69: Get Out of Your Own Way: Lessons from LuAnn Nigara

The McClain Method Podcast Episode 69: Get Out of Your Own Way: Lessons from LuAnn Nigara

In this episode of The McClain Method Podcast, host John McClain welcomes LuAnn Nigara, a pioneer in the interior design business world. They discuss LuAnn's journey from helping her husband start Window Works to becoming a celebrated media personality with her podcast 'A Well-Designed Business.' 

LuAnn shares how she identified the need for business education among designers, her strategies for launching and monetizing her podcast, and the vital role of having a business plan. She also touches on the importance of personal health, the significance of her husband Vinny's support, and the lessons learnt from various stages of her career. 

This episode is packed with insights and stories that highlight the importance of planning, persistence, and believing in one's vision. Tune in next week for part two, where LuAnn discusses specific strategies for building a successful design business.

00:00 Introduction and Initial Thoughts

00:29 Welcome to the McClain Method Podcast

02:07 Guest Introduction: Luann Nigara

03:52 Luann's Journey to Success

08:06 The Importance of Self-Care

20:19 Founding Window Works

30:48 Losing Patience with Design Details

31:51 Searching for a Retirement Business

33:47 The Birth of the Podcast

35:11 Investing in the Podcast

37:03 Challenges and Successes

44:21 Vinny's Skepticism and Support

52:11 Expanding the Brand

58:29 Conclusion and Teaser for Next Episode

LuAnn's Website: https://luannnigara.com/

LuAnn's IG: https://www.instagram.com/luannnigara/

John On A Well Designed Business:

Episode 472: https://luannnigara.com/472-john-mcclain-running-his-firm-from-two-coasts-makes-systems-and-tools-critical-2/
Episode 844: https://luannnigara.com/844-john-mcclain-turn-failure-into-success-2/
 

Transcript

[00:00:00] if this had not fallen into place so well, with all of your planning and everything, what would you have done? Like what was plan B for Lu Ann Nigara at that point? 

there wasn't a plan BI would tell you within. Three to five months, I could feel it in my gut. I was like, oh, we're onto something here.

Mm.

I love doing this, and people are reacting to it. And I was like, oh, something's happening. And so then I'm fighting tooth and nail to make it profitable so I can keep doing it. 

Welcome to the McClain Method, the podcast for interior designers who are ready to stop hiding and start shining. I'm your host, John McClain designer, business mentor, author, and your branding bestie. This is not about paint colors or pendant lighting. It's about building a business that's both visible and profitable.

Inside and out. From marketing and messaging to mindset systems and visibility, we cover the front stage and the backstage of your design business because [00:01:00] your brilliance deserves the spotlight, and your business deserves to run like a dream behind the scenes. So if you're ready to be seen, get recognized, and get booked, it's time to let it shine.

Welcome to the McClain Method.

Hey everybody. Welcome back to another episode of the McClain Method Podcast. So happy to see you here, wonderful to be in your ears in whatever method you're listening and whatever platform you're on. I so appreciate it and I hope that you are learning a lot still from the podcast and are growing right alongside of us.

It's been a busy time, right? I just got back from High Point Market, had a wonderful time there. I believe I had five different presentations and speaking engagements and saw so many wonderful friends and colleagues in the industry and of course met so many new people at the speaking engagements that I was on.

So for all the new people listening to the podcast, I want to officially welcome you and say thank you so much for coming along this journey with us, I have so many great podcasts planned for [00:02:00] the summer and so many great interviews lined up.

You guys are not going to want to miss it, and today is no exception. I cannot be more excited to welcome on the podcast today from a well-designed business.

You know her and you love her. Luann Nigara. I adore this woman. truly a pioneer in so many ways, and starting with her podcast, a well-designed business, which I have listened to and I know you guys listened to as well. And if you don't head on over and start listening to Luann, she drops the truth every single time, and I love that about her.

She has business savvy, sales savvy, marketing savvy. She just is an all around business expert and the focus for her is interior designers just like me and just like this podcast. And I just adore her for doing that and for sharing the gospel of interior design business successes.

And her podcast, again, is just full of those great tidbits and aha moments that she shares. if you've seen her speak in person, you know, she's also a dynamo in person. She's exactly the same. Every single time you see her, the exact same [00:03:00] person in person as when you hear her in your ears on her podcast.

So today is just wonderful because I've wanted Luann on for a while and we finally got our schedules together to do this. and of course it's an impactful interview. and I'm dividing up Lu Ann's interviews into two different interviews.

One today and one next week there was too much information and I just did not want to end the interview. So we just kept talking as we always do. And Luann and I have become great friends and colleagues over the years.

I've spoken at her Luann live event and on different panels with her,

And of course I've been on Louann's podcast I believe two times now. If you want to hear those episodes, I will put the links in the show notes where you can listen to those. and I've had in-depth conversations at various places around K Bz and High Point Market and Las Vegas market and all the places. And it's just always wonderful to have a chat with her and to talk the business side of design with her.

So on today's episode, I really wanted to pull back the curtain with her and ask questions that maybe you also wanted to know some things that you perhaps did [00:04:00] not know about her past or. How she actually got started or what her history is in business creation and sales and all the things.

So we're going to. Focus the first part on all of the steps that she took to get to where she is. And her husband, VIN is an amazing guy as well. if you've never met Vinny, you will love him as well. But together they are truly a dynamo pair and they've built multiple successful businesses with all of the information that sits between the two of their ears and also that sits in their heart.

And I really wanted to ask her questions about her own background and how she got started because I find that successful people have steps that they took to get to where they are. And I wanted to ask her what those are and have her share those with you in her own words.

there's so many lessons to be learned in her own story and how she got to where she is today and what led her and drove her to be the success that she is. So today's part one. Next week is part two. Today we're gonna focus on how she built her business and the pioneering steps that she took to make a business success on her own.

And then [00:05:00] next week we're going to really go into more of the designer side of things. You know, I'm not going to have Luann Nigara on the podcast and not talk about how to build and operate a successful design business.

There's just no way. Of course, I'm going to do that. So next week's episode, we'll focus on that. But for now, you're going to hear a lot of the stories of Louann's past, again, Her pathway to success today and lots of little insider things that she drops as she always does.

And if you've been living under a rock and don't have any idea who Luann Nigara is, she is a celebrated media personality, energetic keynote speaker. Yes. And seasoned entrepreneur for sure. with key roles in the partnership team behind both Window Works and exciting Windows,

she is known for her dynamic and energetic presentations. Luanne has been recognized as the go-to keynote speaker for leaders and entrepreneurs to launch their life and to get out of their own way. That is what she says, get out of your own way. And we talked about that today. You're going to find out what that means to her.

