Dear Sean,

I’m a newcomer to the industry and am just getting my firm started. So far, it’s going really well, and I’m lucky to have projects that keep me extremely busy. My problem is that I never can seem to step back and think about the bigger picture. I’d love to grow the recognition for my firm, maybe do product some day, get published—but it’s hard to step back and really try and plan all that out, as I’m so swamped with the day-to-day. What’s the best way to make sure long-term goals happen, as well as what needs to happen next week?

Sincerely,
Next Steps

Dear Next Steps,

The arc of any creative business, interior design very much included, is the same: You work intensely to prove that you belong on the stage. You do whatever it takes to both get the opportunity and demonstrate how worthy you are of it. You transition to being the designer who is recognized for being on the stage. You are then paid not to prove your worth but to show just how far you can go.

If you step back, you can see the transition in another light. Where you are now, the metrics of success you live by are determined by someone else—your client, your vendors, and so on. How much you work, what you are willing to compromise in the effort, and how little you are willing to be paid are all set by forces outside of your control.

However, when you move to the next level, the measurements of achievement become yours to define. What does complete design look like? How will you go about production? What will it all cost and why? These promises will be yours to make and, of course, yours to keep.

So how do you make the transition other than by doing great work? Simple. Start making promises and keeping them. Note that I did not say underpromise and overdeliver, or overpromise and overdeliver. I said make a promise and keep it. For example, if you believe first and foremost in the power of materials, promise your client that you will present this power in such a way that it takes you a step forward in your journey. Translation: You are starting to take risks on things you really believe in. You may not be willing to walk away from the project if you cannot get the material story right from the start, but you are heading there.

Too many designers lose the idea of intentionality because they are focused on the end game—portfolio, PR, product, as you say—when what they should really be doing is working toward becoming the master storyteller they will need to be in order to truly make it as a designer.

Great stories all have tension. You get paid because it might not work. Learning to create tension, hold it and resolve it on your own terms is more important than any publicity you might earn. Yes, amazing work is its own reward; however, it is also expected. What matters is how you get there.

Going back to promises, then. It is not about “Trust me, it will work out in the end.” It is about “I promise to do all that I can to earn permission to have the opportunity to do it again for the next.” Rinse and repeat.

Please remember: The passage of time is worthless without purpose, faith and obsession with what the opportunity can bring. And those are singularly yours to define. So do not get lost in the tactics of it all. Focus on the strategy, the story.

You see, the promises you make will all be driven by your purpose, faith and obsession—one on top of the other, until you find the integrity you are seeking. What will be your first true promise to your clients, your vendors, your referrals, and yourself most of all?

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Sean Low is the go-to business coach for interior designers. His clients have included Nate Berkus, Sawyer Berson, Vicente Wolf, Barry Dixon, Kevin Isbell and McGrath II. Low earned his law degree from the University of Pennsylvania, and as founder-president of The Business of Being Creative, he has long consulted for design businesses. In his Business Advice column for BOH, he answers designers’ most pressing questions. Have a dilemma? Send us an email—and don’t worry, we can keep your details anonymous.