1 00:00:00,520 --> 00:00:03,560 Hey there, it's Rebecca. Before we dive in today's 2 00:00:03,560 --> 00:00:06,320 episode, I have something exciting to share. 3 00:00:06,640 --> 00:00:09,000 If you've been dreaming about starting your own interior 4 00:00:09,000 --> 00:00:11,840 design business, but you're feeling stuck on what to do 5 00:00:11,840 --> 00:00:15,800 first, how to set things up legally, or even how to find 6 00:00:15,800 --> 00:00:18,400 your first clients, this is your sign. 7 00:00:18,760 --> 00:00:22,200 Doors are now open for my Launch Your Business Boot Camp, an 8 8 00:00:22,200 --> 00:00:25,360 week step by step program designed to help you build a 9 00:00:25,360 --> 00:00:28,200 profitable design business from the ground up. 10 00:00:28,640 --> 00:00:31,560 You'll learn everything from clarifying your brand and 11 00:00:31,560 --> 00:00:34,440 setting up your systems, to getting your contracts and 12 00:00:34,440 --> 00:00:37,480 finances in order so you can start your business with 13 00:00:37,480 --> 00:00:40,880 confidence and direction. I'll be walking alongside you 14 00:00:40,880 --> 00:00:43,720 the whole way, mentoring you through each step so you're 15 00:00:43,720 --> 00:00:45,800 never left wondering what to do next. 16 00:00:45,920 --> 00:00:49,040 And the best part? You'll be part of a community of 17 00:00:49,040 --> 00:00:51,360 other designers doing it right alongside you. 18 00:00:51,800 --> 00:00:55,800 So if you're ready to stop dreaming and finally launch your 19 00:00:55,800 --> 00:00:59,640 design business the right way, go sign up now at our Ward 20 00:00:59,640 --> 00:01:02,640 design.com. You'll also find the link in the 21 00:01:02,640 --> 00:01:05,080 show notes. All right, let's get into 22 00:01:05,080 --> 00:01:10,880 today's episode. You're now listening to Design 23 00:01:10,880 --> 00:01:15,000 Curious, a place where you, creative one, are here to learn 24 00:01:15,000 --> 00:01:18,040 about what it really is like to be an interior designer. 25 00:01:18,520 --> 00:01:21,320 And I'm your host and mentor, Rebecca Ward. 26 00:01:21,960 --> 00:01:26,000 If you're worried about how to succeed in a creative career, if 27 00:01:26,000 --> 00:01:28,880 you're ready to learn your next steps to become an interior 28 00:01:28,880 --> 00:01:33,240 designer, and if you want the satisfaction of doing something 29 00:01:33,240 --> 00:01:36,640 you love every day, you are in the right place. 30 00:01:37,080 --> 00:01:41,080 Grab a coffee, a notebook, and let's dig into today's episode. 31 00:01:41,560 --> 00:01:46,080 Hello and welcome to episode 170 of Design Curious Podcast. 32 00:01:46,400 --> 00:01:48,440 I'm your host and mentor, Rebecca Ward. 33 00:01:49,240 --> 00:01:52,720 Today on the podcast, my guest pretty much doesn't need any 34 00:01:52,720 --> 00:01:55,880 introduction. If you've been listening to any 35 00:01:55,880 --> 00:01:59,840 design podcasts, you've probably come across hers before, but I 36 00:01:59,840 --> 00:02:01,600 will tell you a little bit about her. 37 00:02:02,200 --> 00:02:07,120 Today's guest is Luanne Negara. She is a business strategist, 38 00:02:07,200 --> 00:02:10,639 speaker and host of two podcasts, Window Treatments for 39 00:02:10,639 --> 00:02:15,200 Profit and A Well Designed Business, the leading podcast 40 00:02:15,240 --> 00:02:19,040 for design professionals with nearly 9,000,000 downloads. 41 00:02:19,520 --> 00:02:23,520 A seasoned entrepreneur with 40 plus years in the industry and 42 00:02:23,520 --> 00:02:26,640 three successful businesses, Luanne helps creative 43 00:02:26,640 --> 00:02:29,680 entrepreneurs lead with confidence, build systems that 44 00:02:29,680 --> 00:02:33,040 Dr. profitability and finally get out of their own way. 45 00:02:33,640 --> 00:02:37,360 Through Luanne University, she offers practical, high impact 46 00:02:37,360 --> 00:02:41,480 courses taught by industry pros and for business owners ready 47 00:02:41,520 --> 00:02:44,600 for deep transformation, her Chairman of the Board, 48 00:02:44,640 --> 00:02:48,720 one-on-one Coaching provides the clarity and accountability 49 00:02:48,720 --> 00:02:51,200 needed to lead at the highest level. 50 00:02:51,680 --> 00:02:54,080 If you're not listening to her podcast already, you probably 51 00:02:54,080 --> 00:02:57,480 want to. There's over 1000 episodes of 52 00:02:57,480 --> 00:03:00,760 great information, great interviews, so it's definitely a 53 00:03:00,760 --> 00:03:03,880 staple in the design podcast industry. 54 00:03:04,160 --> 00:03:06,560 You're going to love our conversation with Luann. 55 00:03:06,560 --> 00:03:09,320 She has so much to share. I really learned some new things 56 00:03:09,320 --> 00:03:11,960 about her and you might as well too. 57 00:03:11,960 --> 00:03:14,600 So let's get into our conversation with Luann. 58 00:03:15,240 --> 00:03:17,480 And welcome to Design Curious Podcast. 59 00:03:17,480 --> 00:03:20,120 It's so great to have you here today, Rebecca. 60 00:03:20,120 --> 00:03:22,920 I'm so excited to be here. I really, really am looking 61 00:03:22,920 --> 00:03:26,240 forward to today all weekend. Yeah, it's such an honor. 62 00:03:26,240 --> 00:03:29,440 I was so pleased to come on your podcast and that you would 63 00:03:29,440 --> 00:03:31,920 return the favor and come on to design curious. 64 00:03:32,440 --> 00:03:35,480 So let's just dive in because I am curious. 65 00:03:35,960 --> 00:03:39,600 You share a lot on your podcast about your path and everything, 66 00:03:39,600 --> 00:03:42,320 but I'd love to hear it succinctly here, kind of like 67 00:03:42,320 --> 00:03:45,520 how you started your business and how you got into the. 68 00:03:45,520 --> 00:03:47,640 Interiors industry in the first place. 69 00:03:48,200 --> 00:03:51,600 OK, So I have to clarify. Do you mean the first time I got 70 00:03:51,600 --> 00:03:54,800 into the interiors industry in 1982, my friend? 71 00:03:54,800 --> 00:03:58,400 Or do you mean in 2016 when I came out with the podcast? 72 00:03:58,920 --> 00:04:03,000 82 is why all. Right, so I'm actually going to 73 00:04:03,000 --> 00:04:06,840 give you a very short version. You will ask me if anything in 74 00:04:06,840 --> 00:04:10,120 there you feel like you want to know more details on because you 75 00:04:10,120 --> 00:04:12,280 know, it's a long time ago and I could, you know, I could talk 76 00:04:12,280 --> 00:04:15,400 for an hour on just that. The bottom line nutshell of it 77 00:04:15,400 --> 00:04:21,120 is, is that my husband's very best friend, his brother and two 78 00:04:21,120 --> 00:04:24,720 of their other friends, those 4 gentlemen, not my husband, those 79 00:04:24,720 --> 00:04:28,640 4 gentlemen started a franchise in Florida called Window Works 80 00:04:28,640 --> 00:04:31,000 and it was custom window treatments and that was like in 81 00:04:31,000 --> 00:04:37,280 197879 and then in 82 that was in Florida and they all lived in 82 00:04:37,280 --> 00:04:41,160 Florida. My husband in December of 81 83 00:04:41,400 --> 00:04:44,640 decided that he would open up one in New Jersey. 84 00:04:44,920 --> 00:04:49,680 And in that summer I started working in that franchise 85 00:04:49,920 --> 00:04:54,200 because I was between jobs and I had been dating him about six 86 00:04:54,200 --> 00:04:57,600 months. And I was hissy about the job I 87 00:04:57,600 --> 00:05:00,120 was in. And I said, this is the first 88 00:05:00,120 --> 00:05:02,600 time I've ever had a job that wasn't in sales. 89 00:05:02,640 --> 00:05:05,800 And this is a big mistake. I need to be in sales. 90 00:05:05,800 --> 00:05:08,880 This is driving me crazy. I am bored out of my mind. 91 00:05:09,080 --> 00:05:12,040 And he said, well, I started this little company if you want 92 00:05:12,040 --> 00:05:14,480 to come work for me until you find something else. 93 00:05:14,480 --> 00:05:17,680 And we're both like, huh, is that really a good idea? 94 00:05:17,960 --> 00:05:20,000 Like we. Don't know working together. 95 00:05:21,080 --> 00:05:24,440 So went to work for him and that's all she wrote. 96 00:05:24,440 --> 00:05:27,280 Sister, that's it. I mean, there's a whole lot in 97 00:05:27,280 --> 00:05:28,000 there, but. Yeah. 98 00:05:28,160 --> 00:05:30,600 So you didn't know anything about window covering Zoney's 99 00:05:30,640 --> 00:05:32,400 joint? No, no. 100 00:05:32,440 --> 00:05:36,240 And, and of course, and I came from, you know, like many of us 101 00:05:36,240 --> 00:05:39,120 do, like many of us, we're not our target client, right? 102 00:05:39,120 --> 00:05:41,320 So many of the interior designers, Rebecca, that you and 103 00:05:41,320 --> 00:05:45,680 I work with, it's like right, $550,000 furniture budget. 104 00:05:45,680 --> 00:05:47,840 And by the way, that would never be me, right? 105 00:05:47,840 --> 00:05:51,080 So I grew up in a house where we got our curtains out of a 106 00:05:51,080 --> 00:05:53,680 package. Here's the 26 inch length. 107 00:05:53,680 --> 00:05:55,760 Here's the 42 inch length. You know what I'm saying? 