1 00:00:00,600 --> 00:00:05,120 Hello and welcome to episode 166 of Design Curious podcast. 2 00:00:05,680 --> 00:00:07,640 I'm your host and mentor, Rebecca Ward. 3 00:00:08,280 --> 00:00:12,000 Today on the podcast, we have guest Nicole Rowe and let me 4 00:00:12,000 --> 00:00:13,640 tell you a little more about her. 5 00:00:14,280 --> 00:00:19,160 Nicole is a taste maker and authentic lifestyle creator and 6 00:00:19,160 --> 00:00:23,360 is founder and creative force behind R Nixon Interiors, A 7 00:00:23,360 --> 00:00:26,920 boutique design firm known for blending bold, elevated 8 00:00:26,920 --> 00:00:29,480 aesthetics with real life functionality. 9 00:00:30,080 --> 00:00:33,640 With over 15 years of experience in construction and design, 10 00:00:34,160 --> 00:00:36,880 Nicole holds a degree in Building Construction from 11 00:00:36,880 --> 00:00:40,000 Georgia Tech and has an extensive working knowledge of 12 00:00:40,000 --> 00:00:42,280 all aspects of the construction process. 13 00:00:42,800 --> 00:00:46,000 Her technical expertise combined with an eye for expressive 14 00:00:46,000 --> 00:00:50,240 design allows her to bring each client's personal brand to life 15 00:00:50,240 --> 00:00:53,560 in their home. Whether it's one of many or 16 00:00:53,800 --> 00:00:57,200 their forever space. Nicole's clients are busy 17 00:00:57,200 --> 00:01:00,440 professionals who value exceptional design and trust her 18 00:01:00,440 --> 00:01:04,319 to deliver spaces that are both impressive and intentionally 19 00:01:04,319 --> 00:01:07,640 crafted. Nicole believes in the power of 20 00:01:07,640 --> 00:01:12,000 design to elevate everyday life. From full home renovations to 21 00:01:12,000 --> 00:01:16,080 curated interiors, her goal is always to create spaces that 22 00:01:16,080 --> 00:01:19,360 function beautifully and feel deeply aligned with her clients 23 00:01:19,360 --> 00:01:21,680 lives. With a deep love for vintage 24 00:01:21,680 --> 00:01:26,000 treasures, adrenaline fueled hobbies, and spa days alike, 25 00:01:26,000 --> 00:01:28,720 Nicole brings an inspiring duality to her work. 26 00:01:29,040 --> 00:01:31,120 Equal parts grounded and adventures. 27 00:01:31,800 --> 00:01:34,640 Under her leadership, Our Next and Interiors continues to 28 00:01:34,640 --> 00:01:38,720 redefine boutique design service with bold vision, next level 29 00:01:38,720 --> 00:01:42,680 creativity, and an unwavering commitment to functional luxury. 30 00:01:43,240 --> 00:01:45,360 I know you're going to enjoy this conversation, so let's get 31 00:01:45,360 --> 00:01:51,440 into it. You're now listening to Design 32 00:01:51,440 --> 00:01:55,560 Curious, a place where you, Creative one, are here to learn 33 00:01:55,560 --> 00:01:58,600 about what it really is like to be an interior designer. 34 00:01:59,080 --> 00:02:01,880 And I'm your host and mentor, Rebecca Ward. 35 00:02:02,520 --> 00:02:06,560 If you're worried about how to succeed in a creative career, if 36 00:02:06,560 --> 00:02:09,440 you're ready to learn your next steps to become an interior 37 00:02:09,440 --> 00:02:13,800 designer, and if you want the satisfaction of doing something 38 00:02:13,800 --> 00:02:17,240 you love every day, you are in the right place. 39 00:02:17,680 --> 00:02:21,680 Grab a coffee, a notebook, and let's dig into today's episode. 40 00:02:23,040 --> 00:02:25,440 Hi Nicole, welcome to Design Curious podcast. 41 00:02:25,440 --> 00:02:29,160 It's great to have you on today. I am really excited to be here. 42 00:02:29,520 --> 00:02:34,160 Yeah, and I just am very curious about your journey. 43 00:02:34,160 --> 00:02:36,280 I love what I've learned about so far. 44 00:02:36,280 --> 00:02:40,560 So let's start way back when you decided to become an interior 45 00:02:40,560 --> 00:02:42,400 designer. How did you get started? 46 00:02:43,000 --> 00:02:47,200 I think like a lot of us, we realize, you know, young in our 47 00:02:47,200 --> 00:02:50,040 life, that we are affected by our surroundings. 48 00:02:50,040 --> 00:02:54,680 We care about our surroundings. You've heard it a dozen or more 49 00:02:54,680 --> 00:02:58,240 times of the moving furniture around, painting the walls, 50 00:02:58,640 --> 00:03:02,720 really trying to figure out as a young child what we wanted our 51 00:03:02,720 --> 00:03:06,480 ideal space to look like. Mine might have included puff 52 00:03:06,480 --> 00:03:11,160 paint on my glass sliding mirror doors, but also some of the 53 00:03:11,160 --> 00:03:13,480 other things. As you get older and transition 54 00:03:13,480 --> 00:03:17,680 into College in your first apartments and you realize you 55 00:03:17,680 --> 00:03:20,840 like a moodier bedroom or you like your furniture laid out a 56 00:03:20,840 --> 00:03:24,280 certain way. But even at this point, the 57 00:03:24,280 --> 00:03:27,760 career of interior design wasn't something that was on my radar. 58 00:03:27,760 --> 00:03:31,200 I wasn't aware that it could be a full career. 59 00:03:32,040 --> 00:03:35,960 Had known decorators growing up that mostly focused on the 60 00:03:35,960 --> 00:03:38,400 pillows and the paint and the window treatments. 61 00:03:38,400 --> 00:03:43,240 But they were all almost kind of side projects or hobbyists and 62 00:03:43,240 --> 00:03:46,600 not full blown interior design firm owners. 63 00:03:47,880 --> 00:03:52,200 Yeah, I just had a conversation last night with another mom from 64 00:03:52,200 --> 00:03:56,160 school, and she knows I'm an interior designer, but she's 65 00:03:56,160 --> 00:03:58,520 like, oh, I have this friend who needs help with the design and 66 00:03:58,520 --> 00:04:01,600 the layout of the plan. Is that So what you do or is 67 00:04:01,600 --> 00:04:04,280 that a contractor? I'm like, no, that's like the 68 00:04:04,280 --> 00:04:07,160 main part of what I do, not just the finishes. 