Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: Foreign.
[00:00:05] Speaker B: Welcome back to the Interior Collective. I'm your host, Anastasia Casey and today I'm sitting down with someone whose career trajectory is genuinely one of a kind in this industry. Brittany Simon grew up around construction. She's the daughter of a residential developer in Arizona. She earned a degree in Interdisciplinary studies with a concentration in business and interior design and spent years working in some of the top design firms in the state before landing her big break on hgtv. After gaining national recognition as a runner up and fan favorite on Design Star, she went on to appear on multiple design focused television programs, developing a strong media presence alongside deep technical Expertise. And in 2015, she launched Brittany Simon Design House, which she has since grown into a highly respected boutique studio known for its elevated client experience, strong internal systems and thoughtful approach to scaling a design business. Today we are covering what those years on set taught her about delivering under pressure and how those same instincts became the foundation for a client process that protects her time, her margins and her relationships. We are going step by step, phase by phase because a well structured client experience is the difference between a busy studio and a profitable one. But I think what you will find most interesting is the amount of flexibility Britney truly provides to her clients for the most well rounded client experience.
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[00:02:40] Speaker A: Yeah, I get it. Technical things happen all the time.
[00:02:44] Speaker B: Well, we have so much to cover today and we're super excited because you are absolutely after a 150 episodes in our first big TV star to be joining the show.
And I know that TV and the concept of TV is definitely something that a good chunk of our listeners as designers think about, like, as an avenue of, like, what comes next. Maybe some people are like, I want to go retail. Some people are like, I want to go on tv. So I'm super grateful that you're excited to chat through this with us, especially because I don't know if you've seen it. I mean, I don't know, maybe even got pitched on it, but there is. Nate Burkus is doing a show and it's currently being cast right now for another design competition. And it's just like all over my feed non stop. So I'm sure people listening are like, I've seen it too. I'm wondering.
[00:03:35] Speaker A: I haven't heard anything about that, but that's very exciting.
[00:03:38] Speaker B: Okay, so let's talk design studio first. Brittany, give us a snapshot of Brittany Simon, design House. How is the studio structured? What does your team look like and what is your role within that? Looking like day to day?
[00:03:52] Speaker A: Yeah, we are a small. I call this a small boutique firm.
And the reason being is there's five of us. And for me, I found that, like, five is the sweet spot because I, you know, oftentimes I think as designers, we get into this business because we, we want to do design, obviously, but then you get to running a business and then you find that you do less and less of it. And I definitely want to be mindful of that. And I want to be able to stay focused on doing the actual design work as well. So keeping a smaller team is really important to.
And I also want to focus on doing projects that are quality over quantity. I want to be able to say no to projects that aren't a good fit or, you know, something that doesn't spark joy if we meet with them and we're like, I don't want to do a modern farmhouse anymore.
So there's five of us. I have a full time assistant that helps me with, like, everything. She's kind of like our librarian. She's my personal assistant, my executive assistant, our, you know, like, showroom manager, if you will. I mean, she wears a lot of hats and so she's a pretty big part of, like our day to day.
She manages my calendar, all the things that were taking me away from doing design work every day.
And then I have another. I have a senior designer, and she is amazing and is somebody that I can trust with projects from like, A to Z. I'M still involved in it, but she definitely takes the reins on certain projects. And then I have another designer that is sort of like a. She's not a lead designer, but she's like my design assist and so she kind of helps me facilitate designs and project manages things once they get past the, the heavy like meat and potatoes design phase.
And then we have a new person that just started a couple weeks ago that's just straight out of school, so fresh.
I guess we'd call her a junior designer at this point. But she is going to essentially be more of like technical design and helping me with projects as well in a way that Cassidy, my other junior designer or design assistant is, but maybe more on the technical side of things.
[00:05:59] Speaker B: That is super clear. I'm interested in the assistant. Your personal slash executive assistant, slash showroom
[00:06:07] Speaker A: manager slash all marketing.
[00:06:10] Speaker B: Yeah, I feel like a lot of people listening are going to be like that. That's who I need, that's what I need.
What order of hiring as far as roles happened for you? Because so often on the show we're talking about you need to hire.
Most people think that they need a junior designer first, but really they need someone who can do all the things that they don't want to do or taking away from their design time. So I'm just curious, in your experience, what order did you hire those roles? And if you, knowing what you know now, would you change that order?
[00:06:43] Speaker A: Yeah, that's a great question. I would say, you know, you don't need an assistant until you get to the point where you know, you're big enough that there's 100 emails in a day that need to be looked at. And that's really hard to manage when you're also trying to do design work. So I would say once you have a couple of other designer employees under you, I think the next hire should be an assistant that really helps with your day to day. And the best way to really kind of figure out what it is you need to hire for is really diligently track what, what you're doing for two weeks. Like the same way everybody should track, you know, their billables and things for clients. But I, I spent a solid two weeks, like here's what I did, how long it took me to do emails, here's what follow ups to, to potential clients and how many of those potential clients, you know, actually turned into projects. Like I was spending so much time doing HR and like marketing things, things that I, you know, were not are things that I could delegate to somebody. Things that I didn't necessarily need to be doing.
And that's when I was like, oh, my gosh, I need somebody. I need an assistant. Like, my husband thinks it's hilarious that I have an assistant. There's only five of us.
I think he's just jealous. But I'm like, you have no idea how, how much she does in a day. I'm like, and it's not just for me. It's not just my personal assistant. Like, she does a lot of things, and I think that's important. You know, somebody that can do a lot of. Wear a lot of different hats and kind of pivot.
