1 00:00:00,400 --> 00:00:05,240 Hello and welcome to episode 152 of Design Curious podcast. 2 00:00:05,760 --> 00:00:08,000 I'm your host and mentor Rebecca Ward. 3 00:00:08,680 --> 00:00:13,240 Today on the podcast we have Michelle Lynn and let me tell 4 00:00:13,240 --> 00:00:16,440 you a bit about her. Michelle is president of ML 5 00:00:16,440 --> 00:00:20,320 Interiors group and business coach for interior designers and 6 00:00:20,320 --> 00:00:22,840 also Co founder of Sidemark software. 7 00:00:23,200 --> 00:00:27,720 We had Ben Rutledge on a while back to talk about Sidemark and 8 00:00:27,720 --> 00:00:32,040 he did talk about working with Michelle to create this software 9 00:00:32,040 --> 00:00:35,400 that's specific for designers. And now we have Michelle on the 10 00:00:35,400 --> 00:00:37,760 podcast. So Michelle is the owner of ML 11 00:00:37,760 --> 00:00:42,480 Interior's group, A successful design firm based in Dallas, TX. 12 00:00:42,920 --> 00:00:46,240 Michelle's also the owner and Co founder of Designed for the 13 00:00:46,240 --> 00:00:49,160 Creative Mind, where she teaches interior designers and 14 00:00:49,160 --> 00:00:52,280 decorators the business of running a successful interior 15 00:00:52,280 --> 00:00:55,280 design business. She also hosts a podcast of the 16 00:00:55,280 --> 00:00:59,080 same name and annually holds an Interior Design Business Success 17 00:00:59,160 --> 00:01:01,360 Summit. I know you're going to love 18 00:01:01,360 --> 00:01:05,000 Michelle and you will probably want to go check out her podcast 19 00:01:05,000 --> 00:01:07,080 as well. So let's get into our 20 00:01:07,080 --> 00:01:11,200 conversation today. You're now listening to Design 21 00:01:11,200 --> 00:01:15,280 Curious, the place where you, Creative one, are here to learn 22 00:01:15,280 --> 00:01:18,360 about what it really is like to be an interior designer. 23 00:01:18,800 --> 00:01:21,600 And I'm your host and mentor, Rebecca Ward. 24 00:01:22,240 --> 00:01:26,280 If you're worried about how to succeed in a creative career, if 25 00:01:26,280 --> 00:01:29,160 you're ready to learn your next steps to become an interior 26 00:01:29,160 --> 00:01:33,520 designer, and if you want the satisfaction of doing something 27 00:01:33,520 --> 00:01:36,960 you love every day, you are in the right place. 28 00:01:37,360 --> 00:01:41,400 Grab a coffee, a notebook, and let's dig into today's episode. 29 00:01:41,920 --> 00:01:44,560 Hi, Michelle, welcome. To design curious podcast. 30 00:01:45,320 --> 00:01:47,160 Rebecca, thanks so much for having me. 31 00:01:47,160 --> 00:01:50,280 I'm honored. Yes, and I'm excited to talk 32 00:01:50,280 --> 00:01:53,880 with you that we had to reschedule this interview couple 33 00:01:53,880 --> 00:01:57,840 of times, but here we are and now I get to find out all about 34 00:01:57,840 --> 00:02:01,280 you and your path to interior design and just the great 35 00:02:01,280 --> 00:02:03,760 offerings that you have for designers out there. 36 00:02:03,760 --> 00:02:07,120 So let's start back at the beginning. 37 00:02:07,240 --> 00:02:09,160 How did you become an interior designer? 38 00:02:09,160 --> 00:02:12,560 When did you know? I can think back to junior high 39 00:02:12,960 --> 00:02:16,680 when I my brother and I were home alone after school. 40 00:02:16,680 --> 00:02:20,560 We were latchkey kids and I would make him help me rearrange 41 00:02:20,560 --> 00:02:24,880 your furniture, or I would be insisting to my mom that I 42 00:02:24,880 --> 00:02:28,880 wanted my curtains to match my bedspread or just funny little 43 00:02:28,880 --> 00:02:32,400 nuances like that. So I think that I've always been 44 00:02:32,400 --> 00:02:38,120 inclined, but I never knew that it was something that I could 45 00:02:38,120 --> 00:02:40,840 get paid for. So I went into a completely 46 00:02:40,840 --> 00:02:44,120 different direction. When I got out of college, I 47 00:02:44,120 --> 00:02:47,280 started managing restaurants. And then from managing 48 00:02:47,280 --> 00:02:51,560 restaurants, I was managing like a recruiting firm, placing 49 00:02:51,560 --> 00:02:53,040 accounting and financial professionals. 50 00:02:53,040 --> 00:02:56,400 But the entire time I had friends asking, hey, can you 51 00:02:56,400 --> 00:02:59,160 help me with my house? Can you come over? 52 00:02:59,720 --> 00:03:02,800 I'll make you dinner. Or I would joke that I would 53 00:03:02,800 --> 00:03:07,320 work for wine. So I read a book from Max 54 00:03:07,320 --> 00:03:10,720 Lucado, and I can't remember what it was called, but it was 55 00:03:10,760 --> 00:03:14,240 about pursuing what you loved because what my corporate job 56 00:03:14,240 --> 00:03:16,960 they had sold. And so I was like, OK, God, what 57 00:03:16,960 --> 00:03:20,080 next? And literally, it was like, OK, 58 00:03:20,280 --> 00:03:22,640 here's what people have always been asking you to do. 59 00:03:22,640 --> 00:03:24,440 And by then, I knew that it was a thing. 60 00:03:25,240 --> 00:03:26,800 But Rebecca, you going to laugh at this? 61 00:03:27,160 --> 00:03:31,480 I had zero confidence. I named my company by Michelle 62 00:03:31,480 --> 00:03:32,440 Lynn. OK. 63 00:03:32,440 --> 00:03:35,880 It was by Michelle Lynn because I was going to do home staging, 64 00:03:36,440 --> 00:03:40,440 organizing and redesign. OK, Redesign was a thing back in 65 00:03:40,480 --> 00:03:44,160 the early, like middle 2000s because I didn't have I didn't 66 00:03:44,160 --> 00:03:46,200 even have the confidence to call myself a decorator. 67 00:03:46,480 --> 00:03:49,560 But then I also figured, hey, if home staging, organizing and 68 00:03:49,560 --> 00:03:52,600 redesign doesn't work out, I can do gift baskets, dog walking and 69 00:03:52,600 --> 00:03:54,920 car washing. Anything by Michelle. 70 00:03:55,840 --> 00:03:57,400 By Michelle Loud. I wouldn't have to change my 71 00:03:57,400 --> 00:04:00,200 name. So that's how I got into it. 72 00:04:00,440 --> 00:04:04,560 I truly started doing it was about 90% staging and then a 73 00:04:04,560 --> 00:04:09,200 little bit of that redecorating stuff and in 2013 here in 74 00:04:09,200 --> 00:04:10,840 Dallas. So that was in 2008. 75 00:04:11,400 --> 00:04:15,840 And then I stare, stepped out of management and I went full time 76 00:04:16,040 --> 00:04:20,160 in 2010 and was doing great. Home staging was fantastic. 77 00:04:20,160 --> 00:04:22,520 I had a warehouse full of inventory. 