A Well-Designed Business® | Interior Design Business Podcast LuAnn Nigara

Today With Katie Decker-Erickson:
Today, on A Well-Designed Business, I have the amazing Katie Decker-Erickson. Her company, Color Works, has helped interior designers build the businesses they desire. Her knowledge has led her to coach others, all while balancing her personal life. With her, today We are exploring the importance of finding your 'happy spot' in business.
More About Katie Decker-Erickson
Katie began her career in commercial color consulting as a part-time passion project in 2007. Today, her company, Color Works has grown into a multi-million dollar commercial design company, currently operating in over 20 states nationwide, with a fully remote team of more than a dozen individuals. Katie is known for her business acumen (having grown 1500% in a single year), passion for teaching others (with 18 years teaching graduate and undergraduate courses) and this is what led her to coach other interior designers who want to scale their business to their lifestyle. She is also a mom and devoted to her two young daughters with a commitment to women's empowerment both personally and professionally.
Connect with Katie Decker-Erickson
Color Works Firm:
Website
Instagram
Facebook
X
LinkedIn
Color Works Coaching:
Website
Coaching Resources
Instagram
Facebook
YouTube
Blog
What’s new with LuAnn Nigara
The Power Talk Friday Tour
Watch the Docuseries!
http://www.luannnigara.com/cob
Get The Goodies!
For checklists, resources, and extra goodies from A Well-Designed Business sign up for free here. To Get on LuAnn’s Email List, text the word designbiz to 444999!
Purchase LuAnn’s Books Here:
Book 1: The Making of A Well – Designed Business: Turn Inspiration into Action
Audiobook: The Making of A Well – Designed Business: Turn Inspiration into Action
Book 2: A Well-Designed Business – The Power Talk Friday Experts
Book 3: A Well-Designed Business – The Power Talk Friday Experts Volume 2
Connect with LuAnn Nigara
LuAnn’s Website
LuAnn’s Blog
Power Talk Friday
Like Us: Facebook | Tweet Us: Twitter | Follow Us: Instagram | Listen Here: Podcast
Other Resources Mentioned:
Colorful Conversations: Networking Tips for Interior Designers with LuAnn Nigara
The Power Talk Friday Tour
Other Shows Mentioned:
#960: Laura Hodges: The Behind the Scenes of the Southern Living Showhouse
#839: Flashback Friday: Candice Olson: How to Be an Overnight Success in 25 Years

Today With Jenny Yi:
Hi, welcome to a Well-Designed Business. I talk a lot on the show about goals, drive, motivation, and having a willingness to just go out and make things happen. But what about when that doesn’t feel possible?
What about when your life is in a crisis, or you’re struggling with your mental health, or it feels like work just to get out of bed, let alone tackle the long list of things to do that entrepreneurship requires? That is a different beast altogether—and it’s a beast that my guest today, Jenny Yi, understands all too well.
Jenny’s story is a powerful one—one that I think we all need to hear, but one that is especially important for any of you out there who are struggling, whether life has just kicked you down or you’re coping with something heavy.
LuAnn Nigara and Jenny Yi's Ah-Ha Moments
“You were telling me all the things you do in the Jenny Yi empire. But then you got quiet and you said, ‘but It's important to me to give the path of ownership and entrepreneurship to somebody else who's out there that wants the control of our own destiny.’” -LuAnn
“There's one thing I want your listeners to understand and know that it doesn't matter where you are right now—it gets better. Life gets good, even when you can't see it, even when you can't imagine it, even when you can't predict it, even when people talk about how to envision good lives and you just can’t.” -Jenny
More About Jenny Yi
Jenny Yi is a vibrant traveling designer who has taken the world of hospitality by storm. With a discerning eye for transforming hotels and Airbnb spaces, Jenny’s firm specializes in makeovers that captivate guests and leave them yearning for more. Her three-figure portfolio showcases her unrivaled talent in crafting unforgettable experiences through innovative design.