69 00:04:07,240 --> 00:04:10,400 You know, a lot of people just aren't aware of the full whole 70 00:04:10,400 --> 00:04:13,240 scope of what interior design entails. 71 00:04:13,800 --> 00:04:16,240 I agree. I have found so much of what we 72 00:04:16,240 --> 00:04:20,120 do as education. Because you go to the dentist, 73 00:04:20,120 --> 00:04:22,520 you understand what the dentist does, you know, You go to a 74 00:04:22,560 --> 00:04:25,320 psychologist, you understand what a psychologist does. 75 00:04:25,320 --> 00:04:27,840 You hire a gardener, you understand. 76 00:04:27,840 --> 00:04:33,720 Like those services make sense. But interior designers have, you 77 00:04:33,720 --> 00:04:36,440 know, a range of what each designer is capable of or 78 00:04:36,440 --> 00:04:39,720 desires to do. But it's still so many unknowns 79 00:04:39,720 --> 00:04:42,960 of what an interior designer does to the general population. 80 00:04:43,240 --> 00:04:47,080 Yeah, for sure. OK, So you weren't aware that it 81 00:04:47,080 --> 00:04:50,680 was a career. So then how did you start 82 00:04:50,680 --> 00:04:55,880 becoming an interior designer? Yeah, So I went to Georgia Tech, 83 00:04:56,000 --> 00:04:57,840 enrolled as an engineering student. 84 00:04:57,840 --> 00:05:02,720 After a couple of back and forth of what I really wanted my 85 00:05:02,720 --> 00:05:05,360 degree to be, I landed on building construction. 86 00:05:06,200 --> 00:05:08,160 Building construction falls under the College of 87 00:05:08,160 --> 00:05:11,040 Architecture. So you have the ability to take 88 00:05:11,040 --> 00:05:14,200 architecture classes, You took furniture design classes, you 89 00:05:14,200 --> 00:05:19,080 took history of art classes, All of these little touch points of 90 00:05:19,080 --> 00:05:22,440 interior design that at the time I didn't fully realize that's 91 00:05:22,440 --> 00:05:26,320 what I was drawn to. I had a great internship 92 00:05:26,320 --> 00:05:30,360 opportunity with a mixed-use developer who had hired an 93 00:05:30,360 --> 00:05:34,600 interior design firm. So as the intern, this firm 94 00:05:34,600 --> 00:05:38,680 would come in with drawings and materials and fabrics, wearing 95 00:05:38,680 --> 00:05:42,800 boots, walking job sites. And as someone who is being 96 00:05:42,800 --> 00:05:46,640 educated to be a project manager for construction, I was like, I 97 00:05:46,680 --> 00:05:49,840 actually really love what they're doing. 98 00:05:51,120 --> 00:05:54,480 There wasn't the path I really wanted to take those early 99 00:05:54,480 --> 00:05:59,560 mornings, high stress weekends. Interior designers, if set up 100 00:05:59,560 --> 00:06:03,320 appropriately, have the ability to roll into a job site at 9:00 101 00:06:03,320 --> 00:06:07,560 AM, you know, and not at 6:30 AM for a concrete pour, right? 102 00:06:08,280 --> 00:06:12,000 Learning about interiors. Learning how that can be a 103 00:06:12,000 --> 00:06:18,320 flexible career for a mom and a wife really was kind of magical. 104 00:06:18,320 --> 00:06:21,080 And like a lot of designers, it started small. 105 00:06:21,320 --> 00:06:24,640 I didn't open my doors and say I'm doing multi $1,000,000 new 106 00:06:24,640 --> 00:06:27,440 builds. It was paint consultations. 107 00:06:27,800 --> 00:06:31,560 It was bookcase stylings. It was just all of those entry 108 00:06:31,560 --> 00:06:36,360 points, but each client, each referral, each relationship 109 00:06:36,800 --> 00:06:39,320 brought something larger and more in depth. 110 00:06:39,600 --> 00:06:43,960 And we just kept saying yes. And Fast forward eight years, we 111 00:06:43,960 --> 00:06:47,040 have a design studio, a warehouse and a team of really 112 00:06:47,040 --> 00:06:49,120 great team members. Wow. 113 00:06:49,320 --> 00:06:50,960 OK. So that's kind of how you 114 00:06:51,520 --> 00:06:55,000 started scaling. Tell me about that, the 115 00:06:55,000 --> 00:06:58,560 logistics of scaling, Like I know you said that you just 116 00:06:58,560 --> 00:07:03,160 started saying yes to more opportunity, but then there's a 117 00:07:03,160 --> 00:07:05,840 hurdle you have to overcome, right when you're growing and 118 00:07:05,840 --> 00:07:10,000 scaling like that. Yes, I think when I realized 119 00:07:10,000 --> 00:07:15,000 that my best design work was happening at 10 PM 11:00 PM. 120 00:07:15,200 --> 00:07:19,040 Husband and kids had been asleep for hours because that was the 121 00:07:19,120 --> 00:07:22,720 only time I had to sit down and design because the days were 122 00:07:22,720 --> 00:07:26,640 full of ordering and tracking and job sites where there was 123 00:07:26,640 --> 00:07:29,600 never these large blocks of time during the day that I could sit 124 00:07:29,600 --> 00:07:33,080 and design. I realized I started meeting 125 00:07:33,080 --> 00:07:36,800 additional people. Starting with interns is great 126 00:07:36,800 --> 00:07:40,280 because you know they're only there for three months, so you 127 00:07:40,280 --> 00:07:43,720 can try out a lot on them of your management style and really 128 00:07:43,720 --> 00:07:45,560 how you want your firm to operate. 129 00:07:46,120 --> 00:07:50,160 Then allowing them to become design assistants, hiring 130 00:07:50,160 --> 00:07:53,000 procurement. For us, it's a warehouse 131 00:07:53,000 --> 00:07:56,680 assistant. Slowly adding these people and 132 00:07:56,680 --> 00:07:59,640 really figuring out the direction we want to go. 133 00:07:59,880 --> 00:08:04,360 But it's scary, you know, having payroll every week for five 134 00:08:04,360 --> 00:08:09,240 people and lease on a building and really trying to figure out 135 00:08:09,440 --> 00:08:12,040 where your money's coming from is a lot. 136 00:08:13,400 --> 00:08:15,880 Yeah. And I noticed when you start out 137 00:08:15,880 --> 00:08:20,760 your Nicole Rowe design, then you switched the name of the 138 00:08:20,760 --> 00:08:23,360 company to Nixon Design. Is that right? 