Creative Genius Podcast

Gail Doby & Erin Weir
  • 4.6 (10)
  • Entrepreneurship
  • Updated Weekly

Gail Doby and Erin Weir interview influential people in the interior design industry, business, and entrepreneurs

  1. 22h ago

    Purpose, Community, and Health After You Sell Your Business (Nate Collins)

    In this masterclass episode of the Creative Genius Podcast, Gail Doby dives deep into the complex world of exit planning with former business operator turned wealth manager, Nate Collins. Nate shares his multi-layered financial background and details his experience taking over a struggling, 150-year-old theatrical licensing firm in 2011, engineering a major operational turnaround, and successfully selling it to the largest privately owned music licensing company in the world in 2019. Despite achieving an extraordinary wealth-creating event, Nate candidly shares his struggle with post-exit depression—a phenomenon backed by a PricewaterhouseCoopers study revealing that 75% of business owners profoundly regret selling their companies within a year. He explains how an unexpected injury led him to author a comprehensive exit-planning workbook designed to guide owners through the personal, business, and financial “legs of the stool” during a two-to-five-year exit runway. In this episode, you’ll hear about: The Emotional Toll of Selling: Why 80% of businesses that go to market fail to sell, and why the emotional friction triggers heavy overreactions for unprepared owners. Investing in the Right Advisors: The critical difference between standard accounting and a specialized M&A team (transaction accountants, M&A attorneys, and specialized wealth managers). The Liminal Period: Understanding the psychological phase between identity shifts, marked by feelings of confusion, uncertainty, and worthlessness. Prosperity vs. Well-Being: Nate’s personal shift from chasing personal prosperity to discovering that fulfillment only comes from structural personal well-being. Defining True Purpose: Why purpose is directly tied to being relevant to the lives of other people and serving something bigger than yourself. If you’re listening on your favorite podcast platform, view the full show notes here: https://thepearlcollective.com/s15e4-shownotes https://youtu.be/ErpFF1-lpE4 Episode Transcript Note: Transcript is created automatically and may contain errors. Click to show transcript GAIL DOBY Well, Nate, I’m so glad to have you here today. You have had the most interesting career from trading distressed debt on Wall Street to managing commercial real estate at private equity firms, turning around a theatrical licensing company. And I think you have a few more little tidbits you want to share with me too, so why don’t you go ahead and add to that? NATE COLLINS Thanks, Gail. I’m so excited to be on this podcast. thank you for giving me the opportunity to speak to your audience. yes, so I have had a very circuitous career. It seems a little bit disjointed. However, at the end of the day, it has always done it has always been financially related. It has always been about investing money. And the two other ones that you mentioned. is after I sold that licensing company, that theatrical licensing company that you discussed, and we’ll discuss that later, I then went on to work at a hedge fund and now I work in wealth management. So yes, you know, always in the financial field. But you may say, wait a second, theatrical licensing, how is that finance? That that sounds like theater. Well, ultimately the real business was entering into agreements with the rights holders, the intellectual property rights holders, and entering an agreement to be a licensing agent on their behalf. And the way that it worked was very similar to real estate investment. We’d pay the the the rights holder up front a large amount of money and then once we had that that the rights to license that property similar to the right to our If you own a busin if you own a a building, you lease it out. In this case, we licensed the property out for a specific amount of time and we try to maximize our return on investment by optimizing those licenses. GAIL DOBY Interesting. Well, you’ve also been a business owner, then that was before you were an a a financial advisor to them. And so how did that help you, eventually selling that theatrical licensing company? NATE COLLINS Yes. So I that was such a wonderful such a wonderful chapter in said circuitous career that I’ve had. And I really loved running a business. I really enjoyed operating a business. The the licensing company I took it over in two thousand eleven. It was almost gosh, two hundred and fifty years old. I’m sorry, a hundred and fifty years old. Not older than this country. A hundred and fifty years old. and when I when I took it over in two thousand eleven, it was a real turnaround story. It had just been poorly managed for decades, but with some some exceptional luck and a great team, we were able to turn it around and become one of the most dynamic companies in the industry. And we ended up selling it in two thousand nineteen for a a just more than we had ever expected. And it was it was a lot of fun. Obviously, like any business, I I had a lot of sleepless nights. So that experience though, how does it help me now? You know, I walked in those shoes. I walked in the shoes of a business owner from from having those sleepless nights, being concerned about employees Being concerned about whether you’re making the right investments in the company. Sometimes thinking that maybe you went you were a little too out too much out over your skis and and being concerned and looking out for threats and looking out for opportunities. And then having the the opportunity to sell the business to a strategic buyer, the largest. privately owned music licensing company in the world ended up buying our company. So it was a tremendous experience, full of ups and downs. And when I work with business owners now, I have that that sympathy of actually having been there. I can I can relate to their their NATE COLLINS their concerns because I know their challenges. I also know their opportunities. I know where business owners typically are not focused and spending enough time. And I know where they can do more to optimize the values of their business or the the value of their personal wealth. And it really is enjoyable because it’s my purpose. My purpose is to support business owners through all parts of their journey, their business journey from inception to exit. And it makes me feel it makes me feel really good to have that purpose. It makes me feel needed. It makes it me feel like I matter to people. And so, you know, my best days are any day I get to talk to my clients or a prospective client talking about their business, helping them solve problems, helping them create strategies that that achieve their goals. GAIL DOBY You know, it’s really interesting. and and we’re going to dive into exit planning and thinking about how to prepare your business for sale. And as we start doing that, I’m approaching that because I’m thinking about that myself. And I know that a lot of our listeners are in the same boat. They’re thinking about what is that future and how long does it take to prepare your business for sale. So I’m definitely gonna go off the questions that I sent you and we’re gonna maybe go off on a tangent and talk about some things that are related to preparing for what is a very big moment in almost any owner’s life when they’ve worked for years building their business, and then it’s time to really think about that future. So talk to me a little bit about how you approach going through that process with somebody. Preparing them for this. NATE COLLINS Sure, absolutely. Well, first, let me just share a little story. Earlier this year, in February, I slipped on some ice, fell down some steps, broke some bones in my back, got a concussion. and I couldn’t move for a couple weeks. Well, I when I say I couldn’t move, I meant I was I was laid up in bed for a couple of weeks. fortunately it was just some fractures and I didn’t need surgery or anything. But the one thing I could do was type. So I actually wrote the I wrote a book on exit planning. Actually it’s more of a workbook and it guides a business owner through basically all the important steps to consider when when you are planning to eventually exit your business. And this workbook is set up to to guide somebody through anywhere from say two years to five years. lead runway before the exit. ideally the more time the better, of course. And the key to having a successful exit, there are there are a number of keys, I guess, really. but let’s just start with the first one is really identifying three goals. Your personal goals, your business goals, And your financial goals. You know, when I say personal goals, what are you trying to accomplish out of selling your business? Why are you selling your business? Is it because you want more time with family? Is it because you’re just tired of the grind of doing the business? Really understanding that. And then thinking about are there other things to do? Are there other ways to solve those problems? Look, selling a business is really hard. Eighty percent of businesses that go to market fail to sell. So, and I hope that everybody here, everybody who’s listening, has an opportunity to sell their business someday because it’s an extraordinary experience and it leads to some great opportunities when you have that sort of wealth creating event. However, it is hard. So why are you selling your business? Right? But NATE COLLINS on from the personal side. And what are you what are you planning to do afterwards? And we can get into that later also. That’s a that’s a whole nother can of worms. from the business side, understand the goals. What do you want your who do you want to be the successor of your business? Who do you want to be the new custodian of this thing that you built, this child that you raised almost? obviously I can’t really compare a business to a child. nothing’s quite like that. But the amount of energy that a business owne

