Michelle Lynne 0:00
Music. 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 while 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 Woo, woo, 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, you
Michelle Lynne 0:49
Hey, hey, hey, everybody. Welcome back to the design for the creative mind Podcast. I'm super excited to introduce to you another podcaster today, another interior design business mentor and interior designer. It is Rebecca ward of Rebecca Ward design. She is the host of design curious podcast, and the mentor is my design mentor. So Rebecca, thanks for being here, girl. Good to see you.
Rebecca Ward 1:14
Good to meet you for having me. Michelle, it's good to meet you too. I always love meeting other design podcasters, and inevitably, we'll see each other at shows and, you know, cavid or something like that. And then I'll be like, Hey, I know you virtually, but now I know your
Michelle Lynne 1:30
person. When people jump off the screen and I can, like, hug you, yeah? But also, you've probably heard me say that there's enough ugly houses for interior designers, right? Like we're not each other's competition. It's the same thing with podcasting, and it's the same thing with the mentorship and the coaching and so forth. I highly encourage you that if I'm not the person for you, start exploring others. Rebecca's got all sorts of great information on her podcast and in her mentorship programs and things along that line. So let's just start that. Let's just start our conversation off today with community over competition. Yeah, yes. 100% super excited. So Rebecca, how did you get how did you get started? Were you podcasting, coaching or designing first? What came first?
Rebecca Ward 2:18
Designing and for a long time,
Michelle Lynne 2:22
that's usually how we start. What was your path? How did you get involved?
Rebecca Ward 2:26
Well, I was very traditional into getting into dairy design. Like most designers, I was creative. Kid moving around my room 20 times. My daughter's already doing it, so I can see as she's going, Yep, yeah. You know, we paint in my room like five times. My mom was very flexible with that. Also my mom, she has a talent, but she would let me make a lot of design decisions in the home. And so I got a taste of the power basically being a designer, having an opinion on what I think is best for the family as far as the interiors went, and then being able to execute that was such a privilege. I didn't even know though, that I could do that as a major when I was young, going into college, until later in high school, I kept thinking like, oh, architecture, but it really wasn't that technical of a person. Math, you know, I was okay at but I just architecture didn't light me up. And then I all of a sudden, discovered, like, Hey, I could get a major in interior design. So that's the path I took. I went to a four year University, Sacramento State, got my interior design degree, and while I was there, I had an excellent internship with a local luxury designer. He also did restaurants. I got my foot in the door working part time for him. So that was just a great experience. While I finished out college, he was great mentor as well. And then once I graduated, I started working for a model home designer who was available to hire me full time. And that was a great education for me, because with model homes, you're going through homes really quickly. A lot of homes in one year, the builders are cranking them out, especially this was before the the recession. So it was, you know, 2004 2005 it was going really strong. And so we had to create all of these houses that all of them had different looks, like eight different houses in a in a model complex that had to look different from each other. And so that was a great training to learn all the different styles, coloring
Michelle Lynne 4:41
the finishes and the were you doing the furniture? Yes,
Rebecca Ward 4:45
everything so full finishes, through furniture and accessories. So it was an intensive study. I felt for learning how to do it. And we went on site with as it was being built, and we did a lot of the construction part of it. Making sure that our designs were really getting implemented. And so that was such a great education for me. But then, of course, the bubble burst, and
Michelle Lynne 5:10
that's the year I started my business,
Rebecca Ward 5:13
yeah, yeah, yeah. So, yeah, there's rumors of layoffs. I'm like, and then a friend of mine's like, hey, I want you to design my home. I'm like, well, let's do this the right way. So I got my business license, even though I was working for someone else. I'm like, I'm going to figure out how to do this. Like, because I as working for the model home designer, we bought wholesale. So I'm like, I need to figure out how to buy wholesale for this client. And so I was working on that on the side. Meanwhile, I kept working for architects and getting passed off as people are laying off and downsizing. Finally, January of 2009 I was completely on my own. I couldn't lay myself off. So,
Michelle Lynne 5:53
sink or swim, babe, sink or swim, exactly, so
Rebecca Ward 5:55
I very slowly started to build my business at that point.
