October 1, 2025 • 30 mins
What happens when you take a leap of faith, leave behind a successful business, and start over in a new community? Lyn Mabry, founder of Designing Spaces by Lyn, did exactly that when she followed her dream of living in the mountains of Western North Carolina.
After 25 years in the design industry and a thriving business in Louisville, Lyn handed her company to her team and ventured to a place where she knew just one person. Her story of rebuilding from scratch offers powerful lessons for entrepreneurs at any stage. With remarkable candor, Lyn dismantles common misconceptions about business ownership – the mythical freedom, instant profits, and glamorous lifestyle many imagine. Instead, she paints a realistic picture of 24/7 dedication fueled by genuine passion for helping clients see possibilities they can't envision themselves.
What sets Lyn's approach apart is her commitment to "pure design" – no commissions, no product markups, just expertise and service. Her team works in pairs, combining complementary skills to give clients multiple perspectives. This collaboration highlights Lynn's philosophy of team-building: seek people who love the craft, operate with transparency, and bring talents different from your own.
Perhaps most inspiring is Lynn's fearless approach to growth. When new to the area, she literally walked the streets with her resume, knocked on doors, called every realtor she could reach, and joined numerous community organizations. Her advice to other business owners? "You have to believe in what you're offering, be fearless, and genuinely care about the person across from you." As she looks toward expanding her aging-in-place services, Lynn demonstrates how finding intersection points between market needs and personal passion creates sustainable business opportunities.
Ready to apply Lyn's entrepreneurial wisdom to your own journey? Listen now and discover how authentic connection, persistence, and passion can transform challenges into stepping stones for growth.
Lyn's email: lyn@designingspacesbylyn.com
Thanks for Listening. You may contact me or our team at https://billgilliland.biz/
All the best!
Bill
Thanks for listening. Please hit the subscribe button, leave us a 5 star review, and share this podcast. You can reach me at williamgilliland@actioncoach.com or at https://billgilliland.biz/
All the best!
Bill
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:02):
Hey there, welcome to this week's episode of Epic
Entrepreneurs.
I'm Bill Gilliland, your host.
I am the principal at ActionCoach, business Growth Partners
and one of the founders of theAsheville Business Summit, and I
am super excited today to talkto another member of our
community.
I'm here with Lynn Mabry.
The name of her company isDesigning Spaces by Lynn.
(00:24):
So welcome to the podcast, lynn.
Tell us a little bit about youand your business.
Speaker 2 (00:31):
Thanks, bill.
I'm excited to be on this showpodcast.
I've been in this area forabout three years.
I've been in the designbusiness for about 25.
(00:54):
I moved here because I alwayswanted to live in the mountains
and I just was ready to go.
And I just was ready to go.
So I had a great team ofdesigners in Louisville,
(01:16):
kentucky, who wanted to takeover my business and that freed
me to move here and start again.
I didn't know what would happenwith that.
I just wanted to be here and Ilove design.
So, three years later, we havebuilt our little team and I have
(01:39):
two wonderful designers, threewonderful designers that work
with me on my team, and weprovide we go all over Western
North Carolina, need a designer,will travel.
(02:02):
So we don't have a store, whichI think is a benefit.
We'll shop for you wherever wefind good deals and the right
products for your design vision,your design vision.
(02:32):
And one of the things that Ithink make us different is that
we don't have a store.
We're not trying to sell youany of our things.
Further, we don't takecommissions from anything.
We simply are your designer andyou pay us to help you.
Speaker 1 (02:55):
Um I got it okay yeah , no, that's great.
I mean, a lot of people may notunderstand that in the design
world sometimes there arecommissions, sometimes people
buy furniture and resell it,sometimes there's a lot of ways
to play the game and you guysare pure design.
You're just getting paid foryour expertise and for your
(03:16):
experience and for your eye andfor making things look great.
Yes, yeah, no, I like it.
Well, let me ask you a fewquestions.
This is a great question foryou because you've actually
started from square one again.
I mean, you had a business andthen you, like you said, you
sold it and then you moved hereand you started again.
(03:37):
So what are some of the lessons?
The question actually is if youhad to start from square one,
what would you do differently?
Lessons like the questionactually is if you had to start
from square one, what would youdo differently?
Speaker 2 (03:46):
so, um, you know, I'm not sure, I mean I'm.
I've certainly made mistakes,but overall would I do anything
(04:19):
different when I started mybusiness here.
Speaker 1 (04:22):
I don't think I would have.
I love it.
I mean you shouldn't have to doa lot different.
