A Well-Designed Business® | Interior Design Business Podcast
The podcast helps interior designers develop the business skills needed to run a profitable and successful design firm. Host LuAnn Nigara, a veteran with 40 years of experience in the interior design industry, interviews successful designers and shares best practices. The show covers topics not typically taught in design school, such as marketing, client management, and financial strategies. It is sponsored by Kravet Inc and Mydoma Studio.
Episodes
1235: BEST OF: Sponsored Show: Dezign Assist: The Smartest Way to Buy Back Time in Your Interior Design Firm
Today with Reed Humphrey of Dezign Assist
Is your team maxed out, or are you stuck doing $10-an-hour tasks when you should be focused on leading your business?
In today’s sponsored episode, I’m talking with Reed Humphrey, CEO of Alder & Tweed Interior Design and founder of Dezign Assist, a remote staffing company built specifically for interior designers.
Reed created Dezign Assist after solvin
1234: Melanie Zaelich: Your SEO Is Working. But Is Search Changing?
Today with Melanie Zaelich:
You invested in your website. You took SEO seriously. You may even have professionals managing your SEO and Google PPC, and people regularly tell you, “I found you online.”
That’s good. Keep doing it.
But the way potential clients search is changing, and strong SEO is no longer the whole conversation.
In this episode of A Well-Designed Business®, LuAnn Nigara sits d
1233: Chana-Rivka Thierman & Faigy Chaskelson: How to Make Industry Events Worth Your Time
Today with Chana-Rivka Thierman & Faigy Chaskelson:
Are you attending industry events by wandering the expo floor, visiting the same vendors you already know, collecting business cards, and hoping something valuable comes from the day? There’s a more intentional way to do it.
Today, I’m joined by commercial interior designer Faigy Chaskelson and architect Chana-Rivka Thierman to talk about how t
1232: What Would Lu Do: AI Gave You the Right Answer, but You Asked the Wrong Question
Today With LuAnn Nigara:
AI can hallucinate. It can give you information that is flat-out wrong. But what happens when AI gives you a really good answer?
In this What Would Lu Do episode, LuAnn Nigara explores a more subtle risk of using AI in your interior design business: getting an accurate, intelligent, well-researched answer to a question that wasn't the right question to begin with.
Throu
1231: CEO Conversations with Kate O'Hara: Closing the Client Experience Gap
Today with Kate O’Hara:
Today with Kate O'Hara, we're digging into something every designer feels but doesn't always name: the client experience gap. Kate spent years running a luxury design firm, which means she's had a front-row seat to what actually keeps high-end clients coming back, and what quietly sends them somewhere else next time. In this conversation, we’re talking about the space betw
1230: What Would Lu Do?: Are You Disqualifying Leads Too Soon?
Today With LuAnn Nigara:
Qualifying leads is good business. But the qualification strategy that makes sense when your interior design firm is booked several months out may not make sense when your pipeline has room or your sales skills still need strengthening.
In this What Would Lu Do episode, LuAnn challenges you to look at whether your qualification process reflects the business you actually
1229: MBA: The Discovery Call: Listen, Learn, Then Lead
Today With LuAnn Nigara:
You already have questions you ask on a discovery call. But do you know what you’re actually trying to learn from the answers?
In this MBA episode of A Well-Designed Business, LuAnn Nigara goes into the archives to pull together sales lessons from Matt Cobb, Leah Neaderthal, Tracee Murphy, and Nikki Rausch. Together, their advice reveals a more strategic way for interior
1228: Kelly Finley: From Bigger to Better
Today with Kelly Finley:
Kelly Finley built the firm you're told to want. Nine people. Two offices, one in California and one in Georgia. Major projects, press, a team that could run circles without her in the room. From the outside, she'd made it.
Then her husband's job moved the family to Georgia, and the model that got her there started costing her more than it gave back. The distance between
1227: BEST OF: Michele Williams: Re-Visiting Michele Williams’ Tips for Time Management
Today on the show I have yet another fabulous business coach who specializes in our industry! Michele Williams is with me! Michele is the founder of Scarlet Thread and Consulting in Atlanta, Georgia. Today we will learn about Michele’s background which includes the financial software industry as well as a business in soft window treatment fabricator. She also has a BS in business administration, a
1226: BEST OF: Eileen Hahn: Scaling from 2 Million to 5 Million
Today with Eileen Hahn
Welcome to A Well-Designed Business, it’s Power Talk Friday! Today, Luann and her guest, Eileen Hahn, dig into how to scale your design business from 2 million to 5 million. Going from 2 to 5 million is not easy, and it does not happen by accident. Intentional is the name of the game when scaling at this level. Who better to take us through that than Eileen? She’s
1225: MBA: Is AI Recommending Your Interior Design Business?