108 00:05:56,040 --> 00:05:57,960 Yeah. And there was nothing custom 109 00:05:57,960 --> 00:06:01,480 about anything that my mom and dad ever had in their home. 110 00:06:01,800 --> 00:06:04,640 And so the word custom window treatment wasn't even in my 111 00:06:04,640 --> 00:06:07,320 vocabulary. And then here I was a month 112 00:06:07,320 --> 00:06:10,520 later selling them. And but The thing is, you know, 113 00:06:10,520 --> 00:06:14,160 I could sell water to a fish. So it was sort of like whatever, 114 00:06:14,200 --> 00:06:16,000 you know, we're done with this. OK. 115 00:06:16,080 --> 00:06:18,000 So your your background is sales. 116 00:06:18,000 --> 00:06:19,880 So how did you get started there? 117 00:06:20,560 --> 00:06:22,840 Well, that's easy. My aunt started giving me books 118 00:06:22,840 --> 00:06:27,200 when I was 10 years old. Yeah, one of the very first 119 00:06:27,200 --> 00:06:31,360 books I read on sales, quote UN quote sales was The Greatest 120 00:06:31,360 --> 00:06:33,440 Salesman in the World by Odd Mandino. 121 00:06:33,880 --> 00:06:37,280 And it's actually a parable. It's a parable type book. 122 00:06:37,440 --> 00:06:43,600 It walks through basically in a parable style, the 10 principles 123 00:06:44,080 --> 00:06:48,160 of living an abundant life. And it's woven within the 124 00:06:48,160 --> 00:06:52,440 context of a salesman because it's the salesman that walks 125 00:06:52,440 --> 00:06:55,080 through the desert telling everybody this parable. 126 00:06:55,280 --> 00:06:59,400 But the thing about it is, is that the 10 scrolls are, are a 127 00:06:59,400 --> 00:07:01,440 way of life and a way of looking at life. 128 00:07:01,960 --> 00:07:06,240 And it's, I will persist till I succeed Today I will multiply my 129 00:07:06,240 --> 00:07:08,920 value by tenfold. I, you know, it's 10 different 130 00:07:08,920 --> 00:07:11,080 scrolls, right? If I sat and let my brain be 131 00:07:11,080 --> 00:07:12,800 quiet and probably could come up with all 10 of them. 132 00:07:13,320 --> 00:07:19,880 But the idea is that that story, along with my mom and my aunt, 133 00:07:20,160 --> 00:07:23,720 who my aunt was a Silva mind control method instructor. 134 00:07:23,760 --> 00:07:26,080 Now they call it the Silva method because mind control 135 00:07:26,080 --> 00:07:28,640 seems a little wackadoodle. But in the 70s it seemed 136 00:07:28,640 --> 00:07:32,000 perfectly normal. And so they were teaching us 137 00:07:32,000 --> 00:07:33,960 kids the Silva mind control method. 138 00:07:33,960 --> 00:07:37,280 My aunt hands probably all of us the book, but I'm the one who's 139 00:07:37,280 --> 00:07:40,920 like, oh, I like this book. And from there I am off to the 140 00:07:40,920 --> 00:07:45,280 races with Wayne Dyer and Leo Buscaggia and Dale Carnegie and 141 00:07:45,280 --> 00:07:47,760 Zig Ziglar. And I am just off to the races. 142 00:07:48,040 --> 00:07:52,480 And I am constantly reading these books in the background of 143 00:07:52,480 --> 00:07:56,920 my entire childhood. And I am just getting ingrained 144 00:07:57,000 --> 00:08:00,200 in the thought that you are the master of your destiny. 145 00:08:00,200 --> 00:08:01,800 You can create whatever you need. 146 00:08:01,800 --> 00:08:04,040 And if what you need is to be a good salesperson, you have 147 00:08:04,040 --> 00:08:07,320 everything you need to do that. And also the thing that I love 148 00:08:07,320 --> 00:08:12,240 about this whole upbringing for me with sales is that it wasn't 149 00:08:12,240 --> 00:08:17,040 until I was much older, in my mid and late teens, that I 150 00:08:17,040 --> 00:08:22,200 started to hear the bias of the swarmy salesperson, the used car 151 00:08:22,200 --> 00:08:26,920 salesperson. Because to me, my whole premise 152 00:08:27,080 --> 00:08:31,560 for being a salesperson was you have great news that you want 153 00:08:31,560 --> 00:08:35,120 someone else to know too. And that great news could be 154 00:08:35,120 --> 00:08:37,039 this really wonderful book that you're enjoying. 155 00:08:37,039 --> 00:08:40,400 That great news could be this product of the service that will 156 00:08:40,400 --> 00:08:42,840 make their life for their business, or there's something 157 00:08:42,840 --> 00:08:46,520 better. But it comes from that I've got 158 00:08:46,520 --> 00:08:49,520 great news and I want you to have it too. 159 00:08:49,880 --> 00:08:53,800 And so when you start to actually turn that in your mind 160 00:08:53,800 --> 00:08:57,640 and you actually, that's a core belief you have now you can sell 161 00:08:57,640 --> 00:08:59,840 water to a fish because fish, you don't want to run out of 162 00:08:59,840 --> 00:09:01,240 water. Dude, what are you doing? 163 00:09:01,600 --> 00:09:03,440 You need water. I got water. 164 00:09:05,240 --> 00:09:07,920 So, so that's how you know, it becomes. 165 00:09:07,920 --> 00:09:10,720 And it's not until I'm much later that I realized that there 166 00:09:10,720 --> 00:09:13,000 is a negative connotation about salespeople. 167 00:09:13,000 --> 00:09:15,440 Door to door salesperson, the Fuller Brush guy, you know, the 168 00:09:15,440 --> 00:09:19,240 encyclopedia guy, you know, and but I was already too happily 169 00:09:19,240 --> 00:09:23,520 involved in my positive persona about being the world's greatest 170 00:09:23,520 --> 00:09:26,200 salesperson at that point. Yeah. 171 00:09:26,200 --> 00:09:30,960 So continue on that line. Just to jump to how you coach 172 00:09:31,040 --> 00:09:34,520 designers today, I would think the majority come to it thinking 173 00:09:34,520 --> 00:09:38,280 that sales is the used car salesman approach, right? 174 00:09:38,280 --> 00:09:40,960 Like everyone runs kicking and screaming from being a 175 00:09:40,960 --> 00:09:46,080 salesperson when in fact it's such a huge part of our career. 176 00:09:46,120 --> 00:09:48,640 Like we are selling all the time you take. 177 00:09:48,640 --> 00:09:50,560 Money from somebody, You're selling something. 178 00:09:50,720 --> 00:09:53,320 I'm sorry. Yeah, yeah, literally. 179 00:09:53,680 --> 00:09:55,440 Yeah. And I would tell you, Rebecca, 180 00:09:55,440 --> 00:10:00,560 when I first started my podcast in 2016, whenever the word sales 181 00:10:00,560 --> 00:10:04,120 or selling would come up with the guest, I did get that knee 182 00:10:04,120 --> 00:10:07,760 jerk reaction or the, the feeling of it like, oh, you 183 00:10:07,760 --> 00:10:09,640 know, no, I, you know, I'm a designer. 184 00:10:09,640 --> 00:10:12,720 I'm not a salesperson. I'm like, OK, sweetie, I'm not 185 00:10:12,720 --> 00:10:14,640 going to burst your bubble. I'm not your mom. 186 00:10:14,640 --> 00:10:16,640 I'm we're only having an hour conversation. 187 00:10:16,960 --> 00:10:20,320 But over the years I did get more and more vocal about it and 188 00:10:20,320 --> 00:10:22,040 more and more like, what are you doing? 189 00:10:22,280 --> 00:10:24,640 Why are you framing this as a negative? 190 00:10:24,960 --> 00:10:27,880 If you take a dollar bill from somebody, you are selling 191 00:10:27,880 --> 00:10:29,880 something, period, end of discussion. 192 00:10:30,040 --> 00:10:34,360 And if you flip the switch to the way I believe sales is, I've 193 00:10:34,360 --> 00:10:35,920 got the best design in the world for you. 194 00:10:35,920 --> 00:10:38,560 I'm the best person. I'm the best solution for you. 195 00:10:38,560 --> 00:10:41,120 I'm going to be the steward of your money, of your hopes and 196 00:10:41,120 --> 00:10:42,640 dreams for your home, your space. 197 00:10:42,880 --> 00:10:46,560 Then where's the bad part? So I would tell you that over 198 00:10:46,560 --> 00:10:51,200 the last three to four years, now all of a sudden I hear a lot 199 00:10:51,200 --> 00:10:53,920 more, well, of course I'm a salesperson and a designer too. 200 00:10:53,920 --> 00:10:58,880 And I'm like, yay, you all. Yeah, I'm not, I'm not claiming, 201 00:10:58,880 --> 00:11:01,480 I'm not claiming responsibility for it in any shape or form. 202 00:11:01,720 --> 00:11:06,560 I'm just noticing the trend is much more likely that someone 203 00:11:06,560 --> 00:11:11,360 will be OK with that connotation now than they were 10 years ago. 204 00:11:11,360 --> 00:11:14,520 10 years ago, 7 out of 10 designers be like, excuse me, 205 00:11:14,720 --> 00:11:18,360 I'm not a salesperson. And now I think it's 3 out of 10 206 00:11:18,360 --> 00:11:20,920 that would say, excuse me, I'm not a salesperson. 207 00:11:21,280 --> 00:11:22,560 I would agree with that. Yeah. 208 00:11:22,760 --> 00:11:26,720 So going back to your timeline, you applied your sales technique 209 00:11:26,720 --> 00:11:29,960 to window works then when you started working with your 210 00:11:29,960 --> 00:11:35,520 husband and so it lost and I'm sure over time until what? 211 00:11:35,640 --> 00:11:37,160 Tell me how the progression went. 212 00:11:37,600 --> 00:11:40,920 So we do that we turn it turns out that I'm good at it right 213 00:11:40,920 --> 00:11:43,640 like so here's a couple of things that happen number one I 214 00:11:43,640 --> 00:11:49,160 do bring now I'm only 20 years old when I start this 21 years 215 00:11:49,160 --> 00:11:51,840 old when I'm about two months before my 21st birthday when I 216 00:11:51,840 --> 00:11:55,160 start working at window works. So when we say all my sales 217 00:11:55,160 --> 00:11:58,880 experience, it's 10 years to 11 years of reading about it at 218 00:11:58,880 --> 00:12:01,360 that point. But every job I ever had, and I 219 00:12:01,360 --> 00:12:05,160 had a lot of jobs by the time I was 21 years old, I always was 220 00:12:05,160 --> 00:12:07,640 engaging the sales principles just instinctively. 