In the last episode of 2025 the To-The-Trade podcast from the Interior Design Community, hosts Laurie Laizure and Nile Johnson get real about what it takes to support design pros, and where the business of interior design is heading next. Laurie opens by thanking Nile for the behind-the-scenes work that goes into the show, from guest vetting to shaping questions that actually serve working designers.

A big theme is advocacy, and specifically, trust. Laurie shares that a primary focus going into 2026 is helping more people “know and trust” designers because trust is what converts into clients. She also calls out the role manufacturers can play by investing in design business education and marketing support so that designers can sell with more confidence and product backing.

They also talk about money in a grounded way. Laurie references an ASID jobs report showing higher average salaries than in past years, but stresses that even improved averages can still fall short of a living wage in many of the markets where designers work. That leads into a larger point, the industry needs more respect, better compensation, and stronger collaboration across trades, vendors, brands, contractors, and clients.

One practical concern they raise is the volatility of health insurance costs. Laurie flags that changes to Affordable Care Act subsidies could impact self-employed designers, with some estimating that costs could jump dramatically, putting real pressure on small design businesses. Nile adds that insurance costs can still feel unpredictable, especially when it comes to emergency care pricing.

From there, the conversation gets very tactical about how designers can protect revenue and increase project value without burning clients out. They dig into why clients sometimes skip an accessories package at the end, often it is budget anxiety and decision fatigue after months of choices. One solution, phase it. Build in follow-ups at 6 to 9 months to revisit adjacent spaces, accessories, or even the exterior plan once the client has recovered mentally and financially.

They offer a clever visual sales tactic, too, using AI photo editing to show clients “with vs without” accessories and art, so the finishing touches are no longer abstract. When clients can literally see what disappears when they cut accessories, it becomes easier to justify the full scope.

Then Laurie delivers a decisive “ROI” mindset shift: designers are building equity in clients’ homes. She suggests creating an investment guide using an Excel list of past projects, comparing home values from project start to today, and using that data to talk about how your work increases net worth. That confidence is key when clients ask for discounts, because the equity upside goes into their pocket, not yours.

Finally, they zoom out to community culture, learning, and leadership. They talk about embracing imperfection, asking questions like 'markup vs. margin,' and sharing failures so newer designers do not have to spend a decade figuring everything out alone. Laurie and Nile close with a holiday send-off and a big announcement, Nile will serve as a Style Squad ambassador for Design Edge as the podcast heads into its third season.

In this To-The-Trade podcast episode, host Laurie Laizure interviews Montreal-based interior designer Romina Tina Fontana of Fontana & Company about how her background in marketing and graphic design influences her approach to running her studio. After nearly twenty years in advertising, working with major agencies and brands, Romina shifted into interior design by photographing her own home and friends’ houses. A behind-the-scenes Instagram story caught the attention of HGTV editors, who featured her Victorian “bachelorette pad,” helping to launch her interior design career.

Romina discusses how she treats her business like a brand, using a consistent palette of yellows and greens and a custom illustration in her logo. She depends on a detailed ten-phase process document that reflects her services agreement. Whenever she has allowed a client to pressure her into skipping or changing a phase, problems have resulted, so she now safeguards that structure and improves it after each project. She has even added a specification phase to emphasize the technical details involved in choosing fixtures and fittings.

A significant theme is photography as a strategic business tool. Drawing on her advertising experience, Romina budgets for professional images on nearly every project, sometimes waiting for the right season to show a home at its best. She collaborates with trusted photographers and editorial stylists, like Me and Mo in Toronto, to create vertical vignettes that work for magazines. One Rosedale project styled and shot this way was later published, clearly showing a return on her marketing investment. Her advice to designers is to set aside photo funds from the start and invest in experienced stylists, especially early in their careers.

The conversation also covers collaboration with trades, the peer community, and client communication. Romina loves her trades, invites their expertise, and even uses a “love your trades” hashtag. She shares how a London trip with Christopher Farr Cloth turned into an ongoing WhatsApp support group for twenty-five designers, where they talk candidly about billing and custom work. On the client side, she runs Monday and Friday status meetings and sends Friday updates, often by audio message, so clients head into the weekend feeling informed.