Michelle Lynne 6:00
Oh, yeah, that's the Yeah. That kind of forced you into the deep end. It did. Do you think you would have made that leap at some point if you hadn't been forced?
Rebecca Ward 6:11
It wasn't in my plan at the time, although looking back, I definitely could see it happening, because I just love the entrepreneurship side of it, and my dad on his own optometry practice as well as other businesses on the side. So he was an entrepreneur. I think I had that bug in me, and so even though I was maybe denying it, I'm like, Yeah, I could just work for another designer for the rest of my life. You know, blah, blah, blah. I was forced into it, and I loved it. So, yeah, that works in mysterious
Michelle Lynne 6:41
ways, right? Yeah, exactly. But okay, here we go. That's awesome. Um, so how long were you in? How long were you running your own business before you started thinking about, I could start a podcast, or I could do mentoring other designers. Like, how did that evolve? Mm, hmm,
Rebecca Ward 7:05
yeah, so it was probably not even until 12 or 13 years into it. And I'll just backtrack a little bit saying that, like when I started my business, fortunately or unfortunately, my husband was also employed, so he could support us through it. I say unfortunately, because it for it, it didn't force me to financially pursue projects and take myself seriously like I needed to for several years. And so I think that held me back from really making sure I was making a living doing it. But really pretty hobby, yes, yeah, but then I eventually sought coaching and elevated my practice, and as I loved being coached, I started to look for ways to coach others. People would ask for advice, and I love giving it to them. I love helping other designers start their own business, or if they're thinking about the career, it would just light me up to talk to anyone who would email me or call from this university or something like, I'm, Hey, Mom, being interior designer, can you tell me what it's like? And after so many of these coffee dates and people calling, and then all of a sudden, I'm like, Hey, you can't meet with everybody that I want to. Maybe there's a way that I can speak to many and help many at one time. So that's when I started the mentorship program. I, you know, I have these 12 modules in there that's like, okay, these are the things that I kind of say to everything we go over talking about, like, employee versus entrepreneur, design, psychology, and how to work with trades, ethics, things like that that they might whether or not they went to school for design, they still need to know all these things. And these are things I tell people so, so I kind of have this format out there, and then people who call and say, like, well, I can't go to coffee with you, but let's meet online, and you can go through this program, and then I can help you with wherever you're at in your career, whether you're just starting thinking about it, you started your business, or you want to work for somebody, but you haven't gone to school. How can we make this happen for you?
Michelle Lynne 9:17
I love that. So it is. It's pretty tailored towards specific questions. Mm, hmm, individual needs. Yes,
Rebecca Ward 9:25
yeah. So there's like, a structure to it. You can definitely go in and learn and kind of self direct these learnings, but then I have opportunity for you to schedule zoom calls with me, and then we'll talk about your specific needs. So sometimes this these are for people who are in are taking a couple courses, maybe most of the time, it's their second career. Yeah, they don't have time to get a four year degree, so they're taking some classes or a certificate here or there. They might be going through the program, and they need feedback on their project that they're working on. Oh. Like, a professional point of view. So I'll come in and say, like, okay, like, tell me what your instructor said for the parameters, and then here's kind of, like, the problems that I'm noticing with this. So, yeah,
Michelle Lynne 10:11
do you pull that feedback? Do you find that it's because you went through school for interior design and you can kind of see the perspective of the professor, or is it? And it's probably a combination. But is it from your real life design experience? It is one way or another. Yeah,
Rebecca Ward 10:30
I think it's more for real life design experience, but I can definitely, of course, understand where the instructor is coming from, and these are, like, different schools from all over the country, so it's kind of fun to see, like, what different instructors will focus on, and also, like, building codes are different in different states and so, like, I'm in California, so all you know, things are pretty strict, but it is fun to learn, like, you know what other schools are doing across the country?
Michelle Lynne 10:59
Yeah, it's like you said earlier. It's interesting when you have so many people just virtually that you are pulling from so many different areas. Totally crazy. What part of California are
Rebecca Ward 11:13
you in? Sacramento?
Michelle Lynne 11:14
Sacramento? Oh, you said that because you went to school in Sacramento, yeah, yeah, okay, gotcha. State House, yeah. Previous life a completely different life. I was out in California as well. So I always joke here in Texas, and it's kind of the same. In Sacramento, there's a lot of beach, there's just no ocean.