139 00:08:23,920 --> 00:08:26,280 Yes. So we are now, yeah, we are now 140 00:08:26,280 --> 00:08:28,280 our Nixon interiors. Interiors, OK. 141 00:08:28,680 --> 00:08:31,800 When we began, I was the one woman show. 142 00:08:31,800 --> 00:08:35,159 I got on Fiverr and typed in Nicole Rowe design and asked 143 00:08:35,159 --> 00:08:39,039 somebody to make me a logo for like what, $29.00 like 8 years 144 00:08:39,039 --> 00:08:43,280 ago. And the naivety of me was I'm 145 00:08:43,280 --> 00:08:45,920 going to be a one woman show. I'm going to take on small 146 00:08:45,920 --> 00:08:47,920 projects. Having, you know, a logo in a 147 00:08:47,920 --> 00:08:51,200 bank account was honestly all I thought I needed. 148 00:08:51,600 --> 00:08:55,000 Never in my mind did I think like I'm going to have a logo on 149 00:08:55,000 --> 00:08:57,960 the side of a van or there's going to be a team member. 150 00:08:58,440 --> 00:09:02,160 But as we grew and I knew we were moving out of my home into 151 00:09:02,160 --> 00:09:06,400 an office, this was a little over three years ago, I realized 152 00:09:06,400 --> 00:09:09,200 that I didn't want my name on the side of a building. 153 00:09:09,200 --> 00:09:11,120 I didn't want my name on the side of a van. 154 00:09:11,120 --> 00:09:16,240 I wanted team members to really take pride in ownership in the 155 00:09:16,240 --> 00:09:20,840 company and showing up as one of them to a job site. 156 00:09:20,840 --> 00:09:22,280 It was always, well, where's Nicole? 157 00:09:22,680 --> 00:09:24,800 Where's Nicole? It's Nicole Rd. design. 158 00:09:24,800 --> 00:09:29,880 Why is Nicole not here? But with the rebrand, it gives 159 00:09:29,880 --> 00:09:33,880 everybody else a little bit more power within the company to take 160 00:09:33,880 --> 00:09:36,480 ownership and show up. Because it's not Nicole Rowe 161 00:09:36,480 --> 00:09:38,560 design, it's our Nixon interiors. 162 00:09:38,560 --> 00:09:41,440 And you know who the heck is our Nixon is the question. 163 00:09:41,440 --> 00:09:42,960 We always joke. Yeah. 164 00:09:43,440 --> 00:09:46,840 Telemarketers have no idea who our Nixon is, which is 165 00:09:46,840 --> 00:09:50,440 hilarious. But also I wanted a name that 166 00:09:50,440 --> 00:09:54,080 was elevated, a name that could almost play in a bunch of 167 00:09:54,080 --> 00:09:57,880 different arenas. Wasn't super feminine, a little 168 00:09:57,880 --> 00:10:02,840 masculine, kind of. We love the play of like, who is 169 00:10:02,840 --> 00:10:05,760 our Nixon? I mean, our Nixon really is 170 00:10:06,080 --> 00:10:08,040 everyone. It's our clients. 171 00:10:08,040 --> 00:10:10,560 It's who our clients strive to be. 172 00:10:10,560 --> 00:10:12,400 It's whatever vibe they want to be. 173 00:10:12,400 --> 00:10:15,240 It's so personalized. But it's still a play on my 174 00:10:15,240 --> 00:10:17,600 name, so it's still really special to me. 175 00:10:17,960 --> 00:10:21,760 My last name's Roe. So you have the R and then 176 00:10:21,760 --> 00:10:24,000 Nixon. I was Nicole Erickson before I 177 00:10:24,000 --> 00:10:27,640 got married, so we kind of just smashed it together. 178 00:10:28,160 --> 00:10:31,040 But the logo is fun. It looks like just a fun little 179 00:10:31,040 --> 00:10:33,840 brand if you just have the pill shape. 180 00:10:33,840 --> 00:10:37,600 So I really think starting as my name was great. 181 00:10:37,720 --> 00:10:40,760 I absolutely am proud of what we did. 182 00:10:41,040 --> 00:10:45,480 But for new designers, really thinking through if your firm 183 00:10:45,480 --> 00:10:49,960 becomes a firm, if your brand becomes something larger, yes, 184 00:10:49,960 --> 00:10:53,800 of course you have Amber Lewis and all these, you know, names, 185 00:10:53,960 --> 00:10:56,120 Kelly Worsler that are their name. 186 00:10:56,120 --> 00:10:59,720 But really deciding, do you want it to be your name or do you 187 00:10:59,720 --> 00:11:02,680 want it to be something else? Like Alice Lane Interiors, for 188 00:11:02,680 --> 00:11:06,200 example, which is great. Unless you really listen to 189 00:11:06,200 --> 00:11:09,240 their podcasts or stalk their social media, you may not know 190 00:11:09,240 --> 00:11:12,360 who the owner is and you wouldn't know which designer is 191 00:11:12,360 --> 00:11:15,640 coming out or talking to you. So I love that aspect. 192 00:11:16,120 --> 00:11:19,080 So Alice Lane Interiors could technically send one of 20 193 00:11:19,080 --> 00:11:22,080 designers and the client is not any wiser. 194 00:11:23,480 --> 00:11:26,880 I, I love that approach. I think that's, I thought a lot 195 00:11:26,880 --> 00:11:29,920 of people who coming through my mentorship program, they're 196 00:11:29,920 --> 00:11:32,280 thinking about like, I had to pick a name that's going to last 197 00:11:32,280 --> 00:11:35,880 forever, but you don't. I mean, you do need to think 198 00:11:35,880 --> 00:11:38,840 about that, but you also don't know where your dream wants to 199 00:11:38,840 --> 00:11:40,840 take you too. So like you started out Nicole 200 00:11:40,840 --> 00:11:42,560 Rd. Design, but then you pivoted. 201 00:11:43,000 --> 00:11:46,400 How hard was it to rebrand and change your name? 202 00:11:47,240 --> 00:11:49,560 I will if someone does want to do that later on. 203 00:11:50,440 --> 00:11:52,480 I will say I don't ever want to do it again. 204 00:11:52,480 --> 00:11:55,840 The Arnix and interiors like that will be on my headstone 205 00:11:55,840 --> 00:12:01,000 like when I die. No, I was a little naive to what 206 00:12:01,000 --> 00:12:04,560 that entailed. I understood that you could be 207 00:12:04,560 --> 00:12:06,440 ADBA, so that makes a whole lot of sense. 208 00:12:06,480 --> 00:12:09,440 All of our bank accounts and a lot of our furniture accounts 209 00:12:09,440 --> 00:12:11,040 are still Nicole Rd. Design. 