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Strategic Interior Designs that Skyrocket Property Investments with Louise Wynne · The Property Unleashed Podcast

• 0:10
  Speaker 1: Hello and welcome to the Property Unleashed podcast with me your host, Mark Fitzgerald, and today I am joined by a special guest.
• 0:18
  Speaker 1: I have the lovely Louise Wynne with me.
• 0:20
  Speaker 1: Welcome to the show, Louise.
• 0:22
  Speaker 1: Great to have you on.
• 0:23
  Speaker 2: Thank you very much.
• 0:24
  Speaker 2: Great to be here.
• 0:25
  Speaker 1: Good stuff.
• 0:26
  Speaker 1: So Louise is the director and founder of Walkin Interiors and she is all about how you can maximize your profits and how you can actually make a product out of your property.
• 0:39
  Speaker 1: Investing properties that can increase your earnings can make it more comfortable for the people that live in or stay in your properties and generally just help you attract more attention and, of course, more profits, which is what we like, to your properties.
• 0:54
  Speaker 1: So, louise, tell us a little bit about yourself, please.
• 0:58
  Speaker 2: Oh how long have you got so well?
• 1:03
  Speaker 2: I started my career best part of 20 years ago designing show homes for big national house builders like Barrots and Persimmon, all those kinds of guys, and then about 18 months ago I just decided to set up on my own and I now work, as you very eloquently said, with property investors and developers, whether they are selling properties or they are selling rooms.
• 1:29
  Speaker 2: So I have a staging for sale service where I bring that kind of quality show home quality to the rental market.
• 1:38
  Speaker 2: So if you are an investor and you don't want to spend tens of thousands on a big show home because that would just be ridiculous and wouldn't make sense, then you can rent all that kit from me and me and my team will stage and style your property and you can borrow that stuff for a fixed period of time.
• 1:55
  Speaker 2: Or if you're selling rooms, so you've got an HMO co-living space, if you've got an essay, a holiday etc.
• 2:04
  Speaker 2: And you want, like you said, more eyes on that property, then you can work with me to get higher yield and just get more eyes on that property.
• 2:17
  Speaker 1: That's what it's all about.
• 2:20
  Speaker 1: It might as well maximise the effort, because you do still see, even in today's market, a lot of people that want to scrimp and say, particularly when it comes to designing things.
• 2:32
  Speaker 1: I speak to and know a few investors.
• 2:34
  Speaker 1: Most of the investors I know are a bit more savvy now, but they are spending absolute fortune on a property, on redesigning a property.
• 2:43
  Speaker 1: Then, when it actually comes to marketing the property itself, they fall flat on their face or they scrimp or they save and they think it's not worth its weight in gold.
• 2:52
  Speaker 1: I know through chatting to you and we've known each other a while now that people can maximise the profits just by bringing in a team, a professional like yourself, to come in there and actually help market things.
• 3:04
  Speaker 1: Of course I say right here and now.
• 3:06
  Speaker 1: It's where the marketplace is stagnant.
• 3:09
  Speaker 1: Properties aren't selling the way that they were.
• 3:11
  Speaker 1: You're finding that you're being able to go in there and help people.
• 3:17
  Speaker 2: Yeah, absolutely when it comes to staging for sale.
• 3:20
  Speaker 2: It has gone a little quiet now because people are just thinking about Christmas.
• 3:25
  Speaker 2: The best time to think about staging your property for sale is, from the outset, not putting it on the market, testing the market and then keeping your fingers crossed and then suddenly panicking and going nothing's happening, I'll stage it.
• 3:40
  Speaker 2: If you get a property stage you're in before it's even gone on the market, then you can literally hit the ground running.
• 3:49
  Speaker 2: It's that cliche of first impressions count.
• 3:53
  Speaker 2: If you do it after the event, then you've already had a massive proportion of those people in that area who were interested in that property.
• 4:01
  Speaker 2: They've seen it, they've not been interested in it.
• 4:05
  Speaker 2: It's harder to get them to come back.
• 4:07
  Speaker 2: It's always more successful if you do it from the outset, for sure With the interior design service that they offer.
• 4:16
  Speaker 2: If you've got an SA or an HMO, the market is fairly saturated, especially with SA.
• 4:25
  Speaker 2: If you want to stand out, you really need to get a designer involved again from the outset.
• 4:32
  Speaker 2: You mentioned that you are in the circles now with people who really do value interior design and they get a team in from the beginning.
• 4:40
  Speaker 2: I speak on the PIN circuit.
• 4:44
  Speaker 2: I go to lots of different networking events.
• 4:46
  Speaker 2: I see really experienced investors and developers talking.
• 4:49
  Speaker 2: If they have that slide-up that says you need a power team.
• 4:54
  Speaker 2: Honestly, I have never seen a slide that has either an interior architect or an interior designer on that slide.
• 5:02
  Speaker 2: I will learn to be this, but I should be more bolsheet and leap up and go stop.
• 5:08
  Speaker 2: You don't have a designer on there.
• 5:10
  Speaker 2: But why don't they have a designer on there?
• 5:14
  Speaker 2: Yesterday I've got a new client who I'm doing three SA designs for in one area I'm coming up with a brand identity for them, a look and feel that they can tweak depending on the target market that they're aiming at.
• 5:32
  Speaker 2: I got from them some architects drawings that I then needed to do a lighting schedule from.
• 5:39
  Speaker 2: We're doing it in a little bit of a roundabout, not quite in the right way that we would normally do, for reasons I won't bore you with, but the architect had done exactly what the architect was supposed to do in that scenario.
• 5:52
  Speaker 2: They'd done everything.
• 5:53
  Speaker 2: It's no criticism of them, but an architect's job ends at a certain place and I then had to figure out the lighting plan when I looked at the furniture layout that the architect had dropped on there.
• 6:08
  Speaker 2: And this is the bit that they don't need to think of to sort of in depth.
• 6:13
  Speaker 2: It didn't particularly make sense.
