This Years’ Summit Speakers: You Don’t Want to Miss These Industry Experts

Our Interior Design Business Summit speakers are confirmed and travel arrangements have been MADE. This list features industry experts from across the country, and they’re all ready to share their wealth of knowledge with you! 

The interior design industry is a big one, and there’s plenty of room for everyone to be as successful as they want to be. Keep reading to learn who will be at this years’ Summit, and how their industry experience will help you achieve your interior design business goals. 

Rick Campos: The Client Experience

This guy has it all figured out. And thankfully, he loves sharing. As you know, the overall experience you deliver to your clients makes a huge impact on your business. That’s why Rick is coming to share the art of perfecting this element of your business.

Rick is a self proclaimed “recovering interior designer” turned business strategist. He’s an industry leader on a mission to support and promote the rise of the interior design community. 

In 2018 Rick traded his tape measure for a microphone and launched Design Biz Survival Guide, a multi faceted platform that includes a podcast, consulting services, an online community, and a lecture series all designed to inform and inspire interior design professionals.

With over a decade of experience in the business of luxury residential interior design, Rick leverages his lessons learned to inform and empower design entrepreneurs to build better, more profitable businesses. 

Robin Burrill: Building a Team

Your team, whether it’s a big one or a small one, is the essence of your brand. There’s much more to creating a team than just assembling talented designers. Robin’s a fellow business-minded designer with lots of knowledge on this subject, and she’s ready to help fellow designers navigate their way to developing the best team possible. 

Robin Burrill is the CEO and Principal Designer of the first and only NARI-accredited design-build firm in Texas, Signature Home Services. She joined her husband in his remodeling business in 2002, bringing the residential firm to its current design-build business model. The couple has worked with hundreds of homeowners in Tarrant County to create what they call your "return on enjoyment."

Robin guides clients to uncover their priorities and achieve the look and feel they truly want. She's known for her timeless approach to interior design, yet she gracefully weaves in client taste and preferences to create spaces that are each a unique reflection of the connection she makes. 

You can see the impact of Robin's work in the projects that have won local, state and national awards as well as media coverage. Her company has won many additional accolades for customer service and business acumen.

Robin started in design after completing her BA in interior design at the University of North Texas. She worked in commercial design before joining her husband, Rob. She's also a member of the American Society of Interior Designers (ASID), is a Registered Interior Designer with the state of Texas, is a member of IDS, has her Certified Aging in Place (CAPS) designation and is NCIDQ Certified.

Megan and Debbie: Managing Client Expectations

Speaking of teams… I couldn’t have a better one myself! I’d be lost without these two gems. My MLIG team wouldn’t be the successful brand it is today without them. So much of our success hinges upon how we interact with our clients, both the loveliest ones and the most challenging ones. Megan and Debbie will help you figure out how to do it all. 

Megan fell in love with interior design from a young age and pursued it as a career with her parents’ encouragement. After earning her design degree from Texas State University, her first stint in commercial design felt a little too impersonal, so she decided to pursue residential design instead. 

Her ambitious dedication impressed Michelle so much that Megan earned a coveted spot at ML Interiors Group and was officially brought into the fold in June 2015.

As she gets to know her clients, Megan has a knack for translating their self-expression into exquisite designs. She’s known to gently nudge her clients to explore beyond their comfort zones and make their spaces more fully representative of their character. Adding stylish details and accessories is one of her favorite parts of design.

Megan loves the heartwarming feeling she gets when she finishes a space, and it’s exactly what her client wants. Helping others is second nature to her. Megan lives a big city lifestyle with a small town heart.

Debbie was a stay-at-home mom when she discovered her innate talent for interior design after completing her own major kitchen renovation. The final design was chosen to be showcased on a local home tour, and the recognition spurred her to pursue her newfound passion. She was inspired to take interior design courses and complete several certifications.

Debbie joined ML Interiors Group in January 2014 while she was still in school and has since brought her unique talents for big-picture space planning to the firm. She loves figuring out how to make a specific space work based on each of her client’s unique lifestyle, needs, and preferences.