And of course, Luann provides resources for designers and creative entrepreneurs through live events. She has her Luann [00:06:00] University one-on-one coaching and has published three books and captured national attention for her podcast, a well designed business. So wherever you've seen Luann, if you've heard her on the podcast, if you've seen her in person.

If you have taken one of her courses or I've been coached by her, I hope today that you hear some new things about Luann that perhaps you didn't know about. She's a pretty open book, but I tried to dive a little bit deeper today and find out some things to share with you about her own life that I think you will find intriguing.

interview is fun, it's light, it's interesting, and of course, Luanne is always charming and insightful. So sit back, relax, enjoy part one of my interview with the one and only Luanne Niagara.

Okay. I am saying something that I have wanted to say for a very long time. Luann Nigara, welcome to the podcast.

Oh my God, John, I'm so excited to be here. This is gonna be fun. It's gonna be, you and I talking. We have to keep remembering there's other people out there, is what I have to remind myself. 

Yeah.

voice conversation.

Yeah. We're not sitting having cocktails at K Biz or [00:07:00] something. we're actually in front of other human beings, so yes, we can,

Be good. Luann.

although I'll tell you some of the things we say during those moments. I'm like, dang, I wish we were recording this right now. It's so good. 

No, it's gonna be fantastic. I'm so excited to.

Me

Have you on today. Seriously. And, yeah, it is different you being on the other side of the, the microphone. But I want to use this Lou as a chance for people to maybe learn some things about you. You're always helping other people, and I think now is a perfect opportunity for people to know the other side of Luanne Nara, like the side that maybe they haven't heard stories of or maybe you left out of your book or any of those things.

So, I mean, and speaking of that, you have two podcasts, like nine or 10 million downloads. You have three books, countless in person and online appearances. And you've owned Window Works for 30 plus years. You write articles for national publications. I mean, like, that's a lot. Like, that is a lot of things that you do.

That's a lot of [00:08:00] hats that you wear.

but you know, one thing that stuck out to me as I was mentally preparing for this interview is. You teach designers to get out of their own way, right? That's one thing that you say is get out of your own way. First of all, I wanna know what does that mean to you, and then how do you practice what you preach when it comes to getting out your own way?

Oh, let's see if the teacher can, can be taught, right? get out of your own way. think for me, John, get out of your own way means like for me, like I end every podcast episode with, decide to be excellent, right? Like, I just feel like at. Our life at its core is a decision. It's a series of decisions all day long.

The decision to get outta bed and put your sneakers on and go for a walk or a run. The decision to, you know, like me, I had to almost two years ago now decide that I would not open my computer or my phone until I moved my body for seven blasted minutes. Not [00:09:00] for hours. It's just seven minutes. 'cause I used to get up every day and run or swim or do yoga before I did anything.

And you know, I got out of that with running the podcast and having still window works at that time and then exciting windows. And I was just like, okay, so and so, you know what? A lot of days it's seven darn minutes, John. It is. You know what I mean? Um, and other days, seven minutes turns into 25 and sometimes it turns into an hour.

But it never turned into a single minute when I allowed myself to just. Be in my own way, which is to say that I want a certain lifestyle or I want a certain level of health, or I want a certain level of success, or I want a certain change in my business. But I wasn't connecting the actions with the desire that I was saying that I had or the goal that I had. everything is available to us we just get out of our own way.

Hmm.

recognize that most [00:10:00] of our difficulties are between our ears, the stories we tell ourselves, the rationalizations that we give ourselves. I rationalized for five years that, oh no, I wasn't not going to exercise today. I was just going to get a couple of things done before I got started. And it was like. Oh, well now it's nine 30 and you have a meeting in five minutes and there went that two hours that you were just gonna do a thing before you went for your run before the nine 30 meeting. And so that's what it is. It's like we have to take accountability. my mother had a, um, in her house, it's still in her house.

It's been there ever since I was a kid. She had like six or seven, quotes framed and they were in the bathroom, so you couldn't miss 'em. You had to read them every darn day, right? And one of them was, you're never given the power have a dream or a goal without the ability to make it come true.

Mm.

may, however, have to work for it. It's always that [00:11:00] little part. It takes it from, I would love to be successful. I envision this lifestyle, blah, blah, blah, and oh, all the gurus and the self-help tell me, visualize it and all that. And that's all very important. And it's all very true. You have to see it.

You have to feel it. You have to believe it, you also have to get up and do it too.

Yeah.

to work for it. You have to get outta your own way. So that's what that means to me.

I love it. I love that. And I think that. It could apply to so many situations, you know, whether you're not following your finances in your business or in your case, whether it's health or whether you wanna work on your processes, or maybe you want to find better clients that you want to have in your design business.

So it can be anything to get out of your own way, but to your point, I think it just takes that moment of saying, okay, I am going to do this right now, and this is the time. Was there a catalyst for you? and what do you think people should be looking for if they're thinking about that? Like, was there one thing that you were like, okay, Lou, like this is it, I can't do this anymore.

Like, my back's [00:12:00] hurting or my leg, I don't know. what was it for you So that other people can maybe recognize like, oh yeah, I'm in my own way as well with X, Y, and z.

Well, it's funny because I told this story in my first book, if this is when I learned this to begin with, that you have the power, right? That it is, yes, you have given a wish or a dream or a desire, but actually it's you that has to show up and make it happen. And it was, and I won't do the whole thing because it's in the book

but when I was a freshman in high school, I wanted to be president of the United States. This is what I thought. I just assumed all through middle school that I was gonna be president of the United States, right? And of course, my family were like, of course you're gonna be president.

Like nobody said, like, that's not even realistic, sweetie. We have no money to, you don't know any senator. You're not gonna any kind of college for that. They just were like, of course you're gonna be president of the United States. So I believed it. but when I got to freshman year of high school, I had gone to a parochial grammar school.

So when I went to the public high school. There were six or seven of us that went to that high school and grammar school. We had basketball team for the boys and a cheerleading [00:13:00] team for the girls. That was it. There was no fall sports, there's no spring sports.

It was just a winter sports. Those two sports, if you were a girl, you played your cheerleader review, boy, you played basketball. you know, make me crazy right now. Right? And so when I get to high school, I'm super excited because every day I'm seeing like, join the future business Women Leaders of America, join the field hockey team, join the student, da da da.

And I see the student government join student government. I pretty much know at 13 that if I'm gonna be president of the United States, I gotta be on student government. Like that's obviously the first step.

minimum.

so I'm like, oh, well I gotta do that. come home, it's like the third or fourth day of school, and I come home and I tell my mom and dad, I get home from school that day. They're sitting in the kitchen and I'm like, I'm gonna run for vice president of the freshman class. And my mom immediately is like, that's amazing. That's great. But why vice president? And I said, well, I don't know the slightest idea what student government even is. We didn't have student government in St. Pete's. So I figure I'll be vice president for a year. I'll figure out how to do it, and then next year I'll run for president. And [00:14:00] she, of course, my mother looks at me and she says, that's ridiculous.

