TRANSCRIPT
Michelle Lynne
Welcome to design for the creative mind, a podcast for interior designers and creative entrepreneurs to run their business with purpose, efficiency and passion. Because, well, every design is different, the process should remain the same. Prepare yourself for some good conversations with amazing guests, a dash of Jesus and a touch of the woowoo. And probably a swear word or two.If you're ready to stop trading your time for money, and enjoy your interior design business, you are in the right place. I'm your host, Michelle Lynne. And now, every body, hello, hello, it's so good to be back.
Michelle Lynne
For those of you who don't know, I put on for about a month by took some time, stepped back from the podcast and wanted to evaluate and give it some strategy. So originally, I had started the podcast as just kind of a an experiment, one where I could share content with the interior design industry, one where I could connect people, interview some really badass individuals, and share with you some of my experience as an interior designer who has gone through all sorts of ups and downs in an interior design business. So done was better than perfect, which is how I ended it. Last month, I built the jet as I flew it. And now it's time to uplevel. So just like anything in business, y'all if you wait for something to be perfect, you're never going to introduce it. So I had to practice what I preached. So for those of you who don't know who I am, my name is Michelle Lynn. And I am the owner and CEO of ML Interiors Group, which is an award winning interior design firm in Dallas, Texas. And because that business has finally been managed, like a business, I was able to step away, not completely, I still have it, I'm still sitting in the studio, but I was able to step away and create a platform are another business where I can serve interior designers and teach them about the business of their interior design business. So I've been featured in Forbes modern luxury Luxe other publications. And I'm a trusted adviser to small business owners in the design industry. And really, the people they serve are those who are making five figures in revenue, and want to scale to multiple six figures in revenue and take home a nice profit and have a life and have passionate about the interior design business again. So if you're here and you're listening, I know who you are. Okay, I know that you love this work. And this is where you're supposed to be, it's a calling for you. You change people's lives with beautiful organized spaces, you create a refuge for your clients where they can begin and end their day in a sanctuary. Okay, so they are their best self at the beginning and end of the day. But because of that they can be a better self in the middle of the day. So I've gone through a couple of experiences in my life. One was a turning point in 2013, I had been in corporate America in two different industries completely separate from interior design. I started my business in 2008. The year we got married, bought a house, started my business, and then the market crashed. But I was determined to make this work, I started my business. And a lot of my focus was home staging. Well actually, like 90% of my business was staging, I did a little bit of decorating and a little bit of organizing. So in 2013, here in Dallas, and this is all gonna make sense to you in a minute. In 2013. And Dallas, the real estate market was on fire to the point where a realtor would call on let's say, a Thursday, and it's a hey, can you come out and help me stage so and so's house? It's occupied. We don't need any inventory or anything. We just need to Josette and like get rid of some stuff and just you know, get the house ready to sell. Tell him what else I need to do. So I'd have that on the calendar. And then they'd call me the following week saying Michelle, I need to cancel that appointment because I put a coming soon sign in their yard and I have three offers. So y'all this happened over and over and over again. So I was literally just freaking out because holy crap, how am I going to pay the bills? How am I going to pay my team like staging dried up.