Rebecca Ward 11:30
Yeah, exactly.
Michelle Lynne 11:31
There's a lot of dirt and a lot of sand around here. Yeah. So you start, did you start mentorship before podcast? Or did they go, yeah,
Rebecca Ward 11:40
now I started the mentorship program really quick after the idea was born, and I just, like, all of a sudden, I'm like, This is what I should do. And then the designer who was working in my office, she's like, This suits you perfectly. Let's get it out. And so I, like, rolled it out in in like, two months, and I had it going and but I just, I felt like I wasn't able to reach as many people as I wanted to, because I thought this is a great opportunity. And a lot of designers that I talk to locally, they're like, Yeah, I never have time to talk to people who call and want to pick my brain. I'm like, I'll just send them to you. I'm like, Yeah, that's great. And I think other designers across the country need to know that I have this service. Like, if they don't have time to go to go to coffee with all the inquiries. Do
Michelle Lynne 12:24
you have the time we're trying to run a viable business? And a lot of the information I can speak from, from my own self, and I know for you, like you have very valuable content that should not just be given away for free and taken time out of your paying design clients? Yeah. So I think that from a business standpoint, you also have to practice what you preach, right? Starting that up is is huge,
Rebecca Ward 12:51
yeah, yeah, because my time is valuable, and it's obviously taking away from projects that I could be working on. But it's just such a passion of mine that I wanted to make it work, you know. Like,
Michelle Lynne 13:01
I totally get it, yeah, yeah. Nothing better than just seeing somebody's light bulb go off when you give them a piece of advice or coaching, yeah? Really can change the trajectory of their of their career,
Rebecca Ward 13:12
yeah. So I had the program growing going for a couple years, and it's been, it's been interesting to see what people need as they come through, you know? So, like I said, some people are going through learning programs, and they need feedback on their projects. Other people are like, I am still working. I need to, like, build my skills in the background so they can't, like, maybe do an internship. So I'll send them, say, me say, maybe they just learned how to do AutoCAD. So I'll send them a fake project that they can work on. I'm like, here, sketch up this floor plan, and now do an elevation and show me. And then, like, let's do a 3d you know, so like, I can give them some internship, like, experience, and then we can talk about what transferable skills they have from a previous job that they can bring forward if they want to go work for another designer, that's one of the most challenging things. Is like people who haven't gone through school trying to work for a designer, even getting entry level position, a lot of designers won't entertain so we really need to look at their their resume and make sure that it's appealing. So I'm like, if someone's going to send this to me, what would I be looking for? So let me look at it and see how we can Oh, that's so helpful. Yeah, resume review has been really good. Portfolio Review, just really things that people can use and run run off with it, you know? Oh, I
Michelle Lynne 14:33
love that. But that's also like you were just saying, like, what a great resource for me when people need those types of things that I can't provide from a coach to a coach just being able to girls, and it's just so, so holding their hand,
Rebecca Ward 14:51
yeah, yeah, and going through the whole modules at the very end, I talk about professional development. So that's where you know, because this program. Is such an entry level mentorship thing, and most of these people have never sought out a coach. Didn't even think about getting coaching. They thought about getting a mentor. And so mentorship is someone who's coming alongside you and saying, This is my experience. Let me kind of show you what worked for me. I'm not necessarily asking them all the hard questions, though, that they need to be asked to go to the next level. I'm just getting them started. And so at the very end of the modules, I talked about professional development, and then I promote other coaching programs. I'm like, you might want to check out this one or this one. And like you said, there's so many different programs out there, like find the one that speaks to you, and then now you can go on to the next level with that coaching program. So
Michelle Lynne 15:43
well that, and I bet you. So what I've seen a couple people come through my so my signature programs, the interior design business, bakery, and it's like, it's a lot, but there's people that'll get started and they're like, I don't even know if I want to work this hard, because learning an interior design business is difficult, so you giving them that kind of peek behind the curtain in a like, like a smaller bite, like little donut holes. Yeah? Is exactly what some people need when before they want to go take a big old bite out of cake. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Great. What a great little niche that I say little. I don't want that to sound derotable, but what a great niche that you have found in that respect. Yeah, I would have been that's exactly what I would have loved to have had.
