1 00:00:00,160 --> 00:00:04,600 Hello and welcome to episode 150 of Design Curious Podcast. 2 00:00:05,040 --> 00:00:07,120 I'm your host of mentor, Rebecca Ward. 3 00:00:07,600 --> 00:00:10,640 Can't believe I've done 150 episodes. 4 00:00:11,360 --> 00:00:15,440 OK, today we have a great interview with Karen Woolsey. 5 00:00:15,840 --> 00:00:17,960 Let me tell you a little bit more about her. 6 00:00:18,600 --> 00:00:21,280 Some are fortunate to discover their passion when they're 7 00:00:21,280 --> 00:00:23,520 young. Karen Woolsey is one of them. 8 00:00:24,080 --> 00:00:28,160 A native Texan growing up, Karen spent the summers visiting her 9 00:00:28,160 --> 00:00:31,360 grandparents in New Orleans. This is where her love of 10 00:00:31,360 --> 00:00:35,440 interior design, historic homes, and her appreciation for Creole 11 00:00:35,840 --> 00:00:38,040 and French colonial architecture was born. 12 00:00:38,760 --> 00:00:43,560 After graduating summa cum laude from Texas Tech, Karen embarked 13 00:00:43,560 --> 00:00:47,000 on a career in oil and gas, which spans 16 years. 14 00:00:47,680 --> 00:00:50,800 While she loved her career, she often felt it wasn't her true 15 00:00:50,800 --> 00:00:53,200 calling. After the birth of her second 16 00:00:53,200 --> 00:00:57,280 child and a relocation back to her hometown of Fort Worth for 17 00:00:57,280 --> 00:01:01,800 her husband's job, Karen took on an ultra personal creative 18 00:01:01,800 --> 00:01:04,400 endeavour, the design of her new home. 19 00:01:05,120 --> 00:01:07,920 A new construction home. She delighted in working 20 00:01:07,920 --> 00:01:11,000 alongside her builder from the ground up to bring her dream 21 00:01:11,000 --> 00:01:14,320 home to life. During the process, Karen caught 22 00:01:14,320 --> 00:01:17,120 the attention of other local home builders, and once her home 23 00:01:17,120 --> 00:01:21,800 was complete with home owners, she began consulting on interior 24 00:01:21,800 --> 00:01:24,640 design projects until it became clear that it was no longer a 25 00:01:24,640 --> 00:01:28,440 creative hobby. In 2017, after relocating to The 26 00:01:28,440 --> 00:01:32,720 Woodlands with her family, she officially founded CW Interiors. 27 00:01:33,160 --> 00:01:36,400 Since opening the doors of her studio, she's grown her team to 28 00:01:36,400 --> 00:01:40,320 six and has had the privilege of partnering with developers, home 29 00:01:40,320 --> 00:01:43,840 builders, and home owners to create storytelling homes in The 30 00:01:43,840 --> 00:01:47,440 Woodlands, Houston, and Conroe metropolitan areas. 31 00:01:47,960 --> 00:01:50,280 I know you're going to love this interview, so let's get into. 32 00:01:50,280 --> 00:01:54,000 It you're now listening to Design Curious. 33 00:01:54,440 --> 00:01:56,160 A place where you. Creative one. 34 00:01:56,520 --> 00:01:58,920 Are here. To learn about what it really is 35 00:01:58,920 --> 00:02:02,840 like to be an interior designer, and I'm your host and mentor, 36 00:02:02,960 --> 00:02:06,040 Rebecca Ward. If you're worried about how to 37 00:02:06,040 --> 00:02:10,080 succeed in a creative career, if you're ready to learn your next 38 00:02:10,080 --> 00:02:14,240 steps to become an interior designer, and if you want the 39 00:02:14,240 --> 00:02:18,320 satisfaction of doing something you love every day, you are in 40 00:02:18,320 --> 00:02:21,480 the right place. Grab a coffee, a notebook, and 41 00:02:21,480 --> 00:02:25,360 let's dig into today's episode. Hi, Karen, welcome to Design 42 00:02:25,360 --> 00:02:27,240 Curious Podcast. It's great to have you here. 43 00:02:27,240 --> 00:02:29,760 Today, thank you. Thank you for having me. 44 00:02:29,760 --> 00:02:32,160 I appreciate it. Of course, of course. 45 00:02:32,720 --> 00:02:35,200 And I'm excited about our topic today. 46 00:02:35,240 --> 00:02:38,680 But before we get into that, let's talk a little bit about 47 00:02:38,680 --> 00:02:41,560 how you got into interior design because I always like to ask 48 00:02:41,560 --> 00:02:44,120 everyone's path. Everyone has a different path. 49 00:02:44,480 --> 00:02:48,840 And part of the point of this podcast is to show people who 50 00:02:48,840 --> 00:02:51,480 aren't curious about their career that there's many 51 00:02:51,480 --> 00:02:53,600 avenues. Like everyone comes from some 52 00:02:53,600 --> 00:02:55,200 different direction into into design. 