Throughout her career, Lauren Caron has had her hourly rate set by others. In the early days, it was the now-defunct Homepolish; more recently, the Seattle designer was tapped to offer hour-long virtual consultations on The Expert. Each time, she’s found that someone else putting a price on her work has given her a fresh confidence in her own value.
Is there a specific moment when you feel like you started charging what you’re worth?
Part of me still feels like I have to keep up with it. Before design, I was working in corporate window display and retail store design in the fashion industry, where the pay is very low. So when I left, launched my firm and started charging whatever I was charging at the beginning, I felt I was making so much more money than when I was at Bergdorf and Tiffany. Then a year went by and I realized that I still wasn’t charging enough—there are just so many costs when you are starting a business.
BOH subscribers and BOH Insiders.