I mean you learned a ton fromprevious business experiences.
Speaker 2 (04:53):
And yeah, it's interesting A little bit Trust
myself and my instincts and totrust the people that I work
with, for and with.
Yeah, I am a person thatoperates good or bad sort of gut
(05:13):
.
There's a gut feeling aboutthings and I think in a way
that's made me a good designer,because you have gut feelings
about things and you have themabout space.
You know you can walk insomeplace and go.
What's not right here, whatdoesn't feel right, and I think
customers come to us and saythings like I don't know what's
(05:38):
wrong with this living room, butit just never has been right.
And yeah, I think that's ourlane, I think we know how to do
that, but I'm not sure Ianswered your question.
But I think the only thing Imight have done differently is
(06:03):
in the part of our business andwe didn't talk about this but we
offer a range of skills frompure interior design to
renovation and remodel design,to staging, and I've done a lot
(06:33):
of renovation and remodel designin my career.
The same with interior designStaging was huge in Louisville,
kentucky I moved here and it'sit three years ago wasn't so
(06:54):
huge, so I might have approachedthat differently.
I might have approached,approached offering more of a
learning curve maybe to therealtors about the positives of
(07:16):
the staging techniques, you knowyeah yeah, yeah, no, no, I got
it.
Speaker 1 (07:21):
Well, I mean a few things that's great.
Well, you kind of answered mynext question, which is one of
your learnings as an owner andan employer, and you said that
you basically learned to trust,which I love that, because I
think that's hard for businessowners.
Speaker 2 (07:34):
Yeah, I think it is too, and it has been.
I can micromanage with the bestof them.
I can micromanage with the bestof them, and I have some
talented women, oh my gosh, andI just need to let them do their
(07:57):
thing.
Speaker 1 (07:58):
Yeah, get out of the way.
Speaker 2 (07:59):
Well, I want to be involved.
I want to be there to besupportive.
I want to be there if there's aquestion or concern, but no, I
need to step out.
They can do it.
They are really good.
Speaker 1 (08:17):
Yeah, I love that.
I love that.
Hey.
So what are some of the commonmisconceptions that people have
about running a business?
Speaker 2 (08:23):
Common misconceptions that people have about running
a business.
About running a business, notdesign, but just in general,
yeah, just in general.
Speaker 1 (08:30):
Yeah, general business.
Speaker 2 (08:32):
That you got a lot of free time.
If you run your own show, youknow you can take off whenever
you want.
You know you get to bosseverybody around, that you make
a lot of money.
How about that one?
You know, yeah, no.
Speaker 1 (08:54):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (08:55):
Maybe you do when you get to the big time, but you
know, for most averageentrepreneurs business owners,
small business owners we work24-7.
And I'm not complaining ClearlyI must love it, but we work
(09:17):
24-7.
If the phone rings, I answer it.
I don't care when it is, and ifsomebody needs my help and
they're 45 minutes away I'll go.
You know, I just do it.
Speaker 1 (09:32):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (09:33):
I just do it.
Speaker 1 (09:33):
Yeah, I think it's.
Yeah, sometimes it.
I mean I've seen plenty ofpeople that were running, were
sort of the general manager of acompany and then they buy the
company and they have no idea.
Oh my.
God the general manager isdifferent than actually running
and owning.
It's an interesting thing.
So what do you attribute yourgrowth to?
Speaker 2 (10:06):
I first of all what a great community this is.
Speaker 1 (10:11):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (10:11):
What a open welcoming .
How can I help you community?
Oh my gosh, I really feel thatway.
But I am driven.
I love what I do, maybe that'sit.
(10:32):
I absolutely love this craftand I love helping people.
I love doing stuff that theycan't do, seeing stuff they
can't see.
I love that, and so I think I'mdriven in my drive.
(11:02):
I'm driven anyway, but in mybut I can funnel this love of
this craft into that drive.
And I mean I.
I went.
When I first got here, Iliterally walked the streets of
(11:26):
Hendersonville with my resumeand some information on my
little company of two then andone and a half, and I just
knocked on doors.
(11:47):
I just called every realtorthat I could get a hold of and
introduce myself.
I went to all the furniturestores.
I joined everything.
Speaker 1 (12:03):
I love that.
Speaker 2 (12:05):
And I joined everything.
And I'll say something else.
I'm probably most of the timethe oldest person in the room
and sometimes that might feelintimidating, but it's also a
great way to get noticed.
Speaker 1 (12:31):
Yeah, well, if you're new in a community, I mean you
got to get out right.