Today With LuAnn Nigara:
When a potential client asks an AI search tool for an interior designer who solves the exact problem you solve, will your business show up?
LuAnn decided to test the question on her own business, and the results were eye-opening. AI understood a lot about LuAnn Nigara Inc., but it missed one of her newest offers and recommended a one-time coaching program from around 201
1224: BEST OF: Jennifer Tokatyan: Building a Culture that Drives Business Results
Today With Jennifer Tokatyan:
Today on A Well-Designed Business, I speak with Jennifer Tokatyan, leadership consultant and partner with Eileen B Hahn. With over 20 years of experience, Jennifer shares her proven 7-step framework for building strong company culture that drives team performance and business growth. Don’t miss information about her upcoming LuAnn University course, “Build an Excepti
1223: BEST OF: Pamela Durkin: Utilize Time Blocking to Increase Productivity in Your Interior Design Business
Today with Pamela Durkin:
Welcome to a Well-Designed Business. Today with Pamela Durkin, author of Elevate and owner of Pamela Durkin Designs, we are discussing how to time block our tasks. Pamela is coughing up some great strategies on how we can set specific blocks of time for specific tasks that will help us, get this, “Get more done in one day then you used to get done in an entire week.”
1222: BEST OF: Robyn White: Using Your Website to Market to the Luxury Interior Design Client
Today With Robyn White:
We all know that marketing matters. But so often when I’m talking to newer designers, I realize that marketing is misunderstood—especially when it comes to the luxury client.
My guest today, Robyn White, understands that. Today, she’s here to talk about what marketing really is, how marketing for the luxury client is unique, and how to incorporate your personality and s
1221: BEST OF: Deb Mitchell: Attract the Right Clients With Stand-Out Copy
Today with Deb Mitchell:
Welcome to A Well-Designed Business, it’s Power Talk Friday! LuAnn shares a conversation with Deb Mitchell on today’s show. You may know Deb on Instagram as DesignWriterDeb. She’s a writer specializing in serving interior designers. Did you know that your own writing style can differentiate yourself from other designers in the way it reflects your personality and your sty
1220: BEST OF: Deborah Rosenberg: Tailoring Your Interior Design Firm to Your Core Beliefs
Today with Deborah Rosenberg:
What happens when your personal beliefs become part of the way you run your business?
In this Best Of episode of A Well-Designed Business®, LuAnn sits down with Deborah Rosenberg, principal of DiMare Design, to talk about her decision to build a design firm committed to humane, cruelty-free interiors.
Deborah’s approach grew out of her own evolving awareness of how
1219: CEO Conversations with Kate O'Hara: Stop Defending Your Pricing to Your Clients
Today with Kate O’Hara:
Kate O'Hara is back on A Well-Designed Business, and if you have never heard our past conversations with her, go find them after this one. They are some of the most listened to episodes in this catalog.
This time we go straight at the conversation that makes emerging designers freeze. A client asks to see your trade invoices. A client asks what your markup is. And instead
1218: Overheard: Mae Reedy, Abigail Kahan & Jennifer Arteaga: What Growing Pains Look Like beyond $5 Million
Today with Mae Reedy, Abigail Kahan & Jennifer Arteaga:
Three interior designers. Three multi-million dollar firms. Jennifer Arteaga, Mae Reedy, and Abigail Kahan all built their businesses in under 10 years, and not one of them stopped hitting growing pains once the revenue got big.
In this Overheard episode, LuAnn sits down with all three to talk about what actually gets hard once you're runni
1217: What Would Lu Do?: Your Net Cost Isn't the Point
Today With LuAnn Nigara:
Last week's episode on interior design and trust got a real response, DMs, comments, one designer admitting she wouldn't have known what to say if a client brought up that arrested designer by name.
So this week, LuAnn goes deeper. Two real conversations designers actually have to navigate, a client referencing a headline, and a client asking to see the receipts, and the
1216: Sponsored Show | Sandra Funk: The Season That Tested Everything She Built
Today with Sandra Funk:
Every business owner is one bad month away from finding out what their business is actually built on. This year, Sandra Funk found out.
