150 – Gail Doby and Laura Michaels

Click on the image to see more of Laura's designs! Gail Doby and Laura Michaels Today, it’s a doubleheader when Nick chats with Gail Doby of Gail Doby Coaching and Consulting and Laura Michaels of Laura Michaels Design.  On this podcast, we get sound advice from two keen and creative minds in the business. Also, Nick hits a home run when he suddenly asks Gail Doby for extended early bird tickets to the Interior Design Summit. Gail not only grants Nick his wish, but she agrees to give one lucky winner a free ticket.   Tune in and see how you can become that lucky winner and hear more about the Design Summit! Getting to Know Gail Gail was born in Iowa but grew up and went to college in Arkansas. Today, Gail is a successful certified coach and consultant.  In today’s podcast, she discusses the business of the business and her upcoming Interior Design Summit. Gail  expounds on one of her many favorite books on business, Rocket Fuel, authored by Gino Wickman and Mark C. Winters. Gail stresses one of the book’s ideas: the importance of business owners to have a second in command. She says she is fortunate and can’t imagine her business without her second in command, Erin Wearer.  Erin is a project manager. She’s a detailed person while Gail is more of the visionary person creating products and coaching clients. Gail thinks of herself as a business therapist. She helps firms set goals, meet those goals, and exceed those goals. One question that many designers struggle with is how to set their fees for their services. Gail explains how she works with her design clients so they can realize how the pie should be divided when running the business, paying yourself, and profitability. Mingling with Gail and other Top Designers at the Interior Design Summit A lot of the coaching that Gail gives clients can be gained at the Design Summit.  The summit will feature a host of talented designers who have much to share on setting fees, sales scripting, and  growing your design business. Listen to the podcast to see how you can get an early bird special price or even be one of the lucky winners. Meeting Laura Michaels Next, Nick meets up with Laura Michaels of Laura Michaels Design in New York City at ICFF. Laura’s design firm is located in Greenwich, Connecticut.  Laura took a peculiar path to get where she is today. She had a love for fashion, which she inherited from her very chic and modern grandmother. It’s natural that she would major in Fashion Buying. But the road took a turn toward interior design when her neighbors adored her sense of interior style and sought her out for style interior questions and solutions. She thought, ‘I am doing a great job for my friends; I might as well start a business in interior design.’ Laura gives us fabulous advice from setting fees, running a business, reading potential clients and knowing their style. She’s prompt at understanding her client and addressing the space. Most of the time, she chooses to custom build the home furnishing to meet the client’s need, but also to give the space a ‘one of a kind’ designed space. Just recently she was named one of the top 50 designers in New York Spaces. The second advancement was to open a storefront rather than work from home. This move had many advantages such as more room for samples, but most importantly meeting and showing clients her creations. Thanks for listening!