221 00:12:07,640 --> 00:12:10,960 It's like when you are reading at that level that many times, 222 00:12:10,960 --> 00:12:13,560 that many things, it does just become part of the fabric of 223 00:12:13,560 --> 00:12:17,160 your DNA, right? And so you add to that. 224 00:12:17,160 --> 00:12:19,920 What I had no idea was that I was creative. 225 00:12:20,280 --> 00:12:23,640 I didn't have the slightest idea I was creative because when I 226 00:12:23,640 --> 00:12:26,400 went to the, I wouldn't even say, oh, back in the day when I 227 00:12:26,400 --> 00:12:30,440 went to school, but the school I went to, the high school that I 228 00:12:30,440 --> 00:12:35,560 went to, they had art class, but art class was specifically 229 00:12:35,560 --> 00:12:39,480 drawing and painting. Like it wasn't creative 230 00:12:39,480 --> 00:12:41,600 expression in whichever way that makes sense for you. 231 00:12:42,000 --> 00:12:43,680 It wasn't, well, there's photography and there's 232 00:12:43,680 --> 00:12:45,400 sculpture and there's this and that and the other thing. 233 00:12:45,400 --> 00:12:48,600 It was drawing and painting. And so to me, I was like, well, 234 00:12:48,600 --> 00:12:50,200 I can't draw. And I'm like, I'm not an artist, 235 00:12:50,400 --> 00:12:56,200 I'm not a creative. And so I had no idea that I had 236 00:12:56,280 --> 00:13:01,040 innate skill sets as a creative until I'm working in window 237 00:13:01,040 --> 00:13:04,040 works. And now all of a sudden I'm able 238 00:13:04,040 --> 00:13:08,360 to really just literally understand proportion and scale. 239 00:13:08,560 --> 00:13:11,160 So I'm recommending balances and different things. 240 00:13:11,160 --> 00:13:12,800 And people are saying, oh, it should be this long. 241 00:13:12,800 --> 00:13:15,160 And I'm like, that's going to be too big, That's going to be too 242 00:13:15,160 --> 00:13:17,120 deep, that's going to be too heavy or that's going to be too 243 00:13:17,120 --> 00:13:19,160 skimpy. And the other thing that I found 244 00:13:19,160 --> 00:13:21,920 right out the beginning was that I could hold color in my head, 245 00:13:22,120 --> 00:13:24,960 which I had no idea. So I'd be at somebody's house 246 00:13:25,000 --> 00:13:27,440 and I'd be looking at like, OK, this is because because there 247 00:13:27,440 --> 00:13:29,560 was no cell phones to take pictures. 248 00:13:29,560 --> 00:13:32,960 Then it's like you took a picture and you sent the film to 249 00:13:32,960 --> 00:13:35,320 the photo mat, which I also worked at at one time in my 250 00:13:35,320 --> 00:13:37,320 life. And then you waited two weeks 251 00:13:37,320 --> 00:13:39,480 for it to come back. So you weren't like, I'll pick 252 00:13:39,480 --> 00:13:41,720 your fabrics when I have the picture of your wall and your 253 00:13:41,720 --> 00:13:43,560 fabric when I get back. You know what I mean? 254 00:13:43,560 --> 00:13:46,800 So but what I could do was, and I didn't even know why I was 255 00:13:46,800 --> 00:13:48,520 doing it. I'd be like, OK, I'll come back 256 00:13:48,520 --> 00:13:50,080 in a couple days. I'll bring a bunch of fabrics. 257 00:13:50,080 --> 00:13:53,240 And over and over again, I started to hear, my God, that's 258 00:13:53,240 --> 00:13:55,160 the exact color. How did you know that was the 259 00:13:55,160 --> 00:13:57,400 exact same shade of blue? And then I would have people 260 00:13:57,400 --> 00:14:01,040 saying, my God, there's blue, there's green Blues, Gray Blues, 261 00:14:01,040 --> 00:14:03,200 purple, Blues, red Blues. How did you? 262 00:14:03,640 --> 00:14:05,760 And I'm just like, I don't know, this was hard. 263 00:14:05,800 --> 00:14:09,520 I just, that was the color I saw in your house and I went back to 264 00:14:09,520 --> 00:14:12,160 my showroom and got those colors of fabrics right. 265 00:14:12,520 --> 00:14:18,280 And so it just happened that I discovered that I actually had a 266 00:14:18,280 --> 00:14:21,120 lot of creative talent which had no idea was there. 267 00:14:21,360 --> 00:14:24,720 And now they're just seamlessly, without even consciously 268 00:14:24,720 --> 00:14:28,600 thinking about it, they're blending together and the one in 269 00:14:28,640 --> 00:14:32,480 a talent is mixing with the learned talent of selling. 270 00:14:32,640 --> 00:14:35,000 And that's when just get out of the way. 271 00:14:35,000 --> 00:14:36,400 We're just going to blow doors off now. 272 00:14:37,040 --> 00:14:38,800 Nice. Oh, I love that. 273 00:14:38,800 --> 00:14:41,520 Hitting creative. And you never knew until you 274 00:14:41,560 --> 00:14:44,520 started selling window coverings. 275 00:14:44,520 --> 00:14:46,600 Yeah, that's it. Amazing. 276 00:14:46,600 --> 00:14:51,080 OK, I love that. So you had a gift in selling 277 00:14:51,200 --> 00:14:55,000 window coverings and then So what made you start your podcast 278 00:14:55,000 --> 00:14:58,080 in 2016? So what happens is now we go 279 00:14:58,080 --> 00:15:04,720 from 82 to say 2013, 2012, whatever it is, and I'm seeing 280 00:15:04,720 --> 00:15:07,000 the end of the road. I'm like, I've been selling this 281 00:15:07,000 --> 00:15:11,400 stuff for 100 years. I am getting bored of it, quite 282 00:15:11,400 --> 00:15:16,320 frankly. I am also very cognizant of 283 00:15:16,680 --> 00:15:18,040 that. Not only am I getting bored of 284 00:15:18,040 --> 00:15:20,880 it, but I'm getting testy. I'm getting a little like, you 285 00:15:20,880 --> 00:15:22,960 can't be saying that to your customers, Luann. 286 00:15:23,960 --> 00:15:26,520 You can't be calling them out for saying stupid stuff. 287 00:15:27,360 --> 00:15:29,480 You're supposed to have patience on that, you know? 288 00:15:30,080 --> 00:15:33,080 And my husband who's 15 years older than me, so we were the 2 289 00:15:33,080 --> 00:15:36,520 salespeople at that point for the business and he's 15 years 290 00:15:36,520 --> 00:15:39,160 older than me. And he's also noticing that 291 00:15:39,400 --> 00:15:46,000 where he was say 65 and I'm say 50 at this point, he's noticing 292 00:15:46,000 --> 00:15:47,880 a disconnect. He's like, jeez, I used to walk 293 00:15:47,880 --> 00:15:51,120 into a young couple, which we used to, you know, used to think 294 00:15:51,120 --> 00:15:53,840 they were old and now we knew they were 3540, they were young. 295 00:15:54,080 --> 00:15:56,080 And he's like, and I used to be able to relate to them. 296 00:15:56,480 --> 00:15:59,720 And he said, but now I'm getting that little look like, wait, is 297 00:15:59,720 --> 00:16:03,240 this old guy actually going to be the one to tell me what the 298 00:16:03,240 --> 00:16:05,320 best awning is or the best window treatment is? 299 00:16:05,520 --> 00:16:09,040 And he said, and it's not really, really a problem, but 300 00:16:09,040 --> 00:16:13,560 I'm feeling it here and there. So he's feeling a disconnect in 301 00:16:13,560 --> 00:16:17,480 connecting with the demographic that we sell to, which is 35 to 302 00:16:17,480 --> 00:16:20,480 50. And I'm just frankly, like, I'm 303 00:16:20,480 --> 00:16:22,920 seeing, I'm seeing the wall. And I don't know if the wall is 304 00:16:22,920 --> 00:16:26,560 in two years or five years, but I know it's not 15 and I'm 50. 305 00:16:26,840 --> 00:16:29,400 And I also know I'm not even going to retire at 65. 306 00:16:29,400 --> 00:16:31,800 Who we kidding? And I'm just like, whoa, we need 307 00:16:31,800 --> 00:16:34,720 Plan B. And so I start out on this 308 00:16:34,720 --> 00:16:40,640 journey to figure out what can we do to create income because 309 00:16:40,640 --> 00:16:42,640 there's no silver spoon. It's not like, hey, we'll just 310 00:16:42,640 --> 00:16:44,320 close up shop and we'll just live a great life. 311 00:16:44,320 --> 00:16:46,320 It's like, no, no, sweetie, we need to make some dollars. 312 00:16:46,760 --> 00:16:52,200 And so I started to explore what could we do that didn't require 313 00:16:52,280 --> 00:16:56,000 us to knock on a door and say hi, you know, like actually be 314 00:16:56,000 --> 00:16:57,640 there. This is before COVID, way 315 00:16:57,640 --> 00:16:59,920 before. But just like, how could we earn 316 00:16:59,920 --> 00:17:04,599 a living that isn't dependent on us showing up to somebody's 317 00:17:04,599 --> 00:17:07,040 house? And what would that look like? 318 00:17:07,040 --> 00:17:12,200 And so I start at like say 50 years old to start 2012, 319 00:17:12,200 --> 00:17:16,000 whatever it is, start like it's just on the back burner. 320 00:17:16,440 --> 00:17:18,280 I'm like, what about that over there? 321 00:17:18,280 --> 00:17:21,520 So I'm actively everyday showing up, doing what I'm doing. 322 00:17:21,760 --> 00:17:23,800 But it's like, what's over there? 323 00:17:24,040 --> 00:17:27,480 And I have a couple of ideas and I settle on a path and I'm like, 324 00:17:27,960 --> 00:17:29,880 it's not really, I don't have a juice for it or that's not 325 00:17:29,880 --> 00:17:33,160 really going to work out and nothing really gels. 326 00:17:33,160 --> 00:17:38,360 And then 2015, I ended up being on somebody's podcast just as a 327 00:17:38,360 --> 00:17:41,920 fluke. And I've said this many times on 328 00:17:42,000 --> 00:17:45,720 multiple different podcasts. I just like hung up that call 329 00:17:46,000 --> 00:17:49,920 and I was like, Oh yes. And I went, sweet Jesus, I need 330 00:17:49,920 --> 00:17:52,000 one of those. That is it. 331 00:17:52,280 --> 00:17:54,400 That is me. And I had been listening to 332 00:17:54,400 --> 00:17:57,640 podcasts at that point since like 2006, 2007. 