I love it when technology and design mesh in a way that makes sense, helps businesses grow, and brings happiness to design clients. If you feel the same way, you’d better stop what you’re doing and listen to this interview. If your clients struggle to visualize the design ideas you present to them, despite your great presentation and beautiful mood boards, you know this is a sticking point in your workflow that has the potential to result in smaller sales or slower projects, namely and...

You might be familiar with the term “glow up” when it comes to personal appearance and lifestyle. But have you ever applied that same concept to your business? At the heart of it, glowing up involves taking small, definitive actions that improve your overall quality of life, appearance, and presence. While this episode isn’t about adding a “hot girl walk” into your morning routine, though the viral 4-mile walk probably wouldn’t hurt any of us, it is about self-care from the standpoint of...

Interior designers, home stagers, and organizers, if you’re overwhelmed with work in your business — client work or internal work — you might not need to hire another person. Perhaps you just need better processes and some automation. Perhaps you’re spending too much time doing things that don’t even need to be done. (At all. By anyone.) Or, it’s also possible that the tasks you’re doing really do need to be done, but would be better done by someone else so that you can stay in your zone of...

You’ve heard about SideDoor — the completely unprecedented online tool that lets you sell trade-only products through your website. You might have an account with them. Perhaps you’ve even made a few sales from your curated collections, but how can you truly make it a viable income stream and put all of its features to good use?  Today I’m speaking with Chad Smith, Director of SideDoor. He shares valuable insights into how the most successful interior designers and stagers are using SideDoor...

Mind control — the moment you read those words, you likely had a negative reaction in the pit of your stomach. But here’s the funny thing about it: If you can control your own mind, you become the hero of your own story and a legacy for thousands of others, but if you try to control someone else’s mind, you are the villain in a hundred stories. The concept of mind control, or controlling what we think about, has been painted in a bad, mad-scientist light. Its counterpart, mindfulness, usually...

If you’ve been running a business in the home industry for more than two years, you’ve likely run into some nuanced marketing questions, such as… “Which blog post topics will resonate most with high-end clients versus the DIYers that I don’t want to attract?” “Which marketing tools do I actually need? I’d rather not be working with 15 different platforms.” “My pipeline dried up after years of getting business primarily from referrals. What now?!” If you’d like to hear the answers to these...

Do you have a burning marketing question? Today is your day. In this episode of The Kate Show, I’m answering 10 of the most-asked questions I get from all of you. I’m covering things like, “How can I quickly get my next client?” to “How can I get more contacts on my mailing list?” as well as some hard-won marketing tips from other home professionals who’ve created their own success. This was supposed to be a rapid-fire Q&A, but…I went on a few rants and there will be a follow-up episode...

One of the most frequent requests I get from interior designers, home stagers, organizers, and window professionals is this:  “Can you create a marketing plan for me?” The short of it is, yes, I spend a lot of time doing this on private consulting calls with my Vault members. The longer version of it is… Why don’t I just pull back the curtain on my easy, six-step strategy process so you can do it yourself? Even if you choose to have me do it for you, you’ll be able to come to our private...

I never thought I’d be talking about robots and artificial intelligence on this podcast. But, here I go. If you’ve heard of ChatGPT-4 (for the sake of brevity, I’ll just call it ChatGPT going forward), you’ve likely also heard that some businesses are attempting to let this AI create all their marketing content. If you think that sounds amazing (and who wouldn’t?), you might also wonder if it’s too good to be true (a sign that you’re a smart human). Because ChatGPT is still quite new, I...

Are you frustrated by a lack of results in your marketing, especially when you feel like you’ve been doing everything right? Or perhaps you don’t know if you’re doing anything right but since you’re trying so many different things, one of them is bound to work…right? Not quite. Today on The Kate Show, I’m breaking down the things that you should be doing to market your business in the home industry, as well as a few reasons why these great marketing strategies might not be working for you...

If you've been struggling to get your first client or if your ultimate goal is to attract the high net worth client but all your online marketing methods are falling flat, you need to meet today's guest on The Kate Show Podcast. Self-made international entrepreneur, interior designer, and architect Nina Parvaresh pulls back the curtain on how she broke into the ultra-wealthy demographic (think: Dubai, Milan, and locations in Saudi Arabia) without any initial connections. Nina also generously...

Guys, the marketing landscape is shifting. I started to feel it personally in late 2022 when I all but stopped using social media for my business. After that, my own business continued to grow by way of new clients, opportunities, and brand sponsorships all without social media. It felt weird and it was honestly just a test. (In case you're wondering, I now only post an old-fashioned image and caption on Facebook and Instagram once or twice per week.) My test, which I affectionately dubbed...

