Ep 230: From Clinical Precision to Creative Vision: Embracing Your Past to Build a Profitable Design Business with Katie Rainey

Episode Summary

What if the experience you think makes you an outsider in the design industry is actually your greatest advantage?

In this episode of Designed for the Creative Mind, Michelle Lynne sits down with interior designer Katie Rainey to discuss her journey from Doctor of Physical Therapy to owner of a thriving interior design firm specializing in waterfront and lifestyle-driven homes.

Katies design philosophy is that beauty and function are necessities, not luxuries. With a Doctorate in Physical Therapy and a background in human movement, she crafts spaces that are both beautiful and intuitively designed for real life.

She partners with busy families and professionals seeking solace in nature - whether by the water in Annapolis or in the mountains of New Hampshire - guiding them through the intricacies of a renovation or a new build. With deep construction knowledge, she collaborates closely with builders and architects to ensure seamless execution from concept to completion.

As part of a military family, Katie has lived across the U.S. and in Europe. She draws inspiration for her designs from this global design perspective, having lived in diverse landscapes.

Katie shares how she initially hid her medical background, believing it had little relevance to design, only to discover that her expertise in movement, ergonomics, and human behavior became one of her strongest differentiators. From designing custom solutions that improve clients' daily lives to building a business rooted in confidence, process, and professionalism, Katie offers valuable lessons for designers at every stage of business.

The conversation also explores networking, pricing, client communication, boundaries, and the mindset shifts that helped Katie transition from treating design as a passion to running it as a profitable business.

Whether you're transitioning from another career, struggling to communicate your value, or looking for encouragement to own your unique story, this episode is packed with practical wisdom and inspiration.

In This Episode, We Discuss:

• Katie's transition from physical therapy to interior design

• Why your previous career can become your biggest business advantage

• Using ergonomics and human movement to create more functional homes

• How Katie found her unique positioning in the design industry

• The mindset shift from hobbyist to business owner

• Learning to separate emotion from sales conversations

• The "Pass the Salt" approach to discussing money with clients

• Why clear processes create better client experiences

• Educating clients through deliverables and expectations

• The importance of boundaries and scope management

• Networking strategies that helped Katie build a business in a brand-new market

• How confidence and consistency lead to stronger business growth

• Balancing motherhood, business ownership, and personal fulfillment
  

Key Takeaways

Your Past Experience Is Part of Your Expertise

Katie spent years downplaying her background as a physical therapist before realizing it gave her a unique perspective that directly benefits her clients. The skills, knowledge, and experiences from previous careers often become the very thing that sets designers apart.

Design Is More Than Making Things Beautiful

A successful design must function for the people who live in it. Katie's understanding of ergonomics and movement helps her create spaces that support her clients' lifestyles while remaining beautiful.

Confidence Comes from Process

One of Katie's biggest business breakthroughs came from developing a clear process and communicating it effectively. When clients understand what to expect, they feel more confident moving forward.

Networking Doesn't Have to Be Complicated

From introducing herself to architects to striking up conversations at the gym and ice rink, Katie demonstrates that meaningful business relationships often start with a simple conversation.

Business Growth Requires Personal Growth

Success isn't just about improving your design skills. It's about developing confidence, setting boundaries, understanding your value, and learning how to lead clients through decisions.

Memorable Quotes

"Own your background. Whatever you did before design, there's something there that makes you a better designer."

"If it looks beautiful but doesn't function for you, what's the point?"

"You're not trying to convince clients to hire you. You're guiding them as the expert."

"We are a for-profit company, not a non-profit."

"We're most memorable in person, not behind our computer."

"Whoever is going to hire me isn't going to hire you because I'm not you and you're not me."

Connect with Katie Rainey

Website: katieraineydesign.com

Instagram: @katieraineydesign

Facebook: Katie Rainey Design

Connect with Michelle Lynne

If you enjoyed this episode, be sure to subscribe, leave a review, and share it with a fellow interior designer who could benefit from today's conversation.

For coaching, mentorship, and business resources for interior designers, visit our website at thedesignbakehouse.com.

Loved This Episode?

Leave a review and share this episode with another designer who needs the reminder that their unique background isn't something to hide—it's something to build on.

Transcrip

speaker-0 (01:04)

Hey, hey, hey, everybody. Welcome back to the Design for the Creative Mind podcast. I am your host, Michelle Lynn, and today I have a very, very sweet guest. Katie Rainey is an interior designer and she is the founder of Katie Rainey Design, the the firm that is known for her thoughtful construction savvy approach to waterfront and lifestyle-driven homes.

