When homeowners first started approaching Anissa Zajac about designing their spaces, she turned them all down. It was a case of imposter syndrome: Despite transforming her own growing family’s home—and capturing an enthusiastic social media following in the process—Zajac had no formal experience in the field. Rather than run the risk of overstepping her bounds, she decided to stay safely within the four walls of her own house.

But when an unexpected tragedy hit close to home, she suddenly experienced a radical shift in perspective. After the abrupt loss of a family member, the imagined barriers holding her back from pursuing her design passions no longer felt so consequential. “I remember thinking to myself, ‘What am I doing?’” she tells host Kaitlin Petersen on the latest episode of the Trade Tales podcast. “I’m sitting here telling myself I can’t do these things I really want to do and enjoy, and that could actually bring income for my family, because I don’t have a piece of paper telling me I can do this?”

Finally, Zajac embraced her talent. She started out with e-design and small consulting gigs, and quickly saw her online following—and the scope of projects in her portfolio—grow much larger. By 2019, she officially launched her Indianapolis-based firm, House Seven Design. In the years since, she has managed a firm that has changed both in shape and size, pivoting from brick-and-mortar retail to e-commerce and back again, and riding the wave of a staffing shake-up that completely altered her approach to building a team and growing as a leader.

Elsewhere in the episode, the designer shares the community-building power of investing in a storefront, how she has implemented new systems to make hiring easier, and why she’s not afraid to let her rates communicate her firm’s value.

Crucial insight: When Zajac’s most trusted team member left the firm, she faced the task of building a new support staff from scratch. After a series of employees who simply weren’t a good fit, she realized it was time to rework her vetting practices. “I’m a horrible interviewer—it’s not my strength,” she says. “I’m a big believer in staying in your lane, and I have now employed other people to help me with the interview process.”

Key quote: “Your rates tell people how good you are. I’m the same way: If I’m going to buy something from somebody, and one’s a little bit more expensive, I’m like, ‘It’s more expensive, so it must be better—but I’m going to investigate why it’s better.’”

This episode was sponsored by Four Hands. Listen to the show below. If you like what you hear, subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.