Nobody knows how to be president. Go be president. You can't argue the logic there.

Till this day. That

Exactly. Oh my God, that is so true. my God. I love that. But anyway, so my dad though, my dad is like, absolutely, you know this. Don't fill her head. I.

Mm-hmm.

battling. She's like, of course you can do anything. She sets her mind to, he's like, don't fill her head. Don't fill her head. my dad wasn't all lovey lovey. And he wasn't the kind of guy like, oh sweetie, you could do whatever you want. But when my mom was doing all of that all the time, he never said, no, you can't. He just would look at us like, you know, she's a lunatic. You're all lunatics. You all think you can manifest anything, but whatever. I'm not gonna get in the way. he was actively saying, don't fill her head. And they start arguing and they're back and forth arguing and all of a sudden he just breaks the argument and he looks at me and he goes, listen to me. He goes, how many kids went to St. Pete's with you that are at that high school? And I said, I don't know, six or seven of us.

He goes, you know what, there's 120 kids in that class. He goes, take it to the bank. There's 120 to 140 kids in that class. He goes, when is the election? And [00:15:00] this was a like a Thursday. And I'm like, it's next Tuesday. And he just looks at my mom and he looks at me and he's like, what are you people thinking about?

He goes, you don't even know enough people to get elected. who else is running? And I like mentioned the two girls. He goes, right, they're not from St. Pete's, I don't know these names. And I'm like, right. so I leave, I go up to my room and I am just like. Gosh, he's so Like, how am I ever gonna win? Like, I don't even know anybody, right? Like, you just don't just dream it. And this is my point. You just don't dream it. You just don't wish it. And so I started thinking, I was like, well, do you really wanna, 'cause now, now I wanna be president, like my mom's right? Like now I wanna be president. And I'm like, do I really want it or do I just say I want it? and am I gonna do something about it? Or am I just gonna be like, well the world is against me because I didn't go to the school and I don't know anybody and I am not gonna be able to do it. And I said, no, I want it and I'm making it happen. And John. I went into school the next day and Monday.

And I [00:16:00] remember being super embarrassed and literally thinking, so you are gonna meet everybody in your class, but they're all gonna think you're the weirdest kid ever, and they're probably never gonna wanna hang out with you. but I'll worry about that after I'm president. so what I did was I literally stopped everybody in the hallway everywhere. I went in between every class. And I was like, Are you in the freshman class? Are you in the freshman class? And if they said yes, I said, my name is Luann Schwartz, and I'm gonna be president of this class.

I would love for you to vote for me. Please vote for me. I went to St. Pete's, but I'm gonna work so hard and whatever, blah, blah, blah. and if no, I'm not. Do you have a, brother or a sister in the freshman class? I do. Tell them, please vote for me. And I went in Tuesday and I came home and I looked at my mom and dad and I went, I'm the president of the freshman class. Like they couldn't believe it. And it meant so much more to me because I knew I took something that I wished for and I figured out a way to make it happen. And then I did the thing, like when you talk about your finances, [00:17:00] you wish for your books to be clean, you wish to understand your finances, but do you take the action to do it? so two summers ago, I had to come to Jesus moment. I'm like, girl, you wanna move your body or you wanna talk about moving your body? Whatcha doing? 

it's like you see the end result and then you're like, okay, steps one through 10 to get, there are this, and for you, step one for this catalyst in your life was like, just do the freaking thing. Just get up and move for seven minutes.

That's

and then tell me about how it's the outcome of that.

I know it's been great because you feel better. you have all the great benefits of it.

is is that I spent I mean, weight isn't, it doesn't matter weight, but it's, it's, and I always tell everybody, it doesn't matter. You're like my daughters ideal weights where they look killer are 20 pounds over my weight. I'm a small frame, a small body, all the things.

So it's not the number, but when I tell you from the time I'm 16 years [00:18:00] old to today, or other than being pregnant, other than two summers ago, and other than one other period in my life, I have lived between 116 and 119 pounds. And when I got two summers ago and I was 128 pounds, I may as well been 400 pounds.

I was like, who is living in my body here? And the thing was, it doesn't matter what I look like. I still look good at 1 28. I probably look better at 1 28, to be honest with you. If you ask Vinny, he'd tell you, I like it with a little meat on you. Right. But I don't feel good. When you live for 40 years within a four pound rate, that's kind of like your body's metabolized poundage. Like that's where your body is saying you are healthy. Right. So now I'm back to one 18, I didn't do anything more than seven minutes a day because sometimes it turned into 20 and most days it didn't. But it was just this, I take care of me first. Then I puts and create podcasts and articles and run businesses.

Yeah. and [00:19:00] you're better for it. You know, you're better by taking care of yourself. And if anyone's listening and they're trying to cram one more minute into the 24 hour day that they have, there are no more minutes people, there are no more. So if you don't take something away and give it back to yourself like you're talking about Lou, then it's going to affect you in all the other ways.

I mean, you. embraced it so much that at your Luann live event it was the focus of the event, you know, like mental and physical.

balanced here. 

Yeah.

not happy as a human, if you are not happy, with your internal emotional, being, your mental being, your physical being, you cannot show up as your best in your work being.

Mm-hmm.

too intertwined.

Yeah.

so, yeah, sometimes you just gotta get outta your own way.

I mean, there's no magic pill for. Being your best version of yourself, you have to commit to you to doing it because who the heck is gonna do it for?

Ain't nobody gonna do it. I can tell you that.

Like you said, it's just those little steps. And as gross as it [00:20:00] sounds, my grandmother always said, you eat an elephant one bite at a time. Right. So it it's the truth. Like start little itty bitty, bitty steps and before you know it, you've changed it into something so much bigger. And speaking of changing into bigger, I recorded your bio before we did the interview live, and most people, you know, probably your listeners or some of my listeners and vice versa.

And it's wonderful. So they all probably know a lot about your history, but you and Vin and your cousin Bill started Window Works, 30 plus years ago. You've now sort of transition that into other family members and you can mention that. But tell me about the story of Window Works and basically the Cliff note version of how that started and to the journey of where it is today.

and I think, forgive me if I'm saying this incorrectly, but that is what parlayed you into wanting to. Help other designers with our businesses and all those things. But tell me that little story of Window Works and or as long as you want, I don't care. I just want people to understand that the history of you and if they've never understood the foundation that you stand upon to help other people, it [00:21:00] pretty much started there, right?

Yes. So 82, so it's more than 40 years. 

Ah, 40 years. Okay.

