Michelle Lynne 0:02
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 Lynn.
Michelle Lynne 0:44
Oh, right. Hello, hello. Hello, everybody. Welcome back to the podcast. This is the design for the creative mind podcast, which is for the business of interior design. And welcome to all creatives as well. So today, we're talking to Susan Gygax, and she is the founder and principal recruiter of spectacle talent partners. Now, spectacle talent Partners is a specialty recruiting firm that provides tailored, full service recruiting. She actually partners with online business owners to make their next sales, marketing or operations hire without spending time like talking to a ton of the wrong people. And she's here today to talk to us about how do you hire for an interior design firm if you don't have to be an online business? So Susan, thank you so much for being here.
Susan 1:33
Yes. So happy to be here. I love what you do here online and your podcast. So thank you for having me. Yeah, it's so much fun. I'm
Michelle Lynne 1:42
looking forward to our conversation. Oh, my gosh, me too. And especially so ironically, and I might have mentioned this to you before is that, before I started my interior design firm, I was actually managing a division of a recruiting firm. Yes.
Susan 1:58
You and I have a vibe, we have a vibe. Yeah, we had a couple of things.
Michelle Lynne 2:03
For sure. It was just like such a completely different world. And then going into interior design. So let's talk about hiring in general. So yeah, I, I keep saying so. That's weird. So so let's talk about hiring for the audience in regards to where do you even start? Yeah, it's just so overwhelming sometimes. Where as you're a solopreneur, you're supposed you think you're supposed to be doing everything, but then you can't make any money because you are doing everything. So as designers, we make more money designing. But now what
Susan 2:42
a great place to start the conversation, because it's so true. And it's so critical. And it's so common. Because the reality is there's so much information out there, it actually becomes very confusing. And then add to that our own self talk about what it means to hire somebody be an employer ads, that your best friends, your business besties horror story about hiring somebody add to that, what I feel is some really bad advice out there in the world. So it's no surprise that businesses really struggle because there's a process much like a design process. There's a process to hiring. And you said something in a recent podcast that I love, and it is the design is unique. The process isn't. It was something like that, that might not be perfect, but it was at
Michelle Lynne 3:42
the top. That's our tagline for design. For the creative mind. It's like every project is different, but the process should be the same. So what you're saying is that the hiring process should be the same for every time. Yes.
Susan 3:52
So to become a simple, predictable process, because if you're going to grow your business to the wildly successful business you want it to be whatever that definition looks for you as an entrepreneur. You're going to need people because this isn't a newsflash, but we'll just say, newsflash, you're not good at everything. Everything. Right, right, right. But the beauty of business is this is the way we were created. We were created to be really good at a few things. And that creates our brilliance in our business. So if we sort of separate ourselves from this idea that while I'm a bootstrapping sort anyway, you know, I can get guilty. Right? We take pride in some of those things. We've always done it
Michelle Lynne 4:45
Dickey Dulles, and I look back and I'm like, Michelle, you were an idiot. Yeah.
Susan 4:50
Yeah, then.
Michelle Lynne 4:53
Yeah, for those of you who are listening that are proud of being like working your ass off and being bootstrapping, and bootstrapping your own business, Let us just tell you right now Susan is here to help you get out of your own way.
Susan 5:06
Because if we think about it this way, what we're actually doing is I call it the CEO ceiling, the ceiling, just put a revenue ceiling, a times ceiling, a client engaging ceiling on our business. Why on earth? Would we do that? Right? And it makes no sense. So once we realize, Oh, crap, I put my own ceiling on myself. So can I say that?
Michelle Lynne 5:37
That's actually kind of gentle compared to what I've said, on the podcast.
Susan 5:45
Then we then there's an empowerment that comes and I'm very specific about language, language is so critical when you talk about culture and business and creating that. But one of the things I try to impress on the clients that I work with, is take your seat as CEO, your CEO, and run around like a chicken with their head foot off, let's think about that. They have meetings, and they have structure and they have plans. But taking your seat as CEO, first of all means you're operating from a place of rest. You're operating from a place of authenticity, you're leveraging your business and your brilliance in a unique way. That's what gets you more clients. Not I can do it. So I should do it. Right? feeling, feeling?
