862: AphroChic: Celebrating the Legacy of the Black Family Home
A Well-Designed Business® | Interior Design Business Podcast
Release Date: 03/21/2023
885: Power Talk Friday: Stacey Brown Randall: Generate Business Referrals Without Asking
A Well-Designed Business® | Interior Design Business Podcast
Today With Stacey Brown Randall: Today on A Well-Designed Business I am joined by Stacey Brown Randall, a business referral whiz who is here to help us understand referral marketing strategies and to share her methods of generating referrals naturally—without manipulating, incentivizing, or even asking. Stacey is the host of the Roadmap to Referrals Podcast and the multiple award-winning author of Generating Business Referrals Without Asking, as well as my co-author in A Well-Designed Business – The Power Talk Friday Experts (volume 1). In this episode we talk about systems and...
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884: Virginia Toledo and Jessica Geller: Tactics to Building a Thriving Interior Design Business During any Economic Climate
A Well-Designed Business® | Interior Design Business Podcast
Today With Virginia Toledo and Jessica Geller: Welcome to a Well-Designed Business. Running a business is hard. Running one through economic downturns and recessions is tougher. My guests today, Virginia Toledo and Jessica Geller of Toledo Geller, have been running their firm together for 17 years. They’ve seen ups and downs in the financial climate—and through it all, they’ve pivoted, built up their network, and come out stronger than before. Today, they’re sharing what you can do in your business to come through even the toughest of economic climates. Pick It Apart [3:58] Jessica and...
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883: Power Talk Friday: Aubre Fox: Increase Your Profit and Create Your Own Flooring Collection With Revel Woods
A Well-Designed Business® | Interior Design Business Podcast
Today With Aubre Fox: Welcome to A Well-Designed Business. Today with Aubre Fox we answer everything you’ve ever wondered about working with Revel Woods. As the first point of contact and an interior designer herself, Aubre takes us through all of the steps and benefits to getting your flooring through Revel Woods. She also talks about their new showroom packages, which she is very passionate about. Pick It Apart [1:24] Aubre starts us off talking a little about herself and how she got into Revel Woods. [6:10] What is the process when a designer wants to work with Revel Woods?...
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882: Bria Hammel: Doing Fewer Interior Design Projects and Increasing Your Profitability
A Well-Designed Business® | Interior Design Business Podcast
Today With Bria Hammel: Today on A Well-Designed Business I am welcoming back Bria Hammel. Bria is the Creative Director and CEO of Bria Hammel Interiors and Brooke & Lou. Bria was on before giving tips on how to scale your interior design business. And let me say, she is still a #smartlady. Bria has perfected her process for her out of state clients, as well as her team, to make the experience as easy and seamless as possible. Today she is sharing how, and the changes that her businesses have experienced since her last visit. Pick It Apart [1:35] Bria shares what she and her business,...
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881: Power Talk Friday: Katie McDonald: Self-Care is Key to a Thriving, Well-Designed Business
A Well-Designed Business® | Interior Design Business Podcast
Today With Katie McDonald: Welcome to A Well-Designed Business. Today I'm joined by Katie McDonald, certified holistic health coach, raw food chef and instructor at b.nourished. Katie’s motto is self-care is not fluff and it isn’t selfish. That is exactly what she helps her clients through so they can both take care of their business and take care of themselves. Katie has worked with several interior designers over the years and has discovered that in service to their clients and their craft, they ignore their own wellbeing, dismissing their needs, and even their own spaces. If this sounds...
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880: Barry Bordelon and Jordan Slocum: Adventures in Business with the Brownstone Boys
A Well-Designed Business® | Interior Design Business Podcast
Today With Barry Bordelon and Jordan Slocum: Today on A Well-Designed Business I am joined by Barry Bordelon and Jordan Slocum, AKA the Brownstone Boys. Barry and Jordan are designers, DIY-ers, renovators, and restorers who followed their passions and serendipitously fell into a flourishing business together. In 2018, Jordan and Barry bought a brownstone in Brooklyn and started The Brownstone Boys blog the day they closed on the house, and that’s just the beginning of their adventure. Today they are renovating their way across Brooklyn and New York City, one brownstone at a time. In...
