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A Great Home Design Happens Long Before Delivery Day with Caitlin Madia, Remarkable Interior · Epic Entrepreneurs

0:46
SPEAKER_00: Hi everyone, welcome to this week's episode of Epic Entrepreneurs.
0:49
SPEAKER_00: I am Cliff McRae with Action Coach Business Growth Partners, where we work with local business owners to turn big ideas into real scalable growth.
0:58
SPEAKER_00: Today I'm excited to be joined by Caitlin Medea with Remarkable Interior.
1:02
SPEAKER_00: Caitlin, how are you doing today?
1:03
SPEAKER_02: I'm doing wonderful.
1:04
SPEAKER_02: How are you?
1:05
SPEAKER_00: I'm doing great.
1:06
SPEAKER_00: And we're really, really excited to have you here, hear more about your story.
1:09
SPEAKER_00: So if you don't mind, let's go ahead and jump right into it.
1:12
SPEAKER_02: Perfect.
1:13
SPEAKER_00: All right.
1:13
SPEAKER_00: So, you know, tell us a little bit about Remarkable Interiors.
1:17
SPEAKER_00: You know, what are you providing for the community?
1:19
SPEAKER_02: So, Remarkable Interiors is a full-scale interior design business.
1:23
SPEAKER_02: And so when I say full scale, we help everybody from concept to completion.
1:27
SPEAKER_02: So if someone's working on furnishing just a living room, we're able to help with that.
1:32
SPEAKER_02: But if you're taking on a remodel by yourself or have a contractor, we're able to assist and give guidance in that process as well.
1:38
SPEAKER_02: So that's what we mean.
1:39
SPEAKER_02: Full encompassing everything to help make your house into a home.
1:44
SPEAKER_00: Okay.
1:45
SPEAKER_00: And then what about uh Caitlin Medea, who, you know, what do you got going on personally?
1:49
SPEAKER_00: Do you have any hobbies or anything?
1:50
SPEAKER_00: Umdea.
1:52
SPEAKER_02: Caitlin Medea is a very passionate interior designer.
1:55
SPEAKER_02: I'm a new, I have an eight-month-old baby.
1:58
SPEAKER_02: I have a husband.
1:59
SPEAKER_02: I have a wonderful family.
2:01
SPEAKER_02: I have a wonderful sister.
2:02
SPEAKER_02: I like to spend time with my friends.
2:04
SPEAKER_02: I'm I'm guilty of a pleasure of a operal spit spritz occasionally.
2:08
SPEAKER_02: So, but really before I had a family, you know, my business was my baby.
2:13
SPEAKER_02: So cultivating and building remarkable interiors where we are today has kind of taken up a lot of my bandwidth.
2:19
SPEAKER_00: Okay.
2:20
SPEAKER_00: That's awesome.
2:21
SPEAKER_00: And again, you know, really congratulations on that AMO though.
2:24
SPEAKER_00: That's awesome.
2:24
SPEAKER_00: You know, I know you've I know you've got uh a lack of time, so we should not make this too long for you.
2:31
SPEAKER_01: No, that's wonderful.
2:33
SPEAKER_00: So, you know, Caitlin, how did interior design become your path?
2:37
SPEAKER_00: You know, tell us about your story and how you got started.
2:40
SPEAKER_02: You know, being from West Virginia, there's not, we're not known for the world's biggest mecca of interior design services.
2:48
SPEAKER_02: And I remember going to my family and telling them I want to be an interior designer.
2:52
SPEAKER_02: And my dad absolutely said, What is that?
2:54
SPEAKER_02: That's not a job.
2:55
SPEAKER_02: You need to be a nurse or you need to be an engineer.
2:57
SPEAKER_02: And I genuinely thought, wow, you have high ambitions for me, dad.
3:00
SPEAKER_02: I don't think I can, I'm capable of it.
3:02
SPEAKER_02: And there's something about the art of turning someone's house into a home and the excitement of it.
3:09
SPEAKER_02: You know, these are major investments that people are making.
3:11
SPEAKER_02: And everyone needs a home.
3:12
SPEAKER_02: Everyone wants a house, everyone wants a place they want to go to as a sanctuary.
3:16
SPEAKER_02: It's your comfort zone, it's where you raise your family and you entertain and you bring your most special people to your house.
3:23
SPEAKER_02: And, you know, I turned something like a creative idea into a career.
3:27
SPEAKER_02: And I'm super fortunate for that because I don't think when people think of West Virginia that there's opportunities for interior designers.
3:35
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
3:35
SPEAKER_00: No, that's that's definitely true.
3:37
SPEAKER_00: Now, what kind of made you decide to turn that creative skill into a business?
3:43
SPEAKER_02: I always had this dream of owning a business.
3:45
SPEAKER_02: And I think what I've listened to other entrepreneurs is that you have this passion and a spark.
3:50
SPEAKER_02: And when you want to create that into something, you have this pipeline dream of being a business owner.
3:55
SPEAKER_02: And I always knew I wanted to be a business owner, but what I didn't know is I loved interior design.
4:01
SPEAKER_02: I didn't necessarily love the aspect of being a business owner.
4:04
SPEAKER_02: So I've actually had to work way harder on being a more talented and crafted and skilled business owner than I did on the natural instinct of being an interior designer.
4:13
SPEAKER_02: So the business aspect of it is actually the most taxing part.
4:17
SPEAKER_02: I think I've also heard, like I said, heard other entrepreneurs say, you know, I didn't know what I didn't know.
4:22
SPEAKER_02: And I experienced a lot of that on daily different, different facets.
4:26
SPEAKER_02: I started my business as a window treatment company while I worked my nine to five job as an interior designer for a local furniture store.
4:34
SPEAKER_02: And my side hustle was window fashion.
4:37
SPEAKER_02: So I would help people do custom window treatments and blinds, and I would do that as a true side hustle.
4:42
SPEAKER_02: 8 a.m.
4:43
SPEAKER_02: to about 9:30 a.m.
4:44
SPEAKER_02: I would take appointments in an afternoon when I got off work at six o'clock, I would go to measures or I go bring samples to someone's house.
4:51
SPEAKER_02: And I worked on weekends to make that passion come alive.
4:54
SPEAKER_02: And as that was picking up traction, I kept feeling this little scratch in the back, like, oh, you got to do your design business.
5:01
SPEAKER_02: You got to do your design business.
5:02
SPEAKER_02: And finally, I took the leap of faith about four years ago, three and a half years ago, to start Remarkable Interiors.
5:08
SPEAKER_02: And I'm so fortunate for the opportunities it's blessed me with.
5:12
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, no, no, no doubt about that.
5:14
SPEAKER_00: Now, how would you describe the type of client and project Remarkable Interiors is best suited for?
5:20
SPEAKER_00: You have one.
5:21
SPEAKER_02: Busy homeowners, like people who are afraid to make a costly mistake.
