What made being a content creator exciting was the innovation… the originality… the audacity to be different. To actually create. Now, what we have instead is that, in the name of bonuses & badges, everyone’s producing the same of everything in hopes of “going viral”.
In this episode, I'll be recounting all of the lessons from HPMKT, The E-Design Experience, launching a podcast, and STMN. And while I never did an official lessons round up for my first book, the lessons from that process as well. My hope is that in sharing my "favorite" self reflections from Meridian, you learn a lil something for yourself - and about yourself - while also taking this as your cue to pause in between your big ideas & build on your lessons from one to the next.
Read MoreWhile I know that we'll be sitting down for a live at some point to have an interactive conversation all about Meridian, I wanted to have this serve as a searchable, "savable" one stop shop for anyone new to the Meridian Experience.
Read MoreIf you’re listening to (or reading) this then you may already know that comeback is a long time coming! When I launched this podcast as The Design Influence 3 years ago, I had a pretty clear idea of where it was headed.
I realized — while procrastinating on bringing the show back — that The Design Influence no longer accurately represented what I was creating. In hindsight, I don’t know that it ever really did… I just knew that The E-Design Experience — the virtual conference that inspired the podcast — was definitely not an accurate representation of what I wanted the show to be. It wasn’t, actually, until I did the Share The Mic Now Home Edition initiative in 2020, that I realized how much I was limiting myself & the show with the name “The Design Influence”… I just didn’t have the mental bandwidth to figure out what the next iteration of the show would look like.
Now here we are, in 2022, less than 3 months away from The Meridian Experience Weekend — the first of its kind retreat style conference for the home industry — and I knew if I didn’t do this now, I was never gonna do this… this being bringing back the show. And then it hit me… The T.E.A… a show where I will be your guide as we T— think (and talk) through industry growing pains, E — equip ourselves with solution based education, and A — take action when & where action is needed.
Talk. Education. Action.
The show would run parallel the conference and continue after till the next one… and the next one… and the next one… for years to come! And that’s really why we’re here today… to talk all about The Meridian Experience!
Read MoreI’ve had designer friends remove e-design from their service offerings, realizing that it wasn’t a good fit for them and so happy to be freed up to focus on the services that did fit their business model. They understood the root of their e-design frustrations and ultimately realized that, no matter how many times they tweaked their packages or pricing, it would never make them happy.
Why aren't more designers asking themselves this — is e-design a good fit for me and my business?
E-design, for better or for worse, has forever changed the landscape of the design industry and has become a very enticing income stream for many designers, seasoned and new alike. So in theory, it could or should be for everyone right? Wrong. While it is an attractive part of the design industry, it may not be part of the industry that’s for you. In the same way that not every designer does hospitality, commercial, or renovation design, I want you to know that it’s okay if e-design isn’t part of your repertoire.
Read MoreA year ago (depending on when you’re listening to this), I became an official podcaster. I learned a lot, made a lot of mistakes, spoke to a lot of people, and went on the ride of a lifetime because I took a leap of faith and invested in another one of my big crazy ideas.
Now, a year later, we are back for season 2 — 6 months later than planned but totally okay — and I am super excited to be back with new conversations, stories, and lessons to share.
Read MoreIn the Fall of 2018 I had the crazy idea of rebranding The E-Design Experience and creating The Design Influence podcast. By the end of October, I’d secured nearly a dozen guests for the show and shortly after began batch recording the first season of solo episodes, guest conversations, and Q & A sessions.
While I had a general idea of what I wanted for the show and had sought some counsel from more seasoned podcasters, I really and truly had no idea what I’d gotten myself into. Sound familiar?
So what have I learned after 6 months, 21 episodes, 9 guests, and countless sleepless nights of podcasting?
Read MoreWay back, while I was recording the premiere episode on blogging and whether or not your blog is working for you or against you, it hit me — yes, we’re designers, but where many of you struggle isn’t where you think you struggle. Anyone making money with an online business — not brick and mortar or in-person — has to be rocking some other facets of the online world. I’m talking everyone from the online educator to the beauty guru. What they understand is the need to show up online. Not in all the places but in the places they do best.