Not only has Jenny made her mark in the industry with her makeovers, but she has also expanded her influence with her very own hospitality bedding line, setting the standard for luxurious comfort and problem-solving automation for hosts. Her exceptional work has been featured on platforms such as Biggerpockets, Millennial Millionaire, STR Insider, and Voyage, cementing her reputation as a go-to expert in the field. With a growing following of 50,000 loyal admirers, Jenny's designs have inspired countless individuals to reimagine their own spaces.
Connect with Jenny Yi
Website
Email
Instagram
What’s new with LuAnn Nigara
The Power Talk Friday Tour
Watch the Docuseries!
http://www.luannnigara.com/cob
Get The Goodies!
For checklists, resources, and extra goodies from A Well-Designed Business sign up for free here. To Get on LuAnn’s Email List, text the word designbiz to 444999!
Purchase LuAnn’s Books Here:
Book 1: The Making of A Well – Designed Business: Turn Inspiration into Action
Audiobook: The Making of A Well – Designed Business: Turn Inspiration into Action
Book 2: A Well-Designed Business – The Power Talk Friday Experts
Book 3: A Well-Designed Business – The Power Talk Friday Experts Volume 2
Connect with LuAnn Nigara
LuAnn’s Website
LuAnn’s Blog
Power Talk Friday
Like Us: Facebook | Tweet Us: Twitter | Follow Us: Instagram | Listen Here: Podcast
Other Resources Mentioned:
Get 20% off your first three months with Mydoma Studio by going to mydomastudio.com/awelldesignedbusiness
Other Shows Mentioned:
#145: Sandra Funk of House of Funk: Why and How She Re-Branded her 10 Year old Firm
#386: Wendy Glaister: Not All Challenges Are Design Related
#520: Power Talk Friday: Sandra Funk: The Interior Design Standard is Here!
#523: Leah Meyer Perez: Overcoming Fears and Insecurities
#715: Kathleen Jennison: From Trauma to Triumph in Interior Design

Today With John Dupra:
Welcome to a Well-Designed Business. For today’s Sponsored Show, I am so happy to welcome back John Dupra of Revel Woods. 
John also gives great tips on how he has had strategic partnerships in his business from the beginning, which he will even say is why he is still here today. He shares how to leverage those relationships in your business and the tactical strategies to make the most of them and show up as an excellent strategic partner.
There is definitely a “right” way to develop and maintain these relationships, and if you are wondering how, John’s brain is the one you will want to pick on this topic.
LuAnn Nigara and John Dupra's Ah-Ha Moments:
“Part of what I've been able to do and what many successful people do is increase your luck surface area. You're not going to be able to brute force your way into everything all the time. Sometimes, you will randomly be at an event, a party, or a LuAnn Live, and meet somebody who will change your life and career forever,” - John Dupra
“When you’re within a respectful partnership, you’re doing something for them, and the next day they are doing something for you, and nobody is keeping score.” - LuAnnn Nigara
More About John Dupra
John Dupra (pronounced DU-pray)’s father Craig started in the wood flooring business before John was born as an installer and refinisher, which he did for 24 years before eventually opening his own wholesale wood flooring distribution company in Rochester, NY.
John grew up helping his father when not in school before taking a job for Saint-Gobain, a large materials manufacturing company that made sundries for the flooring industry. He traveled the country as a sales engineer working with flooring contractors for eight years before deciding to join the family business in wholesale distribution.
It was there John saw the need to evolve the industry, by evolving its sales channels. If the correct platform was built, designers would be just as integral a part of the flooring industry as flooring stores. Making flooring a lucrative avenue for the designer, while providing a better experience to their clients. Revel Woods is that platform. Now designers are empowered to add flooring to their projects in a way that’s never been seen before.
His favorite podcast to be on is A Well Designed Business and he doesn’t care who knows it.
