Design Curious | Interior Design Career and Business Podcast

If you’ve ever looked at another interior designer’s business and thought, “Maybe I just need better software,” you’re not alone.

There is always a new platform, app, or shiny software promising to make your projects run more smoothly, save you time, or help you make more profit. And with AI becoming part of almost every software platform, it can be even harder to know what you actually need.

But after years of running an interior design business, I’ve learned that software is only as effective as the systems behind it. Before you start investing in expensive platforms, you need to understand how you want your business to operate. In the early stages, especially when you have zero or one client, simple spreadsheets can be enough. They can help you learn how you like to manage projects before you invest in more sophisticated interior design software.

In this episode, I’m opening up my toolbox and walking you through the software I currently use to run my interior design business—from project management and time tracking to accounting and interior design operations, including drafting, client presentations, client intake, file management, communication, and even AI support. My goal isn’t to tell you there is one perfect software solution. Instead, I want to give you a real-world look at how these tools support my systems and workflows.

What You’ll Learn in This Episode
✔️ Why strong systems matter more than software
✔️ How I use Asana for projects and time tracking
✔️ Why Studio Designer supports my design business accounting
✔️ Which software I use for drafting and presentations
✔️ How I manage clients, files, communication, and AI

Read the Blog >>> The Interior Design Software I Use to Run My Business Efficiently

NEXT STEPS:
🎯 Join My Design Mentor and start creating a design career you truly love.
👉https://my-design-mentor.mn.co

📺 WATCH FREE WEBINARS 📺
"From Passion to Profit," and learn the 5 Money Moves to start your interior design business right 👉 https://rwarddesign.myflodesk.com/5moneymoves

Are You Ready to Start Your Interior Design Business? How to Know for Sure (and What It Really Costs to Launch) 👉 https://rwarddesign.myflodesk.com/areyoureadyreplay

Check out our Designer's Playlist!
*️ Start Your Interior Design Journey
*️ From Newbie to Confident Designer
*️ Switching Gears to Interior Design

Grab your freebies:
📌 Your Roadmap to a Career in Interior Design
🎨 3 Things I Wish I had known when I Started my Career

Connect With Me:
📧 Email: podcast@rwarddesign.com
🔆 Instagram: @rwarddesign
🌎 Website at rwarddesign.com

Thanks for listening! I hope this helps you discover if interior design is the career for you. See you next week...

Timestamps
0:00 Introduction to the Software Behind My Business
4:43 Project Management and Time Tracking
8:02 Accounting and Operations Software
11:42 Design Production and Presentations
16:05 Client Intake and Lead Generation
17:37 Curation and File Management Tools
20:11 Internal Communication and AI Use

Interior designers love the beautiful, creative side of the work. They love choosing materials, working with clients, selecting furnishings, and bringing a vision to life. But when a project moves into renovation, remodeling, or new construction, another side of interior design becomes just as important: the technical side.

I see this gap often, especially with designers who are moving from decorating and furnishing into more complex residential or commercial projects. You may be confident in your aesthetic skills but feel intimidated by construction documentation, building drawings, space planning, technical details, or understanding how everything will actually be built. And if that technical knowledge wasn't a major focus of your interior design education or career, it can become a real weak spot. In this episode, Jessica Marchand and I talk about exactly why this matters and what you can do about it.

Interior design is really two distinct crafts—the aesthetic craft and the technical craft—and great projects happen where those two worlds meet. You don't have to be brilliant at both. But the work does.

Featured Guest
Jessica Marchant is the founder of Blue-Sky Creative, a technical design firm that partners with interior designers nationwide to provide white-label design support, space planning, build-ready construction documentation, and realistic 3D renderings. Her team helps bridge the gap between interior designers and contractors so designers can confidently execute residential and commercial projects. Jessica is a formally trained interior designer with a master's degree in design management and has experience in kitchen and bath design, construction, themed entertainment, and project management. She also coaches interior designers who are transitioning into more complex renovation and new construction work. Her approach combines technical design expertise with practical business strategy to help creative businesses scale with confidence.

What You’ll Learn in This Episode
✳️ Why technical design knowledge matters in complex projects
✳️ How construction documentation protects your design decisions
✳️ When to outsource technical design support
✳️ How to choose the right GC partner
✳️ Why intentional teams help interior designers scale

Read the Blog >>> Bringing the Aesthetic and Technical Sides Together of Interior Design

NEXT STEPS:
🎯 Join My Design Mentor and start creating a design career you truly love.
👉https://my-design-mentor.mn.co

📺 WATCH FREE WEBINARS 📺
"From Passion to Profit," and learn the 5 Money Moves to start your interior design business right 👉 https://rwarddesign.myflodesk.com/5moneymoves

Are You Ready to Start Your Interior Design Business? How to Know for Sure (and What It Really Costs to Launch) 👉 https://rwarddesign.myflodesk.com/areyoureadyreplay

Check out our Designer's Playlist!
*️ Start Your Interior Design Journey
*️ From Newbie to Confident Designer
*️ Switching Gears to Interior Design

Grab your freebies:
📌 Your Roadmap to a Career in Interior Design
🎨 3 Things I Wish I had known when I Started my Career

Connect With Me:
📧 Email: podcast@rwarddesign.com
🔆 Instagram: @rwarddesign
🌎 Website at rwarddesign.com

Thanks for listening! I hope this helps you discover if interior design is the career for you. See you next week...