78 00:04:23,000 --> 00:04:26,680 We are busy every week. And then the market in Dallas 79 00:04:27,080 --> 00:04:30,760 like was on fire. The real estate market where a 80 00:04:30,760 --> 00:04:33,840 realtor would call me, let's say on a Friday and say, hey, can 81 00:04:33,840 --> 00:04:38,280 you come out on Monday or Tuesday next week and stage this 82 00:04:38,280 --> 00:04:40,240 home? Because I'm going to be taking 83 00:04:40,240 --> 00:04:42,520 photos on Thursday and listing it on Friday. 84 00:04:42,720 --> 00:04:44,720 And so I'd be OK, we can make that work. 85 00:04:45,040 --> 00:04:48,240 I'd get a call on Monday canceling because the realtor 86 00:04:48,240 --> 00:04:50,880 had put a sign out in the yard saying coming soon and they 87 00:04:50,880 --> 00:04:52,520 already had offers. Oh wow. 88 00:04:52,920 --> 00:04:58,560 So I had to pivot really quickly, learn how to own the 89 00:04:58,560 --> 00:05:03,200 decorating aspect of it and really home that in. 90 00:05:03,200 --> 00:05:07,160 So it was a long journey, but it was exactly where I needed to be 91 00:05:07,160 --> 00:05:10,200 at each step of the way. How did you figure out how? 92 00:05:10,200 --> 00:05:12,800 To set up. Your staging business, did you 93 00:05:12,800 --> 00:05:16,280 have someone you could ask or did you just kind of feel it out 94 00:05:16,280 --> 00:05:19,520 and figure it out? Back in the day, I didn't even 95 00:05:19,520 --> 00:05:22,560 know that there were like business coaches available, but 96 00:05:22,560 --> 00:05:25,720 I don't know if there were business coaches at the time for 97 00:05:25,720 --> 00:05:28,800 that. I literally I would hatched 98 00:05:28,800 --> 00:05:31,400 together blogs. I don't have the book anymore, 99 00:05:31,400 --> 00:05:34,920 but I had the home staging for dummies book and I had I just I 100 00:05:34,920 --> 00:05:38,760 read a bunch of books to try to figure it out and then just took 101 00:05:38,760 --> 00:05:43,360 that kind of natural talent and always remembered that less is 102 00:05:43,360 --> 00:05:46,600 more in staging. And this is what the goal is, is 103 00:05:46,600 --> 00:05:49,120 not to make it pretty, it's to make it sell. 104 00:05:49,120 --> 00:05:53,000 So that was the big differentiator between what I 105 00:05:53,000 --> 00:05:56,680 wanted to do to the house versus what needed to be done in order 106 00:05:56,680 --> 00:05:59,240 to make money for the seller. Yeah. 107 00:05:59,240 --> 00:06:03,240 So then there was a shift for you going from staging to 108 00:06:03,240 --> 00:06:07,040 decorating on the mindset of like, I'm not just selling this 109 00:06:07,040 --> 00:06:10,200 house now, I'm designing it for the homeowner, right? 110 00:06:10,240 --> 00:06:13,480 Yeah. It was a big mindset shift. 111 00:06:13,760 --> 00:06:17,280 I tell a lot of my coaching clients because I coach interior 112 00:06:17,280 --> 00:06:21,120 design business, the business of interior design, but I tell them 113 00:06:21,120 --> 00:06:24,600 that when you get more sophisticated, your business 114 00:06:24,600 --> 00:06:27,160 gets more sophisticated. And then as your business gets 115 00:06:27,160 --> 00:06:30,080 more sophisticated, you get more sophisticated, like as an 116 00:06:30,080 --> 00:06:33,800 individual and how intricately tied together we are with our 117 00:06:33,800 --> 00:06:36,200 businesses. And so I had to do a lot of 118 00:06:36,520 --> 00:06:40,920 mental work, like emotional work and stuff like that to be able 119 00:06:40,920 --> 00:06:48,160 to own that next step because I did not go to school for 120 00:06:48,160 --> 00:06:51,360 interior design. I thought that I, I was the 121 00:06:51,360 --> 00:06:54,440 typical imposter syndrome, like I don't know what I'm doing. 122 00:06:54,720 --> 00:06:57,440 When in reality, I'm naturally talented at this. 123 00:06:57,440 --> 00:07:01,240 I'm good at it, but I had to overcome a lot of those, those 124 00:07:01,240 --> 00:07:05,200 insecurities and fears which pop up on occasion but they're not 125 00:07:05,200 --> 00:07:06,640 as loud. OK. 126 00:07:06,960 --> 00:07:11,720 So then you develop your design business side and learned how to 127 00:07:12,120 --> 00:07:15,280 run a business on trials by fire or. 128 00:07:15,960 --> 00:07:18,280 Child by fire. Yeah, Speaking of Frankenstein 129 00:07:18,280 --> 00:07:21,080 and things together. So like with the staging, I was 130 00:07:21,080 --> 00:07:23,560 just trying to podcast at the time. 131 00:07:23,600 --> 00:07:27,520 Luann was the only one that I think of that I was listening to 132 00:07:27,720 --> 00:07:30,520 and then books and then other people's blogs and like the 133 00:07:30,520 --> 00:07:34,520 Google was my my guide. And Rebecca, good Lord, I 134 00:07:35,200 --> 00:07:38,920 thought I was coming into, you know, being an entrepreneur, 135 00:07:38,920 --> 00:07:42,480 being a bad ass. And I literally fell on my ass. 136 00:07:43,000 --> 00:07:46,920 I lost money, I lost sleep. The clients were just running me 137 00:07:46,920 --> 00:07:50,800 ragged, like all the things they were shopping me, like I didn't 138 00:07:50,800 --> 00:07:54,000 know what I didn't know. And then I was reaching out to 139 00:07:54,000 --> 00:07:56,560 other designers and it was just crickets. 140 00:07:56,560 --> 00:07:59,520 Yes. I had Toby. 141 00:07:59,520 --> 00:08:03,120 Toby Fairly had started some coaching and so I kind of found 142 00:08:03,120 --> 00:08:07,040 her later in my journey and she kind of confirmed through a lot 143 00:08:07,040 --> 00:08:10,800 of her stuff that what I was doing was right, but it was 144 00:08:10,800 --> 00:08:13,080 ugly. I truly promised myself at that 145 00:08:13,080 --> 00:08:16,680 point that when I figured it out, like I was not going to be 146 00:08:16,680 --> 00:08:19,240 a gatekeeper, I was going to shout it from the rooftops and 147 00:08:19,240 --> 00:08:22,240 help other women share their their gift. 148 00:08:22,400 --> 00:08:24,760 Yeah, and I love. That make money. 149 00:08:24,920 --> 00:08:29,240 This is not a hobby we need to make a living. 100% yeah. 150 00:08:29,240 --> 00:08:32,600 I feel almost as though new designers coming in have no 151 00:08:32,600 --> 00:08:33,799 excuse. Now they have. 152 00:08:34,600 --> 00:08:34,760 They. They. 153 00:08:35,000 --> 00:08:36,559 We. Are giving them so much 154 00:08:36,559 --> 00:08:41,320 information they can't help but be successful I would think. 