[00:08:09] Speaker B: Do you feel like the need for the assistant also stems from, you know, being a public figure and, like, having your face and just like a lot of irons in the fire that necessarily aren't always perfectly within a project umbrella?
[00:08:26] Speaker A: Yeah. I mean, let's be honest. Every project is so different and nothing really fits under an umbrella. So she is really helpful. I mean, we get.
I pride myself on somebody that gets back to people really quickly. Like, if you call, I want to answer the phone. If you send an email, I want to get back to you within 24 hours. If you know a client or contractor or somebody has a question, a project. So I. She sort of eliminated.
I try to not look at my emails for large chunks of the day when I have designated design days. And so she is sort of my filter. And it's like, hey, this person needs this from you right away, or she will respond on things that can be responded to without me. So she's sort of. Is an extension of me. That helps make the process, like the client facing process better or the contractor facing process better. Like, it just, it helps, you know, if I. If it was just me, I wouldn't be able to do design and, you know, follow ups as quickly as I do.
[00:09:19] Speaker B: Totally. Okay, so I think that there's probably a lot of people who are like, oh, okay, like, that's what our studio manager does. Like, and then there's just probably some, like, personal things that also get added to it.
Okay, real quick, because I ask everybody, as a design firm, how do you. How are you handling billing currently? Is it flat rate? Hourly combination? Where do you guys fall?
[00:09:42] Speaker A: We are a combination. I. I was talking with some other designers on Sunday and I was like, every project is so different. Like, just when you think you've nailed like a process or a billing structure, like, nothing fits in one specific, you know, peg in a hole. Like, it just doesn't Happen like every project is so different. Every scope is so different. So I would say we do kind of a mix. We have a fl. We have some that are flat fee. If we're doing the whole house, we have some that are hourly. We kind of have a hybrid now for like new construction. We used to just be flat fee, but we realized we were losing so much money on the front end architectural concept that we moved that to an hourly until we get to like final plans because that varied so much per project. Like not all architects are created equal.
And so some, some required like hundreds of hours on architectural concepts and red lines and so many reviews and others took like five and they were, the plans were done and, and so we started moving to a hybrid structure for that reason. So I mean, I think that's have. Has been our ideal as of lately.
That way it feels like we have some control over the, the scope creep getting out of hand, but it's always sort of a work in progress.
[00:11:03] Speaker B: Brittany, that's such a fascinating point. I've never heard someone specifically call out the fact that you don't have control over, you know, how the architect works. You hear about like, I, I don't know what this client's going to be like, are they going to need a lot of hand holding. You hear about the contractor, but that's so true when you're doing, when your scope includes from the ground up, very infancy of a project, there is a lot of leeway there. Okay, great. That is so helpful. Thank you. So you have degrees in both business and interior design. And I know that is a very enviable combination for this industry.
How much do you think that, that your business foundation has shaped the way you approach running your firm since the very beginning?
[00:11:48] Speaker A: Gosh, I, you know, I may make people mad with this, but I do think that the business degree and those business courses that had to be taken are way more beneficial to my everyday.
I mean much of design is, is learned, right? It's learning and again, there's no, you know, one way or right way to do things.
So everybody, that's sort of the great thing about design is there, you know, you can scale is a thing, but there's also, you know, when you play with scale and you kind of throw scale to the, you know, out the window and you're like, let's go oversized or let's go undersized. And so I think the business side of things is definitely, that's been a large chunk of what's helped me kind of run my business and kept me sort of business minded forward. And I definitely think that's been a large part of the success.
[00:12:40] Speaker B: I hear so many designers, you know, find their way to interior design, often from as like a second career. They were doing something else before. And a lot of people seriously weigh, should I go back to school? Do I need my design degree? And obviously, and we talk about this on the show, some states require it. Some states require, require you to have an interior design degree. That is a handful of states. And so I'm just talking as a blanket statement. If someone is considering going back to school, based off of what you said, do you feel like maybe they should explore going to school for business or at least taking some business classes? Or do you feel like going to school at like, fully studying architecture? I'm sorry, interior design in like the classical sense is the move to go?
[00:13:25] Speaker A: I mean, I think that depends on if you are hoping to work for yourself and run your own business. I mean, that's not for everybody.
I mean, I've always been like more of an entrepreneur, so I, I would say that I knew I wanted to run my own business. But for some, they're making a career change because they want to do more creative and they don't want to run a business. Like, running the business side is definitely not for everybody. You have to enjoy it. And luckily I like kind of both sides of my brain for that.
I like both the business structure and I like the creative side. But I think, yeah, it just depends on if you think you're going to want to run your own business. If you are 100%, you should go and take some, some core business classes like accounting, finance, marketing, all of that. But as far as design courses, I think you just need to learn the programs and, and understand the basic principles of, of design and, and just kind of get started in it.
[00:14:21] Speaker B: Okay, so let's go way back to 2012 when you filmed Design Star.
What made you audition and where were you at in your career at that point?
[00:14:35] Speaker A: Yeah, it's so funny. I, I always watch the show because it was great. So very excited that Nate Burkus is going to bring it back because I'm sure it'll be more elevated.
But I always loved watching the show and would watch it and be like, oh, my God, I could totally do this. Like, this is.
