Today was a business development day and a much needed one at that! I went to the Washington Design Center to hear two great presentations on business management and branding your business. Keith Granet, who heads a management consulting business for the design industry and truly has a "who's who" list of clientele focused on the business side of design, a topic us creative types often cringe to think about! He asked a key question, "Where will you be in five years" which really held a lot of wisdom in it when you think about. He talked about that being the guiding light in our business. A good way to look at life as well. I had such a strong image of where I'll be in five years that it almost felt real – very exciting! He just published his first book, aptly named The Business of Design and of course, I had to purchase it after hearing just a little bit of all that he has to share on building a successful design business.
A quick break for lunch and then it was off to hear Christiane Lemieux of DwellStudio talk about branding our business. You may not know her by name but you've definitely seen her lines featured in magazines along with an exclusive line she's created for Target. She is a branding genius! Her energy and enthusiasm were infectious and she was so down to earth and inspiring! She walked us through key things we need to be doing to build our brand and industry trends in general. She predicts bold colors will make a huge comeback this fall and has already incorporated this into her fall lines. Everything has been grayed down for so long that we're almost craving color in our decor again. It will be interesting to see if this trend follows with all the manufacturers at Highpoint Market in October. When asked where her inspiration comes from, she responded her surroundings and not necessarily what others have done in the past – love it. Very organic and truly original!
Her new book, Undecorate, The No-Rules Approach to Interior Design, talks about how design today really needs to be about matching lifestyle and tastes and really reflect the homeowner's personality – amen! I was able to get an autographed copy – so fun! There is something very special about getting an autographed copy. Looks like I got some reading to do!
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