• 6:16
  Speaker 2: I spent three hours of one a job that I thought would take me probably an hour reconfiguring the furniture, making the flow correct in every room, so that I could then nail that lighting schedule so that when we come to doing spec in the furniture it's perfect, it's exactly how it should be and the lighting works with the placement of the furniture.
• 6:39
  Speaker 2: So you can see how working with a designer from the beginning will make your end product so much better than it would have been had you not had a designer and had you just worked with an architect and then done the rest yourself.
• 6:53
  Speaker 2: So that's just a brilliant example of how working with an interior designer can save you money and make your product better at the end of it.
• 7:01
  Speaker 2: I like long winded that's me all over.
• 7:07
  Speaker 1: I'm long winded, but it's great because you get the details, you get the facts and things.
• 7:11
  Speaker 1: And we were just chatting before this and I said to you I know my strengths and interior design, being creative with colours and it's not, that's not a strength of mine at all.
• 7:21
  Speaker 1: So for me, basically for more for my benefit than anybody else.
• 7:25
  Speaker 1: But let's just say I've acquired a property, whether I bought it or not, I'm going to do a refurb on the property myself.
• 7:33
  Speaker 1: Now I would have gone with the mentality I thought I need the architect, I need plans, I need to get the build team in, we need to have a little look at this.
• 7:40
  Speaker 1: I'll think where the sockets and stuff will go, because that's what I think I have to do as a property investor, rather than being, so to speak, the director or the CEO of my property business and thinking, why not get the experts in that live and breathe this to be able to tell me the best place for sockets, if you're going to put a bed there or you're going to put a wardrobe here and you're going to have your furniture and the way it's all going to be.
• 8:01
  Speaker 1: So, from my perspective, I've just bought a property.
• 8:04
  Speaker 1: When would you say that I needed to speak to somebody like yourself?
• 8:10
  Speaker 2: Right at the beginning.
• 8:11
  Speaker 2: So an interior architect or designer can help with the drawings, with the technical drawings, so taking over from the architect to plot all the furniture out correctly.
• 8:24
  Speaker 2: Think about those lighting positions, all the sockets, think about the placement of furniture, the size of the furniture.
• 8:32
  Speaker 2: So so many times I'll look at a plan and it's got a table, let's say, with eight chairs around it, a circular table, and then when I get the dimensions of that table, you could only actually in reality fit four chairs around it.
• 8:48
  Speaker 2: So these are the skills that an interior designer has in terms of proportion and size of furniture that an architect just doesn't need to get involved with.
• 8:59
  Speaker 2: That's not their job.
• 9:00
  Speaker 2: So if a designer can be involved from the outset, then there's gonna be no nasty surprises at the very end, which is traditionally where people view an interior designer coming in just making it look nice at the end, making it look pretty.
• 9:16
  Speaker 2: But if they've done that work, what's that?
• 9:20
  Speaker 1: There are a bit of paint here, but picture there.
• 9:23
  Speaker 2: Cracky, chopper, cushion, fluff the bedding, jobs done.
• 9:27
  Speaker 2: But no, if they can be involved at all of that from the outset, then you'll get much more polished finished product and they can work and do that bit at the end and make it look amazing without any, like I say, nasty surprises at the 11th hour.
• 9:43
  Speaker 2: So always always from the outset and any experienced property investor and developer will know that and will have someone like that on their power team for sure.
• 9:58
  Speaker 2: And because you need to have something as well you need to have ideas on is your budget gonna work for what you want?
• 10:07
  Speaker 2: A designer can actually tell you whether or not you've got the right amount set aside to get that finish that you want at the end.
• 10:17
  Speaker 1: Cool, kus.
• 10:18
  Speaker 1: You'll only do it a couple of times if you're a property investor before you actually think to yourself hang on a minute.
• 10:26
  Speaker 1: We always leave this to the last minute and it comes back and bites.
• 10:29
  Speaker 1: So it is handy to know, because I don't think a lot of people do know when to get an interior design For me myself, I would have said, well, once the builders have finished, then I'll hand it over to your good self.
• 10:40
  Speaker 1: But, like you say, it can't be too late then.
• 10:42
  Speaker 1: And of course, architects, they're not looking at the functionality of off stuff, they're just banging it on a drawer and saying this is where your table and chairs will go, this is where your beds will be.
• 10:52
  Speaker 1: And they don't know, they're not walking around the property, they're not living in that property either.
• 10:57
  Speaker 1: They're just saying, well, it needs a bed, it needs a wardrobe, it needs, you know, if it's a room.
• 11:00
  Speaker 1: So I love that.
• 11:02
  Speaker 1: And of course, the other thing is that I like and I like to talk to you about this as well is, you know that people in this day and age now, when they're living in properties, maybe renting properties or even rooms, it's not so much the property itself, it's more how the property makes them feel.
• 11:19
  Speaker 1: People buy a car.
• 11:21
  Speaker 1: If you buy a car, you bought a specific car.
• 11:23
  Speaker 1: I might look at your car and think that's not for me, that why would you buy a car that looks like?
• 11:27
  Speaker 1: But somebody's emotionally attached and bought that car because it means something or it makes them feel a certain way.
• 11:33
  Speaker 1: And this is what, as property investors, I know for a fact now because I've been doing it over time.
• 11:39
  Speaker 1: In the rooms and stuff that we have and the properties that we have, you get that emotional sort of effect that people walk in and they think, oh, I'd love to live here.
• 11:46
  Speaker 1: All of a sudden.
• 11:47
  Speaker 1: Then, you know, your prices can go up, you know, because people are willing to pay a premium for that.
• 11:52
  Speaker 1: And I think it's still a lot of the old thinking as it gets overlooked.
• 11:56
  Speaker 1: And I bet you see obviously more.
• 11:58
  Speaker 1: You know you see that a hell of a lot more than I do For me.
• 12:01
  Speaker 1: I see an open, I see a plan, a room, and somebody says, well, a bed can go here.