Yeah, I mean you came here fromLouisville not knowing, at
least, very many people.
Speaker 2 (12:41):
I knew one person.
Speaker 1 (12:43):
I had a client in Brevard.
Right, yeah, one client andyeah.
So, like you say, you knew oneperson.
You've got to get to know somepeople.
The only way to get to know isget out and get networking and
meet some people.
And yeah, you didn't want toquit working.
So it's pretty hard forsomebody like you and me, who
(13:04):
are both driven.
I can appreciate being able tosee things other people can't
see.
I'm one of those guys thatcan't see it.
I definitely can't see it untilit's on the wall.
I mean, you need to paint itbefore I can tell whether it's
whether I mean you can't justgive me a color sample, that
ain't going to work.
I gotta, I have to trust I meanI you know out there, because
I'm one of those people thatthat that needs what you have
(13:26):
that eye, and that, that, thatcapability.
So so the personal life,business life it sounds like
it's all mixed together.
How do you, is there anybalance there?
Or how do you?
How do you look at that?
Speaker 2 (13:45):
It's all mixed together for the good or the bad
.
I moved here for the love ofthe mountains.
I love to hike, I love animals.
(14:05):
I lost my beloved dog rightbefore I left animal nonprofits,
so that's one way, and hikingand being outdoors is something
(14:32):
that means a lot to me.
So I work real hard at carvingout time to do those things, and
I'm an introvert actually, butwe all need friends and so,
(14:58):
besides volunteering and hiking,I really try to you know, have
friends here that you go out todinner and you know, you talk
about your work or their life ormy life and you become friends,
(15:27):
which is very meaningful for me.
And then my family's huge to me.
I have two kids and threegrandkids.
An ex-husband I'm close to, andso I carve out time to go to
(15:48):
where they are and spend timewith them.
But I work all the time.
I take calls, I do stuff, butI'm there, I spend time with
them.
We're going to go in a coupleof weeks to look at college for
my youngest granddaughter not myyoungest, my middle
(16:11):
granddaughter and so I work realhard at staying present with my
family and giving back.
Speaker 1 (16:30):
I love it.
You're staying connected,loving.
I think a lot of people havethe wrong idea about introverts.
Introverts is about where youget your energy.
It doesn't mean you don't likepeople.
It just means at some pointyou've got to go recharge
somewhere, which might meanwalking around in the hills by
yourself, right, yeah, no, Ilove that.
I love that.
(16:50):
So what qualities do you lookfor in team members?
Speaker 2 (17:00):
A love of the craft for me, A love of the craft for
me.
A love of the craft.
Contrary to what people think,designers do not, you know, just
come home with piles of moneyevery day.
It is hard work and we spend alot of time traveling.
(17:24):
So I look for people where,like me, they just want to do
this.
It is their secret power, theirsuperpower, it's their.
(17:56):
I look for that is honesty,being very transparent and
upfront.
I look for somebody that can dothat.
I'm a very you-see-what-you-getperson, what you get person.
(18:22):
I really try to find peoplethat are like that.
And the third thing I alwayslook for is complementary skills
what they can offer I'm notgood at.
Speaker 1 (18:40):
Yeah, I love that an offer I'm not good at.
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (18:41):
I love that and sometimes how that works is then
I'm good at what they're not,and there is a team approach to
our projects.
We almost always go in pairs.
I'm usually the other personand I mean there's two of us and
(19:03):
you know, they have strengths Idon't have, and usually I have
strengths they don't.
Usually works that way andthat's lovely.
It's just like a great benefitto our clients because two heads
are better than one and yeah,so those, if that answers your
(19:27):
no no, I think it's great.
Speaker 1 (19:28):
I think that's.
I think that's wonderful.
I mean, if everybody on theteam was just like you, it'd be
chaos, right.
Speaker 2 (19:34):
Right, it would be chaos, exactly you know.
Speaker 1 (19:39):
Yeah, I like that.
So what words of advice wouldyou give to other business
owners who are looking to grow?
Speaker 2 (19:53):
first of all, to me, you have to believe.
You have to really believe inyour product, what you're
offering.
You really have to know you canhelp somebody with this issue.
(20:16):
Whatever your business is, yougot to know you really can help,
you're really giving, youreally have a service to offer.
I think whether it's selling asofa or being a coach or you've
(20:40):
got, you have to believe in ityourself.
So there's the first thing.
And then I think you have to befearless.
You just have to be fearlessand you have to be okay with
rejection.
It's just part of the journey.