Connect with John Dupra
Website
Instagram
Facebook
Pinterest
A Big THANK YOU to Today’s Podcast Sponsor:
This episode is sponsored by Revel Woods
Other Shows Mentioned:
AWDB: #329: Power Talk Friday: John Dupra – Revel Woods Launches New To The Trade Program
AWDB: #555: Sarah Daniele: 19H The Blueprint, Create Resiliency in Your Business
AWDB: #632: Power Talk Friday: John Dupra: Taking The Fear Out of Flooring for Interior Designers
AWDB: 709: Jenny and Ben Slingerland of Black Ink Interiors: The Stages and Decisions to Grow Your Design Business
AWDB: #722: Power Talk Friday: Duke Renders: How to Incorporate 3D Renderings into Your Interior Design Business
AWDB: #823: Power Talk Friday: Duke Renders: A Case Study For a Successful Business Plan
AWDB: #879: Power Talk Friday: Sarah Daniele: Mydoma Studio and the Business of Change as the Interior Design Industry Enters a Digital Transformation
AWDB: #883: Power Talk Friday: Aubre Fox: Increase Your Profit and Create Your Own Flooring Collection With Revel Woods
AWDB: #905: Power Talk Friday: Duke Renders: Why Successful Design Firms Choose Duke Renders for Their Rendering Projects
AWDB: #951: Power Talk Friday: Duke Renders: More Interior Designers Share the Value Of Using Duke Renders For Your Rendering Projects
AWDB: #919: Window Treatment Friday: Sara Lynn Brennan: How to Sell Window Treatments in Your Full Service Interior Design Projects
AWDB: #607: Sara Lynn Brennan: Project Management with Specific Deliverables and Deadlines

Today With Libby Langdon:
Welcome to a Well-Designed Business. Many designers are interested in licensing…but how do you set yourself up for deals? Where do you find an agent? And how do you create something companies will be interested in?
My guest today, Libby Langdon, has carved out success for herself in licensing, making it not just a one-off collection but an ongoing, viable revenue stream. Today, she’s here to share her tips for how designers can set themselves up for licensing partnerships.
LuAnn Nigara and Libby Langdon's Ah-Ha Moments
“You have to have a promotional platform of some sort. It’s paramount. There’s absolutely no reason for a manufacturer to partner with a designer unless the designer has a voice, has an audience, knows their lane, and is ready to get out and promote it. They need to know that you can bring them a new audience.” -Libby
“You have to have self-awareness and bring new unique ideas to the table. But it also has to be designed at a price point that fits the company you’re working for.” -LuAnn
More About Libby Langdon
Libby Langdon is an interior designer, author, product designer and makeover television personality, as well as the creative force behind New York City–based design firm Libby Interiors, Inc. She is known for her “Easy, Elegant, Everyday Style,” as well as her licensed home-furnishing collections, including a complete home collection of upholstery and casegoods for Fairfield Chair, lighting for Crystorama, artwork for Paragon, and accessories for A&B Home. Her interior design work and home products have been featured in leading shelter magazines, including Architectural Digest, House Beautiful, Traditional Home, Hamptons Cottages & Gardens, Better Homes and Gardens, and Woman’s Day. Langdon has been a regular design expert on NBC’s TODAY Show, HGTV’s Small Space, Big Style, The View, The Rachael Ray Show, The Early Show and NBC’s Open House. Langdon travels the country presenting her design seminars to consumers, designers, and retailers about all things design.
Connect with Libby Langdon
Website
Instagram 
Facebook 
YouTube
Pinterest
What’s new with LuAnn Nigara
The Power Talk Friday Tour
Watch the Docuseries!
http://www.luannnigara.com/cob
Get The Goodies!
For checklists, resources, and extra goodies from A Well-Designed Business sign up for free here. To Get on LuAnn’s Email List, text the word designbiz to 444999!