Before entering the design world, Katie worked in the medical field where she developed a deep understanding of movement, function, and human behavior. Insights that now uniquely inform her design process. She blends creativity with technical precision and brings a strong business mindset to her work, helping clients make confident, informed decisions from concept through completion. Katie, I'm so excited you're here.

speaker-1 (01:52)

Hey, me too. Thanks for having me, Michelle.

speaker-0 (01:55)

my gosh. We have tried to connect a couple of times. And this is you it's it's official. We're here.

speaker-1 (02:00)

We're here. It works out when it works out.

speaker-0 (02:03)

It does.

So we were just catching up. So I've known Katie for a few years now because she went through the interior design business bakery like three or four years ago. So yeah. So I've known Katie for a while. We were just getting caught up. She has recently moved to New Hampshire. Correct. previously you were in Annapolis, if I'm not mistaken about that. Yep. Yeah. Mary. It's gonna be fun to talk a little bit about.

speaker-1 (02:14)

Years ago.

speaker-0 (02:30)

Well, your background, of course, but also it had to have been scary to move from a place that you had established, like you had grown up, you'd start your business there. I say grown up, but that's where you started your business. And then all of a sudden you're moving. So that had to be a little crazy. But I want to go back further. Okay. So I'm all over the place because I'm so excited to get caught up with you. but how did you let let's talk about a little bit?

speaker-1 (02:43)

Yeah.

speaker-0 (02:54)

How you transitioned from the medical field into interior design, because I really think that there's a lot of people who are listening that are thinking, how am I going to take this weird background that has nothing to do with interior design and and and work with it in an interior design field? Because I think that you've bridged that gap and you make it a benefit for your clients.

speaker-1 (03:19)

Yeah, you know, it's I think it's all about perception and in your own mindset and changing it to be a positive aspect of what you bring to your clients' lives and your experience. I literally ran from it. Like I was like, I'm doing interior design now and I love this and I always did it on the side and I'm just gonna start my company and roll with it. And I like shied away from sharing my background as a physical therapist and my time working for the military and

you know, doing trainings and leading and guiding squadrons. And I I I I like, wow, I did a lot of like management, a lot of people skills, medical, you know, just in general, like way people move and live, ergonomics is like what, you know, physical therapists are very experts at. So and then you you take it to like the home and it it was it was mind blowing, I think, the first time that I

Like a light bulb moment, I guess you would say, was this one project in Annapolis? We were doing a basement remodel. And the client, as we were presenting, she's like, I have sorry if I stand up during the presentation. I just can't sit for long periods of time. I have really bad back pain. I'm looking at getting surgery. And I was like, my gosh. So then I said, You know that my background as a physical therapist, like what you know, we just started talking about.

What was going on with her and then her surgery. And I was like, wow, I've rehabbed a lot of patients with that same surgery. So then I kind of followed through. We were doing installation of her. ⁓ we were building out a bathroom essentially in her basement. And her one goal was she wanted to be able to wash her dogs and have a a dog wash station. And that to her meant everything because she has two dogs, she didn't have any children. And she's like, I'm just afraid that I'm not gonna be able to like hang out with my dogs and take care of them. And so we went into the like

You know, what how tall are you? And how tall are your dogs? And I knew that if she wanted to wash them, she would not be able to bend over the slightest bit because of her back surgery. You'd just stay upright. Any amount of lumbar flexion really creates stress on the discs and whatnot. And so I worked with the the builders and ⁓ the draftsman that was on that project. And we just we went back and forth and how do we get the dogs up? But then we have to make the steps disappear so that she can stand right next to them and not flux forward and have to go around the stairs.

It was the most creative, fun, like you it sounds silly, like a dog wash station, but I'm telling you, the end result, she was able to do what she loved and she never forgot how much that meant to her. and so I'm like, well, maybe there is something to this, like my understanding of a human body and and the way it moves. So I started like believing in myself more of like this is part of who I am, like this is my expertise. I have my doctorate for gosh sakes. Why don't I bring that to the table?

When talking

speaker-0 (05:56)

Interesting. So are you using that in your marketing and your positioning now?

speaker-1 (06:00)

I am. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And I'm shy away from it. I mean, it makes it makes me, I think anyone who has a background in whatever it is, you like experience and you bring that to the table and it makes you a better designer for it, you know? Yeah. We're all unique and and we bring different qualities. And I love I always use what you have you taught, like community over competition. You know, I've never been in competition with other designers.

speaker-0 (06:02)

For you.