5:25
SPEAKER_02: I see all the time, you know, people are really good at their day job, but they don't necessarily have the skill or the craft or the eye to pull together these thousand of dollar projects.
5:36
SPEAKER_02: And I just recently got a phone call for somebody and she was the kindest person.
5:40
SPEAKER_02: She was already underway in her construction progress, and she felt so overwhelmed.
5:43
SPEAKER_02: She's like, I know what I want.
5:45
SPEAKER_02: I know the colors that I want to do, but it's just not coming together.
5:48
SPEAKER_02: And it kind of made me chuckle a little bit.
5:50
SPEAKER_02: Like this person is super fluent.
5:53
SPEAKER_02: She's got probably great tastes, but at the end of the day, it's more than just picking colors, it's the scale and helping pull all the pieces of this puzzle together to make it make sense for you.
6:03
SPEAKER_02: You know, she was really struggling.
6:04
SPEAKER_02: She's like, something's not working.
6:06
SPEAKER_02: And a lot of times people have that second guess feeling when they're going through remodel or they're spending a lot of money on furnishings.
6:12
SPEAKER_02: So they're like, is this really the right decision for me?
6:15
SPEAKER_02: And that's why an interior designer is such a beneficial asset for a lot of these busy homeowners because you're going based off of what you read online, or maybe you're using ChatGPT to help give you guidance, but you have to live with those decisions for a long time.
6:29
SPEAKER_02: You typically only get one by the apple for one of those big remodels where most people don't get the opportunity to always build their dream home.
6:36
SPEAKER_02: So you're making decisions in rapid fire play pace, and you're just praying that it all comes together the way you think it's going to.
6:42
SPEAKER_02: And that's where disappointment sets in for a lot of clients.
6:45
SPEAKER_02: Like, ooh, this didn't turn out the way I thought it was going to.
6:48
SPEAKER_02: In my mind, it just looks so much better.
6:50
SPEAKER_02: Because you can't always vision, you know, where those shortcomings are going to happen or where those things aren't going to come together the way you had really prayed or like hoped they would.
7:00
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, no, no doubt.
7:01
SPEAKER_00: That's definitely true.
7:03
SPEAKER_00: So, Caitlin, I know your work spans remodels, new builds, furnishings, and other design services.
7:09
SPEAKER_00: Is that right?
7:10
SPEAKER_01: Yes.
7:11
SPEAKER_00: Yep.
7:11
SPEAKER_00: Now, which type of project usually gives you the most creative energy, would you say?
7:16
SPEAKER_02: I actually love furnishings the best.
7:18
SPEAKER_02: It's what we are fastest at.
7:20
SPEAKER_02: I think it's where a lot of people can have a good return on their investment.
7:24
SPEAKER_02: But where we find a lot of people need the most help is the construction aspect because you're not only dealing with one aspect of getting, you know, a tile, a plumbing piece, where the new light fixtures go, but you're dealing with a lot of different trades.
7:38
SPEAKER_02: And that's where an interior designer can be really helpful for the homeowner.
7:42
SPEAKER_02: How I always tell my clients, I am married to you.
7:44
SPEAKER_02: I am your best friend.
7:46
SPEAKER_02: I work for you.
7:47
SPEAKER_02: I'm not biased by the contractor.
7:49
SPEAKER_02: I'm not biased by the big box store.
7:51
SPEAKER_02: I'm not biased by the plumber letting something skirt and get by that maybe isn't directly according to plan.
7:57
SPEAKER_02: And so I always have my client's best interests at heart, which is really essentially you want that person being your cheerleader and the person to look out for you in the back and the back end too.
8:08
SPEAKER_00: Okay.
8:09
SPEAKER_00: Now, what does a client usually misunderstand about the amount of work happening behind the scenes of a great design project?
8:18
SPEAKER_02: Gosh, thank you for saying that it's they don't know what they don't know.
8:21
SPEAKER_02: So we put out so many fires before it comes to the client's attention.
8:26
SPEAKER_02: You know, dealing with the behind the scenes of like, hey, your cabinet manufacturer is having an issue with the way the plan's going out because the plumbing didn't go in the right placing, or maybe the appliance that you had to swap out because your piece is going to be back ordered.
8:39
SPEAKER_02: So they have to make all these adjustments.
8:41
SPEAKER_02: And we kind of work as a magician in the background, we're here scrambling and it could be a dumpster fire in the background, but to the client facing everything is beautiful and everything is going according to plan.
8:51
SPEAKER_02: And I thrive the best in a little bit of chaos, which is maybe why I love this industry so much, because it's not a one size fits all for every client.
9:01
SPEAKER_02: So when we're working on somebody who's doing a big remodel, we could have 40 hours just in the space planning aspect of it, trying to nail it down to get it right the first time.
9:11
SPEAKER_02: And to the client, it looks so effortless.
9:13
SPEAKER_02: It's like, oh, Caitlin, you're right.
9:14
SPEAKER_02: That's exactly the way it should have been.
9:16
SPEAKER_02: I don't know why we were thinking of moving this wall here or there.
9:19
SPEAKER_02: You know, we do so much behind the scenes thinking and tinkering.
9:23
SPEAKER_02: And it kind of consumes us the way we take on these projects is because, you know, we're thinking the memories that are gonna be shared here, the life's gonna happen here.
9:31
SPEAKER_02: Because at the end of the day, we leave after this project starts, you know, the six months, the nine months, maybe a year plus that we're we're getting to know you.
9:38
SPEAKER_02: Once it's done, you're not really thinking of the interior designer anymore.
9:41
SPEAKER_02: You're just thinking about your beautiful home.
9:42
SPEAKER_02: And so we really strive on getting all the details right in the back end before it goes to execution.
9:47
SPEAKER_02: So there's just so much behind the scenes the client never knows, the troubles we've seen, the repairs that have to happen, just making it a beautiful execution for the day of delivery.
9:57
SPEAKER_00: Okay, okay.
9:59
SPEAKER_00: Now, do you remember like a specific project or business moment which made you think, you know, okay, we've really built something here.
10:06
SPEAKER_00: You have a specific one.
10:09
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I I got to see it's kind of a little bit of a sad story.
10:13
SPEAKER_02: I got to see somebody build their dream home.
10:16
SPEAKER_02: And I was a part of that process from start to finish, essentially.
10:21
SPEAKER_02: So I made every decision for this house, every tile, every paint color, every piece of flooring, every light fixture in there.
10:28
SPEAKER_02: And I got to see someone like fulfill that dream.
10:32
SPEAKER_02: And it was just such a rewarding moment for me to watch it go to fruition that way.
10:37
SPEAKER_02: And unfortunately, that person had some things come up in life.
10:40
SPEAKER_02: And I I remember the day I saw that home hit the market for sale and I was devastated.