210 00:12:11,400 --> 00:12:14,120 We have to clarify with the vendor what that means. 211 00:12:14,120 --> 00:12:16,240 Like when we go to High Point Market, they're like, you don't 212 00:12:16,240 --> 00:12:18,720 have an account. I'm like, we are actually Nicole 213 00:12:18,720 --> 00:12:21,640 Rd. Design UPS and FedEx and all of 214 00:12:21,640 --> 00:12:25,360 them know we're both. One of the tricky parts was 215 00:12:25,360 --> 00:12:30,040 converting all of like our Google Drive over to the new. 216 00:12:30,160 --> 00:12:33,800 I have since learned there's way easier ways to do it. 217 00:12:34,240 --> 00:12:37,480 But at that very moment, I didn't want to spend all the 218 00:12:37,480 --> 00:12:39,080 money. I didn't know any better. 219 00:12:39,160 --> 00:12:42,480 AI didn't exist, so you couldn't just get in ChatGPT and be like, 220 00:12:42,480 --> 00:12:46,360 how do I do this, right? So we unfortunately lost some 221 00:12:46,360 --> 00:12:49,360 files and some stuff didn't happen as easily as I liked. 222 00:12:50,560 --> 00:12:54,160 We lost our Google page because once again, it was kind of, it 223 00:12:54,160 --> 00:12:57,400 was tricky to change it all. What I didn't know with your 224 00:12:57,400 --> 00:13:01,760 Google business page, if you get on and change everything, they 225 00:13:01,760 --> 00:13:04,120 think you've been hacked. So. 226 00:13:04,440 --> 00:13:06,960 They shut down. Wow, I didn't think about that. 227 00:13:06,960 --> 00:13:10,240 Yes. So what I have since learned for 228 00:13:10,240 --> 00:13:14,840 anyone out there that if you move, don't change your address. 229 00:13:14,840 --> 00:13:18,280 Don't do any of that until your signage is up and all of your 230 00:13:18,280 --> 00:13:22,400 proof of life is there so you can do the video walkthroughs or 231 00:13:22,400 --> 00:13:25,240 else they're going to think you got hacked if you change, you 232 00:13:25,240 --> 00:13:27,320 know, some of the key important things. 233 00:13:27,320 --> 00:13:31,960 So losing Google reviews is hard when there's really no way of 234 00:13:31,960 --> 00:13:35,040 getting them back. So definitely taking it slow, 235 00:13:35,440 --> 00:13:39,200 but don't be fearful of rebranding if you're new 236 00:13:39,200 --> 00:13:43,120 direction, you know, if you no longer want to be some super 237 00:13:43,120 --> 00:13:46,040 sweet name or some super specific name and you want to 238 00:13:46,040 --> 00:13:49,840 rebrand, do it. It just might be worth investing 239 00:13:49,840 --> 00:13:53,680 in someone to help you. OK, good advice. 240 00:13:53,720 --> 00:13:57,560 Yeah, I was curious about that part of it because people ask 241 00:13:57,560 --> 00:14:01,680 all the time and I know it is challenging endeavor, but you 242 00:14:01,680 --> 00:14:03,680 did it. But it's like it probably could 243 00:14:03,680 --> 00:14:06,280 have been then. So maybe people could reach out 244 00:14:06,280 --> 00:14:09,120 and ask you for some. Of course, if they they decide 245 00:14:09,120 --> 00:14:12,080 that they want to do that. So I'm going to touch back on 246 00:14:12,480 --> 00:14:15,280 you started out with engineering, building 247 00:14:15,280 --> 00:14:19,080 construction degree and then going into entrepreneurship. 248 00:14:19,800 --> 00:14:23,440 Both of those areas are male dominated industries. 249 00:14:23,720 --> 00:14:27,000 You'd mentioned also with our Nixon interiors, it's a little 250 00:14:27,000 --> 00:14:30,280 more masculine. Let's talk a little bit about 251 00:14:30,480 --> 00:14:34,920 how the gender plays into being an interior designer in this 252 00:14:35,400 --> 00:14:37,240 today's age. Yeah. 253 00:14:37,240 --> 00:14:40,440 So I think it's a great question because right now one of the hot 254 00:14:40,440 --> 00:14:44,400 topics is masculine energy versus feminine energy and when 255 00:14:44,400 --> 00:14:46,360 to bring both into your design firm. 256 00:14:46,360 --> 00:14:50,840 Even the feminine energy, you know, is the creative work, the 257 00:14:50,840 --> 00:14:54,240 really inspired work though partnering with females. 258 00:14:54,640 --> 00:14:57,560 But the masculine energy and entrepreneurship is something 259 00:14:57,560 --> 00:15:01,040 you do have to hone in on. And as someone who works with 260 00:15:01,040 --> 00:15:05,200 contractors and trades all day, and a lot of our clients are 261 00:15:05,200 --> 00:15:08,800 males as well, and then, you know, I have my husband and we 262 00:15:08,800 --> 00:15:13,400 have 4 boys, so my life is very male dominant. 263 00:15:14,640 --> 00:15:18,760 I love a spa day, you know, I love the opportunity to get away 264 00:15:18,760 --> 00:15:22,400 from that. But I think interior designers 265 00:15:22,400 --> 00:15:24,760 so often can have a bad reputation. 266 00:15:24,840 --> 00:15:28,080 There's so many words that have been used to describe designers 267 00:15:28,080 --> 00:15:30,800 that may not have had a good experience with trades or 268 00:15:30,800 --> 00:15:33,840 contractors. And I think we all just kind of 269 00:15:33,840 --> 00:15:37,880 have to step back and realize, like, what energy do we need to 270 00:15:37,880 --> 00:15:40,760 bring to that moment? Is this a time for the masculine 271 00:15:40,760 --> 00:15:42,400 energy? Do we need to stand firm? 272 00:15:42,400 --> 00:15:45,680 Or do we need to just have a solution and work with everyone? 273 00:15:46,240 --> 00:15:50,720 Because what we do, if the trades or the tile guy aren't on 274 00:15:50,720 --> 00:15:53,440 our team, you know, and excited to work with us, it's going to 275 00:15:53,440 --> 00:15:55,640 be impossible. Yeah, for sure. 276 00:15:56,120 --> 00:16:02,000 So it does take getting to have that confidence on the job site 277 00:16:02,000 --> 00:16:05,840 and everything that they'll listen to you and just value 278 00:16:05,840 --> 00:16:07,880 your credibility, what you're bringing. 