I grew up, I'm like, still very hands on. I love to make things. I love to know how things are built. Like, I've built my own furniture, I've done, I do all kinds of Things. So I'm like, that whole design star thing was right up my alley. And I think I was just watching it one weekend and it popped up back when we had commercials and you couldn't skip them. It was like, come audition for the next season. And I looked it up and it was in Vegas and I'm in Arizona, obviously. And I was like, oh, it's a four hour drive. Like, why don't I. Why not? Like, let's go check it out. Just happened to be like a few days away and just threw together a portfolio. I had at that point. I had worked on like the build side of things within a design center, like with multiple builders in the Valley. And so I had done a lot with like construction and sort of build finishes and then also had some clients of my own where we had done some small furniture projects, but was really still like in the infancy of design. Like, I hadn't really gone out and done my own design thing yet. Like, beginning to end. I had kind of tried to start my business while working for someone else doing more like production, construction, design.
So it was sort of the right place, right time.
[00:16:06] Speaker B: Okay, talk to us about the experience of actually filming the show. And like, I mean, how much of a time commitment was it? Like, did you have to drop everything and like, be away from your family for eight months? Like, what, what did that look like? And what did walking away as. As the runner up do for you as, you know, such a young designer building your career?
[00:16:30] Speaker A: Gosh. So it was crazy.
It was six weeks and. And I don't think that I do this anymore the way that we did it. We were like very secluded. They took our phones. We didn't have tv. Yeah, we didn't have phones, we didn't have tv. We couldn't have a magazine. Like, we couldn't look through anything for inspiration. Nothing. It was like we were in a house and a house with nothing. Like no books, no, no nothing.
And we had a journal. We could journal. And that was really it.
And we got to talk to our families.
I think it was like once a week.
And it was very specific times. And someone was always in the room with us when we would call. And that, I think, was so that we wouldn't talk about what's happening because we're not supposed to tell them what. What's going on.
And I. I luckily did not have kids at the time, but I, you know, would call my husband and I'd be like, so things are good here. And he'd be like, yeah, so what have you been doing? I'm like, just design stuff. Because we couldn't talk about anything and I couldn't be like, there's only three people left or it's just me and one other person. Like, he had no idea. He was just like, I'm assuming since you're still there, things are going well. I'm like, yeah, things are going well, but I couldn't imagine having kids. Like the people that had kids, I think really, I think got to them and it was really hard and it would be really hard for me if that. If I had kids and I didn't get to talk to them but like once a week and sometimes they'd miss their window because we wouldn't get to talk to them until like after 9 o'. Clock.
And so they would go like two weeks without talking to their kids. It was crazy.
Um, but I, I loved it because, you know, you kind of, when you're, when you take out and strip out all the day to day noise and all of the things, you really kind of tap into a different creative, I think part of your brain where I kind of get. Yeah, you get more creative. Like, you know, same thing as if like kids are like, I'm bored. You're like, well, figure it out. And then somehow they miraculously create something to do. It kind of works the same way. So I really, I really enjoyed like the intensity of it.
[00:18:37] Speaker B: That does sound super intense. And like you said, it was kind of like right place, right time that you saw the casting call and like you said you were as, as a family, you were in a place that it's like, yeah, sorry husband, I'll miss you. But like it was still a feasible thing for you to.
[00:18:53] Speaker A: Yeah, like, he's fine.
[00:18:54] Speaker B: Yeah, he'll survive this.
[00:18:57] Speaker A: Yeah, he was fine.
[00:18:58] Speaker B: So then you left and like now you're, you know, the major player on Design Star. How did that, like, did it help spark inquiries? Like, how did that launch things?
[00:19:12] Speaker A: Honestly, it was one of like the biggest things that helped me really build my company on my own.
I, it helped me like cut the cord to start my business like, and do my business full time. Because for a while I kind of like kept my like, you know, foot in the door with the old company I worked for and then freelanced and did sort of my own thing. We kind of developed a schedule and then after Design Star aired, I started getting calls. Like I got a, a client right away on a big remodel project in la and I was like, okay, let's do It. And I just sort of figured it out and I have, I mean, I have a client today that is somebody that saw me on Design Star. Like we're now on their, like, it's like our third project together, so. And another client that saw me on Design Star and we're doing their second house. So it, it definitely was a, like a building block that definitely helped, like, put me out there. It's like the best marketing you could possibly do for yourself.
As long as it's good marketing and you, you know, you represent yourself well.
[00:20:15] Speaker B: Okay. So then after Design Star and you've launched your own firm, then came Hotel Impossible and then Bravo and FYI Network. During this time, you were also running your own studio because like the inquiries were coming in. What did the business look like and how were you like, juggling all that here? Here we are and we're like, I don't know if I can even post a story today. And here you are, like, with multiple shows happening, running a studio.
[00:20:44] Speaker A: Yeah, it was kind of crazy. I mean, the Travel Channel luckily was an easy plug in because it wasn't my show. I was just the designer on the show and Anthony was the host. And we, like, after the first episode we did, he, we developed a relationship and he fully trusted me. So it was like I didn't really have to present things and get opinions back. It was just like an overall, like, here's my thought. And he was like, yeah, sounds great, let's go with it. And so it was really sort of a fun plug and play. I would go travel somewhere for a week, a month and do this big renovation. And, and I still love that because it was sort of. We don't get to do that every day. Like, our projects take forever. So to be, to go to somewhere, renovate and do a full thing with before and afters in one week is pretty cool. And so I did that until I had my second child at Lincoln and I was like, I can't do this anymore. So it just, again, it was like, right place, right time. It was really, really fun. I never really sought out to do tv. It just sort of happened and I, I guess I'm kind of built for the chaos of TV design, production design. But ultimately it was like, okay, I can't be away from my family any.