333 00:17:57,880 --> 00:18:02,280 And it never occurred to me to have a podcast until I hung up 334 00:18:02,280 --> 00:18:04,240 that call when I was being interviewed. 335 00:18:04,240 --> 00:18:07,320 And I was just like, no, no, you have just been touched on the 336 00:18:07,320 --> 00:18:08,920 head. That is what you need to do. 337 00:18:09,280 --> 00:18:12,480 And so then I went about figuring out what it would be 338 00:18:12,480 --> 00:18:13,920 because it was, it was happening. 339 00:18:14,160 --> 00:18:17,520 It was just, was I talking about like making chicken soup or what 340 00:18:17,520 --> 00:18:19,840 was I going to talk about? Because I was going to talk 341 00:18:19,840 --> 00:18:20,680 about something. Yeah. 342 00:18:21,280 --> 00:18:22,880 Yeah. And so that was in the summer of 343 00:18:22,880 --> 00:18:26,520 2015. And then I collated the idea, 344 00:18:26,520 --> 00:18:28,840 formulated it, made the business plan for it, pitched it to my 345 00:18:28,840 --> 00:18:31,440 husband in October, and then we launched it in February. 346 00:18:32,080 --> 00:18:33,480 Great. Wow. 347 00:18:33,960 --> 00:18:36,680 So you settled on well designed business. 348 00:18:36,800 --> 00:18:42,960 Had you done any coaching or mentoring of other designers or 349 00:18:43,440 --> 00:18:45,400 you know anyone before you started? 350 00:18:46,120 --> 00:18:51,200 So not formally paid for. OK, so when Window Works was a 351 00:18:51,200 --> 00:18:55,360 franchise, I was the number one salesperson in the entire system 352 00:18:55,600 --> 00:18:57,000 every year that it was a franchise. 353 00:18:57,000 --> 00:19:00,560 From the year I started selling for VIN, I went to #1 and it 354 00:19:00,560 --> 00:19:04,080 never, I never lost it out of 120 some stores. 355 00:19:04,560 --> 00:19:07,960 And so when we would have our annual conference, then it would 356 00:19:07,960 --> 00:19:09,840 be like, how do you listen? What do you do that and what you 357 00:19:09,840 --> 00:19:13,000 been about, right. So in an informal way, in 358 00:19:13,000 --> 00:19:16,000 Windowworks I always worked with interior designers. 359 00:19:16,160 --> 00:19:21,240 So I joined the business in 82. By 8384, I start the designer 360 00:19:21,240 --> 00:19:23,520 program at Windowworks. I say to Vinny, you know what, 361 00:19:23,800 --> 00:19:26,520 why do I want to find 10 new people every single week? 362 00:19:26,520 --> 00:19:30,040 Why don't I find one new designer and get to 10 new jobs 363 00:19:30,040 --> 00:19:31,920 every single month from that same designer? 364 00:19:32,120 --> 00:19:33,200 And he was like, what do you mean? 365 00:19:33,200 --> 00:19:34,960 And I told him he's like, great idea. 366 00:19:35,200 --> 00:19:37,400 Now what I'm like now I go knocking on doors. 367 00:19:37,400 --> 00:19:40,200 And that's what I did. It was Yellow Pages then and I 368 00:19:40,200 --> 00:19:42,880 opened the Yellow Pages and started making calls and just 369 00:19:43,080 --> 00:19:46,200 dialing for an appointment. And it was slow going. 370 00:19:46,400 --> 00:19:50,240 But over the years now Window works has worked with probably 371 00:19:50,240 --> 00:19:52,480 more than 300 interior designers over the years. 372 00:19:52,480 --> 00:19:55,720 And any given time, I could walk over next door, probably 35 373 00:19:55,720 --> 00:19:59,240 active orders from interior designers and built that to over 374 00:19:59,320 --> 00:20:02,360 a million and a half million and three quarters revenue a year 375 00:20:02,360 --> 00:20:07,600 just for interior designers. And so in that capacity, I often 376 00:20:07,600 --> 00:20:12,440 was quote UN quote coaching designers because like Sandra 377 00:20:12,440 --> 00:20:14,920 Funk, I appreciate her so much because she always says she 378 00:20:14,920 --> 00:20:16,880 always calls me as one of her mentors. 379 00:20:17,280 --> 00:20:19,400 Well, we never had a formal coaching thing. 380 00:20:20,200 --> 00:20:22,600 But it was always, hey, Lou, before we leave, can I pick your 381 00:20:22,600 --> 00:20:24,440 brain on this? Hey, Lou, what do you think 382 00:20:24,440 --> 00:20:26,440 about that? This client said this and and 383 00:20:26,440 --> 00:20:28,120 not that I never said the same thing to her. 384 00:20:28,120 --> 00:20:29,480 What do you think about this? Right. 385 00:20:29,680 --> 00:20:33,680 But it was more mostly the other way because I'm not much older 386 00:20:33,680 --> 00:20:37,080 and it was about that topic. And so I found myself over the 387 00:20:37,080 --> 00:20:42,960 years consistently when asked, sharing with designers the 388 00:20:42,960 --> 00:20:46,920 business principles that we use to make window work successful. 389 00:20:47,040 --> 00:20:51,080 Then it just became, oh, this is the crowd that needs the help. 390 00:20:51,320 --> 00:20:53,600 You know what I mean? This is the crowd that doesn't 391 00:20:53,600 --> 00:20:56,920 have really that resource of somebody who understands what 392 00:20:56,920 --> 00:20:59,120 they do. And I believe there's a place 393 00:20:59,120 --> 00:21:01,840 for outside coaching. It's just some consider me an 394 00:21:01,840 --> 00:21:04,560 outside coach. I've heard people not use my 395 00:21:04,560 --> 00:21:07,880 name, but say, well, if you're not actually a designer, can you 396 00:21:07,880 --> 00:21:10,600 coach designers? I'm like, sweetie, have a seat. 397 00:21:11,400 --> 00:21:16,560 Don't challenge me on this. Go have a seat and go away 398 00:21:16,800 --> 00:21:20,480 because I've worked adjacent with them for 40 plus years. 399 00:21:20,680 --> 00:21:23,160 And so I see the process. I see what you do. 400 00:21:23,160 --> 00:21:25,720 I see when your client's face goes, are you kidding me? 401 00:21:25,720 --> 00:21:27,640 I see when your client's face smiles. 402 00:21:27,880 --> 00:21:29,560 I know what it is to be your vendor. 403 00:21:29,560 --> 00:21:32,160 Where I'm like, we were just talking in a team meeting this 404 00:21:32,160 --> 00:21:35,320 morning at Window Works. And then it said, look, I said, 405 00:21:35,320 --> 00:21:37,680 how is this happening? She's and, you know, one of the 406 00:21:37,680 --> 00:21:40,640 people in the team said, look, it's a new designer. 407 00:21:41,080 --> 00:21:43,360 She doesn't have a process yet. I'm like, OK, fine. 408 00:21:43,560 --> 00:21:46,160 And here it comes an e-mail at 9:00. 409 00:21:46,200 --> 00:21:48,880 Oh, can I have a quote on Sally's room, you know, Roman 410 00:21:48,880 --> 00:21:52,000 shade 945. Oh, and in Timmy's room, can I 411 00:21:52,000 --> 00:21:55,520 have a quote on wood blinds? And then 11:30 oh, can you know 412 00:21:55,520 --> 00:21:56,440 what? We're going to change the phone. 413 00:21:56,440 --> 00:22:00,040 Like whoa, whoa. How about you collect your 414 00:22:00,040 --> 00:22:02,880 thoughts, my love? Why don't you do this? 415 00:22:03,040 --> 00:22:06,040 Why don't you make a list all day long of the things you need 416 00:22:06,040 --> 00:22:08,640 from your trade? And then at the end of the day, 417 00:22:08,640 --> 00:22:11,920 when you have collected all of your brain farts all day long, 418 00:22:12,240 --> 00:22:15,840 do one e-mail. That's 16 emails asking me one 419 00:22:15,840 --> 00:22:20,840 question and everyone, right? And so I've been the vendor who 420 00:22:21,000 --> 00:22:28,120 I know that designer is not uncaring, that designer is not 421 00:22:28,120 --> 00:22:31,720 trying to make it hard for her window treatment person to 422 00:22:31,720 --> 00:22:35,400 retrieve the actual information that's necessary when she 423 00:22:35,400 --> 00:22:39,040 ultimately places an order because it's in 16,000 emails 424 00:22:39,040 --> 00:22:41,320 and different threads. She just doesn't know better. 425 00:22:41,720 --> 00:22:43,640 She just doesn't know a better path. 426 00:22:44,040 --> 00:22:48,440 So yeah, I not been a dentier designer, but yeah, I can help 427 00:22:48,440 --> 00:22:50,120 you run a cleaner business for sure. 428 00:22:50,680 --> 00:22:53,720 And yeah, I mean, you're creative and you did design like 429 00:22:53,720 --> 00:22:56,760 you designed window coverings, so it's sure it's all in there. 430 00:22:56,760 --> 00:22:59,280 It's like, you know, it's all the same thing. 431 00:22:59,280 --> 00:23:02,160 So definitely qualify. Oh my goodness. 432 00:23:02,160 --> 00:23:07,120 So you have over 1000 episodes now, so many, and you've 433 00:23:07,120 --> 00:23:09,960 interviewed and talked to so many designers. 434 00:23:10,520 --> 00:23:13,200 Are is there? Anything as you reflect back 435 00:23:13,240 --> 00:23:16,800 over the years that seems to be a through line or something 436 00:23:16,800 --> 00:23:21,160 that's constantly coming up as you talk to these designers that 437 00:23:21,360 --> 00:23:24,640 maybe you didn't realize about the industry getting into it or 438 00:23:24,920 --> 00:23:30,040 surprised you or is like an aha mindset shift that people need 439 00:23:30,040 --> 00:23:32,960 to make that there's. Actually a couple things as you 440 00:23:32,960 --> 00:23:36,240 just frame that question, a couple things went through my 441 00:23:36,240 --> 00:23:39,160 mind. The first thing that goes 442 00:23:39,160 --> 00:23:43,200 through my mind that it does surprise me and it continues to 443 00:23:43,200 --> 00:23:48,680 surprise me, is that most interior designers underestimate 444 00:23:48,800 --> 00:23:54,840 the insane value that they bring to a homeowner. 