Timestamps
0:00 Introduction and Guest Bio
3:00 Jessica’s Journey Into Interior Design
9:17 Why Designers Often Lack Technical Experience
10:21 The Idea Behind Blue-Sky Creative
13:28 Blue-Sky Creative Services
15:05 Getting As-Built Information for Projects
17:26 Creating Templates and Polished Drawings
19:46 Building a Team and Getting Help
21:41 Managing Construction Partnerships

You became an interior designer because you love design. You know how to create beautiful spaces, solve design problems, make thoughtful selections, and bring a client's vision to life. But once you start your own interior design business, you quickly discover that being a talented designer is only one part of the job.

Suddenly, you're also responsible for marketing, sales, client experience, project management, finances, systems, leadership, and all the decisions that come with running a business. It can feel overwhelming because nobody necessarily teaches you how to make that transition from skilled creative to confident business owner.

One way I've grown my business over the years is through reading. I've read a lot of business and personal growth books over the last 10 years, and some have completely changed the way I think about my career, my clients, my money, and my business. In this episode, I'm sharing seven books that have helped me answer important questions about building an interior design business that is profitable, sustainable, memorable, and capable of growing beyond me.
My recommendation: Start with the book that speaks to the question you're asking in your business right now. Sometimes one idea or one important shift in perspective is enough to make an entire book worthwhile.

What You’ll Learn in This Episode
✔️ Why your interior design business exists
✔️ How to make your marketing more client-focused
✔️ Ways to create a memorable client experience
✔️ How systems can help your business grow
✔️ How to develop a healthier money mindset

Read the Blog >>> 7 Must-Read Business Books for Interior Designers

NEXT STEPS:
🎯 Join My Design Mentor and start creating a design career you truly love. 👉https://my-design-mentor.mn.co

📗 Check out the best books every interior designer should have here.

📺 WATCH FREE WEBINARS 📺
"From Passion to Profit," and learn the 5 Money Moves to start your interior design business right 👉 https://rwarddesign.myflodesk.com/5moneymoves

Are You Ready to Start Your Interior Design Business? How to Know for Sure (and What It Really Costs to Launch) 👉 https://rwarddesign.myflodesk.com/areyoureadyreplay

Check out our Designer's Playlist!
*️ Start Your Interior Design Journey
*️ From Newbie to Confident Designer
*️ Switching Gears to Interior Design

Grab your freebies:
📌 Your Roadmap to a Career in Interior Design
🎨 3 Things I Wish I had known when I Started my Career

Connect With Me:
📧 Email: podcast@rwarddesign.com
🔆 Instagram: @rwarddesign
🌎 Website at rwarddesign.com

Thanks for listening! I hope this helps you discover if interior design is the career for you. See you next week...

Timestamps
0:00 Introduction to business books for interior designers
5:10 On Finding Your Purpose
7:18 On Effective Marketing Messaging
10:31 On Giving Exceptional Client Experiences
13:35 On Building Scalable Systems
15:24 On Creating a Business Built to Sell
17:25 On Mastering Money Mindset
19:02 On Managing Business Cash Flow

What does it really mean to be an interior designer? Is it simply choosing beautiful colors, furniture, and finishes? Or is there something much deeper happening when we step into a client's home and ask them to trust our professional judgment?

In this episode, I sit down with Tamera Gamble of Arranged Space, an interior designer, educator, mentor, and longtime design professional whose career has taken her from high-end residential design to commercial, municipal, retail, and residential projects. Her story is a wonderful reminder that interior design is both a creative career and a technical, human-centered profession.

I especially loved Tamera's commitment to making good interior design accessible to real people, regardless of their budget. Whether you're working on a luxury residential project, helping a client make a few changes with $1,000, creating construction documents in AutoCAD, or simply solving a difficult space-planning problem, the fundamentals still matter. Your job is to make the space work for the person living in it.

And sometimes, doing that means telling a client no.