155 00:08:41,480 --> 00:08:44,120 Early on, it comes down to that mindset, yeah, You know, the 156 00:08:44,120 --> 00:08:46,640 little voices in our head that tell us that we can't do it or 157 00:08:46,640 --> 00:08:50,480 we're not worth it or whatever, but they need to be redirected, 158 00:08:50,600 --> 00:08:53,480 those voices. Well, I love that you have the 159 00:08:53,480 --> 00:08:56,640 heart to share it forward with new designers. 160 00:08:56,640 --> 00:08:58,400 So tell us a little bit about your program. 161 00:08:58,760 --> 00:09:03,240 Well, thank you for asking. And in fact, back earlier this 162 00:09:03,240 --> 00:09:06,880 summer, we had a I've gone through a rebrand. 163 00:09:06,920 --> 00:09:09,640 I was known as designed for the creative mind was the platform 164 00:09:09,640 --> 00:09:11,960 because it was business. Yeah. 165 00:09:12,600 --> 00:09:16,720 Designed for the creative mind and we rebranded to the Design 166 00:09:16,720 --> 00:09:20,680 Bake House because my signature program is called the Interior 167 00:09:20,680 --> 00:09:24,120 Design Business Bakery, and everything from there has just 168 00:09:24,120 --> 00:09:26,720 taken on a life of its own based on the brand. 169 00:09:27,040 --> 00:09:30,000 Yeah. So the Bake House now houses 170 00:09:30,280 --> 00:09:35,800 multiple programs for My true calling is to help women scale 171 00:09:35,800 --> 00:09:39,640 their business to multiple 6 figures with profit and passion. 172 00:09:39,680 --> 00:09:42,920 Because once you get things systemized and once you get 173 00:09:42,920 --> 00:09:45,320 these processes down, that that's what I teach. 174 00:09:45,520 --> 00:09:49,040 We've got some other ancillary products that we have offered as 175 00:09:49,040 --> 00:09:52,520 well, but the interior design business bakery is our signature 176 00:09:52,520 --> 00:09:55,000 program and it's been a game changer for hundreds of 177 00:09:55,000 --> 00:09:58,320 designers that I've really, I know this is where I'm supposed 178 00:09:58,320 --> 00:09:59,920 to be. It was such a blessing to be 179 00:09:59,920 --> 00:10:03,800 able to see the light bulb go off or to see one of what we 180 00:10:03,800 --> 00:10:07,560 call the bakers who came into the program and they implemented 181 00:10:07,560 --> 00:10:09,800 everything that how we specify it. 182 00:10:10,040 --> 00:10:13,440 And then they're they're commanding design fees that are 183 00:10:13,440 --> 00:10:15,840 5 figures. We've had a few of them that are 184 00:10:15,840 --> 00:10:21,960 demanding 6 figure design fees. And I'm like, dude, like, yeah, 185 00:10:22,120 --> 00:10:23,320 excited. And then they have the 186 00:10:23,320 --> 00:10:26,360 confidence to do it. So we've got that. 187 00:10:26,360 --> 00:10:29,920 And then my podcast that you were graciously guest on, 188 00:10:30,360 --> 00:10:33,480 Designed for the Creative Mind. I kept that title for the 189 00:10:33,480 --> 00:10:35,760 podcast only Now, so it's been fun. 190 00:10:36,600 --> 00:10:38,520 Great, Yeah. And how long have you been 191 00:10:38,840 --> 00:10:42,960 podcasting? Oh my gosh, I think we probably 192 00:10:42,960 --> 00:10:46,720 are close to hitting 200 episodes, so maybe a few years 193 00:10:46,720 --> 00:10:47,720 now. Nice. 194 00:10:47,720 --> 00:10:49,400 And yeah. Girl, I don't know about you, 195 00:10:49,400 --> 00:10:51,320 but I went into it kicking and screaming. 196 00:10:51,400 --> 00:10:52,800 Yeah. I was like, how am I supposed 197 00:10:52,800 --> 00:10:54,600 to, you know, put something else on my plate? 198 00:10:54,600 --> 00:10:57,200 Because I still have ML Interiors Group, my design 199 00:10:57,200 --> 00:11:00,040 business, so that is up and running. 200 00:11:00,040 --> 00:11:04,560 And then I've got the coaching platform and I just had so many 201 00:11:04,560 --> 00:11:06,560 people telling me I was like, OK, fine. 202 00:11:06,960 --> 00:11:09,560 So I love it. I do too. 203 00:11:09,640 --> 00:11:13,240 Yeah, I, I'm so surprised. I think when we talked, it's 204 00:11:13,240 --> 00:11:15,560 like, I love getting to meet other people. 205 00:11:16,160 --> 00:11:18,760 And so now I've been going through some solo seasons and 206 00:11:18,760 --> 00:11:23,080 stuff like that, and I feel I'm laughing because I'm about to do 207 00:11:23,080 --> 00:11:25,160 some recordings after we're done here. 208 00:11:25,160 --> 00:11:29,240 But I feel like I'm finally getting into my groove with the 209 00:11:29,240 --> 00:11:31,680 podcast because at first I was just kind of patching it 210 00:11:31,680 --> 00:11:33,120 together. I was interviewing people 211 00:11:33,120 --> 00:11:36,800 randomly. And now I kind of like, OK, I 212 00:11:36,800 --> 00:11:39,040 have this season, I'm going to do marketing. 213 00:11:39,040 --> 00:11:41,120 I have this season, I'm going to do rookie mistakes. 214 00:11:41,120 --> 00:11:43,480 I have this season like a tech stack and stuff like that. 215 00:11:43,880 --> 00:11:46,200 And just like my design business, I feel like I've 216 00:11:46,200 --> 00:11:50,120 finally gotten sophisticated enough to elevate my podcast and 217 00:11:50,120 --> 00:11:51,880 it raises me and then I raise it. 218 00:11:52,040 --> 00:11:53,720 Yeah, I love that. Yeah, I don't. 219 00:11:53,720 --> 00:11:56,920 I don't kick and scream anymore. Yeah, but if a six year old had 220 00:11:56,920 --> 00:12:00,000 done that. So the design community that you 221 00:12:00,000 --> 00:12:03,080 have, how long do people typically stay in your program? 222 00:12:03,080 --> 00:12:06,160 Is it like, do they flow in and out or are they there for the 223 00:12:06,160 --> 00:12:09,200 long haul? Well, the signature program is a 224 00:12:09,200 --> 00:12:12,320 year. And the reason why is because we 225 00:12:12,320 --> 00:12:16,600 lay such a solid foundation and then you're you're implementing 226 00:12:16,600 --> 00:12:19,840 things and then you're learning and then you're polishing them 227 00:12:19,840 --> 00:12:21,480 up and then you're implementing them. 228 00:12:21,840 --> 00:12:25,560 And we have weekly calls on Zoom so questions can be asked and 229 00:12:25,560 --> 00:12:28,800 answered and in the Facebook group, asked and answered. 230 00:12:28,800 --> 00:12:30,880 And that's the private Facebook group. 231 00:12:31,200 --> 00:12:36,560 And so most of the time, like my goal is that in 12 months, you 232 00:12:36,560 --> 00:12:40,840 have what you need to fly nice. And I do not have the next 233 00:12:40,840 --> 00:12:42,720 level. Like I thought about creating 234 00:12:42,720 --> 00:12:46,920 something that was next level, but my heart's really with just 235 00:12:46,920 --> 00:12:48,320 let's get you into the six figures. 