Finally, Romina and Laurie emphasize the importance of insurance. Romina maintains a binder of coverage for herself and every trade on major projects, while Laurie advises designers and their virtual assistants to carefully consider liability and business structure, especially when managing procurement. It offers a grounded perspective on the business side of interior design, combining creativity with real-world risk management.

In this To-The-Trade podcast episode, Laurie Laizure and Nile Johnson interview DC-based designer Isy Jackson, founder of Chelt Interiors, about British-inspired homes, antiques, and sustainable business habits for design pros.

Isy explains how her creative roots in the UK, from a fashion sketching Nana to parents who flipped houses and a stepfather in high-end tiling and crystal, taught her to see both structure and beauty in interiors. She describes her style as layered and lived-in, with patina, books, and dogs that make spaces feel welcoming rather than staged.

The conversation dives into antiques and sourcing strategies. Before suggesting changes, Isy tours a client’s home to identify what is truly sentimental and must stay. Only then does she bring in estate sales, Georgetown shops, and auction houses like Sloan and Kenyon, Weschler’s, and Quinns, always setting a maximum budget and aiming to bid around half the low estimate. Hence, clients get value without losing control in the auction rush.

Holiday decorating shows up as both joy and revenue. Isy and Laurie talk about how seasonal installs can take over one to two months. Still, once decor comes down, clients suddenly see bare rooms and are ready for the next project, making holidays an innovative moment for designers to drive marketing and retention.

On money and client transparency, Isy walks through her pricing strategies for designers who want to maintain high trust. She currently bills hourly with frequent invoices so clients always know where they stand, then splits the margin on trade discounts to show how much she saves them below retail. She also uses a room-by-room budget spreadsheet and an investment guide with low, medium, and high ranges, which helps clients understand realistic spending and prioritize investments.

Finally, the group tackles overwhelm and boundaries. Laurie describes the cure for overwhelm as true “nothingness,” a reminder that creative energy needs rest, especially during holiday crunch season. Isy shares how communication, personality awareness, and a service mindset help her navigate client and trade conflicts without burning out. The result is an interior designer tips-packed episode on client management for designers who love antiques, history, and thoughtful homes.

In this episode of the To-The-Trade interior design podcast, host Laurie Laizure welcomes Los Angeles-based designer and Kitchen Design Innovator of the Year, Shannon Ggem. Shannon shares how her bi-coastal practice blends New England sensibilities, antiques, and California ease, and how she uses biophilic or dopamine-driven design to connect people to nature and the makers behind their homes.

Laurie and Shannon dive deep into empathy as a core business skill in interior design. Shannon explains how highly sensitive, empathic designers can almost read a client’s mind, and why that is both a gift and a trap. She walks through the specific language she uses in client management for designers, such as telling clients they cannot hurt her feelings and having couples rank choices on a scale to make decisions clearer and faster.

The conversation shifts into pricing strategies for designers and the fear many clients have around being “sold to.” Laurie pushes back on the big box narrative that designers are expensive middlemen, contrasting it with heavily marketed, value-engineered retail. Shannon opens up about her responsibility to vet factories, materials, and human rights, and why she refuses to sell low-quality products that will fail and damage trust.

They also tackle overdelivery, shaving hours, and how constant unpaid emotional labor leads to burnout and resentment. Real stories about showing 167 sconces, clients chasing dupes and bargain antiques, and brands navigating tariffs all highlight why the designer’s professional filter matters. Shannon closes by calling designers to clean up their business practices, educate clients upfront on budgets and fees, extend empathy to vendors and trades, and protect their own boundaries so they can keep serving at a high level.

Designer and UA Designs founder Sarah Brohm joins Laurie Laizure on the To-The-Trade for real talk on process, pricing, and growth. Sarah’s nursing background shaped her bias for systems and client care, which shows up in selection trackers, job site codes, and contractor-first communication that keeps clients out of the weeds.