Rebecca Ward 16:28
I know that's what I'm saying. Oh, in it I wish, because when I started, and you were starting back then, but early, 2000s desires still weren't sharing with other people,
Michelle Lynne 16:44
it's not that they weren't willing to share it. They didn't know what the hell they were doing. Nobody knew what they were doing. Like, still people like you look on Instagram, everybody looks like they have all their shazill together, and you and I both know that half the time our shazizzle is really not together,
Rebecca Ward 17:01
yeah. But nobody was, I mean, everyone looked great from the outside. Had no idea what each other were charging their clients. There's no consistency in running their businesses, and so it's just like I had a piecemeal so much of how to start my business, how to charge clients, and there wasn't as much available in coaching programs, and I didn't even have that modeled to me. I didn't know to seek out a coach for a long time, so I didn't know what to look for. No, I wish
Michelle Lynne 17:32
you and I would have known each other back then, because we could have muddled through it together. Probably saved both of us a handful of probably, yeah, handful of hair color, in my instance, coloring up all the gray. Yeah, and thank goodness. I'll give a shout out to Luanne Nagara back in the day, because her podcast was just about the only thing talking about it. Yeah, yeah. Muddled that and a bunch of books together and tried to not pretty. So what led you to start the podcast, so
Rebecca Ward 18:00
is the desire to reach more people, like I said. So it's, it's just like, I think more people need to know about this. And also, I have more to say than just, like, what's in my course, you know, I think that there's other things that we can talk about. Also, I really wanted to show, so every other podcast is an interview, and I really wanted to show how so many designers have different paths into interior design. I might have someone come through and be like, Oh, I didn't go to a four year university and I didn't have this internship. And, you know, can I still be a designer? Can still call myself designer? So I like to showcase by interviewing other designers and people in the industry that there are many paths to get in. Some people have never gone to school for it, and they just jumped in with both feet. Other people took the slower path, like I did, and so it's and there's a lot of in between, and some people go commercial on it. And I even, you know, I mostly am a residential design we talk about residential design for the most part, but I like to explore some hospitality and commercial and other corporate design. Like, just, there's things out there. I want to make sure everybody knows what is available to them, so that if they have an interest in it, they they may not have heard before. Like, oh, I could do corporate design. What? What's that like? Let's look into that a little bit more. Oh,
Michelle Lynne 19:19
like you were saying the designer that you worked with that did restaurants. We don't necessarily think about, but we frequent and enjoy the vibe when it's on
Rebecca Ward 19:27
point. Yeah, exactly. So I want to make sure that people know that there's different adjacent, career, student tier design as well. Like they're staging and they can go into just being a drafts person for someone, if that's really what you love, like you don't have to have a business, you could just work with someone else. So I just want to explore all the avenues of what it means to be an interior designer, or what the career entails. So they're going into eyes wide open just by listening to the podcast, and then if they want to, you know, get a little bit of. More help they can send from mentorship or just go on, you know, jump into it with their two feet. You
Michelle Lynne 20:07
had mentioned, no, you had mentioned the difference between mentoring and coaching. And can, can you touch on that a little bit more? Because I really like the way you described the mentorship is just coming on alongside, yeah. So
Rebecca Ward 20:21
mentorship. I definitely see as a working professional who is actively pursuing their craft and taking someone else kind of under their wing and coming alongside and say, like, here is what I'm working on, or here's what's been working for me, and this is the path that I took to get there. And let me show you. Let me give you all the information so that you can maybe fast track it a little bit to get there. And I feel like that's mentorship, and it's like giving feedback on their personal life and being like, like, this could work. This could not work. I don't know. Let's explore. Why don't you explore these options? It's not necessarily telling them what to do. It's like, here's your options. It's like, yeah, it's a little a little bit lighter look at what they need to do than a coach might do.
