[00:00:00] Speaker A: Foreign.
Hey, welcome back to the Interior Collective. I'm your host, Anastasia Casey and today I'm joined by someone whose story I think is going to resonate deeply with so many of you who are building businesses outside of the obvious design epicenters. Emily Tucker is the founder of Emily Tucker Design, a full service residential studio headquartered in Boulder, Colorado which is with projects across the country. With a degree in Architecture and Planning from the University of Colorado Boulder and nearly a decade spent training under Kelly Werstler, Stephen Gambrel, Ruthie Summers in Los Angeles and New York, Emily returned to Colorado in 2015 with a clear vision and a serious pedigree. She has since built one of the most respective design studios in her region, working on large scale custom residential projects and earning a spot on Lex's gold list. And just this year she was named a luxe next designer for 2026. What makes Emily such a compelling voice for this community is her willingness to talk about the business of design with real honesty. Today we are diving into what it actually looks like to build a thriving firm in a smaller market, navigating the realities of nonlinear growth and unpredictable pipelines. And why the economics of a great project start long before any furniture is selected.
We're talking client alignment, budget stewardship, the right team and what it means to do this work sustainably. If you've ever wondered how to grow beyond the market you're in, or how to weather the slow seasons without losing your footing, this conversation's for you.
If you are still the one holding your projects together, there is a better way. Materio is the project delivery system built specifically for interior designers. One connected workflow. From concept to handoff to billing, Interior Collective listeners get 50% off their free
[email protected] hello Emily and welcome to the show. I'm so excited to have you on the Interior Collective and I am pumped for the topic of conversation you have brought to the table today.
[00:02:02] Speaker B: Thank you so much for having me. I'm so excited to talk.
[00:02:05] Speaker A: Emily for anyone who's just discovering you through this episode, can you give us the origin story of Emily Tucker Design? I know you trained a under some of the biggest respected names in the industry in both Los Angeles and New York before moving back to Colorado in 2015. Ish. Can you tell us about your career prior to your namesake studio?
[00:02:27] Speaker B: Yeah, so I am originally from la, so that's why I ended up back there. After college I studied architecture at CU Boulder and very quickly I knew I didn't want to go into traditional architecture studio. I just wasn't interested in solving for those problems. I really enjoyed the human scale of things. And it felt like in an architecture studio, or at least what we were being fed in college was like, you're solving for means of egress and, like, circulation space. And I just was like, meh, I don't want to do any of that. So I wanted to get into set design. I really wanted to be a photo stylist. I don't know why I thought I could do that, but that was, like, what I had in my head. But it was 2009 and the economy was garbage and I wanted to work for Domino magazine, but they had just closed. So also, I don't know why I thought I could get a job there either.
I went back to la, went home, lived with my parents, begged all of their friends to let me work for one of their interior designers.
And one of our family friends said, sure, my designer said, you can come work for him for a week.
He needs an extra hand on an install.
Don't fuck this up.
And he know you know nothing, like you have nothing to offer him, so just do your best.
And it was. I mean, like, every designer listening knows that installs are so much fun. And I mean, what a great opportunity for me. So I started on a Monday. We installed this big house in Malibu, and. And on Friday, I said, thanks so much for the opportunity. And he said, see you Monday.
And that was Brad Dunning. He. I don't actually know if he still practices, but he was an amazing interior designer. He designed for, like, Steven Meisel and just really, really amazing creative people.
And so once I kind of got my foot in the door there, I was kind of part time with Brad and then just like, reaching out to everybody in LA to try to get more experience and more work. So I was.
I worked for Allison Blumenfeld, who's now Allison Deutsch. I worked for Kelly Werschler as an intern for a period of time. And then I worked for Ruthie Summers, and she really encouraged me to go to New York. She was like, if you want to do this for real, you have to get out of sunny Southern California and all these prima donnas and go work with, like, real people with real work ethic.
So I applied to five firms in New York and Stephen Gambrel gave me a job and I moved to New York and worked for Steven. And that was really where I got the bulk of my education and just really learned what it was like to create a very, very high level project. And it was amazing.
[00:05:17] Speaker A: Okay, Emily, that is so amazing because I kind of feel like the biggest lesson in that story was at the very beginning when you asked your parents, you told all of your parents, friends, and I think that in today's age with everything on social, people kind of live in this vacuum of I'm gonna do this on my own and like, I'm gonna go out and find it. And I think people forget to like, literally talk to and tell everyone they know personally that they are looking to do this, they're looking to launch this. They want to learn from someone. They wanna, they are ready, you know, to, to work for a week to do what it needs, what, what it's gonna take.
Because I think we see so many people online who it appears like, oh, they just were this overnight success and people are like, I'm gonna post about this and people will find me. And I think that sometimes we forget that there's a lot of value on like the old school version of knocking on doors and just telling everybody that, you know, what you're looking to offer to find someone who will say yes.
Yeah.
[00:06:24] Speaker B: And like it was. This was pre Instagram. Like when I moved to New York, Instagram had just started, so there wasn't even that opportunity to like post things on social. And I, I'm a big believer in, in and really working. And it was, you know, it was 2009, 2010, like you had to hustle if you wanted a job. There were a lot of people looking for jobs and not a lot of jobs out there. So I was working six days a week. I was making zero dollars. I was living in my childhood bedroom at my parents house. Like, I was doing as much as I could to learn as much as I could and really try to understand this business. Because after that first week with Brad, I was certain that this is really what I wanted to do. And you know, I had to really work to get there. And I feel like I see that so much. Just what you were saying with people seem like an overnight success.
And it's really discouraging. A lot of times I feel like for young designers, because you look at that and you're like, oh, they could do it overnight. Like, why isn't this working for me? And you end up really beating yourself down. So that's something that I always really struggled with of how to learn more, be better, get better, and understand that maybe it's not always linear growth.
[00:07:40] Speaker A: Okay, so catch us up to. You were in New York and then there was at some Point a decision to, to move and build and Boulder rather than staying in a major market. And that is today's focus. So I want to jump into, like the meat of that.
What was that decision? How did you get to that point?
[00:08:01] Speaker B: Yeah, so my husband, my now husband, we met in New York and we were getting ready to get married and we were trying to figure out where we wanted to, like, really establish our life.
We were both kind of over the hustle of New York. I was really sick of. It sounds so stupid, but I was really sick of riding the subway. It was like I would sit on the platform for like 30 minutes and three trains would go by before I could get in the subway to get back. We lived in Brooklyn, so to get to soho, where my office was. And I was just, I was tired of it. And we were sitting one day and we're like, where, where would we want to live if we didn't think about our careers? Because we were both doing really well in New York.
