[00:00:08] Speaker A: On today's episode of the interior collective, Drew Michael Scott of Lone Fox home shares his incredible journey from scrapbooker to globally renowned design influencer. He discusses all the ways he monetizes his content, including YouTube, AdSense, brand deals, affiliates and his online store. Drew's breaking down the real difference in audiences on YouTube, TikTok and Instagram while providing valuable insights on brand partnerships. We're going even deeper for interior designers, starting to create Instagram reels or TikToks and emphasizing the importance of incorporating video for interior designers, all while balancing authenticity and aesthetic. Don't forget, bonus materials and community discussions are always on Patreon, including this week's content planner download. Join
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Oh my God. Hi, Drew. Welcome to the show.
[00:02:01] Speaker B: Thank you so much for having me.
[00:02:03] Speaker A: Thank you for being such a light in this community. I'm so honored to have you on the show and so you can shine your brightness on all of us listening in.
[00:02:11] Speaker B: Aw, I really appreciate that. Thank you. I've actually, this is my first podcast. Believe it or not, I've never done a podcast before.
[00:02:17] Speaker A: Oh my gosh, you're just like this multimedia goddess now. I mean, video podcasts, your mobile.
[00:02:23] Speaker B: I kind of, like, I just do so much video sometimes that I'm like, I don't need to add another thing to my list. Yeah, so this is, this is my first ever podcast, but I think I always told myself, like, I just do too much, like, in terms of video, social media, and I'm, I kind of do everything myself, too, so I just can't add something else and I feel like too interior kind of. It's more visual for, like, when I actually share it. So I think talking about it on this podcast is actually going to be so fun.
[00:02:49] Speaker A: That is super exciting. I never want you to switch to podcasting. I love your YouTube videos. I need exact step by steps. I was just telling Drew that, like, he's saving my parents bathrooms because of his recent article in our Dutchess when he skim coated and plastered over his bathroom tile. Because we have a lot of bathrooms with ugly tile that we don't want to rip out. And I was like, you're just saving lives left and right.
[00:03:14] Speaker B: I know that project, honestly. Like, there were definitely some people that I think they had never seen that, which also, when I. I never saw that product either. And when the brand showed it to me, I was like, what the heck is this? So I had to give it a go. And when I shared it, I think people honestly thought it was too good to be true because some of the comments were like, this can't be real. Like, there's no way it hold up. But it's been probably like six months since doing it. And, I mean, it's perfectly intact as the first day I did it.
[00:03:41] Speaker A: That is so amazing. But yes, I think everybody was like, are you kidding me? I think there was a lot of regret instantly of people being like, why did I demo that whole entire bathroom? And I could have just done this. So I don't know. Well, I'm super, super, super excited to talk about what I categorize you as is just like, this whole new world of design influencer. You are so talented and careful and thoughtful in your designs and spiritual, experimental. And, like, it's just a really interesting business model to not be a traditional interior designer when you're just taking on clients. So we're going to dig into all of that, but let's go ahead and get started thinking about how things began. I'd love if you could share your journey from starting lone Fox to kind of where you're at. I mean, how do you go from. I record some videos and, you know, my mom and grandma watch it.
Millions of people watching your content all the time.
[00:04:38] Speaker B: So I've actually been on YouTube for, I think, going on 13 years now. Believe it or not, I started extremely young, which is, I think, what got me. I didn't start doing interiors, by the way. Like, I started my YouTube channel back in 2010 doing scrapbooking. And I just absolutely loved anything crafty. So I tried doing pottery. I tried doing scrapbooking like I was the Boy Scout in Boy Scouts, making the little keychains with the plastic lace, 24/7 for everybody. So that's just me as a person, always very hands on. And I started the scrapbook channel just because I thought it'd be fun to meet people on the Internet and, like, post content, because I just didn't really know what it, what it could be or what it could turn into. And from there, I did my scrapbook channel for probably, like, four or five years. And that just happened to then turn into me going to college. And I went to a fashion college in Los Angeles called Fit em. And I ended up creating a second channel that kind of correlated with my journey. Going through college and kind of going to a fashion school and also myself kind of finding my own style and my own design in terms of fashion. I did that for a couple years until I graduated college. And then when I graduated college, that was when I needed to find a job. And my parents were like, okay, you actually have to get a job now. Like, you have your degree. So I was like, okay, well, what do I want to do? And at this point, I wasn't making money on YouTube because YouTube just wasn't a, I did it for so many years before you can actually make money, which I think was great for me because it got me in such repetitive pattern of uploading and filming. And I finally decided that I was going to get a job at West Elm, and I just wanted to have, like, a little side job so I can still do my YouTube channel but have enough money to pay my rent. So I got a job working at West Elm. And from there, that's kind of when my love for interior started and I started to kind of decorate my apartment with some of the discounts I got at West Elm. They gave you a great discount, so if you ever want to work at a West elm store, just know you get a great discount. And so I ended up working there and just kind of transferring my channel into interior, and that's just what stuck. And the channel, the channel was always the same channel. So at this point, I kind of was like, you know what? I'm going to create my own new channel. That's a brand name. That doesn't have to be, like, a self name channel and really create, like, something out of it, because I felt like for so long, everything was just drew Scott fashion, Drew Scott scrapbooking, and I wanted, like, a brand. And so that's how lone Fox was kind of formed and how it came to be.
[00:07:01] Speaker A: I love that answer. It's so amazing to hear how you've just always absolutely been led by passion, and it's about what you love doing because you weren't even necessarily monetizing this for the first many years working on it. So I'm curious, you know, we're talking about how obviously at this point YouTube is monetized, but before that, when you were spending five years on your scrapbooking channel and then you started to evolve into other things, were there other ways you were monetizing that time? Or was it like, purely passion project?