Michelle Lynne
I had 3000 square feet of warehouse inventory. I had to liquidate all of it, and how to do a major pivot and there was no way in heck that I was going to go back into corporate. Okay, so I was determined I was going to make this work. So I pivoted to design or decorating basically, it was just whatever I could do to make it work. I was 2013 and 2014, I came home and I think it was, it was cold outside. So it was winter in Dallas. So that leaves it like two weeks, like a two week opening. But I can still picture walking in the door at my old house, walking in the door and just being bone tired, and beat down and just miserable. I was working my fingers raw, not even able to keep my clients happy. There was always something wrong. Not making enough money, like, you know, I came out of corporate and I had a certain lifestyle I did not want to go back to you know, I like to get my nails done every two weeks. I couldn't even afford to do that. So there were just these things that were not working. And I didn't even take my coat off. And I just sat down on the ground and cried. Like I was in a pool of tears. And so I just thought to myself, this is not sustainable. This is not sustainable. I've got to figure this out. So I started calling around asking other designers like, can you help me? Can I come shadow you? Can I like? I hate to say it, but I did ask can I pick your brain? Okay, that's like the worst thing ever. But I did I just I needed help. There's no pricing. How do you price for this? Just all the things. And y'all, it was Crickets. Crickets. Nobody called back. Nobody offered to help. And I was just like, Okay, this is this is horrible. This is absolutely horrible. So I promised myself, I'm gonna figure this out. I'm just gonna put on my big girl panties. Take a deep breath and figure this out. And when I do, I'm going to share it with others because this is baloney. Okay, yes, I love Jesus. But I swear a little bit, but I try not to in case you've got kids in the car, and you're listening to this. But this is baloney. Women need to support women, we need to lift each other up. We need to surround ourselves with fierce fighting women who are not fighting amongst ourselves but fighting for each other.
Michelle Lynne
Simplify your marketing, simplify your life. If you are an interior designer who is serious about growth, you must check out Sightmark it is an all in one marketing and sales tool. And it's made just for interior designers. growth comes standard. With customer relationship manager. You can attract, convert and retain clients by nurturing your relationships. Email marketing is to create, grow and maintain a healthy email list. A social media planner allows you to grow your audience and engagement and it has artificial intelligence. A sales pipeline manager you can track leads follow up like a pro and you can close more deals. There's plenty of marketing automation, where if you want to send an email update to your client at a certain point in your project, you can send them a congratulations email when a new deal is closed. And welcome on onboarding by pre planning it.Would you like to unify your inbox, you can have all of your emails, texts, social direct messaging, a website, chat bot all in one inbox. So you're not having to go back and forth between your email and your DMS on your social media, text messaging, higher open rates and lower opt out rates. It's an amazing way to communicate with potential leads as well as current clients. And it's all documented through this platform, calendar booking reputation management of virtual phone number, like I mentioned, a web chat widget, artificial intelligence powered content, you just tweak it and make it sound more like you. There's forms and surveys so you can gather crucial information from clients and leads. And there's an exclusive learning content built into this platform. I can't say enough about Sightmark. I use it myself in my interior design business. I've been looking for this platform for over a decade. In all transparency. I'm a co founder. That's just like furniture. If you can't find it, you customize and design it. So check out my sidebar arc.com start your 14 day trial and life will never be the same, I promise.
Michelle Lynne
Okay, so I was I was determined. So I went back to the drawing board to create a freaking company. Okay, not this little hobby that, you know, started to make some money and, and all the things it was like this, I meant business like literally, there was no giving up. So systems processes, specialized software investment. Like, let's get this stuff done. I knew from corporate that's what I needed to do. I just hadn't done it. Okay, probably a little bit too much ego at the time. So figuring this out. This was 2014 1516 1718. And there was a mentor that stepped up had a mastermind program that was very enlightening. Started to create this little core of women and kind of polished a few things off confirmed that I what I was doing was on the right track and all the things like Where were you like five years ago, but anyway, 2018 Okay, fast forward. June 2018. My husband and I went to Michigan to adopt my now daughter. Okay, Genevieve Grace was born. June 13 2018. If you guys can imagine the paperwork and the details that goes into an adoption, taking a child across state lines. We were in Michigan Detroit for 30 days. My team didn't call. I had to call them. Hey, y'all what's going on? At the time, I had two designers and an office manager working with me. Hey, guys, everything Okay? Yep. Michelle, we're just following the process is following the instructions. Everything that we have, like Okay, call me if you need me. Crickets. Okay, these were good crickets, though. These were good crickets. So they weren't calling. I thought, Okay, what we'll do and something right, came back, took the next month off.