Her mom got sick. Two surgeries down, more to go. Her daughters started needing her in a different way. And in the middle of all of it, Sandra learned her own thyroid had been failing her for years, dismissed as just getting older. It was
1215: What Would Lu Do?: Can We Stop Apologizing For Being a Business?
Today With LuAnn Nigara:
Somewhere on a coaching call this week, a designer told LuAnn the same An interior designer was arrested a few weeks ago. Grand theft, diversion of construction funds, a client out $67,500 and no kitchen to show for it. That part isn't in question. What happened next is.
An industry publication covered the story, and somewhere between reporting the crime and quoting th
1214: Liz Lidgett: A Smart Way to Source Art for Every Project and Budget
Today with Liz Lidgett:
Art is one of the most overlooked ways designers can elevate a project and expand their own margin, and most designers are sourcing it the hard way.
In this episode, LuAnn sits down with Liz Lidgett, gallerist, art advisor, and author, to talk about what actually happens on the business side of a gallery, and how designers can work with one the smart way. Liz breaks down
1213: Overheard: Being a Great Interior Designer Won't Make You a Great CEO
Today with Kathleen Reynolds & Lauren Vallario:
Being a great interior designer and being a great CEO are not the same skill set, and Kathleen Reynolds and Lauren Vallario both learned that the hard way. Kathleen has run Kathleen Reynolds Interiors in Greenville, South Carolina for eighteen years. Lauren has run Lauren Vallario Designs in Stamford, Connecticut for over ten. Both built real, busy
1212: Megan Reilly: SHOWing Up at WestEdge Design Fair and other Industry Trade Shows
Today with Megan Reilly:
Today with Megan Reilly, co-founder and owner of WestEdge Design Fair, LuAnn dives into why designers at every level should stop treating trade shows as shopping trips and start using them as real business development tools. Megan has spent her career on every side of the industry event world, from the Merchandise Mart to Marketing Director of NeoCon and the Architectural
1211: Camia Brown: Keeping a Business Alive Through the Hardest Season of Your Life
Today with Camia Brown:
In the space of about a year and a half, Camia Brown lost her grandmother, lost her mother, lost a contractor she relied on for most of her projects to suicide, and went through the end of a relationship she thought was headed toward marriage. At the time, she had 15 active projects running, an office, and a team of four. This wasn't a business on the back burner. It was l
1210: What Would Lu Do: The Discount Lie
Today With LuAnn Nigara:
Somewhere on a coaching call this week, a designer told LuAnn the same story she hears constantly: her client is insisting on seeing the invoice, certain she's entitled to know what that ten thousand dollar sofa actually cost. It feels reasonable in the moment. It isn't, and in this episode LuAnn walks through exactly why, using the same standard your clients already appl
1209: Jude Charles: The Reason Clients Choose One Interior Designer Over Another
Today with Jude Charles:
My guest today has interviewed over one hundred homeowners after they hired an interior designer, and he asks every single one of them the same two questions. Why did you choose this designer? And what would your life look like if you hadn't?
Jude Charles is back on A Well-Designed Business for his fifth appearance, and this time we get into what he has learned after thr
1208: Kate Ahl: Your Designs Might Already Be on Pinterest, and You Don't Even Know It
Today with Kate Ahl:
Today with Kate Ahl, founder of Simple Pin Media and a 12-year Pinterest marketing veteran, we are talking about where Pinterest stands right now in 2026 — and why it might be the smartest marketing move interior designers aren't making. Kate has managed over a thousand Pinterest accounts, her team has been with her between five and eleven years, and last year she became a ve
1207: Arianne Bellizaire & Ben Johnston: The Talent Was Already There | Diversity Advocacy Alliance
Today with Arianne Bellizaire & Ben Johnston:
Do we still need to be talking about diversity in our industry? Yes. A thousand times yes. It is so incredibly easy for us to operate inside our comfortable, familiar bubbles and assume that if the door is wide open for us, it must be open for everyone else. But when we don't do the real work, when we overlook the lack of diversity and allow designers
1206: SPONSORED SHOW: Dezign Assist: Kylie Ponton, Corri English, The Hiring Answer for Solo or Scaled Firms
Today with Dezign Assist: Kylie Ponton, Corri English:
Today with Corri English, founder and principal designer of Music City Interiors, and Kylie Ponton, principal and CEO of Ponton Interiors, we are talking about what it actually looks like to bring qualified virtual support into your design firm at any stage of business.