236 00:12:48,320 --> 00:12:51,520 I don't need to take. Yeah, there's you can do that 237 00:12:51,720 --> 00:12:53,560 with another coach, but that's my goal. 238 00:12:53,560 --> 00:12:56,320 We have the opportunity like if you need to stay a couple extra 239 00:12:56,320 --> 00:12:57,920 months, you can just go month to month. 240 00:12:58,800 --> 00:13:01,880 But I, I joke that I'm not like a chiropractor where you have to 241 00:13:01,880 --> 00:13:03,280 keep coming back for the rest of your life. 242 00:13:03,280 --> 00:13:07,640 Let me give you the tools. You still have access to the key 243 00:13:07,640 --> 00:13:11,960 ingredients that are in that the bakery program and then you 244 00:13:11,960 --> 00:13:16,400 still have access in the group. So they're still there like and 245 00:13:16,400 --> 00:13:19,520 that was something that we did recently is like, I felt so bad 246 00:13:19,520 --> 00:13:21,880 just letting them fly free and then kicking them out of the 247 00:13:21,880 --> 00:13:26,000 community because so many want to come in and like pour into 248 00:13:26,000 --> 00:13:28,880 others. So I even have some graduated 249 00:13:28,880 --> 00:13:34,560 bakers that are like coaching in the program to help give back. 250 00:13:34,560 --> 00:13:38,880 So the community was such a blessing, like an unforeseen 251 00:13:39,520 --> 00:13:42,000 frosting on the cake. And you wonder why I call it the 252 00:13:42,000 --> 00:13:44,760 bakery. I talk in his analogies all the 253 00:13:44,760 --> 00:13:47,200 time. But it's been so much fun, 254 00:13:47,200 --> 00:13:50,960 especially because, as you know, you can feel like you're on an 255 00:13:50,960 --> 00:13:53,080 island when you're in business for yourself. 256 00:13:54,160 --> 00:13:57,000 So when you can develop these friendships and these 257 00:13:57,000 --> 00:14:01,120 relationships and these little like subgroups, not cliques, but 258 00:14:01,120 --> 00:14:04,560 like little subgroups of people that you can talk to and they're 259 00:14:04,560 --> 00:14:06,600 all talking the same bakery language. 260 00:14:07,600 --> 00:14:10,760 It's been really, really neat to see like you meet up in High 261 00:14:10,760 --> 00:14:13,760 Point and you're like, we've got all these bakers and it's just 262 00:14:14,120 --> 00:14:16,920 people jump off the screen and into your arms and it's it's. 263 00:14:17,760 --> 00:14:19,280 Been very fun. Yeah. 264 00:14:19,280 --> 00:14:21,480 Yeah. Well, I have to know, Michelle, 265 00:14:21,480 --> 00:14:24,480 are you actually a Baker in real life? 266 00:14:24,480 --> 00:14:28,000 Do you love baking? I love eating the bakery stumps. 267 00:14:28,200 --> 00:14:31,120 And it's funny that you ask because I am really working 268 00:14:31,120 --> 00:14:35,280 right now on nailing a banana bread recipe. 269 00:14:35,280 --> 00:14:38,400 Oh, I've tasted some of this banana bread that a friend of 270 00:14:38,400 --> 00:14:42,640 mine's neighbor had made and I'm like, I need to work that out. 271 00:14:43,080 --> 00:14:47,840 So I do love baking but girl I'm 55 years old now and it just 272 00:14:47,880 --> 00:14:50,160 kicks to the wrong places a lot. Faster. 273 00:14:50,480 --> 00:14:53,160 Yeah. Oh, Darren. 274 00:14:54,120 --> 00:14:56,400 Yeah, so he's. The one diff to be selective or 275 00:14:56,400 --> 00:14:57,840 I'd been in the gym my whole life. 276 00:14:57,840 --> 00:14:59,640 Oh yeah, yeah. It's fun. 277 00:14:59,880 --> 00:15:02,960 We came up with that name actually, the interior design 278 00:15:02,960 --> 00:15:04,800 business Baker. I was working with a copywriter 279 00:15:04,800 --> 00:15:08,360 when I was first coming out with my program because the bakery's 280 00:15:08,360 --> 00:15:11,400 like the third iteration, like launching it a couple different 281 00:15:11,400 --> 00:15:14,280 ways. And then I hired a coach and 282 00:15:14,280 --> 00:15:17,960 she's the one who taught me how to create this community and to 283 00:15:18,120 --> 00:15:20,320 how to, how to format it and all of the things. 284 00:15:20,800 --> 00:15:24,760 So I hired A copywriter and her name is Julie, Julie Kabasis. 285 00:15:24,920 --> 00:15:29,000 She's a freaking genius. But she at the end it was, we 286 00:15:29,000 --> 00:15:31,080 were coming up with this, she goes, Michelle, I've got a few 287 00:15:31,080 --> 00:15:34,320 names that we can choose that I, I, I think would work for you. 288 00:15:34,680 --> 00:15:39,480 But I have this one that if you have, it's completely different 289 00:15:39,480 --> 00:15:41,880 than anything else. If you've got the courage to do 290 00:15:41,880 --> 00:15:44,160 this, I think it'll fit your personality. 291 00:15:44,560 --> 00:15:46,440 And so she told me in the interior design business, 292 00:15:46,440 --> 00:15:47,960 bakery. And it's because you use these 293 00:15:47,960 --> 00:15:50,520 analogies, like if you leave the ingredients out or you put the 294 00:15:50,520 --> 00:15:53,640 frosting on the cake or, or like you can make cupcakes out of a 295 00:15:53,640 --> 00:15:57,520 cake mix or like, whatever, as we work together over the six or 296 00:15:57,520 --> 00:16:00,160 eight weeks. And so I was like, hell, yeah, 297 00:16:00,160 --> 00:16:01,480 let's do that. That's fun. 298 00:16:01,480 --> 00:16:06,280 It's like, unlike anything else. And at that point in my career, 299 00:16:06,280 --> 00:16:10,440 I'd finally figured out that just being myself is the easiest 300 00:16:10,440 --> 00:16:12,800 thing to do. I don't need to try to put on 301 00:16:12,800 --> 00:16:15,360 airs to be like all interior designer and stuff. 302 00:16:15,360 --> 00:16:18,520 So it's kind of weird and worky, but so am I, so it. 303 00:16:18,520 --> 00:16:19,480 Works. Yeah. 304 00:16:19,480 --> 00:16:22,720 And it obviously attracts the people who like that and want to 305 00:16:22,720 --> 00:16:23,480 work with you. So. 306 00:16:23,480 --> 00:16:23,720 Right. Yeah. 307 00:16:24,840 --> 00:16:27,920 It's great because I can use that as an example when I'm 308 00:16:27,920 --> 00:16:31,040 coaching designers. Like, just be yourself, babe. 309 00:16:31,480 --> 00:16:34,080 If you're formal and you're proper, then be formal and 310 00:16:34,080 --> 00:16:36,280 proper. If you're weird and quirky, then 311 00:16:36,280 --> 00:16:38,440 be weird and quirky. If you're somewhere in between, 312 00:16:38,440 --> 00:16:40,760 like the best person to be as yourself. 