• 12:05
  Speaker 1: You know an ensuite's over there and I'm like, yeah, I need to see it, I need to see a plan where some people can walk in and envision it and so for yourself, I mean, how do you sort of get that, like you say, that flow, so it feels right.
• 12:23
  Speaker 2: Gosh, people do say I can just walk into a room and I immediately know what to do with it.
• 12:29
  Speaker 2: I feel like I need to consider things a little bit more and take my time a little bit more.
• 12:35
  Speaker 2: And sometimes you have a drawing, a technical drawing, in front of you and you really are playing around with it, getting different pieces of furniture, configurations with furniture and just moving things around and figuring out actually what works best.
• 12:52
  Speaker 2: So it can often take a little bit of time, rather than just entering a property and going, ta-da, I know what to do with it.
• 12:59
  Speaker 2: You know it does take a little bit more thought.
• 13:01
  Speaker 2: So often you'll be playing around with different sized sofas or does the corner sofa work better?
• 13:07
  Speaker 2: Is it two, two, two-seaters and two-arngers, whatever it is, and you're moving things around like a bit of a jigsaw and figuring out what works best for the flow.
• 13:18
  Speaker 2: So it does take a little bit of time, which is sort of going back to what I was talking about with the lighting plan I was working on yesterday.
• 13:25
  Speaker 2: It takes time and it takes consideration to sort of figure out what might work best and it takes, you know, cab drawings and different sort of technical packages to actually know that you're doing that to scale and in the correct manner so that when you're in that property at the end it works effectively.
• 13:44
  Speaker 2: So I would love to say that I have light bulb moments when I walk into properties, but that isn't always how it works.
• 13:52
  Speaker 2: It does, yeah, it does take a little bit more thought and care.
• 13:55
  Speaker 2: But yeah, just made me think actually I'd stage a property for sale.
• 14:00
  Speaker 2: So that's when I stage for sale, I'm renting out, like I said, kits.
• 14:06
  Speaker 2: So I have a certain kit, as I call it, then free, and someone rings me up and says, oh, can you stage for sale?
• 14:13
  Speaker 2: Then I will use that kit.
• 14:15
  Speaker 2: I might add to it and slightly change it, but in essence that's what's going in a house.
• 14:19
  Speaker 2: So there's no kind of planning of space or anything, because those people are borrowing from me.
• 14:27
  Speaker 2: It's not a show home where they're buying everything.
• 14:30
  Speaker 2: So I'm making the best use of what I have in terms of their property and if I don't feel something will work, that's when I will add to my kit.
• 14:39
  Speaker 2: The point of me telling you this is I was staging a four level townhouse in the summer and I they wanted window dressings as an upgrade, because normally to see, because you can't move window dressings.
• 14:54
  Speaker 2: That's not something that's in the standard package.
• 14:57
  Speaker 2: So I went a few days before to measure up the windows and I walked into this house and I walked into this enormous room and I was like this bedroom's massive, but it doesn't have an on suite.
• 15:08
  Speaker 2: And then I was like, oh, it's the lounge.
• 15:10
  Speaker 2: But because it was a house on four levels, it was really a house that needed staging.
• 15:18
  Speaker 2: So it was great that they decided to do that before it going on the market.
• 15:21
  Speaker 2: But it just shows that even someone who's been doing this nearly 20 years sometimes struggles to understand the usage of a room.
• 15:29
  Speaker 2: And yeah, that's when staging is a really, really good idea, definitely.
• 15:35
  Speaker 1: Well, it is because it gives you that whole concept and that whole idea about, like you say, there's no mistakes, is there, you're walking in and it's like oh, a living room or another living room or something like that.
• 15:44
  Speaker 2: Yeah, totally, yes, absolutely.
• 15:47
  Speaker 2: But I mean I say awkward houses are good for staging, but I genuinely, genuinely believe that no house should go in the market without being staged or, of course, if it's Mr and Mrs Jones's property, without them decluttering and making the best use of it.
• 16:04
  Speaker 2: Because we are humans, like you've just alluded to.
• 16:08
  Speaker 2: We buy based on emotion.
• 16:10
  Speaker 2: You cannot get as anywhere near as excited about four empty walls as you can about, you know, a room that's furnished, where you understand how it's supposed to be used and where color and pattern have been introduced.
• 16:28
  Speaker 2: You probably heard me say this before, mark, but color is emotion.
• 16:31
  Speaker 2: We process color in a part of the brain where we process emotions and therefore it is a scientific fact that color makes us feel an emotional, makes us have an emotional connection, an emotional response.
• 16:47
  Speaker 2: So it's so important to kind of introduce that into a property and you will get more eyes on and you are probably gonna get it sold for more money and you will get it sold more quickly.
• 16:59
  Speaker 2: And if you do that retrospectively, yes, it's helpful still, but it's not gonna have the same level of impact as if you were doing it from the outset.
• 17:10
  Speaker 1: And you've got to change that mindset of thinking.
• 17:13
  Speaker 1: I always say thinking property is a business.
• 17:15
  Speaker 1: Now, if you go through any of the big you know home builders, whether it's their first house, whether they call it, they call it a show home and what's it got in it?
• 17:24
  Speaker 1: Furniture, it's got wallpaper, it's got paintings, it's got all sorts.
• 17:28
  Speaker 1: It gets you in there.
• 17:29
  Speaker 1: You feel like I want to live in this property.
• 17:32
  Speaker 1: I don't want to change a thing.
• 17:34
  Speaker 1: Have they stopped?
• 17:36
  Speaker 2: doing show homes with all CGI and, you know, a virtual staging.
• 17:41
  Speaker 2: Have they stopped?
• 17:42
  Speaker 2: No, there's a reason for that and they have, you know, all the money in the world to be able to invest in the best technology, which they do, and they have some great technology as an additional resource, but there's still a show home and there's still often several show homes on the site, and that's for a reason.
• 18:01
  Speaker 2: So if you want to copy the big players in the business, then it is, you know, their best marketing tool, and it can be anyone's best marketing tool.