53 00:02:55,200 --> 00:02:58,800 So we'd love to hear your story and then we'll get on into 54 00:02:58,800 --> 00:03:02,600 building a team. Yeah, well, thanks for asking. 55 00:03:02,720 --> 00:03:06,480 I've always been creative in many different ways. 56 00:03:06,480 --> 00:03:11,360 Like I love to write, I love to craft, I love to design, I love 57 00:03:11,400 --> 00:03:13,200 all the things. I love to bake. 58 00:03:13,520 --> 00:03:18,320 I taught for a little while and then I actually went into oil 59 00:03:18,320 --> 00:03:22,000 and gas and that kind of fell into my lap a little bit. 60 00:03:22,480 --> 00:03:25,520 It was my summer job. And then they asked me to stick 61 00:03:25,520 --> 00:03:30,200 around and I did. And then it just kept going and 62 00:03:30,200 --> 00:03:31,840 going and I kept moving up and up. 63 00:03:31,920 --> 00:03:34,800 And I love the people, but I didn't love the work. 64 00:03:35,280 --> 00:03:39,760 But I'm very grateful for the business education that it gave 65 00:03:39,760 --> 00:03:41,760 me because it was a small company. 66 00:03:41,760 --> 00:03:46,400 So you learned everything there. And then eventually it just got 67 00:03:46,400 --> 00:03:50,760 to a point where I had two little kids and I couldn't do it 68 00:03:50,760 --> 00:03:52,280 all. Like I just couldn't do it all. 69 00:03:52,280 --> 00:03:54,680 So I stayed home. About that time, my husband and 70 00:03:54,680 --> 00:04:00,640 I decided to build a house. And so that became my passion. 71 00:04:00,640 --> 00:04:04,760 I loved it and we built our forever home. 72 00:04:04,760 --> 00:04:07,720 And the builder liked it and would start picking my brain 73 00:04:07,720 --> 00:04:11,240 about or his facts. And then another builder did 74 00:04:11,240 --> 00:04:13,640 that. I love that part of it. 75 00:04:13,640 --> 00:04:18,240 But then when we got transferred down here to The Woodlands from 76 00:04:18,240 --> 00:04:21,880 Fort Worth, I just figured that was great, but it's over. 77 00:04:22,240 --> 00:04:24,760 And so kind of threw myself into the move. 78 00:04:24,800 --> 00:04:28,040 And then we bought this older home that needed a ton of work. 79 00:04:28,040 --> 00:04:30,840 I did all of that. And then, you know, kids, their 80 00:04:30,840 --> 00:04:33,960 parents, my kids friends parents would come over and be like, oh, 81 00:04:33,960 --> 00:04:35,640 I love it. Can you help me do mine? 82 00:04:35,640 --> 00:04:36,960 Can you help? Me do my sure. 83 00:04:37,240 --> 00:04:41,000 And my husband was like, that's it, you're doing it go. 84 00:04:41,520 --> 00:04:45,960 And I'm such a action is that I probably wouldn't have ever like 85 00:04:45,960 --> 00:04:49,560 I kept thinking of reasons why I should not just went for it. 86 00:04:49,560 --> 00:04:53,160 And I'm grateful that it's taken off in the past. 87 00:04:53,560 --> 00:04:57,200 Can I talk to you a little more about how you just went for it? 88 00:04:57,200 --> 00:05:00,400 So what were the first steps that you really had to overcome 89 00:05:00,400 --> 00:05:04,720 to start a business? In reality, one of my good, good 90 00:05:04,720 --> 00:05:08,720 friends who I made in The Woodlands and my husband got 91 00:05:08,720 --> 00:05:11,120 together and they were like, that's it, we're doing it. 92 00:05:11,440 --> 00:05:14,960 We had pictures taken to the house and I didn't even have 93 00:05:14,960 --> 00:05:17,320 social media. So my friend was like, I'm 94 00:05:17,320 --> 00:05:20,960 putting it on social media and saying CW interiors, call them. 95 00:05:20,960 --> 00:05:24,680 And then people started calling. And that's how it started, yeah. 96 00:05:24,880 --> 00:05:27,000 Wow. Well, you had some business 97 00:05:27,000 --> 00:05:30,520 experience because you did work for the small business where you 98 00:05:30,520 --> 00:05:32,240 have obviously wear a lot of hats. 99 00:05:33,040 --> 00:05:37,000 So getting off the ground, though, was there any struggles 100 00:05:37,000 --> 00:05:40,560 that you you faced kind of that you weren't expecting? 101 00:05:41,480 --> 00:05:46,280 So I tried to do everything and I did do everything myself for a 102 00:05:46,280 --> 00:05:49,520 long time. And it involved like many 103 00:05:49,520 --> 00:05:53,280 weekends, never getting out of my pajamas and learning 104 00:05:53,280 --> 00:05:56,760 QuickBooks. And we had a report tax and 105 00:05:56,760 --> 00:05:59,680 learning. You know, I had done all of that 106 00:05:59,720 --> 00:06:03,240 in the oil and gas industry, but carrying that over. 107 00:06:04,120 --> 00:06:07,400 Interesting. So I never had social media. 