[00:07:35] Speaker B: It was purely passion because also, like, in this era, I was like, when I started my channel, I was 14, so I was living at my parents house for, like, another four years. And then when I went to college, I had student loans like, crazy. So student loans were, was paying for, like, me to essentially create my channel, but I didn't, like, I was just kind of living life as you traditionally would, you know, go to school, go to college, you have student loans, find a job after. But it just happened to be that while I was doing that, I also consistently uploaded two videos a week. And I, like, loved, loved, loved filming and editing. That's what I looked forward to doing. And so I was always just looking for what that topic was. That really stuck. And then when I started doing the interiors, those were the projects that were the most fulfilling and, like, I got the most satisfaction of seeing those befores and afters as opposed to, like, a little scrapbook page. It's almost like everything just kind of, like, leveled up, and then it turned into a DIY project, then it turned into a DIY cabinet, and then I need a room for the cabinet to go in, and so it just kept getting bigger and bigger.
[00:08:33] Speaker A: Yeah, I heard that. I'm curious as to how you built up the endurance, if that's the right word, to, like, continuously put yourself in front of camera, like, really be totally out there, try these things, fail it, excel at others. I just know that so many people listening, the concept of video introduction is really, really, really scary. And, like, wanting to see themselves on camera is, like, not a desire that most people have. So how did you work through that and just be like, I just need to keep grinding. And this is what I love to do.
[00:09:07] Speaker B: I mean, definitely when I first started, too, I was not getting, you know, any views. And I think that's also kind of discouraging. When people first start, they create this content. And I think another thing that's really great to keep in mind is to always create quality content over quantity. And I feel like nowadays people think I need to push out so many videos on TikTok. Like it's the thing to push out ten a day and hopefully one six. But if the ten videos are just kind of random and they don't have that viral capability, there's really no point of uploading them, because every single piece of content I create and look at, I look at it in terms of I want this piece of content to go viral. So I try to figure out what that hook in the beginning is and what's going to keep that person watching throughout, because the longer time you know you're watching, the more that it's going to be suggested to other viewers and such. So that was always something that I kept in mind, but at the beginning, it definitely was a little challenging. And I will say that when you first start out on social media, it's going to be awkward filming yourself. Like, it definitely is. And there was times when I first started, too, that I never wanted to bring my camera into a store. I never wanted to film in public. Like, that was a huge, huge thing that was just, it was awkward and not. But I will say nowadays people do this as, like, a full time job, that it's so much more common that you see someone walking around with a camera or a phone, that a lot of people just don't care. So I think that nowadays, it's definitely a little bit more of an easier kind of thing to swing when you're out in public and you think it's awkward. However, it really is something that you're just going to have to do and just know that it's not as big of an issue or deal that you're actually thinking it might be. Um, so, yeah, yeah, I think that's.
[00:10:43] Speaker A: A great example that, like, honestly, other people are probably not even paying attention to you. You are much more self aware of it. Aside from cameras, like, out in public, the actual seeing yourself, your face on camera, did you ever go through a phase where you're like, oh, I can't even look at myself because I feel like as business owners who are normally behind the camera and not normally on screen, that is something that people really struggle with. They are uncomfortable seeing themselves.
[00:11:10] Speaker B: Again, to the same thing? Yes, I definitely, at the beginning, it's just odd seeing yourself talking to a camera, and also because you're. You're by yourself and you're, like, talking to this, like, false entity kind of in front of you, like, saying all this stuff, but you just have to realize that, like, the. The people that are watching this, you also have to kind of think of it from the perspective of you watching the people you watch. Like, just think of it as if someone else is watching your content. Like, it might be awkward for you, but you really enjoy when someone is sitting down and you never judge that person or you never, like, think of what they're looking like. You're listening to what they're saying and what they're offering. That's what I really love about YouTube as well, is I feel like there's so many incredible, like, takeaways and you really can learn so much from that platform as opposed to some of the other short form platforms. So I definitely feel like it's something that is challenging at the start, but once you do it a few times and you post and you real and you see that there's nothing, like, negative coming from it or people aren't really, like, talking about that, it's going to push you more so to, like, continue creating that content.
[00:12:12] Speaker A: Absolutely. Thank you so much. So I'd love to dig into, like, the gritty details of how. How does one start monetizing this? Because there's so many people I know that a have an interior design business, a successful interior design business, and they're, like, hearing all these, you got to get on social, you got to get on TikTok, you got to do all these things. Like, this is the next wave. And then there's also people in the realm of. I have no interest of in having clients. I want to design for myself. I want to be adjacent. Yes, I want to be adjacent to interior designers. I'm a designer, but I don't want to take on clients. So talk us through how does this start to get monetized? What are the options of monetization?
[00:12:52] Speaker B: I've always kind of come from the realm of doing a brand deal, and that's how you kind of make the money in terms of, like, when I was doing my fashion channel, but then, of course, that when I trickled over into interior was the same exact thing. But I've also found many more ways to also monetize myself. So I'll definitely say that YouTube is the number one monetization platform. So other than TikTok and Instagram, like, the amount of money that you can make from ads on a YouTube video is so much higher than you can make from TikTok or Instagram. And I'll say this like, I had a friend and even myself. You can have 2 million views on YouTube and make, let's say, this chunk of money, but you can have 200 million views on TikTok and make half of that money. And it's just because the longer form content, advertisers just will pay more and they prefer to be seen in a longer form video that someone's kind of sitting and watching maybe on their tv or something. It's more enticing. And so that's definitely a main source, is just YouTube Adsense, and that's just solely from uploading, which is nice because I. You don't have to wait for a brand to reach out or send you an offer. So that's probably one of my main, and then my absolute main is definitely brand deals, and that's just working with brands that I love. So this year, for example, I have a year long deal with Helix, which I love working with Helix. This is, I think, my fourth or fifth year working with them, and that's a great one because it's consistently been a brand that I've loved promoting. Everyone that buys a helix mattress from my videos, they absolutely love their helix mattress as well. So I genuinely feel so comfortable promoting that product. And so brand deals are another great one. Sometimes they're one off, sometimes you can get like a couple of postings under one deal, which is another great way, and then the third and fourth way, which I have two other ways that I also bring in income. So I have four different income sources. It's kind of like the YouTube Adsense, the YouTube brand deals, or Instagram or TikTok brand deals, and then I have affiliates, which affiliates are when you link or share a product, but you use a link that then allows you to get some of the money from the sale. And so I use Amazon affiliates or rewards style, which those are also great because I'm already sharing these products and I might as well create the link. You know, it's just an additional second than if you were to use the original link. And the last one is my online store, which is just like kind of selling a product or selling something that you.