Corri is eighteen months into building her Nashville-based studio and al
1205: BEST OF SHOW: Eric Ross: His Process for Selling Accessories and the Reveal Install
Welcome to our special bonus show! Today, as promised, we will be sharing our conversation with Eric Ross about his business philosophy, his process for selling accessories, and the way he manages his reveal install day. Eric’s process is unique and very unusual. Be sure to listen in, to hear what he has to share.
Eric has been a professional decorator for more than twenty years. Although his pre
1204: BEST OF SHOW: Eric Ross: Operating His Design Firm Like a Retail Store
Welcome! Today, Eric Ross joins us on the show. Eric is a charming southern gentleman and a well-experienced design professional. He is also a seasoned businessman who has figured out how to run his firm in a unique way that really works for him. In today’s episode, he describes how he runs his private interior design studio like a retail store. He explains that he no longer feels the need to chan
1203: Madelaine Mayer: The Interior Designer Who Spent 20 Years as an Architect Before Choosing Joy
Today with Madelaine Mayer:
Today with Madelaine Mayer, licensed architect, certified interior designer, and founder of ADROIT Architecture & Interior Design in New York City, we are getting into what it really means to bet on yourself when everything you have built says you should stay put. Madelaine spent nearly 20 years in commercial and institutional architecture before making the leap to int
1202: In Good Company: CEO Conversations with Kate O’Hara:Is Your Next Idea a Revenue Driver or a PR Play? Part 2
Today With Kate O’Hara:
Today on In Good Company: CEO Conversations with Kate O’Hara, we’re discussing diversifying your revenue—how to expand your business without losing focus on what’s already working.
Kate O’Hara, CEO and Creative Director of O’Hara Interiors, joins me to unpack what it really looks like to grow beyond design. We talk about service expansion—adding furnishings to constructio
1201: The Boardroom for Creatives Is Open. Here's Why I Built It.
Today with LuAnn Nigara:
The Boardroom for Creatives Is Open. Here's Why I Built It.
After nine years and over 1,400 episodes of bringing the best voices and the most qualified experts to this community, LuAnn built something new.
In this episode she tells the full story, the heartfelt emails she couldn't answer the way they deserved, the Instagram DM that crystallized the problem, and the
1200: SPONSORED SHOW: Mr. Steam: Optimize Wellness Design with Steam Showers Built for Performance
Today with William Kauker and Dawn DiGregorio of Mr. Steam:
We all know that wellness-focused design is steadily trending. And in today’s sponsored show, we’re talking about what exactly that means in terms of bathroom design, and how you can be ahead of the cutting-edge to meet clients before they even know what they’re looking for.
My guests today, William Kauker and Dawn DiGregorio of Mr. St
1199: Jasmine Roth: Say No to the Small Things So You Can Say Yes to the Big Ones
Today with Jasmine Roth:
We all want to stand out and get noticed in our businesses…but sometimes we get so caught up in trying to do what we’re “supposed” to do or put out what we think people are looking for that we forget the most important thing—loving what we do and committing to who we are as people and business owners.
My guest today, Jasmine Roth, host of HGTV's hit shows and the upcomi
1198: Isabel Ladd: Build a Business that Matches Your Vibe
Today with Isabel Ladd:
Today with Isabel Ladd, self-taught interior designer and unapologetic maximalist, we are getting into what it actually looks like to build a business entirely on your own terms. Isabel is a 2026 High Point Market Authority Style Spotter, a Kips Bay and House Beautiful Whole Home Showhouse alum, and someone who has spent 11 years in business deliberately engineering her cl
1197: Jason Saft: The Systems, Standards, and Boundaries Behind Luxury Home Staging
Today with Jason Saft:
Today with Jason Saft, founder of Staged To Sell Home and one of the most recognized names in luxury staging. Jason has built a business staging multi-million dollar properties across New York City — the kind of apartments and townhouses that were stuck on the market for years until he came in and transformed them into spaces that sell in weeks. With over 20 years in real e
1196: OVERHEARD: How to Build a Referral Pipeline That Actually Works with Liz Walton, Amy Peletier, and Janelle Blakely-Photopoulos
Today with Janelle Photopoulos, Amy Peltier and Liz Walton:
Today we're continuing our referral marketing series with three more designers who transformed their businesses by working with Stacey Brown Randall.