• 18:11
  Speaker 2: That goes for whether you're selling properties or you're selling rooms within properties.
• 18:17
  Speaker 2: It's getting something presented nicely as your best marketing tool.
• 18:21
  Speaker 1: You don't have to reinvent the wheel and you know follow, like you say what the big boys are doing.
• 18:25
  Speaker 1: I always look at the million pound houses and when you walk around you know those houses for sale.
• 18:29
  Speaker 1: They're dressed, They've made them into show homes.
• 18:32
  Speaker 1: You know you can sit down.
• 18:33
  Speaker 1: You see yourself living there, can't you Put your feet up.
• 18:36
  Speaker 1: So we'll not do it with you.
• 18:37
  Speaker 1: Two up, two down.
• 18:38
  Speaker 1: Even if you're selling that, get the most you can from it because the cost that you will pay for making it into a show home you will more than make on the sale.
• 18:47
  Speaker 1: You know, on the price You'll probably even treble what you've actually paid somebody like yourselves to go in there and dress it and you'll sell it quicker.
• 18:55
  Speaker 1: So if you are stuck on the market at the moment and you're struggling to sell a property, as you've rightly said there I didn't even think of that people will have come and seen the property.
• 19:04
  Speaker 1: A because it's maybe in an area that they like.
• 19:06
  Speaker 1: B, because you know it's a property that they like.
• 19:08
  Speaker 1: But they walked around an empty carcass.
• 19:10
  Speaker 1: It feels cold, it doesn't feel homely in any way, shape or form.
• 19:15
  Speaker 1: If it's an empty property and of course, if it isn't an empty property.
• 19:19
  Speaker 1: Let's just hope it's nice and tidy.
• 19:20
  Speaker 1: That's another one.
• 19:22
  Speaker 1: You see some of those beautiful pictures, don't you, that the estate agents put on, and there's a pilot clothes in the corner.
• 19:28
  Speaker 1: You always think to yourself, well, you just move, that wouldn't you?
• 19:30
  Speaker 1: You just wouldn't have that there if somebody's coming round to take pictures of your house.
• 19:33
  Speaker 1: Anyway, that's a different topic.
• 19:34
  Speaker 1: I've gone off topic.
• 19:35
  Speaker 1: But yeah, you really want to feel the emotion, you want to feel the property, you want to get the vibe as you're going in there.
• 19:43
  Speaker 2: And I think it's quite satisfying.
• 19:44
  Speaker 2: You don't see all the nickers drying on the screens, do you?
• 19:46
  Speaker 2: Well, not really, no, no.
• 19:50
  Speaker 1: It's not a big sell point, is it?
• 19:52
  Speaker 1: It's really far away.
• 19:53
  Speaker 1: Yeah, it's like walking around and saying, hey, that's all right, I can hang me boxer shorts there.
• 19:57
  Speaker 1: Happy days on buying this house.
• 19:59
  Speaker 1: That's not the sort of people we're trying to attract here.
• 20:02
  Speaker 1: We want a premium.
• 20:04
  Speaker 1: We want a premium, but I bet it's quite satisfying for you, as well as not to go in there with a blank canvas, you know, and get the results that you want.
• 20:12
  Speaker 2: It really is.
• 20:12
  Speaker 2: And often I go into a house and I'm like, oh, not sure about this.
• 20:17
  Speaker 2: And then you know and I won't be the only one who does this, that thinks this.
• 20:23
  Speaker 2: So it's not me trying to blow my own trumpet, but by the time I'm finished I'm pottering around in there just doing all those kind of last minute finishing touches.
• 20:31
  Speaker 2: All the team have gone, all the furniture's in place and it's the extra little bits which do make a hell of a difference.
• 20:38
  Speaker 2: So those accessories and all those bits that kind of really elevate it and make it feel like a home.
• 20:45
  Speaker 2: And I'm pottering around in there and I'm just clearing my stuff up, and then I'm like I could actually move in here now.
• 20:50
  Speaker 2: And I'm not just saying that because this is what I do for a living, I genuinely mean it.
• 20:56
  Speaker 2: Often I.
• 20:56
  Speaker 2: The transformation is massive.
• 20:59
  Speaker 2: And one of the best bits is seeing people's faces when they come back into their property and they're like oh my God, I can't believe what you've done with it.
• 21:07
  Speaker 2: I don't want to sell it now.
• 21:09
  Speaker 2: So yeah, it's brilliant to hear things like that, but I actually feel that myself as well.
• 21:14
  Speaker 2: You know, a property can feel uninspiring or it can just feel, like you said, cold and uninviting, and then suddenly it feels like a home.
• 21:24
  Speaker 2: So it's not.
• 21:25
  Speaker 2: It's not a scam.
• 21:27
  Speaker 2: It's not, you know something, that designers talk about working just because we like design.
• 21:33
  Speaker 2: It actually does create a better feeling, and that should equate to a quicker sale and a higher return on your investment.
• 21:43
  Speaker 1: Definitely, and it's not.
• 21:45
  Speaker 1: It's certainly not a scam, as you say, because people are doing it, big companies are doing it.
• 21:49
  Speaker 1: Ikea makes a fortune and people walk around.
• 21:52
  Speaker 1: You know Ikea is to look for inspiration and that's why they give you the rooms so that you can feel their products and think I want that product in my house.
• 22:00
  Speaker 1: Again, if you walk around any other furniture shop and you just see them in rows, I'm terrible for that.
• 22:04
  Speaker 1: I walk around in leases, a lot more creative than me.
• 22:07
  Speaker 1: I look great in the living room.
• 22:10
  Speaker 1: I don't know, I shall put it in the living room and it'll probably look great.
• 22:13
  Speaker 1: I'll be quiet.
• 22:15
  Speaker 1: But of course you go to one of these showroom places.
• 22:18
  Speaker 1: You sit down on the sofa there, you look over, you think, yeah, I can put my beer on there, I can put that in there, that's a happy place.