Um, but our careers weren't. We weren't taking advantage of everything the city had to offer. So we were like, well, where would we really want to go? And I was happy to go back to California and move to Pasadena. And my husband was like, hell no, I'm not moving to California. I will go no further west than Colorado. So I was like, well, that's perfect. I loved Boulder.
I went to college here. So we landed on Colorado and we're like, let's just move and see how we go and let's just try to figure it out when we get there. So Steven was very gracious and allowed me to work remotely for him for about a year while we were kind of getting settled here. And then when I got pregnant with my first child, we decided that traveling back to New York every other week was not ideal.
So I decided to go out on my own and start star of my studio here. And I had one client and I was working out of my house and that was kind of how we got settled. Settled in Boulder.
[00:09:45] Speaker A: Okay, so many follow up questions. I love that story. I love that Stephen gave you that flexibility. And anytime I hear about, like great bosses who allow their designers to like flourish and grow, it just warms my heart because I know not everybody has that experience. So thank you for.
[00:09:59] Speaker B: Stephen was a best boss in the world. Like, I went, I was in New York a couple weeks ago and went back to his office and there were a few people who are still there from when I was there 12 years ago and or 10 years ago.
And I was like, I would come back and work here. Like, I loved working for him. He was so amazing and so generous with everything.
[00:10:19] Speaker A: Can we dig in to the actual, like, transition? So you were out there. You got. Got pregnant. Where did that first client come in? How did you get that first client? What kind of scale was that? Scope for it to be like, okay, we're really doing it.
[00:10:37] Speaker B: Yeah. I mean, it was very. It was definitely like a. A big leap of faith. So I. My first client was.
He was, at the time, the governor of Colorado, which was a miraculous gift. And his wife reached out to me because her best friend's designer was Alison Blumenfeld in la, who I had worked for fresh out of school.
And she had asked Alison, like, oh, my friend in Denver needs a designer, but she doesn't want to hire anybody there because they're fairly high profile, and she doesn't want to, like, cause a big stir.
Would Allison be willing to work remote for her? And Allison was like, well, probably not, but a girl who used to work for me actually just moved to Colorado, so you should get in touch with her. And so she sent me an email out of the blue in the middle of the afternoon. And I, like, looked at the email, and I was like, is this a scam? Like, why. Why is the first lady of Colorado sending me an email?
And she wanted. Similar to, like, my first job out of college. She wanted just some help with paint colors. They had gone through this big renovation on their house. They were, like, elbows deep in it. The house was gutted. They were trying to get through all of the finishes and get it done, and she was stuck. And she was like, I don't know what to do. So I came to help her with paint colors. And then it just snowballed into the whole house, and. And we've done a few projects together now.
[00:11:56] Speaker A: Amazing. Well, I think, Emily, I think that that says so much about the type of employee you are too. You've had. It sounds like you've had really great experiences and continued relationships with your past designers that you worked for. The fact that they were like, oh, a girl who used to work for me at that point, years and years ago, a decade ago, has. Has moved up there. So congratulations to that. I think that.
[00:12:20] Speaker B: I mean, I hustled. And I remember there was this older interview that I read when I lived in New York with Derek Blasberg was, like, being interviewed, and they were asking him what the best characteristics are in an employee. And he was like, just a good attitude and A willing to get. The willingness to get something done. And I've always brought that. I'm like, yeah, I can figure this out. Sure. I can Google that. I can find somebody who knows and ask the question and find the answer. And I like learning that way. And I guess I'm a curious person. So it was a, you know, just gotta hustle.
[00:12:53] Speaker A: I actually, I. I'm gonna pretend like I can't remember what show I was watching, although I definitely do. But I just heard an amazing quote last week and they said, I just want you to know that there's no work beneath me. And I thought that, wow, as a boss, like, that's an incredible thing to hear from someone. I think it just tells them so much. So, yeah. Fast forward to the to today. Can you walk us through what your studio looks like today? Team structure, size, project volume, like how many projects are you really comfortable? Like, what's your sweet spot? And then also what your day to day within the business looks like?
[00:13:31] Speaker B: Yeah, so we have a little office in downtown Boulder.
We've got three. I have three employees. We've got two kind of senior designer project managers, and then a junior designer who supports the them.
We typically run between six and 10 projects at a time and we always try to stagger them so they're at various stages, but inevitably we get one or two that overlap into the exact same time and we're installing projects back to back and it's always happens that way, but we try to stagger our project so nothing is really overlapping in terms of like the phase of the design.
And uh, yeah, 8 is really like our sweet spot. 10 starts to feel a little bit overwhelming and a little bit spread thin. Six is like, oh, we can definitely take on a couple more, but we usually stay right around 6 to 10.
Um, my day to day is like I. I'm typically in the studio every single day, sometimes for 15 minutes, sometimes for six hours.
And a lot of running around to site meetings, emails, phone calls, scheming, sourcing. I still do all of the. And I don't anticipate ever changing this. I still do all of the, like, lead design on our projects. I do all of the concepting, I still draw all our furniture plans.
And then our senior designer, Anna, we kind of divide up our projects based on soft furnishings and architectural interiors. So Lola looks after all of our soft furnishings and then Anna looks after all of the interior architecture. So she's building out our finish schedules, our lighting schedules, drafting all our elevations and electrical plans and things like that.
And yeah, so I oversee all of that and kind of do the bulk at the beginning and then Anna and Lola kind of run with it until final install. And then I'm obviously available throughout the whole process and I go to almost every site meeting that I can, but.
[00:15:28] Speaker A: And in that breakdown, who between you, your seniors and your junior is handling like, procurement?
[00:15:38] Speaker B: So our senior designers handle a lot of procurement with our junior designers supporting them in following up with orders, tracking everything in our spreadsheets, just following up with vendors, timelines, things like that.
[00:15:53] Speaker A: So in my research, before we have this chance to chat, your website reflects a very clear kind of client to me. It's large scale, it's custom residential projects, a lot of ground up construction, full scope work. Was that always the focus or did that definition really sharpen over time? I'm sure that was always the goal, but was that the reality? I know you said for the governor's, why it was you started with paint colors, but then how did you really get there?
[00:16:23] Speaker B: So it was always the goal for sure. Like, I think every designer in the industry wants to be able to touch every surface in a home and really make it a cohesive, beautiful space that reflects the people who live there and their aesthetic.