108 00:06:07,400 --> 00:06:13,160 Still don't personally. Overcoming that was giant and 109 00:06:13,160 --> 00:06:19,440 it's still not my Forte today. It's just like a necessary 110 00:06:19,960 --> 00:06:22,440 blessing and a curse, right? Sure. 111 00:06:23,080 --> 00:06:26,200 Everything from working with people who build your website. 112 00:06:26,320 --> 00:06:30,040 And I think it's also where my English background, like the 113 00:06:30,040 --> 00:06:31,480 creative writing and all of that. 114 00:06:31,480 --> 00:06:35,160 Like you have to just dig in and you have to research and you 115 00:06:35,160 --> 00:06:39,840 have to focus and you have to go down 1,000,000 rabbit holes to 116 00:06:40,320 --> 00:06:44,520 such depths that you have to be willing to put that sweat 117 00:06:44,520 --> 00:06:46,800 equity. And it's not just pretty. 118 00:06:47,280 --> 00:06:50,400 It would be great if that were true, but it's just not. 119 00:06:50,400 --> 00:06:55,440 It's all the things, all those details matter to make it 120 00:06:55,560 --> 00:06:58,840 profitable. And, you know, interacting with 121 00:06:58,840 --> 00:07:01,640 clients, that was a whole new dimension for me, right? 122 00:07:01,640 --> 00:07:06,520 Like a spec is one thing, but a person is another. 123 00:07:06,520 --> 00:07:10,760 So that was all huge. Yeah. 124 00:07:11,040 --> 00:07:14,360 Yeah. Did you have any other designers 125 00:07:14,360 --> 00:07:18,120 that you modeled after or had a mentor or a coach or anything 126 00:07:18,120 --> 00:07:21,200 like that, or how did you develop your systems for your 127 00:07:21,200 --> 00:07:22,040 design? No. 128 00:07:22,760 --> 00:07:28,200 So my background to go even further back, so my parents 129 00:07:28,200 --> 00:07:31,240 moved to Texas before I was born, but they're both from New 130 00:07:31,240 --> 00:07:34,680 Orleans, so all the extended family was in New Orleans. 131 00:07:34,680 --> 00:07:37,480 So we would do Christmases, summers, spring breaks, always 132 00:07:37,480 --> 00:07:41,480 in New Orleans. So I've always loved that city, 133 00:07:42,120 --> 00:07:44,320 love for the architecture, love the design. 134 00:07:44,520 --> 00:07:48,800 And so that really started out as kind of like my focus. 135 00:07:49,440 --> 00:07:53,440 But then as I started working with individuals, it was really 136 00:07:53,440 --> 00:07:58,360 fun to connect with them and bring their best version of 137 00:07:58,360 --> 00:08:00,560 themselves out. And so it was just me. 138 00:08:01,240 --> 00:08:04,240 I did not have anybody I was modeling after. 139 00:08:04,240 --> 00:08:09,000 I did not have a mentor other than like watching the builders 140 00:08:09,200 --> 00:08:14,560 and a little different. I just kind of navigated it and 141 00:08:14,560 --> 00:08:21,480 it was just me for a while and it became a client who she's 142 00:08:21,480 --> 00:08:23,160 still one of my best friends to this day. 143 00:08:23,160 --> 00:08:26,920 She was one of my first clients, but she became my assistant, you 144 00:08:26,920 --> 00:08:30,680 know, just divine intervention. I feel like the team came to me 145 00:08:30,680 --> 00:08:36,000 like my right hand man did name Allison Taylor. 146 00:08:36,000 --> 00:08:41,000 She's our lead designer now and she is the yin to my Yang, 147 00:08:41,280 --> 00:08:44,400 whereas I love that old New Orleans vibe. 148 00:08:44,400 --> 00:08:51,360 She is very much edgy and modern and takes big swings. 149 00:08:51,360 --> 00:08:57,280 If you saw her, you'd be like, oh, OK, it's just the, like I 150 00:08:57,280 --> 00:09:00,480 said, the end of my Yang. And so that partnership has been 151 00:09:00,720 --> 00:09:04,560 huge for CW Interiors because when I'm spinning out, she 152 00:09:04,560 --> 00:09:08,240 grounds me. And so that's been wonderful. 153 00:09:08,240 --> 00:09:12,720 And then we have another designer who's come on board and 154 00:09:12,720 --> 00:09:17,640 she is color extravaganza me. When she writes an e-mail, it's 155 00:09:17,640 --> 00:09:20,000 only with 10 exclamation points after everything. 156 00:09:20,880 --> 00:09:22,360 And that's kind of how it's developed. 157 00:09:22,360 --> 00:09:26,080 So first it was Allison and then it was Nikki, who's the color 158 00:09:26,080 --> 00:09:30,240 one that I was talking about. And now we have Lauren, who's 159 00:09:30,240 --> 00:09:33,400 another designer on our team and she's actually from Lafayette, 160 00:09:33,400 --> 00:09:36,960 LA, but she's super minimalistic. 