That you do, which could, of course, be like, as an interior designer selling your services. But I have an online store where I sell vintage home decor and kind of more traditional and modern home decor as well. So just a mixture of things that I love, and I've always had a store my whole life. Like, that's another thing that I started when I was really young is having an eBay store where I sold my little Boy scout lanyards on. So that is where I started my love for like, having a shop. I can just see myself in the future being a store owner, like a little vintage store owner one day after, after the social media, you know, and.
[00:15:43] Speaker A: I would travel anywhere to come to your store. That would be amazing.
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Okay, so I'm going to ask some very technical questions in regards to what you just went over, and I think it makes the most sense to start from the store and work your way backwards. So for the store, are you currently housing all of your inventory in your own physical space? Do you have warehouse or is it drop shipped in that sort of sense?
[00:16:40] Speaker B: Yeah. So we actually house everything. And this started in, in my parents garage. So we started, my parents bought a house in Arizona and they bought the house with the idea of that we were going to have this kind of business as well. It had already started at their previous home. We were just working it right out of their living room and then it expanded. So when they, they bought their new home, when they moved out of state, they made sure that it had a larger garage than what they needed. And so we kind of put it in the garage. And just last year we ended up getting a warehouse just a few miles down from my parents house. So we actually do stock and ship absolutely everything. And my parents both work for it completely full time, so it's like a. And my aunt as well. So it's like a full time family business that we all do. And I'm still the one at the forefront of every photo, like all the descriptions, listings, the actual web design, everything visual that you see. I'm just so particular about how it looks and I just have a vision for, I can see it before it goes out. And if it doesn't look like that, I'm like, I know, I think I need to tweak it a little. So I'm always the kind of person that I just love having control over the creative. But yeah, that's it is all actually, like, in stock and we have everything, like in a warehouse. And shipped out.
[00:17:51] Speaker A: Well, that is just amazing. Like, I just can't imagine your parents being like, look at what happened when we sent him to boy Scouts making lanyards, and now you employ your parents and your aunt. That's so fantastic. Okay, we're gonna have to have a totally separate discussion another day about your e commerce side. Cause I feel like we can kind of take that off the table as we're talking about influencer design. So then we scale back, and we were talking about reward style, which is rebranded to, like, to know it, and so, like, to know it is something that I think more. Most people are a little more familiar with. You get a link that you see someone post on their stories or in their TikTok or in the caption, their YouTube video, and you click through and they get five to maybe upwards to 10%. It's usually like, you know, $0.03 on a purchase of that. And so that is something that you keep going with. Can you give us a quick count of kind of where you are at the time of this recording as far as followers and viewers, just so we can put some. Some concept into scale when we're talking about numbers here?
What is your overall audience of engaged followers across your platforms right now on YouTube?
[00:19:01] Speaker B: YouTube's definitely my main platform. And that one, I have 1.71.7 million followers there. And then Instagram? Instagram's 1.3 million and TikTok's 1.4 million. Well, I mean, I hit millions on all of them, which is crazy to me because when I. I mean, I did this for so many years, because I think when I hit a million was only like two years ago on YouTube. So I did YouTube for twelve years before hitting that. And I always would watch my favorite youtubers hitting a million and just never, ever picturing that day, ever. So it's really so surreal that that actually came to fruition, which is crazy, but, yeah, so those are my. I mean, those are my follower counts.
[00:19:37] Speaker A: Zachary, that's amazing. Congratulations. But I think that that is such an important note. Drew saying he was on for ten plus years, grinding before he got to really where that exponential growth started to hit. So when we're talking, like, to know it and, and when you're looking at your four revenue stream breakdowns and actually, let's take the ecom out of it. So we're just talking about brand deals, your viewership, your ad sales, your ads revenue, and then you're like, to know it. What percentage of your total revenue is that like, to know it really bringing.
[00:20:13] Speaker B: In, um, I would say between the, like to know it and the Amazon affiliates because I will also say I believe the Amazon program is quite a bit better than, like, to know it just from me because I don't. People just shop on Amazon like, they just do. So for that, I would say that my affiliates are probably like 20% and then my adsense is probably 30. So adsense is 30, affiliates is 20 and then the other 50 making up the hundred would be brand deals.
[00:20:43] Speaker A: Okay, great, thank you. That's a super helpful breakdown. Okay, let's jump over and talk about brand deals. What does a brand deal typically look like for someone who is, like, not in this world? What does it mean when someone, what are the different tiers? It could be anything from a collaboration to you're doing paid content for them and kind of walk us through what that looks like.
