Ever wonder who's really behind the Designer Discussions podcast? Meet Jason, Miriam, and Maria – three industry experts who joined forces to create a no-nonsense resource for design professionals navigating the complex worlds of marketing, PR, and business growth.
Jason brings a unique dual perspective as both an architect and marketing agency owner. His journey began teaching at LSU, implementing marketing strategies for his own firm before expanding to help other designers. This blend of architectural expertise and marketing know-how gives him unparalleled insight into the challenges design professionals face from multiple angles.
Miriam (who good-naturedly mentions being mistakenly called Swedish when she's actually Swiss) contributes over 20 years of PR expertise, including nearly 15 years leading PR for Kohler's kitchen and bath division. After establishing her boutique PR firm, she recognized that traditional publicity services were often financially out of reach for many designers, which inspired her to create more accessible solutions. Her international background and deep industry connections make her a powerhouse resource for design professionals seeking media attention.
Maria rounds out the trio with 20+ years of interior design experience and what she calls a "tech-forward" mindset. As a University of Texas graduate who approaches design business challenges fearlessly, she cuts through industry fearmongering to deliver practical technology and business advice based on real application rather than anxiety-inducing tactics.
What began as a Clubhouse room during the pandemic has evolved into a comprehensive resource including the podcast, the Designer Discussions Academy, and personalized services – all designed to simplify marketing and boost business for design professionals. The team's organic growth reflects their genuine commitment to helping others succeed through strategic, integrated approaches rather than quick fixes or intimidation tactics.
Ready to transform your design business with guidance from experts who understand your unique challenges? Subscribe to the podcast, explore the Academy membership at designerdiscussions.com, and join a community of professionals who are learning to market themselves with confidence and authenticity.
Links referenced in this episode:
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 weekly live sessions and workshops: https://www.designerdiscussionsmarketing.studio/pages/academy
Designer Discussions is an educational interior design podcast on marketing, PR and related business topics. We also provide in-depth, actionable products in the Marketing Studio including time-saving templates and guides to help design professionals grow their businesses.
Download our FREE Client Avatar Guide https://designerdiscussionsmarketing.studio/store.
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
Hello and welcome to Designer Discussions
with Jason, miriam and Maria.
Today we are talking about whowe are the faces behind the mic.
Designer Discussionsreintroduction.
Welcome to Designer Discussionspodcast with Miriam.
Maria and Jason Tune in eachweek where we discuss marketing,
(00:23):
pr and business advice fordesign professionals.
All right, so this episode isto reintroduce everybody to who
we are, because if you've beenlistening to us for some years
now, you know we did anintroduction into who we are,
which was over a hundredepisodes ago, which is hard to
(00:43):
say now.
That was about two and a halfyears ago.
So we wanted to do this episodejust to reintroduce who we are
to any new listeners and to alsoget you up to date on where we
are as a team here with thedesigner discussions.
Okay, so since I'm actuallytalking now, I'll start.
So, if you remember, my episodewas episode four and I had
(01:07):
talked about Marketing 101 andhow I got into marketing.
So just a re-intro to anybodythat has not been listening my
background is actually inarchitecture.
I got into marketing because Iused to teach at LSU and I ended
up teaching a professionalpractice class where we had a
lot of marketing in that class,and so I started to apply that
(01:28):
to our architecture firm.
What happened is one of thedesigners here in the Dallas
area reached out to me and saidwhat are you doing?
And so I told her what we didfor our own firm.
So I started to implement a lotof those strategies for her.
A year later, she started toget more traction.
And what happened?
One of her colleagues reachedout to her and said what are you
(01:50):
doing?
She introduced her to me andthen helped her out, had success
, and then we started to getmore referrals.
So right around 2016, went backto the partners, let them know
about all this, and so that wasthe impetus for the marketing
agency, and that was in 2016.
So that's how I got intomarketing, so how we got into
(02:11):
the podcast.
That happened around thecoronavirus time.
If you remember the app calledClubhouse.
Maria had a clubhouse room.
Correct me if I'm wrong.