  2. Jul 7

    Building a Crisis-Proof Team Culture (Susan Feffer)

    In this powerful and emotionally charged episode, Gail Doby reunites with former community member Susan Feffer to explore the intersection of business systems, personal crisis, and operational grit. Susan opens up about her childhood, where she discovered her natural gift for spatial design and human connection while navigating a traditional academic environment with an undiagnosed learning disability. Susan recounts how she rebuilt her life after a 2015 divorce, turning her hands-on experience in staging and house-flipping into a full-scale design firm. She shares why she decided to make her first major business investment with the Pearl Collective in February 2024, an operational “insurance policy” that proved vital just months later when a series of major health crises hit her small core team. In this episode, you’ll hear about: The Currency of Connection: How struggling in school taught Susan to use her social intelligence and relationship-building skills to survive and succeed. Shifting the Scarcity Mindset: Overcoming a conservative financial upbringing to realize that investing early in staff and structure is an act of betting on yourself. Preparing to Get “Unlucky”: How a four-month sprint of implementing freight policies and clear contracts allowed Susan’s business to keep running smoothly after her rare blood cancer diagnosis. Playing Hurt: The incredible cultural alignment that took place when Susan’s lead designer, Ashley, and her sister/operations manager, Patty, were also diagnosed with cancer. The Future Succession Plan: Susan’s ultimate goal of scaling back to the owner’s seat so her beloved team can eventually buy and run the firm. If you’re listening on your favorite podcast platform, view the full show notes here: https://thepearlcollective.com/s15e3-shownotes https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BV1wzPHLdhM&pp=ygUQcGVhcmwgY29sbGVjdGl2ZQ%3D%3D Episode Transcript Note: Transcript is created automatically and may contain errors. Click to show transcript GAIL DOBY Well, Susan, it’s so great to see you. It’s been a while since we’ve gotten together and we are just we miss seeing your incredible smiling face. So thank you for being here. SUSAN FEFFER And thank you for having me. This is quite an honor. Very exciting. GAIL DOBY Well, it’s a pleasure. Well, I wanna start off. You have been a part of our community in the past and took a little break for a little while. You’ve had some things going on and we’ll get into that in a few minutes. But tell me about your journey of getting into interior design. Was that intentional? What happened in your life to get you here? SUSAN FEFFER So as a little girl I loved design. I loved, you know, moving furniture around. I could play in doll houses for days and Fisher Price and Barbie, you know. it came really easily to me and I loved it. And I can’t say that a lot of other things came easy to me. So I had a mother that nurtured that and we would do the show houses and you know, she For when on my 16th birthday, I wanted Laura Ashley balloon curtains and I wanted a matching bedskirt and you know, comforter. And that’s, you know, I was always that girl. And so school was always a real struggle for me. I was not a great student. I was lived a life with an undiagnosed, you know, learning disability. And I was the youngest of five. So I sort of went where the carpool went. And During my, you know life as a child, as a student in a traditional environment, I learned I had to learn quickly how to survive and get through and identify who was gonna help me get there. So there was no blueprint, there was no rule you know, template to say this is what you’re supposed to do. I just had to figure it out and I had to find a solution. And there was a bit of chaos and sense of urgency with that. But I did it. And I would find that, you know, there’s Molly, and she’s in the second row, and she’s got her kilt to her knees, and she’s super quiet. So I’m gonna ask Molly for her notes, and then I’m gonna ask her to tutor me. And my mom’s gonna pick up her notebook, and you know, and then in return, I would ask Molly. To go to the party on Saturday night. You know, that was my currency. Like that came easy to me. Social things came easy to me. People that was easy, you know, but school was really hard. And I look back now, and it was actually the greatest thing that happened to me because what you know, I feel like it was so hard, and God was like giving this to me, but at the same time, like. SUSAN FEFFER This was the greatest gift because I was able to touch into, tap into a part of me that found my strength and it found my strength in the struggle. It found that I was great at connecting people. I was able to figure out how to get through without like on my own. so anyway, I went to design school after high school. That was also a disaster because I was an interior design major and a textile design major. I’m 54, so this was a very long time ago. And why I was at college, they were teaching us CAD on DOS, you know, and that was like brutal for me. I mean, brutal. So, like again, I was like a failure and I wasn’t gonna like this wasn’t gonna cut it. And then I remember my teacher being like, you know, my CAD teacher, like, you’re not gonna be an interior designer. Like this is never gonna work. Like you can’t do this. And it was too hard to no one was getting there was no notes to get. There was nothing to Xerox. There was, you know, no one that even wanted to come to the party. They were a different breed of people. So it was like okay. So I ended up like transferring and through the night school I got into Villanova great school and I, you know, just kind of got through school. thank God I got through by the skin of my teeth. And then I pursued a sales and marketing career. And then I went to New York and Boston and and that was what I was supposed to do because I was good at that, right? Like I loved relationships. I loved finding like win-win situations and I genuinely love people. But I never really gave up on the design thing. I felt like the dream, I got into real estate. And I should fat go back a little bit. When I was in college at Villanova, I knew design wasn’t gonna work. Interior design, I didn’t think I’d gonna make it. So I got a part-time job at a real estate company, answering phones and booking their appointments. And I wanted this job because this was before the internet and all that kind of stuff. SUSAN FEFFER Cause then I’d have the inside scoop on where the beautiful, like, like the open houses at the big mansions would be. So I would have like, you know, I would I would go on Sundays to these open houses and I would like throw on my mom’s mink coat and, you know, just show up. I didn’t have a I didn’t have two nickels scrubbed together and I’d just wanted to see how they were decorated and designed and I wanted to see their bathrooms and their kitchens. And and then I would tell the real estate agent. Like, I’ll be back with my fiance, you know. And they’re probably like, who is this girl? You know what I mean? Like it just crazy. so anyway, after sales and marketing, business, journey dabbled with real estate, I took a break and was a stay-at-home mom at 30. but I was flipping our own houses and, you know, staging houses for realtors. So in 2015, when my life sort of fell apart through divorce and I had to just start all over, that’s when I started my business. GAIL DOBY Wow, that is quite the journey to get to here. So a lot of no’s, a lot of frustrations getting to this point, but it seems as if it was what was meant to be for you. Was that a shock to you once because you were SUSAN FEFFER I think as you get older, like I think as you get older, and then like the more struggles that you have, the more setbacks, the more, you know, loss or heartbreak or you know, whatever it is, it’s gonna look different for everybody. But I think you get better at handling the hard stuff and you know what what you can keep if you can keep moving forward and pivoting. And healing and learning from your mistakes or your setbacks and putting you in a position of growth and a path forward, you you realize that all of those things were put in front of you to get you where you are today, right? So I’m such a big believer in that. So I I can’t always say that I thought that. And I’ve certainly been the girl on the bathroom floor, you know, paralyzed in fear and and and and scared and Anxious and you know, but I think the more times you go through it, the more you realize on the other side of that door, that bathroom door is like God and grace and gratitude, you know, because all those moments are setting us up for where we are today, you know? Sure. A little deep, but so I don’t think my my design path was conventional. I don’t think anyone’s listening to this thing. yeah, me too. I didn’t I didn’t feel worthy. You know, I felt like I I wasn’t able to do this because of that professor telling me like I’m never gonna be an interior designer and going to a power weaving class and thinking that textile design was gonna be my thing and realizing I hate this. This is science. Like this isn’t fun. Like this is hard, you know? so I gave up on that. But I was always trying to find a way, an angle that I could still use it because I realized that’s where my that I was good at it. Whether anybody wanted to tell me or not, I knew it. So I can’t say that it knocked my confidence because I think, you know, I’m incredibly humbled and life’s humbled me a tremendous amount. But I was fortunate enough to have like. SUSAN FEFFER you know, parents that didn’t put a tremendous amount of pressure on the things that I wasn’t good at. They were just like, you know, get by, you know, get through it. Like, you’re great. You’re fun. You’re, y