445 00:23:55,600 --> 00:23:58,360 Whatever level of client it is, residential, boutique, 446 00:23:58,360 --> 00:24:01,440 commercial, full commercial, hospitality, whatever it is, 447 00:24:01,840 --> 00:24:07,400 there is a tendency because they're so passionately attached 448 00:24:07,400 --> 00:24:12,040 to it and because they love doing it so much that there is a 449 00:24:12,040 --> 00:24:18,440 tendency to undervalue its need by the other person on the other 450 00:24:18,440 --> 00:24:21,480 side. And what happens from that is 451 00:24:21,600 --> 00:24:24,880 that is the route of not pricing properly. 452 00:24:25,320 --> 00:24:30,520 And then the other thing that comes to my mind is there is 453 00:24:30,520 --> 00:24:36,080 often a knee jerk reaction to the client is asking too much, 454 00:24:36,280 --> 00:24:40,040 not appreciating, not valuating. How could they do that if they 455 00:24:40,040 --> 00:24:43,080 really understood what I did? And when my thing is this, you 456 00:24:43,080 --> 00:24:45,280 know what? Take that thing and wrap it all 457 00:24:45,280 --> 00:24:47,760 the way around back to the first thing I just said. 458 00:24:48,280 --> 00:24:53,560 Because when you know your value, and I know this from all 459 00:24:53,560 --> 00:24:56,200 the designers I coach and my chairman of the board program, 460 00:24:56,600 --> 00:24:59,600 it's like I'm just like, you know, no is a complete answer. 461 00:25:00,000 --> 00:25:02,560 You can say no. You can say, yeah, it's not 462 00:25:02,560 --> 00:25:07,800 going to happen that way. And what happens is often when a 463 00:25:07,800 --> 00:25:11,280 consumer will push you back. So I've had this has happened 464 00:25:11,280 --> 00:25:13,440 1/2 a dozen times in one-on-one coaching. 465 00:25:13,920 --> 00:25:16,240 Oh, the client, I don't not sure what to do. 466 00:25:16,240 --> 00:25:18,720 Everything's been going so well. We've been getting along and the 467 00:25:18,720 --> 00:25:21,040 project's been going well and things are fine. 468 00:25:21,040 --> 00:25:24,560 And now they just ask me to blah, blah, blah. 469 00:25:25,160 --> 00:25:27,440 And the designer will say to me, and it's in my contract that 470 00:25:27,440 --> 00:25:29,920 they can't and do it. And, and this is what I thought 471 00:25:29,920 --> 00:25:31,360 I'd do. I thought I would copy and paste 472 00:25:31,360 --> 00:25:33,480 the section of my contract and I would just reply and I would 473 00:25:33,480 --> 00:25:36,040 say, hey, really can't do that if you remember the contract. 474 00:25:36,040 --> 00:25:38,360 And I'm like, how about you just say no? 475 00:25:38,840 --> 00:25:42,520 How about you just say, Hey, my business model doesn't allow for 476 00:25:42,520 --> 00:25:44,960 that. However, what I think what you 477 00:25:44,960 --> 00:25:48,400 want to achieve is XYZ and this is the way we could do it. 478 00:25:49,120 --> 00:25:53,720 And 99% of the time the client goes, oh, OK, that's fine. 479 00:25:54,120 --> 00:25:59,440 Like it's not an affront. It's most of the time it is 480 00:25:59,440 --> 00:26:03,880 simply just a question. Hey, I thought I would, you 481 00:26:03,880 --> 00:26:07,840 know, I, I was at Pottery Barn this weekend and I wanted to, 482 00:26:08,000 --> 00:26:11,440 yeah, that's not going to work because I've already laid out 483 00:26:11,440 --> 00:26:15,040 the entire room. And yeah, you can save $300 by 484 00:26:15,040 --> 00:26:17,760 getting that, you know, particular sofa at Pottery and 485 00:26:18,000 --> 00:26:20,280 but you're going to end up spending another 7 or $800.00 486 00:26:20,280 --> 00:26:23,160 for me to redesign around it. So I don't know what to tell 487 00:26:23,160 --> 00:26:24,840 you. That's kind of why I say from 488 00:26:24,840 --> 00:26:28,040 the beginning, don't go shopping because it's not going to end 489 00:26:28,040 --> 00:26:29,840 good. But like the idea is just say 490 00:26:29,840 --> 00:26:31,160 it. Just say it. 491 00:26:31,560 --> 00:26:34,080 I if I had a nickel for every one of my coaching clients that 492 00:26:34,080 --> 00:26:36,560 were like, and I'll be like, and this is a phone call, not an 493 00:26:36,560 --> 00:26:38,640 e-mail. And they call me back and they 494 00:26:38,640 --> 00:26:42,160 boxed me back and they're like, Oh my God, alls I did was say it 495 00:26:42,160 --> 00:26:44,040 doesn't work that day. And they were like, OK, no 496 00:26:44,040 --> 00:26:46,320 problem. But you send an e-mail, all 497 00:26:46,320 --> 00:26:49,240 posturing, well, I just want to refer back to my contract 498 00:26:49,240 --> 00:26:51,800 because in there, this and that and the other thing, you know, 499 00:26:51,800 --> 00:26:53,960 you literally just set the person off. 500 00:26:54,520 --> 00:26:56,920 And it's kind of like, you know, if you're at a restaurant and 501 00:26:56,920 --> 00:26:58,880 you're like, can I have more wine? 502 00:26:58,880 --> 00:27:01,600 And they're like, yeah, it's another 10 bucks or another 20 503 00:27:01,600 --> 00:27:04,520 bucks, OK. You know, OK, I didn't ask you 504 00:27:04,520 --> 00:27:06,760 to read the menu again. I know what I'm asking for. 505 00:27:06,760 --> 00:27:09,240 Just bring it. I'm willing to Bay, you know, 506 00:27:09,400 --> 00:27:14,240 and that's a mistake. And that also is rooted in not 507 00:27:14,240 --> 00:27:18,520 fully understanding what you're bringing to the table. 508 00:27:18,720 --> 00:27:25,400 Because if you think that 50% of the questions coming at you are 509 00:27:25,400 --> 00:27:29,320 coming at your quote, UN quote authority, then you're not 510 00:27:29,320 --> 00:27:32,760 sitting in your authority because you can ask 100 511 00:27:32,760 --> 00:27:34,560 questions of me that come at my authority. 512 00:27:34,560 --> 00:27:37,360 And I'm like, look, sweetie, I'm what you want from me. 513 00:27:37,480 --> 00:27:40,760 This is how I run my stuff. You want to be in this lane with 514 00:27:40,760 --> 00:27:41,480 me. Let's go. 515 00:27:41,480 --> 00:27:43,400 If you don't free country, move on. 516 00:27:43,640 --> 00:27:46,840 But I'm not debating whether I'm changing my process for you. 517 00:27:46,840 --> 00:27:50,000 I'm not debating if I should. I'm not losing sleep over 518 00:27:50,000 --> 00:27:52,920 because I decided not to. It's your prerogative. 519 00:27:52,920 --> 00:27:55,200 We're either going to run down this road together or you go a 520 00:27:55,200 --> 00:27:57,240 different road and you find a different business coach or a 521 00:27:57,240 --> 00:27:59,080 different podcast to listen to or a different person to get 522 00:27:59,080 --> 00:28:01,400 your window treatments. I know, listen, sleep over it 523 00:28:01,680 --> 00:28:05,720 because I'm OK with who I am and what I deliver to you. 524 00:28:06,240 --> 00:28:09,240 You know what I'm saying? We just had a situation because 525 00:28:09,240 --> 00:28:11,560 I teach sales at Exciting Windows, my other company that 526 00:28:11,560 --> 00:28:15,040 my husband and I own together. And that's a company where we 527 00:28:15,040 --> 00:28:17,840 mentor and we teach and we coach window treatment professionals 528 00:28:17,840 --> 00:28:22,120 to be profitable. And one of the women in that 529 00:28:22,120 --> 00:28:25,640 group, she voxard me and she said I went on the sales 530 00:28:25,640 --> 00:28:27,520 appointment, the whole thing was set up good. 531 00:28:27,520 --> 00:28:30,960 Everything was done right get there, do all the samples, pick 532 00:28:30,960 --> 00:28:34,000 all the things. And now at the end of it, the 533 00:28:34,000 --> 00:28:37,080 guy ready it's time to give a check it's time to go give me a 534 00:28:37,080 --> 00:28:38,920 credit card. We're ready to go and it's a 535 00:28:38,920 --> 00:28:42,560 $30,000 order And the guy said, oh, and what about my designer 536 00:28:42,560 --> 00:28:44,400 discount? And she's smart. 537 00:28:44,400 --> 00:28:46,440 This kid's smart. She had the you know, the, the 538 00:28:46,440 --> 00:28:48,880 presence of mind to say, well, where's your designer? 539 00:28:49,400 --> 00:28:51,120 And he's like, well, what's the difference? 540 00:28:51,120 --> 00:28:54,200 I mean, the designer's not here and she's like just give a 541 00:28:54,200 --> 00:28:57,440 designer discount when the designer is in here, right? 542 00:28:57,880 --> 00:29:01,800 And she pushed him back couple times and he just kept coming at 543 00:29:01,800 --> 00:29:06,160 her and she boxing me when she was leaving, it was an hour and 544 00:29:06,160 --> 00:29:08,880 a half ride home. And she's like, I finally I just 545 00:29:08,880 --> 00:29:11,120 walked out and I told him that I'm not going to do the order. 