When Tiffany Skilling saw that people-pleasing was bad for business, she made a U-turn, sharpening her project filter and shoring up her boundaries.

Being a people-pleaser can be a blessing and a curse, a truth Tiffany Skilling knows better than most. For years, the Indianapolis designer’s default answer was yes—until she finally realized that approach wasn’t always attracting the right projects, clients or collaborators. “There were a couple of jobs that weren’t the best when I reflected on them and how they impacted my team,” she says. “I had to dig deep and realize I can’t make everyone happy all the time.” Learning to prioritize her company’s core values and needs—and to confidently say no to the wrong opportunities—has been a crucial step for Skilling, and one that has helped her firm flourish.

“When you are just starting to get your name out there as a small business—especially in a niche like historic home renovation—you feel like you have to take every opportunity that comes your way,” she says. That meant greenlighting projects with less-than-ideal budgets or time frames, clients who failed to constructively participate in the design process, or spouses who clashed.