  3. Jun 30

    The Mantle of Agency (Lisa Kahn)

    In this soul-stirring episode, Gail Doby welcomes long-term collaborator and peer Lisa Kahn back to the podcast to look at the cartography of a 12-year professional relationship. Lisa reflects on her multi-generational roots in design, her early days as an in-house designer for Lutron Electronics, and the critical moment she hit deep-seated burnout. The heart of the episode explores the anatomy of a business turnaround. Lisa shares an unforgettable strategy from 2009 when, staring down a zero-cash payroll nightmare and a dropped design deposit, she used her credit card to buy 50 blank notes. By writing unprompted, radical “love letters” of gratitude to 50 critical mentors and allies, she completely shifted her financial energy current—resulting in a $3 million influx of business in under 60 days without asking for a single project. Furthermore, Lisa and Gail lean into a beautiful, vulnerable space regarding their concurrent work on trauma processing, addressing the dark shadows, and moving beyond the exhausting habits of people-pleasing and self-protection. In this episode, you’ll hear about: The Academic Rejection: Why Lisa initially explored transitioning to design education, only to realize the traditional structure of academia couldn’t contain her vision. Rethinking How We Work: Gail’s pivotal advice to Lisa that it wasn’t the interior design profession burning her out, but the structural architecture of how she was executing her business. Sanctuary as a Tool for Resilience: Moving past the superficiality of aesthetics to design rooms that physically cradle the human nervous system through ritual, incense, and sound. A Survivor’s Light: Lisa opens up about coming to terms with surviving past domestic violence, and how she translates that survival into a profound message of healing through physical environments. The Neuroscience of Aesthetics: Lisa’s current academic obsession with neuroaesthetics, sacred geometry, and Harvard’s 85-year landmark study on human connection. The Barn at Sanctuary Naples: A breakdown of Lisa’s incoming 5-acre Florida headquarters, detailing workshop spaces, content studios, an outdoor music amphitheater, and immersive live learning retreats. Lisa has been a guest on the podcast before. Listen back to her previous episode, “Grow As You Go or No?”, here. If you’re listening on your favorite podcast platform, view the full show notes here: https://thepearlcollective.com/s15e2-shownotes https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lFhmiZdHZWw Episode Transcript Note: Transcript is created automatically and may contain errors. Click to show transcript GAIL DOBY Welcome to the Creative Genius Podcast. Lisa, this is number three for us. We’ve done two others before. Yes. LISA KAHN I have loved both, so honored to be back. GAIL DOBY It’s great to have you back. And it’s so interesting ’cause I looked back at your records to see when you and I met and it was January twentieth, two thousand fourteen. LISA KAHN How about that? It’s been a hot minute. GAIL DOBY A hot minute. Hot 12 minutes. Twelve more minutes. Yeah. Well, I thought we would just kind of meander down a path today. So we’ll see where this path takes us. And I’d love for you to just take it where you’d like to. So let’s start first with how you got into design. LISA KAHN Yeah. LISA KAHN Well, I actually originally got into design because honestly, I grew up in a family business and my mom is and was a designer. And so, you know, it was a very natural thing for me to do. you know, design was very much part of my household. You know, it was what I did on spring breaks, it was what I did on summer vacations, you know, we really all worked as a family. there were three kids in my family. And so all five of us would climb in the car during summers and drive to the business and all work there because it was also a retail store and be involved with all of that. So yeah, it was just a very natural thing for me to do. It was not actually what I thought I wanted to do. You know, my mom said to me, Lisa, you’ve got a knack for this. You really should follow design and do it. And I’m like, no way. You know, this was in Northwest Ohio. Everything was on such tight budgets and everything was At that point, you know, this was a long time ago. So Waverly was a division of Schumacher and they put out these wallpaper books that had like 12 things that all matched with borders and fabrics and everything. And that’s what you did for everybody. And I just thought to myself, if I have to be working out of these Waverly books for the rest of my life, I just don’t think I have the fortitude. but you know, I just hadn’t really been exposed. And so when I went to college and ended up changing my major from business to design, because I just realized at some point that I really needed that hands-on creative outlet every single day. it really my life went in directions. I couldn’t have imagined, you know, I ended up taking a job for Lutron Electronics as their corporate interior designer right out of school, which took me away from Ohio to Pennsylvania. And then I got married there and, you know, ended up moving to Florida and really getting into design then. And that was when I really saw. what design could be, because when you have bigger budgets, bigger projects, you know, bigger contacts, there is a world out there that I just had no exposure to. And that’s when I really fell in love with our profession. It really is just truly what I’m meant to be doing. GAIL DOBY It’s a natural for you. I look at all of your board behind, all the inspiration, all the things you have behind you. And it I just look at how and I just think about how it connects to all the projects I’ve seen of yours and yeah that through line that you have of the peaceful, the serenity, the all the things that are so important to you. So it’s really cool to see that ’cause that is authentically you. And I know you and I’ve had a few conversations about being authentic to your brand, right? LISA KAHN Exactly. Pivotal one scale. Life changing. Yes. GAIL DOBY Well, it was better than the day when you said this was like what was a near death experience? LISA KAHN Exactly. my gosh. GAIL DOBY That kinda. LISA KAHN So good. It does. You know, Gail, you have helped me transform my life more than once. So I have to thank you for that. GAIL DOBY Well, I I hope it’s in a positive way. gosh. So all right. So you went to Lutron, you got married, you moved to Florida, you had kids, you found that this was your passion. This is all great. It’s wonderful. And then what happened? LISA KAHN you know it is LISA KAHN You know, and then after I had done a bunch of amazing projects, we had really, you know, grown the firm, I just found myself really burned out. and I couldn’t figure out why. I just really thought I fell out of love with design. I thought that I didn’t want to do this anymore. I explored all kinds of things. I explored what would happen if I became a sales rep. I’ve known lots of designers who’ve gone and done that. I looked at what would happen if I left the field of actually designing and went into education because I love teaching and I love young people and I would love to inspire, you know, the next generation of designers. But when I looked into that and met with one of the universities, I realized that, you know, I don’t know that the world of academia is quite ready for LisaCon. So that was not really a great fit. And the more that I looked around, I just felt like I was thwarted at every turn. And it was actually around that time that one of my design colleagues recommended that I call you. And so you and I had a conversation. You were on the way somewhere. I don’t remember what it was. You were doing something amazing, I’m sure. And as I was telling you how burned out I was and how I was just really thinking about how I could move into a different sector of the industry and what else I could do, you suggested really something that changed my life in that moment. And you said, you know, I don’t. actually think it’s the industry that’s burning you out, Lisa. I think it’s the way you’re working in the industry. And that really caught me up short. And I thought, what on earth could she mean? But yet it resonated with me. And I at that point, you know, scheduled a time for us to get together and really delve into my business because I realized that you really could be right. And I had never had anybody really look into you know, the nooks and crannies of my business, look at the way that I was working, building my team, you know, structuring things. I had just never had anyone do that before. And so working at that with you, I realized you were right. And I really was the way that I was working. And so by making some changes, by making some strategic hires, by reworking the way I spent my time and the things that I was focusing on, delegating things that really were not my joy. LISA KAHN really allowing other people to have the freedom to do their job and really perform for me and not being micromanaging was another one. I mean, there were just so many things that I was doing that were really making me be unhappy. And it really wasn’t the actual design itself. And truly leaving it, I think I would miss it even today. GAIL DOBY That’s so good to hear because we have of course known each other for a very long time. And I’ve seen you go through a lot of ups and downs with this. And even yeah after that time you had some other ups and downs. And why don’t you share one or two of those that were pivotal for you in in terms of really understanding who you were and maybe how you were in the business? LISA KAHN You know, I think that we have been through all kinds of ups and downs. I mean, we’ve just been through ups and downs within the last few month