Makes you a badass.

speaker-1 (06:27)

Yeah and I I always tell them like whoever's gonna hire me is not gonna hire you because I'm not you and you're not me. So

speaker-0 (06:34)

Exactly. No, that makes such a difference too. And leaning into because I know when I came into interior design, a lot of it was I I didn't talk about my background because I felt like I was an imposter or like I wasn't I wasn't an interior designer because I had been in sales, I had been in restaurant management forever. And that almost

felt like it disqualified me from being a good interior designer. But once I realized, just like you did, that, actually that could be my superpower, my background, and and leaning into it, I it changed everything.

speaker-1 (07:10)

Yeah, it really does. it's it's I don't know, it's I I guess it's a freedom that you start to feel like, wow, I can actually be myself and talk about my background and not shy away from it, you know.

speaker-0 (07:21)

Absolutely. And I think that every interior designer just they bring their own unique perspective. And yours is about ergonomics and all things that I mean, this is natural. I mean, we we our bodies are sprawled across our homes. So they should comfort and nurture us.

speaker-1 (07:38)

Yes, one hundred percent. It is

speaker-0 (07:40)

Yeah. I was just gonna say, how do you how do you take that and use that in your marketing now? How does that philosophy translate? Or even in your conversations?

speaker-1 (07:49)

I, you know, I I think in my my bio and my background, I I added that on my website, which was huge. So people get to know from the very beginning if they're checking me out, that I come from a medical background and a lot of what I do, we do a lot of remodels and construction it when you have a client that's in a home that they're gonna live in for a long period of time or hand down to their leg like a legacy home, their families.

you get clients that are more willing to do custom unique features. And when you're doing something from scratch and you're designing it and building it, like let's say this built-in bar that we did in this one project, the husband was like, I don't know, six, three, maybe? He was tall. I mean, I'm five two, so really anybody's tall, but really tall. And and he loved entertainment and he's like, I want a bar. And so, you know, instead of like a normal standard height countertop, I'm like

speaker-0 (08:30)

Yeah it's

speaker-1 (08:38)

Why don't we build these base cabinets up and give you another like inch? I mean, there's no there's no right or wrong answer. Like that way you're not bending over when you're making drinks. You're not bending over when you're chopping and because you love to do this. So let's let's make this adapt to your height so that's more functional for you and you're not going to be bending over and hurting your back while doing it. You know, entertaining. Anything can be customized, as you know. But absolutely thinking of the customization in terms of

function and how when you bend over, it's not good for your low back and the stress on the discs and like all of that comes to my in my mind, you know.

speaker-0 (09:11)

Yeah. And I'm thinking, I'm just gonna be hunched over, although I'm five four, so there's not a lot of reaching down too far on the counters for me. ⁓ so so that's on your website and that's how you're marketing yourself. Have you seen a different level of interest now that you are capitalizing on that in comparison to before? Or how has that

speaker-1 (09:22)

Yeah, yeah.

speaker-0 (09:36)

How has that shown up? Or is it just that you're talking about it more and you're showing your previous expertise?

speaker-1 (09:42)

Yeah, I think I think it's I mean, maybe I probably should market it more, to be honest. But I think I'm showing up more as is an expert in in movement and design. And I mean, a lot of people can put together pretty patterns and colors and textures, but when it comes to it looks pretty, but if it looks pretty and doesn't function for you, then what is the point? What what where is your investment dollars going? They're going out the window, you know. so I think that

is showing up for me when I speak truth to my clients. I I this is you're hiring me and my expertise. That's what you're paying for. And not many other designers have this background, you know?

speaker-0 (10:21)

I think you could totally lean into that, Katie.

speaker-1 (10:23)

I probably should more than I do, to be honest.

speaker-0 (10:25)

No, it's I mean it's just may i it's just more it's a stair step. It's like first it wasn't acknowledged and now you're acknowledging it. And now you could really just kind of lean into it. You could be you said you have a PhD, we could call you the doctor designer.

speaker-1 (10:39)

I know. It's so funny. The other day I got an email and it said D R and then it said Katie. And I but it was a I think it was d it's chart for drive. Like they would give me an address and I was like, I just thought you just called me Dr. Katie, which is so funny because for years I was called Dr. Rainey for 15 years in the military, you know.