10:45
SPEAKER_02: I'm thinking to myself, oh my gosh, this person who just worked their whole career to build this perfect dream home, they're moving.
10:53
SPEAKER_02: And, you know, it just showed me that every decision you make and everyone has these dreams of one day I'm gonna do this, one day that you really have to capitalize on it because one day may never come or life gets busy and the kids get busy.
11:04
SPEAKER_02: So you really need to start enjoying the house that you live in.
11:08
SPEAKER_02: I think COVID sparked the biggest change for people because you had to spend more time at home.
11:12
SPEAKER_02: And so you start dwelling, like, you know, that room that I didn't like that I never used.
11:17
SPEAKER_02: It was the catch-all.
11:17
SPEAKER_02: We need to start utilizing it because we need to spread out.
11:20
SPEAKER_02: We're on top of each other.
11:21
SPEAKER_02: And I think that's carried on.
11:23
SPEAKER_02: It's, you know, now it's 2026.
11:25
SPEAKER_02: More people are still investing in their home.
11:27
SPEAKER_02: They want it to be a space they can live in and a room that you can use.
11:31
SPEAKER_02: There's no longer the rooms that are like just the pretty room.
11:33
SPEAKER_02: You know, where your grandmother used to have the couch, it was white and no one's allowed to go in that carpet.
11:38
SPEAKER_02: Life is too short.
11:39
SPEAKER_02: Use the stuff that you have, the pretties that you have, the things you put on your wedding registries, your sober, your servedware.
11:45
SPEAKER_02: You really need to start maximizing every part and be intentional of your life moving forward.
11:51
SPEAKER_00: I love that.
11:51
SPEAKER_00: I'd love that.
11:53
SPEAKER_00: So, you know, and I don't know if I told you this, but we have a pretty large entrepreneurial audience that listens to our podcast with us every week.
12:00
unknown: Yeah.
12:00
SPEAKER_00: So, you know, we're gonna get into kind of some of those these harder-headed questions a little bit more now, kind of get into some of the real business questions that people want to hear.
12:08
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
12:09
SPEAKER_00: So, you know, what would you say is the biggest challenge that Remarkable Interiors is dealing with right now in this economic climate?
12:16
SPEAKER_02: You know, we are hit with price changes continuously.
12:19
SPEAKER_02: And so all of our pricing is live.
12:21
SPEAKER_02: So you may be working on a home that you're working on a$100,000 project.
12:25
SPEAKER_02: And, you know, from the start, from the time you start to the time you actually sell or execute it, we could have three different price changes there.
12:33
SPEAKER_02: You know, we're always trying to gather the best quotes or get multiple bids on something so we can always execute the best pricing that we can give to somebody and the best execution of the job outcome too.
12:43
SPEAKER_02: You know, there's so many threats that come to our business, our freight companies.
12:47
SPEAKER_02: You know, our price point to get product in has grown significantly.
12:51
SPEAKER_02: Labor costs to get the good tradespeople, those price points have jumped significantly too.
12:56
SPEAKER_02: The price of product since COVID has it jumped so far and few between.
13:01
SPEAKER_02: Like where it should never be reality where we are looking at price ranges, but here we are.
13:05
SPEAKER_02: And, you know, there's just so many outside factors that are outside of our control.
13:09
SPEAKER_02: But the best thing we can do is be advocates for our clients.
13:13
SPEAKER_02: We can say, you know what, if this is outside of scope or outside of budget, let's re-assess, let's drop it down, let's try to make a compromise here.
13:21
SPEAKER_02: So this still falls in the line of good, better, and best for us.
13:24
SPEAKER_02: So we're never compromising overall quality.
13:27
SPEAKER_02: We try to compromise on, hey, what's going to be a faster outcome?
13:30
SPEAKER_02: What's going to be the longest standing?
13:32
SPEAKER_02: Where can we save some money?
13:33
SPEAKER_02: Let's let's cut the budget here to add more money in this area because you know, we're upside down in some places.
13:38
SPEAKER_02: So we try to be our client's best advocate for that.
13:41
SPEAKER_00: I love that.
13:42
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, that's awesome.
13:43
SPEAKER_00: Now, how many hours are you kind of personally working in and on the business in a week?
13:48
SPEAKER_00: Would you say?
13:49
SPEAKER_02: So I'm in a really big growth mindset right now.
13:51
SPEAKER_02: So I work in the business minimum 40 hours.
13:53
SPEAKER_02: But as I said, I have a young family.
13:55
SPEAKER_02: So that has taken me away a little bit more, but I have used every hour that I have in the business to be as efficient as possible.
14:03
SPEAKER_02: In 2025, I had hired a business coach.
14:05
SPEAKER_02: Lo and behold, I ended up being pregnant.
14:07
SPEAKER_02: And which is the best thing I could have done for my business is because it helped me stop being the only doer and empowering my stuff around me.
14:14
SPEAKER_02: And that has allowed my company to grow as well.
14:17
SPEAKER_02: So not only was I targeting how to be a better business owner, but I was trying to give my staff a better experience at work and giving them better tasks, putting the right people in the right seats and having an industry-specific business coach was life-changing for me.
14:32
SPEAKER_00: That's awesome.
14:33
SPEAKER_00: That's awesome.
14:34
SPEAKER_00: How how long have you had the business coach now?
14:36
SPEAKER_02: I started at the end of 2024.
14:39
SPEAKER_02: I was feeling like I was spiraling a little bit.
14:41
SPEAKER_02: You know, we were making good money.
14:43
SPEAKER_02: We were profitable, but I felt like, why isn't there more?
14:47
SPEAKER_02: Or what do I not know?
14:48
SPEAKER_02: Like, where am I, where are the gaps that I I'm not, I'm not, I'm missing?
14:52
SPEAKER_02: And so I started out with a CFO to go kind of class, just understanding my numbers and understanding my financials more.
14:58
SPEAKER_02: And it turned into something bigger than I turned into like full-blown coaching.
15:02
SPEAKER_02: And it really helped me hone in how to make the maximization of remarkable interiors, but also too, how to create careers for other people.
15:08
SPEAKER_02: You know, we we started this small business and now we've grown to like about five employees.
15:14
SPEAKER_02: We're looking to hire another interior designer by the end of the fourth quarter.
15:18
SPEAKER_02: So we are growing in a beautiful pace, but I I always tried slowly growing because I didn't ever want to get in a position where we couldn't handle the overhead or handle the staff or not be able to give people the best opportunity we had in front of them.
15:33
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, no, I love that.
15:34
SPEAKER_00: I love that.
15:35
SPEAKER_00: That's awesome.
15:36
SPEAKER_00: And congratulations to you.
15:37
SPEAKER_00: I mean, you know, that's that's great.
15:39
SPEAKER_00: I mean, I've I've talked to a lot of interior designers as well, and and and you're you're on a definitely, you know, uh accelerated path.