  4. Jun 23

    The Wide-Open Future (Mel Bean)

    This week on the Creative Genius podcast, Gail Doby welcomes Mel Bean, the principal of Mel Bean Interiors, to talk about her 20-year journey through the interior design landscape and the predictability of scaling an elite firm. Mel pulls back the curtain on how a structured leadership framework—specifically partnering with an exceptional Director of Operations—unlocked a positive operational flow that allowed her to step back into her role as a visionary. She discusses overcoming limiting beliefs regarding business ownership and how deep dive financial modeling completely shifted how her company tracks profitability and projects revenue. Finally, Mel outlines how she structures a hybrid environment that gives her staff the flexibility to be deeply present for family milestones without sacrificing professional excellence. In this episode, you’ll hear about: Changing Paths: Mel’s realization a few years into college that she needed to leave to unlock her hidden creative side. Shopping vs. Designing: Breaking down the 20+ decisions that go into a single furniture piece, and why social media can be a powerful client-education tool. The Non-Billable Employee: Overcoming the fear of hiring a non-billable Director of Operations, and how that single choice can skyrocket your growth. Data Over Doubt: Why escaping isolation and swapping raw, un-redacted financial metrics with design allies across the country fuels true inspiration. “Why Not Me?”: Moving past imposter syndrome and the limiting beliefs of a non-entrepreneurial upbringing to confidently pursue massive lifestyle goals. If you’re listening on your favorite podcast platform, view the full show notes here: https://thepearlcollective.com/s15e1-shownotes https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ICPH-3mmR8Y Episode Transcript Note: Transcript is created automatically and may contain errors. Click to show transcript GAIL DOBY Welcome to Creative Genius. I’m so glad you’re here, Mel. And I can’t wait for us to have this conversation. So here’s my first question for you. Who would you have or what would you have on a desert island if you were stranded? MEL BEAN it’s funny that my first thought that I have is that I want my espresso machine so that I can make my morning latte. GAIL DOBY I’m sure there’s some plugins out there somewhere. MEL BEAN I I’d need an ice maker then as well though, because you can’t have a hot latte on a desert GAIL DOBY Well, there you go. I like that. Okay. Well, interesting thing to think about. And I’m sure there Yeah. And I bet there might be a few people on your journey with you. Who would you have with you? MEL BEAN Probably a first for you. MEL BEAN Well, I would want to take my boys for sure. my sons Cooper and Chase. They are seniors in high school. And of course, other than just being obsessed with them as my children, I also think they are so much fun. So they would turn a kind of an unfortunate situation into a good time, I think. GAIL DOBY that sounds like fun. Well, I’ve only seen them in passing on our Zoom call, so it’s really fun. MEL BEAN I might be biased, but I think they’re pretty great. GAIL DOBY Well, I’m sure you feel that way as every mom should. So good for you. Well, let’s talk about your journey into being a designer. How did you get started with that? MEL BEAN Gosh, well, I started college dead set. Well, even in high school, I was going psych pre-med. I was good at math and science. And so I went really deep into college prep and into all of the classes that would set me up for success in that career. And it wasn’t until a couple of years into college that I started doubting that. I got into some tricky classes that I could do fine in, but I wasn’t excited about. And I started to get the concern of is this what I’m going to feel like the rest of my life? And it wasn’t immediately clear to me that I wanted to do interior design. But once I did discover it, I felt like something had clicked into place when I changed my major in my first class. And it just made me want to go back and get a do-over on I wish I’d taken the art classes in college, but I was too focused on all the college prep. I wish I’d had done these things that not only would have kind of led me to my career path sooner, but also would have just helped me to get to know myself in a different way. And so I was really thrilled to get into interior design in college. And then as quickly as I could, I got an internship so that I could see, okay, what is this really like? What is this, what is the day to day? What does it look like? I know it’s not like a HGTV show. I know that’s not the reality of this industry. And so fortunately I loved it. GAIL DOBY Did you were there any surprises when you got into it? MEL BEAN So many, I really didn’t have a lot of expectations of what it looked like. I think that’s I didn’t grow up with any interior designers in my life. And so I think that’s part of what took me so long to consider it as an option for myself. now it seems a little obvious with hindsight. and so I went into it, the advantage of that is I didn’t go into it with a lot of expectations. I hadn’t seen the way other people had done it before me. So I was really fortunate to learn under several different design firms here in Tulsa where I live and really wonderful people who kind of went above and beyond in training me and giving me opportunities. And so I did see everything from creating inventory and showroom and the back end of what all goes into that through managing projects and the infinite number of details that go into it. I think that’s something that most clients are so shocked by. Today is the amount of detail that goes into every project, the number of decisions that go into it. So that was surprising to me, but also felt like a great opportunity. I saw all these ways that really nuanced ways in which I could guide a project or guide the the feeling a space gives me and the people who use it. GAIL DOBY Mm-hmm. Yeah. And it’s something that seems so normal for us that are designers because we can envision what it’s going to look like done, even when we’re just looking at fabrics and pieces of wood and just samples. And I think it’s it’s really hard for people who aren’t visual like we are. So how do you get over that hurdle with them of how they helping them envision this? MEL BEAN You know, it’s been interesting with social media. That’s recently been kind of a trend that designers are doing and we haven’t participated as well, that you show a single image and pop up all of these decisions that went into that one image. And we’ve had a lot of clients say how helpful that was to them. it is our job to create really clear expectations about the time and investment it’s going to cost our potential clients. and so we guide them through our process. We really explain everything, but we we communicate the difference between shopping and designing. Sometimes I wish we could just shop. Sometimes I wish I could just select this one item, this one item, this one item and put together a a design that way, but it’s not the way we work. I wouldn’t actually want to work that way. It would be so limiting to our vision. Whereas one furniture piece, as you know, may have, you know, 20 decisions that have to be made in order to get to that one look. And so it does help. Social media helps a little bit. Educating on our process helps a little bit. And then we do use visual tools and present like this is the fabric, this is the wood sample, this is the wood species, this is the trim detail, this is, you know, and so many, this is the exact size. Here’s the cushion infill. there are so many more options. But that can feel overwhelming, but at the same time that’s why we’re here is we’ll tell you what we think is best. So you don’t have to make all those decisions. We are the experts who have educated ourselves on which info from that vendor is the best for this sofa type and that chair type. So you don’t have to do any of that. That’s part of what you’re hiring us for. GAIL DOBY Mm. Yeah. Well, and I think that the you’re making a very good point that most clients don’t understand that. They don’t understand the complexities of this business. And I remember just talking to a couple of my CPAs that I’ve worked with over the years, I’ve probably worked with four so far. And over the years they’ve said, You have the hardest business I’ve ever seen. It is so complicated and so many details. Wow. And they just don’t understand why it has to be so difficult. But again, like you said, one item could have twenty decisions easily. MEL BEAN Yeah, we’ve experienced that as well. We’ve actually had to transition from CPA firms over the years to find the right fit because they’re not used to a model in which we’re billing hourly for time, we’re purchasing products, we are marking up those products, we are you know, it’s just a lot of moving parts that isn’t it’s not really like any industry that I’m aware of. GAIL DOBY Mm-hmm. It is not. It is not. For sure. I know that getting into this for myself, I was a career changer. So for me, I remember that I was shocked when I had my when I got my design degree and I said, Okay, well, I’m done now. Now how am I gonna get business? And luckily I had a sales and marketing training, but I remember that I was just perplexed because I thought, you know. I have a business degree, but that doesn’t mean I know anything about this business. And it took me a long time to learn the inside and outside of the business to the point where that’s really what I love is teaching that part because the it’s so complicated for our business. MEL BEAN But and it’s constantly changing, as you know. GAIL DOBY is, it is, yeah. Yeah, especially with AI. AI is chang