The older they get, the more they care.
[00:22:00] Speaker B: Yeah, absolutely.
Yeah. I mean, I've got an almost 2 year old and I can be gone for a few days. And for her it could have been three and a half hours.
[00:22:08] Speaker A: She wouldn't yeah, they have no idea. Concept of time.
[00:22:11] Speaker B: Okay. Speaking of being built for the chaos of production tv, on a show you are designing on a super tight budget, on a hard deadline with no wiggle room, with cameras rolling, what specific habits or instincts from that environment helped build the way that you work with residential clients in a more traditional interior design studio aspect?
[00:22:39] Speaker A: Yeah, I guess I still, I mean, what I did learn and my biggest takeaway from the entire experience was trusting my gut and rolling with it, because you really did not have time to second guess yourself. And as designers, every day, you know, if we have too much time, we will overthink and second guess everything.
But there you didn't have it. So I realized I had to just trust my gut more. And that's definitely carried over where, you know, I, I tell my, my designers that work for me. I'm like, you can't just go and look and source for things without a plan. Like, there has to be, you know, you have to have an overarching plan and have to look specifically for something that's instead of just scrolling every page of coffee tables.
So I guess it's sort of carried over where I always am thinking about big picture.
What's the, what's the biggest factor that affects everything? And I start there and then kind of work backwards. Timing. I got really good at just understanding how quickly I can do things and how much time I need, and that still carries over. So, you know, I, I give people very realistic expectations. I mean, I still think we work a little bit faster than most, but yeah, most of that kind of carried over where I just learned how to, like, plan for A through Z from the beginning and understanding that things are going to change and not go very well, but always have a plan to pivot.
And so I sort of see those, those roadblocks as opportunities to do something a little bit different and something that maybe is better.
So, yeah, sort of changed my mentality doing the show and doing design on tv.
[00:24:13] Speaker B: You mentioned that you feel like your studio still works a bit faster than other studios. Are there specific steps in the process or specific areas that you feel like you guys really speed up or do you feel like, just in general, it's like you're quicker on the timelines.
[00:24:31] Speaker A: I think in general, I'm just, I just think I'm an efficient person. So I'm always thinking about, I mean, I just. The way I think I'm wired.
I mean, I think about efficiency just from, like, doing housework, like, what could be done at multiple times, like I'm always doing five things at one time, but yeah, I just think we work a little bit faster. I think on the construction finish side, because that's where I started.
I think on the construction and renovation side of things, we work a little bit faster.
[00:25:03] Speaker B: I want to talk about the experience of being on camera and how that's translated from a marketing and also like just client selling perspective.
Does that level of on camera performing, if you will, help you sell a vision to your clients today or even on a, on a, like, bigger picture, do you feel like it's easier to close clients and get them to sign the service agreement because you have that experience of, you know, presenting your idea? It has to get, you know, approved and selected and moved on throughout both a competition series and then also your other iterations. It sounds like when you were working with Anthony, it just took one for him to just buy in and then you didn't have to as much proof. But I, I know that on camera time and selling yourself is where a lot of designers struggle. And so what, what big takeaways do you feel like you have from that time and how that's helped?
[00:26:02] Speaker A: I mean, I wouldn't say that I learned necessarily how to sell myself better. I think I could definitely still have room for improvement there.
But I do think I learned a lot more about explaining the why of things because, you know, with TV design, you have to, you have to explain the why. You have to help someone understand how you got to the end space and, and explain sort of your thought process to get there. So I would say my TV experience has probably benefited me more after we've gotten the project and I'm, I'm presenting and, and kind of explaining the why of things because I, I try to explain it in a way that makes sense to them instead of just being like, here's isn't this beautiful? You know, the colors all work together and, you know, I try to really go in depth of the thought process of, of how we got to that final image and how we got to these selections.
[00:26:56] Speaker B: You know, this season of the show in particular, we've had a lot of designers that we've all loved and followed for a long time on Instagram talk about how they're like really pushing into YouTube and they really see that once again, YouTube is still the avenue to be exploring and finding a comfort level to put yourself out there is, is really hard. It's a difficult thing to like, watch yourself on camera.
How, how would you coach someone listening to kind of take that initial Leap of being comfortable just showing up on your own social media. Maybe you're not doing full YouTube episodes and maybe you're not on a TV show. But like, how did you kind of get over that initial? Like, whoa, I have to show my face and talk publicly to infinite number of people.
[00:27:45] Speaker A: I mean, listen, I don't think anybody likes the way that their voice sounds. I think there must be something that is ingrained in us, but I just try not to overthink it. I don't, I mean, no, I don't always like the way I look. I have. I make a lot of weird faces, I do weird things with my hands and I'm just like, you know, it is what it is and it's never going to be perfect and I just have to put it out there. Like when we film something, I try, try not to really give many edits back.
It's just like, unless it's a visual, like, oh, I don't love that visual. Or it could be, you know, the music's different, but you just kind of have to put it out there. And honestly, I think right now is a great time for people to do it because I think people are looking for more authenticity than they are wanting someone to put another like perfect picture or, or something out there that doesn't feel necessarily as authentic. So I think it's almost better now to just like show the real side of things, like share your chaos, share your failures. I think people want to see that more now than ever because we have been so inundated with like the picture perfect videos and pictures.
So I, I think now more than ever people are leaning into following people that are just kind of not afraid to get out there and maybe look a mess sometimes.
[00:29:07] Speaker B: 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. And you are still the one holding it all together.