15:45
SPEAKER_00: I think you're gonna be you're gonna be great.
15:47
SPEAKER_00: And I'd love to see where you guys are at in, you know, let's say three or four to five years, you know, by 2030, I'm sure you guys, the sky's the limit.
15:55
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, yeah, we can't wait.
15:56
SPEAKER_02: We can't wait.
15:58
SPEAKER_00: Now, what do you consider, you know, let's say we took one of your interior designers, because you know, you kind of told me there you do have some employees that work under you.
16:05
SPEAKER_00: So let's say we pulled one of them aside and let's say we asked them anonymously, you know, what do you consider Caitlin's greatest strength is as a leader or a creative director?
16:14
SPEAKER_00: What do you think they would tell us?
16:16
SPEAKER_02: Caitlin's a problem solver.
16:17
SPEAKER_02: No one can outwork Caitlin.
16:19
SPEAKER_02: She will tinker and think about it when she wakes up in the middle of the night.
16:22
SPEAKER_02: She is still problem solving.
16:24
SPEAKER_02: And the girls in my staff, they they all have a lot of passion for it too.
16:27
SPEAKER_02: But they're like, I never would have thought of that, or I never would have thought outside the box, or that was a really good way to fix that for this client.
16:33
SPEAKER_02: You know, they I think they have a lot of pride in working with me, and I think they're sponges, and so they're absorbing a lot of that as well.
16:41
SPEAKER_02: But I think they would say, no one can outwork Caitlin.
16:45
SPEAKER_00: Okay, okay.
16:46
SPEAKER_00: Now, now what do you think is your greatest strength?
16:48
SPEAKER_00: I know that can kind of typically vary between what you, you know, what others think of you, but what do you think is your greatest strength as a business owner?
16:55
SPEAKER_02: My compassion at the end of the day, I feel like the biggest mistake that businesses have done and has gotten away from the personal interaction that happens with businesses.
17:05
SPEAKER_02: I understand I can put myself in the shoes as the homeowner and I will go any measure possible to make it right, even if it means we're upside down.
17:12
SPEAKER_02: And we sacrifice profit, obviously, to just do the right thing by our clients and the service we provide.
17:19
SPEAKER_02: And so, I mean, I think that's a major asset considering sometimes half the battle is getting someone to show up, getting someone to make right of a bad situation.
17:28
SPEAKER_02: And you're dealing with so many different trades.
17:30
SPEAKER_02: So I I go the extra mile for every single one of my clients.
17:33
SPEAKER_00: Okay, okay.
17:35
SPEAKER_00: Now, what part of leadership or business management are you intentionally trying to improve?
17:40
SPEAKER_00: Like, what do you think you need to get better at?
17:42
SPEAKER_02: Kind of our systems and processes.
17:44
SPEAKER_02: And since 2025, since I hired that business coach, I used to come from a business where it was black and white.
17:50
SPEAKER_02: There was only one way to do something.
17:52
SPEAKER_02: And I kept feeling like there was, you know, there's different ways it's gonna cut, essentially.
17:57
SPEAKER_02: And guess what?
17:57
SPEAKER_02: I was wrong.
17:58
SPEAKER_02: You really should have your systems and processes documented and have a guideline to follow because it gives everyone parameters.
18:04
SPEAKER_02: And so we have a 33,000-word manual now for remarkable interiors that talks about our systems and processes.
18:12
SPEAKER_02: And I know it sounds expansive, but it's there's so many vendors that we work with and so many facets of interior design.
18:18
SPEAKER_02: And so we have really honed in on documenting those things because it's knowledge.
18:23
SPEAKER_02: We we have knowledge of shared knowledge of experiences and life things that happen.
18:27
SPEAKER_02: And, you know, unfortunately, there's mistakes along the way too.
18:30
SPEAKER_02: And if we document and highlight and write all the process of it, we're making this more of a duplicatable process too.
18:37
SPEAKER_02: So when we hire more staff in, it's no more flying by uh blindly, it's you know exactly what our expectations are, you know exactly how we would handle something because you can see our document a process.
18:48
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
18:49
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah, no, that's fair.
18:51
SPEAKER_00: All right.
18:52
SPEAKER_00: So now we're gonna head into the this or that.
18:54
SPEAKER_00: So how this works is I'm going to give you this or that, two subjects, and I want you to choose one and then kind of give me the reason why you chose it.
19:00
SPEAKER_00: That's a good way to kind of break up the business talk and kind of get into your personal side a little bit.
19:04
SPEAKER_00: Some of these most of these are personal, some of them are business related.
19:07
SPEAKER_00: So uh, but we'll get into them.
19:09
SPEAKER_00: So all right, so beach or mountains and why.
19:12
SPEAKER_02: Beach, I want to relax, I want the heat.
19:14
SPEAKER_02: I kind of I'm West Virginia, I live in the mountains.
19:16
SPEAKER_02: I want everything I don't have.
19:18
SPEAKER_00: Okay, yeah, that's true, that's true.
19:20
SPEAKER_00: No, that is a fact, right?
19:22
SPEAKER_00: Because I'm the same way.
19:23
SPEAKER_00: Like I m I moved up here from Tampa, Florida.
19:25
SPEAKER_00: So I mean, you want to talk about complete opposite place?
19:28
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah.
19:29
SPEAKER_00: I mean, you want to talk about warmer year?
19:30
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, warmer year.
19:31
SPEAKER_00: I could wear flip-flops in January, January 15th.
19:34
SPEAKER_00: I'm sitting outside tanning, you know.
19:36
SPEAKER_00: Oh, and you can't.
19:36
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, we don't get that.
19:37
SPEAKER_02: We did not get that here, unfortunately.
19:40
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, so I wanted what I didn't have, right?
19:42
SPEAKER_00: So I grew up there and then moved here because I was like, you know, I want seasons.
19:46
SPEAKER_00: And so so yeah, I agree.
19:48
SPEAKER_00: Coffee or tea?
19:50
SPEAKER_02: Coffee, 100%.
19:51
SPEAKER_02: I I like very girly coffee.
19:53
SPEAKER_02: I want mine to look like chocolate milk.
19:55
SPEAKER_02: So the more cream, the more sugar, the better.
19:59
SPEAKER_00: Early bird or night owl?
20:01
SPEAKER_02: Early bird.
20:01
SPEAKER_02: Love, love waking up early.
20:03
SPEAKER_02: I used in college, I don't think any college student would pick the 7 a.m.
20:07
SPEAKER_02: classes, but I did because I liked getting my day done faster.
20:10
SPEAKER_02: So I'm just wired early.
20:13
SPEAKER_00: Okay.
20:13
SPEAKER_00: That might be the first time I think I've ever heard that.
20:17
SPEAKER_00: Early bird at college?
20:18
SPEAKER_00: Wow, that's yeah.