Michelle Lynne
I was back in Texas. So I could go into the studio, but I wasn't needed. Oh, well , and that's when I realized that not only was my daughter born, but so was this adventure of coaching and mentoring other interior designers on the business of interior design. So I was thinking, Okay, well, this is awesome. So I'm a mom now. Okay, like a brand new mom. Like, not only was that freaky, but I'm a mom and a business owner. And this is cool, because I can teach other moms that they can have it all. And y'all. I mean, like, you can have it all. It's in bits and pieces and stops and starts, but for the most part, you can go home as a mom, okay, whether that's at 330 carpool or, or if it's five o'clock, because you're walking in the door from a job site or whatever. And you can be present with your family, but there's no mom guilt. You can go home and be fully present. Because you know, your business is on point when you're running it with systems and processes, and procedures. And just like all the things that because every project is different, right? Every project is different, but the process remains the same. So not only am I getting paid well, not only can I be a mom, I'm a better wife, because I'm not distracted. And I thought this is what I want to share with other women. This is my calling. This is my mission. This is where I know the Lord has me. Because this is what women should do for women. Heck, this is what society should basically do. But let's just focus on our little corner of the world, right? So it can shift our industry it can shift the narrative for working moms. And by the way, y'all I did not go to school for interior design. So this is literally a roadmap that so many other can relate to kind of finding out like what's actually possible. I went from that puddle of tears on the floor, like sobbing like a baby to actually having a baby. Well, not technically, but I have one now. Having a baby, having a business, having a team having the opportunity to serve others. I went from five figure revenue. Okay, so if you think about that, that's like, the revenue was maybe 80,000 But I wasn't taking home shizzle like I seriously I was able to cover the bills, pardon the mortgage, the landscaper like how my husband and I had things split up that was about it. There was nothing left over. Okay, so from five figures scraping it tie eight to multiple six figures. Okay, and then we've pushed into the sevens, but let's focus on the sixes, multiple six figures. And I did it in, I think it was about three or four years. Okay, I took that information. And I made this into what a big girl business looks like. Okay, baby designers to Big Girls, big girl panties to big girl business. I was so excited. And now that's what I can teach baby designers. Okay. I think I take that term from Luanne negara with a well designed business, baby designers, it doesn't mean that you are fresh out of school, it just means that your baby in the business. So I would work for wine, right when I was on the puddle of tears on the floor, was working for 75 bucks an hour. And I was shopping at home goods for my clients. That is not sustainable. So what's possible? What's possible now, I love the fact that I can teach interior designers how to scale their business from five to multiple six in a year. That's where I am led to be.
Michelle Lynne
I am so very grateful for the pain and the heartache that I had to endure, so that I can be here with you all right now. Why? Why do we do what we want to do? We create beauty. We create what feels like a hug when somebody walks into their room. Isn't that a beautiful thing that we get paid for? That we get to do, we can focus better when our business is running itself. And we can give our clients better service now, we can take vacations without a laptop on the beach. Working. So that's that's what I want to share in this next iteration of the podcast, or at least this season is Mythbusters just the framework of a business, all the things so thank you for being here with me. I sure would appreciate if you would take the time to drop a review. Wherever you're listening to this. It really does help to keep the podcast relevant. And DM me at designed for the creative mind. Okay, or ml interiors group on Instagram, shoot me a note say hello. This is a conversation. And I really look forward to getting to know you guys. In the meantime, you can head on over to my Facebook group. It's called the interior designers business Launchpad. It's free. Okay, I go live there on a regular basis as well. I have guests that go in there. But this is all about business y'all all about the business of interior design. And if you want to know more about the paid program, it's called the interior design business bakery. I'm here for you. And I look forward to our next episode together. Take care, y'all.
Michelle Lynne
Hey, y'all. If you love the show and find it useful, I would really appreciate it if you would share with your friends and followers. And if you like what you're hearing, want to put a face with the name and get even more business advice than join me in my Facebook group. The interior designers business launch pack. Yeah, I know it's Facebook, but just come on in for the training and then leave without scrolling your feet. It's fine. I promise you'll enjoy it. And finally, I hear it's good for business to get ratings on your podcast. So please drop yours on whatever platform you use to listen to this. We're all about community over competition. So let's work on elevating our industry, one designer at a time. See you next time.
