Ep 243: The Art of Being Principal: Building a Business That Doesn’t Need You Every Minute
What if the real measure of a successful design firm isn't how much the principal can personally accomplish—but how well the business operates when they're not there?
In this episode of The Art of Being Principal, Michelle Lynne and Katie Decker-Erickson have one of their trademark conversations: part business strategy, part leadership lesson, and part “how did we get on this subject?”
They dive into why strong operations are so important for design firms, especially as a business grows beyond the principal doing everything herself. From documenting processes and empowering your team to conducting project postmortems and creating space to step away, they explore what it actually takes to build a firm that can function without you.
And yes, they talk about Fiji.
Michelle shares her “Fiji Factor”—the idea that if she and her lead designer could disappear to Fiji tomorrow, the business should still be able to operate. Katie adds her own twist: processes should be consistent, but not so rigid that there's no room for the unique needs of a luxury client or the lessons you learn along the way.
The conversation also gets into one of the biggest leadership shifts a principal can make: stopping yourself from being the person who solves every problem.
Because when your team has responsibility and the authority to make decisions, something important happens. You get your time back. Your team gets stronger. And the business becomes less dependent on you.
In this episode, Michelle and Katie talk about:
Why documented processes are essential—even for small and solo design firms
The “Fiji Factor” and why your business should be able to function without you
Why 90% of your process should stay consistent while leaving room for the other 10%
Charging appropriately for high-maintenance or high-touch clients
How to stop being the person who has to know and solve everything
The difference between responsibility and authority when managing a team
Why hiring for “care” and character can matter more than hiring for every skill on the job description
How to trust your team while still having checks and balances
Why project postmortems should capture what went RIGHT—not just what went wrong
How to recognize when an old process no longer serves your clients or your firm
The importance of auditing your processes, subscriptions, tools, and systems
Why the right tools can save you from working harder just to get the same result
How creating white space in your business gives you room to think, create, and breathe
Why principals need to take real time away from the business
The connection between good operations, sustainability, and actually enjoying your business again
One of the biggest takeaways from the conversation is simple:
Operations may not sound sexy, but they're what give you the freedom to build the business—and the life—you actually want.
Whether you want to grow a seven-figure firm, take six clients a year, spend more time designing, or simply be able to take a vacation without your phone exploding, the goal is the same: build a business that doesn't require you to hold every piece in your head.
And sometimes, the best leadership move you can make is to step back and let your people figure it out.
Because you don't have to know everything.
You don't have to solve everything.
And your business shouldn't need you to do everything.
Connect with Us
You can learn more about Michelle by visiting https://thedesignbakehouse.com/ or following her on IG: https://www.instagram.com/by_michelle_lynne/
You can learn more about Katie by visiting https://successbydesign.coach/ or following her on IG: https://www.instagram.com/successbydesign_coach_podcast/
Want to get on the waitlist for Sidemark 2.0? This software will be THE software to run your entire interior design business. A true all-in-one. https://api.mysidemark.com/widget/form/4Ug6Rgg2uqCX0MydoJ2v?notrack=true
Transcript:
Michelle Lynne (01:03)
Hey, hey, hey, y'all. Welcome back to Design for the Creative Mind. We have got another joint podcast with Katie Decker Erickson today.
Katie Decker-Erickson (01:12)
I'm so happy to be here. And if you're normally an attender on success by design, you're still in the right place because we are hijacking each other's podcast today, which is so fun.
Michelle Lynne (01:21)
It is fun. It is the hijacking. And
Katie Decker-Erickson (01:23)
Yeah, I love it.
Michelle Lynne (01:25)
so literally about a minute and a half ago, Katie and I were saying, What are we gonna talk about today? What are we gonna talk about?
Katie Decker-Erickson (01:31)
Yeah.
Michelle Lynne (01:32)
I think we're gonna talk about operations and the importance of it in in relation to your business. Yeah, that's I think that's a that's the angle. Is I was talking to a coaching client and
Katie Decker-Erickson (01:44)
Mm.
Michelle Lynne (01:45)
she's a solopreneur.
Katie Decker-Erickson (01:47)
Moment.
Michelle Lynne (01:48)
and has processes but doesn't follow them because
Katie Decker-Erickson (01:51)
Mm.
Michelle Lynne (01:51)
they're all in her head.
Katie Decker-Erickson (01:52)
Yeah. She's she hasn't hit perimenopause yet where everything falls out of your head anyway. So you should just try to catch it while you still got it. my gosh. I'm like, it's coming out one way or another. It either goes in your project management software or just falls on the ground. Like that is the gospel truth. If she's still doing
Michelle Lynne (01:53)
Right and and I think that girl, she's older than she's she right. Well that
Katie Decker-Erickson (02:13)
well, she's she's clearly doing better than I am. So
Michelle Lynne (02:16)
Well well, I I don't know because here's the thing. And it I think it affects her health. I think it affects her health because there's all this stress of juggling things
Katie Decker-Erickson (02:25)
that's serious. Yeah.
Michelle Lynne (02:27)
and you know you're it there's a trickle down effect. So the thing is I think a lot of our audience is solopreneurs or very small firms for the most part.
Although for those of you who run larger firms, this will still be applicable to you. I think talking, yeah,
Katie Decker-Erickson (02:47)
Yeah, it should be. Like I mean
Michelle Lynne (02:49)
t operations are key. We we operate at ML Interiors Group, we call it the Fiji factor. And what that is, is if one of us are to win the lottery and go lay on the beach in Fiji.
Katie Decker-Erickson (03:02)
Yeah.
Michelle Lynne (03:03)
business should be able to operate without me, without Juliana. Like she just took a week off a couple of weeks ago. I just took last week off and literally like we didn't, I don't feel like we missed a beat. And
Katie Decker-Erickson (03:15)
I love that.
Michelle Lynne (03:16)
it's it's I it's just because every project is different, but the process should be the same.
Katie Decker-Erickson (03:21)
Yes, I say yes with a caveat, right? Like
Michelle Lynne (03:24)
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
Katie Decker-Erickson (03:25)
it should be the same. I like to hold back 10% because when you get into those bougie clients, like
Michelle Lynne (03:32)
Mm-hmm.
Katie Decker-Erickson (03:34)
like most of the designers on my show, like they're coming out of solopreneurship, but we're seeing like high sixes and seven figures, right?
Michelle Lynne (03:42)
Mm-hmm.
Katie Decker-Erickson (03:42)
They probably have a team. They're they're gonna be in the high highs.
Of homes, it's going to be something where I like to hold back 10% to deviate from
Michelle Lynne (03:54)
Mm-hmm.
Katie Decker-Erickson (03:54)
your processes to allow for the client whatever it is that they specifically need. Because at that price point,
Michelle Lynne (03:59)
that's great, yeah.
Katie Decker-Erickson (04:01)
they typically have this one thing. And there's this one thing. And if you give them that one thing, for whatever reason, it's their sacred cow, it might require you to deviate from your process slightly,
Michelle Lynne (04:11)
Mm-hmm.
Katie Decker-Erickson (04:12)
but it's their happy point. And it's interesting.
Because
Michelle Lynne (04:15)
Yeah.
Katie Decker-Erickson (04:16)
you know, Luann, when we spoke with Luann at high
Michelle Lynne (04:19)
Mm-hmm.
Katie Decker-Erickson (04:19)
point, and I was like, she she has the same thing. Don't ever deviate from the process. I'm like, I need 10% deviation. One is a creative mind, two, because of client, and
Michelle Lynne (04:28)
Mm-hmm. Right.
Katie Decker-Erickson (04:31)
and three, I might learn something really good out of it that changes my processes. Like maybe I will learn something that'll change the way we template our processes moving forward that I might not have learned
Michelle Lynne (04:41)
Right.
Katie Decker-Erickson (04:42)
if I just stuck.
Who like, no, this is the way we do it, the only way we do it. Yeah, poke a hole in that.
Michelle Lynne (04:46)
So with that in mind, because
I tot I totally agree with you, and I love that idea, and I think that we're gonna start
Katie Decker-Erickson (04:50)
Yep. Yeah.
Michelle Lynne (04:52)
doing something similar, with that as well though, but you're not taking the major steps out of order. Like you're not gonna go and
Katie Decker-Erickson (05:00)
gosh no, ninety
percent of it's the same. Yeah. Yeah, yeah.
Michelle Lynne (05:03)
Right. So it's just a that little bit of wiggle room because I mean we're human and every
project is different, but yeah, I think having that ten percent. I I can think of a client that we're working with right now that just needs that little extra and I probably should've charged her ten percent extra just to hold
Katie Decker-Erickson (05:20)
Yeah.
Michelle Lynne (05:20)
it back. Yeah.
Katie Decker-Erickson (05:22)
Well, and that it's not to say you don't have to charge for that, like right. I mean, like, you know, hindsight's 2020.
Michelle Lynne (05:26)
I'm yeah.
Katie Decker-Erickson (05:27)
But if you think in our firm we don't have the PETA tax, you're wrong. Like we have if you are a pain in the hmm, then we pay. Yeah. You know, that's that's
Michelle Lynne (05:33)
I think I talked about that a couple weeks ago. Tatutti. Mm-hmm.
Katie Decker-Erickson (05:40)
the thing. Not to say we aren't gonna service you, we're gonna service you, but we know you're gonna be higher maintenance, higher touch, higher everything. Great, that just comes at different price points.
I think sometimes it's interesting as designers, because we'll shine away. And this is true of any industry, like, ugh, they're one of those clients. Well, charge them enough that you don't have to feel that way about them. Because I guarantee you
Michelle Lynne (05:59)
Mm-hmm.
Katie Decker-Erickson (06:00)
there's been other designers who've just walked away from them because they don't want to deal with it. And so be like, what is the number I have to hit to feel good dealing with this? Okay. I throw the number out and absolutely. 100%, right? And so I'm with you.