Liz Walton shares how she went from throwing spaghetti at the wall to systematically generating referrals, and she's now more profitable while working less. Amy Peltier reveals her brutal
1195: BEST OF SHOW: Campbell Minister: Building a Referral Based Interior Design Business
Today With Campbell Minister:
Welcome to a Well-Designed Business. Building a referral-led business isn’t always easy. It takes commitment, dedication, integrity, and accountability. Most of all, it takes the ability to navigate speed bumps and navigate challenges.
My guest today, Campbell Minister, knows what it takes to do all of those things. She has created clear processes, learned how to s
1194: Zach Perez & Zach Keenan: Automate Tedious Tasks and Scale Productivity with Agentic AI
Today With Zach Keenan and Zach Perez:
Are you spending more time checking boxes in your project management software than you are actually designing? We all love the idea of technology making our lives easier, but even with tools and systems, we still end up taking a lot of time out of our day to make them work for us. But what if you could fully and seamlessly automate your most annoying, time-c
1193: What Would Lu Do?: Listener Question: Buying an Existing Interior Design Business, What to Know
Today With LuAnn Nigara:
What happens when you have the opportunity to buy an established interior design business?
And more importantly…
How do you honor someone’s legacy while still protecting yourself financially?
In this episode, LuAnn answers a thoughtful listener question from Hannah Textor, a newer designer navigating a potential transition with a long-time designer nearing retirement.
1192: BEST OF SHOW: Jaclyn Marie: Build an Authentic Instagram Following
Welcome to A Well-Designed Business! In this episode, LuAnn chats with Jaclyn Lankiewicz, the woman behind the Instagram handle, Jaclynmari_.
She is the principle of Jaclyn Marie Interiors based in Long Island, NY.
Her journey into interior design, like many, has not been a direct line. Basically, Jaclyn created an Instagram page that was getting so much attention that it prompted person after p
1191: BEST OF SHOW: Park & Oak Interior Design: From the Park Bench to Luxury Design Firm in 3 Years
Welcome to the show! We have Christina Samatas and Renee DiSanto, the founders of Park and Oak Interior Design Studio, located in Glen Ellyn, Illinois, with us today. These ladies work on new construction, renovation, and furnishing projects across the US, and you may even know them from their Instagram, with 130 000 followers. The way that they handle themselves and speak about their firm really
1190: Josh Cooperman: Building What's Next While Protecting What Works | Live From KBIS 2026
Today With Josh Cooperman:
Josh Cooperman and I have been crossing paths at trade events for years — waving at each other across the hall, meaning to sit down, never quite making it happen. We finally did, live at KBIS in the KB podcast studio, and this conversation was worth every year of waiting.
Josh is the host and publisher of Convo by Design, a platform dedicated to exploring what he calls
1189: Helen Bygraves: How to Grow a Design Firm to 50 People Across Two Countries
Today With Helen Bygraves:
It’s easy to look at massive design firms and wonder how they could have possibly done it. When you’re growing your business, it can seem like top-tier firms must have a secret roadmap or a crystal ball that tells them what decisions to make when.
But more likely, the success of a firm like that comes down to something much simpler: the discipline to show up and the g
1188: In Good Company: CEO Conversations with Kate O’Hara: Scaling Your Design Firm Part 1: The Three Paths Forward
Today With Kate O’Hara:
As you grow your business, you inevitably hit a point where you just can’t force more projects into your pipeline. So…what happens next? Do you bring on another designer? Are there other options? Do you have to let go of creative control if you do bring on another designer? How do you make sure it’s a successful process?
In Part 1 of this two-part episode, Kate O’Hara sh
1187: WWLD: If Talent Isn’t the Problem, Why Aren’t You Getting Hired?
Today With LuAnn Nigara:
You’re talented.
You’ve built something thoughtful, elevated, even exceptional.
So why isn’t it landing?
That’s the real question behind today’s What Would Lu Do.
In this episode, I answer a question from a creative entrepreneur who offers highly customized, luxury-level products designed in collaboration with interior designers.
Her question?