But here's the thing. Most tools were not built for the way interior designers actually deliver projects.
Material was concept to handoff approvals, to procurement to billing with QuickBooks sync built right in one connected workflow Interior Collective listeners get 50 off their first month at getmaterial.com free for 14 days. No credit card required. That's M A T e r I o getmaterio.com I know for, you know, people in a very aesthetic business, the concept, like I hear You. I believe you.
I love following people who are real, but someone who has like a brand image, it's really hard to stomach putting something out that's not perfectly polished.
Do you feel like showing your full personality, showing the mistakes? Do you feel like that gains you followers as well as inquiries, or do you feel like you're kind of talking to two different audiences in that aspect?
[00:30:23] Speaker A: I don't know if I feel like I'm talking to different. I, I have not really gotten a lot of projects directly from social media. I would say it's. Most of my followers are. Yeah, there's. They're not designers and, and people like, most of them are designers and people in the industry, but there are some that aren't. They just like to see pretty spaces. But I wouldn't say that most of it's translated into projects. It's really just more followers and I don't know, I think what you have to do is just kind of put something out there and sort of test it and see what happens. I think social media should be looked at more for maybe not gaining clients, but just gaining a position of authority in your industry versus like directly translating into a client.
Because it's not like you're putting a commercial out there and you're like, call me for this. You're just putting out your work and, and sharing it with everybody.
So I think that the direction the mindset should be more about just letting it be more of a place for people to get to know who you are versus trying to get a direct sale from it.
[00:31:29] Speaker B: Where do you think your biggest lead generator is?
[00:31:33] Speaker A: Is referrals. Hands down, all of our projects still to this day, 90% are referral based or they are repeat clients. But, and those are our best, those are our best projects too because usually you have a great client, they likely have great friends and great people that they know and they're like minded people. So that's still my best source of, of clients and referrals.
[00:32:01] Speaker B: Okay. Before we wrap up, TV side of things. Looking back and you shared a lot about how you feel like it was the best marketing you could have done to launch your business.
Knowing what you know today. Would you do it again?
[00:32:20] Speaker A: Yes, I would do Design Star. I don't know if I would do any other show now because I can't say I got anything from those per se.
[00:32:27] Speaker B: Got it. Okay. And so for designers who've received media coverage of any kind, whether it's a TV show or magazine feature, how do you translate that visibility into a long Term brand equity authority, you were just mentioning and business growth and not just this feather in a cap.
[00:32:49] Speaker A: That's a great question. I don't know. I still, like, we. There isn't really a way to track marketing. Right. Like, I have no way of knowing if advertising in a magazine is really bringing me any leads.
Besides, if they call me, they're like, I saw you in a magazine, which has never happened, by the way. No one's ever been like, I saw your spread in modern luxury or whatnot, and I loved it and I want to work with you. That's never happened. So it's hard to know what's really the most successful.
But I think it's just consistently getting out there and putting something out there is what's important and just being a reminder. Right. Like if someone continues to see your face or your name somewhere, I think that's what keeps you top of mind. And that's.
I think the best thing that you can do is just somehow stay kind of top of mind with people.
[00:33:43] Speaker B: So, Brittany, I feel like you are such an anomaly in the sense that you're like our social media and you have a very sizable following is not our. Our traffic source when it comes to quality inquiries. And I'd love to dive more into your client process because if you're doing 90% of your jobs based on referrals, your process has got to be killer. You guys are on it.
How do you define your client experience? And at what point did you realize it needed to be as deliberate as the design itself?
[00:34:23] Speaker A: Yeah, I think most people just want to be. They want to be informed. Right. They want to know what the process looks like. They want to know that they can trust you. I think it's being available being. I think sometimes people take on too much and, and I'm told all the time that contractors and architects like working with us because we answer the phone, which seems really simple, but I guess it's not common.
We always just want to be accessible. I mean, this is a. Designing their homes is a very personal project and it requires a lot of hand holding it. And again, that's why we need to kind of be flexible. And not every project's the same. Every project's literally different because the client personality is different, their needs are different. It's really understanding who your client is and what they want the experience to be that's really important from the beginning.
And that way we're kind of flexible. Nobody fits into like a process. I'd love to send out a process document and Be like, here's how this is going to go. But it almost never happens the same way. So we sort of figure out what that process needs to be and what it needs to look like at the beginning of every. Of ever, every project. So.
But yeah, it's really just being accessible. It's being we get back to clients within 24 hours, which I don't think is typical anymore.
And yeah, just being someone that know. They know that they are important and their project is important to us and that we care kind of at a different level.
[00:35:55] Speaker B: Okay, so I hear that your process is not black and white for every project because every project is a different scope, scale, et cetera.
One thing I heard you mentioned that I so agree with and I'm learning a lot in my own business, is that flexibility in your process based off of how the client wants to work is one of the biggest changes you can make in your business.
Someone who's paying a very high dollar amount to work with you to produce this project, etc.
We need to remember we're in the service industry and therefore we need to serve them the way that they want to be served. That said, having an understanding of what a typical process would be is critical to obviously keep things running. Can you walk us through how things work from initial inquiry, especially for someone who's coming from referrals, whether that's second, third projects with someone or they referred someone else, how do you onboard a client? How are you gathering that information?
[00:36:56] Speaker A: So yeah, when we initially have someone reach out, if it's a referral from someone that we know, we usually will meet with them in person, whether it's preferably in our office or we meet with them on site somewhere. If it's a remodel and it's a referral, and then we just kind of walk through what the scope is, what the timeline is, we find out who, if it's a remodel or construction or whatnot, like who else is on the team and if they need guidance with that, we talk about budget from the jump.