Michelle Lynne (06:08)
Well and and I can be bought. Yeah.
Katie Decker-Erickson (06:14)
If you throw out that number and it sticks, then like great, march forward. you know,
Michelle Lynne (06:18)
Right.
Katie Decker-Erickson (06:18)
and if you're like it is the juice isn't worth the squeeze. I don't want to take on this client, there's no number you could pitch at me, Katie, where I would take the client, great, then let it pass. But I think like,
Michelle Lynne (06:27)
Absolutely.
Katie Decker-Erickson (06:29)
yeah, to your point, I could be bought. Yeah, for sure. We've had clients like that
Michelle Lynne (06:31)
Yeah.
Katie Decker-Erickson (06:33)
and we know they're just at a different price point. They're in a different budget. And that's okay.
Michelle Lynne (06:37)
Yeah, but
they get what they pay for too.
Katie Decker-Erickson (06:40)
Okay, so question for you, since you were just on vacation and
Michelle Lynne (06:41)
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
Katie Decker-Erickson (06:44)
it went so fabulously, what do you credit in your operations to being the reason why you were able
Michelle Lynne (06:50)
Yeah.
Katie Decker-Erickson (06:51)
to leave? Because I know so many firm owners, like multi employee, multiple employee firm owners who don't get to leave or don't feel like they can leave. What do you credit
Michelle Lynne (07:00)
Mm-hmm.
Katie Decker-Erickson (07:01)
in your firm to being allowed you to walk out the front door and not worry? Like, what is it in your operations?
Michelle Lynne (07:05)
that's a great question.
Katie Decker-Erickson (07:06)
What's your secret?
What makes it tick?
Michelle Lynne (07:10)
Well, I believe it is documented processes.
Katie Decker-Erickson (07:14)
Crage. Yeah.
Michelle Lynne (07:15)
Fabulous team
and
Like not being a control freak. So I think that one of the things that I hear a lot is that, yeah, but they're not going to do it as good as I do. Well, no, of course
Katie Decker-Erickson (07:26)
Mm-hmm.
Michelle Lynne (07:26)
they're not going to do it as good as you. But you're not going to do what they do as well as they do. Right? So
Katie Decker-Erickson (07:32)
Yeah, it's a great point.
Michelle Lynne (07:34)
it's it's like you were just saying, you might learn something. So if
Katie Decker-Erickson (07:38)
Yeah, yeah.
Michelle Lynne (07:39)
you and I were to work together in a firm, you're not going to do it.
Katie Decker-Erickson (07:42)
I would love that by the way.
Michelle Lynne (07:43)
Wouldn't that be fun? You and I it would be trouble. Well, well, of course doc it's Dr. Sidemark. Yeah. Yeah. That is
Katie Decker-Erickson (07:45)
That'd be a blast. I'm like, now my mind is down a rabbit hole of like, the places we'd go, Michelle. It's like Dr. Seuss. my gosh. There it is. There you go. Yeah, we're doing that.
Michelle Lynne (07:59)
true. That is true. But to to to that point is if we were working together, I wouldn't expect you to do everything the way I do it, but I would also be looking to you to learn.
Katie Decker-Erickson (08:07)
Mm
Michelle Lynne (08:09)
Like how does she go about that? So I
Katie Decker-Erickson (08:09)
samesy's Yeah.
Michelle Lynne (08:12)
that's that's what I would credit, I believe. It's good processes, a good team, and a a good understanding of the fact that my way isn't always the best.
Katie Decker-Erickson (08:22)
I love that. There's a level of humility
Michelle Lynne (08:23)
Yeah.
Katie Decker-Erickson (08:24)
that comes with that leadership style that pays huge dividends. That's what allows you to walk out the door. I love that, that it's not just
Michelle Lynne (08:29)
Amen. Well that
Katie Decker-Erickson (08:32)
all me.
Michelle Lynne (08:33)
and you know what, Katie? I was talking to, I don't know, it might have been, I was talking to Nelson this morning about clients
Katie Decker-Erickson (08:39)
Mm.
Michelle Lynne (08:40)
if they have a if they have an emergency, what is the emergency gonna be? That's what we were talking about. We were talking about we close. So we close for two weeks in on the holidays, right? So I was talking to this
Katie Decker-Erickson (08:50)
Same
Michelle Lynne (08:51)
coaching client and he's like, Well, how do you handle the holidays? I'm like, well, we close.
And here's the deal, clients can still reach us if they have an emergency, but what's the emergency gonna be? Like the pillow zipper breaks? Like there's not huge emergencies
Katie Decker-Erickson (09:03)
Girl.
Michelle Lynne (09:04)
in interior design. So
Katie Decker-Erickson (09:06)
We are not saving
lives out here and praise God.
Michelle Lynne (09:10)
Yeah, it's not the emergency room.
Katie Decker-Erickson (09:12)
No, it's not. It's not. No, I think
Michelle Lynne (09:14)
Well.
Katie Decker-Erickson (09:14)
when they're and that's an industry standard. That's a unique question too, because I feel like all of our industry, now admittedly, like my firm's more on the commercial side, but like the understanding is all the architects, all the engineers, all the design firms, we're all gone for two weeks at the end of the year. That's just standard protocol. Christmas, New Year, goodbye. Yeah. Yeah.
Michelle Lynne (09:32)
Yeah. Well and so are yeah, so are our workrooms, our skeleton crew vendors.
It's really not they're not shipping a whole lot. So yeah.
Katie Decker-Erickson (09:41)
That's like when
we do, yeah. That's when we wind down and we regroup. I love that though. I love that you've built that into your firm because what buttresses all of that or the byproduct of all of that is sustainability because
Michelle Lynne (09:54)
Mm-hmm.
Katie Decker-Erickson (09:54)
it allows you to fill up your cup again. Like you can't just continually pour out, pour out, pour out, pour out, and never fill up your cup.
Michelle Lynne (10:02)
Yeah.
Katie Decker-Erickson (10:03)
And I think sometimes we think we can because we've been doing
Michelle Lynne (10:05)
Well, it's because we're women.
Katie Decker-Erickson (10:07)
it. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
Michelle Lynne (10:09)
I mean, for the most part, we get
shit done. We do we juggle the family, we juggle a business. Usually what yeah,
Katie Decker-Erickson (10:12)
Fair. Fair. Yep. Or a couple.
Michelle Lynne (10:16)
or a couple. Yeah, exactly. I'm actually speaking
Katie Decker-Erickson (10:19)
I just say it.
Michelle Lynne (10:20)
next month in October
Katie Decker-Erickson (10:22)
Yeah.
Michelle Lynne (10:23)
at the New England Designers Conference. And I'm talking about,
Katie Decker-Erickson (10:28)
Fine.
Michelle Lynne (10:29)
you know, putting yourself first, put your put put your oxygen mask on. Otherwise you just you can't do
Katie Decker-Erickson (10:34)
Yep. Yeah.
Michelle Lynne (10:36)
it. It it it takes a toll.
Katie Decker-Erickson (10:39)
It takes a huge toll. I think too, there's also this realization that what got you to this point isn't gonna get you to your next level. So while it really paid to be scrappy initially and get your firm launched and do what you needed to for the last, you know, one to five years, go get
Michelle Lynne (10:53)
Mm-hmm.
Katie Decker-Erickson (10:53)
tiger. You can't get you can't do that the next five. It's not gonna get you there. It's
Michelle Lynne (10:57)
No, but that's why if you have the operations
in place, you're not having to work as hard. I mean, just mentally the exhaustion of trying to recreate the wheel every time.
Katie Decker-Erickson (11:07)
Yeah, diminishing returns on steroids. Yeah. Anytime we're doing something twice,
Michelle Lynne (11:10)
Ha ha ha.
Katie Decker-Erickson (11:12)
we're like, why are we doing? Like, has this been documented? We've had
Michelle Lynne (11:15)
Right.
Katie Decker-Erickson (11:15)
this question before. Why haven't we addressed this? Like, if it's coming up twice, it's a ding. Pay attention to this. Like, what's going on?
Michelle Lynne (11:22)
Yes. On the
a hundred percent. I used to have a team member that every time something would go off on the first time, she wanted to change processes. I was like, no, hold on. No, not the first time, because then we would
Katie Decker-Erickson (11:28)
Yeah. No. Mm mm. Yep.
Michelle Lynne (11:34)
be changing everything. But when it comes up the second time you pay attention and then ascertain, is this really something that we need to create a policy or a practice around? So
Katie Decker-Erickson (11:45)
Yeah,
and even even just how like we were just having this conversation on our team about Monday morning meetings. Like they happen at 6 30 my time. There's a lot of coffee and no makeup. It's not pretty. And so I was revisiting
Michelle Lynne (11:53)
Do they really?
Katie Decker-Erickson (11:59)
it with the team because they're all ahead of me. I'm like, this is going good. The one person is in my time zone's moving. Yeah.
Michelle Lynne (12:02)
Yeah. So for those of you who don't know, Katie
lives on the West Coast. The deep west coast.
Katie Decker-Erickson (12:09)
Yeah, yeah, where you know, you guys
are in cocktail hour and I haven't even had lunch yet. And so, like,
Michelle Lynne (12:14)
Ha ha ha.
Katie Decker-Erickson (12:15)
I did, I brought it up. I was like, okay, guys, are we still doing this? Are we should we still be doing this? Does this still work for everybody's schedule? And they're all like, Yeah, this is great because otherwise I wouldn't get to action items and I wouldn't get to, and I'm like, Okay, like, but I'm like,
Michelle Lynne (12:28)
Ha ha ha
Katie Decker-Erickson (12:30)
I'm getting too old and tired for 630 calls, which happened more often than not, still. But
It was good to revisit it and say, like, even though we have been doing this, it's been a couple of years of us doing this. Is the why still there? Like, even for the things you
Michelle Lynne (12:43)
Yes.
