Trade Tales

Zoe Feldman got some surprising advice just as she was starting to feel settled in her business: While she thought she couldn’t afford to hire more employees, she was told that if she wanted to keep delivering a high level of service, she couldn’t afford not to. On this episode of the podcast, she shares why she’s introduced a scaled-down option to her design offerings for clients who just want good advice, the many ways she has built philanthropy into the fabric of her firm, and why she insists that clients don’t really want full transparency.

This episode was sponsored by Universal Furniture and High Point Market.

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Zoe Feldman
Kaitlin Petersen
Business of Home

Courtney McLeod's early encounter with a take-charge client left her project in ruins—and almost derailed her firm’s growth. The story of her rebound is a masterclass in taking steps to secure your clients’ trust before it’s too late. On this episode of the podcast, she shares how her first showhouse experience provided her business with an unexpected lifeline, why she always asks clients to define what a successful project means to them,  and how she’s finding purpose in creating opportunities for the industry’s underrepresented groups. 

This episode was sponsored by Universal Furniture and High Point Market.

LINKS
Courtney McLeod
Kaitlin Petersen
Business of Home

Miranda Cullen felt like she cracked the code to no longer leaving money on the table when she created a new business model that could make a profit on time billing alone, which meant that her firm wouldn’t have to turn away inquiries for small jobs. Then, she realized the concept had that potential to expand far beyond her firm. On this episode of the podcast, she shares how separating from her business partner has taught her to trust her intuition, why she’s looking to franchise her firm’s unique micro-design concept, and why she’s already envisioning her company’s exit strategy.

This episode was sponsored by Universal Furniture and Maison et Objet.  

LINKS
Miranda Cullen
Kaitlin Petersen
Business of Home

At a certain point in his firm's journey, Dane Austin decided to abandon the pressure for perfection and instead tell clients the truth about the design process—the good, the bad and the ugly. By restructuring his business around a radically transparent approach, he’s transformed the design process for his clients, his employees and finally, himself. 

This episode was sponsored by Universal Furniture and Maison et Objet.  

LINKS
Dane Austin 
Kaitlin Petersen
Business of Home

Regan Baker has a unique claim to fame: she’s hired three of her former clients as employees. On this episode of the podcast, she explains why they all wanted to work for her once their projects wrapped, and how they each brought invaluable insights from other industries that turbocharged the business’s growth. She also shared what it feels like to step away from the work you love in order to expand your team, and which roles to hire first if you want to get growth right.

This episode was sponsored by Universal Furniture and Maison et Objet.  

LINKS
Regan Baker
Kaitlin Petersen
Business of Home

For years, Kevin Isbell was the right-hand man for top interior designers from coast to coast. Eventually, it came time to take what he’d learned and embark on a new journey at the helm of his own firm—a sink-or-swim moment that revealed just how daunting the route to design leader can be. In this episode, he shares how he found his footing as design principal and enlisted a support system to help him stay afloat.

LINKS
Kevin Isbell
Kaitlin Petersen
Business of Home

When Noz Nozawa left her 9-to-5 marketing job to start her design business, she took a major gamble with her career. It was in that precarious state that the San Francisco designer grabbed hold of what she could control, namely by tightening her purse strings. The firm’s slow, incremental growth worked to a point—until suddenly, Nozawa switched gears. In this episode of the podcast, she tells host Kaitlin Petersen about abandoning that scarcity-focused mindset, investing in her team’s wellbeing, and envisioning a future in which the industry starts to disclose its pricing.

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Noz Nozawa
Kaitlin Petersen
Business of Home

In the earliest days of Bria Hammel’s design business, landing a partnership with a construction firm offered her what every fresh designer dreams of: the chance to build a business with the certainty of a steady stream of projects coming down the pipeline. Of course, the firm eventually reached a point where letting go of that safety net was the only way to vet and choose a more specific clientele—and in doing so, craft an identity for the business that would take it to the next level.

This episode was sponsored by The Savannah College of Art and Design. 