It was actually called DesignerDiscussions or was it called
something else?
It was just DesignerDiscussions.
Okay, so Maria actually had aclubhouse room and she worked
(02:33):
with Miriam in the past, and soshe had her on to talk about
some things.
And then Miriam reached out tome and said you need to come on
and talk about marketing.
So I came on and talked andthen Maria said, oh, that was
good, you ought to come back.
And so everything happened fromthere.
We end up all joining up andhaving a clubhouse room and a
(02:53):
year later, as clubhouse beganto die out because everything
was opening up again, we startedto hear from a few of the
members that were in the roomand said we ought to start a
podcast, because at the time youcannot record a clubhouse room,
so you can only be online.
And once the world opened upagain, we didn't have as many
(03:15):
people in the room and so that'show we had started the podcast.
So that was the impetus of whatthat is and where I am now.
I have the architecture firmstill, have the marketing agency
still.
I would say the only thing thathas happened within the last
few years I've become wiser withthe time, more selective on the
(03:35):
clients we work with on themarketing side in remodeling
design.
It's actually entertaining tome because a lot of the hassles
or frustrations that thedesigners go through we go
through on the architecture side, so I'm able to have another
(03:55):
perspective on the design side,actually working with other
designers and remodelers on themarketing side.
So that's just a little updateon me and where I am now, but
I'm going to hand it over toMiriam.
Mirjam Lippuner (04:09):
Sorry, I probably cut you off, but it's
like you're going to.
Before you hand it back to me,you need to, like I don't know,
say something personal I don'tknow.
Maria Martin (04:18):
Hey, jason, I think we both should just lament
about how Americans don't haveenough geography experience to
be able to talk to Miriam.
Just go ahead and record it.
Just go ahead and record it.
It's recorded, okay.
Jason Lockhart (04:33):
Okay.
Maria Martin (04:34):
So, as Americans, we have learned through our
podcast and working with Miriamthat we do not know enough about
European geography and thatMiriam has been kind enough to
let us call her say that she'sbeen from Sweden accidentally
(04:55):
for years, even though she isfrom Switzerland, and that she
is Swiss.
Jason, you should totally talkabout how you learned that you
work well with women, orsomething like that.
Just after meeting Jennifer wasit at KBiz I was like, oh my
God, jason will tolerate so muchheckling from a female if
(05:21):
needed, like he can survive ahen party if needed, you know,
and I do find that to be one ofthe endearing characteristics of
the trio.
Jason Lockhart (05:33):
Well, that is true, and that is true.
And for all of you all herethat do not know who Jennifer is
, so she works with me.
I actually taught her inarchitecture school too, so that
was interesting enough.
So working with women has beenan aspect for a few decades now.
So I've become, and I actuallyhave two daughters, so that
(05:54):
helps out as well.
Now we'll hand it off to Miriamto reintroduce herself.
Mirjam Lippuner (06:00):
Okay, so everybody now knows that I'm
from Switzerland.
Okay, that is not a secret, andthere is Switzerland and Sweden
and they're two differentcountries.
I have never been to Sweden andwhat I like to say is, when
people see me, it's like I amobviously not Swedish because I
am not tall and I'm not blonde,you know.
(06:22):
So, anyway, there's that.
But yes to my background I didgrow up and go to school in
Switzerland and I worked therefor a good while before I moved
to the US, about 23 years agoNow, which you know.
(06:42):
I guess it is my home now.
I can't say I'm visiting.
It's been a long time.
But when I moved here, I and mybackground was I originally,
I'm a linguist, I was atranslator and then I moved over
into PR.
So I've been in PR for, yeah,and then I moved over into PR so
(07:04):
.
I've been in PR for many, manyyears by now, and when I moved
to the States I ended up workingfor Kohler Company.
So I still live in Wisconsin,which is where Kohler Company is
based, and I worked there foralmost a decade and a half.
I worked there for almost adecade and a half and I led
(07:32):
their PR department for mostlyspecifically for the kitchen and
bath division.
So that's where my connectionwith the home design building
products industry comes fromcomes from.