speaker-0 (10:57)

Right, right, right, right. I think you could totally lean into that and have some fun. Yeah. Yeah. Okay, that's a conversation for another time, but we could go down that bunny trail. how are you doing it from a business perspective these days? I know I knew I knew you before you really launched into everything full throttle.

speaker-1 (10:58)

Maybe I should do that.

speaker-0 (11:18)

⁓ how are you feeling about your business acumen and and how you're treating your business as a professional designer and not a hobbyist?

speaker-1 (11:26)

I think that I've grown leaps and bounds over the past six years in owning my worth and learning that when you speak with clients, you are not trying to convince them to hire you, but you're guiding them, you're leading them as an expert.

And you're you're presenting and you're aligning on what they want, what needs to happen to get there. And like you say, Michelle, pass assault, you know? Yeah. And I've really done a lot of work. And I think all of us designers probably still struggle a little bit with the emotional connection because we are emotional beings. But trying to release that emotional attachment to that.

potential project, that next project that I'm presenting that I don't have yet that I want, but I gotta let that go. Like it's just this is the project, this is what it is, this is what I'm offering, this is my design fee. Here you go. Now you have all yeah, pass this all. You can make the decision. And if you decide not to move forward with me, then you know, onto something bigger and better. And and not taking and internalizing it, taking it personally and yeah.

speaker-0 (12:22)

Has the salt.

speaker-1 (12:34)

That's hard. We tend to do that to ourselves, right?

speaker-0 (12:36)

You have come so far. I remember you sitting on our calls just overanalyzing the clients and their well, they said this and they said that. I am at the risk of sounding condescending, I'm so proud of you. Holy sh small. yeah, I almost said the F bomb. That's that is so awesome. Yeah.

speaker-1 (12:54)

Yeah.

It is. It really is. It liberates you when you own your worth and you know that what you're presenting is is professional and you have a plan and a process and this is how we're gonna get you the client from A to B or A to Z. And this is what it's gonna cost. And this is our process, this is how you pay. The you know, and pass us all. Now, how do you how would you like to proceed? You know?

speaker-0 (13:19)

Exactly, exactly. And for those of you guys wondering what pass the salt means, it's just that that's how much emotion to put behind asking for money. It's just like saying pass the salt. It should not have any more power than just Hey, hand me the salt, right? Isn't that hilarious?

speaker-1 (13:36)

Just

a means of of exchange, I guess. Yeah.

speaker-0 (13:39)

Absolutely. It's just like, Hey, hand me the salt, hey, hand me the pen, 'cause I'm gonna sign this big ass contract.

speaker-1 (13:45)

Yeah, yeah. That's been, I think, a big, big growth for me ⁓ and learning for me. And it is, it's liberating. And energetically I feel like you just you get more coming your way when you let the emotion put the emotion aside. It's business, you know.

speaker-0 (14:00)

Absolutely. It's it's I liking it. It's like dating back in the day. I know when I was lonely and putting up off the desperation energy. I got a bunch of yahoos interested. Yes. Just like, ⁓ screw it. I'll be single forever. It's when I met my husband because it was a completely different energy.

speaker-1 (14:12)

Very similar.

It is. You want to be the energy you want to attract. Yeah. Put that out there. Yeah.

speaker-0 (14:24)

Absolutely. So what were some of the bigger lessons that you had to learn about the pricing and the profitability, client communication, things along that? I just for the other designers who might be coming up behind you, what would be some of your bigger lessons that you learned?

speaker-1 (14:41)

Would I would say that I think one of the most important lessons is well one, I already mentioned it to own your worth and then learning how to express to clients and communicate to them clearly the process. You have to have a strong process and you can't be wishy-washy in that. And to be able to guide them, not confuse them.

Right. Design is confusing and most of clients are new to it. They don't know what to expect. and then ⁓ what what I've really been working on that's really helped me is ⁓ educating clients on deliverables. Like what what are you paying for? Here's bullet points, not a gross summary of four paragraphs, like no deliverables and bullet points. This is what this design fee is paying for. We're implementing it, we're doing all of this for you. I think that's really important.