Read MoreOne of the tracks of last summer's conference -- The Exponential Designpreneur -- focused exclusively on the growth of designers, beyond design. With that a lot of the content was crafted around other avenues of income & visibility, such as personal branding & establishing yourself as an influencer within (and outside of) the design community. Translation: being an influencer. In this episode, I’m going to talk about what it can look like being not only a designer in the industry, but an influencer in the industry.
Read MoreAs children we’re asked what we want to be when we grow up. While I do believe it’s never too early to start planting the seeds of the future, what I am and what I want to be is none of those previous things.
A lot of us pivot for a myriad of other reasons. The power in pivoting is finding the purpose in it…controlling your pivots instead of being controlled by them. So in this episode, we’re going to be talking about the shifts that you may be experiencing, avoiding, or even regretting as you navigate your designpreneur journey, and how you can do so with passion and purpose.
Read MoreAs an online interior designer (exclusively) and also a content creator, I realized after undergoing my own journey of exploration, that many of the challenges fellow online designpreneurs were facing weren’t being specifically addressed, and so The E-Design Experience was born. But what is e-design? How do you do it? What does it look like? Who is it for? So in today’s episode, I want to talk all about the business of e-design with you, hopefully answering some of those questions for you.
Read MoreIt’s an interesting time we live in where being an entrepreneur is more coveted than being whatever your craft is. But Gary V says it best when he says entrepreneurship is glamorized. What about all the other ugly parts of entrepreneurship that no one talks about? Entrepreneurship isn’t for everyone, not does it look the same for everyone, so no matter which lane you choose, be sure it’s the best fit for you, your way of operating, and your season of life.
Read MoreHow many different ways have you heard that you need an email list? You’re favorite podcaster has told you you need one. You have Instagram ads selling you templates to create one. You’ve read all the blog posts on the value of having one. So it’s no big secret in the power of the email list. But here’s what you may not have heard about email lists, however, is about lists for brands.
Read MoreHave you ever wondered how people make money online, especially influencers & content creators? We hear about so many different revenue streams, in addition to the main income maker, that it can often get hard to discern which is the best for for us holistically as designers and which is the best fit for your unique business model.
If you create any kind of content — blogging, social media, video, email, podcast — then there’s a world of ways to monetize “passively” but two very popular ways involve brands that aren’t your own — sponsored content & affiliate marketing. What are the differences between the two & how (if at all) they may make sense for your business?
Read MoreA sentiment I’ve heard shared across lots of designers — online designers and even some new designers — is that major industry events aren’t for them; so on today’s "minisode” I’m gonna dig into what it’s like as an online designer & creator going to industry events. And I want to you keep an open mind and think about how you can apply what I’m saying to ANY industry event you attend in the future.
Read MoreI’ve seen this debate brought up OFTEN during my time as an e-designer, and I know personally it is something I’ve always wondered about myself — when it comes to specifying product as an online designer, do I do trade, retail, or both?
If no one’s said it to you before then let me be the first — e-designers do not only source retail.
At the very least, they don’t have to. It comes down to your business model — how you’re trying to make money & what fits the way you operate. The decision of how & where to source is a personal one, so while I’m going to break down some of the pros & cons so that you can make an informed decision when deciding which is the best fit for you.
Read MoreI have quickly learned that being busy isn’t, or at least shouldn’t be, a badge of honor because I quickly went from juggling to burnt out & drowning. The idea of multitasking became more like an addiction, and like most addictions, it wasn’t long before I saw how bad it really was for me — I wasn’t actually getting that much done & it was more detrimental than it was helpful.
So what do I instead? I have spent the past YEAR — yes, year! — training myself on how to “single-task” and more importantly, how to quiet anything that tries to pull my focus on the task at hand.
While I haven’t perfected this new lifestyle by any stretch of the imagination — hello, I’m still a mom! — I have picked up some pretty useful hacks & habits, and that’s what I want to dive into today. I want to share with you some of my single-tasking tricks & how they’ve helped me step up my productivity.
Read MoreI’ve seen how blogging has evolved firsthand — how it can be super rewarding & worth every second you invest into it, and I’ve also seen how it can just drain you of all your creative juices with no ROI. These are the differences between your blog working for you & your blog working against you; so in this episode, we're going to be talking about what that might look like to help you identify how your blog is serving you (if at all) and what you can do differently.
Read More
