# 104 | Take a Look Inside the Interior Designer's Business Blueprint with Esther Ellard and Colleen Slack

I've been in Masterminds where there's community group coaching kind of things in the past, and you sometimes get something of value outta what someone else says. But in this community, I feel like I also get the value of being able to share my knowledge as much as I'm receiving knowledge that it's not just Kate is the expert.

Telling us her thoughts. It's, it's an open dialogue between all the people who show up that day and the different perspectives help you to see how varied our approaches are and that there's not one right way, but different ideas for you to consider and choose what feels right to you.

Welcome to the Designers Oasis Podcast, a space for interior designers who are ready to define success on their own terms, whether that means running a firm at scale, or building a boutique business that fits your life. I'm Kate, be Dewald, interior designer, CEO and Mom. And I'm joined by my co-host and designers, Oasis, community manager.

Becca Meyer. Together, we are here to help you redefine success in a way that actually aligns with your values and your skillset. If you are ready to stop square peg round, holding yourself into someone else's version of success, you are in the right place. And because we know you're more than just one thing, we talk about it all.

Interior design, business, parenting, mental health, wellness and mindset. All the behind the scenes realities of building a business that supports your life, not the other way around. No formulas, no one size fits all advice. Just honest conversations, thoughtful perspective shifts and practical guidance to help you build your business that feels sustainable and truly yours.

Thanks for being here.

Welcome to Designers Oasis podcast. I am your host, Kate and DeWalt here with my co-host Becca Meyer. Hi, Becca. Hi, how are you? Good. I'm great. Awesome. Yes, I'm super excited about today. Yes, I'm very excited because today we are bringing in a couple of our long time members in the Designers Oasis membership and they, I would truly say that these ladies have become friends, and so I'm.

Thrilled to be able to bring them in because I think that they have some beautiful stories of their businesses and how they have really intentionally created and grown businesses that are working for them and really thriving. And I just, I find. I find them inspirational, to be honest. So I'm excited to bring lunch.

Should we bring 'em on now? Yeah, let's do it. All right. So our first guest is Esther Allard. Hi Esther. Hi Kate. Hi Becca. I'm excited to be here today. Hi, thanks for joining us, and we also have Colleen Slack. Hi Colleen. Hi guys. Good to see you all. Hi. Yeah, I'm excited for this conversation 'cause I think that community is so important in all types of work, but I think that a lot of interior designers are solopreneurs and our membership has allowed for people to be in community and kind of, you know, un uncover the veil.

What do you, what do you call that? Like what, draw the curtains back? Yes. So that other people can see like how other designers do it. And, and you all have just are really inspirational and I'm excited to, to learn from you a little bit today. Yeah, absolutely. I mean, I think today was a really good example.

So today we had our office hours that we do every month and we got into some of the like. Nitty gritty details of some of the like back of house logistics. How do you do this? How do you do this? What works for you? And I think that without a community like this, it, these sort of questions can be hard to come by.

Uh, and so I think that it's a nice, safe place for people to be able to share what's worked for them and to help support each other. So thank you so much Asher and Colleen for joining us. Today? Yeah. Let's see. I'd like to start with you, Esther. Could you share a little bit about, first tell us where you're from, the name of your business, and a little bit about how you got your start in the industry.

And then Colleen, we're gonna come to you next. Absolutely. Where to begin? My name is Esther Allard and I'm the owner of Effortless Designs based in the Northeast Georgia area. And I got my start kind of outside of college. I went to college, just a little bit of background as a music major and got a four year degree there.

But about halfway through I realized that that wasn't the direction for my life that I wanted to continue on. So halfway through college I decided to delve into what my next step would be. And I had always been interested in interior design. But I kind of took, got my feet wet a little bit. I got certified in staging.

So when I graduated college, I ended up starting my own staging company. And then about a year, year and a half in, that's when I really got into some of the interior design aspect, just with some of my connections. And fast forward, you know, six years and here we are today. Excellent. Awesome. Excellent. I, I don't know that I remembered that you started out in staging.

I know that we have a lot of designers who. Kind of get their start that way because it, it feels somewhat related and I think a lot of designers sometimes move to the design world because it feels a bit more personal and a and a bit more, I don't know. What, what, what made you sandwich Esther? Um, the thing I was craving was.