Michelle Lynne 21:07
No, that makes sense, and it's less pressure on you, because you can just basically say, This is what worked for me. Give it a try, and if it works, you keep doing it, but if it doesn't, then tweak
Rebecca Ward 21:17
it right? And I'm actually like learning through the program as well, because some people will be like, Oh, I had I took a course from here online, and it was great. And so they're sending me resources back that they've explored. So the more people that I'm mentoring, the more information I have that I can share. And I love connecting. Sometimes I'm mentoring people in my own city, and so I'll like connect them as much as I can with local designers who are looking for interns or whatever, go to local networking events, and so I love connecting and so, and I've also done that with mentee who was in Colorado. I met a designer in Colorado. I'm like, host, you should look her up and talk to her, and I'm sure she'd be willing to talk to you. Like, just get someone with boots on the ground. So as I'm doing this longer, I have a bigger network to help people out. So
Michelle Lynne 22:07
you could start a recruiting firm.
Rebecca Ward 22:11
I probably would love it as such a connector. I love putting people together. So
Michelle Lynne 22:16
yeah, exactly, there's another line of business in your spare time. Exactly as you run your design firm as well.
Rebecca Ward 22:23
Yeah, yeah.
Michelle Lynne 22:27
Imagine trying to bake a cake without a recipe. You kind of know what the ingredients are, but you don't know how to put it all together. After lots of hard work and trying different combinations, all you are left with is a sticky situation and a stomach ache. Babe running an interior design business can feel exactly that same way. That is why I created the interior design business bakery. This is a program that teaches you how to bake your interior design business cake and eat it too. If you don't want to figure out the hard way and you want guidance to follow a recipe that has already been vetted, someone that has already been there and done it and will help you do it too. Then check out the year long mentorship and coaching program the interior design business bakery, if your interior design business revenue is below 300,000 or if you're struggling to make a profit and keep your sanity, this is the only program for you. You can find that information at, designed for the creative mind.com. Forward slash, business dash bakery, check it out. You won't regret it.
Michelle Lynne 23:51
So that's very fun. I noticed on your website that you do so you've got design coaching as one of your services. And I just thought, well, that's a really cool way to kind of blend the two lines of business together in just a way that feels like it's seamless and natural in addition or full, full design services. Yeah,
Rebecca Ward 24:16
yeah. I think during the pandemic, I was also looking for ways to reach more clients, because not everybody has the ability to hire full service interior design, and so while the DIY client is not my client, I wanted to have something available to them as well. So have this DIY course basically that they can go through and learn how to style their living room like I would do it so
Michelle Lynne 24:44
well. I think that's fantastic. One of the things that has kept me afloat, you know, in some of the ups and downs of running an interior design business is that you do have to meet your clients where they are, and they're not always going to be the full service. Concierge, white glove, you know, bad ass budget client, yeah, we're gonna, and sometimes it's even a mix between the two. It's like, I've got a great budget, and I'm happy to do this on the first floor, but the second floor is my kids, and they don't need to have everything to the trade, right? So having those different levels of services, even though that's not your focus, it's it's helpful, because sometimes it bridges the gap and sometimes it just keeps the doors open here where it's just like, okay, yeah, whatever takes this is not going to be in my portfolio, but
Rebecca Ward 25:33
project, right? Yeah, still helping people.
Michelle Lynne 25:37
Yes, exactly, exactly. So speaking of like, what have been some of the things that have kept your career moving forward,
Rebecca Ward 25:48
it has been 80% of who I know, to be honest, like networking and meeting people other designers. Because even from the beginning, getting my first couple of jobs, it was always who I knew. It wasn't just a random applying for a position somewhere. It was like, Oh, the SO and SO knows so and so who's hiring so is like making that connection for me, which is probably why I love paying it forward and giving connections to other people, like trying to help, because for me, that's how I got my career going. And it was a friend who's, you know, who wanted their house done, who started my whole career as an independent designer. And so I think that's the biggest part that has helped my career move forward. A lot of times, the biggest jobs I had were because a contractor that I had a really good relationship with, or an architect. And it's these relationships that you create that really, that are simmering in the background. You never know when they'll come back and be a real boost to your career. I'm
Michelle Lynne 26:58
glad you said that. That's just so important. I honestly, I sucked at it for a long time. Just didn't more of an introvert, and I don't like to get out and meet people, but I think I definitely could have done better at that. So I'm really glad that that's something that you're saying here for the listeners, is that you do need to get out and go meet other designers, so networking with other designers in your local region, city, whatever, yeah, is huge, because there are oftentimes referrals that go get passed back and forth. Oh,
Rebecca Ward 27:31
yeah, all
Michelle Lynne 27:32
the time. Where else did you people that you knew? But if what? What do you tell people that don't maybe run in circles that could afford because I can hear people in the background. You know, with my psychic abilities, I can hear them saying, Well, I don't run in those crowds. I don't have friends that could hear, that could that could hire an interior designer like Where else did you find networking was effective for you?