Debbie also has an acute understanding of the nuances of kid-friendly design after successfully raising 2 young adults at home, so she often brings in the use of performance fabrics and other elements that make the beauty of her designs last. With parents in the Army, Debbie moved many times, exposing her to a vast array of architectural styles and design inspiration. She values peace of mind, wide open spaces, and well-designed closets – the ultimate luxury in life.

Nikki Watson: Home Staging as a Revenue Stream 

Nikki has built an empire in DFW around her home staging company. She literally started at the ground level- as a flooring sales rep- and worked her way to the top. Nikki’s one of the kindest people you’ll ever meet, I always say the only thing bigger than her business is her heart- it’s Texas-sized for sure! 

When she started as a flooring rep, Nikki was working for a chain of five stores in the DFW area. After 10 years of cultivating relationships with realtors and investors, Nikki ventured out on her own, starting what is now the largest home staging company in Texas… and you know we like things big here! The Design Quad empowers home sellers by giving them the necessary information, tools and resources necessary to capitalize on possibly their largest investment ever.perly' preparing properties for sale

Nikki didn’t stop at home staging, though. No, no, she’s the kind of gal that likes to be amazing at as many things as possible. Nikki is also a home builder and has her own flooring and remodeling company. And, she’s a partner in a traveling murder mystery company! There’s almost nothing Nikki doesn’t do. 

If you’re thinking she looks familiar, that’s because Nikki is also a home stager on Buy It or Build It on HGTV. 

Now back to that whole “Texas-sized heart” thing… Nikki recently started a marketing company that hires women who were recently released from prison or rehab. 

Sara Wright: Your Social Media Strategy 

Social media is a mind boggler, but it doesn’t have to be. Sara Wright has this social media stuff down to a science, and she’s ready to spill the beans.

Imagine a cocktail made of equal parts Fortune 500 Consultant, Actor, Screenplay Writer, Athlete, Publisher, and Social Media nerd… poured over a magical mix of emotional intelligence and intuitiveness… pretty AMAZING, right? This human exists! And she’s here to help you learn from her experiences, so you don’t have to spend the time and energy and burn valuable business hours learning on your own.​

Sara Wright has been marketing and branding herself since the ’80s, long before social media marketing even existed. Her aptitude for understanding others based on emotional intelligence and the intuitiveness she has of her audience has helped her attract many “followers” as they’re known today.  Those who were born before 2000, otherwise known as the pre-social media world, will remember these people simply as “friends."

Sara started her career with Accenture, a Fortune Global 500 company that groomed her business acumen. She exercised her creative spirit by pursuing acting at the same time for over eight years, which eventually led her finding her perfect balance of innovation and business prowess in social media management because in time, she found herself managing accounts for some of Hollywood’s biggest names. Ask her for the inside scoop on a few Hollywood names and I’ll bet she’ll break you off a little!

Now the owner of her own award-winning social media and content marketing company, SLW Media, Sara is a Social Media Content Strategist and Brand Management Consultant. She and her team of word wizards work to completely remove the burden of content marketing from their client’s list of tasks, to amplify their brand across the most relevant platforms, and build a captive audience of ideal customers who will bring their businesses success. Because guess what? Gaining a following that yields a great return takes talent, time and strategy. Present Sara with your passion, your business, and your values and if there's magic there (by "magic" we mean the alignment of values) she will celebrate your labor of love with you. Her zest for life, challenges, and new opportunities is truly unmatched. You’ll see… and you’ll become her follower, too.

Join the Fun!

So… yeah. That’s a lot of knowledge in one space! All you have to do is sit back and absorb all of the information these gurus are putting out there. It’s kind of like a big learning party with fellow design-minded humans, all wanting to see you live your best life as a successful design business owner. 

We didn’t want to overwhelm you with too much excitement, but in addition to these incredible experts, there’s also a few more special people waiting in the wings for our special Showhouse Panel moment. All of this is happening during this years’ Interior Design Business Success Summit, happening October 12-14. Join all these incredible industry leaders, and me, by securing your seat right here. See you in Dallas, babes!