by respect and recommends thinking freely about hiring: whether that’s considering several part-timers over one full-timer if that is mutu...

Kristen Thomas: Timeless, Simple Designs

Today in the Lounge Nick speaks with Kristen Thomas from Denver, CO. They chat about how she got into interior design, how she runs her business with her husband, and how she balances a successful career with family life.

Getting to Know Kristen

Kristen was born and raised in Utah and stuck around until the age of 19, when she moved out of state for college and left permanently with her husband several years later to move to California. She can’t emphasize how much she loves the Golden State, where she has raised her two kids. Kristen says that her house is still unfinished, but she adores her office and its floor-to-ceiling bookcases. When she’s not working, she enjoys listening to books on tape and loves to vacation in sunny Hawaii.

How Kristen Got Started in Interior Design

Growing up, Kristen learned a variety of DIY skills from her father, who was always doing projects around the house. Her Interior Design career began full-time about ten years ago when she left the real-estate world to attend Arapahoe Community College for her degree. While in school, Kristen worked as an assistant and even took her kids to classes. With a natural ability for the real estate industry, she expanded into interior design and launched a firm in downtown Denver with a trusted partner. She and her husband then launched a firm specializing in designing and flipping houses, Studio Thomas.

The Business Today

The firm has grown a lot since its inception four and a half years ago and has combined the trades of real estate and interior design -- which Kristen says are both money makers. Now, she has a total of ten people on her team: marketing staff, CAD specialists, a personal assistant, lead designers -- and she also just recently hired an architect. Her husband also works on the team, specializing in fixer-uppers, and he also uses his expertise as a former lawyer to develop best business practices. Together, they work hard on residential design projects, where they re-design the entire home and increase its value. However, Kristen admits that she has more of a creative personality type and didn’t naturally drift toward business and management. That’s why she focused on building the best team of self-sufficient, driven specialists, and she works hard to ensure that they are being their best selves -- even if that means leaving the firm to pursue personal projects. For marketing, Kristen emphasizes connecting with her builders and developers -- and she says that approach has been working out: every client so far has been linked to them through a referral. In addition, her marketing director has secured ads in magazines and other podcasts, where they communicate a unique design aesthetic: mixing timelessness, simplicity, modernity, and traditional design. In other words, doing less with more.

Work-Life Balance

Kristen’s family is the most important thing to her, and she arrives early every morning to leave the office by three or four in the evening. She believes that being a mom trumps everything else, although she occasionally works in the evening after her family time. She and Nick both agreed that they’re able to have a great work-life balance because they trust in their team to do their jobs without them. Kristen also believes that establishing a solid work-life balance, trust, and persistent positivity are tantamount when running a business and that these things will naturally move you to your dream career.

        

To learn more about Kristen visit www.studio-thomas.com and be sure to follow @studiothomas on Instagram.

The Chaise Lounge Updates

Join Nick Saturday morning April 14 for his forum “Passion Sucks: It’s All About the Money!”from the Universal Showroom at High Point. Check out all of our High Point events here!

Don’t forget about the #makemychaise design competition ...

Jodie O' Connor and John Dupra

Today in The Lounge, Nick chats with Jodie O’Connor from Jodie O' Designs. Learn about Jodie’s unique transition to design and her latest marketing initiatives. Up next, Nick interviews John Dupra of Revel Woods. Revel Woods is an online retailer of luxury hardwoods selling to both designers and end users. Learn more about their company origins, curated product selections, and exclusive trade programs.

Jodie O'Connor: An Entrepreneurial Spirit

As a young child, Jodie’s parents taught her that you can do anything you want if you work hard. After receiving a degree in English from Seton Hall University in northern NJ, she realized that deep down inside she wanted to do design. She eventually went back to school with an entrepreneurial spirit to study design, working as a designer and studying simultaneously. She realized that she did not want to make a starting intern’s salary, as at this point in her life, she was older and had small children. However, she did not have the needed experience to start a new career at a higher salary. She joined a local mom’s group and would offer in-home design classes demonstrating her expertise. Functioning similarly to the Tupperware parties that were popular at the time, in these classes she offered a free in-home design consultation for the host in front of 10-15 participants who listened to her feedback and tips. Jodie ran these parties four times a week for about 2 yrs. From this, she was able to obtain clients and her business grew.