Yeah. I was gonna say something else and I forgot, but

speaker-0 (15:29)

Well yeah, it's like telling the it's guiding the clients and holding their hand and making sure that they do understand that everything that's outlined is what your deliverables are. And if it's not spelled out, it's not gonna happen.

speaker-1 (15:43)

Yeah. And this is what I was going say along the process of like people want to know what things cost. The biggest aha that I've changed, it's sort of shying away from talking about money, whether it's your design fear or like the overall cost, like getting a number from clients from the very beginning when they're just an intake and they're you're just, you know, qualifying them or talking to them for the first time. Like, what is your investment? What are what do you what do you have to spend on this? And a lot of people don't know.

speaker-0 (15:50)

Right.

speaker-1 (16:10)

But you gotta, that's your job as the expert to get it out of them.

speaker-0 (16:13)

Mm-hmm. Or to guide them and say, Okay, that's not realistic. Yeah. To furnish your home to furnish your living room for thirteen thousand. Here's what you should be looking at. Yeah.

speaker-1 (16:25)

Yeah. So this is the range and giving them a range to start. That's always helpful because you don't want to be pigeonholed into like a number because they'll remember that number.

speaker-0 (16:32)

Isn't that the truth? And it'll always be the lower number. that's funny.

speaker-1 (16:36)

They want to make changes along the way to the scope, like explaining to them, well, you know, if you decide to go with this, these are the implications. Or if you make this decision, like between two different countertops per se, this one's more expensive, but you're gonna get X, Y, and Z that you wanted. Is it worth the investment? Or you can go with this one that is less expensive, but it doesn't have X, Y, Z that the other one does. So then, like, look, they're both gonna look beautiful. Then it's your

It's the ball's in your court client. You're the one paying for it. You're guiding them, but they ultimately have the power to make that decision.

speaker-0 (17:09)

Girl, that's how I raise my child. It's like here, you can you can do this and this is what's gonna happen, or you can do that and this is what's gonna happen. Your choice, kid.

speaker-1 (17:19)

Totally.

speaker-0 (17:20)

My seven-year-old, I was going back and I was ⁓ she did something at school. It's like I love this and I don't like something. And she said, I don't like it when my mom gives me choices because she's always right.

speaker-1 (17:31)

It's so true.

speaker-0 (17:32)

say I kept that sucker. It's in my cabinet.

speaker-1 (17:35)

Yes. I love that, Michelle. That's a that's a great analogy. But I think with clients, when you're dealing with, you know, hundreds of thousands of dollars in their investment, sometimes half a million or more, you know, decisions like that that are $20,000 swing this way or that way. They when you're there and you're consistently communicating with them and you're explaining to them the the options and the decisions why you chose this over this, they're educated. They want to know.

And then they can make that decision on their own so they feel empowered. It's like you're empowering them to continue to move forward and continue to move. 'Cause sometimes they can get it's overwhelming all the decisions.

speaker-0 (18:13)

Yes. And you're just giving them one bite at a time, it's a lot easier to pallet. Yeah. I love that. ⁓ have you ⁓ so I'm not sure at ML Interiors Group a couple years ago, we started doing some of these pre-scheduled milestone meetings. So when they sign the contract, we're scheduling the design presentation at that meeting, and we're scheduling the other meetings that lead up to it. We've

Did you catch that information in the bakery at the time? So it yeah. So when we're done here, I can tell you where to go find that information because it has changed our process and our outcome and it has made things so much easier just building one meeting upon the next, upon the next, upon the next. And it's along the lines of exactly what you're talking about.

speaker-1 (18:42)

I don't think that was in there at the time, but that's brilliant.

speaker-0 (19:03)

And that is taking the client by the hand and walking them through the details and building on it. So I'm gonna write that down. wait. Yeah. Yeah.

speaker-1 (19:14)

Like this morning, I just emailed my clients and I stated, you know, we're this is a very, very short design time frame to turn this design around because it's just a very quick, they need to move in by X date and we gotta start procurement like mid-May. So it's just very, very, very shortened. So like concept design development are kind of can be condensed into one. Yep. but I said, so going to market, this is what happens when I get back on this date. This is when we're gonna.

Review deliverables, like a dis pre design, final design meeting to make sure we're on the right pathway, to review mood boards, overall aesthetic, you know, basic floor plans, all of this. And then you give us the green light, then we'll just keep going and building toward that final design. Like having those checkpoints.

speaker-0 (19:55)

So well, and you've done this long enough with a regular time frame that when you consolidate it, you still know all the steps. You're just taking them faster. Yeah. Yeah. It's like you're jogging or sprinting instead of just a a stroll.

speaker-1 (20:08)

We are one hundred percent sprinting.