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Bria Hammel
Kaitlin Petersen
Business of Home

Katie Vance kicked off the current phase of her career a decade ago, as the sole interior designer at an architecture firm. Since then, a lot has changed—largely thanks to Vance’s efforts to oversee the practice’s transformation into a thriving design-build studio. In this episode, she explains how that shift fostered an affinity for risk-taking that carries through to this day.

This episode was sponsored by The Savannah College of Art and Design. 

LINKS
Ahmad AbouZanat
Kaitlin Petersen
Business of Home

Ahmad AbouZanat’s early design gigs took him from Beirut to Houston and back again, before he finally settled in New York to launch his own firm. When a series of setbacks knocked his business off track, he almost folded the venture. Instead, he decided to double time his operational efforts and find new ways to put his firm on the map.

This episode was sponsored by The Savannah College of Art and Design. 

LINKS
Ahmad AbouZanat
Kaitlin Petersen
Business of Home

Kelly Collier-Clark scaled up her business quickly, tackling full service projects, e-design, real estate services and podcasting in short order, all while juggling a full-time job. Then the pace began to pick up—and suddenly, her business began to feel like a many-headed monster. As she reckoned with how to move forward, she realized she would have to reconsider the reason she launched her business in the first place in order to find meaningful growth.

This episode was sponsored by The Savannah College of Art and Design. 

LINKS
Kelly Collier-Clark
Kaitlin Petersen
Business of Home

Katie Monkhouse’s firm was moving along at a rapid pace—taking on new employees, new clients and new real estate before she even had a chance to envision its future. To keep the situation from spinning out of control, she enlisted the help of a business coach and soon came to a realization: in order to move her firm forward, she’d have to look inward first.

This episode was sponsored by The Shade Store and Mitchell Gold + Bob Williams.

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Katie Monkhouse
Kaitlin Petersen
Business of Home

Christine Vroom embarked on her design career at the ripe age of 16, and stuck with it through job detours and personal struggles alike. After recovering from a mental health crisis, she took on her biggest challenge yet: building a healthier design process—without sacrificing her firm’s upward climb.

This episode was sponsored by The Shade Store and Mitchell Gold + Bob Williams.

LINKS
Christine Vroom
Kaitlin Petersen
Business of Home

Byron Risdon has always known how to rise to the occasion—whether it was landing his first design job with no prior experience, or launching his business in a week’s time to take on his first solo project. Now, as he grows his firm, he’s letting go of the guilt that comes with no longer working overtime, and is instead learning to embrace the art of slowing down.

This episode was sponsored by Universal Furniture and Savannah College of Art and Design.

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Byron Risdon
Kaitlin Petersen
Business of Home

When Sarah Goesling entered the design industry, she was intent on learning it all: from plumbing to project management, no aspect of the job was too challenging to take on. After launching her own firm in 2019, she maintained the same ethos. In this episode, she shares why she’s unwilling to settle into a comfortable routine with her business, how she’s creating a company culture that fosters growth and development, and why she recently realized a longtime dream by tapping her sister to launch a brand development and trend forecasting agency within the firm. 

This episode was sponsored by Universal Furniture and Savannah College of Art and Design.

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Sarah Goesling
Kaitlin Petersen
Business of Home

Pure Salt designers Aly Morford and Leigh Lincoln were always on the same page when it came to interiors. In building out their portfolio and executing early designs, it was smooth sailing. When it came time to confront the bigger decisions necessary to building their business, they started to hit their first roadblocks—overcoming them would not only make their partnership stronger, but unlock new ambitions of taking their firm to the next level.

This episode is sponsored by Universal Furniture and Savannah College of Art and Design. 

LINKS
Pure Salt 
Kaitlin Petersen
Business of Home

Jenny Wolf spent nearly a decade at her dream job before realizing her true passion was for design—so, she decided to go back to square one and start a new career. Then, years after launching her own firm, she felt the calling to pivot once again. This time, she would have to get strategic about structuring her existing business in order to make way for something new.

This episode is sponsored by High Point Market. 