Marketing Initiatives

Now in business for over 20 years, Jodie employs a team of 3 with additional staff hired over the summer. She loves the construction side of design, going over the plans and conceptualizing. Her primary focus for this year is marketing. From the recession, she learned that you are at risk if you are only doing one thing, one way. Her first marketing initiative was to put an ad in a magazine but that attempt was not successful. She then started working on local show houses. She has found that it has been a great investment, provides legitimacy and puts you in touch with different people. Their local show home community receives about 30,000 visitors a month. Now on her 4th show house, Jody has paid her dues and has seen much success from this arena.

Jodie is also a big fan of writing emails. She finds that by doing this she can market herself directly to a person that needs assistance. From simply writing an inquiry offering her services she has been able to book jobs. Jodie recommends to keep the email short, no more than 3 lines, and provide a way that you can help them with their business. One of her other keys to success is to work in that you are a designer into every conversation. This year Jodie has been amping up her Facebook which has been an effective vehicle for her to book jobs. Jodie also believes in setting business goals. Her goals for this year are to work on model home and boutique hotel projects and to be on the cover of Shelter magazine.

To connect with Jodie visit her website www.jodieodesign.com or follow her on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest and Houzz.

John Dupra - Revel Woods

www.ssrphotography.com

Revel Woods is the retail line of the New York-based hardwood flooring company. Originally a regional wholesaler, the company wanted to enter into the e-commerce space but did not know how to do it. The hardwood product they sell is climate and region specific. A selected wood that works well in one part of the country may not perform as well in another part. They realized that the end user needed to be educated on this otherwise they run the risk of selecting a product that will deteriorate due to improper environmental conditions.Taking cues from the online fashion retailers, the company sought to create a curated boutique experience generated by a series of questions to enable the end...

Rob Klein & Amy Kreutz: Kitchen Design-off

Today in the Lounge Nick Speaks with Rob Klein and Amy Kreutz from Carmel, Indiana. Rob and Amy are partners at Conceptual Kitchens. They talk about how they each fell into the design world, even though it wasn't exactly what they thought they wanted to do. They also talk about the unique kitchens they design for clients whether the budget is big or small.

Getting to Know Rob and Amy

Rob and Amy are partners in business. Rob grew up and has lived in Carmel almost all his life. Amy grew up in a small rural town outside of Indianapolis. She attended Ball State University in Muncie. Amy’s favorite fashion accessory is her watch because it's stylish and.... she’s always a tad late to the office. Rob’s favorite inspirational books are military books. Beer, Wine, or Cocktail? Rob prefers straight tequila. Amy prefers wine.

How Rob and Amy got their Start

Amy got interested in design from her art classes. She would play in the yard with her brother and create homes and communities with sticks. She loved drawing and drafting classes in high school. Rob has always been creative. He attended Kenyon College and majored in Fine Arts and Economics. After college, he worked for his dad’s construction company and drew homes for his dad. He did that for seven years and learned a tremendous amount working with his dad. After that, he started Conceptual Kitchens in the late 90s. When Amy was a freshman she found that there was an overabundance of architects coming out of school not getting jobs. She then decided to get a degree in design and a minor in marketing. The duo came together when Amy walked into the showroom saying that Rob needed to hire her, and he did.

The Business Today

Amy became partner a little over a year ago, after being together for five and half years. Rob and Amy both wear all the hats. They find this beneficial because they really help each other out. They are a four-person organization with two independent subcontractors. They have about 40 clients that they are working with in various states. They finish about 12-15 kitchens a year. The majority of their business comes from word of mouth. They work with five cabinet lines that all make custom cabinets in-house. Rob and Amy both talk with the client to get a feel for what they want, and then have a design-off. They both come up with their own interpretation of the client's desires and present each of their ideas to see which kitchen the customer wants. As far as budget goes, they total appliances and cabinets with a ballpark figure and then get into more specifics to get a feel for the clients reaction. The three factors that help decide which cabinet manufacturer they’re going to work with are budget, lead time, and finish.

