On the new Ask Us Anything podcast, editor in chief Kaitlin Petersen taps former Trade Tales guests to answer real, confidential designer questions, offering a safe space to discuss business frustrations, conundrums and fears. (Have a question of your own to ask? Send an email to start the conversation.)

The window of time between when a client expresses interest in working with a designer and the moment the pair agree to move forward (or not) may be brief, but it’s packed with unspoken complexities. This week, Emilie Munroe joins the show to answer a question from a fellow designer who’s looking for a set of ground rules to help her navigate that uncertain period—including how to best interview clients, when to start talking about money, and whether or not to charge for design consultations.

Munroe, whose interior design firm Studio Munroe is based in San Francisco, offers advice on why vetting is a two-way interview, how charging for consultations can cloud your firm’s end goal, and what it means to embrace client rejection.

Crucial insight: When it comes to discussing money with potential clients, Munroe often lets them take the lead: If they don’t ask about it, she doesn’t bring it up. Instead, she allows the conversation around design needs to unfold organically, setting the stage for the implicit reasoning behind her fees. “If your billing is going to be an issue, it’s going to be an issue, whether you say it first or last,” she says. “However, building the connection, keeping the person out of the left side of their brain, the analytical side, and giving them a chance to move into their art side, their creative side; talking to them about their environment and helping illustrate a vision and a process—that’s where you may be able to [help] them understand why they’d make the investment.”

Key quote: “When I founded my business, a vendor of mine was like, ‘Your business will show you what it needs. You’ll have a vision, [but] let it tell you, as it grows, the direction it needs to take.’ … I loved that, because this business has shown me new directions, new ways of thinking, new ways it needed to be supported, and new ways of presenting our end product and interacting with colleagues and clients. It’s nice to view the business as a separate entity that you are nurturing as well as following.”

This episode was sponsored by Four Hands and Crypton. If you like what you hear, subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.