Michelle Lynne 6:31
Yeah, that's so true. Because you have to replicate yourself in order to grow your business. So whether you're hiring another designer, yeah. Which I think is the best place to start, because you can build them out. Well, I mean, other than outsourcing, like your bookkeeping, or something like that, but you can build out your client, your your designer, and duplicate yourself. So you free up some space for you to be the CEO. Because when your brains full, and overwhelmed, and overworked because we're chasing these back orders, and the contractors that don't communicate, get marketing and all of that jazz, it's hard. Yeah, hard, hard,
Susan 7:10
hard, no creative energy, or lacking creative agenda, half done projects, new ideas, they all sit, they all look, you know, languish in that halfway space. So that one, so one of the things I talked about, you said this, it's the one higher multiplier. One of the things I do in my business is before I take on any project, whether it's a contractor employee, we walked through the one higher multiplier, which is my unique assessment, based on my decades of experience, based on all of my interactions with all of the very multimillion multibillion dollar CEOs I work next to and I show small business owners how to connect the dots between their higher and increased revenue. Because if you don't connect those dots, Huh, why are you making a hire? Because you're busy? That's not really a great reason, because you don't like to do it. And it's not really a great reason, either. So
Michelle Lynne 8:10
you can multiply revenue create
Susan 8:12
the height, right? Because we think automation is the answer. And yeah, that helps. But it only helps you doesn't help. Right? Right? Or we think doing it ourselves sort of proves to the world that we can do it. Nobody cares.
Michelle Lynne 8:27
Nobody gives a shit. You're right. And if anything, you're just burning your candle at both ends and burning yourself out faster and faster.
Susan 8:35
Yeah, so there's, so there's a conversation here. So understanding folks are at different stages of business. I like simple. I am a huge fan of simple, predictable processes. That is my jam. So if people were at the proof of concept stage, if paper out those early stages of business where you're a couple of years in probably, and you're still figuring out exactly what your market is exactly what your brilliance is, then you're probably at the stage where hiring a contractor might make sense for your business.
Michelle Lynne 9:14
So what's the difference between hiring a contractor and hiring an employee?
Susan 9:18
Yes, that's a great question. So a contractor by nature is a transactional relationship. An employee by nature is a dynamic relationship. So when you hire a contractor, you it's in this for that sort of scenario, right? So build a website or create a social media strategy or even come up with new ways your bookkeeping, whatever that is, right. So many times, we're hiring people who are specialists, which is a great place to start. And we're engaging them to do a very specific thing for our business. And that's If that's the nature of their relationship began, what
Michelle Lynne 10:02
if it's Sorry to interrupt? No, no? What if it's what if it's somebody that you just want to hire for maybe, I don't know, five to 15 hours to help you with your designs or something like that? Like, would that still be transactional?
Susan 10:17
It depends on how you set up the nature of that relationship. If you just say, Hey, I have this client, and do what you do sort of more taking on their aesthetic or whatever that looks like, then chances are no, you're looking at hiring, you're looking at how your contractor if you don't have a lot of control, because there is employment laws that guide some of these. Right? Right. Right, right. So control is a very big one, when it comes to whether or not somebody is actually an employee or actually a contractor in your business. So depending on the nature of your relationship with that person would determine whether or not they would come in as a contractor or would come in as an employee, if they have other clients. If they have other people they're working with. If you're just looking for them to help you on a very as needed basis, chances are they're a contractor. Perfect
Michelle Lynne 11:09
that that gives us a clarity, because I know that there's some designers who just need help designing. Yep. But want to control the process. Yeah. And say this, this, this and this, you implement it? Yep. That would be contractor.
Susan 11:23
Okay. That would be many times that would be a contractor. You could also, if, on the other hand, you want to hire somebody on a part time basis. There's nothing saying you can't it just depends on the nature of that relationship. Because if you are offering guidance direction, your unique genius. Mm hmm. Probably don't want to do that too long before you bring them sort of into the fold. Exactly. Yeah, because that's about investment. That's your time. That's how you create value over time when you bring people into your business.
