A Well-Designed Business® | Interior Design Business Podcast

Today with Deborah Rosenberg:

What happens when your personal beliefs become part of the way you run your business?

In this Best Of episode of A Well-Designed Business®, LuAnn sits down with Deborah Rosenberg, principal of DiMare Design, to talk about her decision to build a design firm committed to humane, cruelty-free interiors.

Deborah’s approach grew out of her own evolving awareness of how animal-derived materials are produced. Eventually, she began looking at the leather, wool, down, and other materials she was specifying professionally and asking herself a bigger question: If these choices no longer aligned with her personal values, why would she continue making them in her business?

That decision ultimately became a defining part of her firm.

LuAnn and Deborah explore what it means to take a deeply held belief and allow it to influence your business model, your sourcing decisions, and the clients you attract. They also discuss an important lesson for every interior designer, whether or not humane design is part of your own philosophy: Having a clearly defined point of view does not necessarily limit your opportunities. Done thoughtfully, it can distinguish your firm and establish you as the expert for the clients who are looking for exactly what you do.

This conversation is a reminder that your core values are not words you choose for your website. They are standards that should help you make decisions about how you operate, what you offer, and what you are willing to stand behind.

What’s new with LuAnn Nigara:

⁠Boardroom for Creatives⁠

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Watch the Docuseries!⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.luannnigara.com/cob⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Get The Goodies!

For checklists, resources, and extra goodies from A Well-Designed Business sign up for free ⁠here⁠.

Purchase LuAnn’s Books Here:

Book 1: ⁠The Making of A Well – Designed Business: Turn Inspiration into Action⁠

Audiobook: ⁠The Making of A Well – Designed Business: Turn Inspiration into Action⁠

Book 2: ⁠A Well-Designed Business – The Power Talk Friday Experts⁠

Book 3: ⁠A Well-Designed Business – The Power Talk Friday Experts Volume 2⁠

Connect with LuAnn Nigara:

LuAnn’s ⁠Website⁠

LuAnn’s ⁠Blog⁠

⁠Power Talk Friday⁠

Like Us: ⁠Facebook⁠ | Tweet Us: ⁠Twitter⁠ | Follow Us: ⁠Instagram⁠ | Listen Here: ⁠Podcast

Today with Kate O’Hara:

Kate O'Hara is back on A Well-Designed Business, and if you have never heard our past conversations with her, go find them after this one. They are some of the most listened to episodes in this catalog.

This time we go straight at the conversation that makes emerging designers freeze. A client asks to see your trade invoices. A client asks what your markup is. And instead of feeling entitled to run your own business, you feel like you have to defend it.

Kate spent 20 years at O'Hara Interiors, nearly 10 of them as CEO, before she made the deliberate decision to close a business she built across studios in Minnesota and Texas and start Lake House Group, her advisory practice for founder-led and second-generation companies. She has trained more designers on how to have this exact conversation than almost anyone in the industry.

Here is the reframe that changes everything. When a client asks about your markup, they are not asking about money. They are asking if they can trust you. When they ask why something costs so much, they are asking if it is a smart decision. When they ask why you chose a certain vendor, they are asking whose interest you are actually protecting. Once you hear it that way, the defensiveness goes away and curiosity takes its place.

Kate walks through exactly how she handles it in a discovery call, why the questions almost always trace back to a client's past experience with a designer, or no experience at all, and why she is willing to walk away from any project, no matter the size, if it does not feel right from the start.

From there, the conversation moves into the mechanics you actually need. Flat fee versus hourly, and the different way you protect a meeting from scope creep in each one. Retail pricing versus trade pricing versus sourcing something truly one of a kind, and why what you share with a client shifts across each one. How to present an investment as a range instead of a single number, then narrow it room by room so the client feels informed without feeling gouged. And why breaking a final bill down item by item, even when the total never changes, can quietly talk a client out of loving what you designed for them.

Kate is also now co-owner of the Design Influencers Conference alongside Nicole Heymer of Glory and Brand, happening March 1 through 3, 2027 in Atlanta. And if this conversation told you what it told me, that Kate is one of the sharpest minds in this industry, you can book 50 minutes with her directly through the Boardroom for Creatives.

More About Kate O’Hara:

Kate O'Hara is the founder of Lake House Group, an advisory practice that helps founder-led and second-generation businesses navigate growth, operational blind spots, and transitions. She previously served as the second-generation CEO and Creative Director of O'Hara Interiors before intentionally closing the prominent design firm to focus on advisory work and co-owning the Design Influencers Conference. [1, 2, 3]

Connect with Kate O’Hara:

O'Hara Interiors Website

O'Hara Interiors Instagram

Lake House Group Website

Design Influencers Conference Website

Design Influencers Instagram

Fay + Belle Website

Fay + Belle Instagram

What’s new with LuAnn Nigara:

⁠Boardroom for Creatives⁠

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Watch the Docuseries!⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.luannnigara.com/cob⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Get The Goodies!