[00:21:05] Speaker B: Yeah, for sure. So a brand deal, it can totally range, like you mentioned, from like the smallest little post to like a big, huge campaign in New York on Times Square, billboard, like, so it can really be any realm. But essentially a brand deal is when a brand will reach out to you. You can also pitch yourself to brands. I just, thankfully for myself, I haven't really had to do that in the past just because I do have. I post so much content. I feel like brands just see me pop up all over their instagrams and things that they're probably like, over it, but so, so a lot of times the brand will reach out to you and it's to promote maybe a certain product, a certain launch that they're coming out with and they'll let you know, like, hey, we're looking for you to create a video around our new vacuum that we're launching and we want to know what your rate is. And so from there, I'll send that email to my manager. And I've actually had the same manager for probably like five or six years now. Her name is Miriam and she's amazing. So once you, once you get in with a good manager as well, once you reach that point, which is something else we can also talk about, but kind of getting it, once you get in with your manager, it's really nice because they're the ones that start doing the negotiations, it's not on your behalf. So if they're trying to get more money out of this brand for you because they know that it's worth it and that you, like, you're, you're going to get them that engagement, it's not coming from you. So it doesn't also have that kind of like negative kind of side to it connotation, which is nice.
And so it definitely ranges. Like, I've done posts where it's just, you know, a story set which is three stories for this certain amount of money to promote a product. And what you're doing for this brand is sharing their product to your 1.3 million or however many followers you have and they're paying you for that service. So it's the same way as if they were getting ads and posting them on a random person's website or Facebook or Instagram ads. It's the same kind of thing, but they're really more so targeting it to like a niche audience, which is my built audience of interior design slash diy enthusiasts.
[00:23:00] Speaker A: Absolutely. So with that brand deal, are they usually coming to you with a concept? Are you responsible for creating the entire concept? Do you have to present multiple options to get it approved? Like how much creative freedom do you have?
[00:23:15] Speaker B: It's totally different per brand, definitely. And there's always like, there's always the times where I get a great brand deal, like in the rate is amazing. But then they're like, we really want it creatively, like this and this. And I'm like, gosh, I can't even do this and I don't care to do it because it's not me. Like, it's just not something I would do. And I've turned down huge deals because of that. I'm really the kind of person that will shut down a deal in 1 second if it's not the creative direction that I see. And I would want my followers to also see. And if sometimes a product, if they're wanting it to be so insanely pushed in your content, it's just not going to perform well. First of all, no one wants to. They, they want to see your product, but they don't want to see it in the first 2nd because that's not what they're looking for. They need to see it mixed into the content, how it's used, how it's displayed on the shelf, and then they get an idea and sense for how that product, you know, how they can incorporate that in their life.
[00:24:06] Speaker A: Absolutely. When you were first starting to get reached out to from brands, were you primarily at that point just on the YouTube platform, did you already have an Instagram? How, how late into that 13 years of youtubing, did you incorporate Instagram and really launch that?
[00:24:24] Speaker B: Yeah. So I, I didn't start my Instagram until my fashion channel so I didn't have an Instagram throughout my whole scrapbooking time. And even when everyone had Instagram in high school and started like posting it and it was like the trendy app, I never had it until I kind of started my fashion YouTube channel and moved to Los Angeles. So that's when I ended up getting Instagram and I just started my fashion account to post the photos that I was already posting on this website at the time called Lookbook, which is where everyone was posting their fashion outfits. So I was posting my photos there too. And then when I transferred over to doing my lone Fox account, I just ended up creating another Instagram for it. But it was probably a good year after I actually created the YouTube channel because I was kind of just like, I'm on, I just want to focus on videos. Like, I don't even know how this is going to go. So I did it about a year after and it was kind of nice because I was able to build up that channel for a bit. And then when I started that Instagram, I was able to push a good chunk of people over there as opposed to just starting it out and then kind of building up slowly. I was able to push a good chunk over to the Instagram and then I felt really great posting on there because there was people seeing it and responding to the content and it kind of motivated me more to create that kind of content, which also, I mean, I think something else that's interesting, I think is the big shift of short form content too, because that was something I never did. Like, I'm such a long form person.
[00:25:46] Speaker A: Yeah. I want to really talk about trends and how it's affected your business and how you're preparing for things shifting as far as the way people consume content. I'm curious, on the longer form content, as we're still talking about YouTube, I know that there's a lot of criteria to be able to start monetizing your page and this is probably like so far, many, many, many years ago that you hit this mark. But I do know that you can't just join YouTube and immediately start monetizing it. There's something along the lines of, I believe it's like 10,000 view hours, 4000.
[00:26:21] Speaker B: Hours or something like that, that you have to have. I think it's ten now with ten.
[00:26:26] Speaker A: Now 10,000 hours of view time and 1000 subscribers, I believe. And then you can go ahead and start monetizing it through Google AdSense is what you use.
[00:26:37] Speaker B: Yes, Google Adsense. And the nice thing is, is when I, when I first started it, they would kind of, they would pick how many ads went on your videos, so they would kind of do it all for you. But now it's fully customizable. You can select where you want ads to go, what kind of ads people see. Like, what kind of ads you don't want people to see because there's different types, and you get paid more for different types of ads. So you can add in, like, full ad breaks, which is when you're watching a video and it breaks and it stops. You get paid more for that than a pop up ad, a banner across the board. Bottom. So you can select different types of ads you want to show and stuff. And so that's really great because before, YouTube would put so much ads on your videos and people be like, why?
[00:27:15] Speaker A: There's so many ads in here.
[00:27:16] Speaker B: But now you can control it. And, like, I mean, I still do put ads in there, of course, but not as many as there used to be.
[00:27:22] Speaker A: So I know on Instagram, in the last, like, two, maybe three years, they started rolling out things, I feel, to kind of can keep up with TikTok. And so there was options for, like, subscribers. You now have a subscriber channel on your Instagram, and they were paying people. I was getting pop up notifications that, like, hey, if you post another reel today and it gets this number of.
[00:27:44] Speaker B: Watches, I got those, too. But you want to know what happened to me? I did. And then it vanished. One day it vanished. And I tried to reach out to Instagram and no one responded. So if anyone hears from Instagram, please find my eighteen point six k of branded Instagram revenue that is missing.