It was not how I started. I, I had that one project from the BE at the beginning and I was like, oh, this is going to be great. I'm going to be doing big projects like this forever. This is, this is awesome.
That was definitely not the case. I finished that project.
We got it photographed because they're so public, they were not interested in having it published anywhere, which is totally fine. So there was really nowhere for me to showcase that project. So it was again, a lot of word of mouth in Boulder, reaching out to real estate agents and architects and builders and letting them know that, hey, I'm here. This is the background that I have. How can I support you in your work? How can I sell a house for you? I'm happy to walk through with potential buyers and give them ideas for free and like really go through that channel, which was, it worked for a long time, but it was still like small projects. I was just picking paint colors for people. I was helping them redo a fireplace or, you know, just furnish one room or two rooms or just add accessories or come in and style stuff. So there was a lot of that for a lot of years. And it was very up and down in terms of our revenue and what, what work was coming in. And it was just me for a really long time. And then I brought people on when my second child was born, and that was a disaster.
There was just like not good communication from her. She was making decisions on my behalf that were not cleared by me. Clients weren't having good experiences.
So went back to just me for a while.
And then when Covid happened, there was like, I. I feel like I was like just on the brink of doing more, bigger, better projects.
And then everything shut down and I was like, well, my business is going to close.
Everything is going to go to shit. I ended up firing the one employee that I did have because I was like, I have no idea what's happening.
And then it exploded. And people were moving to Boulder from all sorts of different, bigger markets. And they were used to spending a lot on a designer. They were used to having a designer. They were used to that whole team of like architect, designer, builder, getting everybody together, paying them their worth and for the jobs that they were hired to do. And that was a real pivotal moment for me. Where I went from doing like small projects, like, you know, like max $100,000 budgets, like we were not spending a lot of money, to doing really larger projects and full furnishing and full scope and full, full construction.
And now I'm lucky enough to be in the position where that's really what I like to do. And that's really all we'll take on. Because it just, I mean, the, the business side of it doesn't make sense to take on small projects at this stage.
[00:19:26] Speaker A: That is such a thoughtful insight that being in one of those secondary markets that everybody was flocking to during COVID having already been positioned there and not being one of the people who were moving at that same time, really was sort of right place, right time after you hustled and busted for a long time before that. But that is really unique. Emily, I'd love to ask a follow up question if you're comfortable talking about it, because people ask us this all the time. A lot of our interior designer clients and our listeners do have clients who are either high profile or just are more private in general. And you mentioned that you did photograph it even though there was no interest in getting it published.
How did you handle leverage leveraging those photos? Was it only available upon request and you would email someone the link? Were you allowed to use it in your own portfolio, like just on your website, but it could never like get published somewhere? How did you navigate it with, you know, a pro, a client as high profile as a governor?
[00:20:28] Speaker B: They were very, I mean, we just talked a lot like, everybody knows you get really close to your clients. And they were very encouraging of my work. And we're just like, we can't have our name attached to this. We can't have it published anywhere. But you're welcome to show it to potential clients as you're being interviewed. So I had, like, a little book, like, a little portfolio book that I had made, I think, on, like, Artifact Uprising or something that I would bring to potential client meetings and I would show them that project and if, like, I would include some other imagery that I had from other projects. But that was. That was really what I was allowed to use it for. And over, as time had passed and he left the governor, like his. His term was up, they allowed me to put it on my website and I could use pieces of it on social, but it was never. It was never going to be in print. And that's okay.
[00:21:23] Speaker A: Sort of in the same vein, because you had come from such huge studios before, like, prominent studios were.
Did you ever have conversations with your past employers about what you were allowed to show as things that you worked on or when you made the move, was it starting from scratch and all you could show was, like, your own drawings, renderings, your own house sort of thing?
[00:21:47] Speaker B: Yeah, I started from scratch. I. It didn't even occur to me to use any of the work that I had done with them that. I mean, especially Steven. Like, his work is so specific and so, like, you could look at a room and you're like, oh, Stephen did that room. So it never even occurred to me to use his imagery. He. I mean, still to this day, if I call him with any question or need anything or text him, he's always very quick to respond. So he was happy to be a reference and happy to be listed in my bio of people I had worked for and learned from. But I never used anybody else's imagery. And building up my website and portfolio was slow going. I mean, I was. I remember sitting down with a potential client in Boulder and his wife really wanted to hire me. And he was like, who are you? You want me to give you how much money? No. And she was like, well, it's really more visual. Let me pull up her website. And she pulled up my website and there were, like, three pictures on there, and they were like a vignette of, like, a tabletop or something. Like, it was not.
It was not selling at all.
[00:22:48] Speaker A: Okay, I have one more, like, business technical question before we really start digging into, like, how you built this.
Are you comfortable sharing how you currently Structure your fees. Are you flat rate, hourly, a hybrid? You probably did a lot of different things at Pass Studio, so you have probably tried a lot.
And has that fee model evolved as those projects have scaled?
[00:23:10] Speaker B: Yeah. So currently, we bill hourly for all of our time, plus a markup on everything that we purchase.
When I started, most of the designers that I had worked for had done things on a flat fee basis, so that was what I did when I started. And. And I feel like I arbitrarily came up with numbers based on the scope and the budget, and it was never.
It was never the right model for me. People did not. I find that if you attach a value to every minute that you spend on somebody's project, they're much more respectful of your time and they really value the effort that you're putting into it.
And that, I have found, is the best way for our studio to function. I would go back and do. I would track all of our time internally. We still do track all of our time internally because that's how we bill. But I would look back on projects and see what our fees were and how much time I spent, and it just was not a net positive for us. So that's how we bill now. And it's been.
It's been. It's worked. It's been really straightforward, and it's very clear. Like, it's just like, we're charging a flat hourly rate for everything. You can feel free to add scope as much as you want, and we'll just bill you for our time it takes to do that.
[00:24:24] Speaker A: Emily, do you feel like you've been able to stay true and honest to that hourly billing? Like, I hear so, so often on the show, people are like, you know, I feel guilty if it took me longer to source this sofa or like, there was some sort of something I was doing. So I'll. I'll adjust and cut my hours before actually sending the bill. Do you have any thoughts on how you've been able to, like, really lock that in, or if there is a guideline to when you will say, you know, that was on our studio, that is part of our time and how you manage that?
[00:24:58] Speaker B: Yeah, so definitely in the beginning, I was eating a lot of hours because you're new and you're like, oh, I feel bad. I don't want them to pay for my time to do this. And it took me so long to find whatever. But now, no, I feel zero shame about that. It takes a long time to find things. And then also some things fall in your Lap. And you're like, that took me two seconds to find you this incredible thing because some vendor emailed me at the right time.