20:19
SPEAKER_00: No, I wanted mine as late as I can.
20:21
SPEAKER_00: If I could do 2 p.m., I'd do 2 p.m.
20:23
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, but that was me.
20:24
SPEAKER_00: That was back then.
20:25
SPEAKER_00: But dogs are cats.
20:27
SPEAKER_02: Cats.
20:28
SPEAKER_02: We used to joke that we had a screening process when we hired employees.
20:31
SPEAKER_02: Like, what's your policy on cats?
20:33
SPEAKER_02: Like, how do you feel about them?
20:34
SPEAKER_02: Because we are all centric, we're primarily girl staff, and all of us love cats.
20:40
SPEAKER_00: Stay in or grow out, go out for the evening.
20:43
SPEAKER_02: It's really changed.
20:45
SPEAKER_02: Uh, that's a really tough one.
20:46
SPEAKER_02: I do love going out.
20:47
SPEAKER_02: I love having someone make you a nice dinner.
20:50
SPEAKER_02: I love like having a good cocktail up.
20:52
SPEAKER_02: But now that I have a family, I really do value when our friends come over and we can enjoy the downtime at home.
20:58
unknown: Yeah.
20:59
SPEAKER_00: Now, this is for business and and then also for personal, too.
21:03
SPEAKER_00: So we'll split it into two because it can it can vary.
21:05
SPEAKER_00: This this can vary depending on what uh kind of call it is.
21:08
SPEAKER_00: So texting your phone calls when it comes to your business and texting your phone calls when it comes to personal life.
21:13
SPEAKER_02: Phone call, phone call, phone call.
21:16
SPEAKER_02: I am an advocate person.
21:18
SPEAKER_02: Like when you need an answer to something, a text doesn't sometimes solve it.
21:21
SPEAKER_02: There is a lot of blurred lines, and so I really still like phone calls, and it's so funny because I do have a little bit of a younger staff.
21:28
SPEAKER_02: I'm like, hey, make sure you call them.
21:29
SPEAKER_02: And so they'll send a message or send an email.
21:31
SPEAKER_02: I'm like, did you call?
21:33
SPEAKER_02: And they're like, oh, I messaged.
21:34
SPEAKER_02: I'm like, we're gonna call.
21:36
SPEAKER_02: Let's get a straightforward answer because sometimes things are timely, like you need an answer.
21:41
SPEAKER_00: Not only that, it's just texting, you could you could skew things.
21:44
SPEAKER_00: Like a quick example.
21:45
SPEAKER_00: I I was talking about my mom last week.
21:47
SPEAKER_00: Mom's actually getting ready to come visit me for like I told you that they're in Tampa.
21:50
SPEAKER_00: So it's my paint, my family still lives down there.
21:52
SPEAKER_00: And she's coming up uh Labor Day weekend, she's coming up on Friday to come visit me.
21:57
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah.
21:57
SPEAKER_00: So I'm really excited.
21:58
SPEAKER_00: I love them, and you know, I always enjoy that time.
22:00
SPEAKER_00: You know how it is.
22:01
SPEAKER_00: They're getting older, and you know, I want to I I love that time that we get to spend.
22:05
SPEAKER_00: So she'll be here for like a the the whole weekend and and for a little bit of next week.
22:08
SPEAKER_00: But you know, we were texting back and forth with each other, and she answered something, and I thought she had kind of an attitude, and I'm like, Mom, I'm just asking a question.
22:16
SPEAKER_00: And she's like, See, this is why I hate test texting, because you thought I had an attitude, and I didn't.
22:21
SPEAKER_00: She's like, I'm just answering your question.
22:22
SPEAKER_00: I was like, Oh, I'm so sorry.
22:23
SPEAKER_00: It came off kind of attitude.
22:25
SPEAKER_00: I didn't know.
22:25
SPEAKER_00: So I know.
22:26
SPEAKER_02: I really I I love the phone call.
22:28
SPEAKER_02: I love picking up calling customer service and hearing them.
22:31
SPEAKER_02: There's nothing worse.
22:32
SPEAKER_02: Like Caitlin will get a f an answer back.
22:34
SPEAKER_02: It it has changed the way the business is ran, but phone calls are so important still.
22:39
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah.
22:40
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, you get that inflection in the voice.
22:42
SPEAKER_00: You really get to tell if they are really mad or if they're just kind of just being, you know what I mean?
22:46
SPEAKER_00: Like sure, you're busy.
22:49
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah.
22:50
SPEAKER_00: Summer or winter?
22:52
SPEAKER_02: Oh man.
22:53
SPEAKER_02: That's I I think I would pick summer just because it's easier to get around.
22:57
SPEAKER_02: You have more opportunities to go do something.
22:59
SPEAKER_02: I think winter, we're a little bit more dormant, we're a little bit more inside.
23:02
SPEAKER_02: We live on a mountainous area.
23:03
SPEAKER_02: It's very snowy and icy.
23:05
SPEAKER_02: I'm gonna pick summer.
23:07
SPEAKER_00: Netflix or YouTube?
23:09
SPEAKER_02: Netflix.
23:10
SPEAKER_02: I'm not a YouTuber, really.
23:12
SPEAKER_02: I need to do better, but I will I will maybe embrace it one day.
23:16
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, okay.
23:17
SPEAKER_00: Plan everything or wing it.
23:21
SPEAKER_02: Wing winging it was natural for me.
23:24
SPEAKER_02: Life just had a way of working itself out, but honestly, having things planned and having systems in place has really changed our life.
23:31
SPEAKER_02: There's no more chaos.
23:32
SPEAKER_02: It's just like effortless, and it just seems like everything orchestrates so much better.
23:36
SPEAKER_02: So I'm gonna say planning, even though it goes against my natural type B personality.
23:42
SPEAKER_00: Modern or traditional?
23:44
SPEAKER_02: Traditional.
23:44
SPEAKER_02: I think modern is so easy to do.
23:47
SPEAKER_02: It actually takes a lot more craft and time to do traditional.
23:49
SPEAKER_02: So traditional.
23:50
SPEAKER_02: Agreed.
23:51
SPEAKER_00: Agreed, agreed.
23:52
SPEAKER_00: Bold colors or neutral tones?
23:55
SPEAKER_02: For my clients, I think they embrace color a lot more, but for myself, I'm more of a neutral color person, but I embrace either way.
24:06
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, that's how my wife, my wife is neutral tones.
24:08
SPEAKER_00: Like she's she's okay.
24:10
SPEAKER_00: It's actually not true.
24:11
SPEAKER_00: She's she's bold with the selections that she makes, but they are neutral tones.
24:15
SPEAKER_00: I don't know if that makes sense.
24:17
SPEAKER_00: No, that does.
24:17
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
24:18
SPEAKER_00: Okay, it does.