The value that we were bringing to clients. A lot of times I was working with clients who, they were realtors, investors, and they didn't really value the design. They just needed furniture. They just needed items in the home, and I was craving more of a custom. High-end service where I could really solve a problem and make people's lives better in general.

Now that staging wasn't doing that, and there's definitely a place for that, but it was just a little bit more personal. I love getting to meet people. I love talking to people, and I was missing I, I was kind of missing that relationship building and being able to really serve a client well. So that's kind of why I made the shift and was able to kind of fill the need as well.

That checks out. That makes a lot of sense. Yeah. That's great. Thank you. After, Colleen would love to hear kind of tell us a little bit about your business and how you got into, into your design. Yeah, so my name is Colleen Slack. I own. Box interiors in the Twin Cities in Minnesota. I knew at 15 that I wanted to be an interior designer.

My parents didn't really believe it was a real career 'cause you could see ads for in the back of like how Beautiful magazine back then. So I took all the art related classes I could take in college and, but I knew I couldn't go directly into that at that point. So I was a land use planner for a number of years and when I was.

I think 24 ish, I decided F it. I wanna do what I'm passionate about. And it's so funny you think of it as a second career at that age, but I ramble the age of 24. Yeah, I know. I felt so old making a career change that now laughable. I went back and got my degree in interior design. I already had a full, you know, bachelor's degree, so I got associates and.

Oh seven. Before I'd even finished the program, I started working as an interior designer first in a a kitchen bath design firm doing full service interior design for them. Bringing that to the plate, which they didn't have before. Oh 7, 0 8, 0 9 was a difficult time in our industry with posing issues and crisis and recession.

So I ended up going out on my own in 2009, which I hadn't pictured doing that early, but it was the best thing that ever happened to me. It was the right fit for me. And just as a side note, my parents now completely believe it was the perfect career for me, and they're not allowed to do anything in their homes without me.

It comes full circle. Right. That's awesome. This is wouldn't be the first time that I have heard a similar story where I think for a long time there was. A lot of preconceived ideas about interior design and its credibility almost of, of being mm-hmm. A real career. And I don't think there's any question about that anymore, but I think we've seen that shift firsthand for a lot of people.

Absolutely. Yeah. It's definitely a real career. Yeah, for sure. Yeah. Well, I would love to shift and think a little bit about how y'all joined Designers, Oasis, maybe where were you at the time that you joined? What compelled you to join? We'll start with you, Esther, if you have, if you could share. Yeah, absolutely.

So, ooh, that's, that's a fun story. I was about three years into my business and I landed a project in November, December, and it was, keep in mind at the beginning, I was very charging very low prices. You know, still kind of getting my feet wet, trying to figure out what in the world am I doing in this? And I got a project, and it was a vacation rental in Florida.

Super excited. A little outside of my, my neutral box 'cause I love the neutrals, but it was very colorful, very exciting, and everything went really well with the design, with the process and everything. I didn't have any red flags with the client, but. Long story short, that project ended with the client just treating me really awful and to the point where they were just, you know, texting me horrible things, saying If you were a real interior designer, you know, X, Y, Z, all these things that I remember, that was the moment that brought me to the point of like, you know what?

I never wanna be treated like this again, and. I know the value that I'm bringing to clients. I know you know what I'm doing for them and how design impacts their life. So I need to level up so that that's, I don't get treated by a client like that ever again, and that, you know. I think at that point I started and it was getting to the point where, you know, you're, you're losing sleep because you're stressed out because of all these things.

All this stuff. And I remember talking to my husband being like, never again. I never want that to happen again. But in order for that not to happen again, I need to, to make some changes, some serious changes. And I remember listening to Kate's podcast first actually, and that's how I got to know Kate. And then I, I did the whole funnel, right, and got to know her through the podcast.

And then I ended up taking one of her master classes and then she. Looped me in for the course and it was just, it was really wonderful to make that decision and I really feel like it impacted my business in the long term. And I know we're gonna talk about that later, but really just kind of from that point, getting to the point where, you know, we need to start leveling up and this is the next step.

And I was fully confident moving into the side. Jo Oasis, Esther, I, I don't know that I ever heard this story or knew this about you. I love though that in that moment there's, I, I will be honest, I have had moments in my career where I've had a client make me wanna just throw my hands up and say, I am done.

Right? This is a cop. This what we do is so personal. There's so many moving parts, there's so many things that can go wrong, and I don't know the specifics of that. But what I love for you is that you did not, you could have gone two ways with that. You could have said like. I don't think I'm cut out for this.