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879: Power Talk Friday: Sarah Daniele: Mydoma Studio and the Business of Change as the Interior Design Industry Enters a Digital Transformation
A Well-Designed Business® | Interior Design Business Podcast
Today With Sarah Daniele: Today on A Well-Designed Business I am joined by software designer Sarah Daniele. Sarah is the CEO and co-founder of Mydoma Studio, an all-in-one project management solution for interior designers. Sarah is a professionally educated interior designer, and she is passionate about building tools and technology that help other designers grow their businesses. Through Mydoma, Sarah has a unique, top-level perspective on industry trends, and she is here to help us interpret those insights and share her predictions for what’s to come. We talk about task management...
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878: Throwback Tuesday: Brad Leavitt: A Builder’s Perspective on the Design Build Process
A Well-Designed Business® | Interior Design Business Podcast
Today With Brad Leavitt: Today we’re doing a Throwback Tuesday with Brad Leavitt! Brad is the President and Founder of “A Finer Touch Construction” - a Scottsdale based luxury residential and commercial builder. He’s also one of the speakers at LuAnn Live 2023, which is why we couldn’t miss the chance to bring one of his shows back. In today’s episode, we’ll learn what is his perspective on working alongside interior designers for his project and how this has made his life easier! More About Brad Leavitt Brad Leavitt is President and Founder of “A Finer Touch...
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877: Power Talk Friday: Jisun Sunny Fisher: Your Brain is Your Blueprint for Success
A Well-Designed Business® | Interior Design Business Podcast
Today With Jisun Sunny Fisher: Welcome to a Well-Designed Business. I often talk about the power of mindset. Limiting beliefs are tied to almost every issue you can have in your business, and in all of my years of coaching and helping other business owners, I can say that almost every single time, the key came down to mindset. Today, I’m joined by psychologist and happiness coach Jisun Sunny Fisher. She works at the intersection of spirituality and science, helping courageous leaders remember their true north and re-discover what makes them fall in love with life again. Jisun is sharing with...
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876: Natasa Jones: Making Bold Moves to Achieve Big Results
A Well-Designed Business® | Interior Design Business Podcast
Today With Natasa Jones: Welcome to A Well-Designed Business. Today I’m joined by my good friend, Natasa Jones. She is the CEO and Principal Designer of Natasa Jones Interiors. European architecture and fashion are rooted in her design style. Today she’s back on the show to tell us how she has been scaling her business the last few years. LuAnn Nigara and Natasa Jones' Ah-Ha Moments “I’m never afraid to ask, what’s the worst thing that can happen?” - Natasa Jones “There is no such thing as competition in this industry” - Natasa Jones “If I wanted that luxury client, I wanted...
info_outlineToday With Bryan Mason and Jeanine Hays:
Welcome to A Well-Designed Business. Today’s episode features Jeanine Hays and Bryan Mason of AphroChic—a media and design brand celebrating African Diaspora cultures through their lifestyle magazine, podcast, and product lines. Jeanine and Bryan are helping us relearn history as we dive into their latest book, AphroChic: Celebrating the Legacy of the Black Family Home. This is essential reading, not only for designers, but for everyone, and the conversation we have around it is an important one so that we can be an active part of the change in this country.
Pick It Apart
[2:48] Janine talks about how the AphroChic blog was inspired by a gap she saw among home décor blogs at the time that left out people of color.
[15:20] Bryan explains that design is diverse by nature, and is a human thing to do so it happens in cultures all over the world, yet here in America, Eurocentric design is the only story that has been told for many years, forgetting the work of the rest of the world.
[27:27] LuAnn asks Bryan and Janine for some meaningful ways those in the interior design industry can be a part of positive change.
[40:37] LuAnn shares that she was called out as a racist, and shares that she later learned that systemic racism conditions you to not notice. This is the work that white people must do, learn the actual history so you see, you know the real truth.