Purchase LuAnn’s Books Here:
Book 1: The Making of A Well – Designed Business: Turn Inspiration into Action
Audiobook: The Making of A Well – Designed Business: Turn Inspiration into Action
Book 2: A Well-Designed Business – The Power Talk Friday Experts
Book 3: A Well-Designed Business – The Power Talk Friday Experts Volume 2
Connect with LuAnn Nigara
LuAnn’s Website
LuAnn’s Blog
Power Talk Friday
Like Us: Facebook | Tweet Us: Twitter | Follow Us: Instagram | Listen Here: Podcast
Other Resources Mentioned:
The Power Talk Friday Tour
LuAnn's Hiring Toolkit Bundle

Today With Laura Koshel:
Today’s Power Talk Friday is another episode of our Live, On-Air Strategy Sessions!
I am welcoming Laura Koshel, the owner and principal designer at LK Design, an interior design firm based in Durham, NC.
Laura wants to know what she should know about scaling her business and her team. Learn how having wonderful employees is a great beginning but having clarity is among you is the key. Listen in to see what I mean.
LuAnn Nigara and Laura Koshel's Ah-Ha Moments:
“If you plan on having a team of five to eight employees, you need to clarify your standards in an SOP, so every step is clear and accessible,” - LuAnn Nigara
“When you have a documented process that explains to your employees how you do things, along with weekly check -ins, things rarely wiggy,” - LuAnn Nigara
More About Laura Koshel
Laura Koshel is the owner and the principal designer at LK Design, an interior design firm based in Durham, NC. Laura was born in Lithuania and grew up in St Petersburg, Russia. When Laura moved to USA in 2005, she decided to nurture her creative and organizational skills by joining a national decorating franchise and becoming an independent interior decorator. It was a great learning journey for someone coming into the interior design industry, with basic sales skills, and new to the American culture. 2008 came and hit the young business hard. In 2010 Laura and her husband welcomed their son. They decided to close the franchise and dedicate Laura’s next 5 years to raising their son. In 2015 Laura longed to go back to the interior design industry, and so established LK Design.
Today, together with her two assistants, Laura helps her clients to navigate their residential and light commercial design projects with ease. LK Design has been voted by readers of the Durham Magazine Best of Durham 6 years in a row.
For Laura, the most joyful work moments are when a job is done well, clients are happy, expectations are exceeded, trades and vendors are treated with respect, as well as seeing how her team grows professionally. She credits her own growth in part to the openness of the industry today and to the resources available to the designers, including LuAnn’s podcast, that were not available decades ago.
When work and life balance is in place, Laura enjoys family and social times, variety of physical activities, including endurance sports, travel, sailing, reading, cooking, and moments when the mind wonders around.
Connect with Laura Koshel
Website
Instagram 
Facebook 
Houzz
Yelp
What’s new with LuAnn Nigara
The Power Talk Friday Tour
Watch the Docuseries!
http://www.luannnigara.com/cob
Get The Goodies!
For checklists, resources, and extra goodies from A Well-Designed Business sign up for free here. To Get on LuAnn’s Email List, text the word designbiz to 444999!
Purchase LuAnn’s Books Here:
Book 1: The Making of A Well – Designed Business: Turn Inspiration into Action
Audiobook: The Making of A Well – Designed Business: Turn Inspiration into Action
Book 2: A Well-Designed Business – The Power Talk Friday Experts
Book 3: A Well-Designed Business – The Power Talk Friday Experts Volume 2
Connect with LuAnn Nigara
LuAnn’s Website
LuAnn’s Blog
Power Talk Friday
Like Us: Facebook | Tweet Us: Twitter | Follow Us: Instagram | Listen Here: Podcast
Other Resources Mentioned:
LuAnn's Hiring Toolkit Bundle
Power Talk Friday Tour
Other Shows Mentioned:
AWDB #363 Power Talk Friday: Eileen Hahn: Building An Exceptional Interior Design Team
AWDB #589 Power Talk Friday: Eileen Hahn: Scaling from 2 Million to 5 Million
AWDB #811 Power Talk Friday: Heather Hansen: You Are Your Own Advocate
AWDB #825 Power Talk Friday: Cheryl Clendenon: The Design Paradigm – Creating a Strong Framework For Your Interior Design Business

Today With Chloe Bullock:
Today with Chloe Bullock, we explore the world of sustainable and conscious interior design. As an award-winning, B Corp Certified, BIID Registered Interior Designer based in Brighton, UK, Chloe shares her journey from being my first ever coaching client to becoming a pioneer in vegan and sustainable design.