I think I need to find something else. And instead he said, I don't want this specific type of client in my world ever again, and recognize that this wasn't a lack of talent, a lack of care or concern. I, I know you well enough at this point to know just how much thought and consideration you put into your projects.

And that was a real pivotal moment that you said, I'm clearly, I've gotta fix some things, and went and sought resources instead of letting it completely consume you. Because let's be honest, these things do happen and that is the time where that is the time more than any time that you need. Community to help help you sort of navigate these tricky situations, which is kind of what we do every first.

Yeah. Well, first Thursday I was like, let's talk about the, the stuff going down. So I appreciate you sharing all of that. Esther, I remember the, one of the first sayings that I heard from you was, no project is perfect. And I had been caught in that perfectionism like, well, why wasn't it perfect? Like what, what brought me to this point?

And I remember. You saying that specifically in one year podcast and I was like, okay, so this is normal. Problems are going to happen in a project, but it's all in how you handle the problems and it's one of the aspects that clients hire an interior desire for. Right? Yeah. We are problem solvers. And that kind of changed my whole perspective on how I approach my process, high approach projects, and you know what led me to designers Oasis ultimately.

Yeah. Yeah. I love, I love your story so much, Esther, because I think that, you know, in, in a lot of careers, you know, all the, like tech, you learn all the technical pieces of it. But if you're becoming a business owner, there's so many other pieces that you know that you might not expect to happen. And I think that's what I, I have learned so much about since joining.

Joining designers Oasis is like, we're spending time talking about, yeah. How to make sure that you're setting yourself up to be treated well. How to make sure that you're pricing well. Like it's, it's not as much about some of those technical design issues, though. We talk about some of those things too, but I think there's so much to building a business that maybe we aren't thinking about before we get into it a little bit.

So I, I think that story was really great. Colleen, can you tell us a little bit about where you were and why you decided to join? And So I joined Spring 2022. I had to ask Becca that 'cause I couldn't remember. It just feels like forever and I know, so I've been in business since oh nine. So. I was running a business, it was running pretty well in 2020, I think.

I noticed, oh wait, there are all these resources out there now, podcasts, people promoting how they run their business that weren't there in the beginning. I'm jealous of the people who can find Kate early in the journey because man. So many things would've gone smoother along the way. And I don't remember exactly how it felt into my lap.

I think it was a series of looking something up on the internet and finding a really great post from Kate and then going down that rabbit hole like, wow, this one sure knows a lot of stuff. This is like something that would be valuable. Yeah, I'm always, I'm always looking to learn and uplevel. That is a core of who I am as a person and as a business owner and.

I didn't really know what I was getting into because I couldn't fathom what exactly everybody does it different how they teach. And I'd had some people where I was like, oh, I went down your rabbit hole, and it was not a fit for me. And Kate has just been such a great fit, not just in what she's teaching, but the community she's built and the people she attracts.

So. I'm so glad that I made that semi blind leap four years ago because you don't know what you're gonna get going into a community or a membership or a program, and I got way more than I could have ever imagined. Oh, wow. Well thanks for saying that, Colleen. Just make her cry. You know, I was gonna say it did get someone get Kate's tissue.

Make me emotional here. Emotions are welcome. That's right. Look, I'm gonna be honest, so I'm just hearing you say that. I'm, I'm reminded that you're, you're so right. You know, I don't, I, I've been in other communities too, and I think there's some really great communities and learning resources out there. I built the interior designers blueprint and this membership.

From my own perspective of what would I need to know? What did I need to know when I was in this place? And I think what we've, what has been created is this community of people who really value people. It's a, it's a people forward industry, and I want everyone who, you know, I'm, we're working with to be profitable.

Absolutely, because I want you to be able to take those vacations. I want you to be able to save for college and retirement and all of those things, but I also want you to have fun in the process. And when we start to lose our spark and our creative drive and our creative energy, because the people and the work is burning us out, and Lord, have I been there then?

That's where it sort of loses the soul and the essence of what we do. And so I figure that if, if we can build a really strong foundation of a business where we really know ourselves, who we are, and who we wanna serve and how we wanna show up, then everything else will really fall into place. If you don't have those foundations, right, and that's why there's a lot of designers that come in, maybe like yourselves, where you have the business experience, you aren't fresh out of school or fresh, you know, from another career pivoting.