Yeah. So we started in 82 Window Works was a franchise in Florida. My husband's very best friend from childhood, started the company with three other gentlemen, They were 10 units in, south Florida. Vinny decided to have the first one in New Jersey. Vinny at the time had a full-time job as a probation officer in the city of Newark. He had two health clubs. He had a tax preparing business also on the side, and he was a referee for baseball and basketball. So yes, two lunatics met each other, literally.

Benny, so lazy back in the day 

Exactly. So, you know, why not start a window treatment franchise? I mean, you know, why not? Right? And so. He started the franchise and I met him six months later. I came in, I was working at the health club and that's where I met him. Then he has Window Works. And then he is like, you know, do you wanna sell window [00:22:00] treatments? And I'm like, what's a window treatment? Right? And so I come on and the company was averaging about $10,000 a month in sales for the first 8, 9, 10 months. And of course, it's a side hustle, right? 

He's running it out of the basement of his house and everything. I come in and within three months I'm selling 10, $15,000 myself. And everybody's like, Hmm, but you see John, the same thing happened. You see, that was a very pivotal lesson that for my father, about making your path and creating your destiny.

And so when I came to work for vin, that point, it was a true, true startup with very little money. And he was not taking any money outta the business for himself. He had two people selling for him. They were working in it full-time together. They were selling about $10,000 a month. And when I came into the business, he said to me, you know, if you come in, and I was just coming in to sell until I found another job.

Long story [00:23:00] on that, but not relevant. But I was in between, I, I, I hadn't quit the other job yet, but I was out of my mind. I was not in a sales job. It was the first time in my life I was not in a sales job. And I was like, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. I, I have to be in sales. And so he is like, well, you can come sell blinds for me. And I was like, what's a blind, what's a window treatment like? We had two guys curtains from, you know, like my mom, right? And so said, but here's the thing. I can't give you any leads. I. And I was like, wait, what? And he is like, I can't give you leads.

He goes, I have enough money to run one ad a month in the star ledger. It's $780 a month to run an ad. He goes, that day, that ad runs, that phone rings. And he said, and whenever the leads come in, he goes, I've gotta give it to these two guys that have been with me for the last eight months building this.

He goes, I'm not creating enough leads that I can look at them and say for my girlfriend now the leads are gonna get split between three. And so I said to him, okay. And we were standing in the basement I'm looking at a [00:24:00] pile and it was a pile about maybe 10 or 12 inches high of, of papers. And I said, well, what's this pile? And he said, oh, that's all the orders, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. And I said, and what's this pile? And he said, oh, that's all of the appointments that any one of us have been on since we open that they haven't bought. given them a quote but they haven't bought. And I was like, so what do they do with that pile? And he is like, well, they're supposed to go back through that pile and call back and this and that. I'm like, and does anybody do it? He goes, well, I'm sure that they do. And I said, well, can I have that pile? And he was like, you know, you can have that pile. And I was like, great. That's my pile. And so here's what I did, John, single morning, 'cause I've always been a runner until I, hip couple years ago.

And now I just lost my mojo for running. But for 40 years of my life I was a runner. And now of course this is when I'm young, I'm a kid. I went every single morning. I took the door knockers that we had, I got a map of Short [00:25:00] hills, which is like this super high demographic area.

It's like, I don't know Westwood or Brentwood in Los Angeles. Right. I. every morning drove my car to Short Hills and I would run my five mile run every morning. And I would go up and down and put the door knockers on everybody's door and on.

And I said to him, when I dig my own leads out, if the phone call comes, it comes to me. He said, yeah. So I would put on the back of it, I'd write on the back, Hey, call Luann if you need new window treatments. And I would do that for, I would go run for 45 minutes to an hour. run home, take a shower by 11 o'clock I'd be at the decks.

Wait. And the thing is, I would come in and they'd be like, you have a lead, somebody called from Short Hills. Oh, you have two leads. Somebody, and the, some lady called you back that you left her a message the other day. And I just started selling the pants out of this stuff. And so we built a company, right?

So like, I'm like the shark in the water out there driving sales. He's the master finance operations guy. You know what I mean? And he just keeps, literally. [00:26:00] I will never forget, John. The first month I got to it about 17 or 18,000, and the other two guys again did their 10,000 combined. I'll never forget, we were at home one night and he looks at me and he goes, I.

Your quota next month is going to 25. And he just says it to me like that. Like just like, and I just look at him, I go, there's no way. And he goes, oh yeah. He goes, your quota next month is 25. And the thing is, I'm like so competitive that I actually take it seriously as if like, I couldn't just say no, it's not like whatcha gonna do fire me, right?

But I just was like, no, that's not no. And he's like, yeah, it's 25. I'm like, then it's absolutely physically impossible for one person to sell $25,000. And he's like, no, it's not. You are the person who can do it. And I'm telling you what, we probably fought for two hours on that because I was committed to my limited belief that [00:27:00] could that be?

Right? But here's the thing,

Did you tell him you were the president of 

Ah, right. the thing was, he just expected it of me, and I just was like, if he thinks I can do it, then maybe I can. 

yeah.

was a part of me that was like, have to show him. once I broke 25, then it was like, let's break 35.

Then it's like, Brent, let's break 50. Like let's go. And so that's how Window Works got started,

Can I ask you quickly though? on that note, what was the driving factor? Was it the fact that you are competitive? Was it the fact that you love sales? Because I think so many times business owners, we look at things and we're like, oh, I really want to do that, but I don't 

have this drive inside of me. So for you, what was that that made you want to go out and run and put the door tags on the doors and knock on the doors and wait for the calls to come in? Like we all need some motivation, right?

I think you know what this is like, I would tell you there's probably 16 psychological reasons why, you know what I'm saying? 

Yeah.

a therapist counsel that, right? [00:28:00] Like, I just have this thing where I have to prove myself, like, and it's gotten less over the years. Now I'm more like, you know what, if you don't get it, I don't have to make you get it.

But as a young person, I was very much, involved in trying to prove myself and like I said, that's why I started the other story because if I dream it. I know I have to also make it happen. And so it can't be a dream that I sit and wait for. And so if you're not waiting for something, what are the actions you're taking?

And so that's why I'm like, well, there's a pile there and I can put door knockers out, I wanna sell more than everybody here just because I'm a lunatic. And how am I gonna do that? and thank God he didn't give me the leads because if he had given me the leads, I don't know if that, I mean, I'm nuts and it would've kicked in, but I don't know if it would've kicked in right away.

Mm-hmm.

was, I like, in order to make money as a commission sales person, I need sales, period. this segues to designers because within a year I realized. [00:29:00] keep the pipeline going. I was like saying to myself, who can bring me business? Like, yeah, I can go running every day and get business, and I can call back my callbacks and I can work my current clients to see, you know, if I can work it into repeat business and referrals.