24:18
SPEAKER_00: Okay, yeah.
24:19
SPEAKER_00: So that's how she is.
24:20
SPEAKER_00: I mean, our house is completely decorated, like to the to the max.
24:23
SPEAKER_00: She's very good.
24:24
SPEAKER_00: I mean, she's she's good at that stuff.
24:26
SPEAKER_00: She's really good.
24:26
SPEAKER_00: I was like, man, I asked her what they was like, why don't you start your own interior business, man?
24:30
SPEAKER_00: You need uh she's good, she's good, she's talented.
24:32
SPEAKER_00: Like if you came in the house, you'd be like, wow.
24:34
SPEAKER_02: And I'm always impressed.
24:35
SPEAKER_02: I tell people all the time, you don't really need me.
24:38
SPEAKER_02: Like, you guys have good taste.
24:39
SPEAKER_02: I mean, I'm here to help make it easier, of course.
24:41
SPEAKER_02: So you have the confidence, but I'm confident every person can work on their home.
24:45
SPEAKER_02: I'm confident you can click the button and buy stuff.
24:48
SPEAKER_02: It's when you get in these really expensive investments that people just like, oh my gosh, you're afraid of what you don't know.
24:53
SPEAKER_02: You don't want to make a bad decision.
24:55
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
24:56
SPEAKER_00: No, you're right.
24:57
SPEAKER_00: You're right.
24:57
SPEAKER_00: Wallpaper or paint?
24:59
SPEAKER_02: Man, I think paint is really powerful.
25:03
SPEAKER_02: My fear about wallpaper is that it's gonna be a time period where you remember the border wallpaper that everyone like dreaded and tore down.
25:12
SPEAKER_02: Like, why would they ever do this?
25:13
SPEAKER_02: I feel like we're in that moment.
25:14
SPEAKER_02: I personally love wallpaper and I love selling it.
25:17
SPEAKER_02: I just try to be really mindful that it's not too trendy of a wallpaper that you're gonna get tired of.
25:23
SPEAKER_00: New build or remodel.
25:25
SPEAKER_02: I'm really into remodels right now.
25:27
SPEAKER_02: There's so much character in these homes, and they're a little bit harder puzzle to put together because you have to work with pre-existing walls, you have to work with pre-existing plumbing a lot of the time.
25:37
SPEAKER_02: I really am enjoying the remodeling work I'm doing.
25:41
SPEAKER_00: Kitchen or bathroom?
25:45
SPEAKER_02: Man, both are great.
25:46
SPEAKER_02: I think I would lean towards a kitchen because there's more opportunity there.
25:49
SPEAKER_02: But bathroom, I'm a I'm a big bathtub soaker, so I I do a love good bathroom project.
25:56
SPEAKER_00: Residential or commercial?
25:58
SPEAKER_02: Absolutely residential.
26:00
SPEAKER_02: I personally do not like commercial projects.
26:02
SPEAKER_02: There is no heart in there, it's everything about the bottom line.
26:05
SPEAKER_02: And I I I only take on two commercial projects a year because it's just not where my passion lies.
26:11
SPEAKER_02: And if I'm not really passionate about it, I feel like it shows in my work a little bit.
26:16
SPEAKER_02: It's like a baker and not baking something with love.
26:18
SPEAKER_02: Like that's the secret ingredient.
26:19
SPEAKER_02: The secret ingredient in good design is loving what you do.
26:22
SPEAKER_00: No, you're you're exactly right.
26:23
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
26:23
SPEAKER_00: Speaking of cooking, like when me and my wife, because me and my wife, we kind of take turns cooking.
26:28
SPEAKER_00: So nobody's like, because we both have certain dishes that she makes well, and she and I have dishes that I make well, right?
26:34
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
26:34
SPEAKER_00: Um, more because I'm from the Virgin Islands, so I have a lot of Jamaican type of dishes, Caribbean type of dishes.
26:40
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, a lot of Caribbean type of dishes.
26:42
SPEAKER_00: My wife's from Puerto Rico, so she has a lot of Puerto Rican type of dishes, rice and beans, stuff like that.
26:46
SPEAKER_00: So we got a nice mix in our house.
26:48
SPEAKER_00: But you can always tell when either one of us does not want to cook that day.
26:52
SPEAKER_00: You can tell it just doesn't taste right.
26:54
SPEAKER_00: I was like, I uh we had some dinner last time.
26:56
SPEAKER_00: I'm like, I could tell you didn't feel like cooking video.
26:58
SPEAKER_01: It wasn't with love.
26:59
SPEAKER_01: I can tell.
26:59
SPEAKER_01: I'll still eat it.
27:00
SPEAKER_01: It just wasn't made with that love like normal.
27:03
unknown: Yep, yep, yeah.
27:04
SPEAKER_00: I can tell you were tired and you really didn't feel like doing it.
27:06
SPEAKER_00: You just did it just to get it over with, but you didn't care for it.
27:08
SPEAKER_01: You just did it anyways, yep.
27:11
SPEAKER_00: So still love it.
27:12
SPEAKER_00: Dream client with small budget or difficult client with an unlimited budget?
27:16
SPEAKER_02: Dream client with small budget.
27:18
SPEAKER_02: I I think sometimes when we have limitless clients, you know, then they have a brace up against something that's so insignificant in the world of it, like maybe set in their mind that the countertop budget shouldn't be more than$50,000 for their whole house.
27:32
SPEAKER_02: And I'm like, but you have so many rooms.
27:34
SPEAKER_02: Like, and really when I'm working with more intentional clients where you know the bit budget's a little bit smaller, they are so much more appreciative, I feel like, sometimes too, when you help guide them through that process.
27:43
SPEAKER_02: Whereas I think sometimes bigger projects clients think she's just trying to get the most money out of us.
27:48
SPEAKER_02: But really, it it takes a lot to build those bigger homes with those bigger budgets.
27:52
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, no, I definitely agree with that.
27:55
SPEAKER_00: And the last one is more clients or more free time.
27:59
SPEAKER_02: More free time.
28:00
SPEAKER_02: I would so my husband's a business owner too, and I keep scratching our heads like, how can we make more time for ourselves?
28:07
SPEAKER_02: Because he works 60 plus hours a week.
28:10
SPEAKER_02: I work 40-ish, 40 more, just depending on like how the week works.
28:14
SPEAKER_02: And so I would I would do anything for more free time right now.
28:18
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah, especially with that eight-month older.
28:20
SPEAKER_02: I know the little one, it's she changes every day.
28:22
SPEAKER_02: I just am afraid I'm gonna blink and she's gonna be going to college, and then I'll be doing the crying at home thing.
28:28
SPEAKER_02: So we want more time with her.
28:30
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, no, definitely, definitely.
28:32
SPEAKER_00: And and actually, I was I was lying there.
28:34
SPEAKER_00: Actually, I got one more.