The firm averages about 15 whole homes per year, aiming to have the design complete by framing walkthroughs, then rolling right into furnishings. Their flat design fee is based on estimated hours multiplied by the studio rate and includes two revisions, with extras billed as needed. Fit checks up front ensure budget alignment and trust.

To guard margins, Sarah runs EOS and reviews invoicing, budgets, and profitability weekly. As expectations for CAD, SketchUp, Enscape, and Revit have grown, the team increases planned hours and runs periodic time studies so pricing stays honest.

Client experience is formalized. UA Designs offers a certificate of completion and price transparency guarantees, prioritizing rapport and a finish-line mindset.

The studio’s kitchens and cabinetry division reduces vendor fatigue and yields cohesive results by keeping a single visionary in charge of casework, finishes, and furnishings. Trade shows, lunch-and-learns, and monthly education keep the whole team sharp.

On AI, Sarah says designers should use it more effectively, especially to sync changes across platforms and to eliminate redundant tasks, freeing up time for design. Looking forward, she wants fewer projects with deeper scope, ultra-dialed installs, a larger studio, and, eventually, an integrated design-build offering.

On this episode of the To-The-Trade interior design podcast, host Laurie Laizure and co-host Nile Johnson welcome SEO pioneer Ross Dunn for real talk on how search is shifting for the trade. Ross explains why he prefers “answer engine optimization,” and how AI overviews assemble responses by fanning out to multiple queries, which reshapes how content should be planned. Designers should build topical hubs that cover the real questions clients ask, not just pretty pictures.

From the website basics, Ross and Laurie highlight common issues on design sites, such as missing service areas, thin project pages, and unlabeled images. They suggest including descriptive copy for each project, using meaningful file names, and adding human-readable alt text that benefits screen readers and search engines.

For local SEO, Ross emphasizes hyperlocal proof, such as community sponsorships and charitable ties, that generate authentic mentions and links. Social mentions can be influential, but platforms with restricted access are unreliable signals. Reviews, including video reviews, are powerful tools for building trust in the interior design business.

Operational must-dos for the episode include updating WordPress, maintaining 90-day rolling backups, testing contact forms monthly to prevent losing leads, and using Google Search Console since third-party rank reporting is now limited. GA4 should track conversions that represent genuine leads, not vanity metrics. For performance, Ross advises designers to use GTmetrix and emphasizes that speed keeps prospects engaged.

He also promotes his new SEO Grok resource and reminds listeners of his long-running SEO 101 podcast for ongoing learning. Designers seeking sustainable visibility should continue publishing case-study style project pages, include genuine words, and build authority gradually.

This episode of the To-The-Trade highlights designer Dara Segbefia, principal of The Zen Experience, whose holistic interiors focus on mental health and wellbeing. Her specialty, transforming teacher lounges and school spaces, began with a project connected to her daughter, Zen, and a principal client. It expanded after teachers said they finally felt seen and respected in a space designed for them.

Dara explains how improved staff energy influences students, transforming lounges into hubs that support relaxation, collaboration, and daily functioning, including small but important wins like adding a second microwave and planning for both introverts and extroverts.

We also explore the interior design business. Laurie and Dara speak openly about pricing and safeguarding margins, including the idea of a 10 percent admin fee to cover unavoidable project friction, documentation, and supplies, so resentment doesn’t arise when profit diminishes.

For client management, Dara shares the systems that keep her grounded, including a morning routine that avoids social media and email, skipping morning meetings, and aligning with clients who respect her boundaries. Community matters too, from designer meetups to accountability voice notes that lighten the load.

The episode closes with real-world operations, featuring a project manager who handles logistics and time tracking, allowing Dara to stay in her creative lane. Additionally, a field story is shared that proves why humor is sometimes the only tool left when an installation goes sideways.

Dara also shares a future goal: establishing a nonprofit arm to serve schools without budgets, because design dignity should not be dependent on zip code.