Rebecca Ward 28:02
Well, I also am an introvert, so I reluctantly network with my local Chamber of Commerce. There you go, yeah, and
Michelle Lynne 28:11
sister, I feel you, yeah,
Rebecca Ward 28:14
but it's really going into it seeing like, okay, how can I help these other businesses? And just by being there most of the time, it's not a direct referral that you're going to get, and it's not going to be the person you're talking to, because they're they're usually running another business, but they might have clients that are similar to yours. They might be a financial advisor. All their clients are probably going to be people who could be clients of yours. So it's expanding into those similar adjacent careers that have services and things like that, where you can be like, Hey, I you're talking with your client, and they're like, oh, I need to remodel my house. I don't even know where to get started. And then financial advisors like, oh, I actually know an interior designer would be great for you. So you never
Michelle Lynne 29:00
know money around over here. And then, while I'm doing this, you need to call Rebecca, yeah,
Rebecca Ward 29:04
but it's not, unfortunately, just a one time meet and greet with that person. You have to be seeing them several times throughout the year, and then go, you know, just, it's a long it's a long process of networking. It's the long lead in the short term, I would say, as far as like growing my business, Google has been great. So make sure you got your Google page up and you got some reviews on there. And you know, because a lot of people just don't know where to start, so they'll just Google, like interior designer in my area, and then hopefully come up on the first page.
Michelle Lynne 29:35
So make sure you have some pictures on there when you can Yes, yeah, pictures of you and
Rebecca Ward 29:40
mark.
Michelle Lynne 29:42
So technically you have three businesses, you have your podcast, you have the mentorship, and then you have your design business. I'm not going to ask you to pick your favorite child, but what is the favorite aspect of the work? Work that you do as either as a whole, all three of them, or is there a favorite part of each arm of your business that you that you have? What's your favorite aspect?
Rebecca Ward 30:12
I would say that they all kind of feed my purpose in that I feel like I'm here to help people realize their best self, and whether that's like through designing a home that they can fully relax in and fully get ready for their day and be their best doctor, or whatever they're going to go and do by designing, I love, breathing life into other people's life that way, or by mentoring people and helping them find the vocation that they are really going to get satisfaction out of. So I feel like they are very similar to me, even though one is designing for people and one is helping people find the career in design, it's a little bit different, but it still feeds the same purpose for me. Yeah,
Michelle Lynne 31:00
well, and you said it, you've said it a couple times in our conversation, that it lights you up, yeah. So I think that that's really important for the listeners is like, if you find something that lights you up, even if you can't put your finger on it, hold on to that feeling and keep chasing it.
Rebecca Ward 31:16
Yeah, yeah. So whether it's a niche within the interior design career, or if you're finding that you're not getting lit up by interior design, then maybe you just need to move somewhere else. And so that's part of the purpose of my podcast. I'm like, I want you to know the hard parts and the good parts, like, if you love a challenge and you love problem solving, you probably would like to be an interior designer.
Michelle Lynne 31:38
Yes, absolutely, because it's when I first started my business, I thought, oh, I can make things so beautiful, and I can change people's lives, and I can just la, la, la, la, la, you know, probably not even work 40 hours and make a bucket of money. Oh, lordy. Lordy. It's so not that awakening, right? I
Rebecca Ward 31:59
don't know where we got this idea, like, even before HGTV, that designer just flips in and makes a ton of money and does plus pillows, I don't know.
Michelle Lynne 32:08
Yeah, it's, it's kind of up there with Tinker Bell. Yeah. So when, and this might be more of a selfish question, question, since we kind of have some parallels, when do you think about your business strategy? Like, do you sit down and have a CEO day once a month? Do you Is it a mentor, a mentor that you have? Or do you go by instinct, like the living parts?
