The early years of Mandy Cheng’s career were a creative whirlwind. After a series of post-grad gigs (as varied as customer service, cosmetics and mortgage loan processing), she began her journey through Hollywood, starting with a role at the DreamWorks Animation studio in Los Angeles before becoming a production and graphic designer for big-budget films and A-list musical artists. The experiences were great for Cheng’s artistic side—but not so great for her personal well-being.

“My [now-husband] recognized that I was really tired all the time, and I was always worried about how I was going to pay my bills for the next month or two, and so he suggested, ‘What about interior design?’” Cheng tells host Kaitlin Petersen on the latest episode of the Trade Tales podcast. “I think I [realized], ‘I can work normal hours, and I can have my own business.’ It was obviously a scary jump, but it seemed doable.”

In 2012, she officially launched Mandy Cheng Design. While the firm was finding its footing, Cheng spent the first few years looking only as far ahead as the next project. Over time, that began to change: As she built up a project pipeline, she was soon able to bring on one staff designer, then two—eventually working up to a six-person team. More recently, her efforts have earned the industry’s recognition as well, as evidenced by four consecutive years on the AD100 and a growing cadre of high-profile clients. For Cheng, those accomplishments represent years of hard work—but not the culmination of her firm’s growth.

“I have been so fortunate to have been awarded various accolades, and I think with that comes the pressure of continuing them, and how do I go about that?” says Cheng. “There’s always the goal of maintaining that, or becoming relevant in some other way in design, and also to grow from a design perspective.”

Elsewhere in the episode, she shares why she’s not delegating the firm’s finances, the best methods for decoding a client’s taste, and the client education document that transformed how she vets potential new projects.

Crucial insight: Each time a prospective client expresses interest in working with Cheng’s firm, she responds with a document: a 37-page digital packet that covers everything from typical budget ranges to her project process, along with samples of mood boards and renderings. “It really shortens the amount of learning time it takes for a client,” she says. “I could have five meetings with a client before they decide to hire me because they’re asking me all these questions, or I could prepare this document, have them look at it, study it, talk it over among themselves. And then whatever the remaining questions are, I’ve found those can all be answered in one meeting.”

Key quote: “[I always] go back to the psychology of it all: Who is this client? What do they want? They hired me for a reason, and I need to get them out of their comfort zone a little bit in order for the two of us to meet at some design point, so how far can I push them, and how do I go about that? That’s always my focus.”

This episode was sponsored by Klafs. If you like what you hear, subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.