You just you know, noteverybody's going to be crazy
(21:01):
about you.
Not everybody thinks yourproduct is what they need and
you got to be open to validatingtheir feedback.
Speaker 1 (21:15):
Yeah, no, I love that .
I love that.
I mean, you know, rejection isa form of feedback.
I mean, yeah, yeah, maybethey're not a good fit.
Maybe it's just that you're nota good fit for them.
Maybe maybe there's somethingyou need to learn.
So exactly.
It's a hard thing to do to saythank you to a no, but it's but,
it, but it's but.
(21:36):
There is a no, but there is agift in everything, the good and
the bad.
Speaker 2 (21:42):
So there's a gift in every rejection.
Speaker 1 (21:47):
Yeah, I mean, and frankly, you're not going to,
not everybody's going to buy,that's just the you can talk to.
I mean, you can have a veryhigh close rate, but not
everybody's going to buy.
It's just not reasonable.
It's not reasonable andsometimes it's baffling.
You're like what, but you knowwhat?
That didn't make any sense, butit made sense to them.
Speaker 2 (22:09):
Yeah Well, let me just say one more thing that I
think is a key to success, andit's caring about that person,
really caring about that otherperson, that person across the
(22:31):
desk, that person across thecounter, that person when we
walk into their homes, you knowyou got to genuinely,
authentically care about thatperson.
Speaker 1 (22:49):
I agree.
Speaker 2 (22:49):
And people feel that.
They just feel it.
Speaker 1 (22:53):
Yeah, they know if you're there for you.
Yeah, that's right and not them.
Yeah, really, yeah makes itmakes no sense.
They, they, it is, people arenot stupid, and they and they,
we have an innate sense, andactually women are better at
this than men.
Um, but you know, they got it,they're gonna, they're gonna
(23:13):
know, they're, they're gonna,they're going to have that
knowledge.
Speaker 2 (23:16):
If they're being played, they know it.
Oh God.
Speaker 1 (23:21):
I think they come at it thinking that they might get
played, and so I mean they'reactually coming in with that
bias, so you really have toovercome it.
I love that.
So what's the next thing, thenext big thing for Lynn and
designing spaces by Lynn?
What's the next thing, the nextbig thing for lynn and
designing spaces by lynn?
What's the next thing?
Speaker 2 (23:42):
well, I think, uh, I uh want to get more into, uh,
the aging in place, or I don'tknow how to say it.
Speaker 1 (24:06):
No, no, there's actually an aging in place.
Designation for builders oh, Iknow.
Speaker 2 (24:12):
Yeah, and I know about that and we do some of
that, but what I was trying tosay and can't think of the term
is getting more into that market.
Like, I've joined a group ofprofessionals that work with
(24:34):
seniors and we do do work withbuilders and well, not builders
remodelers to augment houses foraging in place.
We do that.
We also work with peopledownsizing and moving in to some
(24:57):
of the independent communitiesaround here and I'd like to
expand on that somewhere andhelp them pick what could fit
into their new house orapartment or whatever in an
(25:25):
independent living campus and Iwant to do more of that.
I think we first of all, that'smy age group, but I and I did it
, I downsized and I think we canbe really helpful to seniors
(25:52):
that this is hard.
It is hard.
It is hard whether you'reaugmenting your lovely house and
making the doors bigger.
Work with uh, we do work withone wonderful builder and do the
(26:31):
design work for them and theselection work with their
clients as they're building newhouses.
But I think we have somethingto offer contractors and new
construction.
But remodel, let us do thedesign portion, let us do that
(26:59):
part and you guys take care ofthe rest of it.
We all kind of have our lane,so those areas, no, I like it.
Speaker 1 (27:09):
Yeah, most builders are looking.
I have a lot of clients thatare builders and remodelers.
Most of most of the builderswant to just build stuff yeah
and so, and remodel and do thatsort of thing.
They don't.
Builders want to just buildstuff yeah and so, and remodel
and do that sort of thing.
They don't actually want to do.
The design.
Design is like one of the hardparts for them.
Yeah, I mean most of them.
Some of them have thatcapability, some of them have
that eye or have a designbackground, but most of them
(27:29):
don't.
So, lastly, what's the best wayfor somebody to get a hold of
Lynn or get a hold of your team?
Speaker 2 (27:39):
Well, you get a hold of Lynn.
Or get a hold of your team,well, they can get a hold of me.
I take all calls, the initialcalls when people have questions
.
Or they can go to our websiteand there's an is 502-333-2338.