[00:28:03] Speaker A: Thank you.
[00:28:04] Speaker B: Wow. Oh, yeah, I want to wait. I did the little, like, program, the reels bonus program, when it first came out. Like, you can make up to, I think it was like 40k maximum, but it was like, you need like 500 million views, which is, like, so many. So over a course of, like eight months, I ended up getting, like, I think, building it up to basically, like, eighteen k or so.
And it just went away one day. I went back to look at it one day and it said ballad zero Gandalous.
[00:28:32] Speaker A: Oh, my gosh.
[00:28:33] Speaker B: No.
[00:28:34] Speaker A: This episode is going to spark, like, a true crime podcast.
[00:28:38] Speaker B: Like, maybe how we get in contact with them.
[00:28:42] Speaker A: This is how we get in contact with them. No kidding. Okay, got it. So is your goal on Instagram, what is your goal on Instagram as a youtuber at heart? Is it to build community in a different way, to drive people over how. How are you using Instagram? And why does it make sense to spend time on it for you, for sure.
[00:29:01] Speaker B: So when I first started my Instagram, it was more so like a gallery for me. It was like a portfolio, I guess, like a place where I could post the photos of my final work. Because when I started, video just was not a thing on Instagram. But now that video is a thing. I see it so much more as a realm to gain a whole new audience. Because when I started Instagram, I never saw myself being able to build on Instagram. It was just a portfolio. Like, I might gain a couple followers here and there, or if I push people from my YouTube channel, that's how they got there. But it was more. So hard to gain. However, now with reels, like, I really feel like people love digesting that content, and I love watching it, too, especially, like, the TikToks and such, which, of course, transfer over to reels. And so because of that, I definitely think that people are. People are able to build audiences that are a little. That have more longevity than they were, than they used to be able to on Instagram. And it's also a different audience, for sure. I would say that my YouTube audience, my Instagram audience, and my TikTok audience are all completely like three different types of people. Um, TikTok feels to me like the Gen Z, like the younger audience, and then Instagram almost feels like a mix of Gen Z. And what I'd say YouTube is, which I feel like YouTube's an older demographic, and a lot of people on YouTube, they're really looking to learn, and they're looking to kind of, like, get a takeaway from your content. And the other thing that I will tell everyone is that I love YouTube, because it's a searchable platform. TikTok and Instagram are not searchable. You cannot search for basket weaving tutorial on TikTok and Instagram and find it, but you can go on YouTube and you can search it. So if you're wanting people to, if you're creating this content and you're posting it on a reel, it's going to get washed away in two weeks, and it's going to be down in the, you know, in there. At least if you post it on YouTube shorts, it's searchable. So if someone searched basket weaving tutorial, your reel might pop up or your YouTube short or your video. So that's definitely another thing, is when I started, I just loved, and I still love to this day, YouTube, because I find it a platform where you can reach an audience so much quicker than Instagram or TikTok, which I think a lot of people think it's the opposite. They think with the short form, it's easier because you're just quick little video, pop it out. But if the video doesn't perform or anything, it's lost in the millions of other videos.
[00:31:15] Speaker A: Yeah, I think particularly because you are teaching in almost every one of your YouTube videos and translates to your short format videos as well. And if you're not teaching, you're definitely inspiring. But there are actual actionable takeaways. And so I can absolutely see how getting on YouTube and I'm learning how to fix my parents bathrooms without ripping out their tile. I can find you that way. Versus I missed it because you posted three weeks ago when it was on ad and it wasn't seen again.
[00:31:47] Speaker B: Exactly. And then it's hard to find it. You're like, what was that video? And you can't go search it on Instagram. It's. It'll be hard for you to find.
[00:31:54] Speaker A: So I'm curious again about someone who started on YouTube and then now also has Instagram. Do you find that your brand partnerships and your brand deals are looking for you to be on all three platforms? Is that make it a more valuable brand partnership, or do you have people coming to you who are only interested in one of those platforms or a combination of them?
[00:32:17] Speaker B: Definitely. Like, I definitely would say it's more so one of the platforms, they're coming either specifically for TikTok, specifically for YouTube or Instagram, but there definitely are sometimes, and that's where it's nice to have a manager or a team because they can kind of pitch to them. Like, hey, we'll do a YouTube video, but we'll also add in this Instagram and TikTok post if you want to pay this rate in addition. But, like, that's discounted because normally we would charge this. So you can kind of bundle things together too, as well, if you want to. But I would definitely say that, yeah, on YouTube.
[00:32:48] Speaker A: Ansax recently launched a dozen new collections, ranging from beautiful stone mosaics to artful terracotta with marble inserts and also sustainable artist series tile made from nearly 100% recycled materials. Be sure to check out their website to view the new collections and order samples from your Anzac showroom.
I am curious. From an interior designer's perspective, stepping into video feels like you're losing control over the aesthetic of what you're able to represent your work.
[00:33:19] Speaker B: Like, that's very true.
[00:33:21] Speaker A: Do you have tips. Because I look at your content and even though it's like super casual, it's literally you just talking, like. Exactly. I feel like we could be recording one of your videos right now as you're sitting in your living room, but like, it's still always so elevated. So talk us through how you can be conscious about getting your brand into video and starting to produce videos that don't compromise the kind of elevated aesthetic. You worked really hard on your brand in photography format, for instance.