28:35
SPEAKER_00: So I because I really like this one.
28:36
SPEAKER_00: So I want to hear what you say.
28:38
SPEAKER_00: So this is a good one.
28:39
SPEAKER_00: So would you rather this is kind of more of a would you rather, but would you rather have dinner with your future self or relive a great day from your past?
28:48
SPEAKER_02: Future self.
28:49
SPEAKER_02: I if I could, if I had a magic ball or if I could shave off years of my life just to see how the story ends, I would love to do that.
28:57
SPEAKER_02: I would love a glimpse of my future to say, oh, Caitlin, all that stress and all this stuff, it worked out.
29:03
SPEAKER_02: See, I told you it was gonna work out, and I'm like, yes, we did it.
29:05
SPEAKER_02: Like, I would love to know that.
29:07
SPEAKER_00: Okay, so you want to go like very far in the future, then you just watch it.
29:11
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I I think I I mean, yeah, I'll I think I would trade five years in my future just to know if everything worked out for that peace of mind and you know, that little extra confidence when you got an edge.
29:20
SPEAKER_02: I I would love that.
29:21
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah.
29:22
SPEAKER_00: Okay, great.
29:23
SPEAKER_00: I appreciate that.
29:24
SPEAKER_00: So get through that, this or that.
29:26
SPEAKER_00: So, you know, a couple last things here, you know.
29:27
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, what what kind of makes, you know, I want to talk about your competition a little bit, right?
29:31
SPEAKER_00: I I kind of told you a little bit about some interior designers that I've talked to in the past because we've had a couple, you know, in the amount of years that we've been doing this podcast, but what kind of makes, you know, if I'm talking to Jill over here with the different interior company, I'm talking to Diana with this other interior company, what makes a client choose remarkable interiors instead of the competition?
29:53
SPEAKER_02: I think it's our personal attachment to the project.
29:56
SPEAKER_02: It's not transactional.
29:58
SPEAKER_02: We really dig in on every single project.
30:02
SPEAKER_02: We get to know them.
30:03
SPEAKER_02: We build so many good relationships with our client as the process goes along, and then it turns into phase one and phase two.
30:09
SPEAKER_02: So I'd like to say it's like the human connection we build with our clients that make sure we get it exactly right for them.
30:15
SPEAKER_02: Because we, as an interior designer, we are not a style interior design firm, which is a little bit different.
30:22
SPEAKER_02: Some interior designers have a certain look.
30:23
SPEAKER_02: Like everyone knows the Joanna Games farmhouse look, and they're there's staple looks that other interior interior designers do.
30:30
SPEAKER_02: But I always tell people it comes down to them, their lifestyle, and their house.
30:34
SPEAKER_02: Like it's gotta match the character of the house.
30:36
SPEAKER_02: And so if I can do that for them, I'd love doing it.
30:39
SPEAKER_02: But if I can't, I I always refer to my competitors.
30:41
SPEAKER_02: That is, I think that's one of my advantages too.
30:44
SPEAKER_02: I have no problem sharing the pieces of the puzzle or the pot, essentially.
30:50
SPEAKER_02: If I don't think I'm the right fit for somebody, I say no more than I say yes at this point in my career because I don't want to set someone up for failure.
30:58
SPEAKER_02: I don't want to do a project that I don't think I can execute in the best caliber for them.
31:03
SPEAKER_02: So I use my um competitors a lot.
31:06
SPEAKER_02: I'm like, please call her.
31:07
SPEAKER_02: I think she's better for you, or please call this person, or maybe you don't need me.
31:11
SPEAKER_02: I'm I'm happy to say you don't need my services.
31:14
SPEAKER_02: You can do this yourself.
31:15
SPEAKER_02: And sometimes I do do that.
31:17
SPEAKER_00: Oh, wow.
31:18
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, that's very selfless of you for sure.
31:21
SPEAKER_00: Now, and we and when we've talked a lot about kind of your future and stuff like that, you're growing at a great pace, you're trying not to grow too fast, like you said.
31:30
SPEAKER_00: But let's let's look at things.
31:31
SPEAKER_00: I know we kind of talked about 2030, right?
31:33
SPEAKER_00: Three years from now.
31:34
SPEAKER_00: Man, I can't believe 2030 is only really three and a half years from now.
31:38
SPEAKER_00: Wow, that's wow to think.
31:39
SPEAKER_00: I mean, when I think of 2030, I'm thinking like so far in the future, right?
31:42
SPEAKER_00: When I think about it off the top, but it's like, no, 2030 is right down the road.
31:46
SPEAKER_00: So, you know, three years from now, 2030, what would make you say the business grew the right way rather than simply getting busier?
31:54
SPEAKER_02: If we have a flagship store, I think that would make me have proof of concept.
31:59
SPEAKER_02: Right now, we have a studio space where it's got all of our samples in there.
32:03
SPEAKER_02: I would love to have a showroom where people could come out and test the product, see the cabinetry we sell, see all of the furnishings we offer to our clients, see the example of the window fashions we're able to do because a lot of times we have to use our renderings and our samples to help educate the client through that process.
32:22
SPEAKER_02: And I just feel like that is what our clients deserve is a flagship store.
32:28
SPEAKER_00: I love that.
32:29
SPEAKER_00: I love that.
32:30
SPEAKER_00: All right.
32:30
SPEAKER_00: So, and then now, you know, I want you to kind of be as candid and as honest as you can on the answer here to this next question.
32:36
SPEAKER_00: And you've you've been great, you've been very selfless.
32:37
SPEAKER_00: So I really appreciate that.
32:39
SPEAKER_00: Really appreciate your honesty on everything.
32:41
SPEAKER_00: But yeah, so let's say, you know, like I told you earlier, we have a very nice size entrepreneurial audience.
32:47
SPEAKER_00: A lot of entrepreneurs, small entrepreneurs like to listen to our podcast uh with this every week.
32:52
SPEAKER_00: So, you know, let's say a small entrepreneur is listen to the podcast today, and let's say they're feeling stuck or overwhelmed in 2026, right?
32:59
SPEAKER_00: They have their business is not going well.
33:01
SPEAKER_00: They just unfortunately had to lay off one of their great texts that they love because it just, you know, cost of cost of materials is too much.
33:08
SPEAKER_00: They just don't have quite enough business to keep these people fed.
33:11
SPEAKER_00: So unfortunately, you just had to lay one of your best people off.
33:13
SPEAKER_00: Um and now you've got to move forward, and they're feeling stuck or overwhelmed.
33:17
SPEAKER_00: 2026 has just not been a good year for them business-wise.
33:19
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
33:20
SPEAKER_00: What's a piece of advice, Caitlin, you would want them to hear from you today?
33:25
SPEAKER_02: Dig deeper.