And when I left there, which isprobably seven, eight years ago
, I didn't really know whatexactly to do, but it just so
(07:56):
happened that opportunitiespresented itself to me to do
consulting on the PR side.
So I started doing that andwith my industry background and
my industry and mediaconnections too, it just
naturally happened that I stayedwithin the home design building
product space almostexclusively, I would say.
(08:17):
And kitchen and bath is justthat's the sweet spot, because I
know how that works right.
That's the sweet spot because Iknow how that works right.
So ever in these last sevenyears it's like I call myself
like a boutique PR firm and Iwork with companies in this
(08:39):
space almost exclusively.
Then the other thing that I havea lot of interior designer
friends and when I left Kola,one of them came to me and she
said, miriam, you should come upwith a solution to help
interior designers get PR that'saffordable and easy to do.
(08:59):
You know, because, as everybodyknows, hiring a publicist, a PR
consultant, it's pretty priceyand it can often be outside of
what's within the budget forinterior designers, even smaller
interior design firms.
(09:19):
So what I did is I set up a PRmembership for interior
designers and Maria was one ofmy founding members.
That's how we met actually, andso that was going on.
And then Jason also, weconnected.
I always say we met online.
Jason Lockhart (09:38):
LinkedIn.
Mirjam Lippuner (09:39):
It was doing making, and so the three of us
already were informally a teamlong before we had any kind of
established businessrelationship.
Then my PR membership morphedinto designer discussions
(10:00):
because with all the consultingI was doing, it's just I didn't
have the bandwidth to dedicateto really growing the membership
and I also realized that it's abig ask of anybody to focus on
PR almost exclusively and thatit's really more beneficial for
everybody if the material thatis taught is more broad and
(10:24):
includes digital marketing,social media, some branding,
some business, and with thethree of us we really cover all
of those areas of expertise.
So it just was like a naturalprogression to I don't know half
(10:46):
the podcast, and then thatmorphed into the Designer
Discussions Academy, which isour membership program.
So it all has happened prettymuch organically and we were
never, you know, trying to forceanything or the goal was never
(11:08):
to make a lot of money.
It was really just because wewere having fun doing it and
it's nice to have a team,especially I work mostly for
myself, so I love having the twoof you being my team.
So what I've learned, yeah, it'sprobably what I just said,
especially for my area ofexpertise on the PR side.
(11:31):
I know how important it is, butI think it's extremely
important to tie it into yourbusiness and marketing efforts
strategically, so it makes senseand you don't just do it for
the vanity factor, which that issomething that can happen, and
I think what we have createdcreates that balance that a
(11:56):
business needs, and I think oneof our like unique, one of the
unique things that we bring tothe table is that we help people
understand the bigger picture,and that's I really enjoy that.
It's like so gratifying to seewhen lights go off in people's
(12:19):
minds or when they try somethingand it actually works just like
we had said it, would you know?
So it's just, it's really.
It's really rewarding to beable to help people and show
them that marketing and PR isnot rocket science.
Yeah, so that's for me Like onthe personal side, being from
(12:45):
Europe, on the personal sidebeing from Europe, you know I am
, I'm a now I'm an Americansoccer mom, but that's due to my
European background and, funnyenough, my first job after
college I worked for FIFA, theInternational Soccer Federation,
and I have three sons that allplay soccer, and this is my last
(13:09):
year.
My twins are seniors, so I'll bedoing a lot of soccer this year
yet for sure, as they'repreparing to move on to college.
But yes, I'm the Swiss-Americansoccer mom, and with that I'm
going to hand it over to Maria.
Maria Martin (13:29):
Hi, I'm Maria.
I'm an interior designer andI've been in the design field
for 20 plus years.
I have a degree from theUniversity of Texas, so I came
into design from a traditionalstandpoint where I wasn't really
taking business classes.
I didn't have the boots on theground business experience that
(13:51):
a lot of people do when they gofrom being in business or
working for someone in businessand then getting interior design
training, and so I have astrong desire to learn about
things, and that's one of mycharacteristics that I can't
hide.