But the things we do absorb time on are any. Anytime something comes in damaged and we have to spend a decent amount of time figuring out how to get that replaced, or dealing with the vendor or the shipping company or whatever that is, a lot of times we'll absorb that cost because it's certainly not our client's fault and it's not really our fault either. But we're. The buck stops with us. So we absorb that cost. And then I do go like I still do all of our monthly billing. I look over everybody's time every month and if I see stuff on there where I'm like, well, that seemed like maybe it was something that could have been done more efficiently or it was something that was not a client related issue, then I will absorb those hours. But most of the time we stay pretty true to the hours that we bill.
[00:26:10] Speaker A: Last follow up question I promised, if you have, you know, there's three people on your team, if all of you are in a single meeting, which sounds like you have two design teams, so wouldn't necessarily happen, but if there's more than one of you, are you billing for two bodies during those hours or if we're having a meeting that's one hour?
[00:26:27] Speaker B: No, I bill for everybody's time for every hour that is spent, including travel time to and from projects.
[00:26:33] Speaker A: Perfect. Thank you so much. Okay, so let's start with the market questions directly. Boulder is definitely not New York or Los Angeles. It's also not Aspen or another like prestigious, you know, hoity toity resort town.
What did you feel were the real constraints of building in a smaller market and how did you navigate them in those early years?
[00:26:59] Speaker B: So this is a two part response. So obviously the client is a big constraint. People from bigger markets are used to spending bigger dollars on their homes In Boulder, uh, there people have a lot of wealth here. It is a pretty affluent community.
They're not interested in spending a lot of money on their interiors. They like to go outside. They spend $30,000 on bicycles and skis and camping stuff.
So finding the right client within this market was the biggest hurdle. And like I mentioned before, so many people move to Boulder specifically for the lifestyle here.
So really positioning myself as somebody from a big city who understands what they want out of their home and also living here and understanding what it's like to live in a house in Boulder and want to have all of those access to like, great mudroom, great storage, you need to have floors that can stand up to the humidity and dryness here. Like, it is a very. The climate here is wild. So understanding that side of it, so, like, knowing who the clients are, where they're coming from, and also how they want to live here was a good place to position myself to attract that person. And then the other really big hurdle was finding the talent and the craftsmen to create the spaces that I had been creating with Steven in New York and with like, Ruthie Summers in la.
Those, those types of people are really, really hard to find. They're really skilled.
And that was a huge.
That was a huge, like, hurdle to get over is to find the people who could build what I wanted them to build.
And that really just took time and meeting builders and working with a lot of different, different people to, to find that. That roster of vendors that we could rely on to execute our, our visions.
[00:28:58] Speaker A: Got it. So when you were in that situation, in hindsight, it was most effective to actually go to the builders, kind of like top of the umbrella, and then start funneling down to like, okay, who actually did this mill work? Who did you use for this tile? And kind of reverse engineer it to get to those. Yeah.
[00:29:15] Speaker B: And a lot of it.
[00:29:16] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:29:17] Speaker B: And like, especially people like plaster installers and like, even really good electricians, like, it's hard to find people and good painters. Like, a really good painter can make or break a project.
So finding all of those people was really, really important for me.
[00:29:36] Speaker A: If you've been running your firm for a few years now, you've probably got a system in place. And I do use that term loosely. It's going to be a mix of apps, some spreadsheets, maybe a project management tool that was close but never quite right.
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[00:30:52] Speaker B: Definitely the latter. Most of the projects that we've had out of state were second homes for clients that we already had within Colorado. So I still am trying to crack the code on how to break out of my cozy little market.
I'll let you know when I find out. But I think definitely, like, the more work we have published, the more projects we have in other places, friends of theirs are coming over to those houses and seeing them and getting referrals that way. But yeah, it was mostly second homes for people.
And then a lot of times people will just find us in like, you know, from just like a Google search of like Colorado interior designer and like my name will come up. So especially for.
For mountain towns and things like that, like Crested Butte and, and Vail and all those places. A lot of those people just found me like, just from a search.
[00:31:43] Speaker A: I feel like in secondary markets and especially like, like you said, these very, these markets where people aren't necessarily as obsessed and focused on like what the inside of their house looks like, people are really protective and like go. They love to go local. Like they want to use a local person.
So I feel like there's a tension for designers in smaller markets between wanting to serve their local community well, but also positioning yourself for national or out of market work. How do you hold both of those at once? Like, how are you still this local girl who, you know, went to school here, understands how to live here, but then also, you know, we are a big time studio and we do work all over the place.
Do you have specific steps that you've taken to market to local clients specifically, as well as specific steps you've taken to start to market to those distance clients.
[00:32:39] Speaker B: So the local clients has very much been just like grassroots word of mouth building relationships with the local building and design community. So when people are. Boulder gets a lot of transplants, like I said, a lot of people move here. So we do a lot of projects for people who haven't moved here yet and have bought a house and are doing a large renovation on it. And so where they're like point person on the ground and they don't know Boulder at all. And I'm always so happy to be there. Their Boulder tour guide, my younger brother, likes to say that I'm the chief of marketing for Boulder because I just love it here. So much so that that side of it has always just, it's just grown and it's been very organic and it's.
Yeah. So that's, that's that side of it. I mean, for the larger markets. I, like, I, I am a city girl. I'm from cities. I lived in big cities my whole life until we moved here. So I know, I know what that's like too. And I love a fancy interior so much.
So I kind of like to bring my, like, humility of like, oh, I like to be in the mountains too, but I can understand your life in the city and I can create a beautiful space for you to live there as well.
So I think just having the background of being in two very big cities for the majority of my life is helpful in that. But again, I still haven't cracked the code of, like, how to break into those markets in a major way.
[00:34:12] Speaker A: So, yeah, when you're talking about building those relationships with builders, like, that's kind of what I keep hearing. Like, that's how you found it in your experience, whether it's what you practice or what you would advise. Like, now, having kind of been over that hurdle, were you going to, like, builder conferences? Were you just showing up at job sites that weren't yours? Like, where were you finding those builders to get in front of, to start those relationships?