546 00:29:11,120 --> 00:29:12,960 And she said, and I'm not sure if I should have. 547 00:29:12,960 --> 00:29:14,240 And I was like, yes, you shut up. 548 00:29:14,240 --> 00:29:15,040 High five. Yeah. 549 00:29:15,080 --> 00:29:18,760 You you know, because it was just like, The thing is, you 550 00:29:18,760 --> 00:29:22,280 have to know, it's like, what's the Kenny Rogers song? 551 00:29:22,280 --> 00:29:24,000 Know when to hold him and know when to fold This. 552 00:29:24,600 --> 00:29:28,560 Yeah, the Facebook groups for designers would have you believe 553 00:29:28,560 --> 00:29:31,160 that you always should walk away. 554 00:29:31,480 --> 00:29:35,800 You should not always walk away, but when you should, you need 555 00:29:35,800 --> 00:29:37,720 to. And she did. 556 00:29:37,720 --> 00:29:40,800 And that was a Friday. And on Monday he called her and 557 00:29:40,800 --> 00:29:42,520 said, we'll place the order, right. 558 00:29:42,520 --> 00:29:45,560 And there's a lot of details in back story to the nuance and the 559 00:29:45,600 --> 00:29:48,680 wording that went into it. And that is the art of the sale. 560 00:29:48,760 --> 00:29:50,600 It's how to say it, what to say it. 561 00:29:50,600 --> 00:29:52,080 And she told me her conversation. 562 00:29:52,280 --> 00:29:54,160 I said, I'm 100% with everything you said. 563 00:29:54,360 --> 00:29:55,960 What exact thing would have come out of my mouth? 564 00:29:55,960 --> 00:29:57,600 There's one thing that you missed. 565 00:29:57,840 --> 00:29:59,720 Keep it in your back pocket for next time. 566 00:30:00,040 --> 00:30:01,800 And so it was fine. And she did. 567 00:30:01,800 --> 00:30:04,720 But he ended up coming back. And that was because she 568 00:30:04,720 --> 00:30:08,120 understood inherently. And what I said to her also was 569 00:30:08,360 --> 00:30:11,080 I said this is not an insignificant thing. 570 00:30:11,080 --> 00:30:14,480 This is a New York City apartment for a person that does 571 00:30:14,480 --> 00:30:16,960 not live in New York City. Same hour and a half for him to 572 00:30:16,960 --> 00:30:21,280 get there, I said. So do not underestimate that. 573 00:30:21,320 --> 00:30:23,160 He already found the window treatment company. 574 00:30:23,200 --> 00:30:25,800 He already liked you. He already had you out there. 575 00:30:25,800 --> 00:30:27,720 Wasted all his own time to go out. 576 00:30:28,040 --> 00:30:29,560 You guys did all the measurements. 577 00:30:29,720 --> 00:30:31,800 You and him did all of the selections. 578 00:30:32,040 --> 00:30:36,400 He doesn't really want to do this again to save $3000. 579 00:30:36,760 --> 00:30:40,320 I promise you Not where his primary residence is and where 580 00:30:40,320 --> 00:30:44,280 his Pieter is. This man is not as concerned 581 00:30:44,440 --> 00:30:47,560 with the $3000. And it's a lot of money, $3000 a 582 00:30:47,560 --> 00:30:50,880 lot of money to me he but it's like $300.00 for him. 583 00:30:51,000 --> 00:30:52,760 That's kind of a lot of money. But now I'm not going to lose 584 00:30:52,760 --> 00:30:55,320 sleep over it money. And so he just was pushing her 585 00:30:55,320 --> 00:30:59,280 back and that's where you got to know and that is the sales 586 00:30:59,280 --> 00:31:02,760 training. But it is also in running 587 00:31:02,760 --> 00:31:05,840 through that, like in that moment, I would run through, 588 00:31:06,080 --> 00:31:09,280 well, what is he giving up by getting to this point? 589 00:31:09,560 --> 00:31:14,440 And what does he gain versus lose by caving to my side or 590 00:31:14,440 --> 00:31:16,920 sticking to his guns? And I would have made the same 591 00:31:16,920 --> 00:31:20,400 educated guess that the $3000 that he was looking for was not 592 00:31:20,400 --> 00:31:23,400 worth doing this all over again and finding a new window 593 00:31:23,400 --> 00:31:27,960 treatment company. And so a designer needs to sit 594 00:31:27,960 --> 00:31:32,680 in that space. They picked me two weeks, two 595 00:31:32,680 --> 00:31:35,400 months, two years ago, whenever the engagement started. 596 00:31:35,960 --> 00:31:39,520 This person probably interviewed multiple designers, looked at 597 00:31:40,000 --> 00:31:44,440 even more websites, asked questions, looked at reviews, 598 00:31:44,680 --> 00:31:50,040 and ultimately selected you. You were important, you matter, 599 00:31:50,120 --> 00:31:54,880 you have value with respect. Just make sure that that is 600 00:31:54,960 --> 00:31:59,000 observed both you and them, because it's usually the 601 00:31:59,000 --> 00:32:01,120 designer that gives up their own respect. 602 00:32:01,200 --> 00:32:04,080 And now the consumer will just start to run Ramshaw. 603 00:32:04,200 --> 00:32:05,760 And it's not because they're bad people. 604 00:32:05,760 --> 00:32:07,000 It's no different than a 2 year old. 605 00:32:07,680 --> 00:32:10,880 If you tell a 2 year old it's time for bed 16 times, do you 606 00:32:10,880 --> 00:32:13,440 expect them to go to bed the first time you say it the next 607 00:32:13,440 --> 00:32:16,480 night? Like, no, you've actually taught 608 00:32:16,480 --> 00:32:19,800 the two year old mom's going to say it about 16 times before she 609 00:32:19,800 --> 00:32:21,400 really loses her. You know what? 610 00:32:21,400 --> 00:32:23,600 And then she means it. It's so different with 611 00:32:23,600 --> 00:32:27,240 consumers. You know, they're not bad. 612 00:32:27,440 --> 00:32:30,040 It's natural human behavior, you know what I'm saying? 613 00:32:30,760 --> 00:32:34,360 Yeah, a lot of designers don't stand in that confidence of that 614 00:32:34,480 --> 00:32:38,160 they do have value that the people did select them. 615 00:32:38,160 --> 00:32:41,480 Like they should have confidence already and have that and stand 616 00:32:41,480 --> 00:32:45,320 in that power and being able to say no because it's the best 617 00:32:45,320 --> 00:32:48,760 thing for the client, right. Years old again like you know 618 00:32:49,200 --> 00:32:50,600 that they shouldn't touch something to. 619 00:32:50,720 --> 00:32:55,960 Sleep, Tommy, you need this piece in here, Susie, this full 620 00:32:55,960 --> 00:32:58,520 design or you need this contractor, you need this 621 00:32:58,520 --> 00:33:01,440 electrician. This is why I this is my 622 00:33:01,440 --> 00:33:04,080 experience. I have done this before. 623 00:33:04,360 --> 00:33:07,640 You want to bring in somebody who's not proven, OK, but here's 624 00:33:07,640 --> 00:33:10,280 what we risk, and I'm not going to be part of that. 625 00:33:10,280 --> 00:33:12,240 Now. Don't call me when Harry the 626 00:33:12,280 --> 00:33:15,640 electrician doesn't know where something goes because I didn't 627 00:33:15,640 --> 00:33:17,720 hire Harry. Like whatever the situation is, 628 00:33:17,800 --> 00:33:19,080 you know? Yeah. 629 00:33:19,400 --> 00:33:21,840 So you're known for Italian designers to charge what they're 630 00:33:21,840 --> 00:33:24,080 worth, right? And so it's like, understand, I 631 00:33:24,080 --> 00:33:27,520 think there's correlation between the more you charge, the 632 00:33:27,520 --> 00:33:30,080 more confident you gain or confidence. 633 00:33:30,120 --> 00:33:32,800 You gain, the clients get too. And the better your clients get. 634 00:33:32,800 --> 00:33:37,280 So there's there's nothing to lose by increasing your pricing 635 00:33:37,280 --> 00:33:40,960 which is probably already under surprised anyway to build that 636 00:33:40,960 --> 00:33:43,120 confidence. You have to have the core 637 00:33:43,120 --> 00:33:46,320 foundation though, right? Like you have to have a 638 00:33:46,320 --> 00:33:49,760 documented process that you follow so that you can give her 639 00:33:49,880 --> 00:33:53,320 give the same results with the best expectation of being able 640 00:33:53,320 --> 00:33:55,080 to do that. Except for the fact that humans 641 00:33:55,080 --> 00:33:56,880 are involved and anything always go wrong. 642 00:33:57,160 --> 00:34:02,040 But when you have a documented process and you follow it, now 643 00:34:02,040 --> 00:34:04,720 you know you got the referral from Susie, you're going to do 644 00:34:04,720 --> 00:34:07,960 the same good job for Sally and boom, charge for it. 645 00:34:08,239 --> 00:34:13,440 But when a designer is doing it every which way and waking up at 646 00:34:13,440 --> 00:34:16,560 2:00 in the morning and did I tell the wallpaper hanger which 647 00:34:16,560 --> 00:34:22,280 way the paper goes, that's when honestly, you don't stand and 648 00:34:22,280 --> 00:34:24,560 charge what you're worth because there's a little part of you 649 00:34:24,560 --> 00:34:26,440 that's like, this thing is chaos over here. 650 00:34:26,800 --> 00:34:28,960 Like I'm hoping this is going to turn out good. 651 00:34:29,280 --> 00:34:33,400 You know, not design wise, but process wise, right? 652 00:34:34,000 --> 00:34:37,199 100% yeah. Processes are your best friend. 653 00:34:37,679 --> 00:34:40,639 That's right. That's right. 654 00:34:40,639 --> 00:34:42,800 I've never. Met a designer, Rebecca, that 655 00:34:43,040 --> 00:34:45,800 has, whether they've been in business six months or six years 656 00:34:45,800 --> 00:34:49,880 or 16 years, I've never met a designer that ultimately 657 00:34:50,360 --> 00:34:56,639 committed to really documenting their work journey, the internal 658 00:34:56,639 --> 00:35:00,960 on the backside and the external facing the consumer that did not 659 00:35:01,160 --> 00:35:04,400 raise their price. And also along with that, 660 00:35:04,440 --> 00:35:09,240 stopped under billing and stopped under charging because 661 00:35:09,240 --> 00:35:14,680 now they're like, oh heck, that's the 95 million things 662 00:35:14,680 --> 00:35:18,960 that I do because that's where it's so enjoyable and it's so 663 00:35:18,960 --> 00:35:22,760 pleasurable for a designer and it feels like not a big deal. 664 00:35:22,760 --> 00:35:25,280 I always think about like, was it Michael Jordan? 