279 00:16:07,880 --> 00:16:10,240 Yeah. Now I agree, and I think having 280 00:16:10,240 --> 00:16:14,120 the degree in construction gives me an interesting perspective 281 00:16:14,840 --> 00:16:17,480 because a lot of designers are so new to the world of 282 00:16:17,480 --> 00:16:20,400 construction and there's so much to learn. 283 00:16:20,400 --> 00:16:23,160 I still learn stuff on a daily basis. 284 00:16:23,880 --> 00:16:28,160 Right now I actually have an electrician and my tile guys at 285 00:16:28,160 --> 00:16:31,200 my own house, like literally directly behind me, and we're 286 00:16:31,200 --> 00:16:34,600 trying to work through some stuff for our projects and 287 00:16:34,600 --> 00:16:37,200 designers. One thing I love to tell them is 288 00:16:37,560 --> 00:16:41,520 do projects at your home, even if your budget isn't that of 289 00:16:41,520 --> 00:16:45,720 your clients, like mine is not. But you can experiment, you can 290 00:16:45,720 --> 00:16:49,400 learn, you can have the trades really tell you all the things 291 00:16:49,400 --> 00:16:52,920 and figure it out and do things that you may not have the 292 00:16:52,920 --> 00:16:57,080 confidence to do at a client's house yet in your own home. 293 00:16:57,400 --> 00:17:00,800 And I think that alone, yes, you can use the photos and the stuff 294 00:17:00,800 --> 00:17:05,800 for social media, but it also just is a really good lesson on, 295 00:17:05,920 --> 00:17:09,160 you know, learning your skills and building relationships with 296 00:17:09,160 --> 00:17:12,240 the trades. Yeah, that's really good advice. 297 00:17:12,240 --> 00:17:14,280 Like going back and forth with the trades. 298 00:17:14,319 --> 00:17:16,920 Even if you have a good relationship with your trade, 299 00:17:17,480 --> 00:17:22,400 they might make a suggestion that or have a preference for 300 00:17:22,400 --> 00:17:25,520 doing it a certain way that you know that it's not going to work 301 00:17:25,520 --> 00:17:27,920 for your design. But you might be hesitant to 302 00:17:27,920 --> 00:17:29,960 tell them because they have more experience than you. 303 00:17:30,480 --> 00:17:33,960 So learning how to talk with them, going back and forth, 304 00:17:33,960 --> 00:17:38,040 understanding why, and then maybe even soliciting for your 305 00:17:38,040 --> 00:17:42,040 design in the end as the right solution, all that takes 306 00:17:42,040 --> 00:17:45,000 practice, and doing it in front of a client is hard to do. 307 00:17:45,000 --> 00:17:49,160 So if you can do it in your own home and navigate that and get 308 00:17:49,160 --> 00:17:50,920 experience doing that, I think that's a great idea. 309 00:17:51,480 --> 00:17:55,880 No, it really is because we can make beautiful elevations pre 310 00:17:55,880 --> 00:17:58,080 demo. We draw all the things you know, 311 00:17:58,080 --> 00:18:00,560 we have everything designed exactly how you want it. 312 00:18:00,560 --> 00:18:04,520 Then they tear open the walls. And my house is a great example. 313 00:18:04,520 --> 00:18:07,280 We didn't realize the stairs were going through the old 314 00:18:07,280 --> 00:18:10,200 bathroom vanity. Like literally there's a ramp in 315 00:18:10,200 --> 00:18:13,720 the back of the vanity. And I had no idea. 316 00:18:13,720 --> 00:18:17,000 Like we had never pulled open the back of the cabinet door. 317 00:18:17,000 --> 00:18:19,440 We just assumed it was a false bat because it was built in the 318 00:18:19,440 --> 00:18:22,360 60s. But sitting there with the 319 00:18:22,360 --> 00:18:26,000 plumber and the framer and the demo guy and everybody, the tile 320 00:18:26,000 --> 00:18:29,520 installer to be like, what can we do to make this work? 321 00:18:30,360 --> 00:18:33,160 And we all had solutions. We all had great solutions. 322 00:18:33,160 --> 00:18:37,600 But in the end it was like, OK, your idea plus your idea is what 323 00:18:37,600 --> 00:18:39,960 we're going to roll with. But like you said, doing that in 324 00:18:39,960 --> 00:18:44,320 front of clients sometimes isn't great because they can lose 325 00:18:44,320 --> 00:18:47,320 confidence in really odd things even though there's nothing to 326 00:18:47,320 --> 00:18:51,000 lose confidence about because they just assume you should have 327 00:18:51,000 --> 00:18:52,880 the answer before the walls are open. 328 00:18:52,880 --> 00:18:54,600 But we all know that is not the case. 329 00:18:54,840 --> 00:18:57,400 Right. Yeah, I love troubleshooting on 330 00:18:57,400 --> 00:19:00,680 the spot, but the client really shouldn't be there for that. 331 00:19:01,400 --> 00:19:02,160 Yeah. OK. 332 00:19:02,160 --> 00:19:05,200 So that's really good that you have that background. 333 00:19:05,440 --> 00:19:10,600 Do you recommend that designers take any construction classes or 334 00:19:10,600 --> 00:19:13,040 courses or like how would you recommend a designer who maybe 335 00:19:13,040 --> 00:19:16,800 didn't have that degree in building construction to kind of 336 00:19:16,800 --> 00:19:21,000 get some exposure to a little bit more for just understanding 337 00:19:21,000 --> 00:19:23,800 construction? Of course, I'm sure there's 338 00:19:23,800 --> 00:19:26,160 classes online. I'm sure you could hop onto 339 00:19:26,160 --> 00:19:29,040 YouTube, but a lot of that would take a lot of time. 340 00:19:29,040 --> 00:19:33,760 I would say boots on the ground, Go to job sites often and talk 341 00:19:33,760 --> 00:19:38,200 to everybody, ask questions. I've been up in attics, I've 342 00:19:38,200 --> 00:19:40,920 climbed on ladders. I show up to concrete pores 343 00:19:41,400 --> 00:19:44,760 because we want to know. And they like to tell you there 344 00:19:44,760 --> 00:19:47,600 is nothing more than, you know, a man telling you why frame 345 00:19:47,600 --> 00:19:50,000 something, you know, the way he did learning. 