Katie Decker-Erickson (12:44)
were currently doing, do you still have a why for why we're doing them? Like,
Michelle Lynne (12:48)
Absolutely.
Katie Decker-Erickson (12:49)
I don't know. We even had this with we used to always send out a Sherwin Williams rep to assess a property and then include that free property report.
Michelle Lynne (12:57)
Mm-hmm.
Katie Decker-Erickson (12:57)
my gosh, the quality control differences in those reports were a nightmare. Getting them back was a nightmare. Like, then we started asking clients is this any value to you? And they're like, No.
I'm like, then what the hell are we doing out here? Like, cancel
Michelle Lynne (13:08)
Right.
Katie Decker-Erickson (13:10)
update template, remove from. Like, we don't need to be doing that anymore. What we perceived as
Michelle Lynne (13:13)
Interesting. Mm-hmm.
Katie Decker-Erickson (13:15)
a value add and used to be to the client no longer was. And it was like, great, let's cancel it, save ourselves some time and energy. I don't know. There's little nuggets like
Michelle Lynne (13:21)
Yep. I think it's important.
Katie Decker-Erickson (13:24)
that.
Michelle Lynne (13:24)
I think it's important. It's just like, so
Katie Decker-Erickson (13:26)
Yeah.
Michelle Lynne (13:27)
at least once a year you should go through, let's just say your subscriptions, right? Like
Katie Decker-Erickson (13:33)
Yeah. Yeah.
Michelle Lynne (13:34)
what apps are you paying for? Which platforms are you paying for? Like go through your subscriptions and take a look and see which ones need to be removed. I think it's the same thing with our processes. You know, just take a look. Do we still my gosh, right?
Katie Decker-Erickson (13:46)
You can go broke on subscriptions. my gosh,
Michelle Lynne (13:50)
Yeah, I just wrote down I
Katie Decker-Erickson (13:51)
personally and professionally.
Michelle Lynne (13:52)
just wrote down two that popped up that I'm like, I don't really need those. I'm gonna go cancel Yeah. One was a calorie
Katie Decker-Erickson (13:57)
Let it go. Let it go.
Michelle Lynne (13:58)
counter. It's like
Katie Decker-Erickson (14:00)
I feel the same
way about that, Michelle. Who needs that sucker?
Michelle Lynne (14:03)
Yeah, but it's AI. I'll I was
sucked in because it was like, just take a picture. We'll tell you what the macros are on this. It's like, you know what?
Katie Decker-Erickson (14:10)
The problem is, is
after a certain age, it doesn't matter how many calories there are in it. It's going one place. Like, seriously. Just pisses me off. You know, you don't know what you don't know in your 20s. Like your metabolism's great and everything's perfect. And then you
Michelle Lynne (14:24)
Yeah.
Katie Decker-Erickson (14:24)
don't know what you got till it's gone. That whole song. That is legit real. That is legit real. But yeah, ought to your subscription is.
Michelle Lynne (14:28)
Mm-hmm. That is legit real. Well, honey, I'll tell you what. I can I can
give you I can tell you the next ten years. I got a decade on you. I'll give you a heads up. Okay? That's that's how good of friends we are.
Katie Decker-Erickson (14:36)
Not it. it can't get worse, Michelle. It can't get worse.
My hormone patch can only work so hard. it's so real. It's so real. But yeah,
Michelle Lynne (14:47)
I'm just That is awesome.
Katie Decker-Erickson (14:51)
no, I think that's a really good point. Audit your subscriptions, audit your processes. One thing I always talk about with my coaching clients is like, you better be doing postmortems on your projects. If you're not doing a postmortem,
Michelle Lynne (15:01)
my god.
Katie Decker-Erickson (15:02)
you're gonna rinse and repeat the same mistakes all over.
Michelle Lynne (15:05)
Mm-hmm. We were just talking about that today. I have three projects
Katie Decker-Erickson (15:06)
And like by the same token, right?
Michelle Lynne (15:09)
that are sitting open that I have not done a post mortem on. Yeah, I know. Can you just come do it for me? Please. That's awesome. Yes. there we go.
Katie Decker-Erickson (15:12)
Yeah, and there's so much to be learned. And then but this yeah, I'd love to. I'll fly in and put a Lexus bow on your projects. That's what I that's what we call postmortems, the Lexus bow. It's better than a postmortem. You know, it's like Fiji versus getting hit by a bus. It's the Lexus bow versus the postmortem. But yeah, well, and
also it's not just about like figuring out what the mistakes are that you made. It's also about capturing, dang, that went really good. How do we do
Michelle Lynne (15:37)
Mm-hmm.
Katie Decker-Erickson (15:38)
that again?
Like that was the smoothest curtain install we have ever had. What the heck happened? What made that work so well? I think it's as much a time to celebrate that. Yeah.
Michelle Lynne (15:46)
Yeah, so you can just repeat the good stuff. Yeah.
Katie Decker-Erickson (15:50)
Like is it just one more step that needs to be put into our templates? Is it just one more little thing that just, wow, that was the moment.
Michelle Lynne (15:57)
But it's also
one of those where when you realize the value, like it's it doesn't become such a nuisance. So I'm revisiting our protocol for the Lexus bow because
Katie Decker-Erickson (16:06)
That's true. That's a good point. Yeah.
Michelle Lynne (16:11)
it wasn't that effective. You know what I mean? So it's like, okay, this just feels
Katie Decker-Erickson (16:13)
Yeah. Yeah. So how are you doing it? Like what do you feel
like makes a successful Lexus bow? Like what makes your project closeout truly feel like a Lexus bow and not like my used Corolla?
Michelle Lynne (16:28)
I think it's knowing.
for me, it's having the data and the understanding of the
Katie Decker-Erickson (16:36)
Yeah.
Michelle Lynne (16:37)
project. Because I wasn't well, just like we were saying earlier, because I wasn't present for every single step of the way. Like this gives me insight. It teaches my team, hey, this worked really well. Let's do that again. Hey, that didn't work so well. Let's
Katie Decker-Erickson (16:51)
Mm.
Michelle Lynne (16:52)
not do that again. and I also
Katie Decker-Erickson (16:53)
Yeah.
Michelle Lynne (16:54)
think
From a standpoint with the team is like it also provides us all a level of what's the word I'm looking for? Not accountability, but it's it's a team. It's it's not all
Katie Decker-Erickson (17:07)
what I do impacts you, and vice versa. Yeah. Yeah. I like that. I like that a lot.
Michelle Lynne (17:09)
Yeah. Mm-hmm. So it yeah, and it's it's
it's almost like ownership in success or ownership in failure. Like it we we've we fail as a team, we win as a team. So more along that line.
Katie Decker-Erickson (17:23)
Yeah, sweet, the gentleman
that married us, he used to always say, You're only as good as your weakest link. And he was a firefighter for years. And I think like, gosh, it's so true. On a team in a team environment, you're only as good as your weakest link. So how do we how do we work through that in a meaningful and productive, not shamefield way that allows us to advance everyone?
Michelle Lynne (17:44)
I think it's hiring the right people. You can see Juliana walking around in the background. She's my good people.
Katie Decker-Erickson (17:49)
Hey Juliana. my bus wouldn't drive
without Die. You you have to have your people on your team, your unicorns that make the world go around. they have to it, you know, it's interesting. We think about this too. We always talk about care. Like I can coach a lot of things, but I can't coach care. And hiring
Michelle Lynne (18:06)
Mm.
Katie Decker-Erickson (18:06)
people who care, they care to learn, they care to be curious, they care to be kind, they care to be client-facing, whatever your value system is.
that operating system and culture of your organization, hiring them into that. Because there's a lot you can teach, but some of this has to be innate. I just can't magically
Michelle Lynne (18:26)
You know.
Katie Decker-Erickson (18:27)
get you to show up and care.
Michelle Lynne (18:29)
You're one of the first people that I've spoken to because mo the that I have that same philosophy. A lot of times they hire
Katie Decker-Erickson (18:34)
Yeah.
Michelle Lynne (18:35)
for the job description. I'm like,
Katie Decker-Erickson (18:37)
Yeah, no.
Michelle Lynne (18:38)
Well, that's great. You need to have those skills, but you can't you can't teach them the give a shit. You say care, I say give a shit.
Katie Decker-Erickson (18:44)
That's that's a really lovely
way to put it. Yeah, it's all this the same concept. That's so true.
Michelle Lynne (18:48)
Mm-hmm.
Katie Decker-Erickson (18:49)
And here's the other thing. You can flip that on his head too and say, like, if you do care, even if you don't have every skill that you need, guess what? I bet I can teach you. I bet you're willing to learn. I bet that you'll figure it out. I bet you'll go research it. In fact, we have a designer on our team right now who came out of a residential background. And I was like, you need to go figure out ADA. That's a whole beast. Like.
Michelle Lynne (19:10)
Yeah.
Katie Decker-Erickson (19:12)
Go figure out ADA compliance because we run into it every day. It's the bumpers on the bowling alley lane of our existence. Like
Michelle Lynne (19:19)
Yes.
Katie Decker-Erickson (19:20)
if we don't get that totally dug in, like beyond dug in. Started coming back with, like, you know, I think we're doing this. I don't think we should be. And I'm like, where was that? That's like in the deepest recesses and bowels of ADA
Michelle Lynne (19:30)
Ha ha.
Katie Decker-Erickson (19:33)
coding, right? And like, I'm like, now we're talking. I love it. It's like you always say, if you're the smartest person in the room or in the wrong room.
I love that quote. Right.
Michelle Lynne (19:42)
Yeah.