Michelle Lynne 11:57
Y'all, this podcast episode was made possible in part by foyer, a lightning fast interior design software that creates photorealistic renderings. I'm not kidding, you can barely tell that it's not a real room. So why leave your beautiful designs up to the imagination of your client, when you can show them what their space is going to look like. You will sign more clients and get more approvals with the software. It's powered by artificial intelligence. And I'll vouch for its ease, because if I can do it, anybody can. Because y'all know that my design team are the ones who do all the work, find them in the show notes. So why do you think people are afraid to bring people on as an employee versus a contractor?
Susan 12:44
Because it feels less scary? It's scary, right? To sort of have this idea that I'm responsible for the livelihood of another human. Yes,
Michelle Lynne 12:56
I was scared shitless when we came on full time, and Megan, right there, and shortly thereafter, it's a big responsibility. Huge,
Susan 13:06
huge, but it's but it doesn't have it, but it's not impossible, nor do you have to bite off the whole thing. Like, there's so many ways it can work effectively. But I think it's scary. Number one, I think it's a mindset issue number two, I think the idea of being an employer, we haven't fully embraced
Michelle Lynne 13:25
that. So we probably haven't embraced our CEO onus before. So we have to really look at ourselves as a CEO, even if it's just a one person shop, and you own that badass or eat in order to bring on an employee. And by the way, Susan, I'm not sure if you knew but that Asri is a technical term.
Susan 13:50
My chair it is I have full confidence. Yeah, I love it. I love it. And that's true. So there's there's not one right way to do this. And so that's the other thing is, I think sometimes we feel as women that we have to do it, right, like, and there's one right way to do this. And that's just bull, because you can create a business that works for you in your life. I just had a meeting with a potential contractor for my own business. And I asked very specific questions. One of the things that I do that's different is, please interview your contractors, even if your buddy says they're the best thing since sliced bread, because that's how you drive outcomes in your business. It's not because you liked them. It's not because they gave you a good marketing package. It's not because they're inexpensive. What outcomes did they get? And how is that success going to help you drive your success? Oh,
Michelle Lynne 14:50
that's a really good point. So even if your best business buddy says you have to hire this web developer You still need to spend time talking to them to ensure that they're going to meet the needs that I need. Not just that they kicked us for what she needed, or hey,
Susan 15:08
because my diff business is different than yours. What I need
Michelle Lynne 15:12
is different than what you need. Well, and the way we communicate. And so there you go. I might, yeah. Hmm. That's a great, that's a great point. Because I know sometimes I just get lazy and I just take a referral. And thankfully, it's worked out so far. But
Susan 15:27
you're right. So referrals can be good, right? A referral isn't necessarily a bad thing. But they're unpredictable. Oh, yeah. Right. Sometimes you've tapped out your referrals, you need something that your network doesn't really have. And if both of those scenarios don't set you up to be successful, the way that hiring someone like me would would do.
Michelle Lynne 15:50
So let's let's dive into that. Because I Why does, okay, trying to take my brain out of this? Why does hiring a recruiter save time and money? So if I wanted to hire a designer? Yep. And I called you and I was, Hey, Susan, I don't have like, I don't even know where to start. But this is what I need. You're gonna tell me Okay, Michelle, well, this is what it's gonna cost. I'm gonna say, well, holy shit, that's crazy. Like, why am I going to pay you that much? But in reality, explain to me how it saves both time and money.