I said, but who can bring me business every day when I'm doing something else? And of course, you think about realtors, right? Because they're, they're selling a home. But it was very hard to get into the realtor's queue. I called on a couple. It didn't, it didn't mesh.

It didn't write. There was no motivation, like you'd say, you'd give them a percentage or a referral fee, but you know, they're selling a million dollar home. Do they need another $200? there was no, and one day I was like, oh, interior designers, I. interior designers every single week go out.

They decorate homes, they design new homes, they need window treatments, and they probably need somebody to help them with it. Like it's not about the [00:30:00] $200 commission, it's about who knows this product. Because as I was learning it, I was like, this is like nuts. All the details in window treatments, right?

And so then I started calling on interior designers and building those relationships and that's how I started. And then fast forward 35 years later when I start the podcast. Basically at that point I was looking for the retirement business you know, nine years ago with Window Works, VIN and I were the only two salespeople at Window Works.

We were doing two and a half million dollars a year. We were both selling, on par with each other each year. But you know, I'm, 52, 53 years old, he's 67. And we only make money if we show up at your house and knock on your door.

Mm-hmm.

And not only was I absolutely at the point where I could barely still have the conversation about where your drapery, like literally, is it gonna be a [00:31:00] half inch off the floor or a quarter of inch? Like really? No. Like, no, I, I can't even have a straight face for this anymore. Many years I had that conversation with a straight face talking to you, John, about your beautiful luxury project and whether the drape should be a half inch or a quarter inch. And in my mind, know, I outside saying to you, oh, and yeah, no, a half is a little too much.

A quarter's just right. But in my mind I'm like, you are all lunatics. You are not gonna get a tape measure. You're not gonna know if it's a half or it's a quarter. This is insanity. But no, let's pretend it's a real conversation, right? So I just lost my patience for it. And I could see the brick wall where I was gonna start to stay inside voice, outside voice, but you cannot do. Vinny at 67 was just like, I really feel like I'm not really connecting with the 30 5-year-old homeowner anymore. And so I was on search for what was the retirement business that I could do from anywhere that I didn't have to show up in your house and we could still make a [00:32:00] living and make an income. And the criteria in my mind was it had to serve Window Works because we were nowhere near out Window Works yet. Window Works was still like we were paying colleges and we, you know, all the things and so window it, it wasn't like, oh, well I don't know, go be a singer and if Window Works dies. So what it was like, no, it had to support Window Works, but also be the seed the next revenue generating business. Because if that could happen, then it could be a transition and serve that company and and do the thing. And when I searched for what that was, I was like, I'm sorry, but all those designers are just like me. They're creative and they don't know how to run the business side. Like if I didn't have Vinny, I would've been just like all of the Desi.

I would've had a crying down the road, you know, just like you did. You know, when you told me on my show, you're like, I pulled out on the driveway, I went down the road a mile and I bled for an hour. I'm like, yeah, I would've been the same person

But enough about my [00:33:00] last week. That's, no, I'm kidding.

But you know, like I like, you know what I am. I am very accomplished salesperson, but that is not the only skill to run a business.

Yeah.

I would've leaned on that alone to my own devices for many years before I realized, Hey girl, what is happening over here?

Yeah.

is anybody checking these bills? 

Mm-hmm.

Hey, you've got a hundred K sitting in a bank account. Maybe you wanna move it and make it work for you. Like, you know what I'm saying? But having Vinny by my side and Vinny mentoring and teaching me and me just absorbing it, I could feel that designers were often, and who do you go to who teaches you that?

Yeah.

They teach you space planning and procurement, but they don't teach you how to do the business side.

Yeah,

that's how the podcast was born.

I can speak for myself and thousands of other people when I say thank you for starting your podcast, and thank you for having these ideas, but also some takeaways that I heard in that was [00:34:00] you were, you know, sort of tired of doing what you were doing. You were looking for another plan.

And I think that many designers can relate to that too, and figure out that there are other avenues that they can follow in their business. Maybe a new service, maybe they can do online courses for people to teach them how to design certain spaces in their home.

I don't know. But I think that we all get to the point of where like, it's either this. Nothing. that's our mindset, right? Sadly, sometimes I have to do full service design renovations of a home, or I can't do anything. And that is completely wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong. And what you did was you said, oh, I'm really good at this.

These people need this. This will help build this other business. I'm going to bridge that together into a beautiful, thing for everyone. And you have, and you were such a veteran in seeing that you're really good at, carving out a little niche for myself.

Okay, that's really, really good. But what I also know is that just like you planned for your president of your school and just like you, you know, figured out a way to put those door knockers on it, you had [00:35:00] a plan in place for this new endeavor. You didn't just open the doors one day and say, okay, podcast is going to be starting today.

Right. Tell me about the plan that you had in place and how important that was for you.

Yeah. Well first I had to really center on what would the, I fi, I figured out there was another story, but how I figured out why it would be a podcast. I was on the search for, what would it be like? What would it be? I was actively living my life, running the business, doing all the things that VIN and I do, but actively like what's the next thing?

Mm-hmm.

I was searching for it from the time I was probably 49 or 50. And it hit me at 52. Right? And so when it became the podcast and when I centered on what the podcast would be about, I then went about building what that investment would mean. And it's funny because. designers will approach me and they'll fill out the form that they're interested to work with.

Me and my chairman of the board program,

Mm-hmm.

only five clients a year. We work one-on-one. It's [00:36:00] not inexpensive, you know, but we are gonna make headway and we're

Yeah.

some things done because you are gonna run around the neighborhood and you're gonna introduce yourself to every darn kid in the school.

Like, there we're gonna find out what the thing is that you have to do and you're gonna go do it. Right? what I say to them a lot of times is they'll say, oh, I'll come back after I've made some money. I don't really have the money to invest in coaching with you right now. And great, you know, everybody has their own tolerance for risk. But the thing is, I think it's a disservice that you can. Not have a business today and tomorrow you can have a business in interior design. All you have to do is file for your LLC, whatever it is, you know, 150 bucks, put 10 bucks in a bank account, put the business name on it, and you're in business. and so what happens is it sets up a false of not understanding. Often it takes money to make money. And if you believe in what you're doing [00:37:00] then you might have to put your money behind it to do it. And so when we did the podcast the first year, I laid it out to vin. I was like, this is what I wanna spend on.

This is what I wanna spend on, this is what I think, this is what I think I did go out and I got Kravitz to sponsor the show before I did an episode, I did go out running and put door knockers and I did my shark in the water thing, but it certainly wasn't at the level that was gonna be what the cost to be open was. but the thing about it was is Vinny, Vinny is Vinny's a son of a gun, John? I mean, you've met him. He's a son of a gun. Like

I know him. I love him.