Katie Decker-Erickson (19:42)
Because I'm like, if you're showing me stuff I'm missing as the CEO, I, that doesn't make me like upset at all. In fact, I'm pleased as punch. I'm like, that's
Michelle Lynne (19:50)
Mm-hmm.
Katie Decker-Erickson (19:51)
the right person in our s on around our table.
Michelle Lynne (19:54)
But I also think that I came in thinking that I was the one that was supposed to solve everything. And that exhausted me. And that's right.
Katie Decker-Erickson (19:59)
Yeah, no. No. I don't even do that for my
kids. it drives me nuts. My husband will be like, they'll ask a question. He'll be well, and he'll give them the answer. And I'm like, Zero help. If my kids come to me and ask a question, you're getting questioned back. I don't know, mom, how do you spell science? I don't know. How do you think you spell science? Like, let's have the conversation. Like, I am not gonna
Michelle Lynne (20:19)
Yeah.
Katie Decker-Erickson (20:20)
like solve all of your life's problems. This isn't mom in a pocket. Like, I'm not a pocket poly. Like, you need to figure out your own situation in life.
Michelle Lynne (20:28)
Hm. Mm-hmm.
Katie Decker-Erickson (20:28)
Like I'm not
going to college with you. Although one of them thinks that I am. she's a little clingy. She literally said to me, She's like,
Michelle Lynne (20:33)
She's got a few years.
Katie Decker-Erickson (20:35)
yeah, she's like, Mom, will you buy a house three doors down when I go to college? I'm like, I don't think so, sister. But like, maybe, but we'll see where we're at
Michelle Lynne (20:40)
that's so sweet.
Katie Decker-Erickson (20:41)
at that point. But yeah, I think that like that's so true in the organization too. When your people come
Michelle Lynne (20:44)
Mm-hmm.
Katie Decker-Erickson (20:45)
to you with questions, it's okay to say, I hear you, let's problem solve it. What do you think is the right way to do it? Throw it out there. Give me your ideas.
Michelle Lynne (20:50)
But you know what's interesting,
Katie? I wasn't that way when I was in corporate. When as soon as I owned my own business, quote unquote,
Katie Decker-Erickson (20:58)
Yeah.
Michelle Lynne (20:58)
I thought I was supposed to know it all. When I was in corporate, not not
Katie Decker-Erickson (21:01)
That's interesting.
Michelle Lynne (21:02)
the case at all. Definitely not at home. I I'm I'm in your camp with the kids. Figure it out. You won't starve. If you get hungry enough, you'll figure out cereal. Mm-hmm. Yeah, but for some reason, girl, I have no idea.
Katie Decker-Erickson (21:07)
Yeah. Seriously. Get messy. Make mistakes. Yeah. For real. Why do you think that switched? Why do
you think it's having CEO with like your signature? What what precipitated the I've got to know it all burden that I think many CEOs feel, which is why I'm asking the question. And like if I don't, then I'm not doing my job right as the CEO, because the CEO is supposed to know everything.
Like I wonder where that comes from.
Michelle Lynne (21:33)
I think it was, I
think part of it was that when I was in corporate, I had someplace
Katie Decker-Erickson (21:38)
Yeah.
Michelle Lynne (21:38)
to fall back to. Like I had people that
Katie Decker-Erickson (21:41)
interesting.
Michelle Lynne (21:42)
owned the company that I was managing. It wasn't all on me. For some reason,
Katie Decker-Erickson (21:45)
Pasure. Yeah.
Michelle Lynne (21:48)
when I lung my own shingle out, and it was a completely different industry, which is silly
Katie Decker-Erickson (21:53)
Yeah.
Michelle Lynne (21:53)
because it's like, how am I supposed to know everything about this industry that I just started a business in? Right. Yeah.
Katie Decker-Erickson (21:58)
Fair, very fair, yeah.
But you took it on.
Michelle Lynne (22:01)
maybe
yeah, it could have been a little bit of that imposter syndrome. Trying to hide behind
Katie Decker-Erickson (22:06)
Hmm. I think that's so real.
Michelle Lynne (22:09)
knowing all the shizzle when I really didn't. So
Katie Decker-Erickson (22:14)
That's
like so my mantra of my forties. Tell me what I don't know.
Michelle Lynne (22:18)
Mm-hmm.
Katie Decker-Erickson (22:18)
I've lived long enough to know there's a ton I don't know. Tell me more. What am I missing? In fact, we were just on a call this morning together. And like literally to another
Michelle Lynne (22:21)
Yeah. Mm-hmm.
Katie Decker-Erickson (22:27)
person on the call, I'm like, okay, this is how I feel like it should be in my head. And I'm not trying
Michelle Lynne (22:31)
That was
Katie Decker-Erickson (22:31)
to be rude. What do I actually not understand here? Because I am missing something. Like, you know,
Michelle Lynne (22:36)
No, that was really eye opening in that respect. Yeah.
Katie Decker-Erickson (22:39)
I don't know. I'm okay with that.
I I don't know.
Michelle Lynne (22:42)
Mm-hmm.
Katie Decker-Erickson (22:42)
Maybe that's like settling into middle age and being okay with it. I almost feel like I couldn't have given that to my twenty five year old self. Like it's something that you have to like experience.
Michelle Lynne (22:54)
Because it's not showing a sign of weakness. I think that's I
Katie Decker-Erickson (22:57)
Fair.
Michelle Lynne (22:57)
think that's part of it is that it's not weak to not know
Katie Decker-Erickson (22:59)
That's great point. Mm.
Michelle Lynne (23:02)
everything, or it's not weak it it's weak to just muscle your way through it, which is ironic.
Katie Decker-Erickson (23:08)
Yeah.
Michelle Lynne (23:09)
But this
Katie Decker-Erickson (23:09)
Grad, you have a thought.
Michelle Lynne (23:11)
takes us into like the meek will inherit the earth. It's like you have to be weak to be strong. You have to give up to get.
Katie Decker-Erickson (23:19)
Yeah.
Yeah. I like that a lot. It's so true.
Michelle Lynne (23:22)
Mm-hmm.
Katie Decker-Erickson (23:24)
It's so true. The more I let go of, the more happy I become. Isn't that horrible? But I don't want to know
Michelle Lynne (23:27)
Right?
Katie Decker-Erickson (23:29)
it all. I don't want to own it all. Whenever I get to
Michelle Lynne (23:31)
Yeah.
Katie Decker-Erickson (23:31)
the end of a board term, you know, I'm like, yeah,
Michelle Lynne (23:34)
Mm-hmm.
Katie Decker-Erickson (23:35)
I always evaluate. Did I do what I came here to do? Yes or no? And then I decide if I'm re-upping or not.
Michelle Lynne (23:41)
Right.
Katie Decker-Erickson (23:42)
but yeah, like I don't, I don't have to know it all.
I don't want it all dependent upon me. I don't want to carry
Michelle Lynne (23:47)
Mm-hmm.
Katie Decker-Erickson (23:48)
the load. Not with my kids, not with my company, not with anything. I mean, gosh.
Michelle Lynne (23:53)
Well, I think that that again,
that goes back. So let's tie this full circle. It goes back to operations. Like you don't have to do it all. Your business can
Katie Decker-Erickson (23:57)
Yeah. It does. uhuh.
Michelle Lynne (24:01)
run itself a lot of the ways. It's the same thing. It's like when like subscribe and save, right? With Amazon. Do you do subscribe and save? Okay. Isn't
Katie Decker-Erickson (24:07)
praise God for that function. Heck yeah.
Michelle Lynne (24:10)
that isn't that putt kind of like having some of the operations built into your business?
Katie Decker-Erickson (24:15)
That coupled with my Walmart delivery that shows up on my door. I haven't grocery shopped pre-COVID. Seriously,
Michelle Lynne (24:19)
Yeah, right? Yeah.
Katie Decker-Erickson (24:22)
when they delivered a twenty five pound bag of potting soil to my front door, what? Mind blown. I love it.
Michelle Lynne (24:27)
I know. Have did you try to
pick that up?
Katie Decker-Erickson (24:29)
Like lift it? yeah. Yeah. I still pick up my kids. That's my test for aging.
Michelle Lynne (24:30)
Yeah. So yeah. So I picked up this potting soil the other day. Like
that right, like that big, it's the big
Katie Decker-Erickson (24:39)
Yes.
Michelle Lynne (24:40)
I don't even know if it was 25 pounds or what, but it was like this body, like this dead body. I was like, my god, I'm trying to pick this up and carry
Katie Decker-Erickson (24:44)
It is 'cause it's limp.
Michelle Lynne (24:47)
it. I was like, well I I guess it was rule rules out I can't
Katie Decker-Erickson (24:50)
That is so real.
Michelle Lynne (24:51)
kill anybody and hide Yeah. Yeah.
Katie Decker-Erickson (24:54)
You're like, I ever got a trial. You're like, I can't even lift potting soil. Try again.
Michelle Lynne (24:58)
My tr yeah, the true the
Katie Decker-Erickson (24:58)
You've got the wrong person.
Michelle Lynne (24:59)
the true crime series. I was like, they always make it look so much easier. Yeah.
Katie Decker-Erickson (25:01)
My gosh, that's so funny. it's so true. It's so true.
Okay, so question for you based on the coaching clients you have on your roster right now, what do you feel like is either the number one thing going wrong or going right when it comes to their operations? What do you see that's working? And what is the constant like operations?
Michelle Lynne (25:23)
It's the discipline of not doing it.
Katie Decker-Erickson (25:26)
Ooh, that's good.
Michelle Lynne (25:27)
It's the
it it it just goes back
Katie Decker-Erickson (25:29)
Yeah.