161 00:09:37,520 --> 00:09:40,120 And now we have, we had just hired another one and her name's 162 00:09:40,120 --> 00:09:44,320 Madison Colwell and she is our baby on staff. 163 00:09:44,840 --> 00:09:49,200 She is the one who loves antiques the most, which so an 164 00:09:49,640 --> 00:09:53,360 accountant, ACPA who was on it also. 165 00:09:53,360 --> 00:09:59,200 But now she does all of our bookkeeping and taxes for us. 166 00:09:59,280 --> 00:10:00,880 And we have an operations coordinator. 167 00:10:00,880 --> 00:10:04,000 That's way more than you wanted to know, but that's evolution of 168 00:10:04,000 --> 00:10:07,280 the team. OK, well, let's peel that back 169 00:10:07,280 --> 00:10:10,920 and start talking about how to build a team because I'm sure 170 00:10:11,520 --> 00:10:15,560 that your story is relatable for a lot of people who, you know, 171 00:10:15,760 --> 00:10:18,000 similar situation. People are telling them you got 172 00:10:18,000 --> 00:10:20,320 to go into design, you got to do this for a living because you're 173 00:10:20,320 --> 00:10:22,400 so good at it. But then they have their 174 00:10:22,400 --> 00:10:25,680 business and they have more work than they can handle. 175 00:10:25,680 --> 00:10:28,280 So I know when it's time to hire. 176 00:10:28,920 --> 00:10:34,040 That's hard if you're brave enough to get started and if 177 00:10:34,040 --> 00:10:39,040 you're detail oriented and type A enough to make it thrive 178 00:10:39,280 --> 00:10:41,120 because all those details matter. 179 00:10:41,440 --> 00:10:47,080 It's very difficult, for me at least, it was to be willing to 180 00:10:47,080 --> 00:10:52,040 delegate and hire those people because you died to get this 181 00:10:52,040 --> 00:10:55,560 thing going. And eventually you just realize 182 00:10:55,560 --> 00:10:58,720 you can't grow without delegation. 183 00:10:59,040 --> 00:11:04,680 And so once you're drowning, you just have to be aware and be on 184 00:11:04,680 --> 00:11:07,600 the lookout for the right people because the wrong person can be 185 00:11:07,600 --> 00:11:12,400 worse than no person. So you just have to be aware, 186 00:11:12,400 --> 00:11:15,600 you have to look for the character of people, which is 187 00:11:15,600 --> 00:11:19,360 huge. And I think you get to the point 188 00:11:19,360 --> 00:11:22,960 of knowing you need to grow before you find a person, right? 189 00:11:23,000 --> 00:11:26,360 And so I think it's hard when you're like, it's time to hire. 190 00:11:26,360 --> 00:11:28,640 Let's go on indeed.com and hire somebody. 191 00:11:28,640 --> 00:11:32,800 Sometimes that works out great, but other times it's hard. 192 00:11:32,800 --> 00:11:34,680 It almost needs to happen organically. 193 00:11:34,680 --> 00:11:40,320 You have to be open and aware. Yeah, that is a little bit 194 00:11:40,320 --> 00:11:44,200 daunting in and of itself to hire someone on, especially 195 00:11:44,200 --> 00:11:46,960 going from zero to 1 like to managing. 196 00:11:47,360 --> 00:11:50,120 Yeah. It's like having kids, right? 197 00:11:50,200 --> 00:11:52,520 Yeah. But yeah, so it's like learning 198 00:11:52,520 --> 00:11:56,240 how to manage someone, even the business side of it of like 199 00:11:56,240 --> 00:11:59,400 having an employee or maybe their independent contractor, 200 00:11:59,400 --> 00:12:03,200 but still it's a whole different role that you also have to take 201 00:12:03,200 --> 00:12:05,720 on as well, right? It is, yeah. 202 00:12:05,720 --> 00:12:08,000 And that's another thing that you just said an independent 203 00:12:08,000 --> 00:12:10,600 contractor to employee, that's another hurdle, right? 204 00:12:10,600 --> 00:12:15,120 Like it was independent contractor, but the IRS can be 205 00:12:15,120 --> 00:12:19,320 is very picky about OK, are they an independent contractor? 206 00:12:19,320 --> 00:12:21,200 Because I'm not you. Can get away with that, you 207 00:12:21,200 --> 00:12:24,520 know, which is great. People deserve to be employees. 