As a young designer, Kevin Isbell reveled in the on-the-job portion of his design education, which he spent working for established firms and top designers. Now, he’s treating his current role of design principal the same way—and learning what leadership means as he lives it.

When San Francisco–based designer Noz Nozawa pivoted from a marketing career to running her own design firm, she intentionally kept her business lean. Now, she's spending to grow.

Bria Hammel always envisioned herself as a design principal, though that day seemed far off during one of her very first gigs as a retail designer. In the end, the position proved to be a masterclass in salesmanship that’s carried through her career and taught her how to achieve a vision without sidelining her clients taste and styles—or stepping over their boundaries.

When she joined an architecture firm as its sole designer, Katie Vance’s focus was on creating a place for interiors within the studio. Before long, the practice began eyeing a transition into a design/build studio—and suddenly, the new question became: How can interiors become a cornerstone of this business?

Ahmad AbouZanat faced rejection and false starts on his road to design, but when his firm finally took off, it was clear that the future spelled success. Then, his business lost its safety net—and it was up to the designer to rebuild before his budding firm fell off the map.

Shortly after Kelly Collier-Clark launched her design firm, she began expanding her services in all directions. Before long, she realized that she’d lost sight of her firm’s identity—and paring down her offerings would provide the path to find her way back.

Katie Monkhouse was never much of a planner. Then, her steadily growing firm began to seriously pick up the pace—and she realized it would take an all-star team to bring the business to new heights.

During her swift rise to success, designer Christine Vroom appeared to be operating on all cylinders—inside, she was fast approaching a crisis point. The road to recovery not only transformed her personal health, but opened up a new world of connection to her clients.

During the early days of his career, Byron Risdon was a one-man show. As his firm navigates the road to growth, he’s taking on new team members and a new office space—and all the while, learning that stepping back from the day-to-day is the only path forward.

Sarah Goesling has never been afraid of approaching things the hard way; she finds it’s often the surest route to success. From becoming a GC to launching a branding studio, she’s built a career around tackling tough challenges, with the goal of bringing the business—and ultimately, the industry—to new heights.

As college roommates, Aly Morford and Leigh Lincoln never guessed their fast friendship would one day become a business partnership. After launching their design firm, they discovered another shared ambition: the desire to turn their budding business into a brand empire.

After a mid-career pivot, Jenny Wolf successfully built the design team of her dreams. Then, another dream came into view, prompting her to shift her priorities in order to make it happen.

Eva Bradley and Alicia Cheung Lichtenstein had the perfect partnership. They had quit their jobs at a lauded firm to build a design business together, and quickly fell into a synchronous two-person design process. When it came time to grow the firm, they were hit with a sudden realization: in order to grow, they would have to learn to work separately.

Even before embarking on a career in design, Nina Magon always had an entrepreneurial streak. Now, at the helm of her own firm, that streak has only gotten stronger—today, she’s crafting everything from her office culture to her firm’s finances around the ability to deliver true luxury at every step of the design process.

Erin Gates got in at the ground floor of the design blogging boom. When her career took off during a major period of growth for the industry, she managed to hold onto her voice—now she’s using it to share a few hard-earned lessons from the other side.

At the ripe age of 26, Rachel Halvorson saw her just-launched design firm shoot to success. When the inquiries started to flood in, she quickly realized she’d have to claim her own time—before it ran out.

Finding clients, getting published and even making it onto television—those aspects of a career in design came fairly easily to Delia Kenza. The real challenge came when she let go of her firm’s safety net, choosing instead to take ownership over her firm and its future.

Meg Lonergan faced a sudden crisis during the pandemic: in a matter of six weeks, she let go of all of her firm’s team members. To bring her business back from the brink, she took a hard look at her own leadership style, and started building a firm for the long haul.

As Michael Cox rounds out 20 years at the helm of design firm Foley & Cox, he’s reexamining the business’s biggest successes and stumbling blocks over the years—and even acknowledging when one of those hurdles is himself.

Shaun Crha was navigating a burst of new business when a family crisis thrust him into the role of caretaker. The experience forced him to slow down, find a new way of structuring his firm—and taught him that sometimes letting go is the only path to growth.

Lucy O’Brien spent the earliest days of her career saying yes to every project that came her way. It wasn’t until she laid down a new set of ground rules for potential clients that the firm she dreamed of finally started to materialize.

After nearly a decade at the helm of her own design firm, Amy Sklar came to a realization: if she wasn’t profiting from her business, it was simply a hobby. The epiphany led to a transformation in the way she structured her firm’s finances, and prompted her to build a new confidence when it came to communicating that process to clients.

Ashley Ross built her brand on radical authenticity—an approach that became all the more pressing recently, when she decided to reveal a secret about her business journey. Now, she’s sharing why she decided to lay it all out there.

For years, visa restrictions delayed Kuwait-born designer Rydhima Brar from chasing her creative dreams. When the opportunity finally arose, she found she could bring her story to life through design—now, she’s helping clients do the same.

Even before embarking on a career in design, Nina Magon always had an entrepreneurial streak. Now, at the helm of her own firm, that streak has only gotten stronger—today, she’s crafting everything from her office culture to her firm’s finances around the ability to deliver true luxury at every step of the design process.