313 00:16:41,880 --> 00:16:46,760 And it's great that way because then it helps the clients or 314 00:16:46,760 --> 00:16:49,280 even potential, you know, people for the coaching program, but it 315 00:16:49,280 --> 00:16:53,840 helps clients identify the designer that they align with. 316 00:16:53,960 --> 00:16:56,120 There's going to be someone for everybody. 317 00:16:56,120 --> 00:16:58,880 And we don't have to be that one person for all people. 318 00:16:58,880 --> 00:17:01,880 We want just the people that are our people, right? 319 00:17:01,880 --> 00:17:04,520 So. Joke Yeah, there's enough ugly 320 00:17:04,520 --> 00:17:08,280 houses for everybody. Yeah, plenty. 321 00:17:08,960 --> 00:17:12,400 So, OK, so here's going back to earlier in our conversation when 322 00:17:12,400 --> 00:17:15,800 I was talking about how I kind of transitioned from staging to 323 00:17:15,800 --> 00:17:18,040 design. Well, when I first went more 324 00:17:18,040 --> 00:17:23,000 towards the design angle, I branded myself as glamorously 325 00:17:23,040 --> 00:17:26,079 functional interiors for busy professionals. 326 00:17:26,800 --> 00:17:30,400 OK, because that's kind of what my style was, not like Z Gallery 327 00:17:30,400 --> 00:17:33,320 or anything, but more like scan showers, but on a much tighter 328 00:17:33,320 --> 00:17:37,480 budget. But what I found is that to show 329 00:17:37,480 --> 00:17:42,640 up true to that brand, I'd have to get dressed up to go meet my 330 00:17:42,640 --> 00:17:44,320 clients. Like glamorously functional. 331 00:17:44,320 --> 00:17:48,680 I should look not as casual as I as I generally I'm like, I'm 332 00:17:48,680 --> 00:17:53,600 perfectly comfortable in cute little booties or sandals, jeans 333 00:17:53,640 --> 00:17:57,240 and a blazer like that. To me is is pulled together, you 334 00:17:57,240 --> 00:17:59,560 know, brush your teeth, your hair together, makeup and stuff 335 00:17:59,560 --> 00:18:01,640 like that. So it wasn't aligned. 336 00:18:01,640 --> 00:18:04,640 It was not congruent with who I am inside. 337 00:18:05,160 --> 00:18:12,320 So I found that I wasn't able to sell that brand as well as I can 338 00:18:12,320 --> 00:18:16,640 just sell myself, right. I was joking with you earlier 339 00:18:16,640 --> 00:18:19,480 that I'm going to try not to swear a lot on your podcast. 340 00:18:19,840 --> 00:18:22,280 But every once in a while, like I would swear in front of a 341 00:18:22,280 --> 00:18:24,360 client. Like in my sales pitch, I'd say 342 00:18:24,360 --> 00:18:26,280 something, something, something and a little, little swear. 343 00:18:26,280 --> 00:18:27,920 We're not a big one would come out. 344 00:18:28,160 --> 00:18:29,840 And I'm like, Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry. 345 00:18:29,840 --> 00:18:33,240 And I've had more than one prospect who turned into a 346 00:18:33,240 --> 00:18:35,920 client saying, oh, that's OK. I actually trust you a little 347 00:18:35,920 --> 00:18:39,160 bit more when you're and I'm like, what? 348 00:18:39,720 --> 00:18:41,200 Like what? But yeah. 349 00:18:41,800 --> 00:18:44,960 It's true your energy is what's going to attract your clients. 350 00:18:44,960 --> 00:18:49,120 So being true to yourself, I hope the listeners just y'all be 351 00:18:49,120 --> 00:18:52,680 yourself. Yeah, that authentic energy that 352 00:18:52,680 --> 00:18:56,200 you're putting forward, Yeah. And it so that that glamorous 353 00:18:56,200 --> 00:18:58,760 function brand that you had was misaligned. 354 00:18:58,800 --> 00:19:01,040 Yeah. Totally, totally. 355 00:19:01,400 --> 00:19:03,440 And I thought that I needed to be designery. 356 00:19:03,440 --> 00:19:05,920 I thought that I needed to look like the other girls, that I was 357 00:19:05,920 --> 00:19:08,480 looking at their websites to see what they were doing. 358 00:19:08,480 --> 00:19:12,800 And 2000, what was this? We really pivoted in 13. 359 00:19:12,960 --> 00:19:15,640 So yeah, social media was out there, but I wasn't on it as 360 00:19:15,640 --> 00:19:17,360 much. But I was still comparing myself 361 00:19:17,360 --> 00:19:22,320 to the designery girls of. Course, yeah, that's what social 362 00:19:22,320 --> 00:19:25,840 media is definitely all about. And the website, of course, the 363 00:19:25,840 --> 00:19:28,080 website's always going to put the best foot forward. 364 00:19:28,080 --> 00:19:32,320 So yeah, it's a trap. Yeah, I love how nowadays we're 365 00:19:32,320 --> 00:19:37,000 definitely much more transparent with each other and really just 366 00:19:37,000 --> 00:19:39,720 trying to build a community where we all rise together. 367 00:19:40,160 --> 00:19:42,840 Yes, a rising tide lifts all boats. 368 00:19:43,520 --> 00:19:47,560 And also I laughed because back in, I guess 2013, when I was 369 00:19:47,560 --> 00:19:51,160 really scrambling to figure out the design part, when I was 370 00:19:51,160 --> 00:19:53,960 asking for help, Rebecca, I think that there was a lot of 371 00:19:53,960 --> 00:19:55,800 designers. It's not that they were being 372 00:19:55,800 --> 00:19:58,120 closed off. Some of them were, but I think 373 00:19:58,120 --> 00:19:59,720 they didn't know what they were doing either. 374 00:19:59,880 --> 00:20:02,720 We were all just kind of floating around trying to look 375 00:20:02,720 --> 00:20:05,320 like we had our shoes. Together, fingers crossed that 376 00:20:05,320 --> 00:20:07,920 we were actually designing correctly and running a business 377 00:20:07,920 --> 00:20:10,200 correctly, yeah. And going to be able to cover 378 00:20:10,200 --> 00:20:13,120 payroll or rent or just whatever P ourselves. 379 00:20:13,200 --> 00:20:15,640 Yeah. Yeah, that's it's not for the 380 00:20:15,640 --> 00:20:18,440 faint of heart. No, let's talk about your design 381 00:20:18,440 --> 00:20:21,600 business now. So you're in the Dallas area 382 00:20:21,800 --> 00:20:22,920 still that's. Correct. 383 00:20:23,000 --> 00:20:24,280 Yeah. Dallas, Fort Worth. 384 00:20:25,040 --> 00:20:30,560 I have gone from a team of two all the way up to a team of 10. 385 00:20:31,120 --> 00:20:36,200 Now I'm back to a team of 2 1/2 and then at some outsource 386 00:20:36,200 --> 00:20:38,000 stuff. We're still in the seven 387 00:20:38,000 --> 00:20:40,360 figures. Some years we're just in the 388 00:20:40,360 --> 00:20:41,560 high sixes. I don't care. 389 00:20:41,560 --> 00:20:44,960 Like as long as I can pay my bills and keep my team happy, 390 00:20:45,360 --> 00:20:48,000 we're not pulling our hair out. We're making a good profit. 