You had clients, you had projects, and yet you realized something here isn't quite working and. And I think what I saw was just a series of really critical, small but critical decisions that added up to kind of bring you to where you are now, where it's like you guys have a real strong handle on, on the, the buses that y'all are driving.

That I don't know where that little me came from. I was gonna say, I'm too sure to drive a five. I'll fake it. Or snap. We're gonna need some for the pedals for us for, right. I need a booster seat. It it is fine. Carry. That's hilarious. That's so exciting. I, I came up with my own metaphors the other day. I was being a little sassy with, and I said, what did you put that in your oil and fry?

I was like, I don't know where that came from.

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Well, I would love for you to share, 'cause both of you guys have a thing since I've known you over the last four years, created something really magical and something that fits perfectly for you and your lifestyles and you're, you're making great money, but it's also more importantly, you're in service of others.

You're, you're helping others and I think it fits with the lifestyle that you've been wanting to create. So maybe Colleen, if we can start with you. I want you to share a little bit about what were those critical decisions that you made, and if you could talk a little bit about how you came to this decision to put human design at the center of your design work.

'cause I think that was such a. Critical decision that you've made that makes you stand out as a designer where it, it can be so hard to differentiate ourselves in a, in a field, especially now, I think there's more designers than ever, especially after COVID. So what brought you to that decision and how has making that decision impacted where you are today in business?

You know, I agree. Finding that sort of what's your unique thing is definitely an evolution. I remember who, what kind of client I thought I would serve when I was first out of the gate, and it is not who I serve now by any stretch of the imagination and it wouldn't have been right. So February, 2024, I was at a conference that has a, a fair.

Bit of like woo mixed in, and I got literally a download from the universe saying, Hey, you should introduce and incorporate human design and nervous system regulation into your business. And it literally just came through my pen as I was journaling and I thought, that sounds cool, but what does that mean and how do I do this?

So. That then became this journey of, because I had already been studying human design for about four years at that point. So I was doing it and integrating into my own life, but I had never thought about how to bring it into the design experience or my relationships with my clients. And it was, the first year was very much okay.

What kind of tools would be useful for the clients? What tools would be useful for us to understand the clients? Helps them through the process. And so we were ideating and executing these things simultaneously, constantly iterating and revising them as we played with them, with clients. And it was a little scary to put that out there and say, Hey, you know, part of our process is to, uh, integrate human design.

And would you be open to sharing your birth's information and. These were people who had no idea what the bleak human design was, but they were curious and open and down for what we were willing to do. And that was such a, a great sort of the universe saying, yeah, you're on the right path that I needed to hear as well.

So over the past two years, we've evolved the process. We have more and more tools in our arsenal to help us. Design clients interiors based on their energetic blueprint, really on what support them, what, how they experience the space, not just on aesthetics or existing habits. So it's really this sole deep level understanding of who they are that they can't communicate.

You know? How often have we had clients say like, I don't know. I'll see it when I, I'll know when I see it. Or you're struggling against the way they make decisions. Well, we have this. Fast track into understanding them on a so deep level, how they make decisions, how involved they're gonna wanna be in the process.

Is a wet room or a shower tub combo gonna be the better fit for them? And how does that support both of the people in the relationship who will be using that space? So we've really continue to refine an up level. And now it's at a place where we're thrilled that just this last month we released our new website where we finally are talking about it out loud, not just any.

Potential client meetings, and it feels amazing to have gotten to that place. But it was all supported by things like having the right resource tools behind the scenes to make sure our design fees were calculated to adjust for this new process, and that were creating proposals that are very clear and lay out what we are doing, what they are receiving.

All of that clarity. Helps ground our client's nervous systems as well as our own and makes the process run smoother. And a lot of that came from tools that Kate shared, and then we were able to refine and make work for us with our own lens of how we do business. So it's really all of that has to work together in order to get to the place where you feel completely strong and confident in selling what you do with no apologies.

So, because you started with the Interior Designers Business Blueprint course and used that to guide you through this decision making process, and I think what I hear you saying is that at first you were maybe feeling a little bit unsure about presenting this human design concept to the general public.

And almost quietly, beta testing it with some clients. Yeah. And then once you've realized, wow, this really works. And then you were continued to be supported by the, the membership as you were you, you really doubled down on this idea and were able to. Verse it into this new whole new brand that is really exciting.