Susan 16:24
Yeah. So you can go out into the market. And kind of what we said before you can you can ask for referrals, you can see who knows who you can go through all of the interview processes, you can go through the resumes, you can look out and even have a great hire. That's that's certainly an option that people have in order to bring people into their business. And it has worked for some people. The challenge is spending that time and time is greater than money. Let's just right. I mean, we've all realized that at this point, I hope, time and money is you are not, that's not a money making task for you and your business. Right, and it has zero predictable outcomes. And in my case, I actually because I believe so much in what I do, it is my reputation as much as it's anybody else's. I offer guarantees around the people that go into people's businesses, because I believe so strongly in the people that I'm helping you find. So what I do is, I cut down all of that time and effort and energy, because I'm already out there. And I give you sort of this intersection of the market, right? So a recruiter like me, I have a pulse on the market, I work to understand your company and the unique aspects of what your company is. So we're getting the right message to the right people. And then we understand the position and how that's going to help you drive revenue. So that's the power of three of hiring a recruiter versus going it alone, or it's not unlike if somebody wanted to redecorate their house. I was thinking the same thing. Yeah, you could watch the videos on YouTube, you can go to Instagram, you can get the books, you could get the pictures you can. And when you do all of that spend all that energy. You're still at zero girl, you haven't figured it out? And and
Michelle Lynne 18:23
and you don't know the pitfalls that you don't know. So is that couch even gonna fit through the front door? You don't think about that as the homeowner much less sometimes as, as a designer, you've probably figured it out because you worried about it as another project? Yes. You can order that one. It's never gonna fit
Susan 18:45
into the house. Yes. Yeah. It's that expertise that you're bringing in so that you can take advantage of speed of momentum. That's two of the hallmarks of the work that I do speed and momentum because you want to be able to move quickly, once you have that competence and clearly a clarity or why don't you move quickly? It's because we don't have confidence and clarity that we slow down. truth, truth, truth, truth. So get the confidence and clarity you get speed momentum. Come on physics. Stay in motion, right. Like there's a reality to that when you start to put this energy out into the market and you start to have these conversations that you can attract and have better conversations with less people. Yes, yes, yes lie that you need a lot of resumes to hire somebody to lie. You don't need to follow the big company tactics lie. You don't need to spend a lot of money on ads lie, all of it. Don't need it hire solving problems you
Michelle Lynne 19:49
don't have. And I think that that's true in regards to the fact that we tell our clients you're hiring a professional to do your home. I wouldn't go color my own hair or fill My own cavity or whatever, why would I try to hire somebody when you have that specialized service? And you've done it like 9 million times? At least 9 million? So yeah, at least I know, for sure, because your gut speaks up about the end of the person that you are starting to represent, even before you've introduced them to us, and you know, whether or not they're needing to be presented. Absolutely. And you probably rule out a million for every one that you present. Absolutely,
Susan 20:31
absolutely. Not only at the top, you only get that you get the top tier, possible candidates out there. And for those who maybe haven't hired before, you know, for some folks who are a little farther along in their business journey, they have a bit of a process, they have interview questions, they have some of those things, but for some people, I will give you the questions to ask, I will guide you through that process, I will link arms with you to make sure that that confidence and clarity is yours through the entire process. And then I don't run away. I'm there for you. So if after the design is done, and I'll be around to show you how to make sure that rug doesn't, you know, stays. How do I fold that like so it looks like that picture in the magazine that I like, do these things to help make sure this actually works for me. Oh, very cool. So
Michelle Lynne 21:22
I love that because I think that that is such a key component is it's nice that you've presented these top four candidates, and I fell in love with these two. But now I don't know what to do. Or I don't even know what questions I need to be asking just because I've never done this before. That's so helpful. And guided.
Susan 21:44
Guided is a huge, yeah, it's huge. It's huge. And also, it even before we even get to getting the right people in front of you. I'm giving you the right message. This is another mistakes. Yeah. So my my methodology, I call it the we message. So think back to those dating years for those of us who've been married for ever. Bless our husbands. Appreciate you, they appreciate you. Love you. But think back to those dating days, right? When we went on a date with somebody. And they sat there and talked about themselves the entire time, how great they were all the things they had to offer barely asked you a question. It was a dating disaster. There was no second day. And yet when people go into the market to look for a great candidate, a partner or somebody that they want to hire, what do they do? Here's my great company. This is a great things we offer. Here's how great I am. Nobody's attracted to that. That makes attractive. Yeah, that's, that's a meme message. So I guess it and I've created a way message because you help people see themselves at your business. And they're like, it's easy to refer, easy to respond and easy to read. I put it out there we have these conversations are like Oh, my friend, so and so would be awesome at that, because she's really good at whatever that thing is that we're looking to do. Right flips it on his head. So it's not a bad dating experience.
Michelle Lynne 23:17
Oh, that's fantastic. So yeah, it's more than just you're more than just a resume service.
Susan 23:22
Oh, yes, absolutely. Yes, we lead with values, right? What is it that you authentically are what are the things you're authentically looking to build in your business? Understanding what those values how that translates to the values and the culture of your company. Because we know this, we can train people to do lots of things if people as long as they're coachable. As long as there's these character traits in place. They can learn other skills as a matter of fact, when they're an employee, we don't mind investing for them to take on new skills. Right, it serves us both very well.