391 00:20:48,240 --> 00:20:50,440 I think that's a difference. So my revenue can be in the 392 00:20:50,440 --> 00:20:51,600 seven figures. That's fine. 393 00:20:51,600 --> 00:20:54,400 But if I'm not making a profit, and there's been years where I 394 00:20:54,400 --> 00:20:57,160 was like, dude, that was like really high revenue, right? 395 00:20:57,160 --> 00:20:59,800 Like that was well into the seven figures, but I wasn't 396 00:20:59,800 --> 00:21:03,880 making profit or at least not enough profit to justify how 397 00:21:03,880 --> 00:21:06,120 much work went into that revenue. 398 00:21:06,440 --> 00:21:09,240 So there was a difference. It runs on, I don't want to say 399 00:21:09,240 --> 00:21:14,200 it runs on autopilot, but I don't have to be involved in a 400 00:21:14,200 --> 00:21:18,520 lot of the operations. I can be there as the CEO and 401 00:21:18,640 --> 00:21:21,880 give my opinion like on designs and stuff like that and then 402 00:21:21,880 --> 00:21:23,160 step out. It's great. 403 00:21:23,960 --> 00:21:25,960 If we have a problem client then I get involved. 404 00:21:25,960 --> 00:21:28,960 They still come around once in a while but allows me to really 405 00:21:28,960 --> 00:21:32,800 focus on the other endeavours. I've got a Co working space and 406 00:21:33,320 --> 00:21:35,920 yeah, that's where I'm sitting at right now in my little Zoom 407 00:21:35,920 --> 00:21:39,120 room. OK, the one that you built for 408 00:21:39,120 --> 00:21:40,680 other people to come? For designers. 409 00:21:41,840 --> 00:21:43,560 Or the designer Co-op? Oh, OK. 410 00:21:44,120 --> 00:21:47,400 So it's been fun. It's called Studio Works. 411 00:21:47,400 --> 00:21:50,120 And it was something that I've had in my mind for a long time 412 00:21:50,120 --> 00:21:53,640 because as ML Interiors Group, we need a conference room. 413 00:21:54,040 --> 00:21:58,280 I need a resource room. But I had so much Dead Space 414 00:21:58,320 --> 00:22:00,520 that wasn't getting users like, well, why can't I share it with 415 00:22:00,520 --> 00:22:02,640 other designers so that they don't have to go through all of 416 00:22:02,640 --> 00:22:06,480 the pain in the booty? And so here's a private office, 417 00:22:06,480 --> 00:22:08,800 here's a community lounge, like wherever you want to work, 418 00:22:08,800 --> 00:22:11,360 here's a conference room. You can rent it, use my stuff. 419 00:22:11,840 --> 00:22:14,000 I love that. It hasn't been easy. 420 00:22:14,120 --> 00:22:15,680 I don't know if I'd recommend it. 421 00:22:15,840 --> 00:22:17,600 Oh OK. If y'all are listening and 422 00:22:17,600 --> 00:22:19,800 you're on the Dallas Fort Worth area, come to Studio Works 423 00:22:19,800 --> 00:22:21,640 because I've got 2 offices vacant. 424 00:22:22,160 --> 00:22:25,440 OK, so how is it challenging if you can explain a little bit? 425 00:22:25,880 --> 00:22:30,200 I think in all honesty, I, I probably spread myself too thin. 426 00:22:30,600 --> 00:22:33,360 I thought that I was talking to people like, Oh my God, that's a 427 00:22:33,360 --> 00:22:34,600 great idea. That's a great idea. 428 00:22:34,600 --> 00:22:36,120 Tell me when you open it. Tell me when you open it. 429 00:22:36,440 --> 00:22:38,280 And then I opened it and like nobody would come and sign a 430 00:22:38,280 --> 00:22:39,520 contract. Oh. 431 00:22:39,680 --> 00:22:43,680 I'm like, come on, man, it's just A and now I have help. 432 00:22:43,800 --> 00:22:46,040 So that's actually been fantastic. 433 00:22:46,040 --> 00:22:49,120 Alexis is my concierge and she gets out and helps market and so 434 00:22:49,120 --> 00:22:50,760 forth. But it's just like I get the 435 00:22:50,760 --> 00:22:53,080 place full and then somebody gives their notice and I get the 436 00:22:53,080 --> 00:22:54,640 place full and somebody gives their notice. 437 00:22:54,640 --> 00:22:57,240 So it's just that constant revolution, but. 438 00:22:57,240 --> 00:23:01,320 Do you do anything with like to create community there with the 439 00:23:01,320 --> 00:23:05,080 Co-op to like have Friday happy hour or something like that? 440 00:23:05,440 --> 00:23:08,840 So we tried to do happy hour like networking happy hours, 441 00:23:08,840 --> 00:23:10,520 right? And we would invite other people 442 00:23:10,520 --> 00:23:13,720 in and then it would be just for our tenant or our members and 443 00:23:13,720 --> 00:23:16,080 stuff like that. Dude, I ended up drinking more 444 00:23:16,080 --> 00:23:17,600 of the wine than and bleaching it up. 445 00:23:18,080 --> 00:23:21,080 We have vendors that'll come in that'll do some lunch and learn 446 00:23:21,560 --> 00:23:25,400 or we'll have like a holiday pop up shop and stuff like that. 447 00:23:25,400 --> 00:23:28,240 So we've gotten creative and we do different things like that, 448 00:23:28,680 --> 00:23:31,320 but everybody's just so. Busy, yeah. 449 00:23:31,400 --> 00:23:33,600 If I'm at work and somebody's serving wine, I'm going to take 450 00:23:33,600 --> 00:23:35,120 a glass of wine and go back to my computer. 451 00:23:36,040 --> 00:23:39,080 So I understand that, yeah. Well, it makes sense. 452 00:23:39,080 --> 00:23:40,640 OK, well that's really interesting though. 453 00:23:40,640 --> 00:23:44,120 So it's just a Co working space, not like a buying group or 454 00:23:44,120 --> 00:23:45,760 anything. That's funny you ask. 455 00:23:45,760 --> 00:23:46,960 We were going to do a buying group. 456 00:23:47,120 --> 00:23:49,120 OK. I started it. 457 00:23:49,480 --> 00:23:51,600 I wasn't going to do it well, so I just scrapped it. 458 00:23:51,920 --> 00:23:55,280 It's like, you know what? I don't have the bandwidth to 459 00:23:55,320 --> 00:23:58,400 run a design firm, the Co working place, the coaching. 460 00:23:58,640 --> 00:24:01,840 I have a six year old half the time she was 4. 461 00:24:02,080 --> 00:24:05,600 But I think it's really important that we prioritize and 462 00:24:05,600 --> 00:24:08,640 it's like, could I do it? Yeah, absolutely, absolutely. 463 00:24:08,640 --> 00:24:11,240 And I could do it well. But I would rather spend my time 464 00:24:11,240 --> 00:24:15,240 and my energy focused on my family, focused on my coaching 465 00:24:15,240 --> 00:24:18,560 and my interior design in the actual Co working space. 466 00:24:19,400 --> 00:24:22,760 So I put a a Nix on that. Too many moving parts. 