What's Next for Designer Discussions Podcast in 2026

A new year calls for a smarter format. We’re kicking off 2026 by opening the studio doors to the people building design and remodeling businesses every day—so you hear what’s working, what isn’t, and how to fix it without guesswork or gimmicks. Think of it as a workshop you can return to, with clear steps, practical tools, and honest stories that help you create momentum in your marketing.

We share a big update: Maria is shifting from weekly co-host to recurring expert, bringing focused segments on AI and fast-moving tech that actually help designers save time, refine strategy, and tell stronger stories. No hype—just what to use, what to skip, and how to apply it to PR, social, email, and search. Alongside that, we’re expanding guest features from design and remodeling pros who walk through their journeys, the channels they bet on, and the lessons they learned when campaigns missed the mark.

You’ll also hear two new formats built for action. First, Business of the Month: candid conversations with firms about positioning, lead flow, and marketing choices, followed by targeted next steps you can adapt to your own studio. Second, Fix My Marketing: you send real challenges—flat engagement, messy websites, cold PR outreach—and we respond with specific fixes you can try this week. We’ll keep host-led episodes tighter and more tactical, focusing on the essentials: better pitches, clearer offers, content that converts, and simple analytics that guide smart decisions.

If you want useful tactics, a community of peers, and guidance shaped by what’s happening on the ground, this is your year with us. Subscribe, share with a friend who needs a nudge, and join our newsletter to get resources tied to each topic. Got a success story or a stubborn roadblock? Apply to be featured and let’s solve it together.

If you would like to get the links and show notes for this episode, click on the link below:​

• www.designerdiscussions.com/episodes/episode-157-Whats-Next-for-Designer-Discussions-Podcast-in-2026

Transform your marketing with Designer Discussions Academy. In weekly face-to-face sessions, we equip busy business owners with cutting-edge PR strategies, marketing insights, and time-saving tools to not just work in your business, but on your business. Join us to outshine competitors and elevate your business.

Join us for our Academy sessions and workshops:

https://www.designerdiscussions.com/academy.html

Designer Discussions is an educational interior design podcast on marketing, PR and related business topics. 

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Designer Discussions is a partnership of three experts: Jason Lockhart, CEO of KABMS; Maria Martin, founder of DesignAppy; and Mirjam Lippuner, founder of Get Ink DIY

Episode Transcript

Jason Lockhart (00:00):
Hello and happy New Year.
Welcome to 2026.
And we are here with DesignerDiscussion talking about what's
next and what's new for thisyear.
Welcome to Designer DiscussionsPodcast with Miriam, Maria, and
Jason.
Tune in each week where wediscuss marketing, PR, and

(00:22):
business advice for designprofessionals.

Mirjam Lippuner (00:27):
Yes.
So we're super excited to gointo another year with our
podcast, which is year three.
Probably.
Four.
Oh my God, the years fly by.
But so we have some majorupdates to share, and we wanted
to take an episode to do that.

(00:47):
The first one, the first bigupdate we want to share with
you, and you've maybe noticedthat Maria Martin, our friend,
who was our co-host for the pastthree years that we've been
doing this, she stepped back tofocus on her core business.
So she's not going to be apermanent member of the cast

(01:07):
anymore, but she'll be back withguest episodes where she'll be
giving us all the most excitingupdates about AI and everything
business and tech trendy that'shappening in the industry.
So we thank her very much forall the time that she's spent
with us, and we're really happythat she's going to be continue

(01:30):
being part of it, even if it'son a slightly more limited
scale.

Jason Lockhart (01:36):
Yeah, and you all love hearing about her AI
information.
And she's the AI expert.
So we have to have her on uh totalk about what's happening
there because you know AI isforever changing.
So that's one of the changes uhwe're gonna have.
Another change we're gonna haveis you hear from us all the
time talking about uh updates onmarketing PR and all that.

(01:58):
You're still gonna hear that,but we're gonna have guests on
that.
So you won't hear us all thetime like you have in the past.
We would every now and thenhave guests on, like we're gonna
have Jan on always because shedoes an amazing job on the K Biz
review, giving you up-to-dateinformation on what happened.

(02:19):
So if you didn't have a chanceto attend, you can get a
high-level review.
So we'll still have hers.
And we're gonna have otherdesign and remodeling
professionals to actually talkto you about what's happening in
their business that they'reoperating and what's happening
uh on the ground.
So we're gonna hear more fromdesign and remodeling
professionals, which we had inthe past, but now we're gonna do

(02:40):
more of that.
And then when we do our owntalks, it's gonna be more high
level, and we are gonna stillgive you information on all the
marketing tips and had in thepast, but it's just gonna be now
you're gonna hear from otherindividuals and other
professionals just besidesourselves.

Mirjam Lippuner (02:58):
Yeah, and we'll definitely keep our own
episodes really um actionable,you know, with with tips that
you can use in your PR and yourmarketing now that are gonna
make your life easier and justkeep you up to date on all the
trends that are happening andeverything you need to know.

(03:19):
For our guests, um the are Ialmost call them like business
of the month guests, um, I wouldsay.
Um the format's not reallysuper strict, but we want to
talk about um like what thestory of the business is, you
know, um, talk about what'sworking in their marketing and

(03:40):
what's not, where they maybe arefeeling stuck.
And then we are totally happyto provide some on-the-spot
advice on what um they mightwant to think about changing.
So if you're listening to thisand you're like, oh, that would
be kind of fun, you know.
It's like I'd like to talkabout my marketing, or you have
a great, it's a either you havea great success story or you

(04:03):
have a major problem um in yourbusiness, um, send us a note,
you know, and apply for a spoton one of these episodes.
Um, because we're looking forinteresting stories and
interesting businesses that wecan feature in this series.

Jason Lockhart (04:21):
If you have any marketing mishaps or any
marketing questions that youhave, send them to us because
we're gonna do a fix mopmarketing segment where we
listen to what you have to sayand what issues you're having
and offer you suggestions on howto enhance it.
Because you've heard from usfor the last two and a half,

(04:41):
three years on marketing tips,PR tips, but we want to make it
more actionable for you.
So send us your questions, whatyour issues are, and we'll
start to solve those on one ofthe podcast episodes.

Mirjam Lippuner (04:55):
Yeah, so that's the fun we have planned um for
this year.
So if you are not um part ofour newsletter community yet,
um, please sign up so to makesure you get um updates on
episodes and other fun news thatwe are communicating.
And we really hope um to beable to talk to some of you in

(05:18):
person on a future episode.
So send us your send us uh signup, you know, apply for a spot,
um, and and we'll look at allof them, we promise.
We'll hope to see you back hereum in two weeks again for our
first regular episode of theyear.

Jason Lockhart (05:35):
We hope you enjoyed this episode of Designer
Discussions and all of thehelpful information.
Subscribe to our podcast, leaveus a review, and share it with
your friends.
We look forward to having youback next week for more
information on the podcast andthe marketing studio.
Visit designer discussions.comand follow us on social media.