Michelle Lynne 24:04
Let me interrupt myself to take a quick moment to thank satinath Insurance Agency for sponsoring this episode of The designed for the creative mind podcast. Their support and understanding of the interior design, decorating and home staging industries is unrivaled. Satin off understands what our businesses do, and they provide insurance that lets me sleep at night. Yep, this is the firm that I use. And they will do the same for your sleep habits and your business too. They're more than an insurance agency. They are an extension of my business. They take care of the worry because they are the experts which allows me and my team breathing room to do what we do best designed beautiful spaces. You can find their contact information below in the show notes. Give them a call today. No with that. I've talked to so many designers that don't want to share their business or their genius because they're afraid that Somebody's gonna take it and leave with that information. What would you say to that? Yeah,
Susan 25:06
I would say we would uncover those things in the interview process. Because what you're really, I understand on the surface, that seems like a very valid concern, I understand on the surface, like this person could take everything I have, and then they just go do that thing. But underneath that sort of obvious question, is a fear that I'm not enough. It's a fear that I'm not able to do all the things that I want to do. And then I'm not going to be able to make this person. Go ahead, you're gonna say
Susan 25:47
no, I believe that there's a fear under that. So through the when I when we talk about the one higher multiplier, we're uncovering all of those things. Listen, if you want somebody who wants to come alongside you, and partner with you, as what I what's often called an intrapreneur. Like, they have their own thing, and you have your, you know, sort of bring your brilliance together, they have no interest in running their own business.
Michelle Lynne 26:13
And once I say how damn hard it is, once that, yeah, so
Susan 26:17
we would uncover that through the interview process, we would ask questions, to help us understand what are their values? What are the things that they're looking to achieve out of? What impact are they looking to make? And we ask those questions. Listen, there's no guarantee people are unpredictable, that's fair. But if you're gonna take your seat as CEO, uncovering some of these things with the interview process, gives you that confidence and clarity, and then that fear, which is really just an excuse. It's just an excuse. Yeah,
Michelle Lynne 26:53
I love that. You nailed it. And I'm gonna have to call people out on that in the future, because you're, you're absolutely right. Like, not call them out on it. But let's dive a little bit deeper. Why are you not wanting? Like, why do you keep putting this roadblock up for yourself? Love that, blah, blah. Now? Go ahead.
Susan 27:12
No, you're I'll just say that sometimes we don't know why we're successful. Mm hmm. So if we don't sort of understand our own process, and some of those things and sort of reflect that's that authenticity, that's leveraging your own brilliance? Sometimes we're afraid that that person is going to judge us for that. We don't have all the answers, and we're going to be judged for that. Those are those other fears that come into play, right? We're going to be judged, we're gonna be misunderstood. We're going to be, you know, how are all these things. And that really keeps the ceiling firmly in place. But again, I partner with these folks and help them beautiful, smart, capable women like these. And I work with men too. But a lot of what I tend to attract a lot of women, and I work with them to sort of uncover some of these things. So that they can be I call it a CEO by design, interestingly enough, so that they could uncover some of these things so that as their business grows, they're not the person they were when they sort of had this crazy harebrained idea, oh, I should open my own business. That's fantastic.
Michelle Lynne 28:27
There's a lot of, there's a lot of self development and growth that goes on in here.
Susan 28:30
100% 100%. Go ahead.
Michelle Lynne 28:33
I love that. No, no, I'm just I'm just thinking about how much more you bring to the table than just a standard recruiting service.