My girlfriend this morning goes, y and you told him you could do that? I go, Yep, I sure did. And I'm just gonna do it. Well, I'm going to high point.

speaker-0 (20:19)

Yeah, build the jet while you fly it. so so let's talk about how has it been moving to this new city? Because obviously this is a new client in your new city. What have you been doing to to market?

speaker-1 (20:32)

I am, as you know, Michelle, very outgoing and I don't shy away from networking. So I just am like a people connector. I'm always out there meeting people. I'm doing a lot of in person meetings. I've set a bunch up. I so I my contractor who I found through our friends that redid our home here, he has connected me with.

speaker-0 (20:45)

Like with who?

speaker-1 (20:54)

A few of his friends that are builders that are more luxury high-end ⁓ build builds and development development guys. And so then I'm meeting them and they a lot of them just do spec builds, but they want to get into that luxury market and they express that to me. And so I'm like, okay. Then I'm at the gym working out and talking about a project. And this other, this guy, I I don't really know him, the gym, just kind of see him high by. He comes up to me and starts talking about, what builder did it? I was like, yeah, well, he's like, I'm an architect.

I was like, ⁓ So I'm like, we need to meet. So I set up a meeting between I met with him first, had a great conversation. He works up in Lake Winnipesaukee area, which is about two hours from here. twice a week he goes in and then the rest of the week he works from home because he's where I live at about two hours away. And I'm like, You want to branch out and expand down to the lake, the Manadnock region where we live. Well, I have this developer friend, builder, Jamie. We need to all get together.

So I set up a coffee and we all met last Friday, had a productive meeting. And I said, no, there's no, you know, agenda. It's let's just start the conversation and see where it goes. And so that's kind of where it went. And then he introduced me to his one of his real estate agents that that's finds high end properties that he can build on. And I have a meeting with her set up for May. I just I've if someone gives me a name, I follow up, I follow through, I email. And if they're busy, I continue to follow up with them. Yeah.

speaker-0 (22:15)

How hard is that?

speaker-1 (22:16)

Pleasantly persistent is what my girlfriend tells me I am. ⁓ it's not hard. For me, it's not hard. I I don't know. I can't speak for other people that maybe aren't as outgoing as I am, but ⁓ I just love connecting and I I don't go into a meeting stressed out. I'm just like, look, this is again, knowing who you are. I just moved here. I'm just loving to meet people. ⁓ actually, you love this.

speaker-0 (22:19)

Yeah.

speaker-1 (22:39)

I drive to and from Keene, which is like 30 minutes from here often because my son does baseball there. And there's this architectural firm I drive by every time. I've driven by at least 20 times. So Christmas time, and this architectural firm is in the New Hampshire Home Magazine, which is one day Katie Renee Design will be in there. That's my goal. And I love her work. She's amazing. So I looked her up online and I was like, okay, this architect is like that level I want to be at. I really like her projects. So I just was like, I'm gonna stop in there.

And I did. I brought her a box of chocolates and my card. And I had made this little marketing pamphlet of what we are and how we help builds become smoother. And I went in the week before Christmas. Of course, my kids had off. So I was going to go to the grocery store. My daughter was with me. And I said, just stay in the car. My daughter's your daughter's age. Do you think she wanted to stay in the car? No. So she came in with me and I was like, you know what? It's fine. Like, this is my life. I'm a mom too. Yeah. And I walked in.

speaker-0 (23:25)

no.

speaker-1 (23:33)

And there's no vestibule, there's no entryway, there's no little gathering area. It's literally just like seven architects at computers working. And they all stop, they turn and look at me, and I go, Hi, I'm Katie Rainey. None of you know me. But I'm new to town and I love your work. And I just wanted to drop off some chocolates and wish you guys a Merry Christmas and see if I could connect with the principal. And she's like, Let me go see if she's working, if she's on a call and she came out and met me.

speaker-0 (23:43)

He

speaker-1 (23:59)

She shook my hand and she smiled and she smiled at my daughter and she said, Let's have lunch together. I would love to do that. So then I followed up with her and we had lunch. So

speaker-0 (24:08)

Love

that. Yeah. And all it took was you just getting out of the car and being friendly.

speaker-1 (24:13)

Yeah. And then another builder I met on the ice skating rink.

speaker-0 (24:16)

Because you just talked to anybody.

speaker-1 (24:17)

He had a sweater on he had marketing, you know, his company and it hat matched it. And he pulled over to the edge to take a break. So I just skated up next to him and was like, hey.

speaker-0 (24:27)

He probably thought, Who's this good looking chick talking to?

speaker-1 (24:30)

He

maybe thought I was crazy, but anyway, we've since communicated a few times and ⁓ he he does some high end building, so ⁓ he has me on his radar for sure.

speaker-0 (24:42)

No, I love that. Keep

in touch. Well, and I think that's the key. You've got so see what I mean? I do get tongue-tied.