Do designers even want
1186: BEST OF SHOW: Candy Scott & Rachel Cannon: Interior Design is a Service Business Not a Commodity Business
Welcome to today’s show! We are really happy today to have Candy Scott and Rachel Cannon join us on the show! In today’s episode, these two smart ladies will be talking to LuAnn about the changing landscape in the business side of interior design. Candy and Rachel are both highly organized, with finite systems in place for running their businesses and they truly understand that you really need to
1185: Kia Weatherspoon: The Cost of Performing Leadership
Today With Kia Weatherspoon:
Today with Kia Weatherspoon, we explore what it truly means to lead, not performatively, but fully and honestly. As the founder of Determined by Design, Kia has built a mission-driven firm rooted in the belief that interior design is not a luxury for a few, but a standard that should serve all people. In this conversation, she shares how that belief has shaped her wor
1184: Geraldine Morrison (NKBA): Stop Guessing—Use Industry Insight to Grow Your Business
Today With Geraldine Morrison:
What happens when you stop guessing in your business… and start making decisions based on real industry insight?
In this episode, LuAnn is joined by Geraldine Morrison, Chief Partnerships Officer for Domestic and Global Brands at NKBA | KBIS. With leadership experience at brands like Samsung and LIXIL, Geraldine brings a unique perspective on how manufacturers, des
1183: BEST OF SHOW: Fred Berns: Own Your “Only” Word & Tips to Discover Yours
The guest on today’s Power Talk Friday is Fred Berns, the only Interior Design Industry Business Coach, and Speaker. Fred was a Speaker at the Design Blogger’s Conference, held in L.A. In March, where he spoke about how to create your bio, so this show is tagged onto the Design Blogger’s Series. This is the fourth time that Fred has appeared on this show and LuAnn is really happy to have him back
1182: Sponsored Show: Studio Kasa, How to Source Art That Elevates Your Projects and Increases Your Profit
Today With Josh Kasper of Studio Kasa:
Art is one of the most overlooked, and under-monetized, elements in interior design.
In this sponsored episode, LuAnn sits down with Josh Kasper, founder of Studio Kasa, to talk about how designers can approach art differently, not just as a finishing touch, but as a strategic part of both the design and the business.
Josh shares how his firm helps designe
1181: Sponsored Show with Duke Renders: Is AI Saving You Time… or Wasting It?
Today With Duke Renders and Jenna Gaidusek:
AI is everywhere right now.
Some designers are excited about it. Others are frustrated by it. And many are quietly wondering…
Is this actually helping my business or just adding more noise?
In this episode, LuAnn sits down with Mina Duque of Duke Renders and AI expert Jenna Gaidusek to cut through the confusion and get to the truth.
What is AI actua
1180: BEST OF SHOW: Denise Wenacur: The Design Build Business Model
Welcome to A Well-Designed Business! On this episode, LuAnn sits down for a chat with Denise Wenacur, the principle of DW Design & Décor in Croton on the Hudson, which is a beautiful community just outside of NYC.
Design-build is the hot topic of the day, and you’ll learn the importance of having an interior designer as the point person for the client between the architect, the builder and themse
1179: The Business of Interiors Community Summit: The Room That Changes Your Business
Today With Rachel Usher and Rick Campos:
The Business of Interiors Community Summit: The Room That Changes Your Business
What if the thing that changes your business isn’t another course, another podcast, or another late night Googling session, but simply getting in the right room?
In this episode, LuAnn talks with Rachel Usher, founder of The Business of Interiors, and Rick Campos, creator of
1178: BEST OF SHOW: Amy Lynn Allard: Tactics for Team and Project Management
Today with Amy Lynn Allard:
Welcome to A Well-Designed Business. Looking for advice on systems to turbo-charge your business? Amy Lynn Allard of Boston’s Amy Lynn Interiors learned to thrive using well-crafted, meticulous systems. She is big on time blocking, but that’s not all. Amy walks through two of her most powerful systems, the team agenda and an invaluable spreadsheet she uses to create a
1177: Aga Artka and Jenny Rebholz: Define Your Personal Brand for Long-Term Career Stability
Today With Aga Artka and Jenny Rebholz:
When you hear the phrase "personal brand," do you immediately think of your color palette and your website layout? What if we are getting so caught up in the visual pieces that we are forgetting what a brand really is, and why it has to reflect who we are as humans?
My guests today, Aga Artka and Jenny Rebholz, authors of The Brand of You, join the show t
1176: Gage Edward: How to Stop Losing Your Furniture Market Finds
Today With Gage Edward:
In this sponsored episode of A Well-Designed Business, LuAnn sits down with entrepreneur and former Flipping Out star Gage Edward to talk about a challenge every designer knows well: coming home from market with hundreds of photos… and no clear way to organize or use them.
