Ariel Okin was in the early days of a would-be career in corporate communications when she embarked on a hobby that, at the time, seemed innocent enough: decorating her friends’ first homes and apartments. Just a few years out of college, they couldn’t afford to pay her, but the idea hadn’t occurred to the budding designer anyway—the hours Okin spent creating mood boards and scouring Pinterest flew by joyfully. Before long, however, she was tipped off to a platform that would turn her growing design interest into a veritable side gig.

“One of my best friends’ mom, I saw her and she was like, ‘Have you heard of this company called Homepolish?’” Okin tells host Kaitlin Petersen on the latest episode of Trade Tales. “I applied to be a designer, and it went so quickly. I went from being an entry-level designer, within a year to a year and a half, to being one of their senior, premier designers.”

In just a few years, the scale of her work had grown steadily—as had her client roster. By 2016, she had enough of a pipeline to leave the platform and establish her firm, Ariel Okin Interiors. It didn’t take long for her storytelling instincts to creep back into her work.

Before working in communications, Okin had earned a bachelor’s degree in journalism and a master’s in public affairs, writing for various shelter magazines and home blogs along the way. Gradually, she began to work those interests into her design firm: first through a digital editorial site, then a podcast. Today, her firm’s media arm, Fenimore Lane, also encompasses an annual summit, which gathers together design enthusiasts, brands and professionals. Along the way, those media efforts have ultimately enhanced the firm’s platform and created a funnel for new clients.

“It’s a different side of my brain, but it’s still creative,” says Okin. “It exercises the journalism muscle, and it’s just been a delight to watch it grow.”

Elsewhere in the episode, she shares why her firm doesn’t shoot every project, how a switch to hourly billing has made the firm more profitable, how her presence in the project process is changing as her businesses grow, and what she learned when writing her upcoming debut book.

Crucial insight: Like most designers, Okin finds that business tends to ebb and flow. Busy, design-heavy months after signing several projects are often followed by slower periods, during which her firm switches gears to refine their processes, explore emerging brands and makers, and acquire new skills through continuing education classes (everything from Spanish language courses to construction management). “It’s a mix of professional development, admin, and then also letting your brain wander, finding sources and being creative,” she says. “Being creative without a purpose—often something really interesting can come out of that.”

Key quote: “It’s really important to find people that you feel a synergy with. They challenge you thoughtfully, so you become a better person at work too. If you aren’t open to being pushed and you think you’re the smartest person in the room, then you’re not learning anything.”

This episode was sponsored by Renewal by Andersen and Dallas Market Center. If you like what you hear, subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.