A Well-Designed Business® | Interior Design Business Podcast

A Well-Designed Business® | Interior Design Business Podcast

In today's world being a talented interior designer isn't enough to ensure that you have a profitable and successful business. Design school curricula doesn't always equip you with the business skills to have your interior design business be everything you imagined it would be! A Well-Designed Business® is here to fill in the gaps and give you real live business skills from some of the top interior designers. Your host, LuAnn Nigara shares her 40 years of success in the interior design industry, and she finds the most successful guests to share their interior design business best practices. This podcast is sponsored by Kravet Inc and Mydoma Studio.

Episodes

1159: Overheard: The CEO Mindset Every Interior Designer Has to Learn (Or Burn Out Trying)

January 20, 2026 • 88 mins
Today With Katy Cassaw, Kat Benson, Heather Peterson and Jillian Richey: In this Overheard episode of A Well-Designed Business, I sit down with four powerhouse designers — Heather Peterson, Jillian Richey Echevarria, and Katy Cassaw and Kat Benson of Nest Interiors — to talk about what it really means to step into the CEO seat. Each of these women has worked with business coach Desi Creswell to move from creative chaos to confide...
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1158: BEST OF SHOW: Vanessa DeLeon: Triple D: Drive- Dedication- Discipline

January 16, 2026 • 55 mins
Today with Vanessa DeLeon Today on the show we have a brilliant and when I say brilliant I really mean it, brilliant business woman: Vanessa DeLeon. Vanessa has starred on several television shows on some big television networks such as NBC, Bravo, HGTV and DIY Network. She has also been in several magazines such as TIME, Cosmopolitan etc. and on top of that she is a spokesperson! Wow! Talk about impressive resume! Please stay tun...
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1157: In Good Company: CEO Conversations with Kate O’Hara: Marketing to the Three Tiers of Luxury Clients and How to Attract Each One

January 13, 2026 • 73 mins
Today With Kate O’Hara: Today on A Well Designed Business, Kate O'Hara from O'Hara Interiors reveals her framework for positioning your design business to attract the clients you actually want: entry-level clients need you to be discoverable, mid-tier clients need you to be distinct, and elite clients need you to be discreet. Kate explains the reality that many designers appear to work with one type of client but actually serve d...
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1156: BEST OF SHOW: Susan Brunstrum: Practical Advice for Project Management

January 8, 2026 • 64 mins
Susan is founder and principal of award-winning Sweet Peas Design, which she launched 13 years ago in the Chicago suburb of Libertyville as a one-woman firm. Today Sweet Peas Design is a full-service studio with a staff of six in downtown Libertyville and a branch office in Chicago. She and her team work with a broad-based clientele of entrepreneurs, corporate executives and professionals.   Susan is an experienced speaker, whether...
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1155: Deanna Metz: Sunbrella for Interior Designers: Performance, Flexibility, and Trade Access

January 6, 2026 • 38 mins
Today With Deanna Metz: In today’s episode of A Well-Designed Business, I’m joined by Deanna Metz from Sunbrella for a sponsored conversation focused on how interior designers can expand their options without compromising standards, performance, or their brand reputation. Sunbrella is a name many designers already trust, but this episode goes deeper into what Sunbrella is offering designers today. We talk about their interior pr...
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1154: WWLD: Leading the Business You’re Building Now

January 2, 2026 • 25 mins
Today With LuAnn Nigara: As one year closes and another begins, LuAnn steps back to talk about what leadership really looks like right now. Not resolutions. Not hustle. Not doing more. In this episode, LuAnn walks you through the CEO-level decisions that matter most when the business starts to shift, whether that shift feels fast, slow, or uncertain. She unpacks why direction matters more than speed, why better filters beat more ...
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1153: WWLD: Stop Making Your Business Harder Than It Needs to Be

December 30, 2025 • 24 mins
Today With LuAnn Nigara: As the year winds down and routines slow, LuAnn takes this quiet moment to speak directly to you, no guest, no interview, just perspective. In this episode, LuAnn walks through ten patterns she sees business owners repeat over and over again that quietly make their businesses harder than they need to be. These aren’t mistakes. They’re habits, defaults, and decisions that once made sense, but may no longer...
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1152: LUANN FEATURED: Part 2- LuAnn Joins John McClain on The McClain Method Podcast

December 26, 2025 • 51 mins
Today With LuAnn Nigara on The McClain Method Podcast with John McClain: Today I am excited to share Part Two of my conversation on John McClain’s podcast, The McClain Method. If Part One was about the journey, this episode is about the work. John and I dig into what actually makes a design business sustainable: mindset, pricing, branding, and the confidence to stand fully in your value. We talk candidly about what it means to b...
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1151: LUANN FEATURED: LuAnn Joins John McClain on The McClain Method Podcast

December 23, 2025 • 63 mins
Today With LuAnn Nigara on The McClain Method Podcast with John McClain: Today’s episode is a little different, and one I’m really excited to share with you. This is a special "LuAnn Featured" episode where I share with you my appearance on John McClain’s podcast, The McClain Method. The conversation was thoughtful, honest, and reflective enough that we knew it belonged here on A Well-Designed Business as well. In this conve...
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1150: Emily Yeates: The Business Edit: The Backend That Builds Million-Dollar Design Firms