467 00:24:23,120 --> 00:24:26,280 Yeah, and it may be something you revisit later in a different 468 00:24:26,280 --> 00:24:27,760 chapter of life, you know, I'm thinking. 469 00:24:27,760 --> 00:24:30,880 About doing it for the bakers. Oh, OK, so. 470 00:24:30,880 --> 00:24:34,360 Yeah, we've got options. If the need is there, I'd like 471 00:24:34,360 --> 00:24:38,600 to fill it, but only if I don't embarrass myself, because that's 472 00:24:38,600 --> 00:24:41,880 what I'll tell clients sometimes if they call for the design 473 00:24:41,880 --> 00:24:44,960 business, if they call and they have a project that's maybe too 474 00:24:44,960 --> 00:24:48,760 small, it's like, I'd love to help you, but I have all these 475 00:24:48,760 --> 00:24:51,840 other large projects going on. And what I would hate to do is 476 00:24:51,840 --> 00:24:55,120 embarrass myself and disappoint you because you're going to get 477 00:24:55,120 --> 00:24:57,360 lost in the shuffle. Yeah, right. 478 00:24:57,880 --> 00:25:00,560 I don't want to embarrass myself and disappoint my clients, 479 00:25:00,760 --> 00:25:02,160 whoever they are. Yeah. 480 00:25:02,200 --> 00:25:06,480 So you have a community that you could pass smaller jobs to refer 481 00:25:06,480 --> 00:25:07,640 out? Yeah, that's nice. 482 00:25:07,920 --> 00:25:09,440 Yeah, that part definitely is helpful. 483 00:25:09,720 --> 00:25:11,440 Yeah. So how would you say the 484 00:25:11,440 --> 00:25:15,640 percentages from your design business to your other things 485 00:25:15,640 --> 00:25:20,280 like how much are you designing to coaching to other stuff? 486 00:25:20,840 --> 00:25:23,440 You know, I've really been trying to put my finger on that. 487 00:25:24,680 --> 00:25:28,560 I have a review and planning guide that that I give away and 488 00:25:28,560 --> 00:25:31,760 I use it myself just like what can I outsource, where am I 489 00:25:31,760 --> 00:25:34,920 spending my time and so forth. And there has not been any 490 00:25:34,920 --> 00:25:38,160 consistency. I'm weeks I am just eyeballs 491 00:25:38,160 --> 00:25:40,360 deep in the design side of the business. 492 00:25:40,520 --> 00:25:43,080 When we've been going through the rebrand and we're moving 493 00:25:43,080 --> 00:25:44,680 things over to a different software. 494 00:25:44,680 --> 00:25:48,360 We're moving, we're integrating a lot of the coaching stuff onto 495 00:25:48,360 --> 00:25:50,960 side Mark because there's a membership side there. 496 00:25:51,240 --> 00:25:55,360 So I've been like over the past few months very coaching side 497 00:25:55,360 --> 00:26:00,320 business and then it starts all over again and it's more focus 498 00:26:00,320 --> 00:26:02,760 on side marker, more focus on studio work. 499 00:26:02,760 --> 00:26:06,120 So I have 0 answer. The bottom line. 500 00:26:06,120 --> 00:26:07,680 Yeah, I'm. Sure, it is like an ebb and 501 00:26:07,680 --> 00:26:11,240 float depend what is heating up at the moment, yeah. 502 00:26:11,520 --> 00:26:13,760 And then I feel like I'm like, proactive, right? 503 00:26:13,760 --> 00:26:16,080 It's like, OK, I can be proactive and plan for this, 504 00:26:16,080 --> 00:26:18,720 this and this, and then something wheels off and I'm 505 00:26:18,720 --> 00:26:20,320 like pulled in another direction. 506 00:26:20,400 --> 00:26:22,960 So just try to be flexible. And yeah. 507 00:26:23,600 --> 00:26:25,840 Yeah, yeah. And we had Ben Rutledge on a 508 00:26:25,840 --> 00:26:28,840 while back to talk about Sidemark and I know that you are 509 00:26:28,840 --> 00:26:31,840 a part of that kind of talk about your hand in that program. 510 00:26:32,080 --> 00:26:35,680 Yeah, absolutely. In fact, Thank you, Sidemark. 511 00:26:36,000 --> 00:26:40,120 So, OK, I get so excited talking about business coming out of 512 00:26:40,120 --> 00:26:42,040 corporate, OK. I was running a sales 513 00:26:42,040 --> 00:26:44,600 organization within this recruiting firm. 514 00:26:44,640 --> 00:26:48,440 I was in charge of the division that was having a lot of sales 515 00:26:48,880 --> 00:26:52,240 in sales. We had a software that allowed 516 00:26:52,240 --> 00:26:55,720 us to keep track of our conversations, to run our e-mail 517 00:26:55,720 --> 00:26:57,440 blast. It's like do all the things. 518 00:26:57,800 --> 00:27:01,600 When I left that job and I was running my own business, I've 519 00:27:01,600 --> 00:27:05,480 been looking for something that would allow me to consolidate 520 00:27:05,480 --> 00:27:08,240 all of the software pieces that I've been, again, 521 00:27:08,240 --> 00:27:11,600 Frankensteining together. Like you've got MailChimp and 522 00:27:11,600 --> 00:27:15,320 then you've got Zoho and then you've got Calendly and then 523 00:27:15,320 --> 00:27:19,440 you've got DocuSign and then you have the shoot whatever we were 524 00:27:19,440 --> 00:27:23,920 using for social media and it was just, it was costing me like 525 00:27:23,920 --> 00:27:26,480 500 bucks a month for all these little subscriptions. 526 00:27:27,200 --> 00:27:31,520 So Ben and I were working on my ML Interiors Group website. 527 00:27:31,520 --> 00:27:33,520 He was designing it. We were talking about things and 528 00:27:33,520 --> 00:27:37,800 he's like, hey, I have the ability to get this type of 529 00:27:37,800 --> 00:27:41,400 software that does all these things and he's like, are you 530 00:27:41,400 --> 00:27:42,760 in? Would you be interested in 531 00:27:42,760 --> 00:27:45,560 something about that? I was like, shut the front door, 532 00:27:45,560 --> 00:27:47,080 Ben. I've been looking for that for a 533 00:27:47,080 --> 00:27:50,480 decade now. And basically what it is, it's a 534 00:27:50,480 --> 00:27:54,080 white label of a platform called Go High Level that is like this 535 00:27:54,240 --> 00:28:01,000 big old badass software program. And then we took that platform 536 00:28:01,080 --> 00:28:04,640 and designed it for designers. Any designer can go sign up for 537 00:28:04,640 --> 00:28:07,600 Go High Level, right? But we've created the templates 538 00:28:07,600 --> 00:28:11,280 and the workflows and all the things and made it pretty for 539 00:28:11,280 --> 00:28:14,200 designers. And so now, like I built my 540 00:28:14,200 --> 00:28:19,320 website for the design bake house on that platform and it's 541 00:28:19,320 --> 00:28:22,120 got SEO and it has all the things. 