Featured Guest
Tamera Gamble is the founder of Arranged Space, an interior design business focused on creating thoughtful, functional spaces that reflect each client's style and budget. Her career in interior design spans residential, commercial, municipal, retail, and historic preservation projects, including work with prominent firms such as Ralph Lauren, Gruzen Sampton, and Goldenstein Hill and West. Tamera earned her BFA from the New York School of Interior Design and has developed a particular passion for space planning, technical drawing, and using design to make everyday spaces work better for the people who live in them. In addition to practicing interior design, she teaches at the New York School of Interior Design and has spent years mentoring aspiring designers, helping them build their skills, confidence, and portfolios.

What You’ll Learn in This Episode
✳️ Why interior design requires technical expertise
✳️ How to confidently stand behind your recommendations
✳️ Why continuing education matters throughout your career
✳️ How to make good design accessible
✳️ Ways to build experience and your design portfolio

Read the Blog >>> The Real Work of a Professional Interior Designer

NEXT STEPS:
🎯 Join My Design Mentor and start creating a design career you truly love.
👉https://my-design-mentor.mn.co

📺 WATCH FREE WEBINARS 📺
"From Passion to Profit," and learn the 5 Money Moves to start your interior design business right 👉 https://rwarddesign.myflodesk.com/5moneymoves

Are You Ready to Start Your Interior Design Business? How to Know for Sure (and What It Really Costs to Launch) 👉 https://rwarddesign.myflodesk.com/areyoureadyreplay

Check out our Designer's Playlist!
*️ Start Your Interior Design Journey
*️ From Newbie to Confident Designer
*️ Switching Gears to Interior Design

Grab your freebies:
📌 Your Roadmap to a Career in Interior Design
🎨 3 Things I Wish I had known when I Started my Career

Connect With Me:
📧 Email: podcast@rwarddesign.com
🔆 Instagram: @rwarddesign
🌎 Website at rwarddesign.com

Thanks for listening! I hope this helps you discover if interior design is the career for you. See you next week...

Timestamps
0:00 Introduction and Guest Bio
2:35 How Barbie’s Dream House Sparked Tamera’s Design Career
4:14 Education and Early Career
8:53 The Experience That Led to Business Ownership
11:32 Making Interior Design Accessible to Everyone
14:28 When a Designer Has to Tell a Client No
18:29 Why Design Fundamentals Matter
25:34 The Challenge of Educating Clients
28:53 Career Advice for Aspiring Interior Designers

Construction and remodel projects can feel intimidating, especially when you’re a new interior designer approaching your first project.

You may be wondering how to work with contractors, who should handle permits and engineering, how to respond when a contractor pushes back on your design, or what happens when something unexpected appears after a wall is opened. These are all real concerns—and they’re exactly why understanding construction project management is such an important part of becoming a confident interior designer.

In this episode, I’m walking you through how I approach construction and remodel projects, from bringing contractors into the process early to defining responsibilities, managing site visits, documenting decisions, communicating with clients, and building strong relationships with your construction team. My goal is to help you approach construction projects with more confidence instead of fear—and become the project leader your clients need you to be.

What You’ll Learn in This Episode
✔️ Understand your role during construction and remodel projects
✔️ Bring contractors into the design process early
✔️ Define responsibilities before construction begins
✔️ Improve construction communication and document project decisions
✔️ Build stronger relationships with your A-list contractors
Read the Blog >>> 5 Practical Tips for Managing Construction and Remodel Projects Smoothly

NEXT STEPS:
📋 Get the Remodel Survival Guide: a step-by-step process on the construction side of a remodel project
🎯 Join My Design Mentor and start creating a design career you truly love.
👉https://my-design-mentor.mn.co

📺 WATCH FREE WEBINARS 📺
"From Passion to Profit," and learn the 5 Money Moves to start your interior design business right 👉 https://rwarddesign.myflodesk.com/5moneymoves

Are You Ready to Start Your Interior Design Business? How to Know for Sure (and What It Really Costs to Launch) 👉 https://rwarddesign.myflodesk.com/areyoureadyreplay

Check out our Designer's Playlist!
*️ Start Your Interior Design Journey
*️ From Newbie to Confident Designer
*️ Switching Gears to Interior Design

Grab your freebies:
📌 Your Roadmap to a Career in Interior Design
🎨 3 Things I Wish I had known when I Started my Career

Connect With Me:
📧 Email: podcast@rwarddesign.com
🔆 Instagram: @rwarddesign
🌎 Website at rwarddesign.com

Thanks for listening! I hope this helps you discover if interior design is the career for you. See you next week...

Timestamps
0:00 Introduction to managing construction projects
4:16 Understanding Your Role as the Designer
5:47 Collaborating with Experts Early
10:10 Defining Roles and Responsibilities
15:01 Client Communication and Contractor Collaboration
18:14 Using Site Binders and Documenting Decisions
21:13 Managing Budgets and Timelines
23:25 Building Professional Relationships