To learn more about Conceptual Kitchens visit their website and Instagram @ckandm.

Upcoming Events

BD West – April 4 – 5

High Point Market – April 14 – 18

HD Expo – May 2 – 4

ICFF – May 20 – 23

NeoCon – June 11 – 13

Wrap Up

If you would like to hear more episodes, please visit us on iTunes or on our website at TheChaiseLoungePodcast.com. Lastly, find The Chaise Lounge on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter or post a review on iTunes, you may even hear your review read live on our next podcast. With that said keep dreaming big, and keep designing a great design business. See ya!

Danielle Sylvia: 30 Under 30

Today in The Lounge, Nick chats with Danielle Sylvia, a recipient of NKBA’s “30 Under 30” award at 2018’s KBIS convention. She talks about what got her interested in interior design, how she got started, and what her plans are for the future.

Getting to Know Danielle

Danielle grew up in Rochester, Massachusetts. She was always interested in interior design from having watched HGTV at age seven and building homes in The Sims computer game. When she’s not working, she’s chilling out at her new home or working on decorating it. She enjoys cranberry vodkas and wearing rings or anything made from rose gold.

Coastal Living

Danielle went to Point Loma Nazarene University in California for a Bachelor’s Degree in Arts and Interior Design. She got two internships during her schooling first by applying then providing a portfolio of her school projects during the interview.

Now, Danielle has moved back to her hometown in Massachusetts where she works for KB Details. She works on projects from the concept stage to the installation. Her designs attempt to incorporate classic looks with modern styles and she hopes to incorporate some of the inspiration she got from KBIS in her designs moving forward.

To learn more about KB Details, visit kbdetails.com. You can also check out their Facebook page at www.facebook.com/kbdetails

Visit Danielle on her personal Instagram page @danielle__sylvia.

Upcoming Events

BD West – April 4 – 5

High Point Market – April 14 – 18

HD Expo – May 2 – 4

ICFF – May 20 – 23

NeoCon – June 11 – 13

Wrap Up

If you would like to hear more episodes, please visit us on iTunes or on our website at TheChaiseLoungePodcast.com. Lastly, find The Chaise Lounge on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter or post a review on iTunes, you may even hear your review read live on our next podcast. With that said keep dreaming big, and keep designing a great design business. See ya!

Kendall Simmons: Southern Charm with an Edge

Today in The Lounge, Nick talks to Kendall Simmons of Kendall Simmons Interiors, Southern charm with an edge. Kendall talks about her journey to design, how she developed and grew her business, and plans for the future (hint: E-Design!).

Kendall's Journey to Design

Kendall was born in Elizabethtown, Kentucky, but lived in Tennessee for high school and has relocated back to Nashville, and loves it there. She grew up in a home with a very artful and creative mother and believes this is where her interest in design developed. She has traveled all over the world and feels that when you are limited in language by being in another country or culture, you become an observer and really pay attention to lots of visual information. Kendall knew she wanted to pursue design in college and said she was able to intern during the summers for a few weeks at a time. During these internships, she felt she really learned valuable information about what she did and didn’t want to do. 

Kendall moved to New York after college for a job with Campion Platt (an architecture firm). She then returned to Tennessee and took a job with McAlpin (an interior design and architecture firm) and got a world of knowledge and experience. She then opened her own firm and has had it for 4 years now. Kendall says going off on her own was like “jumping off a cliff,” but after contemplating it over a year she gave notice and jumped in. Doubt immediately filled her mind until she received 2 emails pretty quickly asking for her help to design spaces. She’s glad she did not open the business too soon and admits the timing was “serendipitous.” Kendall’s upbringing in Nashville gave her a splash of Southern Charm and it’s combined with the “edge” of her New York experience and her younger clients’ perspectives. The perfect combination!