33:26
SPEAKER_02: Just dig deeper because at the end of the day, if you have the right product at the right price and you're the around the right people, success is unstoppable.
33:36
SPEAKER_02: So I would re-encourage that person to figure out how to employ that person or help set that next person who they had to lay off for success in another avenue.
33:45
SPEAKER_02: And I I pray for other businesses who are in that position right now that they're able to work through this hump because I do think there's light at the end of the tunnel, especially with the price points of everything going on.
33:57
SPEAKER_02: But stick in there just a little bit longer.
33:59
SPEAKER_02: It's so rewarding.
34:01
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah.
34:02
SPEAKER_00: Okay, I appreciate that.
34:04
SPEAKER_00: And uh, and the final thing is kind of, you know, and this is kind of more hypothetical, but let's say if we could, let's say if there was one meaningful thing you could change in the next 90 days in your business, right?
34:14
SPEAKER_00: So we're recording this around September 1st.
34:16
SPEAKER_00: So that would put us right in kind of Christmas season right before it.
34:19
SPEAKER_00: So uh that would be what, December 1st?
34:21
SPEAKER_00: So right after Thanksgiving.
34:23
SPEAKER_00: So let's say if there was one meaningful thing you could change in your business by the, you know, the end of Thanksgiving, what would it be and why would that matter personally to you and your business?
34:33
SPEAKER_02: Man, this is the question I was kind of hesitant.
34:35
SPEAKER_02: I've heard you ask this question in the past.
34:38
SPEAKER_02: And I feel like we're reaping the rewards of our success right now, where we've put things in place and we have the right people in the right seats now.
34:45
SPEAKER_02: We're we're following all the business guidance that are in the world.
34:48
SPEAKER_02: I think it's scaling our business just the next step further.
34:53
SPEAKER_02: And in 90 days, if I had the perfect interior designer drop in my lap, like I would gobble her up in a second and like employ her, employ her or him and bring her on as opportunity because we are at capacity.
35:05
SPEAKER_02: So I it's like a pipe dream to find a qualified interior designer in Morgantown, West Virginia.
35:11
SPEAKER_02: But if you hear me and you're thinking about this, like call me.
35:15
SPEAKER_02: We would love to meet with you and talk with you.
35:17
SPEAKER_02: So I guess in 90 days, like if I had, by the grace of God, a beautiful, wonderful, talented interior designer drop on our doorsteps, we'd be so fortunate.
35:26
SPEAKER_00: Okay, okay.
35:27
SPEAKER_00: And now let's go ahead and put that out there then.
35:28
SPEAKER_00: I mean, I guess.
35:29
SPEAKER_00: So, you know, you know, did you kind of want to get into a little bit more kind of what you're looking for?
35:33
SPEAKER_00: Do they need to have a lot of experience or minimum sales experience is the best.
35:39
SPEAKER_02: So even if someone doesn't have like all the fine tune, I so I have young employees, I work with the university, they talk all the time, like, well, I'm not certified in this and I'm gonna certify in that.
35:49
SPEAKER_02: Don't use those as barriers to keep you back from a job.
35:52
SPEAKER_02: I would happily, even if I wasn't qualified for a position, I would apply for it because you could have more drive than somebody else who has the most technical skills.
36:00
SPEAKER_02: And design is something that can be coached, it's something that can be tailored, it's something that can be refined.
36:06
SPEAKER_02: So I'm okay if someone doesn't have all the perfect prerequisites.
36:10
SPEAKER_02: I look for somebody who understands that making a house into a home is an art and it's in sales, unfortunately.
36:17
SPEAKER_02: I wish the interior design wasn't that way, but it is all about sales.
36:20
SPEAKER_02: So if somebody had wonderful sales experience and they had a little bit of drive and a little bit of passion, I would take a risk and take an opportunity like that over someone who had the most technical skills.
36:31
SPEAKER_00: Oh.
36:33
SPEAKER_00: So how can you know that potential person reach out to you and get in contact with you if they're interested?
36:39
SPEAKER_02: Hello at remarkableid.com would be a perfect way.
36:42
SPEAKER_02: Or phone call.
36:43
SPEAKER_02: You know, I'm a girl who loves a good phone call.
36:45
SPEAKER_02: I answer all the time.
36:46
SPEAKER_02: So you can call us on our number as well.
36:49
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, no, she's very good.
36:50
SPEAKER_00: I I will vouch for her.
36:51
SPEAKER_00: She's she picks up the phone.
36:54
SPEAKER_01: I try.
36:55
SPEAKER_01: I do try.
36:56
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, no, she does.
36:57
SPEAKER_00: She does.
36:58
SPEAKER_00: I've never never had your voicemail.
36:59
SPEAKER_00: I don't even know what it'll sound like because you always answer.
37:03
SPEAKER_00: All right.
37:03
SPEAKER_00: Well, Caitlin, I appreciate really appreciate you coming on.
37:06
SPEAKER_00: It's been a great conversation.
37:07
SPEAKER_00: I really enjoyed talking with you.
37:08
SPEAKER_00: So again, Caitlin, thank you so much for joining us and you know, sharing your story and your behind the scenes on, you know, building remarkable interior to what it is today.
37:17
SPEAKER_00: And very interested in maybe coming back, circling back to you maybe by 2030.
37:21
SPEAKER_00: Um, and and maybe having having you back on at that point, see where you're at.
37:25
SPEAKER_00: I mean, you're growing at a nice pace, and I think I think the sky's the limit with your company.
37:29
SPEAKER_00: So thank you so much.
37:31
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah.
37:31
SPEAKER_00: No, I and I don't say that every day.
37:33
SPEAKER_00: So it's just you know, this is this is something I'm really telling you.
37:35
SPEAKER_00: So, you know, Caitlin, any last words for the listening audience before we go and sign off?
37:40
SPEAKER_02: No, I really appreciate any person who's out there working a business, it's hard.
37:44
SPEAKER_02: I know it's hard.
37:45
SPEAKER_02: All of you are struggling, all of you guys are trying to make it a beautiful life for not only your family, but for your employees.
37:50
SPEAKER_02: So I just want to say kudos.
37:52
SPEAKER_02: It takes a lot of guts and a lot of courage to put yourself out there, be vulnerable, to do something different.
37:57
SPEAKER_02: So uh every single business owner I know, I'm so proud of you and I wish you the best.
38:01
SPEAKER_00: Love it, love it.
38:03
SPEAKER_00: All right.
38:03
SPEAKER_00: So to everyone listening, be sure to connect with Caitlyn and follow Epic Entrepreneurs for more conversations with the people building businesses and communities every day.
38:11
SPEAKER_00: We will have all of her websites, social media, all that good stuff in the description.
38:15
SPEAKER_00: And this is Cliff McRae with Action Coach Business Growth Partners.
38:18
SPEAKER_00: We'll see you next time.
38:19
SPEAKER_00: Thank you.