And I just got the pleasure of reviewing your new website and it looks amazing, Colleen. So the folks listening who might wanna go check that out, what is your website? So we can send them there to check it out? Yeah. It's Colleen Fox Interiors dot. Perfect. Two L's, two E's in Colleen? Yes. Okay. Good to know.

We'll be sure to link that in the show note. Thanks for sharing, Colleen. I love that story because I think that like a lot of people might think that an interior design business or any kind of business like should look a certain way. Mm-hmm. And the thing that I like so much about the way that you've set up the blueprint is that it is really to be rooted in what your values are and then allows you to build your business from there.

Instead of like, you know, this is how interior designers do this. This is how Des, and instead it's like rooted in your values. Now how are you going to identify ideal clients? And I just think that your story is so telling to that end. You know, it's like anyone can use this blueprint to design a business that is what they want it to be, you know?

And honestly we use that, you know what? What are our core desired feelings in the business? We did it and then we came back six months later and did it again because we had had some client experiences that were delete. Just icky feelings. And they had no red flags at the beginning, but partway in things shifted.

And so we went back and used that information to really clarify and shift what our core desired feelings, but also what are we looking for in that ideal client and naming things that maybe were unsaid before but now are non-negotiables. Oh wow. That's incredible. Thanks for sharing that. I, I think, yeah, it, it might be worth just mentioning that for, you might hear Colleen talking about core desired feelings.

If you're listening, what she's referring to is one of the foundational. Decisions and things that we go through in the interior designers blueprint. Most programs are gonna start with questions like, how much money do you wanna make? Who's your ideal client? And I think those are very important questions that we need to ask, but I'm asking us to zoom back even a little bit further before that.

There's some other questions that I want people to ask themselves. Designers ask themselves first, and one of those is, what are those core desired feelings that you want out of your career and out of your business? For some people it's prestige. For others it's safety or security or creative freedom.

And being able to answer those questions first is gonna have a huge driving impact on the other kind of decisions that follow that. And so I appreciate you bringing that up because it is probably a very under. Estimated decision that you can, can make, and also one that will evolve over time. So worth doing it, you know, once every couple of years or so.

Esther, I know we're short on time, but I wanna make sure that I ask you, we ask you the same question. Can you kind of share a little bit about your own? Evolution with your business and what were some of the experiences that you had inside either taking the Interior Center Business Blueprint course and or the membership that has allowed you to shift and make some of those important decisions that's brought you to, to where you are today?

Yeah, there's a lot to unpack there, so let me see if I can kind of make it concise. So, when I started my business, I knew that I wanted a business, I wanted a legacy business. I dunno if that's the right term, but mm-hmm. I'm starting a business that's going to be able to ebb and flow with the different seasons of my life as I get older, as I have family, all those things.

Originally I started it and I was single, and now I'm married and we're looking into family and all those things that I originally started because I knew. That my values were rooted in my fate 'cause I'm a Christian and they're rooted in my family and that's how I wanted to build my business around.

Right? That's what's my, I guess you could say my why. And so when I came to join the Designers Oasis program, your first, you know. Part of the course talks about like getting back to those, you know, core desire, feelings. Like why do you wanna have your business? What are the values that you want to, not just values of your company, of your business, right?

But values that you have internally that's gonna be reflected in the way that you set up your business. Yep. And then you fast forward to kind of like, I guess it would be the end of the course, if I remember correctly. You call it the profitability planner now, but you. Kind of reverse engineer your, your business, right?

So you start with, you know, how much time off do I want because of my kids', you know, practices or because of family vacations or whatever that might be, or church events or anything like that. Okay, how many weeks am I gonna work and how does that play into the revenue that I wanna make so that we can have a business that supports the lifestyle?

And I would say. Just the way that my business has evolved, you know, from that horrible experience to joining Designer Oasis, to, okay, now we're setting boundaries in place in our business that reflect the value that I, or the values that I have in my personal life. You know, I'm very personally, I'm very strict when it comes to, okay, we're not texting with clients because I want to dedicate time outside of projects and outside of my working hours.

To my family, to my husband, and you know, however that might look and ebb and flow in the future with kids. But it's really just. Watching my, having the designers Oasis community just helped to kind of confirm those boundaries. Like you can have these boundaries and it's totally reasonable. It's not unreasonable to tell your, tell your clients, this is my minimum and this is, these are my working hours.