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Jenny Wolf
Kaitlin Petersen
Business of Home

Even though Eva Bradley and Alicia Cheung Lichtenstein grew up halfway across the world (hailing from Switzerland and California, respectively) their first encounters within the walls of a lauded San Francisco design firm made it clear that they were destined to be working partners. After departing to start their own business, their two-person design process proved to be seamless. They’d fallen into a perfect rhythm—and yet, it was completely at odds with their ultimate goals of growing the business with the addition of new team members, all with their own working styles and responsibilities. As they soon discovered, disentangling from each other would be the best path to scaling up.

This episode is sponsored by High Point Market. 

LINKS
Studio Heimat
Kaitlin Petersen
Business of Home

Nina Magon entered the interior design industry with an instinct for the business side of things—whether it was employing her design school professors to pitch in on projects for her just-launched firm, or later using her rooky status on a design TV show to scale up her portfolio. As her firm enters the next phase, she’s focused on finding ways to shape up her team and her business’s back-end to provide the ideal luxury experience to clients.

LINKS
Nina Magon
Kaitlin Petersen
Business of Home

Erin Gates has a special talent for identifying untapped potential: She started her own firm geared toward young professionals in Boston in 2007, finding great success among an underserved clientele; she was also an early design blogger, part of a shift that would transform the design industry (and send her own career skyrocketing). In this episode, the Wellesley, Massachusetts–based designer explains how she stayed authentic amid pressure to bend, how she finds team members that support her vision, and why she’s so excited about the new hire keeping her firm’s operations in check. 

LINKS
Erin Gates
Kaitlin Petersen
Business of Home

Rachel Halvorson started her firm in the wake of the recession, and found sudden success with celebrity clients and magazine covers all in the first years of her business. As she’d come to find out, establishing boundaries would be the only way to keep her fast-growing project pipeline from spilling over into all-out chaos.

This episode is sponsored by Daniel House Club.

LINKS
Rachel Halvorson
Kaitlin Petersen
Business of Home

Delia Kenza rose quickly through the world of design when a chance encounter landed her home in the pages of a magazine. While her business benefited from the structure of design platform Homepolish in its early years, going out on her own would mean establishing systems to help her firm keep up with the rising popularity—and making sure those same processes would anchor her firm for the long haul.

This episode is sponsored by Daniel House Club.

LINKS
Delia Kenza
Kaitlin Petersen
Business of Home

When Meg Lonergan embarked on her design career, it seemed that her biggest hurdle was demonstrating to the rest of the design industry that despite her nontraditional education and early career experiences, she was just as talented and qualified as any other successful firm owner. Then, a near-total firm meltdown during the pandemic led her to a stunning realization: The biggest obstacle standing in the way of her firm’s growth was herself. 

This episode is sponsored by Daniel House Club and The Shade Store

LINKS
Meg Lonergan
Kaitlin Petersen
Business of Home

After launching Foley & Cox in 2002, Michael Cox and his partner Mary Foley led the business through every high and low the industry had in store—including a recession, periods of rapid growth and multiple generations of clients—and refined their processes bit by bit with each new challenge and achievement. Now, the firm has fixed its focus on an even greater goal: finding new ways to nurture the next generation of design talent.

This episode is sponsored by Daniel House Club and The Shade Store

LINKS
Foley & Cox
Kaitlin Petersen
Business of Home

Shaun Crha’s career kicked off with a steady rise into the high-stakes world of banking. When the stress of the job nearly pushed him to a breaking point in his health, however, he decided to instead pursue a calling that aligned more closely with his values, and soon combined his business acumen with a long-overlooked creative spark to start his own design business. Just when the firm hit its peak, however, a family emergency brought everything crashing down around Crha once again. It was then that the designer reached another realization: It was time to rethink everything, starting with the inner workings of his business. 

LINKS
Sean Crha
Kaitlin Petersen
Business of Home

This episode was sponsored by Atlanta Market and Currey & Company.

Lucy O’Brien has never been afraid to go after what she wants—before she’d even booked her first clients, she showed up to High Point Market entirely on her own to learn from the industry’s best before embarking on a career in design. Which is why, during the first few years of her firm’s existence, she decided to transform her business’s operations with the goal of only taking on ideal clients and projects. In this conversation, she shares why she’s so straightforward with clients about her cost structure, the test she uses to identify her employees’ instincts, and why she’s looking for inspiration outside of social media. 

