Dana Bergman Falcione and Erica Vassalotti had a surprising path to partnership. Bergman Falcione had earned her master’s degree in architecture and spent five years within an interiors firm in Philadelphia before launching her own venture in 2000. Business was steady, but true growth wouldn’t come until much later—when she got an email from Vassalotti, whose own career had barely just begun. After a few years spent working first as an assistant to the CEO of Anthropologie, and then on the styling team for the brand’s home catalog, she set out looking for a job working more directly in the world of interiors.

“I remember I would walk through town and look in the windows [of Dana’s design shop] and be like, ‘Oh, it’s so pretty in there. I wonder what she does every day,’” Vassalotti tells host Kaitlin Petersen on the latest episode of Trade Tales. “I emailed Dana, and that’s how everything kick-started—and how I found my way into interior design.”

Bergman Falcione enlisted Vassalotti’s help in styling a few projects for photo shoots, and was blown away by her organizational and presentation skills. Before long, she began contemplating a more permanent arrangement. “I kind of jokingly said, ‘Would you ever leave your high-paying job and come work with me?’” she says. “And she did—that’s really how it started.”

They began working together in 2020, and within three years, they became business partners. The early days were spent defining their roles, which came fairly naturally: Vassalotti took on the more decorative aspects of design, while Bergman Falcione continued to head up architecture and construction. Then, together, they began to develop bigger goals for the firm—including providing clients with a greater degree of organization and visibility, and cultivating a team that could keep the engine running as the duo fully embraced their leadership roles.

Elsewhere in the episode, they share what it takes to delegate decision-making, how they’ve divided their roles as co-leaders, and why they’ve avoided becoming the technicians of their business.

Crucial insight: To avoid getting bogged down in an avalanche of day-to-day decisions, Bergman Falcione and Vassalotti empower junior team members to solve problems independently. “There’s this whole strategy called the 1-3-1 strategy, where [team members] have to correctly identify the problem—because a problem identified is half-solved—come up with three solutions, pick the best one and then come to me,” says Vassalotti. “Usually I agree [they’ve] made that right decision, but sometimes employees encounter a problem and their first instinct is to run to you to solve that problem.”

Key quote: “You definitely need a partner who has the same work ethic as you—who’s that crazy person sitting up at night on their laptop looking for the perfect piece,” says Bergman Falcione. “And I think you have to be brutally honest with one another and try not to have your feelings hurt.”

This episode is sponsored by Joon Loloi. If you like what you hear, subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.