And we're not taking meetings on weekends because we have to value our family and we have to value our faith in the things that we're doing outside of work business. I always say my business. I love my business, I love my projects and my clients, but at the end of the day, it's here to serve the lifestyle that I am wanting it to support.

And for me, that revolves around my faith and it revolves around my family. And the, I think that was one step for the design of Oasis there, you know, where you can build your business around what you value and set those boundaries in place. And that, for me was one of the biggest takeaways, not just from the course, right?

You learn. The business like through the course, but also just the community being able to have that confidence to set those boundaries in place. Wow, that's so well said. It's, it's funny 'cause we, you guys don't know this, but we just recorded a podcast all about boundaries, which I love to talk about boundaries.

So, so that's, that's a, a really great to hear that, that, you know, resonates and, and has worked for you and, yes. So the, the thing that you're referring to is the profitability planner, which most, you know, business courses, you know, are designed business related courses, starts with this. Question about, well, how much money do you make?

And I have never been able to answer that question. I know that, you know, I know what we want to bring in to support my family, but then in relationship to how much time I have to dedicate to my business, it's like, well, I could throw a number out there, but if it's not realistic to get there based on how much time I have to commit to my business.

And right now I'm in a season where. No matter if I wanted to, I could work 40 hours because I have got some family stuff that really is needing my attention. And so, but I, but I still was dedicated to meeting that threshold. And so the idea here is that we reverse engineer our revenue back into, we start with how much time do we have, generally speaking each week, and how many weeks outta the year do we wanna take off?

And then this is the amount of money, okay. We're gonna figure out how to make that work. S we're gonna reverse engineer it because I don't want you to have to sacrifice the time that you spend with your family or dedicated to serving your, your faith community, or volleyball or whatever it is. We're whole human beings, and we need those things to feel alive and feel human and to be creative and to show up with.

As our most creative selves. So to be able to serve our clients and I think that we probably all got into this industry at a time where the sort of girl boss grind away mentality. Like we could grind with the guys. Oh, that did not sound right, but you know what I'm true. It's, that's you get when you come here, the designs always this community a little bit of weird potty talk and we just know it works.

So, but we can. Play with the guy, you know, play, be on the level with the guys or whatever. But that's not biological. Who wants to do that? No, I, I want to be a cake eater. Sorry. I want my cake and I wanna eat it too. And I think that we don't have to sacrifice everything all the time. I, yes, we have to make sacrifice, but I think that there's so often this feeling that we, you know.

We undermine our value and how much we should be charging because of, you know, whatever recent. And, and when we can be in community like this, we can look to each other and say, no, I'm right to say no to this. Right. And you can have a, a confidant there, say, you know, you're right. Call it what it is. And then the other great part about this is that we do have designers in this community who are at a season in their life where they're like.

Look, I don't have kids right now. I'm gonna pour my all into this over during this season so that it's geared up and ready to go, so that when it is time for me to have a family, I can pull back and know that things are running the way that they should be. And there's nothing wrong with that either for the person who that's what they're wanting for this season.

So, and I love that both of you guys come at this from a very different place, but you've arrived at this. Same idea of living a balanced life and leaning into your values first, and defining what are those core desired feelings and building everything else around it. And I, I can see the synergy happening, and I feel like you have these thriving businesses because you're so sured of the decisions that you've made.

And I, I feel so lucky to have been alongside you on this journey over the last couple of years. Yeah. Yeah. I just wanna say also just that. The community calls was, I think, one of the most unexpected values for me because I've been in masterminds where there's community group coaching kind of things in the past, and you sometimes get something of value outta what someone else says.

But in this community, I feel like I also get the value of being able to share my knowledge as much as I'm receiving knowledge that it's not just Kate is the expert. Telling us her thoughts. It's, it's an open dialogue between all the people who show up that day and the different perspectives help you to see how varied our approaches are and that there's not one right way, but different ideas for you to consider and choose what feels right to you.

Yeah, and I do think another takeaway would be, yeah. With the designer's oasis, with the boundaries that you put in place with all of the course that you take, the end goal is still to have a thriving business, right? We want to have profitable businesses. This isn't just like, oh yeah, like you can discount your prices 'cause you know, you may not have X amount of time or whatever.