After more than a decade leading business development for a nationally recognized design firm, Gage
1175: BEST OF SHOW: John McClain: Turn Failure into Success
Today With John McClain:
Welcome to A Well-Designed Business. Today I am joined for the second time by John McClain. John is an accomplished interior designer, business coach, and author of The Designer Within. In this episode, he shares a bit about his back story with us—from crisis to conquest.
John is here to help you understand that you can learn and grow from your mistakes, and success can
1174: Joann Kandrac & Kelly Kole: How to Build a Business Partnership That Lasts
Today With Kandrac & Kole:
What does it actually take to stay in business with someone for more than two decades?
In this episode, Joann Kandrac and Kelly Kole of Kandrac & Kole Interior Design share what has sustained their 21-year business partnership. And no, it’s not just friendship.
We talk about defined roles, decision-making authority, handling disagreement without ego, and the operation
1173: Bri Ussery: The Relationship Between Order and Meaning
Today With Bri Ussery:
Today with Bri Ussery, we’re talking about a topic most of us think we’ve mastered but probably haven’t: communication as operational infrastructure. Bri, a strategist and fractional COO for interior design firms, explains why even the most well-built systems fall apart without clear, intentional language supporting them. From weekly update emails to onboarding decks to mee
1172: BEST OF SHOW: Jessica Matteson: The Client Experience Is #1 in Design
Today with Jessica Matteson:
Welcome to A Well-Designed Business. Jessica Matteson started her business with lots of experience but little time and money to invest in getting Jessica Matteson Landscape Architecture off the ground. Jessica shares her journey from starting with just $35 in advertising postcards to running a successful luxury landscape architecture business.
Pick it apart:
[14:28
1171: Jenna Gaidusek: AI Ethics for Interior Designers: Protecting Your Clients and Brand
Today With Jenna Gaidusek:
AI is not going anywhere.
But how you use it inside your design firm? That’s a leadership decision.
In this follow-up conversation with Jenna Gaidusek, we move beyond what AI can do and dig into what it should do inside your business.
Because here’s the thing:
Ignoring AI is not leadership.But using it without standards? That’s not leadership either.
In this epis
1170: BEST OF SHOW: Meryl Santopietro: How to Re-Invent, Re Vitalize Your Firm, Even After 20 Years
Today with Meryl Santopietro:
Welcome to A Well-Designed Business®. Today, I’m thrilled to have Meryl Santopietro. She is going to be sharing with us about her career and her decision to move her business to Manhattan. Meryl’s business was based in Rhode Island until she moved her business to Manhattan. She also has the pleasure of working with her two daughters every day.
More About Meryl Santo
1169: What Would Lu Do?: Now That It Works, Lead It
Today With LuAnn Nigara:
A Well-Designed Business® 10-Year Anniversary Series, Part 5
What happens when your business finally works?
The referrals are steady.The revenue is consistent.The team exists.
For many entrepreneurs, this is where survival ends.
But it’s also where drift can begin.
In Part 5 of the 10-Year Anniversary Series, LuAnn shares the leadership shift that happens after stabi
1168: Christa O'Leary: How Psychology Transforms Client Communication and Satisfaction
Today With Christa O’Leary:
Today with Christa O'Leary, we explore how her background in psychology and marriage and family therapy completely transformed the way she approaches design. Christa shows us that great design isn't just about aesthetics, it's about creating environments that support wellness, help clients thrive, and make them feel how they want to feel when they walk through the door
1167: What Would Lu Do?: When Your Business Starts Working… Now What?
Today With LuAnn Nigara:
When your business starts working, everything changes.
In Part Four of the 10-Year Birthday Series, LuAnn shares the shift that happens when success creates complexity — and why growth without structure leads to burnout.
What began as one microphone and one clear promise eventually became something bigger. More responsibility. More demand. More opportunity. And with tha
1166: BEST OF SHOW: Marie Flanigan: Leveraging Relationships and Making Decisions in Interior Design
Today with Marie Flanigan:
Welcome to A Well-Designed Business®. Today, I’m thrilled to have Marie Flanigan back on the show. Marie has more than a decade of experience as a thriving designer, one whose list of accolades goes on for days. In today’s episode, Marie is answering questions from listeners about how to make big decisions in your business— how to attract the clients and projects you tr
1165: Megan Dahle: A Four-Part Framework for Making Sense of Your Business Numbers
Today With Megan Dahle:
If your books are clean but your decisions still feel heavy, this episode is for you.