  5. Feb 3

    Why are Women so Hard on Each Other? (Ann Feldstein)

    In this episode, Gail Doby welcomes Ann Feldstein, a 25-year industry veteran and the force behind Moxie Marketing. Ann reflects on her journey from working on the De Beers “Diamonds are Forever” campaign to serving as Vice President of Communications at Kravet before launching her own agency ten years ago. The heart of the discussion focuses on Ann’s keynote research into why women often harbor judgment toward one another. They explore internalized misogyny—the unconscious adoption of sexist attitudes—and how it manifests in everything from holiday clean-up expectations to judgments about makeup and parenting. Ann also breaks down the “fairy tale complex,” explaining how classic stories like Cinderella taught young girls to view other women primarily as competition for male attention. Tune in for this conversation that is always relevant, but perhaps even more so in the female-dominated industry of interior design. In this episode, you’ll hear about: The Evolution of a Career: Ann’s 15-year tenure at Kravet and her transition to founding Moxie Marketing, which exclusively serves the interior design space. The “Karen” Label: How modern slang is used to silence women who speak up when they are unhappy or mistreated. Double Standards in Society: The contrast between how society shames young girls for their pop star fandom while celebrating men for their passion for sports teams. The Perfectionism Trap: Why women are often hesitant to take risks because they haven’t been taught that it is okay to fail or make mistakes. The Power of Succession: Ann’s observation that many women build thriving businesses but fail to create a succession plan, missing out on passive revenue and a lasting legacy. The Highlights of the Design Industry: How Gail’s experience with design clients has been primarily positive, building communities of women who are happy to collaborate instead of compete. If you’re listening on your favorite podcast platform, view the full show notes here: https://thepearlcollective.com/s14e10-shownotes https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7w6Ze2vOavk Episode Transcript Note: Transcript is created automatically and may contain errors. Click to show transcript And it’s so exciting to have you on the Creative Genius podcast and I am really happy to have you here today. Well, thank you so much for inviting me to be on. I’m a huge fan of The Pearl Collective and your podcast, and I’m so honored to be on. Well, thank you for being here. Well, I want to talk to you a little bit about your background and how you got into the industry to begin with. Great. This month is actually 25 years for me in the industry. I started my career at JWT and I worked on the De Beers Diamonds campaign and that was an interesting time. And then I went to a smaller boutique firm and I worked on other luxury brands. And then I met someone and fell in love and didn’t want to work agency hours. And I saw that Cravet was looking for a marketing person and I applied and I hit it off with the team and I really liked the family and they offered me a position. And it was such an interesting time for me because it was a real learning curve. And here I thought I was like sort of set in my career and I had this new learning experience. And I fully admit as a marketing person, it probably took me a good year or two to fully understand the industry works and how best to serve the interior designers. I was at Kravat for 15 years and in 2015 I stepped down as the vice president of communications and I opened Moxie Marketing and we just celebrated 10 years. Yes, 10 years. Time really does fly. At Moxie we work with brands and interior designers, anyone in the interior design space. We do only take on clients in the interior design space because that is really where my experience is. And I work with brands on marketing and sales. I work with designers on communications plans, of course, PR, events, social media, everything to help designers and brands grow their business. Hmm, how exciting. Well, and I know you’re working with some people that I happen to know and love well. So that’s really exciting. And I’m really happy to know you because I think in this industry, it’s really important to have people that grasp what we do and understand the complexities of this business because it is not a normal animal. No. It is not. It isn’t. And I think that one of the things that’s so hard is trying to find somebody who can adapt to the changing industry. And I think you have done that really well. Thank you. I’ve worked really hard at that and trying to understand the nuances of everyone’s business, not just the brands, not just the interior designers. I believe we all play an important part in the ecosystem of interior design. I also think it’s such a special industry. That’s one of the things that I did notice right away when I started 25 years ago. People were so willing to help each other. And it really touched me in that regard. And then at Cravet, I got to work on the Ronald McDonald House project. And it was just wonderful to see all of my colleagues come together, competitors, other designers. Everyone came together for this really special cause. And I think designers and the industry in general are just incredibly giving. Mm-hmm. I love that part of the industry too. Well, let’s talk about you a little bit. I’d love to know what your guilty pleasure is. what is my guilty pleasure? I probably have a few. I love a day just sitting on the sofa with my dogs and the fire going and some good food and good Netflix and cozy pajamas and maybe a nice cocktail or reading a good book. That’s definitely a guilty pleasure of mine. I’m a huge foodie. So I don’t know if I would say that’s a guilty pleasure. To me, food is life. Yeah, I do enjoy my food and I love trying new food and cooking and all the things related to food. I even like grocery shopping. that’s, that’s alien to me. I haven’t been in a grocery store in years. My husband does all the grocery. I do love it, not at the holidays. And I like to be there as soon as they open first thing in the morning, but I do enjoy grocery shopping. is so interesting. I’ve never heard anybody say that. There’s something wrong with you, I know I don’t love regular shopping unless I’m traveling but grocery shopping it’s my happy place my gosh, that’s so funny. I don’t even cook anymore, so I don’t relate at all. All right, well, who would you take with you to a desert island, say you’re stranded? Well, I definitely would bring my dogs. And then, you know, I think there’s a few different people. My best friend, because we could talk about anything till the cows come home. I’d love it if it was my mom, but she’s not with us anymore. You know, someone that’s interesting and then someone that would help me not go stir crazy as someone with ADHD who’s always on the move, even though I’m sure I love my relaxing time, someone that could keep me sane. I love that. Well, let’s talk about one of your favorite topics. you had come to us a while back and had mentioned that you’d love to be speaking on this topic. And at the time, we weren’t ready to have a conversation yet because we we already had everything booked for the podcast. But I think it’s such an important topic. And I think that today, let’s talk about why women are so hard on women. And I’m so curious, what prompted your passion for this topic? So it was really interesting. A couple of years ago, I was having dinner with one of my girlfriends and she’s a mentor to me. She’s older than I am. She is also in marketing. And since I met her, ironically through a crab, it when I first started, we just clicked and she has been a terrific mentor to me and a dear friend. And she comes over on Christmas Eve. She spends Christmas Eve with my family. And a couple of years ago, we were celebrating her birthday at dinner and another friend of hers had come by for drinks. And I just kind of casually mentioned that I think women are really hard on other women. And the two of them did not take it well. And the other woman, the friend, was actually in the process of being let go from her job. And she was putting it all on a woman and the reason she was being fired. And their reaction was so strong and took me by such surprise. I really, it kind of just gave me pause and I started looking into it. I just started doing research. As I mentioned, I do have ADHD. So, you know, my brain gets something and it just keeps going. And then about six months later, I was talking to a friend of mine, Sarah Kravitz actually, and I told her about what had happened. And she was the one that said to me, you know, and you’re really passionate about this. Like, I think there’s something you could do with it. A couple of months later then she invited me to kick off Cravett’s Women’s Initiative Network. And it goes out to all of the female employees. It’s a resource group for them for if they need support, coaching, anything like that. And I was their inaugural keynote speaker. And I put together a deck and it was supported by research from Harvard Business Review, Psychology Today, you name it. it wasn’t just my thoughts and opinions and it was such a great presentation and the women, were women in the building and then, everybody else was remote because as you know, they have showrooms and, and spaces all around. and once the presentation ended, like the women there, they stayed and they just wanted to talk about it and talk about it. And it was really eye opening. And even since then, I’ve just gathered so much more research about it. And I do think it’s a very important topic because there’s something called internalized misogyny. I think a lot of women and myself at times have had it and we don’t realize it. And it could be as