[00:34:40] Speaker B: All sorts of ways. I was cold emailing them. I was finding people that they had worked with in the past and scheduling coffees with them and asking them to put in a good word for me. I was talking to real estate agent agents who were selling a house that the builder had built. I was using every means necessary to try to get in front of those people, because I know, and so many designers know that when a client is building a team, they're either going to find, they're going to find somebody in the, in the, that little trio first. They're going to find an architect first, a builder first, or a designer first. And a lot of times the builder is the first to come because it's. You need a very specific skill set to build a certain type of house. So I was like, well, if I. And builders hate picking stuff, they're not. They don't want to design a house. They're just like, just tell me what to build, I'll build it. So they. I wanted to position myself as somebody who was really excited to work on a team, which I am still to this day. I love being on job sites and going through all the details with builders and figuring things out. So I really wanted them to know that I was excited to be a part of the team. I was going to get them the information when they needed it, before they needed it in a clear and concise way. And I was going to do all of the heavy lifting to make their project run smoothly.
And I just told them that over and over and over again until I got the opportunity to work with them. And then when I would get the opportunity to work with them, those relationships have really flourished. And now we work with the same builders over and over and over again.
[00:36:12] Speaker A: For the clients that weren't necessarily coming from big markets that knew about having a whole team and, like, you know, they're ready to do a $10 million project for the clients that were local.
How have you worked to educate them on expectations of, like, what is this project going to cost? Or have you found that your real sweet spot is welcoming the transplants and, like, helping create their homes and lives here? Do you feel like you still have, like, a mix of that type of client, and if so, coach us through how you get those locals to, like, where you. You want them to be with the project?
[00:36:49] Speaker B: Yeah, we. We definitely have a mix. We have. And I love working with people who have been in this town for a really long time.
So we do. We do both. We. I am a very critical in our business sense, Like, I go through every project once it's complete, see what we spent on everything, what we spent on accessories, what we spent on shipping, what we spent on hours, what we spent on lighting, all of that.
So every time we do that, and as costs change over time, we do a postmortem on every project and break out percentages of this is the person. If the total budget was a million dollars for furniture, you're going to spend $250,000 on fees, you're going to spend $18,000 on shipping, you're going to spend whatever it is. Like, we have those percentages figured out. So when a client comes to us and they're like, this is the square footage of the house. These are all the rooms. I can quickly go in my head and tally up what every room is going to cost to furnish, and then pull out the percentages of what our hours are going to take, what the shipping is going to take, sales tax, like, all of that stuff. So I can give them a pretty robust budget of what it's going to cost. And I've gotten myself into trouble in the beginning, like, trying to be like, oh, it's not going to be that much like work. We'll figure it out, we'll make it for less. And it always is that much. And then everybody's upset in the end because nobody wants a surprise bill.
So I'm very now I am very clear up front of what things cost, what they can expect to pay my office in fees, and the product they're going to get in the end. So in addition to the numbers of just like, percentages of breakouts of everything that it's going to cost, we also have a two page document that we send to every potential client that says all of those things, like, this is how we build. This is what you can expect to spend per room on furnishings and then expect to spend an additional percentage on fees and shipping, logistics and storage and all of that kind of stuff.
And some people get that document and they're like, this is not for me. We can't afford this. And I'm like, that's totally fine. Best of luck. Here's a few other designers in town who I think would be a good fit.
So that's kind of how we've. How we've started doing it now. We've been doing it that way for, let's say, the past two and a half years of like, really being super clear about what it costs. And it's been much more successful because people come into it knowing that they're going to spend a big chunk of change and they value it. And I want somebody who values it.
[00:39:24] Speaker A: I think at this point in the show, we've definitely seen that your journey has not been linear like there is. There have been ebbs and flows, but it from the outside, Emily, it definitely feels like you're on that exponential growth stage right now. You just had to, oh, my God,
[00:39:43] Speaker B: your lips took God's ears.
[00:39:45] Speaker A: Your really exciting things have been happening lately. You were on the Luxe gold list, and now you were just announced Luxe Next designers list for 2026.
How important do you feel like that national press and recognition has been or you hope to be in your ability to attract work, both in Colorado, but also beyond.
[00:40:07] Speaker B: I mean, the recognition is huge. It just, like, feels so good to be able to have built a portfolio that can be recognized like that.
I love this job, and I plan on doing it forever.
So to be able to get recognition for it just feels really validating. And then I think on the client side, I think for them, it also feels like money well spent to hire a designer who's had that recognition. And I think for so many years, I was really riding on the coattails of my pedigree, of my work experience.
And now I feel like I really get to sit on this body of work and show that off. And that just feels really meaningful. And I just feel like it gives confidence to clients and it gives confidence to me and my team of like, this is what we offer and we're going to do a really good job at it.
[00:41:04] Speaker A: I feel as though pipeline inconsistency is one of the most anxiety producing parts of running a design firm.
I know you mentioned you like, eight is our sweet spot, spot, but you could be anywhere between 6 and 10. And when you're sitting at 6, you're like, we could be doing, we could be taking on a couple more. How do you manage that feast or famine cycle at a project level? And is there structure or rhythm that you've built that can help that?
[00:41:33] Speaker B: I wish I could say I've built a structure and a rhythm that can help that. I think I will always be in that.
I mean, I hope not always, but every time I talk to like, even like seasoned designers, I'm like, are you ever not worried about like getting another job?
And even they are like, sometimes you just, you never know. The economy is wild. So, yeah, it's definitely been a lot of ups and downs at this point. I would say we get a lot of inquiries about working on projects and when things get lean, I'm way more likely to take on a small project.
And every time I do it, I regret it. But sometimes you just need a little something to keep everybody busy and to keep things in motion and then just kind of wait and for the big ones to come along. And I am a big believer in universal energy and like making space for big things to come your way. And I have found when I have turned down projects that I maybe was going to take because it seemed like a good, just like interim project and something to keep everybody busy. When I turn them away, something will immediately come down the pipeline where I'm like, oh, this was the universe. This was the universe sending me something else. So I do believe in the magic of that a little bit, but I think it's just something that it's always up and down. And I talk to, I have friends who are designers in all sorts of places around the country and we talk a lot and I'll text them and be like, are you busy right now? Because I'm really not busy. And I'm, is it just me, like, or what's going on? And more often than not they're like, no, I'm not busy right now either. It's just. It's weird. And now I've sort of learned, even year over year, the ebbs and flows of like, when projects start and when they finish and when I can expect people to call and when I know it's going to be super quiet. So if I'm not hearing anything in June, July and August, I'm not shocked because people aren't really starting projects in June, July and August. They're starting them in September and in January.
So, yeah, that's. I kind of just have. I have to just like constantly talk to myself and be like, it's going to be okay. Everything's going to be fine.
[00:43:44] Speaker A: Have you ever made a business decision that felt maybe like a step backward at the time, but turned out to be important to where you are now?