[00:33:52] Speaker B: For sure. Yeah. And that's something, too. I love that you touched on that because that's something that I've always thought is it's very hard to create that editorial look on video without having money or having like that editorial team behind it. Photos. Just so much easier to capture that moment. I think there's definitely also a point in your business where you have to realize what you're really strong at and what someone else might be strong at or better than you at. So if you don't feel confident in your video taking skills, like, if that's not your thing, I definitely think that it is key to hire someone that can help you with that or show you a few times at least, how to get the look you're trying to achieve. And maybe you could find some videos that you really love online that have a vibe that you like, but hiring someone that knows how to do that is all for it. And I remember Mister Kate, she's a youtuber as well. She telling me that she started her channel and she knew from the start of her channel she never wanted to be the one operating the camera or editing the content because her strong suit was filming and the actual creative process. So she gave that strong suit to her. She built out a team because of that and she was able to do so after time. But I always thought that that was really smart, just knowing when to kind of hire out. And I know it could be somewhat of an investment, but sometimes even just hiring someone to show you what to do, it gives you a little bit of insight. But you can also look on YouTube for some tutorials.
[00:35:17] Speaker A: Absolutely. And I will definitely pull a few to link in the show notes as well. I guess as we take a step back from that question then, how important do you feel it is for interior designers to start incorporating video? Like, does this feel like we're doing this no matter what thing? You're going to be left behind if you don't? Or do you think, hey, I'm not great at video, so I'm not going to do it and I'm still going to be successful in another way.
[00:35:43] Speaker B: You know, I think that if you're an interior designer, like a traditional interior designer, I think it's totally fine if you just want to have photos because I think that that's kind of the traditional realm of interior, interior design and how it's always been done. But I do think that if you're trying to reach a new audience, like if you don't have word of mouth contacts, if your business isn't all word of mouth, then I think you probably should incorporate video into your content. But if you do have a lot of word of mouth clients and people are kind of directing, then you, I think you can totally post photos as your portfolio. So it kind of depends on if you're starting out, if you feel like you're a little bit established or what you're comfortable with, I guess. But I would, I mean, I just think incorporating video is nice. And I do see a lot more interior designers now doing like little reels of their spaces, which is so nice to see in a phone because you do see such insane imagery and you're like, how is this even real? And then seeing it on the phone, you, you get, you grasp a little more of how it is, but it gives you a look at the space still, which I love.
[00:36:41] Speaker A: I am curious as we're thinking about, like, okay, I'm an interior designer. I'm ready to start tackling video. How, how do you balance your authenticity? And I just feel like anytime I watch you, I feel like I'm sitting at your dining table and we are just chatting. How do you balance that with your brand deal, with the project? Reveal that you're trying to showcase and attracting new clients and still feeling like you're professional and polished?
[00:37:13] Speaker B: Yeah, this is, that's a good question, too. And that's definitely a trial and error. Like, you are going to like, kind of start. If you get a brand deal and you, and you post your first brand deal, there probably are going to be some content that's, or comments that are like, oh, my gosh, this is not your normal content. Like, I can't believe you've promoted this product and you'll kind of learn. I've learned over the years, like where, like, if, if I have a brand deal within a piece of content, there also needs to be more takeaways so that the person feels like they got something out of the video. And it wasn't just that I'm pushing this brand on them. So if there is a brand, in a brand deal in a video. I need to make sure that the video has a really strong intro. It has like maybe a takeaway in the intro, then it goes into the brand deal. And I'm also touching on in the intro, like, what's coming throughout the video as well, just to give people a sense of, like, if they stay tuned, that's what they're going to be able to see. So I think that that is another kind of a way that I, I've structured it and it comes with time because you'll kind of learn what you do like and what you don't like about filming brand deals because sometimes it's just such a, you're just like, gosh, I have to film this part of the video. And everything else is so free flowing because it's like whatever you want to do, but then you have those few lines or like whatever you need to say about that product that can really break up the kind of video.
But over time, you'll totally develop and learn, like, how to incorporate that more organically. And I think that's something that I've done pretty well in the past on my channel is organically integrating branded products. And a lot of times it's just because it actually is organically integrated. Like, it just kind of flows or fits with what I'm doing. And so, yeah.
[00:38:54] Speaker A: Do you have ideas off the top of your head of ways that an interior designer could create YouTube content that was not DIY based because they are looking to attract clients that they want to do that work for them? What are some great examples you have floating around in your head?
[00:39:11] Speaker B: Zachary I think, first of all, one of my favorite types of videos to do is like, a room reveal. So showing just like the before of the space and the after. But I think it's so great when you can get that really cool transition where it looks like you're standing in the spot, it's empty, and then you're in that same spot and it's done. And I think that that's something that interior designers can totally do is, you know, before and afters of their work in video form, whether it be just, you know, a sweep of the room before and then it starts right at the end of that sweep and it goes right back. So it's almost like a mirror of the video. And then you get to see the after. I think that could be really powerful. People love a strong before and after. And I know, like, if any interior designers listening, they they're going to have some strong befores and after. So I think that that's probably a great way to do it. I also really recently I've been doing little walkthrough tours of my spaces where I'll just have, like, a little microphone, which I think also makes it more kind of quirky and fun just holding the microphone and, like, walking through and just be like, this is a space I designed and you can kind of touch on some of the key elements. And also, if you don't love seeing yourself on camera, just cover yourself up with b roll. Just put b roll all over the top of you, talking of everything you're talking about all little details and you'll be good to go.
[00:40:25] Speaker A: That was fantastic for, as we're talking about, like, someone who's looking into getting into YouTube, which I know just feels like such a beast. Cause it's like, well, YouTube's been around forever. Like, how am I gonna start doing this? I think YouTube is probably one of the best platforms to join, even if you feel like you're late in the game. I feel like there's still so much opportunity with YouTube. Um, as far as longer format videos, what type of longer format videos have you seen from interior designers that you really enjoy?