(27:59):
And my website is, you know,wwwdesigningspacesbylynncom, and
there's a place for an inquiryand that goes straight to my
email and my email is lynn, withone N at
(28:26):
designingspacesbylyncom.
So any three of those ways isgreat.
Speaker 1 (28:33):
Yeah, just so people know, that's
designingspacesbylyncom.
Yes, yeah, just one N, just sopeople know this Designing
Spaces by Lynn, that's L-Y-Ncom.
Just one N.
Yeah, just one N, and it's Lynnat Designing Spaces by Lynncom.
So we'll include that in shownotes, but we'll have it in
there.
Hey, fantastic, this has beengreat.
Hey, we really love having youas part of our community and
(28:53):
love what you're doing andexcited that you're back
building a business here inWestern North Carolina.
Speaker 2 (29:02):
Well, thank you, and I am grateful and flattered to
be on your show.
Thanks, bill.
Speaker 1 (29:07):
Yeah, thanks, Lynn, and until next time all the best
.
Hey there, welcome to this week's episode of Epic
Entrepreneurs.
I'm Bill Gilliland, your host.
I am the principal at ActionCoach, business Growth Partners
and one of the founders of theAsheville Business Summit, and I
am super excited today to talkto another member of our
community.
I'm here with Lynn Mabry.
The name of her company isDesigning Spaces by Lynn.
(00:24):
So welcome to the podcast, lynn.
Tell us a little bit about youand your business.
Speaker 2 (00:31):
Thanks, bill.
I'm excited to be on this showpodcast.
I've been in this area forabout three years.
I've been in the designbusiness for about 25.
(00:54):
I moved here because I alwayswanted to live in the mountains
and I just was ready to go.
And I just was ready to go.
So I had a great team ofdesigners in Louisville,
(01:16):
kentucky, who wanted to takeover my business and that freed
me to move here and start again.
I didn't know what would happenwith that.
I just wanted to be here and Ilove design.
So, three years later, we havebuilt our little team and I have
(01:39):
two wonderful designers, threewonderful designers that work
with me on my team, and weprovide we go all over Western
North Carolina, need a designer,will travel.
(02:02):
So we don't have a store, whichI think is a benefit.
We'll shop for you wherever wefind good deals and the right
products for your design vision,your design vision.
(02:32):
And one of the things that Ithink make us different is that
we don't have a store.
We're not trying to sell youany of our things.
Further, we don't takecommissions from anything.
We simply are your designer andyou pay us to help you.
Speaker 1 (02:55):
Um I got it okay yeah , no, that's great.
I mean, a lot of people may notunderstand that in the design
world sometimes there arecommissions, sometimes people
buy furniture and resell it,sometimes there's a lot of ways
to play the game and you guysare pure design.
You're just getting paid foryour expertise and for your
(03:16):
experience and for your eye andfor making things look great.
Yes, yeah, no, I like it.
Well, let me ask you a fewquestions.
This is a great question foryou because you've actually
started from square one again.
I mean, you had a business andthen you, like you said, you
sold it and then you moved hereand you started again.
(03:37):
So what are some of the lessons?
The question actually is if youhad to start from square one,
what would you do differently?
Lessons like the questionactually is if you had to start
from square one, what would youdo differently?
Speaker 2 (03:46):
so, um, you know, I'm not sure, I mean I'm.
I've certainly made mistakes,but overall would I do anything
(04:19):
different when I started mybusiness here.
Speaker 1 (04:22):
I don't think I would have.
I love it.
I mean you shouldn't have to doa lot different.
I mean you learned a ton fromprevious business experiences.
Speaker 2 (04:53):
And yeah, it's interesting A little bit Trust
myself and my instincts and totrust the people that I work
with, for and with.
Yeah, I am a person thatoperates good or bad sort of gut
(05:13):
.
There's a gut feeling aboutthings and I think in a way
that's made me a good designer,because you have gut feelings
about things and you have themabout space.
You know you can walk insomeplace and go.
What's not right here, whatdoesn't feel right, and I think
customers come to us and saythings like I don't know what's
(05:38):
wrong with this living room, butit just never has been right.
And yeah, I think that's ourlane, I think we know how to do
that, but I'm not sure Ianswered your question.
But I think the only thing Imight have done differently is
(06:03):
in the part of our business andwe didn't talk about this but we
offer a range of skills frompure interior design to
renovation and remodel design,to staging, and I've done a lot
(06:33):
of renovation and remodel designin my career.