Rebecca Ward 32:36
Yes, there are. So I internally in my business, I'll sit down with my designer, and quarterly, we'll evaluate where the business is, where we want it to go, and any new ideas that come up. So that's like, how we started the mentorship program, because all of a sudden I was like, I really want to reach more people with this. And so at one of these quarterly meetings, and then at the end of the year, we kind of do a big overall like, how is our year? And how do we want next year to be? Do some vision casting. So I do that internally, within my business, and then externally, I have a kind of a mastermind group of seven other interior designers, and we meet monthly, over zoom and in person twice a year, and we, they're, like, my board of directors, so they're, they're telling me the hard things, like, I need to step it up here. I need to, like, change this part. I need to try to pivot this in my business, so they can kind of look from the outside, understand my struggles, my successes, and then kind of say, like, oh, I this is what I think would be good direction for you to go. And so I value that input as well. So it's definitely not a solo act. You cannot do this alone. I mean, I would definitely encourage maybe taking a solo retreat and do some soul searching and see, like, where do I want my business to be? Like, where am i Three, 510, years out, but definitely pursuing a group of people who can advise you. It doesn't have to be interior designers. It could be other
Michelle Lynne 34:06
business people. They have to own their own business than lawyers that don't it's they might be smart, but they're not smart as entrepreneurs.
Rebecca Ward 34:14
Exactly. It has to be other entrepreneurs, yeah, and then seeking out coaching too. So I do have, like a coach that helps me with my goal setting and planning that I meet with occasionally, so whenever I feel like I need another push.
Michelle Lynne 34:29
So bottom line is, is that when you're in business, even coaches need coaches. We need community as well. So like your other friends or board of directors, that's important. So one of the things I hear a lot and have felt and say is that owning your own business is lonely, and I think interior design is not as lonely as it used to be when nobody knew each other, because now we're all talking about things. US,
Rebecca Ward 35:01
but seek out a community. Yeah, that's exactly it. Michelle, yeah, okay,
Michelle Lynne 35:07
what would you like to spend more time doing, personally, professionally, like, whatever. Maybe it's taking a nap, maybe it's more time interviewing people. Like, what do you want to spend more time doing?
Rebecca Ward 35:19
That's a good question, because I'm doing a lot of the things that I really love to do already. Someone recently asked me, like, Are you struggling with work life balance? I'm like, I've worked a lot on this over the last four years, and so I feel like I'm in a good spot as far as, like, trying to integrate my personal life with my professional life. I think, just because of the economy and everything, to slow down, what comes to mind first is, like, I'd love to be designing a little bit more, like, I'm doing a lot of business stuff, and I've done less designing this year than I've
Michelle Lynne 35:54
preferred. That's, that's across the board. Yeah,
Rebecca Ward 35:58
yeah. So I would say, if you had to ask, like, for Christmas, what do I want? I'm, like, a few more design projects I can just get my hands into. We
Michelle Lynne 36:07
just need to get past the election. Yeah, I think everybody's just, and we're not going into politics. Just, y'all do not turn us off right now politics. But I think that once we get past that, there's just going to be collective exhale, whether people are pissed off or relieved, yeah, everyone's
Rebecca Ward 36:23
just holding their money, holding their projects, until we kind of can exhale and then move on. So
Michelle Lynne 36:29
January 1, come on. We've got the election, we've got the holidays, and then we've got the new everybody has that fresh take at the beginning. Yeah, we're ready for it. All right, this is definitely a selfish question. What book do you recommend reading? It can professional. It could be fiction by autobiography, like whatever. What's a good book that you've read recently that you would
Rebecca Ward 36:56
recommend? Um, I have just started reading unreasonable hospitality. So Will is it something? Yeah, yeah. So an orange book, yes. And I just a few chapters in, but already I'm like, I can see where this is going. I heard him interviewed on the business of home podcast, and I was so intrigued. And I've and just this whole idea of, like, unreasonable hospitality for your clients, like just going above and beyond, yes, and I think that's definitely what we need to do as a luxury service. And so I'm excited about this book
Michelle Lynne 37:34
I was just talking to. I was just came off the call with my with my bakers. I have an hour and a half zoom call with the group, and they were talking about just like one of the girls said, Well, I feel like I'm not doing enough if I'm not doing full service design, but I don't want to do renovations. And my response to her is like, Babe, if you can give somebody the level of an experience just decorating. There's no There's no shame in just decorating and not dealing with all of the BS that goes with renovations. Yeah, honestly, if I could go back, I could, I knowing what I know now, I don't know if I would want to do renovations. Yeah,
Rebecca Ward 38:17
the decorating is the icing on the cake for me. Like that. If I could just do that, like, Wouldn't that be fun,
Michelle Lynne 38:23
that unreasonable hospitality level wow factor. That's how you can claim the luxury pricing that we charge. Yeah, yes, I love that. So, yeah, unreasonable hospitality is a fabulous book. Alright? Last question, I promise, is there any piece of wisdom or advice you'd want to leave with our listeners?