December 19, 2025 • 66 mins
Today With Emily Yeates: If you’ve ever found yourself whispering, “I love design but the business side is exhausting,” this episode is your wake-up call. Emily Yeates, founder of Urban Revival and creator of The Business Edit, joins LuAnn to pull back the curtain on how she built a thriving, efficient design firm and how she now teaches other designers to do the same. From contractor headaches and pricing pitfalls to intake call...
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1149: BEST OF SHOW: Claudia Ricciardone: Her Journey from Hobby to Interior Design Business

December 16, 2025 • 65 mins
Today with Claudia Ricciardone: Welcome to a Well-Designed Business. Today, I’m talking with Claudia Ricciardone, founder of Claudia Josephine Design. Claudia and I discuss those stubborn pain points that we face in starting a business. Coming from a psychology background, Claudia teaches us that pain is what actually causes us to grow in that it forces us to find a solution. Listen in as Claudia shares her own solutions as she n...
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1148: In Good Company: CEO Conversations with Kate O’Hara: A Framework for Understanding Luxury Interior Design Clients

December 12, 2025 • 58 mins
Today With Kate O’Hara: Have you ever had that experience where you’re working with a client on something and they just seem to resist what you’re saying…and you ask yourself, “Why won’t they just let me do what they’re paying me to do?” Maybe you have a difficult client. But more likely, the problem is that you don’t understand that particular client’s priorities or motivations. And that’s not a reflection on you, your client pr...
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1147: BEST OF SHOW: Carla Titus: Think Like a CEO By Outsourcing Your Numbers

December 9, 2025 • 57 mins
Today With Carla Titus: Welcome to A Well-Designed Business Podcast. Today we are joined by financial expert Carla Titus, founder and CEO of Wealth & Worth Within, a financial planning company offering fractional CFO services to transform business profitability.  Carla helps us understand what a fractional CFO is and how this service can provide the financial support and insight many businesses need to achieve financial clarity a...
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1146: Cyrus Loloi: A Modern Take on Trade Furnishings for Interior Designers

December 2, 2025 • 64 mins
Today With Cyrus Loloi: Welcome to a Well-Designed Business. You likely know the Loloi name—they are a powerhouse in our industry. But on today’s sponsored show, I am excited to chat with Cyrus Loloi about the sister brand, Joon Loloi.  Joon Loloi maintains many of Loloi’s values (including a commitment to quality, intention, and integrity). But it differs in many ways—not only does it offer a full range of home furnishings, but ...
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1145: What Would Lu Do?: How to Lead Projects With Architects and Builders (Without the Drama)

December 2, 2025 • 23 mins
Today with LuAnn Nigara: When it comes to high-end projects, collaboration isn’t optional and it definitely isn’t casual. It has to be intentional. In this solo episode, LuAnn breaks down the systems, scripts, and standards that every designer needs to lead confidently alongside architects, builders, and trades. If you've ever felt like you're managing chaos instead of driving results, this episode will show you how to step into ...
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1144: BEST OF SHOW: Marianna Zimmerman: It’s Never Too Late to Design Your Life

November 28, 2025 • 61 mins
Today with Marianna Zimmerman Welcome to a Well-Designed Business. Today, I’m talking with Marianna Zimmerman, owner of The BEST is yet to come DESIGNS, LLC.  “Your current situation doesn’t have to be your final destination.” This quote from Marianna gives you a little clue of what we’re discussing today. For years Marianna was working in administration at a hospital. She questioned if she was able to do what she REALLY wanted t...
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1143: LuAnn Featured: LuAnn Joins Carol Cox on the "Speaking Your Brand" Podcast

November 25, 2025 • 29 mins
Today With LuAnn Nigara on Speaking Your Brand Podcast with Carol Cox: In this panel conversation hosted by Carol Cox, LuAnn joins fellow powerhouse women to talk about what it really means to build a thought leadership platform. From podcasting and speaking to owning your niche and telling your story, this episode is packed with insight for anyone ready to step up and be seen. LuAnn shares her journey from launching A Well-Desi...
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1142: BEST OF SHOW: Chanae Richards: An Unconventional Path to an Interior Design Business

November 21, 2025 • 64 mins
Today with Chanae Richards  Welcome to a Well-Designed Business. The journey to building a well-designed business isn’t always linear. Sometimes designers come from the most unlikely of careers. That’s something we have heard many times on the show. But today Chanae Richards shares the story of how she founded her firm Oloro Interiors. Not only did she come into the space as a second career, but she even built her interior design ...
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1141: Nate Berkus: “Foundations”: His New Book and 30 Years of Interior Design Business Wisdom

November 18, 2025 • 65 mins
Today With Nate Berkus Today on A Well-Designed Business®, I’m joined once again by one of our most requested guests: Nate Berkus. If you’ve listened to our first conversation (Episode #433⁠), you already know Nate brings a level of clarity and intention that’s rare, not just in design, but in business. This time around, we talk leadership. Team. Vision. What it means to build a business that reflects your values, not just your s...
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1140: Overheard: How to Build a Steady Referral Pipeline with Darci Hether, Rebecca Robinson, and Lacey Michalek

November 14, 2025 • 56 mins
Today With Darci Hether, Rebecca Robinson, and Lacey Michalek Today on A Well-Designed Business, three seasoned designers share how they transformed their referral marketing by working with expert Stacey Brown Randall. Rebecca Robinson went from 18 to 40 referrals per year, Lacey Michalek turned a mahjong game into multiple projects, and Darci Hether developed systems for building warm relationships with industry professionals. Y...
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