Michelle Lynne (25:29)
to my Lexus bow. It's the discipline of not doing of of doing it. It's like going to the gym. Like you can buy the membership. You can have fancy shoes, you can get your fancy gloves and all the things, but if you don't show up, it's not gonna work.
Katie Decker-Erickson (25:44)
Girl, that's a gospel truth. That is the gospel truth.
Michelle Lynne (25:45)
Mm-hmm. But
once you know what to do, just do it. And then think. Use your brain.
Katie Decker-Erickson (25:54)
What do you mean by that? Because I say that and I feel like it's a generational difference. Because I feel like Gen X gets that, which we're Gen Xers, right? But I feel like
Michelle Lynne (26:02)
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
Katie Decker-Erickson (26:05)
it means different things to different generations.
Michelle Lynne (26:08)
Valid, very valid.
Katie Decker-Erickson (26:09)
Right. Like, and sometimes I have to like back into that and be like, okay, what isn't computing? This is a millennial on my team. This is a gen Y, Gen Z. I mean, my kids are alphas and they're gonna be coming up, right? Like Gen Alpha. So, like, I think generational communication and work ethic is a fascinating thing because we have more generations in the workforce than we've ever had. Last count, I think
Michelle Lynne (26:31)
Mm-hmm.
Katie Decker-Erickson (26:31)
we were at five. Like, what does that mean? And it's something that
I love to coach too, but it's authority versus responsibility to me. Like
Michelle Lynne (26:42)
What do you mean?
Authority versus responsibility?
Katie Decker-Erickson (26:44)
So responsibility is you've given me a job to do. Like
Michelle Lynne (26:48)
Mm-hmm.
Katie Decker-Erickson (26:48)
it's my responsibility. But to your point about just think, do I have the authority to enact or make a mistake or problem
Michelle Lynne (26:59)
Mm-hmm.
Katie Decker-Erickson (26:59)
solve? Responsibility is a task on a list. Authority is how I actively
Michelle Lynne (27:04)
Right.
Katie Decker-Erickson (27:04)
get to solve it.
Michelle Lynne (27:07)
Well, I think that there are some generations that were never taught problem solving.
Katie Decker-Erickson (27:14)
Fair. Yeah, that's really fair.
Michelle Lynne (27:15)
Because the helicopter mom did it for him.
Katie Decker-Erickson (27:17)
Yep.
Michelle Lynne (27:18)
And so there's people that I've spoken to that don't they just they don't have the capability. Like they don't know how to solve problems.
Katie Decker-Erickson (27:25)
Yeah. Or the snowplow mom.
Yeah. Which is such a disadvantage.
Michelle Lynne (27:29)
So
Katie Decker-Erickson (27:30)
Cause can we have a really honest moment? I feel like most of CEOing is problem solving. When you have good processes and systems,
Michelle Lynne (27:36)
Yeah.
Katie Decker-Erickson (27:37)
that's all running in the background. So you can do the volume game, right? Like
Michelle Lynne (27:40)
Mm-hmm.
Katie Decker-Erickson (27:41)
that's how you scale, that's how you grow. That's how all this works. So by the time something gets to me, it's usually because it's an issue. Like there's a
Michelle Lynne (27:48)
Yes.
Katie Decker-Erickson (27:49)
problem. We we just had this on a job today.
We went out to install. So we've got all the
Michelle Lynne (27:54)
Uh-huh.
Katie Decker-Erickson (27:54)
trucks, all the furniture, all the guys, our finish out crew and photography that's coming in twelve hours. And I get pictures on my phone in a meeting. There are piles of dust on the floor, the
Michelle Lynne (28:07)
Hmm.
Katie Decker-Erickson (28:08)
shelving's not complete, the mantle has not been
built, and there's no hand reels anywhere.
Michelle Lynne (28:14)
That's very ungood.
Katie Decker-Erickson (28:16)
Very ungood. And like
Michelle Lynne (28:18)
Yeah.
Katie Decker-Erickson (28:19)
it's like, yeah, by the time it gets to me, it's a code red. I'm like,
Michelle Lynne (28:22)
Mm-hmm.
Katie Decker-Erickson (28:23)
okay, I'm gonna finish this call and then we're gonna have to turn all those trucks back around, send them back to the warehouse. The client has to sign a waiver if
Michelle Lynne (28:30)
my gosh.
Katie Decker-Erickson (28:30)
they want the furniture in the middle of a construction zone and then we'll redeploy it. Like it was a whole thing. But you know what? Like it was an interesting moment for me because when those happen, I'm like, that usually means everything's working right.
Now hear me out on that because that seems really wrong. The client
Michelle Lynne (28:47)
Right.
Katie Decker-Erickson (28:47)
had confirmed. The client had said cleaning had happened, we're ready and good to go, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. Clearly, none of that happened. It was a BS email.
Michelle Lynne (28:56)
Yeah.
Katie Decker-Erickson (28:57)
even though they'd confirmed it, right? But the fact that like all of those systems processes and check marks had been sent. In fact,
Michelle Lynne (29:04)
Mm-hmm.
Katie Decker-Erickson (29:05)
the client's representative called and they're like, We're gonna get billed for all this, aren't we? And I was like, yar.
Michelle Lynne (29:10)
Yeah.
Katie Decker-Erickson (29:12)
Yeah, you are. And you know why? Because we have all the emails and documentation showing that they confirmed everything was cleaned on Friday and that everything was wrapped up and ready to go. And so if
Michelle Lynne (29:23)
Mm-hmm.
Katie Decker-Erickson (29:23)
you just lie to us, we've done our job though. All the systems and processes and operations were there. We can't give make you give us a truthful answer.
Michelle Lynne (29:31)
Well that and also as soon as you said that you got the email that confirmed it was clean, that's the first place my mind went. It's like you've got proof. You've got proof
Katie Decker-Erickson (29:40)
Yeah. Yeah.
Michelle Lynne (29:41)
right now.
Katie Decker-Erickson (29:43)
Which is why having those systems and processes, right? Like back to just it sounds so not sexy, but you know what's sexy about it? It lets you do what you want to do. Yeah. So if you want
Michelle Lynne (29:52)
Breathing room white space.
Katie Decker-Erickson (29:55)
to build a bigger company, build a bigger company. You want to go thrifting, go thrifting. If you want to take on only six clients a year, then only take on six clients a year. You
Michelle Lynne (30:04)
Yeah.
Katie Decker-Erickson (30:04)
want to do your own sourcing because you miss it, which hit me the other day. I was like, I miss sourcing.
I need to do a project. That'd be good for me to do. I do.
Michelle Lynne (30:10)
Do you do it for your house?
Katie Decker-Erickson (30:13)
gosh. I have children.
Michelle Lynne (30:15)
Yeah.
Katie Decker-Erickson (30:15)
We got a hamster last week. I sourced a hamster enclosure last week, people. Do you know what that's like?
Michelle Lynne (30:19)
We had a frog named Pickles that Genevieve
she saved it from the pool.
Katie Decker-Erickson (30:27)
Is Pickle still with us?
Michelle Lynne (30:29)
Well, actually, this is really sweet. pickles, we tried to find food for pickles, right? I wasn't gonna go out and buy
Katie Decker-Erickson (30:34)
no.
Michelle Lynne (30:35)
food for pickles. I'm not gonna spend 30 bucks on worms. So Genevieve went out quite actually quite problem solving.
Like she was like,
Katie Decker-Erickson (30:44)
Yeah.
Michelle Lynne (30:44)
where's the little tennis racket that burns the bugs? Right. She did that. She went out to the grass, tried to dig up worms in her dad's garden. Like she was really industrious. That's the word I'm looking for. So then they tried to
Katie Decker-Erickson (30:57)
That's so sweet.
Michelle Lynne (30:58)
feed the pickles ants, and the ants swarmed all over pickles. So we had to duck pickles back in the pool to get all the ants off. Like it was a whole thing, right? So pickles
Katie Decker-Erickson (31:07)
Pickle's got a bath.
Michelle Lynne (31:09)
pickles didn't eat all of Sunday.
Genevieve comes down the stairs on Monday and she just looks at me. I'm like, hi, honey, give me a hug. And she's like, in a minute. She grabs pickles, takes him or her outside, and lets her lets her go free. She goes, I didn't want pickles to die. I was like, honey, I know that was a really
Katie Decker-Erickson (31:24)
I love that. that's so
Michelle Lynne (31:27)
hard decision, but that was such a good decision.
Katie Decker-Erickson (31:30)
Don't you love those moments as a parent? I call them the
this might actually work out moments because most of the time I'm walking
Michelle Lynne (31:36)
Yeah.
Katie Decker-Erickson (31:38)
around going, shit, this ain't gonna work out. Like and then you get these moments where you're like, this might actually work out. It's like glimmers.
Michelle Lynne (31:45)
Yeah, well I wasn't sure. It's like am I gonna have
to dump am I gonna have to dump pickles out while she's at school and try to explain that to her? Or am I gonna let die in my jar? Right? Yeah.
Katie Decker-Erickson (31:54)
I'm not kidding you. So
we had snails that lived on my counter for eight months. And the only reason we got to leave the snails in
Michelle Lynne (32:02)
Mm-hmm.
Katie Decker-Erickson (32:05)
the garden was because of the hamster that went in one room and the tank of fish with three cherry shrimp and a snail that went in the other. Y'all, I got screwed on that deal. That
Michelle Lynne (32:12)
Ha ha
Katie Decker-Erickson (32:15)
is how not to run your business. Swap two snails for a hamster, three fish, three cherry shrimp, and a snail.
That was not an upgrade.
Michelle Lynne (32:26)
That was not the way to run your business.
Katie Decker-Erickson (32:28)
I'm not kidding you. I just, yeah. If you're running your business
Michelle Lynne (32:30)
That's all right, the things you do for your kids.