Yeah. He doesn't let you get away with nonsense. Right. And so from day one. kept an Excel spreadsheet of everything that we spent having to do with this podcast.

I don't care if I took a lift to New York City to an event, it went on this spreadsheet and whether it was podcast editing, website development, branding, photographs, whatever it was, and we kept track. I started making [00:38:00] money from day one. was sponsored from day one. I got more sponsors.

Within the first three to four months, I was always doing the things. And at the end of the first year, remember I. There was like a $200 swing. We had spent $97,000 and change and took in like $97,000 and change. But it was a 200 swing in my favor. Right? and the thing is, for me, I tell that story because we spent $97,000, like I did invest in a website.

I did not do, like I, I was like, I don't know how to edit a podcast and I'm not giving it to Fiverr for $10 an hour. I want this done right? And I did it from the beginning. My whole thing was, if I feel like this is like, I registered, trademark the name a well-designed business in that first month, I was like, [00:39:00] this thing is gonna be a thing. This thing is gonna be a thing. This isn't maybe a thing. And I'm not gonna wait until I find out three or four or five years later that maybe it's a thing and then I'm gonna be like, oh, maybe I should have a website. Maybe I should this, no, this is a thing. This is a grown ass business. I am doing this and we are gonna do it.

Right. and I think that there is a certain level of hesitancy with creative entrepreneurs, I wanna call it, to bet on themselves. To invest on, now you gotta come with the other side, you gotta get outta your own way and you gotta do the things right. mean, if I shoestring this. I don't know.

Maybe, maybe I wouldn't have been as known. Maybe I wouldn't have made the inroads that I made. Maybe four years later somebody would've been like, I heard this woman over there. Like, you know what, know. But I was like, Nope, we're doing this right? We're doing this. Well, we're doing it like, according to best business practices from all sides, branding, marketing, you know, people, places, all the [00:40:00] stuff.

Hmm.

it takes money to make money. It does. But the thing is, a lot of those things are the startup costs

Yeah.

Now you have the same sponsors the next year, but I don't need a new website. I don't need a this, I don't need a, that. Like, you know, it starts to get less, you know? 

I think that's wonderful. And I think you're right. It is so easy to hang our shingle as an interior designer or interior decorator, whatever you want to call yourself and say, oh yeah, you know, tomorrow I'm going to do this. When there's no plan in place, when there's no idea of even what, how to design a website, what you want to include on that, you have no projects, you have no, vision for your company.

But how did you know? How did you know that? Oh, yes, I need to, was it Vinny over your shoulder, like threatening you to, like, if you don't do this, or was it just you inside of yourself saying, okay, I want this to be successful. And here are the steps I need to get there. Like, how did you even know, because there was no podcast for, I'm assuming for you to listen to on how to do this.

There was no, podcast 1 0 1 or maybe there was, I don't know.

well, okay. I'm gonna answer, but I also wanna clarify

Okay.

I do not want it to be [00:41:00] misconstrued that when I said there's no barrier to starting a design business other than an LLC or, you know, a incorporation, right? You have to have talent. 

Well, yeah,

not negating

no, 

like if you start your business and you start designing for your mother and your sister and your friends, you are a designer. But what I'm saying is, what are you doing to take the business part of that seriously? That's what I'm saying. 

yes, I.

many designers spend one to five years. Not taking the business part seriously and then pining and being, heartbroken that they're not doing their passion as they're living. And it's because the business side is missing. The passion, the talent, all of that Is there you, I don't think that I could be a designer tomorrow just by getting an LLC.

You have to know how to design.

Mm.

saying anybody could be a designer. I'm saying a designer who's qualified to design can be a designer 

Yeah.

the other example I always make is. Imagine so many designers, you've interviewed them yourself. [00:42:00] So many designers have started out. some go to the traditional route school passion since they're kid moving furniture in circles in their bedroom all day long, right? But then others are like, my partner and I, we bought a house and we decorated it and we designed it and we renovated and we put it on Instagram and next thing we know, we have people saying, I want you to design my house.

Like a lot of designers have started their business that way because they just are really good at it and the world sees that they're good at

Mm-hmm.

that same of skill and expertise to design a house that way. a cook, right? 

Mm-hmm.

you are the person that everybody loves your food.

You, you, every holiday, you're the one to cook. The neighborhood always wants you to cook. You deliver the food to everybody. You are an amazing cook. So you're an amazing designer doing for a fun people. Some people you power charge, some people you don't. But all of a sudden you're like, oh, I can make this a business chrysalis.

Julia did it. many of them, Jacqueline Marie did it. Many of them did that. Okay. e right? Like, lots of them did [00:43:00] it. And so the thing about it is if you have that same talent in cooking as design, and you wanna start a cooking business, a restaurant, Now you gotta buy tables, you gotta buy chairs, you gotta buy ovens, you gotta have a building, you gotta pay rent. And so what happens is you are forced to write a business plan. You are forced to figure out how many heads do I have to serve at lunch and dinner, how many days a week to make this money back that I just borrowed from the bank in order to start this up? that's what I think is an unfortunate circumstance about our industry,

Yeah.

your money isn't on the line.

And so you can take a much longer time to get serious about your money. And so

Yeah.

I just was like, I knew how to do a business and I knew a business needed these things and that's why I had to get his agreement. I was like, I'm gonna need some coin this week. 'cause I'm not stringing this together and I'm [00:44:00] not doing audio editing at two o'clock in the morning.

Yeah.

and he, because he is a businessman, also that it was gonna take money. But I can tell you this, John, if we had gotten to the end of that year and there had been a significant swing the other way, it might have been interesting to know if there had ever been a second year.

Yeah. Well that was a question I have. It's like, if this had not worked out, you know, if this had not fallen into place so well, with all of your planning and everything, what would you have done? Like what was plan B for Lu Ann Nigara at that point? Just curious.

there wasn't a plan BI would tell you within. Three to five months, I could feel it in my gut. I was like, oh, we're onto something here.

Mm.

I love doing this, and people are reacting to it. And I was like, oh, we're, we're, something's happening. And so then I'm fighting tooth and nail to make it profitable so I can keep doing it. And there was a [00:45:00] moment, 18 months, I, it was at 15 months and 18 months. You know, if I thought Vinny was gonna listen to this, I might not tell the story, but he's probably never gonna listen. But at about 15 months, he did the same thing to me. At 15 and 18 months. So we had turned the corner and we were like $200 in the, in the black. now another three months later, four months later, one day, he's sitting there at the breakfast table and I come downstairs and I'm making my coffee. And he is like, we need to talk. And I'm like, okay. And we don't talk In the morning, Vinny and I, we say good morning. We kiss each other, we give each other a hug, and then we go to our corners and we, like, we just, we we're just a quiet house in the morning.