208 00:12:25,000 --> 00:12:27,680 But that's a scary thing too, because it's just more risk 209 00:12:27,680 --> 00:12:31,240 every time. It's more risk and you just have 210 00:12:31,240 --> 00:12:37,600 to be open to the right person and also give yourself grace 211 00:12:37,800 --> 00:12:40,520 because inevitably, I mean, you're not going to bad 1000 and 212 00:12:40,520 --> 00:12:42,920 everybody's not going to be the perfect fit. 213 00:12:43,160 --> 00:12:46,320 We hope for that. But if you grow enough, 214 00:12:46,480 --> 00:12:49,000 eventually you're going to have to deal with that as well. 215 00:12:49,280 --> 00:12:50,800 Yeah. So what are some of the things 216 00:12:50,800 --> 00:12:53,600 that you look for then when it starts to happen and you're 217 00:12:53,600 --> 00:12:57,280 notes, OK, I need to have someone come and help me. 218 00:12:57,520 --> 00:13:00,680 And you're, you're open to the idea, but you, you know that you 219 00:13:00,680 --> 00:13:03,520 have a job description that you need to fill, but you also need 220 00:13:03,560 --> 00:13:06,600 a personality that works with yours and other characteristics. 221 00:13:06,600 --> 00:13:09,240 So what kind of did you have? Like a checklist you were going 222 00:13:09,240 --> 00:13:14,240 off of or just intuition at? First, it honestly, the first 223 00:13:14,360 --> 00:13:17,360 couple of times it was just intuition and I got super lucky 224 00:13:17,360 --> 00:13:21,960 and it worked out. But I think there's a couple 225 00:13:21,960 --> 00:13:25,760 things. One, they have to be willing to 226 00:13:25,760 --> 00:13:28,560 be part of a team. It doesn't matter if they're 227 00:13:28,560 --> 00:13:31,520 super talented. If they can't work, if they 228 00:13:31,520 --> 00:13:35,480 can't be collaborative, then it's probably not going to be a 229 00:13:35,480 --> 00:13:39,600 good fit for a growing business. And so that's the character, and 230 00:13:40,360 --> 00:13:43,600 that's huge because you can't really teach character. 231 00:13:43,800 --> 00:13:48,360 Their thing is, and this is something I think a lot of 232 00:13:48,480 --> 00:13:51,920 people struggle with, and I certainly can relate, but my 233 00:13:51,920 --> 00:13:55,080 theory is I don't want anybody in their specific. 234 00:13:55,080 --> 00:13:58,560 Role who is not? Better at what they specifically 235 00:13:58,560 --> 00:14:03,040 are doing than I am. So, you know, I taught myself 236 00:14:03,040 --> 00:14:06,120 accounting, but the CPA is better at accounting than I am, 237 00:14:06,120 --> 00:14:09,280 right? And then I love color, but my 238 00:14:09,280 --> 00:14:13,000 friend Nikki, she does color better than I do color. 239 00:14:13,160 --> 00:14:18,280 So everybody's got their place in the business and I can do all 240 00:14:18,280 --> 00:14:21,840 of what they do, but I can't do it better than what their 241 00:14:21,840 --> 00:14:24,040 specialty is, and I'm great with that. 242 00:14:24,520 --> 00:14:26,760 Yeah. So that's also an interesting 243 00:14:26,760 --> 00:14:29,840 point to bring up is because you're letting other people have 244 00:14:29,840 --> 00:14:32,680 some creative roles as well in your business. 245 00:14:33,320 --> 00:14:37,280 Does that take away at all from your enjoyment of being an 246 00:14:37,280 --> 00:14:39,400 interior designer? Like, are you not designing as 247 00:14:39,400 --> 00:14:42,760 much as you want to or isn't that always the risk that people 248 00:14:42,760 --> 00:14:44,640 think, Well then I'll just be managing and I won't be 249 00:14:44,640 --> 00:14:47,360 designing. Oh, 100%, yeah. 250 00:14:47,600 --> 00:14:49,440 It depends on the day that you asked me. 251 00:14:49,600 --> 00:14:54,480 So for example, yesterday for a charity auction, we donated A 252 00:14:54,760 --> 00:15:00,600 consult and I went solo to the winner's house and worked with 253 00:15:00,600 --> 00:15:04,720 them. And I had a blast, A blast 254 00:15:04,720 --> 00:15:09,080 because it was just, you know, she and I working there 255 00:15:09,080 --> 00:15:11,920 together. And we were both enthusiastic. 256 00:15:11,920 --> 00:15:14,160 Like that brought me so much joy. 257 00:15:14,520 --> 00:15:19,680 And so I do make sure that we are doing a lot of those for me 258 00:15:19,680 --> 00:15:23,080 because I enjoy it. But at the same time, it's not a 259 00:15:23,080 --> 00:15:26,480 huge project that I'm like shouldering all on my own 260 00:15:26,480 --> 00:15:29,520 because you have to have my head on a swivel with all the parts 261 00:15:29,520 --> 00:15:33,720 of the business. So I would say, yes, it's 262 00:15:34,040 --> 00:15:36,640 unfortunate that I don't get to design a whole lot anymore. 263 00:15:36,640 --> 00:15:40,360 But also just make sure that you're sprinkling in at least 264 00:15:41,240 --> 00:15:44,200 something that you get to do to nurture your creativity. 