[00:40:51] Speaker B: I've seen a ton of interior designers do just kind of sit down videos, talking directly to camera. And a lot of times if you give your video kind of a negative connotation, like, ten things designers hate watching or hate seeing in a home, people love clicking on a negative title and a negative thumbnail, but then you just kind of make it more positive within the actual content, and you're like, I don't really like this. And this is a, this is a way that maybe you can, like, recreate this to look more modern or how I would do it. So I do see a bunch of interior designers on ten ways you can do this. I think even sit down videos in front of the camera talking about, you know, like, trends that you're currently loving or even sharing. You can even do, like, a screen recording of your computer. But I just recently did a bedroom makeover, and I didn't have time to actually get into the, like, nitty gritty of the makeover. And I wanted to post a video that week, so I ended up doing, like, a design with me kind of mood boarding video where I showed how I find all the pieces and the paint colors and the accents and create a mood board showcasing everything so I can then go into the design kind of feeling a bit more confident about it.
[00:41:56] Speaker A: I love that I'll make sure that we link to that episode specifically so anybody can see that. I'm curious to know, on your brand collaborations, do you have one that has just really stood out to you and why was that particularly special?
[00:42:13] Speaker B: Yeah, honestly, I would say that the one that stands out to me that I first think of is the one I did with Wayfair and YouTube. And it was not last year, but it was the year before, in November, we did an entire home makeover for a family. And it was my biggest deal that I've gotten. And in terms of like, monetarily, in terms of like, the actual, like, scope of work, everything about it was like the largest deal, but it was really, really cool because YouTube basically gave me a budget in order to hire all my own production company. Everything I wanted to do, it wasn't like, we're, we're coming here and filming this. They were like, we're giving you the budget and you could do whatever you want, which I really loved because YouTube for many years did those kind of original series, but now they're, I think they're kind of stepping back from those and they're letting the content creators really guide those series, which is nice. And we, I was able to do what was called ten day transformation and it was a four day or it was a four video makeover of an entire home that literally, me, my friend Justin and my dad, we did the whole house in ten days. And it was seriously only ten days.
[00:43:18] Speaker A: Wow. That's amazing.
[00:43:20] Speaker B: It was so much fun, though. It was so fun. Like looking forward each day, like getting up at like 05:00 a.m. And going there. I don't know, it was different. It was fun. And my dad was helping, so was fun.
[00:43:30] Speaker A: That is so special. One thing I've noticed when I watch your work is that you always seem to be really on the forefront of trends. And as you're working on things, I see, you know, something that I've seen at a really high level in, you know, a $10 million house that someone had just published. I'm seeing how you incorporate it into your strikingly beautiful own personal home that you're renovating, but on a very, like, attainable, approachable way. How do you, where are you finding inspiration and how are you able to stay ahead of those trends so that you are putting together content that is going to be searched in two weeks because you're already ahead of it?
[00:44:14] Speaker B: Yeah. So I would say a lot of my designs, especially over the last couple of years, where I feel like I've really found my design style are really rooted in, like, historical design as well. So I currently, my home is like a spanish, 1920s spanish home. And I love taking that era of design and really looking at it through books. And I think a lot of people don't utilize books as much as they should because there are so many images inside of books that are not on Pinterest, not online, that are unbelievable. So even just finding older design books, a lot of these images are completely unseen anywhere. And they're some of the most beautiful spaces ever. So the inspiration you could find from old books, I have a plethora of old design books. Like California Romantica is one of my favorite. And they have the great houses of California as well, which is just another cool book. But I would say that a lot of my designs are kind of, they stem from a historical place, so they already have this kind of it. It's timeless. That's a timeless kind of look. You know, it has this basis to it. And then I love incorporating what's currently trendy with that kind of timeless aesthetic because it kind of grounds it and keeps it feeling homey and feeling like. Like normal and just everyday. But then you add in that kind of trendy element, which adds a bit of what social media wants to see. They're always wanting to see what's trending and what's new. Everyone wants to see something new. So you always just kind of have to think about what you can add that's going to spark up some conversation with your project.
[00:45:46] Speaker A: Rapid fire. Last couple of questions. One, how do you say no to brands? And I know you have your, your brand manager, but, like, how do you say no when it's not a good fit?
[00:45:58] Speaker B: Oh, I just say no.
[00:45:59] Speaker A: No.
[00:46:00] Speaker B: A lot of the times. A lot of the times, the, the fit most likely will either be because the product just, it doesn't fit with my lifestyle. So whether it just isn't like something I would utilize, really, or if the creative is extremely, extremely done by the brand themselves, in terms of we want you sitting in front of this color of wall and wearing our branded apron in the video, that's when I'm, it's just not something I would do. You could pay me eight times more, and maybe I will, but I probably won't.
[00:46:30] Speaker A: How do you say no when it's a good amount of money and maybe you're in a place where you need a budget influx. Can you push back? Do you ever push back and say, I could do this if we pivot to this?
[00:46:44] Speaker B: Oh, yeah, exactly. Yeah, you can always do that. I feel like a lot of brands too. It's definitely like a two way, it's a two way street. They're coming to you for your services. So a lot of times if you reach out to the brand, I definitely feel like you have less wiggle room. It's definitely harder to get a brand deal by reaching out to a brand and asking them essentially for money. But when they're reaching out to you and saying, we want to pay you, a lot of times you kind of have the upper hand. And I want the creative to be a little bit more like this. This is my channel and like, it's going on here. So I think if you could just kind of redirect it and be like, hey, I feel like this would actually work a little better. And these are the reasons as to why. And I don't think my followers would really love this, this and this. But I'm still going to be hitting all of these talking points that you wanted me to get in. That's probably like how I would do it when it's, when that's happened. And that definitely has happened in the past before. But normally with the brand, you can come to like a middle ground.
[00:47:39] Speaker A: Awesome. Okay, tougher, more personal question, and I'm not saying that you do, but just in the world of influencer isms, the Internet is mean. And how have you handled, do you handle negative feedback, criticism, trolls, et cetera?