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Lucy O'Brien
Kaitlin Petersen
Business of Home

This episode was sponsored by Atlanta Market and Currey & Company.

Amy Sklar’s early career was a full-circle journey that took her from design to show business and back again. When she finally landed at the helm of her own firm after starting her career within the strict confines of an architecture firm, she thrived on the ability to instate a supportive work culture and take on projects that place a premium on comfort and functionality. The financial side of things, however, didn’t come quite as easily. In this conversation, she shares the pivot that pushed her to finally bring in revenue, how deliverables define each step of her firm’s process, and why she wants employees to feel like they work with her, not for her.  

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Amy Sklar
Kaitlin Petersen
Business of Home

This episode was sponsored by Universal Furniture and Gabby.

Like many designers, Ashley Ross left a successful corporate career in order to pursue her dreams of design—a history she’s shared with her dedicated online following. What those followers didn’t know, however, is that her previous chapter didn’t end as early as she’d initially let on. In this conversation, she explains why staying aligned with her original commitment to authenticity meant dismantling the idea of what an ideal design career should look like.

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Ashley Ross
Kaitlin Petersen
Business of Home

This episode was sponsored by Universal Furniture and Currey & Company.

As an expat born and raised in Kuwait, Rydhima Brar’s career was defined in large part by visa restrictions for more than a decade. Working in marketing and business strategy roles, she kept changing industries—from banking and finance to gaming and beauty—hoping that a new category would ignite her passion for the work, but each role left her unfulfilled. After a series of major life changes finally afforded her the freedom to explore new paths, she soon found herself embarking on a journey to bring her clients’ stories to life through their homes. 

LINKS
Rydhima Brar
Kaitlin Petersen
Business of Home

This episode was sponsored by Universal Furniture and Currey & Company.

Nina Magon entered the interior design industry with an instinct for the business side of things—whether it was employing her design school professors to pitch in on projects for her just-launched firm, or later using her rooky status on a design TV show to scale up her portfolio. As her firm enters the next phase, she’s focused on finding ways to shape up her team and her business’s back-end to provide the ideal luxury experience to clients.

LINKS
Nina Magon
Kaitlin Petersen
Business of Home

This episode was sponsored by Universal Furniture and Currey & Company.

Following a first career in law, Clara Jung became accustomed to a cutthroat, high pressure work environment. When she left her life as an attorney for a shot at interior design, she decided to do things a little differently. Now, at the helm of Banner Day Interiors, she’s crafting a work culture focused on employee growth and support, while also figuring out how to structure a firm that can run on its own—even if that means sometimes taking herself out of the equation.

LINKS
Clara Jung
Kaitlin Petersen
Business of Home

This episode was sponsored by Universal Furniture and Currey & Company.

Lauren Caron’s visual merchandising career kicked off with a long-term plan for climbing the corporate ladder at elite department store Bergdorf’s. Thanks to a lot of hard work, however, her dream came a little sooner than she expected—and turned out to be a little bit of a nightmare as well. Burnt out and in desperate need of a creative career that would give her control over the boundaries between life and work, she soon left her job to start a design business of her own. In this episode, she shares the strategies she put in place to protect her energy as she grows her firm—including the formula that helps her choose which projects to take on, why a “less is more” approach improved her portfolio, and how a recent rebrand brought her closer to her ideal clients. 

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Lauren Caron
Kaitlin Petersen
Business of Home

This episode was sponsored by Jaipur Living and Savannah College of Art and Design.

Gala Magriñá’s early career years taught her to think about design as it applied to a wide variety of spaces. As a visual merchandiser by day and a set designer by night, she created spaces for store windows, showrooms and retail shops as well as music videos and film sets. Her experience soon spawned the creation of a do-it-all agency—one that Magrina has since whittled down into a holistic interior design firm, geared toward getting to the bottom of how spaces can positively impact the health and wellness of those inhabiting them.

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Gala Magriñá
Kaitlin Petersen
Business of Home

This episode was sponsored by Jaipur Living and Savannah College of Art and Design.