265 00:15:44,200 --> 00:15:46,400 Your own won't be worth it anymore. 266 00:15:46,400 --> 00:15:47,760 Yeah, that feels the. Balance. 267 00:15:47,880 --> 00:15:49,720 Yeah. And there are certain ways. 268 00:15:49,720 --> 00:15:53,560 I mean, you can ask my husband that I'm like, I love it. 269 00:15:54,520 --> 00:15:59,520 And then it's like a Oh my gosh, why do you know, what have I 270 00:15:59,840 --> 00:16:01,360 done? Yeah, I know. 271 00:16:01,360 --> 00:16:04,800 I try to keep it on an average like 90% of the time I love my 272 00:16:04,800 --> 00:16:06,400 job. And I think that's accurate. 273 00:16:06,400 --> 00:16:09,240 I would say about 90% of the time I love my job and that's 274 00:16:09,720 --> 00:16:11,640 that's still good. That's a lot better. 275 00:16:11,640 --> 00:16:15,520 Than many people can say so. I agree. 276 00:16:15,800 --> 00:16:20,720 So just make sure if you're drowning in the minutiae of the 277 00:16:20,720 --> 00:16:24,200 business part, just find a way, find a way. 278 00:16:24,280 --> 00:16:26,760 Get those in, give you know those auction winners. 279 00:16:26,760 --> 00:16:31,160 Those are so fun. I would definitely say to make 280 00:16:31,160 --> 00:16:33,160 sure you're giving yourself some of those. 281 00:16:34,120 --> 00:16:37,920 So you talked about how you can't teach character, and I 282 00:16:37,920 --> 00:16:41,480 think one of the ways to that we talked about to attract the 283 00:16:41,560 --> 00:16:46,000 right person to come along is to have established your mission 284 00:16:46,000 --> 00:16:47,880 and your values for your business. 285 00:16:48,320 --> 00:16:51,040 How did you go about doing that process? 286 00:16:51,760 --> 00:16:55,120 Because I ended up leaving my other job because just the 287 00:16:55,320 --> 00:16:59,600 obligations of the kids, I've always wanted to be very family 288 00:16:59,600 --> 00:17:01,760 friendly. That's been super important to 289 00:17:01,760 --> 00:17:06,040 me. And so while we obviously have a 290 00:17:06,040 --> 00:17:10,680 business to run, I do try to make it as flexible as possible. 291 00:17:10,680 --> 00:17:15,520 So we don't have a single office space where we report everyday. 292 00:17:15,839 --> 00:17:19,480 We do have a weekly in person staff meeting where we connect, 293 00:17:19,839 --> 00:17:23,359 but then the rest of the time we get to be flexible and that's 294 00:17:23,359 --> 00:17:27,599 been huge. I really try to treat my staff 295 00:17:27,680 --> 00:17:31,440 like family. So I said I love to bake like 296 00:17:31,440 --> 00:17:36,000 every Monday I have baked good evening them all packaged up for 297 00:17:36,000 --> 00:17:39,000 them to take home. It's like the reverse biscuits 298 00:17:39,000 --> 00:17:44,840 from the boss instead of biscuits for your but and that's 299 00:17:44,840 --> 00:17:49,240 worked great because we're all we are all moms at this point, 300 00:17:49,240 --> 00:17:52,560 different stages. And that's been great for us 301 00:17:52,560 --> 00:17:57,120 because a ton of flexibility. You have deadlines, but as long 302 00:17:57,120 --> 00:18:00,040 as you're meeting your deadlines, I don't care when 303 00:18:00,120 --> 00:18:02,560 you're doing the work. I mean, when we, our client 304 00:18:02,560 --> 00:18:04,560 facing, obviously we need to all be there. 305 00:18:04,880 --> 00:18:06,840 But I've tried to give that grace. 306 00:18:07,280 --> 00:18:10,320 We have a vacation policy. It's not necessarily 307 00:18:10,320 --> 00:18:13,080 restrictive, but you need to make sure you're backfilling 308 00:18:13,080 --> 00:18:17,000 your, you know, nagging body in if you're going to be out. 309 00:18:17,000 --> 00:18:21,600 So I think that's been great. And when I approach them that 310 00:18:21,600 --> 00:18:25,120 way, then you know they have grace too because it's a small 311 00:18:25,120 --> 00:18:27,000 business. So sometimes there are crunches 312 00:18:27,000 --> 00:18:29,560 and emergencies and fires to put out. 313 00:18:29,800 --> 00:18:31,720 Yeah, we just have to work together. 314 00:18:31,920 --> 00:18:36,320 Yeah, that's a good philosophy. You're leading by example and 315 00:18:36,320 --> 00:18:38,080 everyone's coming alongside. Yeah. 316 00:18:38,400 --> 00:18:40,440 Yeah. I mean, I'm not a St. like some 317 00:18:40,440 --> 00:18:43,080 days I'm like, what are we doing, you know. 318 00:18:43,080 --> 00:18:48,240 But I would say again, 90% of the time, yeah, it works great. 