Katie Decker-Erickson (32:32)
that way, we should talk. Life decisions.
Michelle Lynne (32:34)
Yeah.
Katie Decker-Erickson (32:35)
Yeah. my gosh, what you don't do to love That's so sweet she put him back in nature though.
Michelle Lynne (32:38)
Yeah, that is greatness.
my gosh. It was just the sweetest thing. I didn't get a hug until she was done. So yeah. And I get
Katie Decker-Erickson (32:46)
That's so sweet though. But I love it when they
like figure it out, you know?
Michelle Lynne (32:50)
Well, that and I was really proud of the fact that she was looking for different ways to source food for
Katie Decker-Erickson (32:58)
Yeah.
Michelle Lynne (32:59)
on her own. So she she's trying to get a hamster. She's
Katie Decker-Erickson (33:01)
I was waiting for
Michelle Lynne (33:02)
trying to get a guinea pig, actually. And she's like, I don't want
Katie Decker-Erickson (33:04)
No no.
Michelle Lynne (33:05)
I don't want pickles to die because then I'm not gonna be I'm not gonna be ready for a guinea pig or something like that. So she was trying to prove that
she could take care of pickles.
Katie Decker-Erickson (33:15)
That is so sweet.
Yeah, get a hamster.
Michelle Lynne (33:18)
So funny.
Katie Decker-Erickson (33:19)
Get a dwarf hamster. It's like a eighth
Michelle Lynne (33:21)
Okay.
Katie Decker-Erickson (33:21)
the size of a guinea pig.
Michelle Lynne (33:23)
Good to know. Very good to know.
Katie Decker-Erickson (33:24)
Yeah,
don't know. But I think it's sweet though. I love when we I had that thought the other day about like especially because my kids are about to go s back to school and being a working mom and just like
Michelle Lynne (33:35)
Mm-hmm.
Katie Decker-Erickson (33:36)
there's like guilt that comes with that sometimes. And then I'm like not always available. And I'm like, you know, okay. They're almost 10 and 12. It's great. I'm not always available. Like
Michelle Lynne (33:45)
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
Katie Decker-Erickson (33:48)
the oldest walks in, she's like, Mom, want to make myself a burrito?
I'm gonna put the tortilla in the quesadilla maker, warm up the rice in the fridge in the microwave, and I'm gonna make my own bean dip on the stove. Is that cool? my gosh, my heart just burst. Is that cool? Not even remotely
Michelle Lynne (34:00)
Yes, make me one too.
Katie Decker-Erickson (34:04)
kidding you, kid, right? Like, and I was like, if I was always available, I don't think she would have done that. And so I'm like,
Michelle Lynne (34:09)
Absolutely.
Katie Decker-Erickson (34:10)
okay, you had to figure it out. Not a bad deal.
Michelle Lynne (34:13)
But doesn't that go back to managing your team?
Katie Decker-Erickson (34:16)
Yeah, yeah.
Michelle Lynne (34:17)
So it's like you've got the authority to make these decisions. Maybe put those guardrails up. If it's more than 500 bucks, then no, we need to have this conversation. But
Katie Decker-Erickson (34:28)
Totally.
Michelle Lynne (34:29)
because you weren't letting your kid at three years old turn on the gas stove.
Katie Decker-Erickson (34:33)
gosh, no. We would have been homeless. Yeah. Yeah.
Michelle Lynne (34:35)
Yeah. S but in that
respect, it's like y you you you show them, you teach them, here's how you use the quesadilla maker and
Katie Decker-Erickson (34:45)
Mm-hmm.
Michelle Lynne (34:46)
then you'd let loose. And if she burns the quesadilla, she won't burn it again next time. You just tell her, Hey, take it out. Yeah. But I
Katie Decker-Erickson (34:51)
Gospel truth. I mean, admittedly, my
kitchen was a lighter shade of pale when it was over. But again, we're going for the moments of this might work out. I
Michelle Lynne (35:01)
Yes, exactly.
Katie Decker-Erickson (35:02)
think that's, you know, it's really it's the whole trust but validate idea too. Trust
Michelle Lynne (35:07)
Mm-hmm.
Katie Decker-Erickson (35:08)
your trust your people to make good decisions. Then validate that they do. Like, I especially when they're
Michelle Lynne (35:12)
Yes.
Katie Decker-Erickson (35:13)
getting started. Like
Be the safety net. It's okay to be the safety net. Let them go out, let them try, trust them to handle it, and then validate. It's not that you don't trust them. It's it, I mean, like we we started doing this in our procurement area because it was here's the company credit card, and
Michelle Lynne (35:32)
Mm-hmm.
Katie Decker-Erickson (35:33)
it conveniently has no limit, so it's scary. And
Michelle Lynne (35:36)
Mm-hmm.
Katie Decker-Erickson (35:36)
then here's all the products that we're sourcing from a variety of projects, and I don't independently know. So, where was the checks and balances for that?
And so we ended up creating a whole procurement process whereby
Michelle Lynne (35:49)
Mm-hmm.
Katie Decker-Erickson (35:50)
it gets a procurement, it gets a PO number, each item gets a PO number, gets balanced against a spreadsheet, then it goes into QuickBooks. Like there's this whole thing where I don't have to worry about it because it's trust but validate, because the accountant has eyes on it, the project manager has eyes on it. Like
Michelle Lynne (36:03)
Mm-hmm.
Katie Decker-Erickson (36:04)
nobody is ordering pillows for their own residence. There's just
Michelle Lynne (36:07)
Right.
Katie Decker-Erickson (36:07)
two right. So we trust you to do the job, but then we're gonna go back and we're gonna validate that it's all there. It's a really
Michelle Lynne (36:12)
Absolutely.
Katie Decker-Erickson (36:13)
great.
I've I've really enjoyed it, but that was a key part of our operations that we had to build that there really wasn't a structure.
Michelle Lynne (36:21)
Interesting. Yeah, because you were doing it on your own soft.
Katie Decker-Erickson (36:22)
Yeah, how do you do that in your firm?
Michelle Lynne (36:24)
Well, we use our software. So it's that's already built in. Yeah, which
Katie Decker-Erickson (36:26)
Yeah, that's smart. Yeah. We basically created our own. Yeah.
Michelle Lynne (36:30)
is good because we're creating our own for sidemark.
Katie Decker-Erickson (36:33)
Which I'm so excited about. Y'all are gonna love
Michelle Lynne (36:35)
Yeah.
Katie Decker-Erickson (36:35)
this. We're gonna we're gonna give you an ecosystem to run your entire company out of. It's gonna be great. Yeah, it's not ready yet.
Michelle Lynne (36:41)
Yeah, but we're testing it first. We're we're the guinea pigs.
Katie Decker-Erickson (36:46)
my gosh, that's so real.
Michelle Lynne (36:45)
I think I'd rather be the dwarf hamster
so that I'm like one third the size of the guinea pig. Okay, good. That might be something we can do.
Katie Decker-Erickson (36:50)
They're so stinking cute. my gosh. But yes, we're we're dwarf hamstering
our we're ham. We're Syrian. I don't even know. I mean, I this is the one thing this is interesting. How much the pet store aligns with operations. I told my kids that I'm like, you have to get the aquarium. Like we have to build out the entire pet closure. We have to get all the toys, all like you have to put everything
Michelle Lynne (37:13)
Yeah.
Katie Decker-Erickson (37:13)
in place. And the final thing is the animal.
And after you have everything in place, then you can have the animal. Gosh, isn't operations the same way? Like build it all out and then run the project. Like don't try to run the project while you're building it out. Like, and there's don't get me wrong, there's a lot of plans that get built mid-flight when it comes to design firms. But like ideally you have an idea of where you want to go and how you want to get there. And then you start plugging in projects and then you massage it as you need to to really fine-tune
Michelle Lynne (37:41)
Mm-hmm. Well,
Katie Decker-Erickson (37:42)
it.
Michelle Lynne (37:43)
and it's having the right tools. So
Katie Decker-Erickson (37:45)
Yeah, it is.
Michelle Lynne (37:46)
here's here's a funny story. So last week I was off. It wasn't it was staycation. Okay. My husband was out of town. So my
Katie Decker-Erickson (37:50)
Yeah. I love that.
Michelle Lynne (37:53)
happiest place is in my house by myself. So with
Katie Decker-Erickson (37:57)
I love that.
Michelle Lynne (37:58)
my dogs, okay. Sorry, the kids at school, the husband's out. I decided to do a project. I was putting up board and batten in my little. Thank you very much. Yeah.
Katie Decker-Erickson (38:04)
Which looked fabulous. I saw your text picture. You are dang
fine in carpentry.
Michelle Lynne (38:09)
But hold this thought. So I didn't have the right tools. Okay. So I I admittedly, the board and baton, I bought a kit. So a lot of it was already constructed. Okay. But I
Katie Decker-Erickson (38:19)
Hmm. Nice.
Michelle Lynne (38:22)
still had to cut it so that it would meet the length of the wall to to 45 degree angle into the corners, all the things, right? Well,
Katie Decker-Erickson (38:32)
Yeah.
Michelle Lynne (38:33)
I thought I was gonna be quiet because I was doing this when my kid went to sleep sometimes.
So, what I was doing, I got a miter box and a handsaw. No. Did I use my power tools? No. So here I am, like trying to go back and forth, like trying to get through this MDF. And I was like, son of a monkey. But the
Katie Decker-Erickson (38:50)
You poor thing Yeah.
Michelle Lynne (38:52)
key point is having the right tools and paying for the upgrades so that you're not using all your muscle to complete the project. It's like working smarter versus
Katie Decker-Erickson (39:03)
Yeah.
Michelle Lynne (39:03)
working harder. So
I was proud that I had the miter box and I could actually do my handsaw, but it's better than like.