What am I trying to say? I am trying to say, your name came up the other day on one of our calls. ⁓ so Hallie and I are doing this thing that's called lead lab. And it's for designers who want to figure out more on their networking and on their marketing and just all the things to get leads. And Hallie was like, Girl, you just need to they were talking about how do you get how do you meet new builders or how do you do in the

Hallie said, You just need to pull a Katie Rainey and just walk up and introduce yourself. Like stop at the construction site and walk up. Yes. So your your your reputation precedes you.

speaker-1 (25:23)

I think that's that's a good thing. Yay. Yes.

speaker-0 (25:26)

It

absolutely is. So I I kind of want to circle back and just talk about how the idea of success in design isn't just about your design talent.

speaker-1 (25:36)

No, not at all.

speaker-0 (25:37)

What would you say to somebody who's a wickedly talented creative if they wanted to get into and start their own business?

speaker-1 (25:46)

I would say, and Michelle did not pay me to say this to sign for the business bakery or a program similar to yours. I'm sure there's doubtless nowadays. Get a coach. Well, for me, and I've told this to so many people, there are so many creatives and talented people out there that that want to do interior design. It's like great, but you can be success, you can't be successful unless you know the business side of design. Like unless you know the business side of how to run a business, right?

Like multiple people can put textures and colors and paint and fabrics and whatever together and they have a good eye. But if you can't run a business, you're never gonna it's gonna be a hobby. So for me, in in 2020, when I started my firm, I told myself that I was going to invest in the learning the business side of it before I went off and tried to do a bunch of other things because I wanted this to be a career and I wanted to excel. And so

Your program really helped me get a head start on that.

speaker-0 (26:42)

You were really intentional and put your nose to the grindstone and really went through everything. That's exciting. Very exciting. So yeah, it's I think it's interesting. One thing that I've learned being a business owner is that like my level of sophistication, I look back, not only were my designs not very sophisticated, but my persona personally as a business owner.

speaker-1 (26:47)

Yeah.

speaker-0 (27:06)

Sometimes I was just going strictly off of instinct and it wasn't really intentional. It wasn't business, right? It was just like, look at me. I'm doing this. And then as I got more sophisticated, my business got more sophisticated, my clients got more sophisticated. And that pulled me up to be more sophisticated. And I still see that arc of growth. And it's just being in business is like therapy. Like it really.

speaker-1 (27:26)

Yeah.

speaker-0 (27:31)

It really is because you have to learn the good, the bad, and the ugly about yourself and stare it in the face and overcome it in order to take your business to the next level. Feels the same for you?

speaker-1 (27:44)

No, one hundred percent. I think the just what I talked about at the beginning of the emotional connection. And that that really has elevated me. And it's it's not, I mean, guest design is emotional, but you it's a business transaction at the end of the day. We are a for profit. I am a for profit company, not a non for profit. And when you look at it that way, I think it changes how you do business. ⁓

Also, I think another, I don't think, I know, another huge aspect of that elevating, you know, you like you said, you just keep growing and elevating your business and yourself and growing is is having boundaries with clients. Like in the very beginning, it's like, I have a client, my gosh, they paid me to do design. Sure.

Well, we're gonna do color, but we can just add in some tile and we'll just select that too. And why not? 'Ca that's so me too. I'm like, I'm so excited, like, whatever. ⁓

speaker-0 (28:36)

That's

all of us. Yeah. That's not a business. It's not a sustainable business. No.

speaker-1 (28:44)

Not at all. So just learning that boundaries and knowing that this is the scope of work, these are the deliverables. And most likely a lot of times, I'd say eight out of ten, as you get into it and they they start you start to build that no like and trust with your client, then the spoke the scope will, you know, usually expand.

speaker-0 (29:02)

Absolutely. And if nothing else, it's just the next phase because they love the work that you've done on the first phase. And let's go into this area.

speaker-1 (29:09)

Next

phase for sure. Yeah. And they could they trust you and they understand the process and it's like okay, and it's excited because they've seen the result of phase one, you know.