And so I'm like, ah, dang it. And I go, yeah. And he goes, you know, I'm not sure about this podcast thing. And I'm like, what aren't you sure about? And he is like, well, I mean, I. at a window Works two days a week. So we're obviously, you know, that's impacting Window works over there. And you know, I'm not sure like how much more money's coming in.

Like, you know, where's this gonna go? We're not doing another $200 year. We're not just, , making money here [00:46:00] and spending it there. the first time he said it to me, I took it very seriously and I was very upset. I was like, come back, come back, come back. Don't take this away from me. Don't take this away from me.

Don't take this away from me and can I go to the bank without you? Like, do I need you to keep this going? Like, my brain was on fire. I'm like, no, not yet. I think it's happening. I think it's happening. No, no, no. Don't, don't. But, and I was like, literally like, am I gonna go outside of him? Because even if the money came from somewhere else, like. We're at odds now, right? Like, you know, and so I just, like, I fought the battle that day. This is ridiculous. I'm making, I, I, I have a conversation with another sponsor tomorrow and, you know, blah, blah, blah, and I'm getting a paid speaking engagement, this, and, you know, I'm trying to bolster all the things and it ends with, well, all right, we'll give it another few months. And I was like, okay. I lived for another day. Well, when he brought it up to me again in three more months. I almost lost my mind. And at this time, I decided to play hardball. And I looked at him and he goes, you know, we better talk. And I was like, okay, what? And he is like, you know, the podcast, it's time to check in again. And I just said, [00:47:00] oh, okay. And I'm like, you don't think it's working? And he goes, well, I mean, I see that it is having some impact, and I do see that people are responding. He said, but I'm not sure it's gonna be this profitable thing that you expect it to be. And I said, so what do you think? And he goes, well, I just, I'm not sure, you know, maybe it's time to pull the plug.

And I just said to him, you know, I kind of remember that you didn't take a salary from Window Works for the first 18 months. And I said, so why is that different than this? And I said, what if I looked at you at 18 months at Window Works and said, I don't think this is gonna work.

You're still not paying yourself.

Hmm.

And he just looked at me. He goes, that was different. I go, and how was that different? he just looked at me and I said, look. And I just looked at him. John, I swear to God, I looked at him. I said, if you think I should close the podcast, say it right now and I'll close it right now. And he just looked at me. 'cause I thought, you know what, you know, I listen to me. I have studied sales my entire life. You, you, I am gonna give you the takeaway. And I thought, Nagar, you are a good salesperson, but you ain't better than me. And I just went, okay. I said, if you think I should close it, [00:48:00] say the word, I'll close it today. And he just looked at me and he goes, well, I'm not sure that's necessary. I go, then what is necessary so that you will just believe that this is a thing? What will it take? And he goes, well, let's look at the ledger sheet at the end of the year. I said, okay, fine. Can we not have this conversation then until December, because I'm not doing this every three months.

Well fast forward to today and he's your biggest, biggest fan and is like so supportive of.

He always is. But you know what? The thing with Vinny is, he has two brains. He's Jekyll Hyde. the person who loves you, that adores you, that wants everything you ever wanted for yourself. He wants to give it to you and help you create it all. And then he is like, but what do the numbers say? 

Yeah,

like, he can't help himself.

but you know too, Lou, I think like it's good to have that little,

yeah.

whether it's that person physically or the voice on your shoulder. A lot of designers, as you said, we start out solo and we're in our little capsule and we're working by ourselves, and we don't [00:49:00] even get to hear any other alternative conversations, much less someone saying, did you make money off that?

How are you gonna make money before the end of the year? What does the ledgers look like? Let's analyze the data. A lot of us don't have that when we're just starting out, so what do you suggest to those people who don't have that?

all of us coach. I mean, that's the thing that is the whole role

Yeah.

coaching, because that's why I started the chairman of the board. who has the support with the vision

Mm-hmm.

decide if this is a good path or not. Even though I had all these ideas, I sat down next to vin, I'm like, this is what I think the business plan is.

Does this make sense? Right? And each year as I would rephrase and reframe it, I'd be like, this is what I'm thinking. Is this make sense? Like, and there are many times, and we have not agreed, we, since I've started this business, the podcast where we, I don't think that's a good investment.

I'm like, well, I'm doing it anyway, whatever.

Yeah.

but I still have the benefit of the debate and I have taken his advice, you know, four times out of seven. Where I'm like, well, if he [00:50:00] doesn't think it's a good idea, then maybe I'm not looking at it right? Or if I defend it and he'll go, oh, actually from that point of view. Like the idea and then the two or three times where I'm like, you know what? I don't care what you think. It's my money, my business, I'm doing it.

Yeah.

on my face. You know what I mean? But it's the combination of who helps you with that strategy, who helps you with that vision, but then who helps you decide what is that path?

Do you have to go door knocking every day? Do you have to call people for sponsors? Do you have to, you know, go meet builders, you have to go meet architects, and then who holds you accountable?

Yeah.

that is, I finally took this business off of Window Works, after I guess four years, so for four years it lived on Window Works' books. The monies went in to Window Works. if I got a $15,000 speaking fee, it went to the Window Works Checkbook.

Mm-hmm.

a $15,000 website, it came out of the Window Works checkbook, and it was making money after, you know, the first year, $200. And it made multiple, you know, the [00:51:00] revenue grew each year, right?

Yeah.

But when I took it off and I said, okay, I said to Vinny, I said, it's time. I said, I'm not coming to you every 20 seconds. I'm, I'm creating my own revenue here. I can support this business. Let's pull this out. And he agreed it was very different once it was off of the Window Works books, he pulled back a lot of the oversight. And it took me a good six or seven months to go. I don't have to prove this to him anymore. Like are you like, that's why I said, then I had to start to get out of my own way I had to start to evaluate do I have projection goals? Do I have financial revenue goals?

Am I meeting them? Am I doing the activities to get me to these goals? Because nobody's asking you if you're doing them

Yeah.

and you darn sure I was gonna show up my first year in my own business and have lost money because then my God, could I even live in my own house? 

Well see. I didn't know you had it under the umbrella of Window Works at the time. That makes a little bit of a [00:52:00] difference with Vinny looking over your shoulder, asking about everything. But also I'm sure you felt a sense of freedom to not only, branch out and do your thing when you pulled it away, but probably to try other things too.

And I think that's what clicks into my brain when I look at your story and see what you've done is like you didn't just start a podcast period, end of story. It was a podcast with all of these other arms that you had in mind to do outreach to grow the business. I relate that so much to us as interior designers is again, 'cause we fall into that one category, that one little niche that we're in and we don't see other ways.