For checklists, resources, and extra goodies from A Well-Designed Business sign up for free ⁠here⁠.

Purchase LuAnn’s Books Here:

Book 1: ⁠The Making of A Well – Designed Business: Turn Inspiration into Action⁠

Audiobook: ⁠The Making of A Well – Designed Business: Turn Inspiration into Action⁠

Book 2: ⁠A Well-Designed Business – The Power Talk Friday Experts⁠

Book 3: ⁠A Well-Designed Business – The Power Talk Friday Experts Volume 2⁠

Connect with LuAnn Nigara:

LuAnn’s ⁠Website⁠

LuAnn’s ⁠Blog⁠

⁠Power Talk Friday⁠

Like Us: ⁠Facebook⁠ | Tweet Us: ⁠Twitter⁠ | Follow Us: ⁠Instagram⁠ | Listen Here: ⁠Podcast⁠

Other Shows Mentioned:
Episode 1030: Ceo Conversations with Kate O’Hara: Insights and Strategies on Successful Scaling

Episode 1042: Ceo Conversations with Kate O’Hara: End-of-Year Business Strategies for Designers: Pipeline, Productivity, and Press

Episode 1148: Ceo Conversations with Kate O’Hara: A Framework for Understanding Luxury Interior Design Clients

Episode 1157: Ceo Conversations with Kate O’Hara: Marketing to the Three Tiers of Luxury Clients and How to Attract Each One

Episode 1188: Ceo Conversations with Kate O’Hara: Scaling Your Design Firm Part 1: The Three Paths Forward

Episode 1202: Ceo Conversations with Kate O’Hara:Is Your Next Idea a Revenue Driver or a PR Play? Part 2

Today with Mae Reedy, Abigail Kahan & Jennifer Arteaga:

Three interior designers. Three multi-million dollar firms. Jennifer Arteaga, Mae Reedy, and Abigail Kahan all built their businesses in under 10 years, and not one of them stopped hitting growing pains once the revenue got big.

In this Overheard episode, LuAnn sits down with all three to talk about what actually gets hard once you're running a firm beyond the $5 million mark. Fee structures and profit margins that look nothing alike but all work. Mae's year of building her first org chart, which she compares to giving birth to a whole different company. The client boundary conversation you have to be willing to have once you're serving executive-level clients. And the shift from doing the work yourself to running the room, which changes everything about how you lead.

If you're earlier in your business and think it gets easier once you hit a number, this conversation will change your mind. It gets harder. Just differently.

What’s new with LuAnn Nigara:

⁠Boardroom for Creatives⁠

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Watch the Docuseries!⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.luannnigara.com/cob⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Get The Goodies!

For checklists, resources, and extra goodies from A Well-Designed Business sign up for free ⁠here⁠.

Purchase LuAnn’s Books Here:

Book 1: ⁠The Making of A Well – Designed Business: Turn Inspiration into Action⁠

Audiobook: ⁠The Making of A Well – Designed Business: Turn Inspiration into Action⁠

Book 2: ⁠A Well-Designed Business – The Power Talk Friday Experts⁠

Book 3: ⁠A Well-Designed Business – The Power Talk Friday Experts Volume 2⁠

Connect with LuAnn Nigara:

LuAnn’s ⁠Website⁠

LuAnn’s ⁠Blog⁠

⁠Power Talk Friday⁠

Like Us: ⁠Facebook⁠ | Tweet Us: ⁠Twitter⁠ | Follow Us: ⁠Instagram⁠ | Listen Here: ⁠Podcast⁠

Other Resources Mentioned:

Sandra Funk's Interior Design Standard

MrSteam's Virtual Spa Tool

The Boardroom for Creatives

Other Shows Mentioned:

Episode 1210: What Would Lu Do: The Discount Lie

⁠Episode 1200⁠⁠: SPONSORED SHOW: Mr. Steam: Optimize Wellness Design with Steam Showers Built for Performance⁠

Today With LuAnn Nigara:

Last week's episode on interior design and trust got a real response, DMs, comments, one designer admitting she wouldn't have known what to say if a client brought up that arrested designer by name.

So this week, LuAnn goes deeper. Two real conversations designers actually have to navigate, a client referencing a headline, and a client asking to see the receipts, and the exact words to use in both. Along the way, she digs into what ASID actually requires, what state law does and doesn't regulate, and why even the most heavily regulated retail industry in the country has never once required a business to reveal its actual cost.

The conclusion is simple. Your net cost isn't the point. What you deliver is. This episode hands you the language to say that out loud, calmly, the next time it matters.

Connect with LuAnn Nigara:

LuAnn’s ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Website⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

LuAnn’s ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Blog⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Power Talk Friday⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Like Us: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Facebook⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ | Tweet Us: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Twitter⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ | Follow Us: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ | Listen Here: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Podcast⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

What’s new with LuAnn Nigara:

Boardroom for Creatives

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Watch the Docuseries!⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.luannnigara.com/cob⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Get The Goodies!