No. It's talking about this is the value that you're bringing to your clients. You know, stand in that space, fold your shape as I've, I heard it. Said, and you know, you can charge what you're worth and you can build a profitable business while living your life. And I think that's one of the biggest takeaways from the designer's Oasis overall.

I don't think there's been one office hours where Kate hasn't told someone you to raise their prices. I think every single month is like, you need to be charging more. I'm like, well, and it's that accountability too. It's making sure, hey, like watch that website, get your newsletter out. Like do, it's the accountability of having the calls where our community can be like, Hey, I think it was a designer a few weeks, a few months ago on our call.

I think she was launching a website and we're like, Hey, did you launch the website? I did. You get it going? Like, don't just sit on, it's done. Just launch it. Just go for it. We weren't meant to do this alone. Yeah. Well, you also talk about energetic cycles that we're in different seasons, and as women we lean more into that energetic cycle and the rhythms not just in our bodies, but in the world.

And I think that's the perfect antithesis to the hustle mentality. That, that is so supported. It's not just boundaries, but boundaries around your energetics and what you're available at different seasons and that that's what you're building your business to be able to allow you to do that. It's a reciprocal relationship.

I feel like this is just a recap of the episodes that we've done the last couple of weeks. We have very huge money. It's really, it feels really validating though, that, you know, speaking of working in isolation, so, so often I don't get to hear these things from you guys and I, it feels like, okay, this does resonate.

Mm-hmm. Not just for me. But for others. So I, I really appreciate you guys sharing. If, if you wouldn't mind, I, I have one last question for you both. If you, somebody listening today was thinking about joining, you know, taking. Investing in the interior designers business blueprint and then sticking around for the community, but was, you know, maybe looking at some other options, which we all do.

Right. What would you say to them about this particular course and community that you feel has been the most impactful for you and and what would you tell them? I would, honestly, I, I'll use my favorite word. I would just say elevate. If you're wanting to elevate your business. In all areas from your refining your processes to bringing in more profit, to just strengthening your overall community, then it, it's time to just up level and join the community.

Join designers Oasis because it really, it will take you to the next level. And when you up level everything from your mindset to your business behind the scenes, now you're attracting better clients. You know, and now the, the profitability is growing and things like that. So I would just say it's just the one question would be like, are you ready to elevate your business or are you okay with it just being the way that it is?

'cause nothing's gonna change if you don't make a change and you don't wanna make a change going backwards. You wanna get to the next step. So I would just say, you know, just keeping that word in your mind. Yeah, I agree a hundred percent. And I think it's knowing that even if you've been in this industry for years, there is always something more to learn.

There's always a new way. To have a tracker and have it give you better data. You hadn't thought about collecting that piece of data, but now once you start doing it, you see what a powerful tool it is for understanding your clients or where you're getting stuck in the process with the funnel. A lot of the tools I had coming in to Kate's program, I was like, oh, I'm doing that, but they're spread across like five spreadsheets and they were all discombobulated and I built them.

Sporadically and through lessons learned over years versus coming in and just being handed something where it's thoughtfully organized and Kate's giving you the explanation of the why and the how. It's not just, here's a spreadsheet. It's like, this is why we're doing it. This is how you fill this thing out so you're not just, you know, here's a spreadsheet, go for it.

It gives you the confidence as you start using these tools. To, you know, as Esther was saying, you know, you're attracting better clients. It's because you are literally upleveling your magnetic resonance in the field, energetic field, and that will draw in people who are attuned to your high higher frequency.

So just skittle. Wow. That's science now. Woo. Just FYI. Yeah, that's right. That's right. That's science. Science, scientifically proven. That's right. That's right. Oh my gosh, you guys are so lovely. I really appreciate your time and sharing your stories. Colleen, I know we got your website. Esther, can you share with us your website and where people can find you?

Yeah, you can find me@effortlessdesigns.org or on Facebook and Instagram at Effortless Designs eight, and I'm on LinkedIn on Effortless Designs eight too. It's a whole new world we're we're adding too. I love that. We'll be sure link to all of those below. And if you guys wanna come join me and Becca and Astor and Colleen every month the doors are open and as of the time of this specific recording, the doors will, will be open for a limited time and we would love to welcome any new designers who are ready to create something really powerful, something really meaningful with, with.

Balance and joy at the heart of, of what you do. So thank you guys so much. I appreciate it. Thank you so much for joining us. Thank you for the opportunity. This was wonderful. Yay. Appreciate you guys.

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