For years, Kevin Isbell was the right-hand man for top interior designers from coast to coast. Eventually, it came time to take what he’d learned and embark on a new journey at the helm of his own firm—a sink-or-swim moment that revealed just how daunting the route to design leader can be. In this episode, he shares how he found his footing as design principal and enlisted a support system to help him stay afloat.

LINKS
Kevin Isbell
Kaitlin Petersen
Business of Home

This episode was sponsored by Moore & Giles and Gabby.

Alvin Wayne spent years juggling a double career in luxury retail and interior design. But when the pandemic happened, he was hit with a realization: it was finally time to wholeheartedly pursue his passion for interiors. Now, he’s committed to crafting a firm that serves him best—between his penchant for shopping retail, his streamlined client vetting process and his growing social media presence, he’s using his exacting attitude to bring his business to new heights.

LINKS
Alvin Wayne
Kaitlin Petersen
Business of Home

This episode was sponsored by Moore & Giles and Gabby.

When searching for a potential career, Tina Ramchandani set off in search of an “aha” moment—and she finally found it in the stunning interiors of an opulent hotel. The realization sent her on a path through design school, positions at both commercial and residential firms, and finally at the helm of her own firm, where she’s helping clients channel their own instincts to create emotionally-connected interiors.

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Tina Ramchandani
Kaitlin Petersen
Business of Home

This episode was sponsored by The Container Store and The Shade Store.

Interior design was basically the family business for Meagan Camp, whose mother, grandparents and even great-grandparents all worked as design professionals. Though she worked as a stylist for nearly a decade, Camp couldn’t escape the pull of creating enduring spaces and eventually started a firm of her own. From there, she committed to doing things her own way—from quitting social media to redefining the luxury experience for her clients.

LINKS
Meagan Camp
Kaitlin Petersen
Business of Home

This episode was sponsored by The Container Store and The Shade Store.

When DuVäl Reynolds realized interior design was the career path for him, he went all-in—working a full time day job, attending design school at night and starting a fledgling firm along the way. The real work began when he started developing the finer points of his firm—including the clients he worked best with, an ideal support staff, and the side projects that put his personal aesthetic to the test.

LINKS
DuVäl Reynolds
Kaitlin Petersen
Business of Home

This episode was sponsored by SideDoor.

Virginia Toledo always knew she was fated for a career in interiors. Jessica Geller, meanwhile, took a more winding road into the industry. When the two crossed paths, it was the start of a winning partnership—and despite taking significant hits during the recession and the pandemic, their design business bounced back stronger each time. Now, the duo is navigating a new period of significant growth, and realizing the importance of owning the role of business owner.

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Toledo Geller
Kaitlin Petersen
Business of Home

This episode was sponsored by The Shade Store.

After a decade in the  fashion industry left her feeling unfulfilled, Linda Hayslett was looking for a new way to channel her creativity. When she finally switched gears to pursue interior design, she made it her mission to take control of her career. In this episode, she shares why overseeing projects from construction to completion has been a top priority, and how she’s getting intentional about her firm’s growth to ensure that the business can withstand any economic turbulence.

LINKS
Linda Hayslett
Kaitlin Petersen
Business of Home

This episode was sponsored by Universal and SideDoor.

Erin Gates has a special talent for identifying untapped potential: She started her own firm geared toward young professionals in Boston in 2007, finding great success among an underserved clientele; she was also an early design blogger, part of a shift that would transform the design industry (and send her own career skyrocketing). In this episode, the Wellesley, Massachusetts–based designer explains how she stayed authentic amid pressure to bend, how she finds team members that support her vision, and why she’s so excited about the new hire keeping her firm’s operations in check. 

LINKS
Erin Gates
Kaitlin Petersen
Business of Home

This episode was sponsored by Universal and SideDoor.

When Nicole White left her first career in journalism to go all-in on design, she ran straight into a scenario even more frightening than hurricane-chasing and crime reporting—starting a small business at the beginning of the recession. She took whatever odd jobs she could get as she recovered financially from the risk, before taking the leap a second time. Nearly a decade later, she’s sharing a few lessons from the other side, including the balance between brand-building and daily operations, how a good accountant can clear the way for great design, and why owning up to your mistakes can strengthen your client relationships—and your firm’s integrity.