But once we've signed on with them and we begin to work together, we always have sort of a project inquiry for design direction. So it is. We've had clients that are like, we don't have any inspiration and it's a requirement. Like we have to have 20 images of spaces and they do not need to be perfect. I was like, it can be just a mood, it can be a light fixture, it can be a paint color, it can be anything. Just to get our conversation going about design so that we try to understand the overall direction a little bit clearer.
And then we sort of take that back to the office and then we put together a more visual, comprehensive direction of design, which we call our Vibe presentations. And sometimes we end up with, you know, one clear one, and sometimes we end up with two or three, and we give them names, depending on what the differences are, and we kind of explain. And so we sort of curate what they've already given us, but in a, like, more specific direction. And we talk through, a lot of times it's with materials as well. So fabrics, finishes, whatever it is that we're doing.
That way they've got some tangible, tactile things that we can talk about. And we do this because we want to be super clear about what our design direction is. Because people can show you pictures, but not everybody knows what it means, right? Nobody. People will say it's, you know, modern, I like traditional or modern. And then you find out that they're like five or six different types of design styles. And the only way to know that is if we sort of dive into it a little deeper before we start designing.
So once we sort of pick a direction from our Vibe presentation, then we go more specifically into design within all of the rooms of the house. And we like to do it all at one time. Unless we have some clients that will say, hey, this is too much for me to do and digest, you know, one presentation. Can we do it in pieces? We've definitely done it that way, if they prefer. But we like to do it all at one time.
And then that way we can present everything to them at one time. And then we usually go a couple of different rounds.
We have two rounds of design presentations within our contract usually.
So, I mean, most of the time we don't need that many, but we give them that flexibility. And we aren't like, you have this one selection and that's it. We usually give them a couple per space for different things so that there's still some like, you know, collaboration within that process.
[00:39:53] Speaker B: Okay, so many follow up questions. Firstly, I'm just wondering from, like your business half of your brain, when we're talking about the psychology of working with a client, you've had them curate 20 images of their own. Do you intentionally include or exclude those images when you're in that Vibe meeting? I'm just wondering if, like, oh, if something's great, we do include it. Or you're like, we always make sure there are four images in there so they know we heard them.
[00:40:23] Speaker A: I wouldn't say that we always include theirs. Unless, you know, I usually take the ones that stood out to me and we'll include those because sometimes they'll give us direction and we may not love that direction. And we're like, okay, I'm going to take this. And, you know, they're paying. They're paying us to not necessarily take exactly what they are showing me and put it into the house. Like they're wanting our lens through it. So, you know, I will take their direction, but I will put my lens on it and sort of change it and go into a direction from there.
So I wouldn't say that I always include every image. Maybe I'll take, like my favorites out of there and kind of run with those.
[00:41:02] Speaker B: Okay, and then second follow up question. When you're talking about how your team does full design presentation, you like to do everything unless the client specifically wants to break it up.
Are you doing hard finishes, like construction design and furnishings all at once, or you're just talking about we'll do all construction at once and then we'll all do all furnishings later?
[00:41:23] Speaker A: Yeah, I mean, if we're doing. So if we were doing construction finishes, we would do all the rooms at one time, not with furniture at the same time necessarily. We will talk about some directions with furniture, with space planning, and we will have an overall design direction with that furniture. But we won't do furniture and finishes unless it's a, you know, smaller project. But if it's a whole house, we don't do furniture and finishes at the same time. We'll do. We'll do furniture next and then do the whole house of furniture at one time.
[00:41:51] Speaker B: And when you say next, obviously it depends on the size, you know, square footage, we're talking about the scale of the remodel, etc.
How long is that process typically from. Okay, hard finishes, Those selections have been made and now we're moving into furnishings. And because for some people, it's like, okay, well, that six months later, because construction's actually happening, or it's like, immediately we go right into it. How does it work for you?
[00:42:17] Speaker A: So this is where every project's so different. You know, the timeline is so different. So if we're doing full new construction, we will do all the build finishes. I always tell people, like, I mean, our projects are large sometimes, so they're like 7,000 to 12,000 square feet. So our typical design process is like 10 to 12 weeks. And then we have documentation phase, which is 10 to 12, 12 weeks usually. And Then construction is usually happening. We like to do furniture.
We like to start the furniture design process like six months before we would likely need it on site.
But usually we've already sort of done some front end, like, furniture layouts. We have a general direction of things and it's really starting to pull those. Those things together. But everything, every project's so different. I mean, we have certainly, if we're just doing like a light remodel, kitchen remodel, a couple bathrooms and furniture, we will do it all at one time.
[00:43:11] Speaker B: Time.
Okay, and then last nerdy question, when we're talking about presentations, are you presenting things digitally on paper and how are you receiving feedback and sign off? Is there a physical wet signature? Is there a digital signature signature, or is your team just being like, great, this is approved. We're moving on.
[00:43:31] Speaker A: We present everything with like digital. We have digital presentations, and then alongside that, we have all the tangible physical materials so that we're sort of doing both at the same time.
And the level of renderings within that sort of varies depending on what the client needs in order to make a decision. Every client, you know, they may be fine with like a sketchup program drawing or they might need it to move to, you know, a more 3D photorealistic render. So every project is a little different with that.