• 22:25
  Speaker 1: Emotion, it's all emotion.
• 22:27
  Speaker 1: And of course you know colours, like you say, are massive on that, aren't they?
• 22:32
  Speaker 2: And just talking about colour, it is the same with colour.
• 22:34
  Speaker 2: So all those paint companies who advertise a particular paint colour, that's the paint that we'll sell.
• 22:41
  Speaker 2: When builders are speccing a kitchen and they put a particular colour kitchen in a showroom, that's the one that we'll sell.
• 22:48
  Speaker 2: People need to be able to be shown.
• 22:51
  Speaker 2: Not sure if this figure's correct, but apparently nine out of 10 people really struggle to visualise something.
• 22:59
  Speaker 2: So when they see it they're good with it.
• 23:01
  Speaker 2: But actually if you show them a green kitchen cupboard door, they'll be like oh my God, it's a green kitchen cupboard door.
• 23:08
  Speaker 2: Put it in with a worktop style the kitchen.
• 23:12
  Speaker 2: Then they're like oh, it's a green kitchen cupboard, you know so it just does really help.
• 23:20
  Speaker 2: And I think that's talking about colour.
• 23:23
  Speaker 2: I do appreciate that a lot of investors they really do try and developers, they're really trying to add a creative element to their design.
• 23:35
  Speaker 2: If they're designing themselves, they're trying to use colour and trying to get away from magnolia and just beige or grey everywhere.
• 23:43
  Speaker 2: But the problem then is if you're not trained and you're not experienced, you start to look around at what other people are doing and then the market becomes saturated with a feature Farron Bulls, stookie Blue Wall, you know that?
• 24:00
  Speaker 2: Really dark navy.
• 24:01
  Speaker 2: So everybody has three white walls and a dark navy wall as a feature.
• 24:07
  Speaker 2: And it's not that they're trying, they're making an effort to do something and I do totally see that, but that is all you see now.
• 24:18
  Speaker 2: Or in an HMO, you see a headboard in a bedroom with a yellow or orange stripe behind the headboard that goes onto the ceiling and that you know that's someone trying to be creative, thinking.
• 24:30
  Speaker 2: Well, they've done that.
• 24:32
  Speaker 2: I'm going to give that a go.
• 24:33
  Speaker 2: But then everyone's doing it and also I'm trained in colour psychology and massively question the use of really bright colours like that in a bedroom and I don't think it's the right space for it.
• 24:47
  Speaker 2: So having someone who is trained and experienced in the use of colour and pattern can really help you do something different and to stand out from the crowd.
• 24:57
  Speaker 2: So it's not a criticism.
• 25:00
  Speaker 2: But if you are someone who is feeling like you want to invest in a designer but you're not really sure you've been dabbling and you've been trying to do it yourself, but you recognise that in you then maybe it's time to actually employ someone to do that design work for you.
• 25:18
  Speaker 1: Definitely.
• 25:19
  Speaker 1: So what are the services, then, that you offer?
• 25:23
  Speaker 2: So I offer, like I say, that, staging for sale service.
• 25:27
  Speaker 2: So that's for investors and developers who are selling, whether they're selling one plot or whether they're selling 50 or 100.
• 25:36
  Speaker 2: Just being able to get that show home, look, by borrowing that furniture and having an experienced team come in and stage and style the property.
• 25:48
  Speaker 2: So that's going really well and I'm trying to grow that side of the business.
• 25:52
  Speaker 2: I'm just about to invest in another kit.
• 25:53
  Speaker 2: I've got a job happening in January, so that's all very exciting, and I'm getting my eighth kit, so I've got seven out there doing their job helping to sell properties around the North.
• 26:08
  Speaker 2: Then the other service I offer I can work with people much further afield because I can do a lot of the work virtually.
• 26:15
  Speaker 2: So it's an interior design service, as I've been talking about on and off throughout this chat.
• 26:20
  Speaker 2: So if you've got service to combination, if you've got an HMO co-living space and you're wanting to elevate that, then I can work with investors to do that.
• 26:32
  Speaker 2: So at the moment, like I say, I've got a client who's got three essays in Liverpool.
• 26:38
  Speaker 2: I'm working to create a bit of a brand identity as well because they are very much going for it, buying lots of properties.
• 26:46
  Speaker 2: So I'm coming up with a color palette and tweaking that palette to use depending on the particular target market for that particular property.
• 26:57
  Speaker 2: So that's really nice.
• 26:59
  Speaker 2: It's working with them at the beginning of their journey and creating something that they can be proud of and roll out for different properties in the future.
• 27:08
  Speaker 2: So, yeah, that's very much more interior design service and that's the more creative side of the business really.
• 27:18
  Speaker 1: So you don't walk around show homes yourself or at least drop a few business cards for anybody potentially looking to buy a new home?
• 27:26
  Speaker 2: When I set up my own, I kind of had to keep my hands off the big house builders who I'd worked for previously from my employer.
• 27:35
  Speaker 2: So then I was like, what am I gonna do?
• 27:38
  Speaker 2: And then I thought, right, well, I work with people with kind of small to medium-sized portfolios, that's fine, I'll do that instead.
• 27:46
  Speaker 2: And I went to PIN in Harrogate and this whole new world has opened up to me of property, investment and networking and training and everything that I didn't know existed or was out there.
• 28:01
  Speaker 2: So, actually, from something that I was a little bit nervous about because it was a slight deviation it was a deviation in terms of the clients that I'm used to working with it's been brilliant.
• 28:12
  Speaker 2: I've really genuinely one of the best parts of being an entrepreneur, of doing what I'm doing, is the networking, is the growing my network and meeting new people.
• 28:23
  Speaker 2: And, yeah, like I say, a whole sort of world that I didn't even know existed has kind of yeah, is now my world really.
• 28:32
  Speaker 2: So, yes, I don't do that in terms of dropping my business cards off, but I have worked with some big PLCs who they've had a show home.
• 28:41
  Speaker 2: They or not even just PLCs, but they're really big national house builders.