665 00:35:25,280 --> 00:35:27,120 I always get the damn sports guys different. 666 00:35:27,240 --> 00:35:29,920 But like, he left basketball and then went to play baseball. 667 00:35:29,920 --> 00:35:31,160 Oh yeah, he did. Right. 668 00:35:32,280 --> 00:35:34,840 He's Michael Jordan. He's like one of the best 669 00:35:34,840 --> 00:35:37,040 athletes I've ever walked the planet. 670 00:35:37,320 --> 00:35:41,520 But he really wasn't as good at baseball as he was basketball. 671 00:35:41,520 --> 00:35:44,600 Now he's better than, you know, like a billion other humans on 672 00:35:44,600 --> 00:35:48,800 the planet on baseball, right? But it's like basketball is 673 00:35:48,800 --> 00:35:51,960 where he just gets on the court. He does his thing, but he knows 674 00:35:51,960 --> 00:35:55,880 he does because why? Because he's taken 45,000 foul 675 00:35:55,880 --> 00:35:59,320 shots during practice. And so that's why when he's on 676 00:35:59,320 --> 00:36:01,720 the court, he's just like, give me the ball. 677 00:36:01,960 --> 00:36:03,840 And that's the thing with a designer. 678 00:36:03,840 --> 00:36:08,880 A designer often doesn't realize how much is gone into their 679 00:36:08,880 --> 00:36:13,080 ability to put the together a room like that, their ability to 680 00:36:13,080 --> 00:36:18,040 know which rug, which lamp, which this because it's their 681 00:36:18,040 --> 00:36:21,600 innate talent and they've coned it and they've enjoyed it in 682 00:36:21,600 --> 00:36:24,320 their free time. They take batting practice and 683 00:36:24,320 --> 00:36:27,560 they take foul shots. They go to shows for design and 684 00:36:27,560 --> 00:36:30,360 they read books on design and they read podcasts, listen to 685 00:36:30,360 --> 00:36:32,720 podcasts and they, you know, read magazines. 686 00:36:32,920 --> 00:36:39,800 So they often will miss value, misjudge what goes into that 5 687 00:36:39,800 --> 00:36:42,720 second decision of that countertop or that countertop. 688 00:36:43,280 --> 00:36:46,080 It's like, that's not easy for all the rest of the humans. 689 00:36:46,520 --> 00:36:48,800 That's easy for you because you're good at it. 690 00:36:49,200 --> 00:36:51,800 You have a talent at it, not because it's easy. 691 00:36:51,800 --> 00:36:53,520 And a designer should never forget that. 692 00:36:53,520 --> 00:36:56,400 I've said it. You could not pay me to be a 693 00:36:56,400 --> 00:36:57,640 designer. You could not. 694 00:36:57,640 --> 00:36:59,200 There's not enough salary. You could tell me. 695 00:36:59,200 --> 00:37:01,080 I'm going to give you $1,000,000 a year net cash. 696 00:37:01,080 --> 00:37:03,560 I'd be like, yeah, no, I'll, I'll work my ass off over here 697 00:37:03,560 --> 00:37:04,520 doing this. Thank you. 698 00:37:04,800 --> 00:37:07,400 Yeah, well, I like that. In business? 699 00:37:07,560 --> 00:37:10,600 Yeah, and I like that point. You said that once a designer 700 00:37:10,600 --> 00:37:14,400 can document their processes on both sides. 701 00:37:14,400 --> 00:37:18,680 And if you have a book of your SO PS, it's going to be a big 702 00:37:18,680 --> 00:37:20,640 fat book. And you're like, OK, This is why 703 00:37:20,640 --> 00:37:23,440 I need to make sure I'm capturing all of that time. 704 00:37:23,440 --> 00:37:26,760 And This is why I have to charge what I'm charging because you 705 00:37:26,760 --> 00:37:28,320 can't hand that book to the client. 706 00:37:28,320 --> 00:37:32,960 I mean they're going to never get their projects like without. 707 00:37:32,960 --> 00:37:35,760 You they're just going to pick a sofa off the Internet and pick a 708 00:37:35,760 --> 00:37:37,800 paint color in the aisle of the box store. 709 00:37:38,040 --> 00:37:41,520 And you know what, 50% of them will put together a decent room. 710 00:37:41,640 --> 00:37:44,320 The other 50% you'd walk into the house and go, what kind of a 711 00:37:44,320 --> 00:37:46,200 hot mess is this place? Right? 712 00:37:46,520 --> 00:37:49,160 It's like, but you know what I mean, like and that's fine. 713 00:37:49,160 --> 00:37:51,600 A lot of people live without elevated design. 714 00:37:51,640 --> 00:37:54,360 It's perfectly fine. They can go about their world. 715 00:37:54,600 --> 00:38:00,440 But when someone says I want a designer because I want it to be 716 00:38:00,440 --> 00:38:05,640 elevated, understand that's not easy and you can do it, so 717 00:38:05,640 --> 00:38:08,880 you've got to charge for it. Yeah, Amen, sister. 718 00:38:09,400 --> 00:38:12,200 OK. So I think that we should share 719 00:38:12,200 --> 00:38:16,600 about how people can work with you directly, the programs that 720 00:38:16,600 --> 00:38:20,240 you have because you have so much wisdom and insight and 721 00:38:20,240 --> 00:38:22,760 passion to share with our listeners. 722 00:38:22,760 --> 00:38:25,400 So why don't you talk a little about what's what's available? 723 00:38:25,720 --> 00:38:29,200 OK, so easy, easy, easy. Is the podcast a well Designed 724 00:38:29,200 --> 00:38:31,880 business? Obviously free listen to it. 725 00:38:31,880 --> 00:38:34,640 You can get your undergrad in business for interior design by 726 00:38:34,680 --> 00:38:37,040 listening to the podcast. I also have the podcast Window 727 00:38:37,040 --> 00:38:39,680 Treatments for Profit. If you happen to lead with 728 00:38:39,680 --> 00:38:42,680 window treatments or sell window treatments as a designer, it's 729 00:38:42,680 --> 00:38:46,560 very also very helpful to give you insights into that end of 730 00:38:46,560 --> 00:38:47,920 the industry. And by the way, if you're an 731 00:38:47,920 --> 00:38:49,840 interior designer and you're not selling window treatments, 732 00:38:49,840 --> 00:38:53,920 you're leaving 10s of thousands of dollars off the table, 733 00:38:54,280 --> 00:38:56,320 believe me. So that's easy. 734 00:38:56,600 --> 00:39:00,400 I have my three books on Amazon also easy, low barrier. 735 00:39:00,680 --> 00:39:03,040 And then when you get beyond that, then you have Luanne 736 00:39:03,040 --> 00:39:07,440 University where we have various instructors teaching all of the 737 00:39:07,440 --> 00:39:09,600 disciplines in the business side of design. 738 00:39:09,600 --> 00:39:11,640 So we're not going to teach you to do CAD, We're not going to 739 00:39:11,640 --> 00:39:14,360 teach you to pick a sofa, but we're going to teach you your 740 00:39:14,360 --> 00:39:15,880 bookkeeping. We're going to teach you how to 741 00:39:15,880 --> 00:39:18,240 document your processes. We're going to teach you the 742 00:39:18,240 --> 00:39:20,880 fundamentals of marketing. It's the five pillars of 743 00:39:20,880 --> 00:39:24,080 business. It's finance, sales, marketing, 744 00:39:24,560 --> 00:39:29,080 operations and leadership. And so that's where you come to 745 00:39:29,120 --> 00:39:33,240 get one-on-one live instruction, not one-on-one, but one to a 746 00:39:33,240 --> 00:39:36,560 group. So it's taught live twice a 747 00:39:36,560 --> 00:39:39,120 year. So the next we're going out at 748 00:39:39,120 --> 00:39:41,680 the end of December. We will open the cart probably 749 00:39:41,680 --> 00:39:45,120 in the end of January for the March semester of Ludvan 750 00:39:45,120 --> 00:39:48,000 University. And then the next, the top level 751 00:39:48,000 --> 00:39:49,920 is my chairman of the board coaching program. 752 00:39:50,120 --> 00:39:54,520 And I only take 5 a year. And we work together, me and 753 00:39:54,520 --> 00:39:57,720 you, alone the whole year. It's no other people in it, no 754 00:39:57,720 --> 00:39:59,840 other groups. So because what your problem is 755 00:39:59,840 --> 00:40:01,680 is different than somebody else's problem, right? 756 00:40:01,680 --> 00:40:03,600 You might have your processes down, but you don't have to 757 00:40:03,600 --> 00:40:05,800 manage your team. Or you might have your team, but 758 00:40:05,800 --> 00:40:06,960 you know. Don't have your processes or you 759 00:40:06,960 --> 00:40:08,760 don't know how to make money. You don't know. 760 00:40:08,960 --> 00:40:12,840 And I only take 5 a year. And interestingly, as of this 761 00:40:12,840 --> 00:40:15,840 recording, I have one spot left for 2026. 762 00:40:15,840 --> 00:40:18,880 It may be gone by the time this gets aired, but it might not be. 763 00:40:19,360 --> 00:40:21,200 And I'm trying to think. And then I have a new company, a 764 00:40:21,200 --> 00:40:24,160 new business coming out in February called the Boardroom 765 00:40:24,160 --> 00:40:29,800 for Creatives that is going to be a highly curated, vetted 766 00:40:29,800 --> 00:40:34,000 resource for creative business owners, interior designers, 767 00:40:34,000 --> 00:40:36,720 window treatment professionals, even photographers, web 768 00:40:36,720 --> 00:40:40,840 developers for getting 50 minutes of expert advice. 