The DesignDash Podcast

Episode 95: How to Hire, Onboard and Actually Utilize a Summer Intern

We hired two interns this summer. Here's what most firms get completely wrong. There's a version of the summer intern that costs you time, energy, and patience. And there's a version that quietly transforms your studio, generates revenue, and hands you back your bandwidth. The difference isn't the intern. It's the structure. In this episode, we're getting into everything, how we source, how we screen, how we onboard, and how we've built a system where interns aren't just helpful, they're billable. We talk about the industry knowledge gap that's widening every year and why the designers who actually last in this field all have something in common that no university program is teaching anymore. There's a reason the best hires we've ever made started as interns. And there's a reason most internships feel like a waste of everyone's time. We know the difference. And this week, we're talking about it. Check out our website too: https://designdash.com/ [https://designdash.com/] Follow us on socials: https://www.instagram.com/designdasher/ [https://www.instagram.com/designdasher/] https://www.tiktok.com/@designdasher [https://www.tiktok.com/@designdasher] https://www.facebook.com/DesignDasher [https://www.facebook.com/DesignDasher]

Episode 94: The Back Half Blueprint for Design Firm Owners

It's May. And I need you to do the math with me for a second. Seven months until December 31st. Seven months to actually make this the year you said it was going to be back in January. Most design firm owners will hit December the exact same way they hit January, overwhelmed, underpriced, and wondering where the year went. This episode is about making sure that doesn't happen to you. Laura and Melissa get into the real stuff this week. The decisions that feel small in May but completely change what your business looks like by December. The ones you keep saying you'll get to. The ones that are either going to cost you another year or finally make this one count. If you've been doing good work and still feel like something isn't adding up tune in! Check out our website too: https://designdash.com/ [https://designdash.com/] Follow us on socials: https://www.instagram.com/designdasher/ [https://www.instagram.com/designdasher/] https://www.tiktok.com/@designdasher [https://www.tiktok.com/@designdasher] https://www.facebook.com/DesignDasher [https://www.facebook.com/DesignDasher]

Episode 93: How to Know When to Hire Your Right-Hand Person

Most interior designers know they need help running their business. What they don't know is what that person is called, what they actually do, or how to find them without hiring the wrong one and starting over. Laura Umansky and COO Melissa Grove have lived both sides of this, and in this episode they get into all of it. If you've ever searched "when should I hire help for my business," "how to scale an interior design firm," or just sat at your desk wondering why running a successful business still feels this exhausting, this episode answers exactly that. Check out our website too: https://designdash.com/ [https://designdash.com/] Follow us on socials: https://www.instagram.com/designdasher/ [https://www.instagram.com/designdasher/] https://www.tiktok.com/@designdasher [https://www.tiktok.com/@designdasher] https://www.facebook.com/DesignDasher [https://www.facebook.com/DesignDasher]

Episode 92: Should You Get Political On Social Media Even If It Costs You A Client?

At some point, every designer running a serious business has to answer this: how much of who you are belongs on your brand? You've built something. A reputation. A clientele. A body of work that speaks for itself. And now, in a world where staying silent reads as a stance and speaking up can cost you a room you've spent years earning a seat in, you're being asked to decide, over and over again, where you stand. Do you keep your brand neutral and protect what you've built? Or do you show up fully; values, voice, and all, and trust that the right clients will find you because of it, not in spite of it? And the harder question underneath all of it: are you willing to lose a client over it? This is the conversation we have in this episode. We talk about the real calculus behind what we post and what we don't. What happens when someone on your team posts something that makes the rest of your staff uncomfortable. Whether you'd walk away from a client because of something you saw about them. And how neutral is neutral, really, when everything feels political these days, even a holiday post. Tune in for the full conversation! Check out our website too: https://designdash.com/ [https://designdash.com/] Follow us on socials: https://www.instagram.com/designdasher/ [https://www.instagram.com/designdasher/] https://www.tiktok.com/@designdasher [https://www.tiktok.com/@designdasher] https://www.facebook.com/DesignDasher [https://www.facebook.com/DesignDasher]

Episode 91: As a Designer, Is There a Big Benefit to Opening a Storefront?

As a designer, is there a big benefit to opening a storefront? Okay, we're just going to say it, we get this question constantly. And honestly? It deserves a real answer. Not the romanticized version. The actual one. Because here's the thing. There is something undeniably exciting about the idea of having a space that's completely yours. Your aesthetic. Your curation. Your little corner of the world that says this is what I'm about. We get it. We've been there. But we've also seen what happens when designers open a storefront for the wrong reasons. Or without asking the right questions first. Or because it looked really good on someone else's Instagram. Laura opened her first retail store over 20 years ago in Houston with zero clients, a small loan, and absolutely no guarantee it was going to work. It lost money. Every single month. And it was one of the best decisions she ever made, but not for the reasons you'd expect. So what actually makes a retail store worth it for a designer? Is it the vendor relationships? The marketing? The walk-in clients? The events? Or is it just a really beautiful, expensive distraction from the business you're actually trying to build? We're getting into all of it. The real numbers. The real time commitment. The questions you need to ask yourself before you do anything else. And if you've been sitting on this idea, this episode is going to help you figure out whether to run toward it or run the other way. Check out our website too: https://designdash.com/ [https://designdash.com/] Follow us on socials: https://www.instagram.com/designdasher/ [https://www.instagram.com/designdasher/] https://www.tiktok.com/@designdasher [https://www.tiktok.com/@designdasher] https://www.facebook.com/DesignDasher [https://www.facebook.com/DesignDasher]