[00:48:00] Speaker B: Well, here's the first thing I think everyone should know is that it's your page. So if you don't like the comment, delete it. If you don't like the comment and block them. I. Because if you're going to come on my Instagram, that first of all, or my YouTube channel, it's free. You're not paying to come on my Instagram or my YouTube. I'm not telling you to. You found it. But like, just one of my biggest pet peeves is when I post like a 30 minutes makeover video and I'll go to the comments and it will be like, oh, you should have painted the desk at twelve minutes, a slider, different shade of red. And I'm like, that was your one takeaway from my whole 30 minutes makeover was one desk should have been painted a slightly different fade.
So I mean, you just, you really will build up like a thicker skin. But also, you always have to realize that these people are just sitting behind their phone. A lot of them don't even have a proof profile picture like you. They can say whatever they want and just delete it, delete it, delete it, delete it. Like, I am the absolute. I'll tell everyone. Delete and block. Like, I don't care if you're gonna leave negative comments on my content. You're deleted and blocked.
[00:49:04] Speaker A: Absolutely. I love that you are just, like, you don't need to appease anyone, and that's not gonna hurt your chances of getting another client because that person was definitely not gonna be your client.
[00:49:14] Speaker B: So, yeah, I see it. If, if, if they're maybe paying a monthly subscription to see it. Like, I don't like what? This isn't what I was paying for when I first started, then that's different. But sometimes the comments are just a little too harsh, so I just always feel like you have to take them with, like, a grain of salt.
[00:49:31] Speaker A: Absolutely. I'm curious as to what it is about your content that you feel sets you apart from other design influencers out there. I have a very strong opinion of what I think sets you apart, but I'm curious to hear from you. And as you've built your brand and brand image, what do you think it is that's different about how you're doing it?
[00:49:51] Speaker B: Yeah, I would definitely say, like, the number one thing I look for in every project and everything I put out is attainability. So just the, like, attainability factor of the. Of who's watching it. So I really try to limit the amount of power tools. I try to limit the amount of products I use. I try to limit the size of wood pieces you need, because I know people don't have trucks. So I keep everything in mind in terms of, like, is someone in their little studio apartment able to recreate this? And that's really what I want it to be. Because if it's, like, the easiest thing to recreate, it's most likely going to get more likes. And if it has that really cool outcome where you're like, I can't believe that's handmade. For example, like that, that little side table I did with the little Ikea grates on each side, it's just so random. And all you needed was a drill for that project. Super easy. And, I mean, that project blew up on social, and it's just because it's almost too easy that you're like, wait, what? And then it's a cutting board. And I just walk around Ikea, I swear to you, and just put things together. I'm like, I have a car of randomness, and I'm just kind of putting them together in different ways, stacking bowls on top of things, and they create a form that I see. And then I'm like, okay, we're going to turn this into a little project.
[00:51:04] Speaker A: I love that. And I just think that's so generous of you to be thinking about every project in that way. And I'm so grateful that you think about that and you're making design. You know, you hear design, designers say, I want design to be attainable. Design is for everyone. And to see you truly living that out is really inspiring. So, very last question before I let you go. What exciting projects or personal goals do you have in mind for loan box in the coming year?
[00:51:31] Speaker B: Yeah, so I actually. Little secret behind the scenes, I think I'm going to be opening. Well, I know I'm going to be opening a little, like, vintage pop up slash, like, little vintage market inside of an antique mall. So it's not going to be like my own store, but it's inside of an antique mall. Just because, I mean, opening your own stores, intense. That's, especially in Los Angeles, that's a lot. That's a big overhead. You also have to have employees and everything. So I want to kind of. I thought it would be so fun to have my own little shop space because I've just been, been so into vintage and antique lately, and I always, always get questions from people asking if I have anywhere that it's being sold. And so I definitely think that that's going to be happening in the next couple of months. And also a fun product collaboration at the end of the year.
[00:52:20] Speaker A: Oh, my gosh. Those are both huge. A. Do we get to know where, which antique mall yet? Or will we have to add that in later?
[00:52:27] Speaker B: Um, no, I actually, it's going to be at the mark collective, the Marc collective in Santa Monica.
[00:52:34] Speaker A: So exciting. Congratulations. And I'm sure you can't tell us.
[00:52:37] Speaker B: More about the product line, but I am not one. I can't.
[00:52:40] Speaker A: So exciting. And I mean, I was so excited to see your curation in the Soho home store as well. So you've already been dabbling in it, and it's just been magnificent.
[00:52:50] Speaker B: So, yeah, we've been working on the product for, like, two years, so it's definitely a little longer than that. So it's definitely like, yeah, it's been a long time coming.
[00:53:00] Speaker A: You are ready to get that out there. Well, thank you so much for being so open and candid with all of these very technical things that really just kind of feels like movie star to all of us. Who aren't doing it. It just seems like very.
[00:53:15] Speaker B: Yeah, I feel like I've lived it so much. So it's just, like, so normal to me, but whenever I talk about it to people, they're like, what the heck? You can make money from social media. You like, it's totally, like, still an undiscovered world.
[00:53:27] Speaker A: I feel like, yeah, it really is. We consume it every day but don't know about anything that happens behind the curtain. So thank you for sharing that so much, and I hope we get to chat again really soon.
[00:53:37] Speaker B: I know. Thank you so much for having me. It's so fun talking to you.
[00:53:50] Speaker A: 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 candid conversations and answering questions. Join us on Patreon in the show notes
[email protected] the interiorcollective thank you so, so much for tuning in 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 IdCo Studio and Quinn made, as well as this season's presenting sponsor, Ansax. Your contribution literally makes this podcast feasible and the biggest thank you to you, our listeners. Your sweet notes, DM's, 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, and this is the interior Collective, a podcast for the business of beautiful living.