542 00:28:22,560 --> 00:28:25,840 So that has been a lot of fun over the past couple years as 543 00:28:25,840 --> 00:28:27,240 well. That launched at about the same 544 00:28:27,240 --> 00:28:29,720 time as Studio Works. And I do not recommend 2 545 00:28:29,720 --> 00:28:34,320 businesses starting at once. So yeah, that has been really a 546 00:28:34,320 --> 00:28:37,640 benefit to ML Interiors Group because I have everything housed 547 00:28:37,640 --> 00:28:40,120 there. Like I can take payment and it 548 00:28:40,120 --> 00:28:42,800 drops into QuickBooks. I can send invoices. 549 00:28:42,800 --> 00:28:45,360 I use a different platform for that, but I can do that. 550 00:28:45,360 --> 00:28:48,640 Like for our initial visit, I can get signatures on the 551 00:28:48,640 --> 00:28:51,080 contracts and then it automatically attaches to the 552 00:28:51,080 --> 00:28:53,280 client's file. It's been a game changer. 553 00:28:53,560 --> 00:28:57,640 Wow, that's great. Yeah, yeah, I like that you you 554 00:28:57,640 --> 00:29:01,720 were able to white label it, but then make it for designers. 555 00:29:01,720 --> 00:29:04,400 So it's just ready to go, has all the templates and. 556 00:29:05,040 --> 00:29:08,800 Just this is what you need. You can create your like the 557 00:29:08,800 --> 00:29:12,320 forms where you can create your own lead magnets or you can do 558 00:29:12,320 --> 00:29:14,440 quizzes through it. You can do webinars through it. 559 00:29:14,440 --> 00:29:18,200 Like all of this stuff is built in and it consolidated 560 00:29:18,200 --> 00:29:21,120 everything so that you are almost one and done. 561 00:29:21,120 --> 00:29:23,840 Like put your e-mail list together because we have to have 562 00:29:23,840 --> 00:29:26,120 e-mail lists. The social media stuff is great, 563 00:29:26,360 --> 00:29:28,440 but e-mail list is where it's at. 564 00:29:28,440 --> 00:29:31,320 That's where the money is. Yeah, I agree. 565 00:29:31,600 --> 00:29:35,000 Yeah, wow. You're just a powerhouse. 566 00:29:35,000 --> 00:29:38,960 You have so many things going that are helpful to everybody 567 00:29:38,960 --> 00:29:41,440 and to your own business. I've just. 568 00:29:41,600 --> 00:29:43,560 Been loving talking with you Michelle. 569 00:29:43,760 --> 00:29:46,120 Well, thank you. I I wouldn't say powerhouse, I 570 00:29:46,120 --> 00:29:48,920 would just say when I find a good recipe I like to share it 571 00:29:49,160 --> 00:29:53,000 very. Well, what other information or 572 00:29:53,000 --> 00:29:56,000 advice would you have for a designer who's up and coming, or 573 00:29:56,000 --> 00:29:58,640 even someone thinking about changing careers like you did 574 00:29:58,640 --> 00:30:00,880 and becoming an interior designer maybe didn't have the 575 00:30:00,880 --> 00:30:03,400 schooling for it? Don't do it alone. 576 00:30:03,760 --> 00:30:06,680 There are a lot of resources out there now. 577 00:30:07,240 --> 00:30:09,880 Yeah, don't do it alone. I joke that there's enough ugly 578 00:30:09,880 --> 00:30:13,080 houses for all the designers. Find a business coach. 579 00:30:13,560 --> 00:30:15,800 OK, Find a business coach. Get the help. 580 00:30:15,800 --> 00:30:17,880 It can be me. It can be anybody. 581 00:30:18,120 --> 00:30:21,160 Do some interviews, like figure out who you vibe with. 582 00:30:21,400 --> 00:30:23,720 And it's the same thing we were talking about earlier. 583 00:30:24,000 --> 00:30:26,360 It's like, whose energy are you attracted to? 584 00:30:26,600 --> 00:30:29,280 Who's talked the talk and walked the walk? 585 00:30:29,520 --> 00:30:32,720 Yeah. And so it's just like we want 586 00:30:32,720 --> 00:30:37,760 our interior design clients to get to know us and understand 587 00:30:37,760 --> 00:30:42,520 how we work as a new designer coming into the market, get to 588 00:30:42,520 --> 00:30:46,360 know a coach and figure out how they work and take advantage of 589 00:30:46,360 --> 00:30:50,120 that because our program will take you in a year and move you 590 00:30:50,120 --> 00:30:53,560 five years ahead. So it's what I call bending 591 00:30:53,560 --> 00:30:56,040 time. So any good coach should be able 592 00:30:56,040 --> 00:30:58,520 to do that for you. Well, that's great, Michelle. 593 00:30:58,520 --> 00:30:59,840 Great advice. Thank you. 594 00:30:59,840 --> 00:31:02,880 We're going to put your contact information in the show notes so 595 00:31:02,880 --> 00:31:05,120 everybody can find you and reach out to you. 596 00:31:05,320 --> 00:31:08,440 Thank you and learn about all that you have to offer. 597 00:31:08,440 --> 00:31:10,880 So thank you for coming on Design Curies today. 598 00:31:11,000 --> 00:31:13,800 Oh my gosh, it's so much fun. I always enjoy connecting with 599 00:31:13,800 --> 00:31:15,560 you, Rebecca. Thanks for having me. 600 00:31:22,480 --> 00:31:26,400 OK, so if you're interested in working with Michelle, listening 601 00:31:26,400 --> 00:31:29,880 to her podcast, finding out more about her, we have her contact 602 00:31:29,880 --> 00:31:32,360 information in the show now. It's very easy for you to get 603 00:31:32,360 --> 00:31:35,440 there. And while you're at it, check 604 00:31:35,440 --> 00:31:37,920 out some of the other great things we have for you. 605 00:31:38,320 --> 00:31:44,520 We have downloads, free guides, a quiz, and information about my 606 00:31:44,520 --> 00:31:46,440 design mentor all in one place for you. 607 00:31:46,960 --> 00:31:49,840 So go check that out. Don't forget to leave me a 608 00:31:49,840 --> 00:31:52,640 rating and review or some feedback on what you like 609 00:31:52,640 --> 00:31:55,040 hearing on the podcast or maybe there's something that you 610 00:31:55,040 --> 00:31:58,240 haven't heard me talk about yet. Go ahead and leave that in the 611 00:31:58,240 --> 00:32:01,520 review and let me know or send me Adm on Instagram. 612 00:32:01,760 --> 00:32:04,440 I'd love to talk with you. All right, that's it for this 613 00:32:04,440 --> 00:32:06,360 week. Next week we'll have another 614 00:32:06,360 --> 00:32:09,280 great episode. And until then, stay creative. 615 00:32:10,760 --> 00:32:13,800 Thanks for listening. If you love this episode, please 616 00:32:13,800 --> 00:32:16,240 leave a rating and a review. This helps me reach. 617 00:32:16,280 --> 00:32:18,120 Other curious creatives like you. 618 00:32:18,800 --> 00:32:21,520 If you have a topic request. Or would like to contact me? 619 00:32:21,880 --> 00:32:23,640 Simply. Head over to my website 620 00:32:23,840 --> 00:32:28,080 awarddesign.com or e-mail me. At podcast. 621 00:32:28,120 --> 00:32:29,960 At award. Design.com.