The same with interior designStaging was huge in Louisville,
kentucky I moved here and it'sit three years ago wasn't so
(06:54):
huge, so I might have approachedthat differently.
I might have approached,approached offering more of a
learning curve maybe to therealtors about the positives of
(07:16):
the staging techniques, you knowyeah yeah, yeah, no, no, I got
it.
Speaker 1 (07:21):
Well, I mean a few things that's great.
Well, you kind of answered mynext question, which is one of
your learnings as an owner andan employer, and you said that
you basically learned to trust,which I love that, because I
think that's hard for businessowners.
Speaker 2 (07:34):
Yeah, I think it is too, and it has been.
I can micromanage with the bestof them.
I can micromanage with the bestof them, and I have some
talented women, oh my gosh, andI just need to let them do their
(07:57):
thing.
Speaker 1 (07:58):
Yeah, get out of the way.
Speaker 2 (07:59):
Well, I want to be involved.
I want to be there to besupportive.
I want to be there if there's aquestion or concern, but no, I
need to step out.
They can do it.
They are really good.
Speaker 1 (08:17):
Yeah, I love that.
I love that.
Hey.
So what are some of the commonmisconceptions that people have
about running a business?
Speaker 2 (08:23):
Common misconceptions that people have about running
a business.
About running a business, notdesign, but just in general,
yeah, just in general.
Speaker 1 (08:30):
Yeah, general business.
Speaker 2 (08:32):
That you got a lot of free time.
If you run your own show, youknow you can take off whenever
you want.
You know you get to bosseverybody around, that you make
a lot of money.
How about that one?
You know, yeah, no.
Speaker 1 (08:54):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (08:55):
Maybe you do when you get to the big time, but you
know, for most averageentrepreneurs business owners,
small business owners we work24-7.
And I'm not complaining ClearlyI must love it, but we work
(09:17):
24-7.
If the phone rings, I answer it.
I don't care when it is, and ifsomebody needs my help and
they're 45 minutes away I'll go.
You know, I just do it.
Speaker 1 (09:32):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (09:33):
I just do it.
Speaker 1 (09:33):
Yeah, I think it's.
Yeah, sometimes it.
I mean I've seen plenty ofpeople that were running, were
sort of the general manager of acompany and then they buy the
company and they have no idea.
Oh my.
God the general manager isdifferent than actually running
and owning.
It's an interesting thing.
So what do you attribute yourgrowth to?
Speaker 2 (10:06):
I first of all what a great community this is.
Speaker 1 (10:11):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (10:11):
What a open welcoming .
How can I help you community?
Oh my gosh, I really feel thatway.
But I am driven.
I love what I do, maybe that'sit.
(10:32):
I absolutely love this craftand I love helping people.
I love doing stuff that theycan't do, seeing stuff they
can't see.
I love that, and so I think I'mdriven in my drive.
(11:02):
I'm driven anyway, but in mybut I can funnel this love of
this craft into that drive.
And I mean I.
I went.
When I first got here, Iliterally walked the streets of
(11:26):
Hendersonville with my resumeand some information on my
little company of two then andone and a half, and I just
knocked on doors.
(11:47):
I just called every realtorthat I could get a hold of and
introduce myself.
I went to all the furniturestores.
I joined everything.
Speaker 1 (12:03):
I love that.
Speaker 2 (12:05):
And I joined everything.
And I'll say something else.
I'm probably most of the timethe oldest person in the room
and sometimes that might feelintimidating, but it's also a
great way to get noticed.
Speaker 1 (12:31):
Yeah, well, if you're new in a community, I mean you
got to get out right.
Yeah, I mean you came here fromLouisville not knowing, at
least, very many people.
Speaker 2 (12:41):
I knew one person.
Speaker 1 (12:43):
I had a client in Brevard.
Right, yeah, one client andyeah.
So, like you say, you knew oneperson.
You've got to get to know somepeople.
The only way to get to know isget out and get networking and
meet some people.
And yeah, you didn't want toquit working.
So it's pretty hard forsomebody like you and me, who
(13:04):
are both driven.
I can appreciate being able tosee things other people can't
see.
I'm one of those guys thatcan't see it.
I definitely can't see it untilit's on the wall.
I mean, you need to paint itbefore I can tell whether it's
whether I mean you can't justgive me a color sample, that
ain't going to work.
I gotta, I have to trust I meanI you know out there, because
I'm one of those people thatthat that needs what you have
(13:26):
that eye, and that, that, thatcapability.
So so the personal life,business life it sounds like
it's all mixed together.
