Interior Design Business Podcasts - Episode 178

Today’s curated collection of interior design podcasts include episodes from hosts Rhiannon Lee, Tobi Fairley, LuAnn Nigara, Kate Bendewald and Dennis Scully .

Podcast guests include Kayla Teasdale, Tanya Smith-Shiflett, Vita Vygovska, Fred Nicolaus and Ronda Keyson.

5 interior design podcasts to help elevate your interior design business blueprint.

• Designing Spaces - Rhiannon Lee - Kayla Teasdale on Content, Collaboration & Building a Community - 36 min

• The Design You Podcast - Tobi Fairley - How to Sustainably Expand Your Design Business with Tanya Smith-Shiflett - 30 min

• Window Treatments for Profit - LuAnn Nigara - Vita’s Tip in 10 with Vita Vygovska: Is Fear Of Money Holding You Back? - 10 min

• Designer’s Oasis - Kate Bendewald - 3 Core Truths about Running a Design Business - REPLAY - 28 min

• Business of Home - Dennis Scully - The Thursday Show: How modern farmhouse style took over the world, lights out for incandescent bulbs and more - 49 min

Designing Spaces - Rhiannon Lee - Kayla Teasdale on Content, Collaboration & Building a Community - 36 min

In this episode, host Rhiannon Lee sits down with the extraordinarily talented Instagram content creator, Kayla Teasdale from @hausofteasdale. With a style that's described moody, classic, timeless, and always classy, Kayla has made a significant impact on the world of interior design. Hailing from Arizona, USA, she now enjoys life in her stylish Geelong home, Australia, with her Husband Ro, and their fur babe, Bendigo.

Rhiannon explores her background and the roots of her content creation, highlighting the significant influence her move from Arizona to Australia has had on her distinctive interiors. we reveal the highs and lows of full-time content creation, shedding light on the challenges and the rewarding aspects of social media management. Kayla shares insightful tips on securing and fulfilling collaboration opportunities, along with strategies for building a thriving online community and effectively engaging with followers. The conversation turns interesting as they scrutinise the unique differences between US and Australian approaches to interior design. Here, Kayla reflects on how her American heritage intermingles with her new Australian lifestyle, sparking a fascinating evolution in design trends.

The Design You Podcast - Tobi Fairley - How to Sustainably Expand Your Design Business with Tanya Smith-Shiflett - 30 min

In today’s episode, host Tobi Fairley chats with Unique Kitchens & Baths owner Tanya Smith-Shiflett.

Tanya is sharing how to question your clients so you can design something they truly love, how to work within their budget, the principles that have helped her grow and scale her design business, and how to use the economic downturn we’re experiencing as an opportunity to plan for the future.

What You'll Learn From This Episode

• Why Tanya decided to leave her corporate career and start her kitchen and bath business.

• How Unique Kitchens and Baths started growing quicker than Tanya originally anticipated.

• The skills Tanya took from her career that helped her successfully launch her business.

• How to ask the questions that really help you get to know your client.

• Tanya’s advice for all the creatives out there who hate selling.

• How a downturn in the economy is affecting consumer behavior in the design industry.

• 3 avenues for making money that everybody growing a design business needs to know.

Window Treatments for Profit with LuAnn Nigara - LuAnn Nigara - Vita’s Tip in 10 with Vita Vygovska: Is Fear Of Money Holding You Back? - 10 min

Designer’s Oasis - Kate Bendewald - 3 Core Truths about Running a Design Business - REPLAY - 28 min

In this episode, host Kate Bendewald shares: 

• A little about herself 

• Some of the early struggles I experienced 

• But also how I was able to overcome them and turn my little baby designer business into one that thrived and supported me and my family 

• 3 core truths I believe can help you grow in business and accomplish your biggest dreams  

Here’s a Glance at this Episode:

•  [1:40] Why podcasting? I share how if you’re anything like me, you listen on the go, fitting in during kids’ practices/lessons/pickups or while doing laundry, cleaning the house or a million other things. You’re a busy guy or gal!

• [3:20] A little background on me. I’m just a regular old girl! I share my background while living in Austin. I share how I was running out of time to decide what I wanted to major in. Then I learned that there was an “Intro to Interior Design'' summer course at my local community college. I instantly knew that would be my path. I share my early life with my “weekend designer” single mom and how we moved a lot - I mean - a lot 18x’s in 18 years.

• [6:00} I share about my internship with a high - end designer in Austin. We even did a $1M Boat Dock and how I then found my way to Denver working for OZ Architecture. It was a dream. Great team, Energy, buzz, Imagine scenes from The Intern - set designed by Nancy Myers.

• [7:20] I had my first baby and returned to work - severely sleep deprived! - and people started to notice. I thought I was going to get fired. At this point my husband suggested maybe I should go to work for myself - I didn’t see that potential in myself. But he did. 

• [8:30] I did it! I went to work for myself. I share what I didn’t have going for me and then what I DID have going for me! Where did I start? What problems did I encounter? How and why did it “click”?

• [10:00] My business was growing but I was getting burnt out! The running a business part of the design business along with the client work was exhausting. So I had to figure out what to do to “fix” this. I needed to charge more and I knew I provided great service. 

• [12:15} I will tell you what I did (not all at once) but I will share the top 3 things that I did to transform my business. Spoiler: I share much of what I learned inside my Designer’s Oasis Membership.

• [17:42] This is what I want you to know. These are 3 very simple truths I will stand behind until the day that I die. If you can get behind these ideas too, the sky's the limit for you. 

• [18:00] Core Truth #1 - You don’t need to have it all figured out. You will never have all your ducks in a row, so you just need to get going!

• [20:15] Core Truth #2 : There is No one-size fits all for running your design business. Design the business that works within what YOU want. That may be full-home design, specific room design, designer for a day, or agency work - it’s up to you!

• [22:00] Core Truth #3 - Everyone (including you) has a unique set of skills, background, expertise that adds a unique twist to your design POV. It's up to you to uncover this and tell that story. Listen in as I share examples of members inside the Designer’s Oasis Membership and their unique backgrounds. What is your story?

Business of Home - The Thursday Show: How modern farmhouse style took over the world, lights out for incandescent bulbs and more - 49 min

BOH executive editor Fred Nicolaus joins host Dennis Scully to discuss the biggest news in the design industry, including lights out for incandescent bulbs, the collapse of a major trucking business, and a look at what’s going on with Florida real estate. Later, New York Times real estate reporter Ronda Keyson discusses the rise of modern farmhouse style.