The Interior Collective

Anastasia Casey
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  • Entrepreneurship
  • Updated weekly

A podcast for the business of beautiful living presented by IDCO Studio. The Interior Collective is equal parts advisor, collaborator, and trusted friend to interior designers around the world. I’m your host, Anastasia Casey -- bringing in interior designers and industry tastemakers to provide you with actionable advice for your own practice from experts you already trust. Our star-studded lineup features industry-renowned names such as Heidi Caillier, Amber Lewis, Shea McGee, Marie Flanigan, Jake Arnold, Clara Jung, Carley Summers, Gail Davis, Lindsey Borchard, Lauren Liess, Light & Dwell, Victoria Sass, Megan Grehl and so many more. We’ve assigned each guest a specific topic for truly actionable, inspiring and strategic takeaways from each episode.

  1. 3 days ago

    Contract & Scope Missteps Designers Make and How to Prevent Them with Brittany Hakimfar

    Season 8 of The Interior Collective Podcast is brought to you by Loloi. Hi, and welcome back to The Interior Collective. I’m your host, Anastasia Casey, and today we’re diving into one of the most important, and often overlooked, foundations of a healthy design business: contracts and scope management. I’m joined today by Brittney Hakimfar, founder of Far Studio, a Philadelphia–based interior design studio known for its thoughtful, layered work and highly organized project structure. But beyond the aesthetics, Brittney has built a reputation for running projects with clarity, strong boundaries, and systems that protect both the designer and the client experience. In this episode, we’re talking about the contract and scope missteps that so many designers encounter at some point in their careers. We’ll get into the specific language that helps prevent scope creep and revision overload, why vague deliverables often lead to long-term issues on a project, and how to structure revision rounds, approvals, and change orders clearly from the very beginning. Brittney also shares how Far Studio structures their team, how they approach pricing and project management today, and how those systems have evolved as the studio has grown. If you’ve ever had a project expand far beyond its original scope, or struggled to set clear boundaries with clients, this conversation will give you practical tools to protect your time, your creativity, and ultimately your profitability.

    58 min

  2. 22 May

    Taking the Leap: Building a Design Business Through Growth, Trust, and Strategic Support with Danielle Rose

    Season 8 of The Interior Collective Podcast is brought to you by Loloi. This episode is brought to you in partnership with Dezign Assist. Today on The Interior Collective, we’re talking about something that every designer eventually faces in their career: the moment when growth requires a leap of faith. Building a successful interior design studio isn’t just about talent or great projects. It’s about mindset. It’s about trusting yourself enough to make big decisions before you feel completely ready. And it’s about recognizing that the strongest businesses are rarely built alone. In this episode, I’m joined by Danielle Chiprut of Danielle Rose Design Co. a designer who has embraced that growth mentality in a meaningful way. We’re talking about what it really looks like to bet on yourself, how to navigate the risks that come with scaling a creative business, and why building a strong support system outside of your internal team can be one of the most powerful decisions you make. From photographers and PR partners to the broader network of collaborators who help bring a designer’s work to life, we’re exploring how those relationships shape not only the visibility of a studio, but its long-term trajectory.

    1hr 1min

  3. 15 May

    The Visionary vs. The Enforcer: Why Designers Lose Authority (and How to Get It Back) with Bri Ussery

    Season 8 of The Interior Collective Podcast is brought to you by Loloi. This episode is brought to you in partnership with Dezign Assist. Hi, and welcome back to The Interior Collective. I’m your host, Anastasia Casey. Today’s conversation is one I think a lot of interior designers are going to feel deeply seen by. I’m joined by Bri Ussery, and together we’re unpacking a dynamic that quietly shapes almost every design studio: the split between the visionary and the enforcer. Designers are often asked to hold two opposing roles at once. On one hand, you’re expected to be the creative leader. The person with taste, clarity, and vision. On the other, you’re also expected to enforce boundaries, manage approvals, push timelines forward, and uphold fees. When both of those identities live in the same person, something starts to fracture. In this episode, Bri and I explore why that split happens, where it shows up most clearly in real projects, and how it impacts everything from client trust to profitability to a designer’s sense of authority. We also talk through the structural and operational fixes that help protect the principal’s role and keep designers in the visionary posturerole clients believe they’re hiring them for. If you’ve ever felt the tension between leading creatively and enforcing operationally, or noticed moments where your authority starts to blur, this conversation will give language and structure to something you’ve likely been experiencing for years.

    1hr 10min

  4. 8 May

    Scaling Back to Scale Better: Redefining Success as an Influencer Designer with Nicole Salceda

    Season 8 of The Interior Collective Podcast is brought to you by Loloi. This episode is brought to you in partnership with Dezign Assist. Today’s guest is Nicole Salceda, founder of Eye for Pretty. Nicole built a highly visible brand at the intersection of interior design, retail, and digital influence. But what makes her story especially compelling is not just how she grew quickly, but how she chose to scale back with intention. In this episode, we’re talking about what happens when growth outpaces alignment, how to downsize without feeling like you’ve failed, and what it really means to be an “influencer designer” in today’s market. We also get into her team structure, partnerships with builders, brick and mortar retail, and how custom spec builds have reshaped her revenue model. If you’ve ever questioned whether bigger automatically means better, this conversation is for you.