319 00:18:48,600 --> 00:18:51,480 Good, good. How do you encourage then the 320 00:18:51,480 --> 00:18:54,640 work life balance? You mentioned not discouraging 321 00:18:54,640 --> 00:18:58,080 people from taking vacations, but what else do you have you 322 00:18:58,080 --> 00:19:01,200 set up for your employees? Well, we're just in constant 323 00:19:01,240 --> 00:19:03,840 communication. We do try to do a couple of fun 324 00:19:03,840 --> 00:19:07,040 things a year. We do a big holiday party every 325 00:19:07,040 --> 00:19:11,320 year. It's just we've grown so much in 326 00:19:11,320 --> 00:19:16,120 the last couple of years that it's just been so busy that it's 327 00:19:16,120 --> 00:19:19,680 hard to work that time in. But I feel like important to do 328 00:19:19,680 --> 00:19:22,520 that too. We also are always checking in 329 00:19:22,520 --> 00:19:25,560 with each other if we know somebody's kids having a hard 330 00:19:25,560 --> 00:19:29,560 time or somebody's mom. Is it just I feel like we're so 331 00:19:29,560 --> 00:19:33,040 close that almost every day it's like working with your friends 332 00:19:33,040 --> 00:19:35,920 at this point. So you don't have necessarily a 333 00:19:35,920 --> 00:19:40,200 studio or anything that you all work out of, but so how do you 334 00:19:40,240 --> 00:19:43,000 keep in communication with each other throughout the day? 335 00:19:43,800 --> 00:19:48,480 E-mail, text, like constant. We're texting all day and that's 336 00:19:48,480 --> 00:19:51,160 been good. I do think we've all started to 337 00:19:51,160 --> 00:19:55,720 make a very concerted effort to respect officially our work 338 00:19:55,720 --> 00:19:59,480 hours are 9 to 4. We do try to do a very good job 339 00:19:59,480 --> 00:20:02,880 of leaving each other alone outside of that, and we do have 340 00:20:02,880 --> 00:20:05,080 a centralized phone system that we used. 341 00:20:05,080 --> 00:20:09,200 It's cloud based and kind of separate ourselves when we want 342 00:20:09,200 --> 00:20:12,120 to. And I tell them it's OK to sign 343 00:20:12,120 --> 00:20:13,960 off. If I e-mail on a weekend, I do 344 00:20:13,960 --> 00:20:16,920 not expect a response on a weekend. 345 00:20:16,920 --> 00:20:18,800 I have to communicate that all the time. 346 00:20:19,080 --> 00:20:22,520 Yeah, again, it's respect for each other. 347 00:20:23,880 --> 00:20:27,200 That's really good. Let me ask because you didn't go 348 00:20:27,200 --> 00:20:31,200 to school for design next, you didn't have a degree for design, 349 00:20:31,440 --> 00:20:33,240 right? Do you require that as a 350 00:20:33,840 --> 00:20:36,560 requirement for hiring someone? A designer? 351 00:20:36,560 --> 00:20:39,760 Do you ask that they have a degree or does that matter to 352 00:20:39,760 --> 00:20:41,960 you? Some do, some don't in design, 353 00:20:42,560 --> 00:20:44,280 like I said with the rabbit holes. 354 00:20:44,280 --> 00:20:48,640 It's so funny because I have an English degree and I did very 355 00:20:48,640 --> 00:20:53,320 well in school, but I have poop more time into the interior 356 00:20:53,320 --> 00:20:55,400 design research. Anything else? 357 00:20:55,400 --> 00:21:00,400 So I did the Quizlet the other day for the NCIDQS that you sit 358 00:21:00,400 --> 00:21:03,920 for to get the degree certification and I aced it. 359 00:21:04,240 --> 00:21:08,080 I was like, OK, I've gone down enough rabbit holes at this 360 00:21:08,080 --> 00:21:10,440 point. So I have that knowledge like 361 00:21:10,440 --> 00:21:14,720 when I'm reviewing somebody's design like think this, this, 362 00:21:14,720 --> 00:21:17,280 this, this. And we do have people on staff 363 00:21:17,880 --> 00:21:22,280 who also have that knowledge at this point and are in it. 364 00:21:22,280 --> 00:21:24,120 And so everything is peer reviewed. 365 00:21:24,120 --> 00:21:29,920 So our clients while we're not, while the designer this may not 366 00:21:29,920 --> 00:21:35,560 necessarily have that it's getting reviewed by people that 367 00:21:35,760 --> 00:21:40,440 and so that's been huge. Yeah, I think that would be 368 00:21:40,440 --> 00:21:43,480 encouraging for some of our listeners because a lot of the 369 00:21:43,480 --> 00:21:46,480 people who come through my mentorship program don't have 370 00:21:46,480 --> 00:21:49,080 time to go back to school to get another degree. 