In this To-The-Trade podcast conversation, designer and former corporate marketer Rasheeda Gray explains how she transformed a light-bulb staging moment into a successful studio, Gray Space Interiors. Her home sold in three hours, transforming a long-time hobby into a clear pathway forward in 2016. Rasheeda spent three years building the firm at night while maintaining her day job, then exited corporate in 2019. She openly discusses burning through savings faster than expected and then pushing through the early pandemic to achieve one of her best years. The lesson is simple: perseverance and planning matter. Today, her team operates using systems such as a CRM with automated qualifiers, Design Files for boards and management, and QuickBooks for financial clarity. She monitors cash flow constantly and expects her team to be familiar with the numbers. Her offer ladder maintains steady revenue, with full-service options for larger projects and virtual design for clients with limited budgets. eDesign serves as a profit center that stabilizes cash flow. For client management, Rasheeda uses an intake questionnaire, a 15-minute screening, and will walk away during proposals if fit or process alignment isn’t present. Protecting the business and the team is a priority. Media presence is important but in a targeted way. TV appearances on HGTV, A&E, and Magnolia increased visibility, but local morning news segments are more effective for conversions. She actively pitches and dedicates roughly 20 to 25 percent of her time to marketing. Her parting advice to design professionals is to operate based on strategy. Plan the year and quarter, focus on what you love and delegate the rest, and hold yourself accountable with KPIs to enable course correction. 

On this episode of the To-The-Trade  podcast, Laurie Laizure and Nile Johnson sit down with Philadelphia-area independent rep and company owner, Jason Levy, who grew up in the trade through a Kravet family franchise and now blends residential and commercial support for designers. He positions himself as a solutionist, a rep who turns twenty conversations into one, sourcing options fast, handling specs, stock, codes, and finishes so designers stay in the profitable part of the project.

Speed and availability are Jason’s edge. He answers after hours, which once landed a Saturday emergency call that grew into a career-defining, multi-scope project. He aims to be known as the fastest rep alive, using technology and solid CRM habits to keep designers moving.

Jason also meets designers where they are, literally and digitally. Rather than over-visiting during a busy summer, he invested in humorous video content with a pro videographer to connect with emerging designers while staying valuable to seasoned pros, showing new programs like a domestically made, quick-turn machine-tufted rug line.

The conversation addresses industry consolidation, the customer experience, and how effective communication, empathy, and product knowledge foster trust. Jason urges representatives to thoroughly research firms and project types, then provide precise, code-smart solutions, whether for hospitality, healthcare, or senior living. Forecasting, he says, starts with watching what firms publish and remembering preferences at the designer level.

A heartfelt moment: Jason’s outlook was shaped by his late mother, a beloved rep whose clients became family, and by a hospitality mindset inspired by “unreasonable” service. Takeaways for the business of interior design, client management for designers, and operations, all anchored in getting answers fast and caring deeply.

Beth Dotolo and Carolina V. Gentry of Pulp Design Studios explain how they manage a firm across Dallas and Seattle, sharing goals, standardized processes, and similar revenue profiles. Their rule of thumb for hiring is straightforward: when leadership spends too much time on high-value design work, they hire or reassign to ensure the right people handle the right tasks. They prioritize investing in team compensation and career paths to maintain their culture and output.

Their main theme is building wealth beyond just fees. Instead of spending on flashy things, Pulp invests surplus funds into assets, like purchasing their Dallas building and a Palm Springs property they renovated into an Airbnb. The focus is on long-term stability, not quick fame. The showhouse segment also provides a creative perspective, where constraints led to memorable design features, such as a secret door and a moody lounge, which generated industry buzz and new business.

Decision-making is structured. Beth tends to approve, Carolina assesses feasibility, and both rely on documented five- to fifteen-year plans with a strategist. Operationally, the team is comfortable working remotely, using cloud-based systems and simple communication tools so both offices can support each other during workload spikes. The episode offers interior designer tips on partnership, pricing strategy, resource planning, and marketing through action, not just posting.