• 28:47
  Speaker 2: They've had a show home and they've now got a stock plot.
• 28:51
  Speaker 2: So a plot that's ready to go but it just won't shift, or they've only got maybe 20, 50 plots left to sell.
• 28:59
  Speaker 2: They don't want another show home.
• 29:01
  Speaker 2: They sold their show home a while ago.
• 29:03
  Speaker 2: They're not gonna spend another 60 grand on one.
• 29:06
  Speaker 2: So my service works really well for them.
• 29:08
  Speaker 2: So actually I do still work with some of the big ones, but yeah, I don't know how popular I'd be to drop my business card round in this area with my previous employer.
• 29:22
  Speaker 1: Well, no, fair enough.
• 29:23
  Speaker 1: Fair enough, I mean, the old saying goes you don't know what you don't know.
• 29:26
  Speaker 1: And I have to say that when you're in now, you're in the sort of ecosystem of the property world.
• 29:31
  Speaker 1: It feels quite a big system, doesn't it?
• 29:33
  Speaker 1: It feels quite a big place to be, rather than-.
• 29:36
  Speaker 2: How did I?
• 29:36
  Speaker 1: know I was gonna say when I was in my corporate job I didn't know about half of this or I didn't know about any of it.
• 29:44
  Speaker 1: So a lot of people say to me when it's saturated in what I'm doing, everybody's doing it.
• 29:48
  Speaker 1: They're not near enough everybody to know about what you're trying to do, what work you're doing.
• 29:53
  Speaker 1: You do now because social media and it always hears you talking about property, so all it does is show you property and you think the whole world's doing it.
• 30:01
  Speaker 1: And they're not.
• 30:02
  Speaker 1: They're only a small little marketplace, but it is bigger than you think.
• 30:07
  Speaker 2: Yeah, totally, and I've got not that many connections on LinkedIn really, I'm still 18 months in and I'm growing that but I feel like I know all the investors in the country.
• 30:18
  Speaker 2: And then I look at someone who I've just connected with and they've got like 25,000 connections.
• 30:24
  Speaker 2: Oh, I've still got a bit of work to do there.
• 30:26
  Speaker 1: Then but it's good on.
• 30:28
  Speaker 1: Linkedin, though, isn't it?
• 30:29
  Speaker 1: If they've got all those connections, then all of a sudden their second connections to you.
• 30:33
  Speaker 1: I don't know how it all works and everything, but it is good to reach out and connect with people as much as possible there.
• 30:39
  Speaker 2: It's a good place to hang out, yeah.
• 30:41
  Speaker 1: If somebody was buying a property themselves, would you?
• 30:45
  Speaker 1: Would they be all right to, would you?
• 30:47
  Speaker 1: So let's just say I was buying another house to move into with my family and I thought to myself do you know what I want?
• 30:53
  Speaker 1: A Louise, touch on my house.
• 30:54
  Speaker 1: Could I employ your services to basically design it for me?
• 30:59
  Speaker 2: I do have a couple of residential clients.
• 31:02
  Speaker 2: It has, yes, but it has to be a big sort of decent project, like you say, if you're wanting to overhaul the whole house.
• 31:13
  Speaker 2: I don't tend to work on a sort of room by room basis or just a few rolls of wallpaper or you know, a decent kind of project.
• 31:22
  Speaker 2: When I say a decent project, I mean something to get my teeth into, that I can.
• 31:28
  Speaker 2: So I'm not just working on one room and then the rest of the house doesn't feel cohesive.
• 31:34
  Speaker 2: Just trying to, I can help you to create a cohesive look and feel for your whole house, for sure.
• 31:41
  Speaker 2: Yes, but it's not something you know.
• 31:44
  Speaker 2: They always say you've got a niche, you've got a niche.
• 31:46
  Speaker 2: So when I first started out, I was like right, I'm an interior designer, I can design anything, I'll work with anyone.
• 31:53
  Speaker 2: And then, as time has gone on, I've been like why am I doing that?
• 31:57
  Speaker 2: Stick to what you know.
• 31:58
  Speaker 2: I'm used to working with developers, so that is my niche.
• 32:03
  Speaker 2: I will use that, as I always have done.
• 32:05
  Speaker 2: But that's not to say that for the right Resi client I wouldn't work with them.
• 32:12
  Speaker 1: Okay, cool, how was Andy tonight?
• 32:15
  Speaker 1: Brilliant stuff.
• 32:15
  Speaker 1: So about this time.
• 32:16
  Speaker 1: Normally I like to do a little quick fire round quiz.
• 32:19
  Speaker 1: It's not a quiz actually, it's just a few questions that I like to ask my guests because I'm interested in the answers.
• 32:25
  Speaker 1: You all right with that, yeah yeah, good.
• 32:27
  Speaker 1: I think Cool.
• 32:29
  Speaker 1: What's the best advice you've been given?
• 32:34
  Speaker 2: Oh God, there's so much advice I've been given.
• 32:37
  Speaker 2: I'm just trying to think if I've got a best bit.
• 32:43
  Speaker 2: I mean, what I am realizing and what you hear a lot of within property is that and it's real, real cliche is that your net work is your net worth.
• 32:55
  Speaker 2: And I've said this earlier, I'm loving kind of getting to know people and where that's taking me and it's so interesting.
• 33:06
  Speaker 2: You sort of have goals and you have a path that you think you wanna get to hear, but it's that little journey on the way that is just brilliant.
• 33:17
  Speaker 2: It takes you off on little tangents and that's not a bad thing, that's a good thing.
• 33:21
  Speaker 2: I mean, last night I went to an event with female founders in Leeds and that happened because of a whole other string of events of meeting different people.
• 33:31
  Speaker 2: So I just think getting out there, networking and meeting people, people are so much better connected than I am.
• 33:39
  Speaker 2: You know they've been doing this for way longer than I have in terms of their entrepreneurial journey.