346 00:19:50,000 --> 00:19:54,080 And then the next time you go, you can ask even more questions 347 00:19:54,080 --> 00:19:56,640 and learn more details and figure it out. 348 00:19:57,200 --> 00:19:58,760 And I don't want to say no question. 349 00:19:58,760 --> 00:20:01,440 It's a dumb question, but it really is like being like, oh, 350 00:20:01,440 --> 00:20:03,080 why did you run the plumbing here? 351 00:20:03,080 --> 00:20:06,680 Why is this in the ground? Why is this off center when I 352 00:20:06,680 --> 00:20:08,640 thought the faucet was centered on the wall? 353 00:20:08,640 --> 00:20:11,040 And they can explain. Oh well, because the cabinet, 354 00:20:11,040 --> 00:20:13,960 the P trap has to, you know, if you're off to the left or 355 00:20:13,960 --> 00:20:16,720 whatever it is or why is there plywood here? 356 00:20:17,080 --> 00:20:20,880 I think just asking the questions and showing up more 357 00:20:20,880 --> 00:20:24,640 often and not showing up like in high heels with a clipboard 358 00:20:24,640 --> 00:20:28,160 about to yell at everybody, but really showing up to learn. 359 00:20:28,520 --> 00:20:31,040 People really respect that, yeah. 360 00:20:31,200 --> 00:20:34,040 And understanding that asking questions doesn't mean that 361 00:20:34,040 --> 00:20:36,720 they're going to, like you said, that they want to share that 362 00:20:36,720 --> 00:20:38,800 information with you. They're not going to think less 363 00:20:38,800 --> 00:20:40,400 of you. Probably they love that you're 364 00:20:40,400 --> 00:20:43,760 asking and you want to know. So don't worry about asking 365 00:20:43,760 --> 00:20:45,560 those questions. Just go for it. 366 00:20:45,600 --> 00:20:48,880 Yeah, yes, of course. So how many? 367 00:20:48,920 --> 00:20:52,800 People, do you have working right now at your firm or in 368 00:20:52,800 --> 00:20:54,920 your production? Yeah, no, of course. 369 00:20:54,920 --> 00:20:59,360 So in staff we have myself. So I operate as the founder and 370 00:20:59,360 --> 00:21:02,600 the lead designer as well as the many hats that we wear. 371 00:21:03,080 --> 00:21:06,480 I then have a designer who does all the technical drawings. 372 00:21:06,480 --> 00:21:09,320 She does a lot of the sourcing and kind of putting everything 373 00:21:09,320 --> 00:21:14,000 together, as well as some project management depending on 374 00:21:14,000 --> 00:21:16,160 the project. Then we have our operations 375 00:21:16,160 --> 00:21:20,160 specialist, so she handles really all the back end, the 376 00:21:20,160 --> 00:21:23,880 procurement, the tracking, the vendor communication, any of the 377 00:21:23,880 --> 00:21:26,480 office stuff that needs to get worked out. 378 00:21:27,000 --> 00:21:30,800 Then we have our brand coordinator who also does some 379 00:21:30,800 --> 00:21:34,160 personal assistant executive assistant roles for me as well. 380 00:21:34,160 --> 00:21:38,200 Manages social media, manages back end, just really helps with 381 00:21:38,240 --> 00:21:41,720 all the other things. We tend to always have an 382 00:21:41,720 --> 00:21:44,960 intern, ours just rolled off and went back to school. 383 00:21:44,960 --> 00:21:49,000 And then we also have our warehouse assistant who really 384 00:21:49,000 --> 00:21:51,400 does manages the back of the house. 385 00:21:51,400 --> 00:21:54,240 Whenever we get deliveries we do our own receiving. 386 00:21:54,520 --> 00:21:58,960 So he will open the packages, inspect them, document them, 387 00:21:58,960 --> 00:22:01,800 repackage them and place them in the warehouse where they need to 388 00:22:01,800 --> 00:22:04,440 go to install day. Then who delivers? 389 00:22:04,800 --> 00:22:07,720 You have a receiving, but then do you have your own team 390 00:22:07,720 --> 00:22:09,480 delivering as well? No, We. 391 00:22:09,480 --> 00:22:12,280 Actually partnered with at the moving company that's right up 392 00:22:12,280 --> 00:22:15,120 the road from us. They handle all that. 393 00:22:15,160 --> 00:22:19,000 Looking into it, the logistics of having that many people like 394 00:22:19,000 --> 00:22:21,680 under you and the insurances don't really make sense. 395 00:22:21,680 --> 00:22:25,400 So having the ability to hire out and hire the number of 396 00:22:25,400 --> 00:22:29,240 people, some installs you want 6 movers there and two trucks. 397 00:22:29,240 --> 00:22:30,880 We could never have that on staff. 398 00:22:31,800 --> 00:22:34,320 Well, it's nice that. You have that room though for 399 00:22:34,320 --> 00:22:39,040 receiving and holding that all in in house, so yes it doesn't. 400 00:22:39,040 --> 00:22:41,920 Come without challenges, but we are located in a little bit 401 00:22:41,920 --> 00:22:44,560 smaller of a town with the closest receiving warehouse is 402 00:22:44,560 --> 00:22:47,960 an hour away. So it's explaining to clients 403 00:22:47,960 --> 00:22:50,920 your items are in Orlando, your items are in Tampa and they're 404 00:22:50,920 --> 00:22:53,880 going to stay there for the next four months was really 405 00:22:53,880 --> 00:22:57,360 challenging and with the price of receiving was really high. 406 00:22:57,680 --> 00:23:00,560 So we actually charge a procurement fee which includes 407 00:23:00,560 --> 00:23:04,200 the ordering and the in house receiving and warehousing. 408 00:23:04,840 --> 00:23:08,120 OK, great. So do you have plans to scale 409 00:23:08,120 --> 00:23:11,400 larger if opportunity presents itself? 410 00:23:12,040 --> 00:23:14,640 Yes. By the time this episode 411 00:23:14,640 --> 00:23:17,160 actually airs, it should be the week that we're moving into our 412 00:23:17,160 --> 00:23:20,520 new design studio. We've made the decision to 413 00:23:20,520 --> 00:23:23,480 separate the design studio in the warehouse. 