How do you, is there anybalance there?
Or how do you?
How do you look at that?
Speaker 2 (13:45):
It's all mixed together for the good or the bad
.
I moved here for the love ofthe mountains.
I love to hike, I love animals.
(14:05):
I lost my beloved dog rightbefore I left animal nonprofits,
so that's one way, and hikingand being outdoors is something
(14:32):
that means a lot to me.
So I work real hard at carvingout time to do those things, and
I'm an introvert actually, butwe all need friends and so,
(14:58):
besides volunteering and hiking,I really try to you know, have
friends here that you go out todinner and you know, you talk
about your work or their life ormy life and you become friends,
(15:27):
which is very meaningful for me.
And then my family's huge to me.
I have two kids and threegrandkids.
An ex-husband I'm close to, andso I carve out time to go to
(15:48):
where they are and spend timewith them.
But I work all the time.
I take calls, I do stuff, butI'm there, I spend time with
them.
We're going to go in a coupleof weeks to look at college for
my youngest granddaughter not myyoungest, my middle
(16:11):
granddaughter and so I work realhard at staying present with my
family and giving back.
Speaker 1 (16:30):
I love it.
You're staying connected,loving.
I think a lot of people havethe wrong idea about introverts.
Introverts is about where youget your energy.
It doesn't mean you don't likepeople.
It just means at some pointyou've got to go recharge
somewhere, which might meanwalking around in the hills by
yourself, right, yeah, no, Ilove that.
I love that.
(16:50):
So what qualities do you lookfor in team members?
Speaker 2 (17:00):
A love of the craft for me, A love of the craft for
me.
A love of the craft.
Contrary to what people think,designers do not, you know, just
come home with piles of moneyevery day.
It is hard work and we spend alot of time traveling.
(17:24):
So I look for people where,like me, they just want to do
this.
It is their secret power, theirsuperpower, it's their.
(17:56):
I look for that is honesty,being very transparent and
upfront.
I look for somebody that can dothat.
I'm a very you-see-what-you-getperson, what you get person.
(18:22):
I really try to find peoplethat are like that.
And the third thing I alwayslook for is complementary skills
what they can offer I'm notgood at.
Speaker 1 (18:40):
Yeah, I love that an offer I'm not good at.
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (18:41):
I love that and sometimes how that works is then
I'm good at what they're not,and there is a team approach to
our projects.
We almost always go in pairs.
I'm usually the other personand I mean there's two of us and
(19:03):
you know, they have strengths Idon't have, and usually I have
strengths they don't.
Usually works that way andthat's lovely.
It's just like a great benefitto our clients because two heads
are better than one and yeah,so those, if that answers your
(19:27):
no no, I think it's great.
Speaker 1 (19:28):
I think that's.
I think that's wonderful.
I mean, if everybody on theteam was just like you, it'd be
chaos, right.
Speaker 2 (19:34):
Right, it would be chaos, exactly you know.
Speaker 1 (19:39):
Yeah, I like that.
So what words of advice wouldyou give to other business
owners who are looking to grow?
Speaker 2 (19:53):
first of all, to me, you have to believe.
You have to really believe inyour product, what you're
offering.
You really have to know you canhelp somebody with this issue.
(20:16):
Whatever your business is, yougot to know you really can help,
you're really giving, youreally have a service to offer.
I think whether it's selling asofa or being a coach or you've
(20:40):
got, you have to believe in ityourself.
So there's the first thing.
And then I think you have to befearless.
You just have to be fearlessand you have to be okay with
rejection.
It's just part of the journey.
You just you know, noteverybody's going to be crazy
(21:01):
about you.
Not everybody thinks yourproduct is what they need and
you got to be open to validatingtheir feedback.
Speaker 1 (21:15):
Yeah, no, I love that .
I love that.
I mean, you know, rejection isa form of feedback.
I mean, yeah, yeah, maybethey're not a good fit.
Maybe it's just that you're nota good fit for them.
Maybe maybe there's somethingyou need to learn.
So exactly.
It's a hard thing to do to saythank you to a no, but it's but,
it, but it's but.
(21:36):
There is a no, but there is agift in everything, the good and
the bad.
Speaker 2 (21:42):
So there's a gift in every rejection.
Speaker 1 (21:47):
Yeah, I mean, and frankly, you're not going to,
not everybody's going to buy,that's just the you can talk to.
I mean, you can have a veryhigh close rate, but not
everybody's going to buy.
It's just not reasonable.
It's not reasonable andsometimes it's baffling.