[00:43:56] Speaker B: Oh, that's a really good question.
I don't know. I mean, there are definitely projects that I will take on that I'm like, this is. I could do this in my sleep, but it's always because I really like the client or whoever has come to me and I'm just like, I really like you. Like, I want to help you, I want to be around you, I want to be in your home.
So sometimes those will feel like a professional step back. But the relationships that are built are so worth it.
And, and more, like, more than anything, I just want our clients to have a good experience. I want them to really enjoy the process of building or designing a home.
And even if it's a small project or something that maybe I could do very, very easily, I want them to feel like it was a really big deal for them and tell everybody about it.
[00:44:49] Speaker A: And at the end of the day, those projects help get the bills paid. Like, you can keep paying your team. So they do.
[00:44:54] Speaker B: And I like, as much as I love a construction project, a paint and paper job where you're just painting some walls and putting up wallpaper and furnishing it, like, those are fun and they're fast and they're lucrative. So anytime somebody comes with like a larger scope of furnishing, but they're really not doing any construction, I will jump on those. I love those projects. They're so fun.
[00:45:15] Speaker A: That actually brings up a really great question that I'm hearing so often. And maybe it is just where we are, the uncertainty in the economy right now. But a lot of people are getting to the soft furnishings portion of their full scope projects. Construction's like, well underway and construction is getting more and more expensive during the process or Something came up, and I'm hearing a lot of designers are getting to soft furnishings and their furnishings budget is being cut.
Not necessarily always entirely, but people are like, no, we're collab. We're going to paint, not wallpaper. We got to. We got to do these, you know, value engineering. Have you put in any sort of protections in your process? I know some people, like, for instance, when Heidi Kallier was on the show, she's like, we take everything up front. We do all of the design up front, so we get all the money. And if there's changes that happen in construction, like, that's them to figure out that money. We've already been paid and we're getting the furniture in there. Are, are there any steps you've taken to protect that, or are you not feeling that as much in your market?
[00:46:19] Speaker B: No, we definitely get that. And it again, depends so much on the builder. Like, there's certain builders that we've worked with over the years where I'm like, I know they're going to blow this budget on building, so I'm going to buy the furniture ahead of time and I'm going to let my clients know to keep an eye on that builder.
But we've been burned once before where we had a full design package for the whole house, and construction just got way out of hand, and we didn't buy a single thing except for like maybe a bar stool. So that really sucked because then the. I can't photograph the house. The clients don't have a positive experience. Like, it just sucks. So beyond that, I think just educating our clients ahead of time of, like, this is really what it's going to cost to furnish your home before construction is started. Because we're usually there at the, at the table having that conversation before construction's going.
So they are prepared to spend that. And once we started having that conversation ahead of time, we haven't had that. That issue come up. But it's always an ebb and flow. Like, we were working on a project right now where like, the wallpaper estimate for one room came in so high, and we're like, you know what? That's not worth it. That's not worth it for the overall vision of this space.
And we'll put up a lime wash on that wall and the texture will be just fine, and the room is going to. Nobody's going to know any different. And yeah, so you, you know, you always have to make those concessions across. Across a project.
[00:47:46] Speaker A: Emily, for you right now, what does sustainable growth actually look like at this stage, does it mean more projects, bigger projects, moving into slightly different types of work, or is it something else entirely for you?
[00:48:03] Speaker B: I mean, definitely big projects, large scope, great clients is always our goal. I, I really value those client relationships. I love getting to know our people. Like, they're just the best. We love our clients so much.
And then I think also just having it would be nice. And I don't have this yet, but having an additional revenue stream that was not specifically project based work I think would feel like a really good next step for this company and just to have just like another vertical that we offer of like a collaboration or a product line or something that was consistently bringing money in the door so that when maybe projects were a little bit leaner, I didn't, I wouldn't have to take those little ones where I'm like, ugh, I don't want to, but I'll do it.
Just to have, just to keep everybody, keep the lights on, keep everybody paid, all that kind of stuff.
[00:48:59] Speaker A: When you're in a smaller market, like geographically smaller market, with likely a smaller design community, I can imagine that things can feel a bit more competitive than in a really large market. How have you navigated building like a supportive design community of colleagues while also, you know, protecting your studio, your finances, and getting the clients you really want?
[00:49:27] Speaker B: I love this question because we actually have such a, like small, tight knit group of designers in Boulder and we are all so supportive of each other and send each other projects all the time that aren't a good fit.
And I think what is so nice is everybody has something different to offer. And I think that that's true in a large market and a small market. Like every individual designer brings their own aesthetic, their history, their education, all of it.
And so we all kind of know what each other likes to do and what their sweet spot is in terms of project scope or style or whatever it is. So we talk a lot. We have like a Google group that we're all emailing on and same with the designers in Denver. Like we have a group chat. We were just chatting yesterday about stuff like we're all happy to share vendors or experiences or red flags about somebody if we come across something weird.
And yeah, I think we just all have a unique perspective, something different to offer and we want to support each other because I mean, in my experience, all ships rise with the tide. The more great design we can bring, the more people feel confident being like, oh, I. If they value great design, if they value certain types of things, they can be like, you know what? I've always loved Boulder, loved Colorado, and there's a great community of people. I see so much good design coming out of that state. I'll move there and I know I'll find somebody who can suit my needs. So yeah, that's kind of my, my feeling on it. But we love our Boulder, our Boulder designer group.
[00:51:00] Speaker A: If you could give advice to a designer in a market like Boise or Charleston or Kansas City, a city with a strong design culture but not necessarily a primary market, who, who is trying to grow beyond their zip code, what would you say?
[00:51:22] Speaker B: I mean, I would say just like really capitalize on the relationships with clients. Like, they do your best every single time. Make your clients really happy, make sure that their good experience is your goal in addition to creating a beautiful space for them. And because people talk all the time, they have friends everywhere, especially in secondary markets. Like, they're not spending every second and every day of their life in that city or in that town. They're traveling, they're going places, they're talking to other people.
So I think just, I mean, I have found that building strong relationships with every person involved in every project has really been a very important part of our business and our growth.
So be kind.
That's my advice. Be kind.
[00:52:14] Speaker A: I am. It's just so top of mind. I just have so many friends right now. Talking about you're getting to the end of a project, budgets are, you know, dwindling. You're having to be reallocated and just managing expectations. The the end of the project. We're all trying to figure out how can we avoid sending any bills at the end of the project. Like, how can we everything just like end on the happiest fairy tale note possible so people can really enjoy their space and also look back on the project so fondly.