And then generally we'll get feedback. And once we know that they love everything and they've sort of picked things, that's when we go into pricing in a proposal with specific line items with all of those selections. So their approval of proposal going forward is their final approval of those items. We don't price anything until they tell us that. Yes, that's the sofa that I want.
[00:44:27] Speaker B: Oh, this is fascinating. Okay, that is so juicy. So you guys are, you know, shopping within a budget. You know, your budget allowances are. So you're like, okay, what we're presenting is within budget, but it does not. They don't need to know how much that sofa is because we're in budget overall. It doesn't matter if that was $100,000 overall. Yeah, okay.
[00:44:49] Speaker A: Exactly. So, yeah, we. Because, I mean, as you know, pricing every single item takes so much time. So we don't get into the. The pricing of each, you know.
You know, it's like a. Well, a contrast. Well, it costs more than a standard. Well, you know, all those little things add up and. And there's really, to me, no point in getting to that level of detail until we know that they love it and they want to move forward. We do Know that it's within budget, and we've just. We've determined what that budget is, and we know where we need to be sourcing to stay within that budget. But yeah, we do not get into pricing until they're like this. This is it. I love it. And then that once they get that pricing, they approve it, and that that approval of that proposal is their approval.
[00:45:35] Speaker B: Wow, that's blowing my mind right now. And then when you do send the proposal, like you have priced line item, every single thing.
[00:45:43] Speaker A: Correct.
[00:45:44] Speaker B: And they're seeing the retail cost or
[00:45:46] Speaker A: your cost, so they're seeing their price point. So we do, obviously, we mark it up and then they usually on our invoice, they see what their savings is off of. Of retail. So, like, what their discount is.
[00:45:59] Speaker B: That's genius. Yeah, they don't markup. Doesn't matter to them. What they see is what they're saving.
Brilliant. I bet business school helped you with that part.
[00:46:09] Speaker A: It's all psychology.
[00:46:11] Speaker B: Okay, so let's talk about profitability. This is a perfect transition. How directly do you think your client process connects to your actual profit margins? I mean, the fact that you customize your process for every project is, I don't want to say the opposite of what we talk about here on the show so much because we're really focusing on client experience and, like, what it means to really serve clients of this caliber now. But, you know, we do love a process. So I'm curious if you've seen being as flexible as you are and really focusing on serving the client the way they want to be served, how do you feel that affects your profitability on a project and what processes have you put in place to help maximize that profitability? I know you mentioned, you know, the architectural revisions at the beginning can be a big money suck because it's a time suck. What are other areas that you've noticed? Even though we give a lot of leeway in the process, like, these are kind of our hard and fast places to watch.
[00:47:19] Speaker A: Yeah, I mean, I would say we are flexible with every project, but we do have that conversation of what they want that process to look like. Like, before we have a contract in place. That's where that initial meeting, where that happens in that initial meeting where it's like, you know, what kind of involvement are you hoping for?
How.
Here's what our typical process looks like. Will that work for you? So that's where we determine, you know, what's hourly, what's flat fee, you know, which way do I think that they're gonna where it needs to be for profitability on the project and also giving them the level of, of service that they, they are going to need.
But there are stipulations within that, right? So like we don't have like endless design rounds if we're, you know, flat fee during the build process or construction process or a flat fee furniture project. Like, we have limited amount of design meetings, we have limited amount of installs. We usually say within, you know, it includes two installs. And usually that one install is like cabinetry or anything, custom wallpaper that we, we needed to do. And then that next one is the furniture and styling. So we do have limitations and parameters within what that process looks like. And then anything outside of that. It's not that we're not available to do a third install if we need to because they couldn't make a decision on some items and it needed to come later. It's just that then it becomes hourly for some of those extras.
So that's where I like sort of a hybrid structure sometimes where it's like, here's what's included. If we go outside of that, we go outside of that. And that's just how that goes. I mean, it's kind of not dissimilar to a change order from a contractor. It's just, here's what's included, but here's what's extra. And as long as we have that open dialogue throughout that process of, you know, we have a client right now where she really was overwhelmed with doing the whole house and she's like, I have to put a pin in my primary bedroom and my formal living room. Like, I cannot make this decision.
So we just finalized some items a couple of weeks ago and we're installing in September for the rest of the house. So we discussed that, you know, that's going to then fall outside of like what's included. And it'll just be that we have some extra time for install that'll be hourly for that. But she, she doesn't mind. It just was, she needed more time.
So it's just having that open conversation. But I do think having a hybrid is really important because it really protects you from scope creating creep.
And you know, it's, it, it shouldn't be. Unfortunately, we deal with a lot of, you know, contractors that are challenging or architects that are challenging. And it's not because we've hired them, it's because the clients hired them and we want to be there to help support it, but it also shouldn't be at our expense.
So, you know, our involvement with like, with that contractor or with that architect. So on that front end is hourly. And then after we present that build book and give that over, we then go back to hourly so that the project management. So if there's changes after the build book's done, if site visits, which we do like to be able to do, those are all hourly because again, that varies so much. Contractors, some contractors we don't hear from at all because everything they need is in that build book. But then we have some contractors that don't want to open that book even though that information is in there and they want to call us for everything.
And we should be able to be compensated. Compensated for that in that range of time.
[00:50:45] Speaker B: Yeah. Do you. I love that you have such clear parameters of what is included and then someone can feel as though they're getting a super custom package even though you're like, well, this is what we require. This is like the minimum and also the maximum.
When we're talking about minimums and talking about contractors, do you have a requirement of like, okay, we absolutely require six walkthroughs on site. Those will be billed hourly or, or that's included in that flat fee, however you do it. Or it's like, we absolutely have to be. We have to have two meetings with your architect. Do you have any minimums or are you open to coming into a project kind of like wherever it's at?