LINKS
Nicole White
Kaitlin Petersen
Business of Home

This episode was sponsored by Universal and SideDoor.

Following first careers in different industries, Christina Samatas and Renee DiSanto joined forces to found their firm, Park & Oak, with a flexibility that could work with their schedules as busy parents. After posting a few early project photos on then-budding social media site Instagram, the client inquiries started flooding in—and almost overnight, the Glen Ellyn, Illinois–based duo found themselves faced with the challenges of newfound success. Since then, they’ve used each experience to refine their process and create a better design experience for their clients, employees and themselves—all on their own terms.

LINKS
Park & Oak
Kaitlin Petersen
Business of Home

Philadelphia-based interior designer Nile Johnson scored a dream client, one so good that she recommended him to all her friends. One in particular reached out to Johnson for a project, and he took it despite knowing the chemistry wasn't quite right. The project got off to an awkward start and never improved—but after the dust settled, Johnson revamped his firm, drawing on lessons he'd learned. Today, he's rebuilt his process in a way that allows him to be creative while letting the client feel in control of the process. It's a story about learning what to let go of, and what to hold on to.

Links
Nile Johnson
Kaitlin Petersen
Business of Home

After rising through the ranks at an established design firm, Emilie Munroe felt the pull to start a firm of her own. But instead of rushing out the door with a new brand, the San Francisco–designer made space for her own aesthetic—and her firm—to develop over time. Along the way, she’s discovered that giving clients options makes for a more meaningful design process, and has developed a clear-eyed view on building a team that can support the firm’s growth.

LINKS
Emilie Munroe
Kaitlin Petersen
Business of Home

Rasheeda Gray was successfully climbing the corporate ladder when she realized she needed to make a change to find her passion and purpose. She went back to school for interior design, founded her business, began connecting with her first clients—and even made her first hire a year before exiting her day job. On this episode of the podcast, she shares what it takes to execute a major career pivot, from setting up the business and leaning into the role of entrepreneur, to doing the "mindset work" needed to successfully make the shift.

LINKS
Rasheeda Gray
Kaitlin Petersen
Business of Home

From building a team to navigating the industry’s supply chain challenges, Ramey Caulkins draws on lessons learned from her early career in sales at Ann Sacks. Today, the Denver–based designer is meeting the moment by building a supportive framework for her latest hires and tapping vendor relationships to find new solutions.

This episode is sponsored by Gaggenau and Sidedoor. 

LINKS
Ramey Caulkins
Kaitlin Petersen
Business of Home

During his first career as a tax lawyer, Dan Rak didn’t have much bandwidth to dip his toes into interior design. Instead, he focused on the one space he had unlimited access to: —his own house. Soon enough, Rak was moonlighting as a house flipper and quickly realizing that it was time to go all-in on his design hobby. Now firmly established, he’s focused on taking his business to the next level by building his team thoughtfully and fine-tuning his process to provide clients with a top-notch design experience from start to finish.  

This episode is sponsored by Gaggenau and Sidedoor.

LINKS
Dan Rak
Kaitlin Petersen
Business of Home

Modeling, acting, nursing and beauty school—Michel Smith Boyd tried it all before an encounter with an interior designer sealed his fate and sent him back to school to begin the journey toward the rest of his career. While still a design undergrad, he landed his first big gig—a one-night affair designing an extravagant party for a marketing executive. Though the event launched the young designer into a world of affluent clients and fast fame, he’s now revisiting his business practices to retread the basic steps he missed before.

This episode is sponsored by Saltwolf and Gaggenau

LINKS
Michel Smith Boyd
Kaitlin Petersen
Business of Home

Katie Hodges’s first big client felt like a dream come true—a gorgeous luxury home, flexible clients and a project that ultimately landed a glossy feature in a major magazine. The same structure, it turned out, was a nightmare with one of her next clients. Though the experience was bad enough to make the Los Angeles designer consider quitting, she instead took a long hard look at her contract and fee structure—a process that transformed the way she now runs her firm.

This episode is sponsored by Saltwolf and Gaggenau

LINKS
Katie Hodges
Kaitlin Petersen
Business of Home