"I need more website traffic," is a common statement that hits my inbox from interior designers, home stagers, and organizers who want more clients. However, many business owners aren't aware of their existing website traffic stats. This presents a problem: Unless you know where you are, you can't know where you need to go. "I look at my website analytics, but I can't make sense of them." Relatable much? If either of these situations describes you, prepare to be enlightened. Today on The...

Do you ever feel like growing your business is an insurmountable task? Maybe you have young kids and no extra time. Maybe you're working out of your garage. Maybe you don't "come from money" or you have very few connections. If you are feeling discouraged or intimidated by your lofty business goals, you need to hear the wisdom shared by today's guest. Today I'm talking with Taylor Angel of Angel's Linings. Not only is Taylor the third generation in her family-run, multi-million dollar...

Do overthinking, stress, and worry describe your day-to-day while running your business? Do you feel the need to clone yourself just to keep everything together? If so, today's episode of The Kate Show is for you....and for me. I'm not sure if I've ever had a podcast guest pinpoint SO WELL the exact issue that so many of us female entrepreneurs face: Overthinking, which leads to stress, which leads to stalling, with leads to nothing getting accomplished except poor decisions or chronic...

How do you market your business if you've relocated? There's nothing worse than getting to a new location and having the stress of moving and unpacking, only to realize that you have no projects lined up and not so much as a warm lead in your inbox. But there is good news! This discouraging situation is highly preventable. If you've already moved and haven't done any of the marketing preparation I am sharing today, don't worry. You can play catch-up. However, I do hope you're reading (or...

Are you feeling uneasy about whether you are doing everything you can to market your design, staging, organizing, or window treatment business? If so, it's time to refocus. Don't let yourself get stuck in a rut, doing the same marketing tasks over and over without ensuring that one flows into the next and that you can track the appropriate results. Spoiler alert: Not every marketing activity should result in new clients. For example, pinning on Pinterest will not directly bring you more...

Today's episode of The Kate Show isn't a tutorial on how to be a great mompreneur — because I actually have no idea how to do that. Instead, I'm sharing a few of the struggles, solutions, and boundaries I've uncovered thus far in my journey. If you run a business and have kids or plan to in the near future, it's time to listen up. It's about to get real.

Have you ever wished you could hire someone to help with your interior design firm without having to spend weeks training them or months holding their hand? If so, it's time to consider skipping your next intern and jumping straight to a true, experienced professional. Today's guest on The Kate Show is easily seen as the fairy godmother of interior design businesses. She's experienced, she adapts to your business, and she will make your business more efficient while helping you stress less.

If I could go back to 2014 and give myself some words of wisdom as a new business owner, I'd have a lot to say. I'd give myself a heads-up on every mistake the "older" me would make and share how the "younger" me could avoid those pitfalls. The thing is... Those experiences, especially the bad ones, brought me something incredibly valuable as an entrepreneur: Wisdom. My friend, today's episode of The Kate Show is for the newbies. If you recently started your journey in the home industry, as...

Do you use Linktree in your Instagram bio? While it's popular and seems like a great idea, Linktree is actually taking all the traffic that should be going directly to your website. This is no fault of Linktree; it's just how technology works. Rather than using a third-party tool like this to redirect your social media fans to wherever they need to go, and thus lose the website traffic, you should instead be using a page on your own website for this exact purpose. Today on The Kate Show, I'm...

In the interior design world, delays and backorders happen, even on a regular day. Add into the mix both economic and political global upheaval — with a dash of supply chain issues — and you've got yourself a cocktail that isn't all that easy to swallow. How do you keep track of which products or materials are ordered, en route, delayed, or delivered? You might have to hire a team member for that position or somehow squeeze it into your already-full schedule. Or...you might want to work with...

"I need an email sequence, but I'm not sure what it should say." If you've ever thought about this, you aren't alone. Unfortunately, there are many coaches and online course creators who will try to convince you that your home industry business needs a long, complex email sequence in order to generate leads. While this might be true of other industries, it's not an effective strategy for interior design, window treatment, home staging, or organizing businesses. Not only does that advice...

"Live and learn," has been the most cliché and yet the most accurate theme of my life, and I know that I'm not alone in this. Today on The Kate Show, I'm getting personal with you and sharing some of my top regrets — and top wins — since starting my business eight and a half years ago. Why talk about my regrets? Because those who don't know their history are doomed to repeat it (another cliché that I firmly believe). If I said I wouldn't do anything in the past differently, I would risk...

As someone who runs a marketing agency, I often work with home professionals who are trying to sell a digital product. I KNOW it can be difficult, especially when you are first getting started. Unfortunately, selling digital products isn't as simple as creating a PDF and setting a price on your website. Today on The Kate Show, I'm walking you through how to create, set up, market, and sell your first digital product. I'll be sharing a list of tools I recommend for creating and delivering your...