It's I love to learn aboutsomething new and I like to
(14:12):
really enjoyed finding peoplewho are really good at what they
do.
That will also approach.
What do you need to know aboutbusiness for interior design or
(14:34):
kitchen and bath remodelingbusinesses really anything in
the building industry from afearless standpoint?
Right, our industry is plaguedwith people who like to feed you
fear.
Our industry is plagued withpeople who like to feed you fear
.
Oh no, this is going to stealyour work.
This is going to steal yourbusiness If you don't do this
enough.
You know a lot of thoseconversations I see through.
(14:55):
Right, I understand that theyhave to sell you the fear first
before they can sell you thesolution literally sell it to
you for money and so I just kindof pulled away from some of the
design community that wasparticipating in those types of
things, right, and I'm abig-time tech-forward person and
(15:19):
I am not afraid of technology.
I can see right through it andtell you where it's going to
work great for your business,where you're going to love it,
and also where it's justsuperfluous and you shouldn't be
worried about it.
Now, is that what everybody isused to hearing?
No, but it's benefited me a lotfrom a thought leadership
(15:41):
perspective and allowed me tocreate CEUs and other type of
educational content around thatstuff.
So, and I really, really lovetalking about how to integrate
technology into business and howto make things easier, right.
So that's who I am, that's mytier as the trio here on
(16:04):
Designer Discussions, and I'malso a person who needs to learn
and I need to ask questions.
So I need to ask Miriam you know, what do I need to do to be
able to do this thing Right?
And when do you find someonethat you can quickly and easily
ask Should I be running Facebookads?
Right?
(16:26):
And they give you an honestopinion and they tell you don't
run ads, if or yes, it's timefor you to run ads, and you
don't have to spend a ton ofmoney to get those questions
answered.
So one of the things that'smissing from our Clubhouse
experience is that we used tohave people in an audience that
would just ask question, askquestion, ask question and give
(16:48):
us their firsthand experienceabout what they've been through.
And one of the things that we'rewanting to push forward and
start doing next, over this nextyear and with the podcast, is
finding more of those people,having them come interact with
us, talk to us about what it isthat they're doing, what they're
implementing, what they haveproblems with, and then try to
(17:09):
help them see what they can bedoing better and, in turn,
having the people who arelistening to the podcast also
learn from it too.
Because you know we can besiloed in this business.
We can also have, like, areaswhere we need more improvement,
and what we're wanting to do iscreate those tools for you.
(17:30):
We have the podcast level offree content that is going to
keep you up to date oneverything.
We also have hands-on workshoptype opportunities through our
academy, and then we have otherdone-for-you services as well.
So one crazy wild tip about me.
I'm kind of the lunatic.
(17:53):
Out of the three of us, I'm theone who's probably not going to
be as professional as the othertwo, and you know they put up
with me, they tolerate me andthey're willing to like.
Let me drag them on a tangent,which I've done many times and
and I you know, as long as it'snew and fresh and fun, I I find
(18:14):
I really enjoy it, and Miriamand Jason have also enjoyed it
as well.
So we're we're really lucky tohave you guys here with us
whenever you are listening to uson the podcast, but we do want
to interact with you more, andthat is something that we're
hoping to have more of in thefuture.
Mirjam Lippuner (18:32):
Okay, that's it for today about the faces
behind the mic.
We hope to see you all backhere in two weeks for designer
discussions.
Your business is unique andyour marketing should be too.
Your business is unique andyour marketing should be too.
Discover how to personalizeyour approach for SEO, PR and
beyond, to attract more of theclients you love to work with.
(18:52):
In our Academy membership, withus Designer Discussions podcast
hosts, as your personal coaches, we show you how to customize
your marketing With weekly livesessions and exclusive community
practical resources and expertguidance.
We're here to simplify yourmarketing and boost your
business.
(19:12):
Sign up atdesignerdiscussionscom or follow
the link in the show notes.
Maria Martin (19:18):
We hope you've 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 thepodcast and the marketing studio
, visit designerdiscussionscomand follow us on social media.
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