A Well-Designed Business® | Interior Design Business Podcast - 712: Power Talk Friday: Molly Schoneveld: Leveling Up Your Interior Design Business to Celebrity Status

712: Power Talk Friday: Molly Schoneveld: Leveling Up Your Interior Design Business to Celebrity Status

10/15/21 • 82 min

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A Well-Designed Business® | Interior Design Business Podcast

Today with Molly Schoneveld:

Welcome to A Well-Designed Business. Some of you aspire to be a designer that helps people in your community live better, feel better, and appreciate their spaces more. Others want to design for the high-end client, creating luxury spaces. But others want something a little bit different—to become celebrity designers featured on television and in major publications. Today, publicist Molly Schoneveld is going to share with us how you structure your career to strategically build up your persona and work toward that celebrity status.

Pick it apart:

[1:21] Molly shares what your number one job is when you desire to be a celebrity designer.
[15:21] Molly and LuAnn discuss the importance of having a signature style and investing in quality photography for your portfolio.
[27:03] Molly explains why niching is even more important if you want to become a celebrity designer.
[30:30] Molly lays out the steps to getting featured in the media as a designer.
[42:54] Molly shares what it takes to reach out for collaborations and cross-promotions to help grow your online presence.

LuAnn and Molly Schoneveld’s Ah-Ha moments:

“What do you want to be known for? ONe of the commonalities between people who want to be on television and those who just want successful firms is that if you want to be known, you have to hone your own style.” -Molly

“Having a point of view or a signature style...we all know designer colleagues that will design a beautiful Mediterranean home, or a Scandinavian design, or whatever it is, but what you’re saying is that if you’re going to be a celebrity designer, you have to dive into a niche.” -LuAnn

“Certainly you can get publicity without a niche, if your projects are of a certain caliber. Getting your project placed is one thing. Trying to really build your personal brand and your studio brand is something else. So having a point of view is really the thing you need, if you want to take it to the next level.” -Molly

More About Molly Schoneveld:

Molly Schoneveld founded The Storied Group in 2008 (under the name SW PR SHOP) to offer a unique point of view at the intersection of entertainment, design, and luxury lifestyle. She has over 15 years of experience in PR and marketing, beginning her PR career at PMK/HBH (now Rogers & Cowan PMK), where she worked with A-list talent, as well as on Oscar campaigns for directors, producers and films. In 2007, she left PMK to launch her sister-in-law's maternity line called Schone Maternity. The line was enormously successful, being touted by O, The Oprah Magazine as "the really good guy of the month" for their dedication to fair labor factories and support of artisans across the globe. It was working with Rebecca that ignited Molly's entrepreneurial spirit, and while she loved the gratification of watching this new line prosper, she missed the diversity of working with more than one client. It wasn't long before she formed a partnership with a former PMK/HBH colleague Jennifer Weaver to begin SW PR Shop. The two grew the business together for nine years until Jennifer moved out of state. Molly took over the company and rebranded under the name The Storied Group. Career highlights Include putting the Interior design firm Hammer and Spear on the map as a design destination In the downtown L.A. Arts District, and helping to transform Golden Door, which had become a tired brand that was once a pioneer In the wellness industry, back Into what Conde Nast Traveler called In 2019, "The Most Iconic Spa." Molly has worked with such design talent as Drew Scott of Lone Fox Home, Kishani Perera, Hammer and Spear, Lisa Gilmore Design, Marie Flanigan Interiors, The Habitat Collective, Tracie Butler, and many others. Her first job was working for producer Brian Grazer at Imagine Entertainment, the year he won the Oscar for A BEAUTIFUL MIND. Molly has built a solid reputation providing great attention and care to every client and has proven success in getting results. She has secured cover and feature stories in domestic and international publications, including Architectural Digest, WSJ, Vogue, Vanity Fair, Veranda, InStyle, House Beautiful, Departures, New York Times, Robb Report, Sunset, as well as numerous television segments with a national audience.

Connect with Molly Schoneveld:

Website

Instagram

Facebook

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Today with Molly Schoneveld:

Pick it apart:

[1:21] Molly shares what your number one job is when you desire to be a celebrity designer.
[15:21] Molly and LuAnn discuss the importance of having a signature style and investing in quality photography for your portfolio.
[27:03] Molly explains why niching is even more important if you want to become a celebrity designer.
[30:30] Molly lays out the steps to getting featured in the media as a designer.
[42:54] Molly shares what it takes to reach out for collaborations and cross-promotions to help grow your online presence.

LuAnn and Molly Schoneveld’s Ah-Ha moments:

More About Molly Schoneveld:

Connect with Molly Schoneveld:

Website

Instagram

Facebook

What’s new with LuAnn Nigara

luannuniversity.com

http://www.luannnigara.com/cob

Get The Goodies!

For checklists, resources, and extra goodies from A Well-Designed Business sign up for free

Previous Episode

711: Christine Platt: The Afrominimalist

Today with Christine Platt

Welcome to a Well-Designed Business. Christine Platt, the author of The Afrominimalists Guide to Living with Less offers a fresh take on minimalism, why it’s not just a one-day throw-out marathon, and what it takes to get to the core of how we got overwhelmed with clutter in the first place.