To do that. So how did you decide, like yes, other than monetarily of course you'd want to, you know, bring more funds into the company, but how did you decide to say, oh yes, I want to do, speaking engagements, I want to do courses, I want to do in-person events. Like when did you decide that and how did that even fall into the conversation of expanding your brand at that point?

'cause it is a big part of your brand.

Yeah, I mean from the beginning from, I launched the podcast February, [00:53:00] 2016 and the conversation with the business plan with Vinny was October, 2015.

okay.

I was like, okay, this is what I wanna do. And I had this, list of the different ways I expected that could be revenue generating.

Like it's a podcast. it doesn't generate money. You don't pay to listen to a podcast,

Yeah.

And so. My thing was, it was sponsorships, but I also had the plan to write the books. So I was like, and I said, VIN, and I'm gonna write a book. So I wrote the solo book and My Power Talk Friday books was a new version. So here's what happened. So I said, I have a plan. I said, I'm gonna write definitely two books, and I have an idea for a third book, which is gonna be like a coffee table book, right? That I have not executed on yet. and I said, the first book is establishing what do I know about business? Why me?

Why are you listening to me? What's my story? why am I talking about this? You know, what did I do? Did I watch, you know, soap [00:54:00] operas for 40 years and now I think I'm gonna tell you how to run a business? Like what happened? Right? And so, and then I said to him. My original idea was that the second book would be, I said to him every single week as I am doing interviews and I'm learning more and more about the different strategies and tactics that other business owners do in and out of the industry to running a profitable business. I said, it's almost like that is like blog content. And each of those episodes I said, I will take that content and I will turn it into a written, know. Chapter, for lack of a better word to say. And at the end of a year, I'm gonna have 52 chapters content. Now they might now be called down to these 10 are all on flat fees and hourly.

These 10 are all on branding. I said, but I'm gonna be sitting with a body of work that I'm gonna be able to say this is the [00:55:00] definitive information for the design industry on these 10 topics in a book. so I started writing the first book immediately. So we launched the podcast.

Mm.

and I'm thinking I'm gonna start writing these chapters. Now, if there had been chat GBT then, then my second and third books might have been written by me alone.

Yeah,

But by, I don't know, let's call it the sixth or seventh week, I've done one, you know, physical writing recap of what I've learned in an episode, and I'm like, oh sweetie, this is going nowhere.

Good.

so much work.

yeah, you are six weeks into this. You are. And that Then I was doing nine interviews a week. I'm like, you know, you've got, I mean, three interviews a week. I'm like, you've got 18 interviews and you've written like two these. and of course, 'cause I'm, I'm running Window works with him, and I still have my, I'm still responsible for my million two in sales and all the things. And so I just was like, okay. Just keep concentrating on the first book, get that out. That goes on the back shelf. Like I'm [00:56:00] just, I'm doing triage. I'm like, okay, slice that out. Don't even put it on your plate. the first book is done. It's out. And I'm like, okay, girl, you gotta do the second book. Like you gotta do the second book. And I start to do it. And every time I went to say something, you know, I was thinking about like the lessons that Fred Burns taught, or Sandra Funk taught, or Nicole Heimer. And I was like, am I really gonna say this entire chapter? Nicole said this, Sandra said this. And and I'm like, I can't claim their information as my own. I'm like, that doesn't make any sense. I'm like, that's dumb. I'm like, I'm not going to pretend. heard me learn the lesson in front of them,

Yeah.

they've heard me learn it. You know I don't know anything about good website, planning. They know. I only know what Nicole told me. Like, who's gonna believe that this is like, this is what you should do for a website.

And then one day I'm sitting in my office upstairs on the third floor and I look over on my bookshelf and I had been [00:57:00] a part of the New Jersey Association of Women Business Owners when I was younger.

Hmm.

at one point this woman grabbed a lot of us women that were presidents of the different regional chapters and business owners in the thing.

And she did a collaborative book like New Jersey, I think it was like the 100 badass Jersey Business owners, women business owners or something. Right. And I had written a chapter for that book and I went, oh my God.

Hmm. Ding, ding, ding.

Yeah. And I was like, wow, why don't I just invite these amazing, brilliant people to do a chapter and I'll do just what I do in the podcast, tell everybody why I love them, why I think they're credible, and then tie their lesson in a bow after the chapter on how to apply it.

And so then came that and quite frankly, speaking engagements came from the book and the podcast,

Mm-hmm.

 When I show up to speak, it is something I do rather well.

You do?

if I showed up and it was like, you [00:58:00] know, not as good as the podcast, I don't think that that would've lasted. So once that happened and I was able to capitalize and parlay that, then it became more of a thing,

Yeah.

but

Yeah.

I just, it happened easier than I thought. It was on the list of things that I said to Vinny, I'm gonna write books, I'm gonna do speaking engagements. There'll be coaching out of it. 

Well, again, the takeaway is there was a plan, there were things to do in that plan, and you could pivot if you needed to and change those around. 

 Okay, y'all, I'm gonna stop the interview there for this week. That is part one. And there was a lot in there, right. Luann never fails to share things that I know she knows will help you and help others , and she did that very thing today.

I loved hearing about her journey and the specific things that she did to. Really grow her own business model and to make those important decisions that we all face inside of businesses. It's one thing to hear philosophy, and it's another thing to hear what someone actually did to get to the success level that they are.

It [00:59:00] is not an overnight success for any of us, as you know, and Luann is no different, and I'm, and I'm just so appreciative. That she was able to share the specific ways her pathway led her from working at Window Works all the way now to the success that she's had with her podcast and her books and all of the things that she does for the creative and design community.

So Luann, thanks for sharing that information. I know you guys loved it as much as I did. Come back next week for part two where we are going to dive into things that will help you specifically for your design business, because I'm going to ask her lots of great questions on behalf of you and things that I think you might want to hear for your own business.

We're going to talk pricing, we're going to talk processes, and I'm going to ask Luann a very important question that I know you are going to want to hear the answer to and here is that question that you have to come back next week to hear the answer . 

if you were to. have one wish for the future of the interior design industry. Out of all of your interviews, out of all the people that you've spoken with, all the pain points that you've heard from designers, what would be a [01:00:00] wish that you could say, I would wave my wand and have this happen for the betterment of the interior design industry?

Is there something that you've encountered? 

yeah, 100%. It's so clear to me. 

All right. I'll see you next week for the answer to that question and so many more. Make it a wonderful day, my friend. 

Thanks for tuning into this episode of the McClain Method Podcast. I'm so grateful you made it all the way to the end because that tells me that you're ready to do the work that truly transforms your brand, your business, and your life. If you want more tools, trainings, and behind the scenes looks at what I'm building next.

Head over to McClain method.com and don't forget to follow along on Instagram at the McClain Method for even more drops of brilliance. And remember, my friend, your brilliance is your brand. Don't dim it, design it. I'll s