  6. Jan 27

    Elite Assistance for Creative Geniuses (Danae Branson)

    This week on the Creative Genius podcast, Gail Doby sits down with Danae Branson, founder of Elite Design Assistants, to discuss the transformative power of virtual support for interior design firms. Danae shares how she transitioned from the financial sector to design and eventually recognized a massive gap in the market for high-quality, specialized virtual assistance. With a team of approximately 110 assistants—primarily based in the U.S.—Elite Design Assistants provides everything from 3D renderings and CAD drafting to administrative support and senior design roles. Danae and Gail discuss the logistics of hiring remote senior-level talent, the common pitfalls of poor communication, and the “help me, help you” mindset required to make outsourcing a profitable success. In this episode, you’ll hear about: Specialized Outsourcing: Why firms are increasingly looking for virtual senior designers and how to manage that role without “boots on the ground”. Common Mistakes: The “Lack of Communication” trap and the “Flipping the Script” error—expecting a CAD specialist to suddenly handle invoicing. The Cost of Flexibility: A breakdown of current hourly rates for virtual assistants, and what advantages freelancers have over full-time employees for certain roles. Onboarding Success: How to treat virtual assistants as true members of the team, including firm email addresses and inclusion in weekly check-ins. If you’re listening on your favorite podcast platform, view the full show notes here: https://thepearlcollective.com/s14e9-shownotes https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gIMy2E3KEU4 Episode Transcript Note: Transcript is created automatically and may contain errors. Click to show transcript Well, welcome to the Creative Genius podcast, Danae. And I love referring you all the time and we do this a lot. Your company is called Elite Design Assistance. So I’d really love to know your background. How did you get started in the interior design business? Yeah, so I actually started years ago, like in the early 2000s. And I just was self started kind of interior design. My husband was a contractor, but I kind of paid the bills in the financial industry. So it was, I don’t know, 2006, I actually started a virtual agency in the financial industry. By 2017, I wanted to get back into design and just to networking with different designers. that I was talking about, this is how, like my day job, so to speak. They were just curious why I did not create a virtual agency for interior designers. And so I decided I could probably do that. And when I started doing it, I had no idea it would blow up as big as it did, but that became my full-time job. And I no longer was in the financial industry and I no longer was an actual interior designer. So. I just run Elite Design Assistance and I love it. It’s super fun. I love helping interior designers, but I guess I just had a unique set of skills that kind of got me to where I am today. Well, tell us a little bit about your firm and what kind of services you provide and what is a typical thing for someone to come to you for. Sure. So we provide all sorts of services, basically anything that can be done virtually. So designers, we like to match them with virtual design assistants who have the experience, expertise that they need. So we do a lot of outsourcing with CAD drafting, 3D renders, admin sourcing, even senior designer position is becoming very popular right now. Like I said, basically anything that can be done virtually, we want to be able to help the designers. Well, absolutely. I know that I bet I’ve given you 30 referrals so far. I kind of lost count at this point, but a lot of people. And in fact, I was talking to somebody today about you. yeah. Thank you. Yeah, I really appreciate it. And I love your clients. They are so great to work with. I love helping them. Yes. They are. Well, how many are on your team? We have right around 110 right now. Wow. Yeah, so located across the US. I always tell people 99.9 % of them are US based. I have a couple over in Europe, you know, just due to either military spouse or you know some other reason they’re over there temporarily. They usually are back, but occasionally people are OK with that time difference. We have worked with one of your graphics people that I is in Spain. Yes, yes you have, yeah. And she’s great. So we’ve had really good success with that. So we know because we actually use your services too. Yep, absolutely. Yeah, so you said that the common requests are a lot of CAD and you said a lot more senior designers. So why do you think that is the case? You know, I don’t know, it does ebb and flow. We kind of notice, you know, throughout the year and throughout the years, it’s certain services. I think right now everyone’s just getting super busy with projects. And those are the easiest things maybe to outsource right now is let’s get this CAD drafting going. Let’s get the 3D render going. Admin, a lot of people right now are coming to us for presentations, proposals, invoicing. And I think it’s just everyone is so busy. And for those designers in particular, I think those were the easiest things for them to outsource immediately. Yeah, and I think one thing though that I think is a little confusing and I have talked to some of the people that I’ve referred to you and hiring a senior, they are struggling with how to do that remotely. What are some tips that you could share, especially in a key role like that? Yes. Right. So absolutely. we actually are creating, I wonder if I even have it up still, we are actually creating a document right now about the steps and how to outsource to a senior designer and like some of the best things to do. Like, obviously they can offer anything from the space planning CAD documentation, the FFNE sourcing specifications, all of that. But some of the things we say is, you know, you really need to have that good communication in place. whether it’s a weekly video call or whatever that may be. But we are actually creating a document as we speak today. In fact, I was going back and forth with one of my seniors about making sure that it’s very clear so that when someone comes to us now wanting to hire a senior designer, we’re going to give them this document first so that they can look through it and know exactly how they’re going to work with the senior designer so that when they’re interviewing that person, They can spend more time on the actual interviewing of the person and their skill set instead of asking them, how are we going to work together? But basically it’s just, you know, those video calls, staying in communication, looping your senior designer in on your processes. And then they’re going to be able just to kind of lead the way as far as how they’re going to be able to help those designers and what they can. Obviously they can do everything virtually. But so that’s something we’re working on as we speak right now. So we should have that done fairly quickly. Yeah, well, and especially that’s an important role and you want somebody who can hit the ground running. However, they’re not going to hit the ground in your city. Right? Because they aren’t there. So you’re have to have processes to make sure that if there are jobsite visits, somebody internally is gonna have to do that. Yep, absolutely. Yep. Well, what are some of the things that people should know as a firm owner about outsourcing? What are the top tips on how to have a great relationship with your VA? Sure. The number one thing I do tell people is you do have to have some sort of organization around it. Occasionally we will get a request from somebody and they’re a little bit all over the place and I understand that because they’re overwhelmed and I get that. So we try to get them to just get a little bit more organized with the tasks they’re looking to outsource, maybe even prioritize those tasks. Because a lot of the people on our team do obviously, unless you’re hiring a senior designer, people tend to niche down. into the area of the industry they excel in the most. So if you’re needing CAD drafting and you’re needing admin and studio designer, that could look like two separate individuals. But we also just let them know that, you know, the most important thing is to just, you know, have that idea of what it is that you’re wanting to outsource a priority and then we can help you from there. So like we can get you started with one person if you need another person down the road for additional services. That’s how we’re helping people build their teams virtually right now. And so, you know, that’s been working out really well. What are some of the common mistakes that you see people make that outsource? Right. I would say again, that lack of communication, they maybe hire someone, throw everything their way, and then all of a sudden you don’t hear from them. And I’ll hear from a VDA like, I’ve emailed them three times. I haven’t heard from them in a week. I would say that’s one of the most, you know, and communication is huge. The other thing we see occasionally is I like to call kind of flipping the script. Maybe they hired somebody for a specific thing and then as soon as they worked with them, they decided that’s not the service they wanted anymore, but expected that exact VDA to do something completely different that maybe wasn’t in their wheelhouse. Maybe it was going to take them a little bit more time and in the beginning the designer was okay with that. But then upon seeing, okay, this isn’t going to be a fit, you know. If you’re going to hire someone for CAD, but then need them to suddenly do invoicing, you know, we, need to have a conversation with you again about somebody who’s going to be a much better fit. Most VDAs, honestly, they’re going to be hon