You're like what, but you knowwhat?
That didn't make any sense, butit made sense to them.
Speaker 2 (22:09):
Yeah Well, let me just say one more thing that I
think is a key to success, andit's caring about that person,
really caring about that otherperson, that person across the
(22:31):
desk, that person across thecounter, that person when we
walk into their homes, you knowyou got to genuinely,
authentically care about thatperson.
Speaker 1 (22:49):
I agree.
Speaker 2 (22:49):
And people feel that.
They just feel it.
Speaker 1 (22:53):
Yeah, they know if you're there for you.
Yeah, that's right and not them.
Yeah, really, yeah makes itmakes no sense.
They, they, it is, people arenot stupid, and they and they,
we have an innate sense, andactually women are better at
this than men.
Um, but you know, they got it,they're gonna, they're gonna
(23:13):
know, they're, they're gonna,they're going to have that
knowledge.
Speaker 2 (23:16):
If they're being played, they know it.
Oh God.
Speaker 1 (23:21):
I think they come at it thinking that they might get
played, and so I mean they'reactually coming in with that
bias, so you really have toovercome it.
I love that.
So what's the next thing, thenext big thing for Lynn and
designing spaces by Lynn?
What's the next thing, the nextbig thing for lynn and
designing spaces by lynn?
What's the next thing?
Speaker 2 (23:42):
well, I think, uh, I uh want to get more into, uh,
the aging in place, or I don'tknow how to say it.
Speaker 1 (24:06):
No, no, there's actually an aging in place.
Designation for builders oh, Iknow.
Speaker 2 (24:12):
Yeah, and I know about that and we do some of
that, but what I was trying tosay and can't think of the term
is getting more into that market.
Like, I've joined a group ofprofessionals that work with
(24:34):
seniors and we do do work withbuilders and well, not builders
remodelers to augment houses foraging in place.
We do that.
We also work with peopledownsizing and moving in to some
(24:57):
of the independent communitiesaround here and I'd like to
expand on that somewhere andhelp them pick what could fit
into their new house orapartment or whatever in an
(25:25):
independent living campus and Iwant to do more of that.
I think we first of all, that'smy age group, but I and I did it
, I downsized and I think we canbe really helpful to seniors
(25:52):
that this is hard.
It is hard.
It is hard whether you'reaugmenting your lovely house and
making the doors bigger.
Work with uh, we do work withone wonderful builder and do the
(26:31):
design work for them and theselection work with their
clients as they're building newhouses.
But I think we have somethingto offer contractors and new
construction.
But remodel, let us do thedesign portion, let us do that
(26:59):
part and you guys take care ofthe rest of it.
We all kind of have our lane,so those areas, no, I like it.
Speaker 1 (27:09):
Yeah, most builders are looking.
I have a lot of clients thatare builders and remodelers.
Most of most of the builderswant to just build stuff yeah
and so, and remodel and do thatsort of thing.
They don't.
Builders want to just buildstuff yeah and so, and remodel
and do that sort of thing.
They don't actually want to do.
The design.
Design is like one of the hardparts for them.
Yeah, I mean most of them.
Some of them have thatcapability, some of them have
that eye or have a designbackground, but most of them
(27:29):
don't.
So, lastly, what's the best wayfor somebody to get a hold of
Lynn or get a hold of your team?
Speaker 2 (27:39):
Well, you get a hold of Lynn.
Or get a hold of your team,well, they can get a hold of me.
I take all calls, the initialcalls when people have questions
.
Or they can go to our websiteand there's an is 502-333-2338.
(27:59):
And my website is, you know,wwwdesigningspacesbylynncom, and
there's a place for an inquiryand that goes straight to my
email and my email is lynn, withone N at
(28:26):
designingspacesbylyncom.
So any three of those ways isgreat.
Speaker 1 (28:33):
Yeah, just so people know, that's
designingspacesbylyncom.
Yes, yeah, just one N, just sopeople know this Designing
Spaces by Lynn, that's L-Y-Ncom.
Just one N.
Yeah, just one N, and it's Lynnat Designing Spaces by Lynncom.
So we'll include that in shownotes, but we'll have it in
there.
Hey, fantastic, this has beengreat.
Hey, we really love having youas part of our community and
(28:53):
love what you're doing andexcited that you're back
building a business here inWestern North Carolina.
Speaker 2 (29:02):
Well, thank you, and I am grateful and flattered to
be on your show.
Thanks, bill.
Speaker 1 (29:07):
Yeah, thanks, Lynn, and until next time all the best
.
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