speaker-0 (29:18)

Yes, better than they ever could have imagined. Yeah. So what would you be doing now, Katie, if you were not designing? Well

speaker-1 (29:25)

Currently also am a mom of three. Right. Yeah. So I if I'm not designing, I'm on my way in a little bit to go to the track and field practice because I'm a assistant coach for that. And then we're going to baseball and soccer. And I have a husband who's travels a lot for work. So I I'm just a busy, busy mom of three and I wouldn't have any other way. But that balance of work and life is

speaker-0 (29:28)

I was old. ⁓

that's awesome.

speaker-1 (29:53)

Definitely something I think most if if you're a female, I can speak to that business, you know, interior designer, business owner, and you have children, that is always a pull, you know, like that balance, that give and take of I need to get this done, but I don't want to dismiss my family, you know? Yeah.

speaker-0 (30:09)

It is it is a juggling act sometimes. Sanity is not always a part of business and family. And I only have one kid, girl. I don't know how you how to juggle anything more than that. Well, is there anything that you would want to leave our audience as a message? Any wise words of departure?

speaker-1 (30:20)

Ha ha ha.

Wise words of departure from I'll call myself Dr. Rainey, because I feel like that's one of the wise pieces that came over time as I grew is whoever you are, own it. You own your background. If you didn't go to design school, but you had a prior career, you know, whether it be, I don't even know. Even if you're a zookeeper, I it just randomly came to mind so random and and unique.

Like I'm sure you learned something there and you did something there that you could pull into the business side, right? Just just owning who you are and not shying away from it, I think is a really important point that hopefully your your listeners can take away. And also not being afraid to get out there and and talk to people and meet people in person. because we are we're our most memorable in person, not on an email.

Behind our computer, right?

speaker-0 (31:20)

Absolutely. And people connect with people they connect with. I could go yeah, you and I could go out and talk to the same people and somebody's gonna gravitate towards me, somebody's gonna gravitate towards you. It's like that's the beauty of it. Not competing with each other. We're competing with ourselves and getting out of our own way.

speaker-1 (31:24)

Yeah, the energy.

Hmm first.

Yeah. And if you're kind of more shy and ⁓ you know, not as outgoing and it th the the more you practice it just getting out there, the easier it will become. So start somewhere.

speaker-0 (31:52)

Absolutely. Absolutely. I'm so excited for you. It's so fun. I like these are some of my favorites where I get to catch up and just see like you've like the growth and the confidence and just all the I mean, there's always been joy around you, Katie. Always. But I'm just so excited as to where you are and where you're going with this. And leading others. Like leading others. So how can our audience connect with you?

speaker-1 (31:55)

Thank you, Michelle.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Yeah, I ⁓ I'm on all the things. my website is katyrainedesign.com and I'm on Instagram at Katie Rainey Design, Facebook the same. yeah. So perfect. Feel free to reach out if anybody wants to talk to me about anything designed. I you know, I have to say I do in my background as a PT for for 15 years, I I did a lot of education and training for PTAs and in

you know, technicians and I just I love teaching. So if anybody wants anything, you know, questions, I'm happy to to I don't know if I'm like an expert of that, but I'm happy to answer and help.

speaker-0 (32:57)

Well, I love that because it's so important. Like we we all need other women that we can turn to when we have questions. Totally. You know, or just to be able to relate.

speaker-1 (33:09)

a hundred percent. So I said it's the mom thing, the mom and the s like you know, be I'm sure many of your listeners can relate to that, right?

speaker-0 (33:15)

Absolutely. And even like I have the best husband in the world, he doesn't understand the stress of A owning a business or B owning an interior design business because that's got its own like ⁓

speaker-1 (33:26)

A

meant that doesn't either.

speaker-0 (33:29)

So so well, I'll tell you what, I will make sure that all of your contact information is in the show notes. And y'all I I I know Katie well enough. She's serious. Like don't hesitate to reach out to her. Yeah. She's super relatable and super helpful and just somebody with a big heart. So that is a wrap on today's episode. So thank y'all for being here. If you loved what you heard, don't keep it to yourself.

speaker-1 (33:43)

I mean

Thanks, Michelle.

speaker-0 (33:57)

Feel free to share it with a fellow designer and also if you could leave a review for the podcast wherever you listen, it is appreciated. So we will catch up with you guys next week. Thanks again for being here, Katie.

speaker-1 (34:09)

You're welcome, thank you.