  7. Jan 20

    Doubling Down on a Design Legacy (Mike Ufferman and Catrina Cooper)

    This week on the Creative Genius podcast, Gail Doby welcomes Mike Ufferman and Catrina Cooper, the principals of Loczi Design. Mike and Catrina detail their professional pivot from the restaurant and auction house operations fields into the design world, and how they eventually came together to lead a high-growth firm in San Francisco. The conversation explores the complexities of “internal sales,” specifically how they navigated the process of buying the company from the original founder, Paige, after years of working as her leadership team. They share the raw, “brothers and sisters” dynamic of their leadership style and how professional coaching helped them move past emotional friction to achieve true operational alignment. Hear about the strategic “miracle” team of advisors—from valuation experts to business attorneys—that allowed them to complete a full company transfer in under six months. Mike and Catrina also discuss the “unreasonable” client service strategies they’ve implemented to drive their current record profits and why they are already planning their own exit strategies. Key discussion points in this episode: The Pandemic Pivot: How the team managed the dual upheaval of a global pandemic and the founder moving across the country in 2020. Alignment over Accuracy: Why learning to work as a leadership team was a bigger achievement than simply mastering markups and financial data. Buying the Legacy: The emotional weight and “healthy scramble” of New Year’s Eve signatures to officially take over the founder’s “baby”. The Non-Negotiable Paperwork: Why you must discuss the “no-fun” topics—like buy-sell agreements and key person insurance—while you are still in the honeymoon phase of partnership. If you’re listening on your favorite podcast platform, view the full show notes here: https://thepearlcollective.com/s14e8-shownotes https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uqVzTVu0bks Episode Transcript Note: Transcript is created automatically and may contain errors. Click to show transcript Welcome to the Creative Genius podcast, Mike and Kat. I am so happy to see you. It’s been a while and it has been an interesting journey for you two and I can’t wait to dive into that today. First, I want to start with how did you two get into design and start working together and just tell us a little bit. I’ll start with you, Katrina. Okay. First off, thanks for having us. We’re excited to be here with you. It’s our first podcast, so we’ll do our best. Yeah, holy, you’re virgins. So how did I get into design? as you already know, Gail, I was in the restaurant business for a very, long time before I started doing this. And at some point just realized I didn’t want to do that forever. And a good friend of mine said, you know, you’re kind of a natural designer. Why don’t you go to design school? So I took that advice and went to school for a few years and then just started working and, you know, have kind of built my career from there. So it, yeah, I mean, it kind of happened nice and organically, but a little later in life maybe than other people. Okay, yeah, well I didn’t go back to school till I was 35 for design so yeah. That’s about how old I was too, yeah. And I graduated, I think, two years later. yeah, it was good to go back. I think everybody needs to decide what it is that they’re called to do. Yeah. Right, right. Yeah, yeah, it’s nice to have a second career and have some to do it later in life to it was more intentional. I mean, I was able to do a lot better than I think I probably would have right out of high school. sure. This is such a different industry anyway. And of course, you’ve gone from being an employee to owning the firm. We’re going to talk about that in a couple of minutes. But Mike, about you, how did you get into design? boy, that’s a long journey for me. I grew up in Ohio in Cincinnati in this small town and went to school for business at the University of Cincinnati and worked my way through college working at a hospital there and was sure that I was gonna go on to medical school and I really wanted to work in labor and delivery. That was the field. I got accepted there and studied a little bit and just decided it wasn’t really for me. Did a couple things and ended up out in California and I was working operations for an auction house out here. At the time it was called Butterfields, it was a very famous auction house in California. Another company bought them and I was running a lot of operations. I was seeing art every day. I was just getting a master’s degree in art education every day I came to work. I fell in love with design from that. And I had… You know, a change in life happened there and a friend of mine called me while I was literally vacationing on a beach in Mexico and said, Hey, I’m starting an interior design firm, get in your car and come back up here. Uh, and I did, and I turned around and I went back up and I ran his business with him for seven years and, um, he owns a building downtown and Paige, the previous owner of the company here was doing a photo shoot with Katrina and some others there. And I showed up and we talked and we ended up working together and. A couple of years ago, I went back to Berkeley and studied a design there and we’re here now. It is so crazy. Yeah, I think it really makes a difference if you have a business background too or some other experience coming into this and for you Katrina just having that hospitality background is perfect for interior design. Tell me a little bit about your firm who’s on the team, what the roles are, the responsibilities. I know both of you are the principals and the owners now, but what about the rest of your team? Yeah, thank you. Yeah, we’ve got six people in our San Francisco office. Of course, Mike and I work there and Ava is our senior designer handling some of the larger projects. We’ve got Diana and Jennifer who are both working as associate designers and then Eric is our staff designer. Samantha is hand in hand working with Mike. She runs our whole office and his whole life. And we also have Olga, who doesn’t work in the office with us. She’s our controller. She’s a big part of what we do at LOXIE. Well, that’s a good size team too. Yeah. I’m sure you’re feeling a little bit stretched because it sounds like you’re busy right now. Sure are, yeah. And we are having that conversation right now too about hiring a couple staff members, maybe another senior designer and also another staff designer. That’s great news. like hearing that. What was going on in your business? When you reached out a few years ago, we determined there was probably somewhere in the range of five to seven years ago when you reached out. And at that point, you weren’t the owners of the business. So what was going on that caused you to do that? I’m sorry. Yeah, there was a lot. We were growing quite a bit and there were three of us that were leading the firm. We knew what we wanted to do, but we were going in different directions with it. We all wanted to grow, but we were growing differently. We were having a hard time sort of coming together with what our plan looked like. And it was really sort of important for us to reach out to you at that point, just to to save the company really, to really figure out what we were gonna do next with the company, where we were gonna go with it. And that’s how we got to you. Yeah, and you said it was a friend of yours and I don’t even know who it was that you knew, but… Yeah, that friend of mine said, mean, going back to that, my friend, we were looking for a business coach and a friend of mine knew you or knew of you somehow, suggested that we reach out to you. And he said to me, you need to talk to her. She is the inter-design coach of the stars. We knew right then that you were who we needed to speak to and we never looked back after that. my gosh, that’s so funny. I have no idea why anybody would say that, but okay. Yeah, my little secret is that I try really hard to not work with the celebrity designers. They, it is a no-go for me. for. You Hmm, interesting. I hear more about that someday. Yeah. Yeah, that’s another story all by itself. Some stories I can’t really say, so I’ll just leave it at that. But anyway, so you had a lot of chaos going on and let’s talk about that crazy day that we had. So I flew out there and met with three of you and I remember meeting or waiting for you all at the office. I was there on time and everybody was a little bit late and I was standing outside and all these guys were out there. Brutal pruning in front of the office. Yeah, we had a plumbing issue, I guess, that day and they were trying to break into the plumbing line and they had jackhammers outside and they were really making a mess of it. So it was a no-go to be in the office that day. Yeah, and I remember that actually the whole plumbing wasn’t working and that we had to go to your house. And so, and then you guys starved me because we didn’t eat dinner. 1130 at night, I just remember that it was just one of those really unusual situations. We were having a very long day and I remember being so tired at the end of the day and you all dropped me off and I got… Right. ride back to the hotel and I think it was about midnight when I went to bed and it was just, it was a day. I can’t remember a day going now long before. Yeah, in my living room, like we had to leave our studio space and I live the closest so we all packed up and went to my house and had our VIP day. You realize that there are a lot of things you needed to change. So it was not a simple thing. And then we tell people that this is work. You cannot just come to us and get the suggestions. You have to do something about it. You actually have to implement. yeah, it takes a whi