For checklists, resources, and extra goodies from A Well-Designed Business sign up for free ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠here⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

Purchase LuAnn’s Books Here:

Book 1: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠The Making of A Well – Designed Business: Turn Inspiration into Action⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Audiobook: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠The Making of A Well – Designed Business: Turn Inspiration into Action⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Book 2: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠A Well-Designed Business – The Power Talk Friday Experts⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Book 3: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠A Well-Designed Business – The Power Talk Friday Experts Volume 2

Today with Sandra Funk:

Every business owner is one bad month away from finding out what their business is actually built on. This year, Sandra Funk found out.

Her mom got sick. Two surgeries down, more to go. Her daughters started needing her in a different way. And in the middle of all of it, Sandra learned her own thyroid had been failing her for years, dismissed as just getting older. It was, in her words, everything happening at once, with no gap in between to catch her breath.

This isn't a business episode. It's Sandra and me talking the way we'd talk if you pulled up a chair at our table at Market, about what it actually looks like to run a company through a season you didn't choose and can't control.

Here's what I want you to listen for. Sandra pulled back. She stepped away from High Point, from Design Zips, from being the one out front all the time. But she never stepped away from the Interior Design Standard. It kept running, because none of it lived only in her head. The design agreement, the project timeline, the fee calculator, all of it was already written down, built years earlier out of her own hard season, the one she calls her dark night of the soul in an Atlanta airport. [LINK: episode 520]

That's the throughline of this conversation. The season will come, for all of us. The question this episode asks is whether your business is something you have to hold up personally, or something that can hold itself up while you take care of what actually matters.

If you want the two other stories I bring into this conversation, go back to [LINK: episode 1043] with Kristin Bartone, and [LINK: episode 1010], the Overheard episode with Robin Burrill and Antonio Deloatch, both circling the same idea from a different angle.

Sandra, I love you. And to the rest of you, come listen to this one. It might be the permission you didn't know you needed.

More About Sandra Funk:

Sandra Funk is the founder and CEO of the boutique interior design firm, House of Funk. After 20 years as a luxury designer, Sandra is now a business strategist deeply rooted in empowering and educating design entrepreneurs. With her turnkey approach, she welcomes designers into her inner circle, sharing her proven process for a balanced, joy-filled and wildly profitable design firm.

Connect with Sandra Funk:

Website

What’s new with LuAnn Nigara:

Boardroom for Creatives

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Watch the Docuseries!⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.luannnigara.com/cob⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠e: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Podcast

Get The Goodies!

For checklists, resources, and extra goodies from A Well-Designed Business sign up for free ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠here⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

Purchase LuAnn’s Books Here:

Book 1: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠The Making of A Well – Designed Business: Turn Inspiration into Action⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Audiobook: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠The Making of A Well – Designed Business: Turn Inspiration into Action⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Book 2: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠A Well-Designed Business – The Power Talk Friday Experts⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Book 3: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠A Well-Designed Business – The Power Talk Friday Experts Volume 2

Connect with LuAnn Nigara:

LuAnn’s ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Website⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

LuAnn’s ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Blog⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Power Talk Friday⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Like Us: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Facebook⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ | Tweet Us: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Twitter⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ | Follow Us: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ | Listen Here: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Podcast

Other Shows Mentioned:

Episode 02: The Importance of Systems for a Profitable Interior Design Business With Sandra Funk Levy

Episode 145: Sandra Funk of House of Funk: Why and How She Re-Branded her 10 Year old Firm

Episode 520: Power Talk Friday: Sandra Funk: The Interior Design Standard is Here!

Episode 585: Sandra Funk: Helping Designers Improve Their Business Systems

Episode 660: Sandra Funk: Level Up Your Business Through Mentorship, Coaching, and Classes. Sponsored Show: “Interior Design Standard”

Episode 753: Sandra Funk: How to Grow a Thriving Luxury Interior Design Business

Episode 801: Power Talk Friday: Sandra Funk: How Mistakes and Obstacles Led to Growth & Transformation

Episode 845: Power Talk Friday: Sandra Funk: Stop Apologizing and Start Communicating

Episode 895: Power Talk Friday: Sandra Funk: The Millionaire Mindset for Interior Designers

Episode 986: Power Talk Friday: Sandra Funk: Boundaries and Expectations are a Few of My Favorite Things

Episode 1010: Overheard: Developing Resilience in Interior Design Business Leadership with Antonio Deloatch Jr, Sandra Funk and Robin Burrill

Episode 1068: Power Talk Friday: Sandra Funk: How “Sleeping in Your Guest Room” Can Make You RICH

Episode 1043: Kristin Bartone: Pivoting Your Interior Design Business When Life Throws You Curveballs

Episode 1010: Overheard: Developing Resilience in Interior Design Business Leadership with Antonio Deloatch Jr, Sandra Funk and Robin Burrill

Episode 1118: Sponsored Show: Jamie Gasparovic: Why I Invested in the Interior Design Standard