[44:58] Janine and Bryan discuss how their new book is a history book and sociology book hidden within a design book.
LuAnn Nigara and Bryan Mason and Jeanine Hays' Ah-Ha Moments
“Every aspect of what we've done has started with seeing a gap, seeing a space where we haven't seen that representation, or that cultural story represented, and then working to fill it in, in some way.” - Jeanine Hays
“Design is diverse by nature because the world is diverse by nature.” - Bryan Mason
“Racism is itself a, not a single, monolithic, stagnant thing. It is living. It adapts, it changes from one situation to another.” - Bryan Mason
“True change happens when you really do understand the reality of what happened in history.” - LuAnn Nigara
“Systemic racism doesn’t just condition the oppressed, it conditions the oppressor.” - Bryan Mason
More About Bryan Mason and Jeanine Hays:
Jeanine Hays and Bryan Mason are the authors of REMIX: Decorating with Culture, Objects, and Soul. Their media and design brand AphroChic celebrates African Diaspora cultures through their lifestyle magazine, podcast, and product lines available through Perigold and 1st Dibs. The couple resides in upstate New York in their lovingly named “AphroFarmhouse.”
A powerful, visually stunning celebration of Black-owned homes, featuring inspiring interiors and family histories of notable Black Americans—including chef Alexander Smalls and actor Danielle Brooks.
In their new book, AphroChic: Celebrating the Legacy of the Black Family Home (Clarkson Potter | November 15th, 2022 | $35.00 | Hardcover), Jeanine Hays and Bryan Mason explore the Black family home and its role as a haven, heirloom, and cornerstone of Black culture and life. Sixteen gorgeous house tours invite you into the intimate spaces of actors and musicians, the creative studios of artists and curators, the “boss” offices of entrepreneurs and executives, and homes filled with pieces handed down from generations past.
The cultural context found throughout AphroChic: Celebrating the Legacy of the Black Family Home sets it apart from other popular coffee-table design texts. With engaging text and beautiful photographs by the late Patrick Cline, this book amplifies many issues currently faced by African Americans, including gentrification, redlining, and more, highlighting the Black Family Home as a missing piece in the narrative of both interior design and American history. Showcasing the amazing diversity of the Black experience through striking art-and-heirloom-filled interiors; stories of family and community; and histories exploring the obstacles Black homeowners have faced for generations, this groundbreaking book honors the journey, recognizes the struggle, and celebrates the joy.
Connect with Bryan Mason and Jeanine Hays
What’s new with LuAnn Nigara
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Other Shows Mentioned:
#14: Malene Barnett: Success Secret – Build Relationships
#556: Kae Whitaker: #BLM Grace For Lack Of Understanding, Grace for Anger
#596: Jamel Williams: A Call to Create Opportunity and Change at the University Level
#573: Cheryl Luckett, #BLM: See Something, Say Something
#816: Elsie St. Leger: Addressing Racial Inequality in the Design Industry
#732: Erica Courdae: Incorporating DEI Practices in Your Business
Other Resources Mentioned:
Book: Reluctant Reformer by Robert Allen
A Big Thank You to Today's Sponsor:
Today's episode is sponsored by LuAnn University.
This is not just education. Not just the support of your colleagues. And not just a great experience. Each department and class is crafted to provide targeted, proven instruction in key areas for profit and growth—all specific to the interior design and window treatment industries. These are the things that you need to learn but always wonder where do I go to learn this.
Classes begin May 1st 2023 and registration will open April 2023.
You can see our current roster for all of our 5 week courses, as well as our brand new 3 hour intensives at luannuniversity.com
This reminds me of Jude Charles and how he uses genuine storytelling to connect to his clients. This is a thing. Good humans practice this. Relating to their potential clients and wanting them to understand how their services can help them. Jude has developed a course for LU, Storytelling for Creatives. He can teach you how to turn your stories, your experiences into the insights and ideas that help you connect with your potential clients, in a way that is genuine for you and meaningful for them. The registration for Spring 2023 semester opens this April. Just some food for thought.
Go to luannuniversity.com to learn more.