I know that in your process, as so many designers do, you guys have a warehouse team, you have a receiving warehouse where everything's set and inspected and stored. That kind of infrastructure to people who haven't worked with designers in the past feels very foreign and possibly even unnecessary, like an unnecessary cost. How do you communicate that level of investment to, in client, to clients?
Not just as you've already explained how you're communicating it to them, but how it's a non optional investment for them so they really understand why great design at this scale costs what it costs.
[00:53:24] Speaker B: So the warehouse.
So we own and operate our own receiving warehouse. I got it in 2021 during the COVID madness of shipping. We were using a third party receiver.
And they were taking weeks and weeks and weeks to open packages and inspect deliveries. And things were coming in damaged, as they always do.
And we were losing money on it because we would have to repurchase the item at full price because our receiving warehouse wasn't taking care of it. So I was real sick of that. So I reached out to our local realist, like commercial real estate broker, and I was like, scott, I need a warehouse. I need it clean, I need it big and I need it now. And they found us one in a week. And I hired a guy who I had known, who was my neighbor before, who, his name is Titus. He's amazing. He's like the best warehouse manager ever.
So we have our own warehouse that we keep everything in.
So that is great because we have a lot of control on it. It's 15 minutes from my office. I can go to the warehouse, I can see things in person whenever I want. I can send clients there. If they're like, I really want to see this chair. I'm not sure that I like it, I want to sit in it, whatever it is. We'll send clients there, they'll go sit in the piece of furniture. So that level of touch, that high touch factor of it of being like, I am not sending your stuff to some random place in Denver or wherever to be picked to be received and stored. It's going to this address in Boulder that you can go to, that I go to all the time. So that level of touch, I think is very valuable for our clients as they're spending so much money on their pieces of furniture. The other side of it is I tell my clients that 15 to 20% of their items will come in not the condition that we want it to be. And we won't know that if it doesn't get inspected immediately. And it will cost them money if it does not go there. If they're going to pay me to show up at their house for some four hour window of a delivery, they're going to be spending thousands of bucks. Like I'm not. They don't. That's not in their best interest financially and it's certainly not in their best interest of my time. So that is sort of how we sell. The financial aspect of it and then also just having like so much control over it is really been a huge weight off of our team.
[00:55:57] Speaker A: I literally everyone listening is all like, wait, that is a new level unlocked. We need to start over, start an additional episode. Because the fact that you have your own Receiving warehouse. This is blowing my mind. Because you listed three designers on your team. Team. You didn't say anything about timing.
[00:56:12] Speaker B: I thought, I know. And we set the structure of my office. I'm like, that's here. Like in this room in this building.
[00:56:17] Speaker A: And you were talking about different verticals. I'm like, well, if you are billing people for storage, I'm like, that is a different vertical. Gross is genius.
[00:56:24] Speaker B: Kind of. But I will say, like, we make next to nothing on the warehouse. Like, we. We bill it out for a little bit more than it cost us. But I also am paying somebody to be there full time, and he's only receiving things like, you know, two hours, three hours a day. So it's not like it's. It's not a huge moneymaker. We do open it up to our design community. And when people are shipping things, I'm happy to receive things on anybody's behalf and store them there. And.
And like, if clients are moving out of a home, we'll store all of their things in the warehouse while their house is under construction. So.
And we bill monthly for that. Like with our client, with our hours, we'll send an hour, a monthly invoice for receiving and storage. So. So that, that revenue stream is always there. And we're, you know, but you, again, you have to have the project to support that revenue stream. So it's still sort of project based.
[00:57:17] Speaker A: Yes, absolutely.
But that is so fascinating.
[00:57:21] Speaker B: It's the best. I mean, I can't tell you how much easier it is to have everything.
Like, in my breach, you can go
[00:57:33] Speaker A: get it and then you guys just have moving companies or a moving company that you partner with for your install.
[00:57:39] Speaker B: Yeah, we have the same guy. I've worked with him for 10 years.
I love him. He is the best.
And he has his guys and his moving team and his box. He parks his trucks at my warehouse. Like, they're. It's our space.
Wow. So, yeah, so we have the same moving team and every. All warehouse, storage, receiving. All of that gets paid to Emily Tucker design. And then all store or all installs, you know, deliveries, things like that. Those all get paid to. To Danny or our moving guy and his company.
[00:58:14] Speaker A: Got it. Okay. Well, that is brilliant. I. That just speaks to what high level concierge service you really, truly are providing.
[00:58:23] Speaker B: Yeah. And I do tell my clients that, like, we're not. I'm not just like delivering a piece of furniture to your house. Like, I am moving you into your home. I will put toilet paper on the toilet paper Holder. I am like, you just bring your toothbrush. Like your beds are made, your house is finished, it is styled, there are flowers in there. Like, come on over and come live there. Because that is really the level of finish that we try to offer our clients. Like, it's, it's not cheap, but if you can afford it, like what a gift to be able to show up in a completely finished thought out house with just your toothbrush and it's designed just for you, just the way you live. Like, how great.
[00:59:02] Speaker A: There's this conversation happening right now in the industry about how much financial transparency designers owe their clients when it comes to full house budget versus full room budget versus line items. Every single single accessory tape, side table within each and every room. Where do you land on that and how do you appro. How has your approach evolved? Are you line iteming and pricing out every single thing for your client or are you saying, we all agreed that this room was going to be $70,000, this room is now $4,000 under that budget, but it doesn't matter that the couch was 20 and this was 5.
[00:59:42] Speaker B: We line item everything out for people to see.
I have built a house myself. I've been on the receiving end of vague invoices. It sucks.
And I want our clients to know what every dollar they've spent, what they spent it on. Because also some clients really value a high, a high end sofa or piece of upholstery or a rug. Some clients don't care about rugs at all. So I'm like, if you don't want to spend 30 grand on an amazing customer hand knotted rug, fine, you don't have to. But this is what it costs to do it. If this is important to you and if this is what you value. So we line item every single thing out on every single invoice and we divide all our invoices up per room so they can, you know, it's easy to go back and reference like what the whole room costs in the end. But yeah, I just, I just believe that it's their money and they should know what they're spending it on.
[01:00:38] Speaker A: Okay, if you were starting Emily Tucker Design Today all over again in Boulder with everything, you know now, what would you do differently? In those first two years, I would
[01:00:49] Speaker B: not have hired people that could do the same things that I could do.
[01:00:54] Speaker A: And I don't think that matters whether you're in a smaller market or a large market. I think that that is a very common mistake.