Susan 28:39
Yeah. No, I love to do so. So my my, I'm one of five children. We grew up in Connecticut. I'm a New Englander. And my family owns a small business. We own a restaurant. And my parents work their butts off anybody that ever like, did a minute as a waiter or you know, waitstaff, whatever. Oh, yeah, it's, it's tasking. But what I learned and my prisoners sat us down, had this conversation. But what I learned from my parents was serving with integrity, serving with authenticity, building your community, doing something that you love. And after my 25 years in corporate recruiting, helping these multi million and multi billion dollar businesses sort of figure all this out, because that's what I did. Like I would come in when their businesses were growing so fast that they didn't have the capability in their talent acquisition team to do it. And I'm the one that figured out how are we going to do this and hire literally 1000s of people a year, which is awesome. Great. I loved it. But the end of 2019 talked to my husband. I'm like, Babe, I don't know if I want to do it again. Like I don't know. I just I had that itch that discontentment. I had no reason to be discontent. I had a healthy salary. I had a bonus. It's like things were good. I had no good reason for it. But As I reflected, my husband said, you should consult. I was like, what I realized was through a lot of self reflection was I'm bringing on everything I learned and earned through those years in corporate, to the small businesses, because if I could go back in time and gift to my parents what I know, I would,
Michelle Lynne 30:24
oh, that's so sweet. That sounds kind of condescending, but no, that's So. So. Yeah,
Susan 30:33
that's what and that's my passion. That's why I do what I do. That's why I want to sit next to a CEO and help them see beyond, here's what I can do. Here's what we can do. Here's the impact we can make. And it's so much more than the thing that we do. Yeah, my parents had a diner. It was so much more than food that they serve, right? Created community, they did so many things that are
Michelle Lynne 31:01
life changing, life changing, far reaching, and that and if you can exponentially touch more people, because you're growing your company, then you are serving more people impact. And that's what we're here for. So what a cool way to flip it. From fear to service? Yes. Yeah, Susan, that's very cool. I didn't. I remember the first time we connected and you talked about the restaurant, but now that you are pulling that full circle so that you can pay it forward? And yeah, no dirty money. You work with a certain sized company, certain industry, or anybody and everybody, what does that look like?
Susan 31:46
I wish I could work with anybody and everybody. But no, I really. So I really focus on remote hires. Because I think, let's just be honest, there's a lot of stuff going down in the world, and then in the US, but in the world, but you know, there's a lot of stuff going down. And there are a lot of people coming out of 2020 Coming through 2021 saying, I don't have to do it all I want to do it right. I want to have a job and a position and a business that serves my life. Not just, you know, that makes me feel fulfilled, not just those markings of success. Yeah, so I focus on primarily, so it could be brick and mortar businesses, or it could be online businesses, but I focus a lot on helping people find remote hires, and then how to onboard those remote hires so that they're successful for their businesses. So marketing sales operations, I do a lot. Because that's a lot of times where people need the help. Yeah,
Michelle Lynne 32:50
absolutely. Absolutely. Well, I think our audience has gotten a lot out of this. And just really, even our conversation has given me a lot to think about just in respect to why people don't hire. But how can you reframe that, and, and appreciate the fact that yes, it is a responsibility. But it's not just a responsibility to the individual, you're hiring, but you have a responsibility as a designer, as a business owner to impact as many lives as you can change, because we change and we've said this before on the podcast, and if you guys listened to me elsewhere, we change lives. We create a space in the home, where busy professionals or just individuals can be their best selves. Yes. And how can you keep that from people? Yes. How can you put How can you want to play so small that you don't make somebody's house feel like a hug? Yeah, so I love that. Yeah. So that's, that's, that's so fun. I'm going to be pondering this conversation for a bit. Now, moving on a little bit. I love to talk all things business. I also like to have a little bit of fun. So I'm not sure if you're familiar. The next segment is a rapid fire q&a format. It's just a way for people to get to know you a little bit better and just shake it up. Good. It's off the table. Nothing's off the table. Okay, what is your dream travel destination?
Susan 34:21
Italy?
Michelle Lynne 34:21
What was the last movie you watched? Oh, crap.
Susan 34:25
Something on Netflix. That really sucked.
Michelle Lynne 34:29
There's a few of those favorite
Susan 34:31
Christmas movie got already.
Michelle Lynne 34:35
What is your favorite ice cream flavor? Ooh, ah. Hmm. Depends
Susan 34:42
on the woman. I'm gonna go with Rocky. No, it's not Rocky Road. Chocolate peanut butter cup. Oh
Michelle Lynne 34:47
my gosh. Have you had Trader Joe's chocolate peanut butter? No. It's okay. So they didn't have it the last time I was there. So I don't know if it's a thing but they're there. I think it's called peanuts for sure. Auklet are nuts for chocolate or something. I'm writing. Goosebumps, like the best peanut butter chocolate ice cream I've ever had in my life like craveable. Like, so good. All right, I might have to drive by Trader Joe's. Any belly button or outie belly button. Any last time you laughed until you almost peed yourself? Or maybe
Susan 35:22
I'm a little babies. That is not a fair question. Come on now.