My guest today, Megan Dahle, is a fractional CFO for creative business owners, and she has a unique way of helping entrepreneurs understand what their numbers are actually telling them without shame, overwhelm, or judgment.
In this conversation, Megan shares her four-part framework for
1164: WWLD: When Responsibility Became Stewardship
Today With LuAnn Nigara:
In Part Three of the A Well-Designed Business 10-Year Birthday Series, LuAnn moves the story forward into the phase almost no one prepares you for.
The moment when hustle stops being the solution.
Not because the work disappears.
But because the work changes.
By this point, the podcast no longer depended on LuAnn doing everything herself.
It depended on something else
1163: BEST OF SHOW: Sarah Magness: Practical Strategies for Talking Budgets
Today with Sarah Magness
Welcome to today’s episode! We’re really glad to have Sarah Magness, of Magness Design, with us today. Eight years ago, Sarah hatched as a ‘baby designer’ and launched right into the luxury market.
Today she talks to us about the real-life experience she gained during this time, before opening her own firm. She also talks about the “New Heights” program at Marymount tha
1162: WWLD: When Consistency Became a Responsibility
Today With LuAnn Nigara:
In Part Two of the A Well-Designed Business® 10-Year Birthday Series, LuAnn picks up where the story left off last week.
The decision to start the podcast had been made.The show had launched.And then something else happened.
It started working.
In this episode, LuAnn shares what it actually looks like when consistency turns into responsibility, and when momentum begins
1161: BEST OF SHOW: Kae Whitaker : Get New Clients with the Right Email Sequence
Today with Kae Whitaker
Welcome to another episode of A Well-Designed Business. Everyone can start doing their happy dance today because we have Kae Whitaker on the show! After doing her really great series all about Facebook, LuAnn was considering doing another series, about landing pages, click funnels, email responders etc. She was out there, in Podcast Land, listening and looking out for the
1160: WWLD: Before the Podcast, The Decision No One Saw
Today With LuAnn Nigara:
Ten years ago, A Well-Designed Business® didn’t exist.
There were no downloads. No sponsors. No audience.
There was just a decision.
In this first episode of a four-part anniversary series, LuAnn takes you behind the scenes to the moment before the podcast, before the brand, before this became a business. She walks you through what her life and work actually looked like
1159: Overheard: The CEO Mindset Every Interior Designer Has to Learn (Or Burn Out Trying)
Today With Katy Cassaw, Kat Benson, Heather Peterson and Jillian Richey:
In this Overheard episode of A Well-Designed Business, I sit down with four powerhouse designers — Heather Peterson, Jillian Richey Echevarria, and Katy Cassaw and Kat Benson of Nest Interiors — to talk about what it really means to step into the CEO seat.
Each of these women has worked with business coach Desi Creswell to
1158: BEST OF SHOW: Vanessa DeLeon: Triple D: Drive- Dedication- Discipline
Today with Vanessa DeLeon
Today on the show we have a brilliant and when I say brilliant I really mean it, brilliant business woman: Vanessa DeLeon. Vanessa has starred on several television shows on some big television networks such as NBC, Bravo, HGTV and DIY Network. She has also been in several magazines such as TIME, Cosmopolitan etc. and on top of that she is a spokesperson! Wow! Talk about
1157: In Good Company: CEO Conversations with Kate O’Hara: Marketing to the Three Tiers of Luxury Clients and How to Attract Each One
Today With Kate O’Hara:
Today on A Well Designed Business, Kate O'Hara from O'Hara Interiors reveals her framework for positioning your design business to attract the clients you actually want: entry-level clients need you to be discoverable, mid-tier clients need you to be distinct, and elite clients need you to be discreet.
Kate explains the reality that many designers appear to work with one
1156: BEST OF SHOW: Susan Brunstrum: Practical Advice for Project Management
Susan is founder and principal of award-winning Sweet Peas Design, which she launched 13 years ago in the Chicago suburb of Libertyville as a one-woman firm. Today Sweet Peas Design is a full-service studio with a staff of six in downtown Libertyville and a branch office in Chicago. She and her team work with a broad-based clientele of entrepreneurs, corporate executives and professionals. Susan
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