157 – Las Vegas Market Live: Kelli Ellis

Las Vegas Market Live: Kelli Ellis Today in The Lounge, Kelli Ellis joins Nick LIVE in Las Vegas at the Norwalk Lounge. Kelli discusses how she was constantly being called a rockstar SO she took it ran and now being a rock star is her brand! Kelli tells us about the projects she’s currently working on and gives advice on how to brand yourself. Kelli and Nick also talk about their time together in Spain earlier this year and how Nick got started with The Chaise Lounge Podcast. Getting to Know Kelli Kelli is from Las Vegas, Nevada. Kelli’s hair used to be brown, but in high school, it started changing to silver and white so, she decided to embrace the look. Now she is known for her iconic white hair, as well as having a pair of glasses and wearing bold red lipstick. Her favorite fashion accessory is the wrist cuff, like Wonder Woman, (as it's her favorite movie).  When asked beer, wine, or cocktail, she chooses a cocktail... any cocktail with vodka. Kelli lives in Vegas, but does work in Orange County where she grew up, and where her dad was mayor. She loves Iris Apfel. Kelli’s guilty pleasure is that she’d rather pick up a fashion magazine before an interior design one.  What's New? Kelli debuted a small art collection for Leftbank Art last year. Drawing has been a passion of hers since she was a little girl: she would draw all over the walls and anything she could get her hands on (including her dad’s law school notebooks). Kelli originally went to law school like her father, though the transition to design came about because she often decorated her friend’s and family’s homes in college. Thus, she decided to switch paths and go to the Interior Design Institute in Newport Beach, California. Her very first client now lives two blocks from her and Kelli apologizes constantly for the okay job she did fresh out of design school. Kelli tries not to plan what is coming next but she does set goals for herself. She likes to live her career day by day and hopes to have a tv show where she can talk about design and travel the world while doing it. To get to where she is, Kelli has listened to her gut a lot! Kelli has been working on some tv projects for HGTV on House Hunters Renovation. She is also currently working on two hotels, one located in Colorado Springs and another in Bend, Oregon. She has a fabric line as well as a lighting line that is coming soon! So be on the lookout. She's scheduled to speak at Maison & Objet, in Paris AND to add to it all, Kelli is also working on some commissioned art pieces for Leftbank. The Business Today Kelli only has a staff of one, which is her assistant. She is able to manage her business this way because she is very good at time management and is diligent about her calendar. Kelli and her team only check their email twice a day; she believes that taking a breather from work and not overdoing it is one best things you can do for yourself and your business. She even set up an autoresponder informing anyone who emails her that she is not available and will get back to them as soon as she can. Kelli is a designer who is not afraid to say no to new clients, because she knows that she will not have the necessary amount of time to give them right away, so, she puts new clients off for about six months. She finds this to be a good strategy for her and her prospective clients, as it gives them a chance to wait for her services, really think about what they want, and research her better. Kelli books herself full. Right now, she has three new construction projects, two hotels, tv work, licensing, and traveling time she's planning. Kelli doesn’t waste any time, even before the podcast she was picking out Kravet fabrics for a client! Kelli is EVERYWHERE and she does it all without a PR agency. She handles everything herself. If you see a picture of Kelli out there it is because that picture speaks to her brand ...