769 00:40:40,840 --> 00:40:42,960 Like you want to come in, you want to come out, you want to 770 00:40:42,960 --> 00:40:45,160 get the thing figured out, You want a strategy session. 771 00:40:45,160 --> 00:40:47,400 You need to bust through some mindset thinking that you're 772 00:40:47,400 --> 00:40:50,440 going through or you just like, is this a good idea or is this 773 00:40:50,440 --> 00:40:51,560 the dumbest thing I've ever heard of? 774 00:40:51,920 --> 00:40:56,320 And we'll have my cadre of proven business experts on it, 775 00:40:56,320 --> 00:40:58,520 the people that are the co-authors in my books, the 776 00:40:58,520 --> 00:41:00,600 people that are my Luann University instructors. 777 00:41:00,840 --> 00:41:03,200 We're even going to have people like Amber Guyton on it and 778 00:41:03,200 --> 00:41:06,040 Megan Moulton. So you know, there's a lot of 779 00:41:06,040 --> 00:41:09,600 designers that reach out to these types of designers and 780 00:41:09,600 --> 00:41:11,760 leaders in our industry. Like how did you build your 781 00:41:11,760 --> 00:41:14,760 e-commerce site? Well, these women can almost you 782 00:41:14,760 --> 00:41:19,400 know, they can only so much give back freely and they both these 783 00:41:19,400 --> 00:41:23,280 are two of the several influencer type, that level of 784 00:41:23,400 --> 00:41:27,280 person in our industry, but they still want to help. 785 00:41:27,840 --> 00:41:31,960 And this will just make it easy for the average designer who's 786 00:41:31,960 --> 00:41:36,040 never met, say, Amber Gait and say, how did you start your 787 00:41:36,040 --> 00:41:38,720 blessed little bungalow bog and how did it get so popular and 788 00:41:38,720 --> 00:41:41,240 blah, blah, blah. And so that boardroom for 789 00:41:41,240 --> 00:41:44,240 creatives.com will be coming out in January, so. 790 00:41:44,520 --> 00:41:47,520 Great, that's exciting. Wonderful. 791 00:41:47,520 --> 00:41:51,400 Well, Luann, it's been such a pleasure to talk with you and 792 00:41:51,400 --> 00:41:55,600 learn your story and I'm going to read that book I think that 793 00:41:55,600 --> 00:41:58,200 you recommended from the beginning about sales because 794 00:41:58,680 --> 00:42:01,320 you can always improve your mindset around selling, right? 795 00:42:01,320 --> 00:42:04,440 And I like what you had to say about that, so I'm going to 796 00:42:04,440 --> 00:42:07,320 check that out. Is there anything just last 797 00:42:07,320 --> 00:42:10,960 minute remarks you want to say to an up and coming designer who 798 00:42:10,960 --> 00:42:14,480 might be feeling stuck or first small step they can take? 799 00:42:14,480 --> 00:42:19,000 A little action advice for them to just get going in their 800 00:42:19,000 --> 00:42:21,760 career? I think you got to remember, and 801 00:42:21,760 --> 00:42:25,400 I've said it on my show often enough, that there's the work 802 00:42:25,400 --> 00:42:29,080 that you do, that's your employee work, and there's the 803 00:42:29,080 --> 00:42:32,160 work that you do as the business owner, as the CEO. 804 00:42:32,440 --> 00:42:37,240 There are two different lanes and maybe you get to the point 805 00:42:37,240 --> 00:42:41,680 where like many businesses do, where you are the CEO and you 806 00:42:41,680 --> 00:42:44,440 don't do employee work anymore. But that is the smallest 807 00:42:44,440 --> 00:42:47,720 percentage of U.S. business owners that really get to that 808 00:42:47,720 --> 00:42:50,320 level or aspire. I don't mean to say get to it 809 00:42:50,320 --> 00:42:53,240 like, oh, you can't get to it, but aspire to that level. 810 00:42:53,400 --> 00:42:56,120 One of the things I know a lot of designers say to me, I want 811 00:42:56,120 --> 00:42:58,160 to build my team, but I don't want to build myself out of 812 00:42:58,160 --> 00:43:00,400 designing, right? That's the thing I love to do. 813 00:43:00,840 --> 00:43:05,040 But always be clear, there's employee work and CEO work and 814 00:43:05,040 --> 00:43:08,520 the employee work is it's, you know, getting the contracts done 815 00:43:08,520 --> 00:43:09,680 and it's, you know, blah, blah, blah. 816 00:43:09,800 --> 00:43:12,480 But the CEO work is, is the contract well written? 817 00:43:12,960 --> 00:43:15,400 The CEO work is what is my brand messaging. 818 00:43:15,400 --> 00:43:19,920 The CEO work is what is my pricing when I prices projects, 819 00:43:20,160 --> 00:43:24,480 am I doing the project autopsy when it's done to evaluate? 820 00:43:24,960 --> 00:43:28,560 Are these kinds of projects profitable for me or am I just 821 00:43:28,560 --> 00:43:33,080 on a hamster wheel closing them, doing them, executing them, 822 00:43:33,320 --> 00:43:38,120 finishing them and never evaluating if this is a project 823 00:43:38,120 --> 00:43:41,840 that I should even be doing? As you are in your career, if 824 00:43:41,840 --> 00:43:44,320 you in it many years and you don't do this, do it. 825 00:43:44,320 --> 00:43:47,880 But if you're in your beginning of your career, just understand, 826 00:43:48,480 --> 00:43:52,560 don't get caught up in the weeds of doing the business, that you 827 00:43:52,560 --> 00:43:56,680 forget to set up the business for sustained success and that 828 00:43:56,680 --> 00:44:02,480 you have built in the time each month to step out and look at 829 00:44:02,480 --> 00:44:04,440 what's happening. It's kind of like, if you think 830 00:44:04,440 --> 00:44:08,040 about like a coach of a basketball team, the guy's not 831 00:44:08,040 --> 00:44:10,320 in in every play. He's not on the play, you know 832 00:44:10,320 --> 00:44:12,800 what I mean? He's watching all the plays. 833 00:44:13,080 --> 00:44:16,280 And then when the game is over and in practice, like, hey, you 834 00:44:16,280 --> 00:44:19,040 2 knuckleheads, every time we ran that play, you ran left and 835 00:44:19,040 --> 00:44:21,000 you ran light and you're both supposed to go the same way. 836 00:44:21,240 --> 00:44:25,000 So it's like who's watching what the business is doing? 837 00:44:25,240 --> 00:44:29,600 So the business can consistently be recalibrated to do better the 838 00:44:29,600 --> 00:44:32,600 next time. And that is a critical thing in 839 00:44:32,600 --> 00:44:36,040 starting a sustainable business. Very good advice. 840 00:44:36,040 --> 00:44:39,160 I love that. Well, thank you, Luann, and I'm 841 00:44:39,200 --> 00:44:42,080 sure we'll talk with you soon. Everybody needs to check out her 842 00:44:42,080 --> 00:44:45,320 podcast for sure. It's just an industry standard 843 00:44:45,320 --> 00:44:48,080 and we'll put all the links to everything that you talked about 844 00:44:48,080 --> 00:44:50,280 in the show notes so people can find it easily. 845 00:44:50,640 --> 00:44:52,800 But thank you so much for coming on today, Luann. 846 00:44:52,800 --> 00:44:53,120 It's. Been. 847 00:44:53,120 --> 00:44:55,080 Thank you, Rebecca. I appreciate you very much. 848 00:44:55,080 --> 00:45:03,760 Thank you. So if you'd like to get more of 849 00:45:03,760 --> 00:45:07,680 Luann's great knowledge and information, go ahead and check 850 00:45:07,680 --> 00:45:10,840 out the links in our show notes for all the things that she 851 00:45:10,840 --> 00:45:14,040 offers and subscribe to our podcast because I'm sure you'll 852 00:45:14,040 --> 00:45:16,080 get a lot more information from her there. 853 00:45:16,640 --> 00:45:20,240 I had the privilege to be on her podcast recently on episode 854 00:45:20,240 --> 00:45:24,320 1139, came out a couple months ago. 855 00:45:24,320 --> 00:45:27,160 And so you can go back and listen to that if you wanted to 856 00:45:27,160 --> 00:45:30,240 hear my story with her. But it's just a pleasure having 857 00:45:30,240 --> 00:45:32,880 Luann on the podcast today. I hope you enjoyed it. 858 00:45:32,880 --> 00:45:36,960 I hope that you're enjoying your holiday season as we prepare for 859 00:45:36,960 --> 00:45:40,400 the end of the year. And of course, boot camp is 860 00:45:40,400 --> 00:45:44,200 going to be starting in January. The doors are open. 861 00:45:44,200 --> 00:45:45,960 I'd love for you to get in there right now. 862 00:45:45,960 --> 00:45:48,840 Don't delay because there's some work that you're going to want 863 00:45:48,840 --> 00:45:51,880 to do before we meet that first week in January. 864 00:45:52,360 --> 00:45:56,960 And if you have any downtime at all, you can just go around in 865 00:45:56,960 --> 00:45:59,520 my design Mentor and. Look at all the other things 866 00:45:59,520 --> 00:46:02,320 that you have access to for the next year. 867 00:46:02,320 --> 00:46:05,320 So take a look at that. I'd love to see you in there 868 00:46:05,320 --> 00:46:07,800 come January. That's all I have for you this 869 00:46:07,800 --> 00:46:09,400 week. Next week we'll have another 870 00:46:09,400 --> 00:46:13,000 great episode to close out the year, and until then, stay 871 00:46:13,000 --> 00:46:16,160 creative. Thanks for listening. 872 00:46:16,400 --> 00:46:19,520 If you love this episode, please leave a rating and a review. 873 00:46:19,760 --> 00:46:22,520 This helps me reach other curious creatives like you. 874 00:46:23,160 --> 00:46:26,680 If you have a topic request or would like to contact me, simply 875 00:46:26,680 --> 00:46:31,160 head over to my website ourawarddesign.com or e-mail me 876 00:46:31,440 --> 00:46:34,320 at podcast@ourawarddesign.com.