Pick it apart:

[7:58] Christine shares where to start your journey of discovery

[14:35] Christine describes her one day, one year challenge

[18:16] Christine shares what minimalism means for her

[23:40] Christine shares about buy-nothing groups as a way to release your items

[45:35] Christine summarizes her theory of minimalism

LuAnn and Christine Platt’s Ah-Ha moments:

“For me, minimalism is really just about being a more mindful, intentional consumer - just having the things you need and love in your life.” - Christine Platt

“It’s good for your own mental health - clutter takes up physical space and mental space.” - Christine Platt

“Our natural way of being is always to just have enough.” - Christine Platt

“We have to learn to be content with enough.” - Christine Platt

More about Chrsitine Platt:

Christine Platt is a modern-day renaissance woman also known as The Afrominimalist. She holds a B.A. in Africana Studies, M.A. in African-American Studies, and J.D. in General Law. An award-winning author of over two dozen literary works, Christine’s most recent book, THE AFROMINIMALIST’S GUIDE TO LIVING WITH LESS is a radical re-envisioning of minimalism that focuses on authenticity over aesthetics. A resource for anyone seeking to discover the truth behind their overconsumption as well as how to let go of what no longer serves them, The Afrominimalist’s Guide to Living with Less encourages us to be intentional, mindful consumers so our lives are filled with only those things we need, use, and love. Visit her online at TheAfrominimalist or on Instagram @afrominimalist.

Connect with Christine Platt:

Website

Instagram

Facebook

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The Power Talk Friday Tour at High Point

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Book 2: A Well-Designed Business – The Power Talk Friday Experts

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Next Episode

713: Geoff Siebold: Luxury Carpet Knowledge for the Interior Designer

1 Recommendations

Today with Geoff Siebold

Welcome to a Well-Designed Business. Today, we’re diving into the world of luxury carpets. While most of us don’t understand the intricate inner workings of carpets, my guest today, Geoff Siebold of Stanton Carpet, thinks that we should, and I agree with him. In this episode, Geoff explains to me what we need to understand about the practicality of different carpet types so that we can steer our clients in the right direction and offer them more value through our own knowledge and expertise.

Pick it apart:

[4:15] Geoff discusses how the environment and lifestyle of your clients affect carpet choice, and what “practical luxury” means.
[10:49] Geoff highlights how synthetic carpets have improved over time, offering more choices for your clients.
[22:00] Geoff gives us a deep-dive into the construction of carpets and what it means for your clients.
[33:10] Geoff and LuAnn discuss how different traffic areas impact carpet choices, and talk about a special tool to help your clients.
[44:57] Geoff reminds us of the factors that affect a carpet’s performance.

LuAnn and Geoff Siebold's Ah-Ha moments:

“It’s important to understand your environment....One of the catchphrases for Stanton is ‘practical luxury.’ It’s having a product that looks fantastic but is suited either with fiber or construction to withstand everyday maintenance. There certainly is a time and a place for the luxury setting, whether it’s a master suite, or you’re an empty nester and there isn’t a lot of traffic or pets. But as a general rule, you want to make sure that if it’s a space with a lot of traffic, it’s a durable construction.” -Geoff Siebold

“What you’re saying is that companies like yours, Stanton, the big products, if your mission is to educate the sales staff and support staff at the designer trade room, then we only have to say to them, ‘I want more information beyond the look the style, the feel, I want to really understand what it is that I should know about carpeting so that I am an informed person when I go to do my projects.’” -LuAnn Nigara

“I think many of the designers that are bold enough, and brave enough, and assertive enough to bring knowledge to the table, those are the ones that add value. It’s not ‘whatever the end-user wants, the end-user gets,’ it’s got to be one of those things where not only do we know what’s best for the interior in terms of color, style, and pattern, but now we need to talk about the actual practical living that you’re going to have to accommodate to get this type of product. That upfront management of expectations is so important.” -Geoff Siebold

More about Geoff Siebold:

Geoff Siebold has been passionately engaged in the luxury carpet and area rug market for over 22 years. He began his career as a manufacturer's sales agent representing high-end carpet and rug brands throughout the Midwestern United States. He was responsible for cultivating business from designers, architectural firms and wholesale-direct showrooms. Within a year, he was hired by one of the manufacturers to become their Midwest Regional V.P. of sales. He was the youngest manager in the company's history. From there he moved on to be a National Director of Dealer Sales for a prominent luxury area rug manufacturer. In early 2007, Geoff returned to his agency roots and once again represented the best domestic and international manufacturers and distributors in the luxury carpet market.

Then, in 2014, Stanton Carpet hired him to be their National Sales manager for Antrim Carpet and ultimately the National V.P. of premiere brands including Antrim, Rosecore and Crescent Carpets. Geoff has extensive experience helping designers curate products and leverage technologies in order to grow business and add value to their clients. He has also developed specific training programs aimed at helping designers better understand fiber, construction and application of luxury carpets.

Connect with Stanton Carpet:

What’s new with LuAnn Nigara

luannuniversity.com

Inside Voice, Outside Voice Monthly Virtual Events

http://www.luannnigara.com/cob

Get The Goodies!

For checklists, resources, and extra goodies from A Well-Designed Business sign up for free here.

To Get on LuAnn’s Email List, text the word designbiz to 4...