In this episode, Chloe reflects on finding her authentic voice and niche in sustainable design, and we discuss her new book, "Sustainable Interior Design." Chloe's passion for educating clients and fellow designers about the power of making conscious choices shines through as she shares insights on embracing the circular economy, supporting local craftsmanship, and aligning personal values with design practice. She emphasizes the ripple effect that even small sustainable choices can have on the industry as a whole.
LuAnn Nigara and Chloe Bullock's Ah-Ha Moments
“Don't be afraid to claim your niche. You're so much louder in a small space — when it's the space that means something to you.” - LuAnn Nigara
“I think sustainability can be quite complicated, but actually, in places, it's super simple. And half the time we're doing a lot of these things already.” - Chloe Bullock
“I don't want to bring that [misery] to my clients when I can bring them next generation materials…bio based materials, things that are problem solving and beautiful and have lovely storytelling — because we all love to tell a story about the things that we have around us in our homes.” - Chloe Bullock
More About Chloe Bullock
Brighton's award-winning, B Corp Certified, BIID Registered Interior Designer®
Offering advice and design of low impact interiors, products and communities. Working to improve the sustainability of fellow designers work and businesses, and manufacturers on their products.
Working within the circular economy and avoiding the use of animals, delivering healthy spaces centred around the humans using them. Design where nature and humans thrive.
Connect with Chloe Bullock
Website
Chloe's Book 'Sustainable Interior Design' commissioned by the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA)
Instagram
LinkedIn
Resources
Interior Design Declares UK designers join 
Other countries - set up a Declare for your country 
BIID Sustainable Specifying Guide
British Institute of Interior Design
Deborah Di Mare's website: Vegan Design
What’s new with LuAnn Nigara
The Power Talk Friday Tour
Watch the Docuseries!
http://www.luannnigara.com/cob
Get The Goodies!
For checklists, resources, and extra goodies from A Well-Designed Business sign up for free here. To Get on LuAnn’s Email List, text the word designbiz to 444999!
Purchase LuAnn’s Books Here:
Book 1: The Making of A Well – Designed Business: Turn Inspiration into Action
Audiobook: The Making of A Well – Designed Business: Turn Inspiration into Action
Book 2: A Well-Designed Business – The Power Talk Friday Experts
Book 3: A Well-Designed Business – The Power Talk Friday Experts Volume 2
Connect with LuAnn Nigara
LuAnn’s Website
LuAnn’s Blog
Power Talk Friday
Like Us: Facebook | Tweet Us: Twitter | Follow Us: Instagram | Listen Here: Podcast
Other Resources Mentioned:
The Power Talk Friday Tour
Mydoma: Get 20% off your first three months by going to mydomastudio.com/awelldesignedbusiness
Other Shows Mentioned:
#15: Nancy Ganzekaufer- Niche is Rich
#82: Deborah Rosenberg – Tailoring Your Interior Design Firm to Your Core Beliefs
#117: Power Talk Friday: Deborah Rosenberg- Cruelty Free Design Certification is Here!
#174: Power Talk Friday- Fred Berns- Own Your “Only” Word & Tips to Discover Yours
#282: Blanche Garcia – You Teach Clients How to Treat You
#526: Jaipur Living, CEO Asha Chaudhary
#757: Power Talk Friday: Nitesh Chaudhary: Jaipur Living: The Manchaha Initiative
#965: Mona Nahm: Equitable Design for People and the Planet