In Ask an Influencer, Business of Home explores the creator economy. This week, we spoke with designer Bri Macdonald.
Growing up in Toronto, Bri Macdonald’s television programming of choice was not Disney Channel, but HGTV—specifically, a popular show called Sarah’s Cottage, starring interior designer Sarah Richardson and her husband, Alexander Younger. In more ways than one, the show became Macdonald’s introduction to the world of design.
“When I was 11, I recognized [Sarah’s] husband at an event, and I went up to him and said, ‘I would like to work for your family,’” says Macdonald. “And honestly, if I never did that, my life would be so different.”
That same year, she did become employed by Richardson’s family, as their mother’s helper, assisting in keeping watch over the couple’s two children. Within a few years, she worked her way up to become the designer’s office assistant, and eventually provided support in the design process—even appearing in Richardson’s Sarah’s Mountain Escape series on HGTV. Thanks to this early hands-on experience, by the time she enrolled in a formal design program, she was already taking on her own side projects for friends and family.
But for Macdonald, design wasn’t the entire vision. There was something about design TV—educating viewers, unveiling a big transformation and presenting it all with a flourish—that had instilled in her the dream of starring in her own home renovation show. By late 2019, she had uncovered a new way of approaching her goal.
“I saw this window of opportunity with TikTok,” she says. “I saw this video of a girl who made DIY shelves that got about a million views, and I thought to myself, ‘Oh, my God—I could do that.’”
At the time, she started out with dorm room design tips (inspired by her own living situation at the time)—and two weeks later, discovered she had amassed 45,000 followers. Since then, she has embarked on various multipart series documenting her adventurous projects, including renovating a cottage on a tiny island accessible only by boat and redoing the spaces of some of the internet’s biggest YouTube stars. Along the way, she has racked up a dedicated following: 146,000 on Instagram and 185,800 on TikTok.
Ahead, Macdonald shares advice for getting comfortable in front of the camera, investing in the issues that matter to the design community in the long run, and putting processes in place that make it easier to juggle design and content creation.
Step Into the Limelight
Though Macdonald quickly gained traction on social media with content focused on design tips, it took several more years before she found the niche that would skyrocket her following—and even longer before she learned how to hone her on-screen presentation skills. “The design aspect of everything I was posting was really cool, but I hit my stride when I started becoming more comfortable on camera and showing my personality—when people started to get to know me a bit more,” she says.
The flip switched when she stopped thinking so hard about the intricacies of coming across perfectly on camera—nailing the right inflection or finding the perfect angles—and instead channeled her attention to her passion for design and the projects at hand. “People are watching you for what you’re talking about, what you’re designing, what you’re creating and your talent,” she says. “Focus on that, and focus less on yourself and being in front of the camera.”
Beyond that, she says, it’s simply a matter of putting in the work and having patience with yourself. “I learned that with TikTok, the more you try to put yourself out there, the better you’re going to get at it,” she adds. “If people want some inspiration, just like, scroll to the bottom of my TikTok—we all have to start somewhere!”
A Little Level-Up Help
This year marked a major turning point for Macdonald’s commitment to her design business on social media, as she began investing all of her money back into her growing venture, navigated a still-ongoing relocation to Los Angeles, and started taking her first meetings to develop a show of her own. Before long, she realized she was biting off more than she could chew.
“If I’m going to do this to the extent that [I have been], I’m going to get burnt out,” says the designer. “I’m handling all of the projects, the logistics, and then on top of that, creating a whole content plan—and at the end of the day, making the content is what makes me incredibly happy and excited and passionate.”
For help, she decided it was time to onboard her first employee: her childhood best friend, and as fate would have it, a recent design school graduate herself. Together, the pair have whipped Macdonald’s content and production processes into shape, including developing a calendar for scheduling content on a rotating basis (with different days set aside for documenting shopping endeavors or design planning) and investing in a higher-quality audio setup. They’re also diving deeper into what it means to create content modeled after design TV shows, in a format that keeps viewers engaged and coming back for more.
“What I’ve learned about editing is that [you can use it] to make content into a mini TV show, so at the end of every episode we have a little sneak peek of what’s to come,” says the designer.
Investing in the Future
It’s easy to get lost in the race for more followers, brand deals and projects, so Macdonald made a point to find balance in her growing design and content creation business by signing on as a Habitat for Humanity Ambassador. Through the partnership, she documents how designers and homeowners can donate old furniture and fixtures—even an entire kitchen, on one of her recent renovation projects—to Habitat’s regional ReStores, which give gently used decor a second life.
“Sustainability, in the long term, is going to be a huge aspect of design,” she says. “In the next 10 years, you’re going to see it completely change not only the construction world, but the design world.”
For Macdonald, partnering with Habitat in particular also means laying the groundwork by aligning herself with a topic that she believes will only grow in popularity in the years to come, both for her design content niche and for the next generation of designers and clients. For now, using hay or recycled textiles for home insulation, for example, is an almost experimental choice for sustainability at home—but in a few years, she could be sourcing it for clients.
“I’m really trying to use my platform, especially as I grow, to be part of something really cool for the long term,” says the designer. “At the end of the day, this is my work, and I want to feel proud of what I’m doing.”