Michelle Lynne 35:33
The baby and I still laugh until I pay myself. You have to laugh?
Susan 35:38
Probably yesterday. Yes. Okay.
Michelle Lynne 35:43
Read a white wine.
Susan 35:44
Both says both says I'll say I lean more towards red. I am part of diet. So yeah.
Michelle Lynne 35:52
That's one of the red log. Yes. If you couldn't be in the profession you're in now. What would you be doing? Oh, ah,
Susan 36:01
I couldn't be what I do now. What would I be doing? Ah, I would not be a teacher. God bless every single teacher out there. I would probably not be a nurse. Like, I can't think of anything. What would I do?
Unknown Speaker 36:14
Well, that's something
Susan 36:16
else is I'd be running somebody else's business probably like, like, I'm pretty good at keeping a buttload of balls in the air. Like, I am pretty good at all that stuff. So I'd probably be running somebody else's business. But sad.
Michelle Lynne 36:30
No, because you're exactly where you're supposed to be.
Susan 36:34
I love this. Yeah, yeah. No,
Michelle Lynne 36:36
I think that's there's a couple times that I've had people on the show that have said the same thing. There's nothing I would rather be doing. I feel the same way right now. There's nothing I would rather be doing. I'm so it's a good feeling to have.
Susan 36:49
It is a good feeling
Michelle Lynne 36:50
to have. Now. What did you want to be when you were growing up?
Susan 36:53
I had no flippin idea. List of stuff. I didn't want to do not know what I wanted to do. I temped at an HR department at a bank in Connecticut back home. Like when we went home, we would always everybody always worked with the restaurant like child labor laws do not apply to your own flesh and blood apparently. So you know, so I attempt and the HR department and that's that's realize that's how it that's how it hooked me. first job out of college. I was an HR generalist. Yep.
Michelle Lynne 37:29
Wow. Wow. Wow. Just we're wise now we are wise. There you go. It's true. What is your favorite book? Susan? The Bible? Great. Would you say you're an introvert or an extrovert?
Susan 37:48
extrovert?
Michelle Lynne 37:52
And if you could have dinner with anybody dead or alive? Who would you invite? Oh, good. One person.
Susan 37:58
Oh, madonn. Um, who would I invite? Who would I invite? Hi, mom.
Michelle Lynne 38:06
Oh, love that. Good company. Yes. All right, lady, thank you so much for being on the show. Thank you. I know our audience has gotten so much from it. Will you tell them and I will put it in the show notes also, but how can they reach you? How can they find you? Yeah, I'm
Susan 38:23
easy to find Susan. At spectacle talent. partners.com is my email. Also, I have a website spectacle, talent partners.com. You can reach out to me there send me a question. I have some of my little interviews out there that I do with folks, sometimes I have some blog posts about hiring a contractor those might be interesting. folks to check out, I promise you the information you read in those blogs will not be something you find on YouTube. Because I really want to help CEOs embrace their role as a business owner, rather than somebody who's just got a ton of part time jobs.
Michelle Lynne 39:08
There you go. Love that. And I think that that comes across just in your passion for what you do and helping others think so. Yeah, that's definitely unique and special and appreciated. Thank you. Oh, thank you for being here. So I will make sure all of those details are listed in the show notes. Okay, okay, somebody's driving and can't write down spectacle. Talent partners.
Susan 39:31
I know I know.
Michelle Lynne 39:32
Well try designed for the creative mind. I mean, that's. So for those of you who can benefit from even more resources surrounding the business of running your interior design business, join me over on Facebook. It's a private group called the interior designers business Launchpad. I go live there once a week and do some mini trainings and have maybe every six to eight weeks we also do a workshop and also if you are listening Link to this podcast anywhere you can leave a review, I just kindly request that you do so because it does help us stay relevant. So thank you, Susan. Thank you, listeners. You are all appreciated. We'll see you next time.
Susan 40:15
Thank you so much.
Michelle Lynne 40:18
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. Then join me in my Facebook group. The interior designers business Launchpad. 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.
Transcribed by https://otter.ai