  8. Jan 13

    Grounded Success (L.A. DeRiggi)

    This week on the Creative Genius Podcast, Gail Doby welcomes L.A. DeRiggi, founder of Hudson Park Design, to discuss his meteoric rise from a design student to a successful firm owner. L.A. reflects on his unique background in marketing and promotions, explaining how he intentionally used an unpaid internship to validate his passion before committing to a Master’s program in Interior Architecture. The conversation dives into L.A.’s transition from being a Design Director to becoming the owner of his own firm after his previous employer retired. He candidly discusses the challenges of building a team, managing expectations, and the “static” that often interferes with a leader’s instincts. L.A. also shares a powerful metaphor for business growth through his experiences solo hiking the vortexes of Sedona, Arizona, where he learned the value of “choosing your hard”. In this podcast, you’ll hear about: The Intentional Pivot: How L.A. moved from business management and promotion to interior design, using his past experience to fuel his current firm’s rapid growth. A Growth Mindset in Action: How Hudson Park Design grew over five times in size by focusing on values, culture, and deep emotional connections with clients. Luxury as Emotion: Why L.A. believes true luxury is defined by a sense of ease and belonging rather than just a price point. AI vs. Human Intuition: Why the personal element and innate human connection will always give designers an advantage over automated rendering tools. If you’re listening on your favorite podcast platform, view the full show notes here: https://thepearlcollective.com/s14e7-shownotes https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7reRy5-9Zvc Episode Transcript Note: Transcript is created automatically and may contain errors. Click to show transcript Welcome to the Creative Genius Podcast LA and so glad to have you here. Thank you so much, it’s so great to be here. Well, I am so excited for everyone to hear from you today because you’ve had a little bit of an interesting journey and we only have a few clients that have done this where they’ve worked for somebody else and then all of sudden they either were they bought the business or they started a new business and you have just taken off like a rocket. So I’m really proud of you. I think that’s phenomenal. Thank you. Yeah, so let’s talk about first how did you get into design? So. I’ve always had this love and passion for design and moving things around and appreciating the flow of space and where things are and having nice things growing up. then I think we did in the sixth grade, we had to fill out, where do you see yourself in 20 years? And it was interior. I put interior designer. I just really felt like that was the right answer. in, gosh, who knows what year that was. At that time, a male interior designer wasn’t like the top choice for a sixth grader. It was a lawyer, a professional basketball player, a police officer. So I erased it and I wrote architect. But still, you know, in the same field with maybe just more of a different tone to it. But then I kind of put that aside for a little bit. And then I really fell in love with the business side of things. So my first degree. I went to school for business, business management and marketing. And then I worked for a few years afterwards. And I was doing a lot of really exciting jobs and I was working for a promotions company. And so that time right out of school, it was, was a lot of fun. I was doing different events at clubs and really trying to promote mixed martial arts, which is when that kind of first came. big in the scene and then worked in sales, worked in business development and just really didn’t feel full at the end of the day. so I had heard about a design company, I’m from Pittsburgh originally, and there was a company in Shadyside, which is a nice area, and I just walked into the firm and basically asked for an unpaid internship. And I was like, Hi, I’m here, I’d like to work here. And they’re like, well, what do you know? And I’m nothing. I don’t know anything. I’m happy to sweep the floors, go grab the coffee, do whatever you need me to do, but just want to be in this environment, kind of experience this industry, and see if it’s a go before I decide to go back to school for it. So I worked there, quit my jobs, worked there for three months, unpaid internship. And then I enrolled in school in the fall in a master’s program, which I loved the program because it was a master of interior architecture. So it was really the next step. It was a two year program. I was really looking for obviously a better degree and the fastest path to get me to where I wanted to be. Wow. Who knew? And look how well that served you because having that business development experience and the marketing and promotion and all of those different things, you had to be in business for yourself because really you have both sides that you’re able to use, Yeah. Well, so how did you end up getting to us? How did this all come about? for sure. So I had, so Fast Track, Pittsburgh School, graduated, moved to Florida. I worked for two firms and the firm I was working for previously to starting my own, was summer of 2021. after, it was the first High Point Market after everything really reopened and my previous boss and I were at High Point and we were, you know, it’s always it’s always exciting to see the new furniture and visit the showrooms and things but we had never really been to any talks or speaker series. And so we got, you know, I think it was the first day we got there, we had we got the brochure and we saw your name on there and we didn’t know you. We didn’t know anything about you. We just we really liked the topic. And we thought, hey, let’s check this out. And we were working with a business coach at the time. But it was more of a it was a business coach that was generalized. So they really kind of helped all industries. And it was one of those moments where we sat in your presentation. And it was like the stars aligned, like we just we were like, she knows what she’s talking about. And we and she can help us. And that was that was it. And then you sat you came and sat with us. You were swarmed with people. It was really like a celebrity, I felt like there were paparazzi and all these people around you, like you were leaving this event and you immediately came up to us and were so welcoming to us and we sat with you for lunch and there were so many people like, Gail, Gail, and you’re just like, hold on, I’m having a conversation and you gave us all the attention that we needed and you know, just, was, we were like, she’s our girl, she’s gonna help us. Well, and it was really interesting. and one of the things that I love is working with a leadership team and the three of you at that time were basically the leadership team for that company. And, it just really was, I don’t know. I think I just knew that I needed to help you all. And I think you had some really big challenges and for sure you did and you helped, helped her. Yeah. really get through a lot of those, let’s talk about some of those. What were some of the biggest ones she had in her business? I think because we were a small firm at the time, but then we were growing so rapidly with the amount of projects that we were taking on. I think just from the start, it was really like organizational leadership and growing, you know, my experience coming from the business world and kind of working with structure and organizational charts and, and then going to a small design firm where there’s three people doing everything. we’re all having to wear all the hats, regardless of, you know, position and who’s who. And then we start building the team and we went from like three people to 10 people overnight and like 10 projects to 42 projects. And so I think building kind of stepping back, looking at the vision for the company, her vision, and being able to relay the foundation, the foundation was already there. I mean, she was in business for 25 or 30 years and had built a really successful business. But I think just being able to kind of step back, lay another layer of foundation on everything and build from there to be able to create more success for her and more of what she was looking for with her company. Well, and I think one of the things that was really interesting is watching you grow in your role there because you grew into, we talked about you being design director. So that meant you took on a lot more responsibilities and managing people and managing the projects as well. And just really getting into what it would take to run the company. You were starting to get a good feel for that with that position. So talk about that a little bit. Yeah, it was definitely a because I think at that point I had only been there for three years. I started off as really kind of like an interior. mean, I was a licensed interior designer at the time, but started off really assisting projects. And then I was able to bring in a large project that took all of my attention away from. Fast Track. being able to assist and that’s where we decided we needed to grow the team. And then from there, as then we had a team and then it was like, okay, well, what do we do with all these people? And then there I was. then it was this, went from interior designer, senior designer to design director all within those three years. But I could handle it. And that was, think, where you saw the potential in that and where she saw, you know, the potential and capacity to be able to do that and, you know, and help the team in that way. But it’s a different, you know, you’re moving so quickly and it’s learning to pivot and learning to change your mindset as you move through these different things. Because as design director, I’m not really doing mu

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Ratings & Reviews

4.6
out of 5
10 Ratings

About

Gail Doby and Erin Weir interview influential people in the interior design industry, business, and entrepreneurs

Information

  • Creator
    Gail Doby & Erin Weir
  • Years Active
    2020 - 2026
  • Episodes
    142
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © All Rights Reserved - Pearl Collective
  • Show Website
    Creative Genius Podcast

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