[01:01:01] Speaker B: I think so too. The more I've Listened to your podcast so many times. I've listened to so many other design podcasts, and I feel like it is such a consistent thing, I hear, and I am the victim of it as well. I hire people who are like, I just need. I'm like, I need another me. I need somebody who can do all the things that I can do, but I don't. I need somebody who can do the things that I can't do or do I want to or don't want to, but mostly can't or, like, just don't have, like, the natural inclination to be good at it.
So I'm very happy to say that my team are so good at the things that I'm not good at, and. And we all really compliment each other and can really support each other in that way. But, yeah, if I was starting out again, I would not hire the people who could do the things that I could do.
[01:01:42] Speaker A: If you don't mind, specifically, what would that first role have been? Would that have been procurement, operations, technical drawings? Like, looking back, what would that first hire have been?
[01:01:54] Speaker B: That's a really good question. I mean, I've always had a. I've always had an external bookkeeper. So we always. We have like a.
We have a bookkeeper. We have a, like, a fractional CFO who deals with all of that kind of stuff.
[01:02:04] Speaker A: Girl, the people on your team are coming out of the woodwork. I have to go.
[01:02:08] Speaker B: I know. I'm sorry, I. You know, you said office. No, I know. I know it. So. But we do. I will say, like, that we hired a fractional CFO two years ago, kind of like, as I hired a business coach for a period of time, and I was.
I had always, like, I'd looked at my financials and I like, do a lot of digging, post project on what we spent, but I was not looking at things like our revenue and our margins and, like, all of that kind of stuff. And when I. When I worked with this business coach, she was like, tell me about your finances. And I was like, I think we're good. Like, we're doing fine. Everybody gets paid. There's money in the bank. It's fine. And he was like, no, but like, what are your margins? And I was. I have no idea. I have no idea what my margins are. So I. He suggested I hire a fractional CFO to, like, go through everything. And that was the best hire I've ever made. So if I could go back and do it again, I would have hired him from the very start to be like, this is how much. And like, he how much you can afford to pay somebody. If you want to bring somebody on full time. This is how much you can afford to spend in rent. This is the kind of insurance you need to have. This is like all of those business sides of things.
I'm not. I don't know that I wasn't trained to own a business. I was trained to be a designer.
So having somebody do the business side of things, I wish I had had that sooner. And I'm always really jealous of designers who's like, husband or partner is like, has a business degree or like, came from a really high level business background. And they're like, oh, I got really busy. And so then my spouse came over and started running my business for me. I'm like, damn it lucky.
[01:03:44] Speaker A: I'm always like, still just catching up at the end of the show. Like, what else just came up that I wanted to ask about? If you're comfortable.
What.
Or recollect what number of square footage did you end up going with? Or are you at now for your receiving warehouse that you is yours to accommodate that six to 10 projects. What square footage feels good for you guys?
[01:04:07] Speaker B: Yeah. So our receiving warehouse is.
I want to say it's 5,000 square feet and it's plenty big. And we could. I mean, there are definitely times where, like, Titus is texting me. He's like, when is this stuff moving out? Like, we are full, but it ebbs and flows. Like, projects move in and out. So the 5,000 square feet really works for us and it feels great. And I also love the location of my warehouse, and it's really clean and it's easy to get in and out of, and delivery trucks can get in and out of it. It's like, not a problem at all. So I have no intention of moving warehouses anytime soon. Also, the logistics of getting everything out of there and moved somewhere else sounds I could pass.
[01:04:46] Speaker A: No, thanks. Yeah.
[01:04:48] Speaker B: So, yeah, so that's how big our warehouses. And it's awesome. Highly recommend. If you guys can get a warehouse, get one.
[01:04:56] Speaker A: Thank you so much, Emily. That's really, really helpful. I know that someone was thinking that question, so I had to ask. Yeah. Okay. And as we wrap up, what is coming up for Emily Tucker design that you're excited about? Anything top secret? Any new projects, collaborations, or milestones you can share?
[01:05:11] Speaker B: I don't know that anything's like, top secret. We. So I just finished building a house with my family up in the mountains in Boulder or just west of Boulder.
So I'm really excited to photograph that in a couple of weeks. We have some really fun partnerships and artist collaborations and things that are in that house that I'm so excited to show off.
It's a really special place to us and it was really fun to be my own client and make my own decisions without having to ask somebody else. So I'm really excited about that. We are installing two huge, beautiful, really long term projects later this summer that I'm really excited to see come to life.
And then always just, you know, working and growing and enjoying, enjoying all the things that that life has to offer.
[01:06:06] Speaker A: Amazing. Well, congratulations on your home. That is so exciting. I cannot wait to see the photos. Good luck with that shoot. I know preparing your own house for a shoot, especially when you have. You have two kids, right?
[01:06:17] Speaker B: I have three kids.
[01:06:17] Speaker A: You have three kids now. Okay. We got as far in the timeline as two. So with three kids, I bet that that's going to be a project, but it's going to be amazing.
[01:06:24] Speaker B: Luckily it's not our full time house, so like they haven't destroyed it so much yet. And I have in smart me ahead of time hired a stylist to come style everything because that has also been so much work.
Pilots. Why did I think I could do that? I'm like, this is hard. I don't want to do that.
[01:06:45] Speaker A: Well Emily, I learned so much during this conversation. Thank you so much. I cannot wait until we get to catch up again. I'm so excited to follow along with your continuing booming career and just see what's coming out of Boulder for you in the future.
[01:07:00] Speaker B: Well, thank you so much. It was really fun to discuss it all.
[01:07:03] Speaker A: Thank you and we will chat soon for more in depth analysis of this interview including exclusive downloads, examples and more. Don't forget to subscribe to the Interior Collective on Patreon. We are building an amazing private community of interior designers and industry experts open to a candid comment, conversations and answering questions. Join us on Patreon in the show notes
[email protected] the Interior Collective thank you so so much for tuning into this episode. Producing this show has truly been the honor of my career and I cannot believe I get to have these conversations. A big huge thank you to our production team at Idyco Studio in Quinn made your contribution literally makes this podcast feasible and the biggest thank you to you our listeners. Your sweet notes, DMs and reviews mean so much to us as we work to keep our show free and always accessible.
Until next time. I'm Anastasia Casey.
[01:08:00] Speaker B: And this is the Interior Collective, a podcast for the business of beautiful living.
[01:08:06] Speaker A: And a very special thanks to our presenting sponsor this season, Materio, the project delivery system built specifically for interior designers. Visit Materio Co to get started.