The Company

Kendall Simmons Interiors is run by just her and her husband, Kane, who helps with business development, management and outreach - this helps free up her time to be creative. She has had some interns, but these have not been consistent, so she doesn’t rely on them at this time. Although Kendall admits she does not really do any “true” marketing, she has found success in other ways. Her husband, Kane, will outreach to bloggers and other individuals and companies they think will be a good collaboration. Kendall is also very involved with her website and supervises everything on it to make sure it is user-friendly with lots of visuals. She wants it to feel approachable and be a good representation of all the projects she has done and the services she provides.

Insta-Success

Kendall talks with Nick about the success she has had from Instagram and how she has over 9,000 followers. She talks about how most of her clients are young and love the visuals on Instagram and she gets referrals this way. Kendall recommends Instagram updates every day with new content to always keep followers wanting more. Kendall gives 3 tips to build success on Instagram:

1) Invest in getting your work professionally photographed. Check to see if there are local photographers who are looking to build content as well - team together. 

2) Post on a regular schedule. Kendall will post every day, sometimes twice. She says this consistency keeps you in their mind and they want to see what you’ll post next.

3) Devote time - put posting on social media on the calendar every day as a “to-do” item. Make it important and it will pay off.

The Future is Bright in Nashville

Kendall’s younger clients typically have not had experience with a professional interior designer before and some want to do the work on their own and just need a roadmap of how to get there. So, Kendall started a web-based E-Design service for those clients with lower budgets. Interested clients give her a detailed questionnair...

Industry: Personal Branding

Today in The Lounge Nick speaks with Phyllis Harbinger about an important topic, personal branding. As a bit of twist, Nick gets interviewed by Phyllis this week. She asks about how KBIS went for Nick and how doing the podcasts affects Nicks first business, Walls by Design. Both Phyllis and Nick give advice on how to figure out your own personal brand and finally, they discuss Nick's wants in the near future for his podcasts.

How Does Nick Do It All?

During KBIS, Nick was in the midsts of starting his painting podcast, The Business Brush. He was able to work with Home Advisor and interview the guys from This Old House. As a result of Nick traveling a lot, he decided to start a Facebook Live show, every Wednesday called, Where in the World is Nick? Nick says that podcasting as a whole has elevated his name and brand in the industry. His painting business, Walls By Design, is so successful because of his great team paving the way for him to be away and trust they can handle the business. He still hires painters, deals with big picture stuff, and oversees the sales team but most other painting business owners still paint, do all the estimates, and answer the phones.

Building Your Own Personal Brand

When you are building your brand, you want to be successful and reach far. To do that it’s great to know what kind of support system you have in both your business and your life. As you think through where you want to go in your business, you need to know what you want it to look like and you have to be willing to do all the hard work to get it there. What you want may change as your business grows and develops, and that’s okay. Having a business is all about networking and getting people to know who you are, as well as what you can do for them. You can never get to do the big things until you start with the small things. You should also embrace the new technology out there.

In the near future, Nick hopes for opportunities for speaking engagements. He also wants to laser focus on speaking at markets. He hopes to continue to double the listeners and sponsors for his shows. One phrase that helps people understand the personal brand that is Nick May is "What do you want to be known for?" Your name stands for something so, think about what you want to be known for, or known as, and create your niche.

To learn more about Phyllis feel free to email her at [email protected] or check out her website and her book.

Updates

Be sure to listen to next week’s show, it’s a special one, our 200th episode!! Live from the Designers Bloggers Conference.

Resources

Design Manager 30-day free trial plus a 90-day money back guarantee only for Chaise Lounge listeners.

Porcelanosa They don’t just to tile, they also do cabinetry, fixtures, faucets, shower enclosures and building supplies.

Upcoming Events

BD West – April 4 – 5

High Point Market – April 14 – 18

HD Expo – May 2 – 4

ICFF – May 20 – 23

NeoCon – June 11 – 13

Wrap Up

If you would like to hear more episodes, please visit us on iTunes or on our website at TheChaiseLoungePodcast.com. Lastly, find The Chaise Lounge on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter or post a review on iTunes, you may even hear your review read live on our next podcast. With that said keep dreaming big, and keep designing a great design business. See ya!