Rebecca Ward 38:46
Yes, I always encourage having a growth mindset. So if you don't know what that is, then look it. Look it up. But I think that is so pivotal for either starting a new career, starting a business or just growing a business, and yourself like it, you need to be always changing and learning and humble enough to accept that change.
Michelle Lynne 39:14
And they go hand in hand. Yeah, I think that I've developed more personally as I've developed professionally, and they challenge each other. The personal stretches the professional. The professional stretches the personal Exactly, yeah, if you're not growing, you're dying,
Rebecca Ward 39:30
yeah, yeah. So growth mindset, adapting, that is probably the best advice I always give, and that you can do hard things having a little bit of grit. So
Michelle Lynne 39:42
I tell my six year old daughter that, and I will be telling her until she's 66 live that long, but you can do hard things.
Rebecca Ward 39:49
And yeah, it's I tell that to my kids too. They don't like to hear it, but yeah, but
Michelle Lynne 39:54
they're going to remember it, Mom, they will. And then you've got other people paying you to tell you that. So. Yeah, yeah, they're giving a great discount. Oh, Rebecca, I know that our audience has loved everything that you've had to say, how can they connect with you? Like, where can we find you?
Rebecca Ward 40:18
Well, my my website is our ward design.com so it's R for Rebecca Ward design.com and everywhere on socials is at our award design. So you can find on my website link to the podcast, as well as the mentorship program. And then on my Instagram is probably where I hang out the most. So if anyone has questions, just send me a message, but I also post the podcast information to that so it's all in one place. And yeah,
Michelle Lynne 40:48
and the podcast name is design curious, yeah, so guys, make sure you go and follow over there as well. Yeah. Well, I will make sure that all of those details are listed in the show notes, so if y'all are driving, you don't have to write all of that down or rewind or anything like that. And then for those of you who are looking to get strategic about your business, as we were talking about our businesses, get more sophisticated. We get more sophisticated. I encourage you to head on over and download my interior design business review and planning guide. This is a I think it's 12 pages, and there's questions that you ask yourself in this exercise that you might not think to ask yourself otherwise, and it will continue to help you evolve in your interior design business, as well as some some some personal things as well. So head on over to designed for the creative mind.com scroll all the way to the bottom of the page, and you will find the form to fill out right there, and I will email it to you immediately. And then I will also put the link in the show notes. So it's the interior designers Business Review and planning guide. Highly recommend it. It's something that any time of year, it's a good time of year to do it. So Rebecca, thanks for being here.
Rebecca Ward 42:11
Thanks, Michelle, it's a pleasure. Yeah,
Michelle Lynne 42:15
I know so much fun. Are you going to be in high point this year? This We're next week, whatever that is,
Rebecca Ward 42:20
yeah, unfortunately, no. So maybe in the spring, I don't know often, because I'm west coast, so I'll go to Las Vegas. Well, we're going to have
Michelle Lynne 42:28
to figure out a way to connect and continue serving our industry for sure. Alright? Y'all thanks for listening. Head on over to design curious podcast and make today a great day. Be great today and every day. 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 a name and get even more business advice, then join me in my Facebook group, the interior designers business launch pad. Yeah, I know it's Facebook, but just come on in for the training and then leave without scrolling your feet. It's fun. 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 you.
Transcribed by https://otter.ai