[00:51:28] Speaker A: I'm open to coming into a project wherever it's at.
Sometimes we get projects and the construction documents have already been submitted to the city and, and it's done and they are just ready for finishes. And we don't necessarily want to come in and like blow it up. Even though I'm sure we would have changes if we wanted, if we looked at the plans. I mean, unless there's something that's glaringly off, then we will just jump in and we'll start working on it.
We're really open and that's where, you know, if it's the right project and the right client, then we will start wherever we do have. We don't have minimums with like, we have to have this many site visits or meetings with certain contractors or architects. But I mean, we do have project minimums where we won't, you know, we have a 200 hour minimum. So we. It usually weeds out any really small project.
[00:52:17] Speaker B: Brittany, everything I'm hearing from you goes back to the fact that you are highly efficient. And I think your efficiency allows you flexibility. It's like, because we are efficient. We're able to be flexible and serve these clients at this highest caliber. Looking back across your TV career and your studio, where do you think the biggest overlap was between those two that have made you both successful on set and also what made you successful on the business side of your studio?
[00:52:47] Speaker A: I think it's. It's being adaptable. I think that's something that is.
Is really important in this business, again, because this is the only career that I know of that we start over with every project.
Like, I don't know anybody other. Any other company or business structure or anything where you have a new team and new personalities and new people and new scope. Every single job that we do, like, it's kind of crazy. Like, we don't. You know, there are some designers that only work with certain contractors, and they do get to work with the same people over and over again, but most of us work with new people every single time. And we have to be adaptable, and we have to learn to work with different personalities. We have to learn to bend and figure out the best way to work together to, to move forward with, you know, clients and the trades that we're going to be working with. So it's so important to be adaptable. And I think that's a big thing that I learned on TV is like, nothing goes as like at all.
And you have to understand where you need to pivot and how to keep moving forward and get the job done.
[00:54:00] Speaker B: For a designer who knows their client experience needs work but doesn't know where to start, what is the first thing you would tell them to fix?
[00:54:12] Speaker A: I mean, I guess I would try to find out where they think that their experience needs work. But I would also encourage them to ask, ask their clients when they're done, what could have been better?
What were the parts of the process that you really enjoyed and what were the parts of the process that you. That you didn't enjoy and that could have been better? I mean, I think it's so important to always be open to hearing feedback.
I mean, I still ask clients when I don't get a project, like, they've moved, they decided to move forward with somebody else or whatnot. I'm like, you know, I'm sorry to hear that, but, you know, I wish you the best.
I would love to know, you know, what.
Why you made that decision and what encouraged, you know, what made you choose a different direction? Because I always want to know, like, where can I improve?
And the best way is to ask someone, you know, the why For a
[00:55:08] Speaker B: project that you did complete, that is finished and you know, whether it was a fantastic project or maybe there was, you know, know, more hiccups than usual. Do you ever have hesitation in asking for feedback at the end of the project because you're like, we're finally installed. I don't want to ruffle feathers and remind someone of the hiccups that they experienced. Or do you feel like that information and just even asking the question can enhance their experience?
[00:55:36] Speaker A: I mean, I think asking the question could enhance their experience. However, I mean, I definitely wouldn't ask someone where the project really went awry.
And maybe you didn't, you know, you were totally ready to be done with it and, and be done and never look back. Don't ask those people. But, you know, for a project that, that went fairly well and, you know, you ended. It ended well. Like, I would, I would still ask openly, you know, what, what did they like and what did they not like? I mean, I think for a project closeout, it's really important to know, you know, where you could improve on things.
And you usually know at the end, like, oof, here's where I could have done this differently. And that's why we make amendments to our contracts all the time. But yeah, I think definitely ask the right. You have to know which clients to ask.
[00:56:25] Speaker B: Well, and like you said, these projects, you're doing these projects for two, three years. If you're doing a full custom home build and it's like giving birth, like your brain blocks out the trauma. So to be reminded of where, of where things, you know, maybe could have gone better, it's really important to stop and review and reflect on the project, even if you're just doing it with your team. Like, where were those hiccups?
Okay, so Brittany, here we are, 14 years since design Star Films, running a hyper successful studio with like the perfect size team, right, sitting right at that five member mark.
What is coming up next for Brittany Simon Design House that you're excited and allowed to share? Is there anything that you can spill here on the show?
[00:57:15] Speaker A: Yeah, I think right now we just, we just have some really fun projects.
We've got a lot of construction projects going right now which will be fun to share in the next couple of years. And we are just finishing our office space, so we moved in. I bought an office in January and so we've been renovating that and that's been a lot.
So I'm hoping to be done, done with that space October, November. So getting all the finishing touches in there and furniture pieces and of course everything's custom so it's taking longer.
But looking forward to sharing the final space with everybody in likely November.
[00:57:53] Speaker B: Amazing. Well this was so informative. Thank you so much for sharing your wisdom. It's been a joy to watch your career and I'm so excited to see what's next. I can't wait to see the Opportunity Office.
[00:58:02] Speaker A: Yeah, I'm excited to share it. Thanks for having me.
[00:58:05] Speaker B: 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 or at patreon.com/forward/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, as well as this season's presenting sponsor, Ann Sachs. Your contribution literally makes this podcast feasible and the biggest thank you to you, our listeners, you, 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 and this is the Interior Collective, a podcast for the business of beautiful living.
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