371 00:21:49,360 --> 00:21:51,800 But they're wondering like I want to work for someone for a 372 00:21:51,800 --> 00:21:55,480 little while, will they hire me without having a degree in 373 00:21:55,480 --> 00:21:59,040 design? My response to that would be how 374 00:21:59,040 --> 00:22:02,960 much of a cell starter are you? Like if you're designing this 375 00:22:02,960 --> 00:22:05,720 and you know that's the ceiling height, like maybe I'll give you 376 00:22:05,720 --> 00:22:08,800 grace the first time that happens, but if I have to 377 00:22:08,800 --> 00:22:11,840 correct that, I'm going to expect you to remember that for 378 00:22:11,840 --> 00:22:15,280 now. And so, yeah, they just have to 379 00:22:15,280 --> 00:22:17,640 be a self starter. They have to be good at research 380 00:22:17,640 --> 00:22:20,800 and then they have good at remembering that going forward. 381 00:22:21,080 --> 00:22:24,440 Learning on the job. The job itself is your degree. 382 00:22:25,080 --> 00:22:27,360 Be coachable. Yes, yes, good. 383 00:22:28,120 --> 00:22:31,760 OK, well, this has been great. What other advice, if any, do 384 00:22:31,760 --> 00:22:35,360 you have for an up and coming designer who's interested, maybe 385 00:22:35,600 --> 00:22:37,280 just to get started like you did? 386 00:22:37,560 --> 00:22:40,880 Like just to get started? Just do it, OK? 387 00:22:41,400 --> 00:22:43,760 Yeah, it's scary. I was thinking before this 388 00:22:43,760 --> 00:22:48,120 podcast and I've been in some scary situations, but the most 389 00:22:48,120 --> 00:22:53,960 scare I may have ever been in my career was the first consult for 390 00:22:53,960 --> 00:22:57,160 a client, not a builder, but like a person. 391 00:22:57,440 --> 00:23:00,480 That's the scariest I've been in forever. 392 00:23:00,680 --> 00:23:06,920 But also following that was maybe the best I felt, you know, 393 00:23:06,920 --> 00:23:12,120 at high risk, high reward. So let's say that you try and it 394 00:23:12,200 --> 00:23:17,920 you fail, you tried. I mean, they're that guts. 395 00:23:17,960 --> 00:23:20,720 I mean, you had the guts, right? So do just do it. 396 00:23:21,080 --> 00:23:24,080 Yeah, because I would respect the guts more than a swing. 397 00:23:24,080 --> 00:23:25,840 And a miss is still a swing. So do it. 398 00:23:26,000 --> 00:23:26,960 For sure. Yeah. 399 00:23:27,680 --> 00:23:30,640 Well, that's wonderful, Karen. Thank you so much for coming on 400 00:23:30,640 --> 00:23:33,120 today. We'll put all of your contact 401 00:23:33,120 --> 00:23:35,280 information in the show notes and someone would like to reach 402 00:23:35,280 --> 00:23:38,120 out to you and they can check. Now. 403 00:23:38,120 --> 00:23:40,400 I know you don't like social media, but do you? 404 00:23:40,600 --> 00:23:42,240 Are you? I have social media native 405 00:23:42,280 --> 00:23:45,920 partner, so I will get it and no, I love it. 406 00:23:45,920 --> 00:23:47,800 I love. Like I said, I could talk about 407 00:23:47,800 --> 00:23:51,360 this all day. Yeah, I would invite anybody to 408 00:23:51,360 --> 00:23:53,560 reach out anytime. Wonderful. 409 00:23:53,560 --> 00:23:55,680 Thank you so much, Karen. It's been great talking with 410 00:23:55,680 --> 00:24:04,680 you. So it's so great to hear Karen's 411 00:24:04,680 --> 00:24:07,360 story, hopefully very inspiring for you. 412 00:24:08,120 --> 00:24:10,360 Don't forget we have some great things in the show. 413 00:24:10,360 --> 00:24:12,720 Notes you can. Also find the contact 414 00:24:12,720 --> 00:24:15,520 information for Karen there if you're interested in reaching 415 00:24:15,520 --> 00:24:18,800 out to her, but we also have some downloads and we have a 416 00:24:18,800 --> 00:24:21,600 quiz. We've got information about my 417 00:24:21,600 --> 00:24:25,080 design mentor, which you might be wanting if you're looking for 418 00:24:25,200 --> 00:24:29,160 an online mentorship platform to work with me on getting your 419 00:24:29,320 --> 00:24:31,600 career started. All right, next week we're going 420 00:24:31,600 --> 00:24:35,560 to have another great episode. Until then, stay creative. 421 00:24:37,160 --> 00:24:39,680 Thanks for listening if you love this episode. 422 00:24:39,920 --> 00:24:41,520 Please leave a. Rating and a review. 423 00:24:41,760 --> 00:24:44,240 This helps me reach. Other curious creatives like. 424 00:24:44,240 --> 00:24:47,640 You if you have a topic. Request or would like to contact 425 00:24:47,640 --> 00:24:49,160 me? Simply head over. 426 00:24:49,160 --> 00:24:53,160 To my website arworddesign.com. Or e-mail me. 427 00:24:53,480 --> 00:24:56,360 At podcast at Arword. Design.com.