414 00:23:23,480 --> 00:23:27,440 We've realized we need more studio space and we need more 415 00:23:27,440 --> 00:23:29,680 warehouse space. And looking at the options 416 00:23:29,680 --> 00:23:33,760 available on the market, there wasn't anything that felt like 417 00:23:33,800 --> 00:23:36,720 Arnix and Interiors Design Studio elevated client 418 00:23:36,720 --> 00:23:40,040 experience with a warehouse, you know, everything's more 419 00:23:40,040 --> 00:23:43,640 warehousing district. So we have made the decision to 420 00:23:43,640 --> 00:23:46,320 separate. We're on the hunt for where our 421 00:23:46,320 --> 00:23:50,200 warehouse space is going to be. We currently have about 2000 422 00:23:50,200 --> 00:23:55,360 square feet, which if you can visualize that's like 2 full 423 00:23:55,360 --> 00:23:59,000 houses of furniture can comfortably fit or you know, a 424 00:23:59,000 --> 00:24:01,960 few smaller projects. We're looking for about 4005 425 00:24:01,960 --> 00:24:03,920 thousand square feet. OK, Yeah. 426 00:24:03,920 --> 00:24:06,640 That'll allow you to have all your projects going at the same 427 00:24:06,880 --> 00:24:10,720 time for ordering furniture. Yeah, that's interesting. 428 00:24:10,720 --> 00:24:14,320 OK, so any other ways to see your brand scaling? 429 00:24:14,320 --> 00:24:17,800 Like have you thought about retail or having to shop or 430 00:24:17,880 --> 00:24:20,080 online? I know you have a podcast, 431 00:24:20,080 --> 00:24:22,840 though, so you want to talk about that a little bit? 432 00:24:22,880 --> 00:24:25,760 Yeah, we. Have the podcast Season 1 433 00:24:25,760 --> 00:24:28,480 wrapped up this spring. It's called Highly affected by 434 00:24:28,480 --> 00:24:31,320 her surroundings. You can kind of tell by the 435 00:24:31,320 --> 00:24:35,400 title, as designers, we really are affected by the spaces 436 00:24:35,400 --> 00:24:37,680 around us. And it was a really fun 437 00:24:37,680 --> 00:24:40,880 opportunity to connect with other designers, but as well as 438 00:24:40,880 --> 00:24:45,200 like brands and luxury builders. You know, one of our last 439 00:24:45,200 --> 00:24:49,520 episodes was with a South Asian wedding planner coordinator and 440 00:24:49,520 --> 00:24:53,040 like $1,000,000 weddings. And you know, the overlap 441 00:24:53,040 --> 00:24:57,400 between weddings and interiors is really close. 442 00:24:57,840 --> 00:25:01,760 So the podcast has been really fun opportunity to have this 443 00:25:01,760 --> 00:25:03,760 conversation. Season 2. 444 00:25:03,960 --> 00:25:07,160 We should be about halfway through season 2 when this airs 445 00:25:07,160 --> 00:25:09,880 as well. But send me a DM. 446 00:25:09,880 --> 00:25:12,480 We'd love to have more guests on the show as well. 447 00:25:12,960 --> 00:25:18,720 But As for retail, I am not someone that gets super excited 448 00:25:18,720 --> 00:25:20,800 by that idea. I know the logistics, I've had 449 00:25:20,800 --> 00:25:24,200 friends that have done it. Do I love to buy things? 450 00:25:24,200 --> 00:25:26,280 Do I love vintage? Do I love all that? 451 00:25:26,280 --> 00:25:28,320 Yes. Are we going to probably have, 452 00:25:28,320 --> 00:25:31,280 you know, warehouse sales and some similar pop ups? 453 00:25:31,320 --> 00:25:33,240 Of course. It's just the nature. 454 00:25:33,680 --> 00:25:36,640 I think there's some really great designers who have really 455 00:25:37,240 --> 00:25:40,160 done a good job with e-commerce. They had the brand in the 456 00:25:40,160 --> 00:25:42,840 backing and I love to see what they've curated. 457 00:25:43,320 --> 00:25:45,760 That's not necessarily in the plans for us. 458 00:25:45,760 --> 00:25:49,960 I think scaling larger projects, distance projects are definitely 459 00:25:49,960 --> 00:25:53,200 on our radar. Depending on the receiving 460 00:25:53,200 --> 00:25:55,880 warehouse, we'd love to receive for other designers. 461 00:25:55,880 --> 00:26:01,280 That's the goal to allow so many designers around me still aren't 462 00:26:01,440 --> 00:26:04,120 ordering wholesale. They're not doing all the things 463 00:26:04,120 --> 00:26:07,440 because of the challenges. And I would really like to be 464 00:26:07,440 --> 00:26:09,440 able to help them elevate their business. 465 00:26:09,440 --> 00:26:10,480 Yeah. Oh, that's. 466 00:26:10,480 --> 00:26:12,880 Great. Yeah, really is a Better 467 00:26:12,880 --> 00:26:14,840 Business model when you order the wholesale. 468 00:26:14,840 --> 00:26:18,360 So if that's holding them back, then what a great opportunity 469 00:26:18,360 --> 00:26:20,640 for you to help them out. No, I think. 470 00:26:20,640 --> 00:26:24,560 So yeah, so how do? You then stay up to date on 471 00:26:24,560 --> 00:26:28,480 latest trends and what do you do to get inspired for your 472 00:26:28,480 --> 00:26:30,240 designs? I think. 473 00:26:30,520 --> 00:26:34,360 The trend word for so many people is triggering for sure. 474 00:26:34,480 --> 00:26:38,400 And I think right now it's less about trends, but really more 475 00:26:38,400 --> 00:26:42,360 about lifestyle, personal branding, really who the 476 00:26:42,360 --> 00:26:46,800 individual client is. The past 5-10 years, there's 477 00:26:46,800 --> 00:26:51,120 been this back to trend and designers having one signature 478 00:26:51,120 --> 00:26:52,640 style. And I know on one of your 479 00:26:52,640 --> 00:26:56,240 podcasts a couple months ago you talked about this as well, where 480 00:26:56,240 --> 00:27:00,400 it's that signature style is also getting a little tricky 481 00:27:00,400 --> 00:27:04,560 because clients are now ready to not just have the same style as 482 00:27:04,560 --> 00:27:06,520 their neighbor. They really want something 483 00:27:07,200 --> 00:27:10,080 tailored to them, their lifestyle, their family. 