• 33:44
  Speaker 2: So although I think I'm really expanding my network and getting out there and meeting people, there's still so much more to do and that's actually exciting and, yeah, I love that.
• 33:55
  Speaker 2: And you can't as a certain property investors you see everywhere, and they literally live for networking.
• 34:04
  Speaker 2: But that's a brilliant way to be.
• 34:06
  Speaker 2: That is the way to be, isn't it?
• 34:07
  Speaker 2: I think so.
• 34:11
  Speaker 2: Yes, that's probably the best advice I think I've had.
• 34:15
  Speaker 2: That's good.
• 34:15
  Speaker 2: That's good.
• 34:17
  Speaker 1: I like the one, and it goes along with that.
• 34:18
  Speaker 1: The more hands you shake, the more money you make, because it's all about relationships, isn't?
• 34:22
  Speaker 2: it.
• 34:22
  Speaker 2: Making money is all about relationships.
• 34:25
  Speaker 1: So brilliant, good stuff.
• 34:26
  Speaker 1: Good stuff, If you could sit and have dinner with three people, alive or dead, anybody in the world who has been around in existence.
• 34:34
  Speaker 1: Who would you like to sit down and have dinner with?
• 34:37
  Speaker 1: You've got three.
• 34:45
  Speaker 2: I love Mary Portis.
• 34:45
  Speaker 2: Do you know Mary Portis of Mary Queen of Shops off of like the 90s?
• 34:50
  Speaker 2: So she has a ginger bob?
• 34:55
  Speaker 2: No, you don't know her.
• 34:57
  Speaker 2: Anyway, she was all about.
• 34:57
  Speaker 2: She went for Harvey Nix and she was all about consumption and buying stuff, and now she's much more about better business and doing things the right way and ethically and she's a real kind of powerhouse of a woman.
• 35:13
  Speaker 2: So I would love to have dinner with her.
• 35:17
  Speaker 2: I also absolutely love do you might not have had a this guy either.
• 35:21
  Speaker 2: His name's David Hyatt, so he lives in Wales and he started a t-shirt brand that was bought by Timberland maybe in the Noughties, and he is from Cardigan in Wales, which used to have a massive jeans factory and 400 people lost their jobs overnight at the beginning of this century, and he is on a mission.
• 35:48
  Speaker 2: He's now set up a jeans factory with his wife and he is on a mission to get those 400 people their jobs back.
• 35:55
  Speaker 2: And he is really inspirational, brilliant writing, and I just find him fascinating as well, and I should probably say someone that's no longer alive, shouldn't I?
• 36:07
  Speaker 2: But I can't think of anyone Change your fate the spot Not very good at this kind of thing.
• 36:17
  Speaker 1: Do I do?
• 36:17
  Speaker 2: it.
• 36:18
  Speaker 2: That's why you do it.
• 36:19
  Speaker 2: You could have given me a heads up here, mark, come on.
• 36:23
  Speaker 1: This is just off the cuff, yeah.
• 36:25
  Speaker 1: What makes it fun?
• 36:26
  Speaker 2: Yeah, is this an embarrassing length of silence?
• 36:34
  Speaker 1: Yes, ha ha ha Margaret Thatcher.
• 36:40
  Speaker 2: Okay, okay, I've heard of her, I just said it, I just gone blank.
• 36:45
  Speaker 2: No, I don't mean Margaret Thatcher at all.
• 36:48
  Speaker 2: Everyone's switched off now it's like you said Margaret Thatcher, I'm switching off.
• 36:53
  Speaker 2: Third person is I would go for.
• 36:59
  Speaker 2: Ooh Mark, my mind's gone really blank.
• 37:04
  Speaker 1: Okay, no worries, it could be anybody.
• 37:09
  Speaker 2: It could be a friend I know I'm going to go for.
• 37:14
  Speaker 2: I'll just go for Margaret Thatcher, Okay interesting Be an interesting table.
• 37:19
  Speaker 1: I've heard them all sacking to my brain.
• 37:21
  Speaker 2: I've literally forgotten all the people I know.
• 37:24
  Speaker 1: Well, get ready, because you've got some more questions coming.
• 37:25
  Speaker 1: This is fun, Right?
• 37:30
  Speaker 1: So okay, do you listen to podcasts?
• 37:35
  Speaker 2: A little bit.
• 37:35
  Speaker 2: Not loads, Not loads.
• 37:37
  Speaker 2: I tend to listen to music when I'm in the car.
• 37:41
  Speaker 1: Or you can ask me my favourite podcast.
• 37:42
  Speaker 1: Oh well, have you had three podcasts that you recommend?
• 37:47
  Speaker 2: I can't do, threes Can't do threes?
• 37:50
  Speaker 1: Well, you go two, because that's the rules.
• 37:54
  Speaker 2: Can I just check what they're called?
• 37:57
  Speaker 2: Of course you can.
• 37:58
  Speaker 2: You're going to need to edit this.
• 38:00
  Speaker 2: You do know that.
• 38:02
  Speaker 1: We don't do edit.
• 38:04
  Speaker 2: And I've turned my phone off as well.
• 38:05
  Speaker 2: Oh Blaine.
• 38:09
  Speaker 1: So you cannot think of one podcast that you listen to after top of your head.
• 38:13
  Speaker 2: I just can't think of the names of them.
• 38:15
  Speaker 2: Oh right, how to own the room is one of my favourites.
• 38:19
  Speaker 2: So it's about people who have real presence and how they own the room when they walk into a room.
• 38:26
  Speaker 2: So I do love that.
• 38:28
  Speaker 2: I just can't remember who's podcast it is, don't worry about that.
• 38:35
  Speaker 1: I just need the names of them.
• 38:37
  Speaker 2: How to own the room.
• 38:37
  Speaker 2: Definitely, and there's also another one by someone called Elizabeth Day that I can't remember.
• 38:44
  Speaker 2: Mark, I'm really sorry.
• 38:46
  Speaker 2: It's all right.
• 38:47
  Speaker 1: It's not a problem.