Katie Decker-Erickson (39:10)
It still got
done. It's just how much of you was left over when it was finished, right? Like
Michelle Lynne (39:13)
my gosh. I'll tell
you though, I was really happy for my workouts. Like my lats? These babies are strong.
Katie Decker-Erickson (39:19)
Bringing her egg game.
Michelle Lynne (39:21)
Yeah.
Katie Decker-Erickson (39:21)
my gosh. That's so good. That's so good.
Michelle Lynne (39:24)
But having the
right tools, but like you were saying, it's like you know
Katie Decker-Erickson (39:27)
Yeah.
Michelle Lynne (39:27)
where you want to go with the project. I had everything laid out. You know what it's called? Do you know when you ha when everything is laid out and everything has a home? It's called Mise and Plants. It is a French, it's a French kitchen term.
Katie Decker-Erickson (39:39)
No, I'm not familiar with those terms. Enlighten me. Mison blots?
Michelle Lynne (39:43)
Mise and Plants. M-I-S. Next word is E-N. Next work next one is P-L-A-N-C-E. Mieson Plants. It's
Katie Decker-Erickson (39:51)
Misson Plants
Michelle Lynne (39:52)
I believe that's how it's spelled. It's
Katie Decker-Erickson (39:53)
writing this down.
Michelle Lynne (39:54)
a French term in the kitchen. So think about Julia Childs is cooking. What does she do? She has
Katie Decker-Erickson (40:01)
Yeah, she knows.
Michelle Lynne (40:02)
all of her ingredients out in front of her and compiles it. So you have to have
Katie Decker-Erickson (40:06)
Brilliant.
Michelle Lynne (40:07)
all of your ingredients in place before you start making a dish. Same thing with the project where I was painting, right? And and sawing. Same thing with build running a business.
Katie Decker-Erickson (40:18)
Well, and I would even take that one step further too.
Michelle Lynne (40:21)
Uh-huh.
Katie Decker-Erickson (40:21)
If you're not using it, dump it. Frickin' dump it. I cleaned out my
Michelle Lynne (40:24)
Yeah. Yeah.
Katie Decker-Erickson (40:26)
design center because it was it was getting out of control, right?
Michelle Lynne (40:30)
Where
is your design center? Is it in your house? Mm-hmm.
Katie Decker-Erickson (40:33)
Yes, and it's
it's tons of shelves. I always love when I see designers with like really pretty design centers. I have like tons of plywood and hefty totes and project bins and vendor totes and sample totes
Michelle Lynne (40:45)
Mm-hmm.
Katie Decker-Erickson (40:45)
and like it's like a tote paradise, like hundreds of totes.
Michelle Lynne (40:48)
Yes.
Katie Decker-Erickson (40:49)
My husband's constantly saying, like, if I don't have worth, am I going in a tote? I'm like, this is a value-proven
Michelle Lynne (40:54)
Ha ha ha
Katie Decker-Erickson (40:56)
organization. What is your value? But I don't
Michelle Lynne (40:58)
That's awesome.
Katie Decker-Erickson (40:59)
Think that's a bad deal though, because like so oftentimes, too, like everything in its place. But if something doesn't have a place or it's no longer useful, why are we housing it? Like, clear the deck. Yes,
Michelle Lynne (41:10)
It's like the subscriptions that you need to go through. Mm-hmm.
Katie Decker-Erickson (41:13)
clear the deck. Get rid of it.
Michelle Lynne (41:15)
Yeah.
Katie Decker-Erickson (41:15)
Because and we do this with our boards in our project management software, we call it clearing the boards.
Michelle Lynne (41:20)
Mm-hmm. Mm.
Katie Decker-Erickson (41:21)
But there's like a process. It goes to offboarding.
Michelle Lynne (41:22)
Mm-hmm.
Katie Decker-Erickson (41:24)
And then if it's a photography worthy project, it'll go to waiting for photography. If it's not, then
Michelle Lynne (41:28)
Right.
Katie Decker-Erickson (41:28)
accounting verifies. We get our KPIs from it, everything, all the invoices have been paid. Then close it out and we move it on. Like you've got to clear space. At least I
Michelle Lynne (41:37)
Yes.
Katie Decker-Erickson (41:37)
do. And I don't, I'd be curious if other designers feel this way. DMS, guys. but I have to clear mental space literally to take on more. Like I've got to push off to add on. I can't just indefinitely add on or I start to fizzle.
Like I fry. Yeah.
Michelle Lynne (41:49)
I think that goes back to
the beginning of our conversations. Like you have to put your oxygen mask on. And you have to take care
Katie Decker-Erickson (41:55)
You have to you have to and
Michelle Lynne (41:57)
of it. That's why I took last week off. It's like I needed some white space. I was getting crispy. My husband came back a day early. I I couldn't
Katie Decker-Erickson (42:00)
Is that not so nice? Yeah. dear
Michelle Lynne (42:06)
I I I was like I was so torn. I was like, I'm the worst wife ever. I was so sad that he came back a day early.
Katie Decker-Erickson (42:10)
So glad you're home.
Yeah. That. my gosh, that's hilarious.
Michelle Lynne (42:14)
Yeah, I was like, he
he texted, he's like, Yeah, I think I'm just gonna come home a day early. He was at a conference thing and I was like, yeah, Genevieve will be so excited
Katie Decker-Erickson (42:23)
Read between the lines, stay at the conference. Yeah. I always feel that way when my husband goes hiking or disappears for a week and
Michelle Lynne (42:24)
While I processed. Yeah, I love you, honey. Yeah.
Katie Decker-Erickson (42:32)
I'm like, it's me and the girls. We're gonna do all of the tea parties and all of the, and we do. It's so sweet. And he's like, I missed you guys so much. And I'm like, I'm so glad you just got to go take care of your biological functions and nature and that that's fun for you. So great.
Michelle Lynne (42:46)
Ha ha ha.
Katie Decker-Erickson (42:47)
You should do that. And we'll be sitting here having our tea parties. Like
Michelle Lynne (42:50)
Yeah.
Katie Decker-Erickson (42:50)
it works out.
That whole absence makes the heart grow fonder, but that's true in your business too. That's so true in your
Michelle Lynne (42:53)
It does. Mm-hmm.
Katie Decker-Erickson (42:56)
business. Cause if you're not taking those breaks and stepping back from them, how do you ever come back to the joy of designing or the joy
Michelle Lynne (43:03)
You can't
Katie Decker-Erickson (43:04)
of running a company? Yeah, you gotta have them. And like, if you're like, but I can't get away. Well, then we gotta stop and press pause and go, why? And we have to solve that.
Michelle Lynne (43:13)
That's exactly what
my email out of office said. I'm pressing pause. Mm-hmm. It totally did. Yeah. Cause that's all it is. It's not
Katie Decker-Erickson (43:16)
no way. Did it really? I love that. I think that's like
Michelle Lynne (43:22)
a stop. It's just a it's like you have to have white space on your walls. Your entire home is not decorated. There
Katie Decker-Erickson (43:27)
Gotta have wine with dinner. You gotta clear the palate.
Michelle Lynne (43:32)
you go. girl. Well
Katie Decker-Erickson (43:33)
Yeah. You gotta clear the palate. I think that's so
true. Yeah. You had a thought. I was just gonna say
Michelle Lynne (43:38)
Go ahead. I it was only half baked.
Katie Decker-Erickson (43:40)
Una no, I love your thoughts. What is it that you think is it different for each person how they do that? Or do you have a tried and true method for just getting back to where you need to be getting into that headspace where you can enjoy your company again?
Michelle Lynne (43:55)
I think everybody's gonna be different. You know, and also acknowledging that it ebbs and flows. You know, a couple years ago
Katie Decker-Erickson (44:00)
Mm.
Michelle Lynne (44:01)
I was ready to shut it down, just burn it down. Like I was done. Burn that sucker down. I'm really glad I didn't. But yeah. Yeah.
Katie Decker-Erickson (44:08)
Juliana in the background is like, me too. I enjoy being gainfully employed. Yeah. it's so real. Right? Yeah. I see ya.
I think it's true. You know, and I mean, just to be real for a moment, if you've never felt that way in your business, you're lying to yourself and you're not in touch with your emotional space. We've all had days we want to burn it down and we're, I mean, my gosh, the time I had was it a whole season? That's hard.
Michelle Lynne (44:27)
this was a season. This was a full blown season. yeah. It was
just but it's I I think part of it was also is that I was running on empty, running on fumes. You know what
Katie Decker-Erickson (44:39)
Yeah.
Michelle Lynne (44:40)
it was? It was so we started Sidemark. I opened Studio Works.
Katie Decker-Erickson (44:45)
Yep.
Michelle Lynne (44:46)
I was moving into Studio Works from another place. I was
Katie Decker-Erickson (44:50)
Gosh.
Michelle Lynne (44:50)
and then I ended up having to fire two of my team employees.
Katie Decker-Erickson (44:56)
Michelle.
Michelle Lynne (44:56)
And my
vacation went out the window. So it was just
Katie Decker-Erickson (44:59)
Yeah.
Michelle Lynne (44:59)
like there was this whole season leading up to it. And it was just exhausting. Yeah. And
Katie Decker-Erickson (45:02)
Yeah, you're in a monsoon. Mm-hmm.
Michelle Lynne (45:05)
but but also for those of you who are listening, it's like sometimes you just have to keep going through it to get to the other side. And then you just have to take your foot off the gas and and fill your tank back up.
Katie Decker-Erickson (45:15)
I love that. It's like the country
song. For going through hell, just keep on trucking.
Michelle Lynne (45:19)
Yes, exactly right.
Katie Decker-Erickson (45:20)
If you have never felt that way in your business, you probably shouldn't be listening to this episode. It's true though, right?