    59 min

  5. 1 May

    Art with Authority: Integrating Fine Art into Your Design Process with Sarah Hurt

    Season 8 of The Interior Collective Podcast is brought to you by Loloi. This episode is brought to you in partnership with Dezign Assist. Today we’re talking about one of the most intimidating and misunderstood layers of an interior design project: art. My guest is Sarah Hurt, founder of Seattle Art Source, an art advisory that has worked alongside interior designers across the Pacific Northwest since 2017. Sarah’s entire business exists to remove the hesitation designers often feel around specifying art, and to help them position it not as an afterthought, but as a strategic and emotional anchor within a home. In this episode, we’re getting practical. We’re talking about when to introduce art into the project timeline, how to speak about it with authority, what your role is versus an art advisor’s role, and how art can actually elevate your client experience while protecting their financial investment. If art has ever felt like the most mysterious line item in your design proposal, this one is for you.

    57 min

  6. 17 Apr

    Building a Product Brand Alongside an Interior Design Studio with DuVäl Reynolds

    Season 8 of The Interior Collective Podcast is brought to you by Loloi. This episode is brought to you in partnership with Dezign Assist. DuVäl Reynolds is the founder and principal of DuVäl Design, a studio known for its layered, highly curated interiors. But alongside the studio, DuVäl has also created a completely separate brand, House of DuVäl, an e-commerce destination for furniture, lighting, décor, and objects that reflect his design perspective. In today’s conversation, we’re talking about what it actually looks like to build a product business as an interior designer. DuVäl shares why he intentionally kept the studio and retail brand completely separate, how he approaches sourcing and developing products, and what it takes to run an e-commerce company alongside a design firm. We also discuss licensing, including the debut of his new upholstery and casegoods collection with Sherrill Furniture Brands at High Point Market, and of course, his wildly popular “Curse of a Designer” social media series. If you’ve ever thought about expanding beyond client work and building a product-driven brand, this episode is a great place to start.

    1hr 11min

  7. 10 Apr

    Strategy First: Applying Advertising Principles to Interior Design with Kylie Bass

    Season 8 of The Interior Collective Podcast is brought to you by Loloi. This episode is brought to you in partnership with Materio. Hi everyone, and welcome back to The Interior Collective. I’m your host, Anastasia Casey, and today I’m sitting down with Kylie K. Bass, founder of KKB Interiors. Before launching her interior design studio, Kylie built her career in advertising, working inside an industry that’s deeply rooted in strategy, messaging, timelines, and performance. In today’s episode, we’re unpacking how those skills translated into the structure, pricing, and client experience of her design practice. We talk about the surprising ways advertising thinking shows up in everything from proposals to project pacing, how designers can borrow proven frameworks from other industries without overcomplicating their business, and why clarity, not creativity, is often the thing that unlocks growth. As always, we’ll also get into the nuts and bolts. Team structure, pricing models, and how Kylie thinks about running a studio that’s both creatively fulfilling and commercially sound.

    59 min

  8. 3 Apr

    The Business of Launching a Furniture Line with Bergman Vass

    Season 8 of The Interior Collective Podcast is brought to you by Loloi. This episode is brought to you in partnership with Materio. Today on The Interior Collective, I’m sitting down with Erica Vassalotti and Dana Bergman Falcione, co-founders of Bergman Vass. Erica and Dana’s work sits at the intersection of interior design, product development, and brand building, and in this episode, we’re diving deep into what it really looks like to expand beyond services and into physical product. We’ll be talking about the business realities of developing a furniture and rug line, from early concepting and manufacturing decisions to financial risk, pricing, and long-term brand strategy. Erica and Dana also share how growing a product arm has influenced the way they run their studio, how they think about visibility in a crowded market, and why investing in a new studio space was a non-optional move. If you’ve ever considered launching a product line, scaling your brand beyond client work, or building a studio that supports where your business is going, not just where it’s been, this conversation is for you.

    59 min
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About

A podcast for the business of beautiful living presented by IDCO Studio. The Interior Collective is equal parts advisor, collaborator, and trusted friend to interior designers around the world. I’m your host, Anastasia Casey -- bringing in interior designers and industry tastemakers to provide you with actionable advice for your own practice from experts you already trust. Our star-studded lineup features industry-renowned names such as Heidi Caillier, Amber Lewis, Shea McGee, Marie Flanigan, Jake Arnold, Clara Jung, Carley Summers, Gail Davis, Lindsey Borchard, Lauren Liess, Light & Dwell, Victoria Sass, Megan Grehl and so many more. We’ve assigned each guest a specific topic for truly actionable, inspiring and strategic takeaways from each episode.

Information

  • Creator
    Anastasia Casey
  • Years Active
    2022 - 2026
  • Episodes
    115
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © 2022
  • Show Website
    The Interior Collective

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