484 00:27:10,080 --> 00:27:15,480 So I think allowing designers that confidence to really pull 485 00:27:15,480 --> 00:27:19,720 that out of their clients and design A space that really works 486 00:27:20,000 --> 00:27:24,480 both function and visually for the client, I think it's really 487 00:27:24,480 --> 00:27:26,040 important. Yeah, that's. 488 00:27:26,080 --> 00:27:29,240 Great point of view. So is there any advice that you 489 00:27:29,240 --> 00:27:33,480 have for maybe designers starting out or wanting to get 490 00:27:33,480 --> 00:27:36,160 their own business that you haven't already shared? 491 00:27:36,160 --> 00:27:39,400 Because you've shared a lot of great advice, I know, I think. 492 00:27:39,560 --> 00:27:42,840 Your possibilities are endless. There's so much advice and so 493 00:27:42,840 --> 00:27:45,240 many courses. When I started, there was a 494 00:27:45,240 --> 00:27:47,520 couple podcasts that I listened to, but there wasn't the 495 00:27:47,920 --> 00:27:50,120 accessibility to all the information there is now. 496 00:27:50,440 --> 00:27:54,160 So I think really finding Someone Like You as a mentor or 497 00:27:54,160 --> 00:27:58,560 someone else that can guide you, but confidence is really huge. 498 00:27:58,800 --> 00:28:02,960 Do what you need to do to gain your own confidence, whether it 499 00:28:02,960 --> 00:28:05,480 is courses, whether it's projects at your own house, 500 00:28:05,480 --> 00:28:09,920 whether right now we're redoing like all the rest because that 501 00:28:09,920 --> 00:28:11,720 is what we've realized right now. 502 00:28:11,720 --> 00:28:14,440 We know what we're doing, we're good at what we do. 503 00:28:14,840 --> 00:28:18,320 But whenever there's been an error, ideally not client 504 00:28:18,320 --> 00:28:20,920 facing, but whenever there's been an error, we've realized 505 00:28:20,920 --> 00:28:24,160 like that SOP, there needs some modifications or there wasn't 506 00:28:24,160 --> 00:28:28,320 one that was fully written up. So I think new designers really 507 00:28:28,320 --> 00:28:32,240 learning what SO PS, they need how they want their business to 508 00:28:32,240 --> 00:28:36,320 be, what their ideal client is and not to be afraid to start 509 00:28:36,320 --> 00:28:39,600 small. I think there's so much advice 510 00:28:39,600 --> 00:28:42,640 out there on don't do this or don't do that. 511 00:28:42,640 --> 00:28:46,840 But maybe stepping your way in on a small scale is not a bad 512 00:28:46,840 --> 00:28:48,520 idea. Yeah. 513 00:28:48,680 --> 00:28:51,440 Really good. Well, I think people are going 514 00:28:51,440 --> 00:28:54,640 to want to reach out to you, so why don't you share how they can 515 00:28:54,640 --> 00:28:57,560 do that and where they can find you, of course. 516 00:28:57,560 --> 00:29:02,320 So like I said earlier, we are are like the letter Nixon 517 00:29:02,320 --> 00:29:07,080 NICKSON interiors. We have a website that you can 518 00:29:07,080 --> 00:29:09,880 contact us through, but also Instagram. 519 00:29:10,320 --> 00:29:13,960 I think we're on LinkedIn, we're on Pinterest, we're on Facebook, 520 00:29:13,960 --> 00:29:16,240 we have a YouTube channel that we post on. 521 00:29:16,240 --> 00:29:19,320 So there's a lot of ways. Feel free to send Adm. 522 00:29:19,320 --> 00:29:22,240 Like I said, I have the podcast highly affected by her 523 00:29:22,240 --> 00:29:25,560 surroundings. That's out, but it's really 524 00:29:25,960 --> 00:29:28,520 Designers need designer friends, you know, designers need 525 00:29:28,520 --> 00:29:31,920 contacts. So never be afraid to say hi. 526 00:29:32,480 --> 00:29:33,360 Great. Yeah, we'll put. 527 00:29:33,360 --> 00:29:36,680 All those links in our show notes so people can easily find 528 00:29:36,680 --> 00:29:38,880 you. Thank you, Nicole for coming on 529 00:29:38,880 --> 00:29:40,360 today. It's been great talking with 530 00:29:40,360 --> 00:29:41,720 you. Yes, this is a lot of. 531 00:29:41,720 --> 00:29:42,840 Fun. Thank you so much. 532 00:29:50,160 --> 00:29:53,280 So we've included. Nicole's contact information in 533 00:29:53,280 --> 00:29:55,760 the show notes if you'd like to reach out to her or see her 534 00:29:55,760 --> 00:29:59,680 portfolio. And don't forget that we have 535 00:30:00,480 --> 00:30:03,840 Launch Your Business boot camp coming up in January. 536 00:30:03,920 --> 00:30:08,120 The doors are opening December 1st and so you can get in there. 537 00:30:08,120 --> 00:30:11,120 And don't forget includes a full year membership to my design 538 00:30:11,120 --> 00:30:13,480 mentor. So you have that full learning 539 00:30:13,480 --> 00:30:18,400 platform and mentorship, but then you also have the eight 540 00:30:18,400 --> 00:30:22,640 week launching your business boot camp to go along with it. 541 00:30:22,640 --> 00:30:27,320 So it's really a great deal. You're going to really be 542 00:30:27,320 --> 00:30:31,040 inspired and have all the accountability you need to make 543 00:30:31,040 --> 00:30:35,560 2026 your year for following your passion and starting your 544 00:30:35,560 --> 00:30:38,560 design business. I'd love to see you do that. 545 00:30:39,040 --> 00:30:41,680 You can get on the wait list. The link is in the show notes. 546 00:30:41,800 --> 00:30:44,840 I'd love to see you in there. And that's all we have this 547 00:30:44,840 --> 00:30:46,520 week. Next week we'll have another 548 00:30:46,520 --> 00:30:49,560 great episode and until then, stay creative. 549 00:30:51,120 --> 00:30:54,160 Thanks for listening. If you love this episode, please 550 00:30:54,160 --> 00:30:56,920 leave a rating and a review. This helps me reach other 551 00:30:56,920 --> 00:31:00,640 curious creatives like you. If you have a topic request or 552 00:31:00,640 --> 00:31:03,920 would like to contact me, simply head over to my website 553 00:31:04,160 --> 00:31:10,280 ourawarddesign.com or e-mail me at podcast@ourawarddesign.com.