Like if you are, and then like, but I love what you added to that. And then take your foot off on the other side. It is
Michelle Lynne (45:31)
Mm-hmm.
Katie Decker-Erickson (45:32)
a season. All of this is a season. Having kids is a season. Having, I don't know. I look
Michelle Lynne (45:37)
Yes, yes.
Katie Decker-Erickson (45:37)
at my neighbor. I have I have yard envy, y'all. These are confessions. So the neighbors across the street have like, it's better homes and garden over there on steroids.
Michelle Lynne (45:46)
wow.
Katie Decker-Erickson (45:47)
If the leaves don't fall off the trees fast enough, they vacuum them off the trees. Like the all the rocks get vacuumed. There's no dirt. The lawn is perfectly fertilized. Like there, I would be so afraid to be a weed in that yard. And I'm like, I said to my husband, I'm like, someday I will have a yard like that. Like I have yard envy. And I was like,
Michelle Lynne (46:06)
Dude, you can write a cheque and have it tomorrow.
Katie Decker-Erickson (46:10)
I know. Yeah, I should mention that to him too. I really
Michelle Lynne (46:13)
Ha ha ha.
Katie Decker-Erickson (46:15)
should.
But then it hit me and I was like, it's just not this season. Like, I am going to have my gardening season. That that day will
Michelle Lynne (46:19)
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
Katie Decker-Erickson (46:22)
come. But like, praise God, we get to like tend the hearts of little people right now. And like,
Michelle Lynne (46:27)
Yes.
Katie Decker-Erickson (46:29)
I'm gardening in the human arena right now. And that that's okay. That's a pretty
Michelle Lynne (46:32)
You are. Mm-hmm.
Katie Decker-Erickson (46:34)
darn fine place to garden. Especially because both of us didn't know if we were gonna have kids. We're both the older moms on the block, right? So I'm like,
Michelle Lynne (46:39)
Amen. No girl. You know what's funny, Katie?
Katie Decker-Erickson (46:43)
huh.
Michelle Lynne (46:44)
When I adopted Genevieve, I was older than you are now.
Katie Decker-Erickson (46:49)
I don't even know how you did that. I would have curled up and died. Okay, it's so scary.
Michelle Lynne (46:50)
weird to think about Well I didn't birth
her. Yeah. Yeah. Yes. My sweet girl.
Katie Decker-Erickson (46:56)
a sidebar doesn't matter. Like you birthed her in your heart, and that is huge. We have friends
that have a two and a half year old, and she ran out of her house the other day. And I turned and looked at Justin. I was like, praise God, we're not there anymore. I'm too old and tired. I'm like, I need wine in the hot tub. I mean, just like the energy level. I have no idea how you did that. I have no idea
Michelle Lynne (47:19)
Yeah.
Katie Decker-Erickson (47:20)
how you did that. Like, I'm like.
Although it did hit me the other day, our nanny was our nanny for five years. She got married last summer and just had a baby. And
Michelle Lynne (47:27)
I love
Katie Decker-Erickson (47:28)
the baby and her came over and played with my girls, which was so sweet. So we have this like life comes full circle. My girls took their baby blankets and put them over the brand new baby who went to sleep while they were all upstairs drawing together. And I'm like, this is the sweetest moment ever. And then I was like, I could be her mom.
And that wouldn't
Michelle Lynne (47:48)
Ha ha
Katie Decker-Erickson (47:49)
have been a teen pregnancy. And then
Michelle Lynne (47:51)
Ha ha ha.
Katie Decker-Erickson (47:52)
like her baby could be my grandbaby. I like,
Michelle Lynne (47:55)
Yeah.
Katie Decker-Erickson (47:55)
okay, time to wrap this up. Like, my gosh. No. You know, not at all because she's Beyonce Wade. I love and adore her. But it did make me I felt vindicated when sometimes at nine o'clock at night I look at my husband. I'm like, I'm going to sleep. He's like, seriously? I'm like, hell yeah, I'm going to bed. Like, I'm tired.
Michelle Lynne (48:08)
yeah. Yeah.
Katie Decker-Erickson (48:11)
Tired. I have solved a lot of problems today. and moved a lot of pieces. And yeah, I admire your girl. I don't know how you did that. I don't know how you do it. It's very impressive. It's always him, isn't it? It's always him.
Michelle Lynne (48:17)
Yeah. it's God. It's totally God. It all on him. Yep. He was the one
who said that I needed to adopt, so we did and it was like, okay. It's like I did this I did
Katie Decker-Erickson (48:30)
You had
Michelle Lynne (48:30)
this for
I am drawing a complete blank. Hundred years old, popping kids
Katie Decker-Erickson (48:33)
Totally getting.
Michelle Lynne (48:34)
out. Who was that? Juliana. In the Bible.
Katie Decker-Erickson (48:37)
Hundred years old? The woman who had twins in her seventies?
Michelle Lynne (48:41)
No, who was the Sarah, Elizabeth, Sarah? Sarah and Elizabeth. Abraham. Abraham and
Katie Decker-Erickson (48:46)
Isaac? Ibe I wrong one. Yes. Thank you.
Michelle Lynne (48:50)
Sara was it Sarah? Abraham and Sarah. They had the baby. Yeah, so anyway, they they were old. They were old. Ninety-five. Thank you.
Katie Decker-Erickson (48:52)
Yeah. Yeah. The one he didn't think was gonna happen. They were old. See, we're spring chickens.
We are just spring Yeah.
Michelle Lynne (48:59)
Can't remember shit. I can't
This major story from the Bible, but
Katie Decker-Erickson (49:02)
Such a good point
if I could remember it. That's gonna be our new t-shirt. I had a great point if I could remember it. That girl, I love this conversation. Yeah, we are. That's okay. It's all good, Michelle. This is why I love you, lady. Yeah.
Michelle Lynne (49:06)
my gosh, we're gonna have to edit part of that out. I can't remember shit from the Bible.
Katie Decker-Erickson (49:19)
The backside of the t-shirt. There we go. my gosh, I love this. This is too good.
Michelle Lynne (49:23)
well, chickadee,
let's wrap this baby up. I'm sure our audience has been quite entertained. Hopefully, y'all learned something. I do want to make sure that we
Katie Decker-Erickson (49:30)
Seriously.
Michelle Lynne (49:31)
give a call out to Sidemark and that you guys are paying attention to what's coming down the pipeline because it is going to be game changing. Super excited about it. Mm-hmm.
Katie Decker-Erickson (49:39)
It will be game changing. For your operations,
for everything you do. Our goal is to make it easier and let you tailor
Michelle Lynne (49:45)
Yes.
Katie Decker-Erickson (49:45)
it for you. We're not gonna try to tell you how to run your firm. I'm so tired of software telling me what I need to do. You don't know. You're not in it. So let's let you make it what you want it to be.
Michelle Lynne (49:54)
Pretty much. And then if you need guidance, we're here. So but even if you don't use sidebo If I can remember
Katie Decker-Erickson (49:58)
Yeah. W we're not lacking in good points. If we could just remember them.
Michelle Lynne (50:02)
So Katie, anything you want to say to sign off?
Katie Decker-Erickson (50:03)
Gosh, it's so true.
No, just that this is fun. I think it's really fun because we do so much deep diving on success by design that like to have a fun conversation about stuff that still really matters, but to have it be relational. I'm glad we get to share this with our audience and do something that's more lighthearted, but still meaningful.
Michelle Lynne (50:24)
Mm. And just hopefully reminding everybody that they're not alone, you know.
Katie Decker-Erickson (50:28)
Yeah,
get out from behind your computer. Find your design bestie. I love you, lady. I'm so grateful for you. Like it's just so nice. I'll never
Michelle Lynne (50:33)
Right back at ya. It's mutual.
Katie Decker-Erickson (50:36)
forget. I was like when I first knew that I loved Michelle, it was when she's Well, there's plenty of ugly houses for everybody. And I was like, gospel truth, sister. In fact, do you know I pulled that line out on a client last week and they went with another design firm and we
Michelle Lynne (50:50)
Mm-hmm.
Katie Decker-Erickson (50:51)
had done their initial imaging. But I know the other design firm's gonna lose money. Like
But no fault
Michelle Lynne (50:57)
right.
Katie Decker-Erickson (50:57)
to the client for choosing to hire them. That's not their problem. And so I told
Michelle Lynne (51:00)
Right.
Katie Decker-Erickson (51:00)
him that. I was like, you know, I said, hey, there's plenty of ugly for everybody. And they were just absolutely floored that I would give them, you should. You so should. Because when you approach it that way. And
Michelle Lynne (51:08)
I should go trademark that. that's hilarious.
Katie Decker-Erickson (51:13)
he's like, in fact, here's the silver lining. He's like, this is the cheap deal. Our next one is actually going to be a class A asset. We wouldn't give it to anybody else than you. Thank you.
Michelle Lynne (51:23)
Nice, nice, nice, nice.
Katie Decker-Erickson (51:23)
So thank you for giving
me the ability to say that to them. That was like that's a Michelleism that I really love.
Michelle Lynne (51:30)
Well, you know what, life's too short to be boring.
Katie Decker-Erickson (51:33)
Don't you know it? That's the gospel.
Michelle Lynne (51:34)
Mm-hmm. So
Alrighty cutie. I will catch up with you soon. Right back at you. Hope
Katie Decker-Erickson (51:39)
Love and adore, lady. This will be fun to share.
Michelle Lynne (51:42)
hope everybody enjoyed the episode. shit,
Katie Decker-Erickson (51:45)
Yes, we'll see you guys.
Michelle Lynne (51:46)
I forgot to record. Just kidding.
Katie Decker-Erickson (51:49)
Ha ha ha.
Love you girl. Bye.
Michelle Lynne (51:53)
I'm not sure.