• 38:47
  Speaker 1: This makes it entertaining.
• 38:49
  Speaker 2: I'm a woman of a certain age and my brain's gone blank.
• 38:52
  Speaker 2: Laughter, get your hands behind for me.
• 38:58
  Speaker 1: Don't ask me names, ok I don't have one rubbish with names, you know look.
• 39:04
  Speaker 2: Can't do names but.
• 39:06
  Speaker 1: One more, one more, come on, and you've done it.
• 39:08
  Speaker 2: Right, ok, my phone's on.
• 39:11
  Speaker 2: Oh yeah, how about?
• 39:14
  Speaker 2: What's his name?
• 39:15
  Speaker 2: Stephen Bartlett, that's an obvious one.
• 39:17
  Speaker 1: But I was the area of a CEO.
• 39:20
  Speaker 2: It is really good.
• 39:21
  Speaker 2: There you go.
• 39:22
  Speaker 2: I said I'd do too.
• 39:23
  Speaker 2: There you go Woo.
• 39:25
  Speaker 1: Did you treat it?
• 39:26
  Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, definitely Diane something.
• 39:30
  Speaker 1: What was that one?
• 39:32
  Speaker 2: How to own the room.
• 39:34
  Speaker 1: No, well, was that Diane.
• 39:36
  Speaker 2: No, no, I know what I like.
• 39:37
  Speaker 2: I really like there.
• 39:39
  Speaker 2: You see, I just needed to look at my phone.
• 39:41
  Speaker 2: I really like Annie Mack changes.
• 39:44
  Speaker 2: That is really interesting.
• 39:46
  Speaker 2: So she interviews people who have had three significant changes in their life and what those changes were and how it affects their lives.
• 39:53
  Speaker 2: So she talks to all sorts of different people.
• 39:55
  Speaker 2: So I always listen to that on the plane.
• 40:00
  Speaker 1: Nice, nice, nice nice.
• 40:02
  Speaker 2: Sorry about that, listeners.
• 40:04
  Speaker 1: Like the next three things your top three books.
• 40:09
  Speaker 2: Oh, my God right, I'm not telling you my top three, I'm just gonna tell you what I've recently read.
• 40:13
  Speaker 2: Okay, yeah.
• 40:15
  Speaker 2: So all right, it can be anything as well.
• 40:17
  Speaker 1: It can be anything.
• 40:19
  Speaker 2: So I have just read I bought this years ago.
• 40:21
  Speaker 2: I've just read how to win friends and influence people, which is such a good book, but I do wish they'd update it because the reference points are like Roosevelt and people from I don't know 100 or so years ago, so it just feels too dated.
• 40:39
  Speaker 2: I think it would really benefit from a refresh.
• 40:42
  Speaker 2: But a great book.
• 40:43
  Speaker 2: Really have enjoyed that.
• 40:45
  Speaker 2: And then I've moved on to, and then I've only just read Rich Dad, poor Dad, I know because most people start with that, don't they?
• 40:54
  Speaker 2: But, that's a good book, so I've just bought his other one, but I've not read that yet.
• 40:58
  Speaker 2: Don't ask me what's that cash for the fortune.
• 41:02
  Speaker 1: That's the one that's better.
• 41:03
  Speaker 1: I enjoyed that one.
• 41:05
  Speaker 2: I've heard that people have said that yeah, so that's why I bought that one.
• 41:08
  Speaker 2: And then the Think and Grow Rich.
• 41:13
  Speaker 2: I'm on Think and Grow Rich at the moment.
• 41:16
  Speaker 1: Napoleon Hill.
• 41:17
  Speaker 1: Good book, good book that's the one.
• 41:19
  Speaker 2: yes, yes, I did read it quickly there.
• 41:22
  Speaker 1: It goes through some really good books there.
• 41:23
  Speaker 1: The thing is you could say thinking influenced people, was it?
• 41:29
  Speaker 1: How do we influence people?
• 41:32
  Speaker 1: How do we get updated when the author's dead?
• 41:36
  Speaker 2: Well, because you can not, the author updates it, but I don't know the author's what you're taking away from.
• 41:43
  Speaker 1: I know what you mean.
• 41:45
  Speaker 2: No, honestly, genuinely often books are updated.
• 41:48
  Speaker 2: That's not.
• 41:49
  Speaker 2: Oh yeah, I know the Rich Appardance.
• 41:53
  Speaker 2: He updated it.
• 41:54
  Speaker 2: Fair Deuce, he did it, Is it like that?
• 41:57
  Speaker 1: Or the kids do it, or their trust, or whatever.
• 42:00
  Speaker 1: How many kids do it?
• 42:01
  Speaker 1: I'm just kidding with you, just kidding with you, but yeah.
• 42:04
  Speaker 2: No, no, I do need to jump in.
• 42:05
  Speaker 2: I think you should write to the editor, get that, make that happen.
• 42:10
  Speaker 1: I'm all right, I can deal with how it is now, because I think a lot of the old things still apply today.
• 42:15
  Speaker 1: Yes, we've got certain things, but yeah, I get what you're saying as well.
• 42:18
  Speaker 1: It is quite nice to have more up-to-date sort of examples with things that's more relevant to now, but that's a classic.
• 42:30
  Speaker 2: Let's change the classic.
• 42:31
  Speaker 2: Let's see what the classic is that you're saying.
• 42:35
  Speaker 1: You can, I'll leave you to it.
• 42:36
  Speaker 1: I'll leave you to it.
• 42:37
  Speaker 1: Right, let's find out how.
• 42:41
  Speaker 1: So, if anybody wants to reach out to you, what's the best way to contact you?
• 42:46
  Speaker 2: I love using LinkedIn, so you can find me on LinkedIn.
• 42:49
  Speaker 2: It's Louise Wynne, w-y-n-n-e, and I think I was fortunate enough to be the first Louise Wynne on LinkedIn, so you'll find me very quickly if you type my name in.
• 43:01
  Speaker 2: And I'm also on Instagram and a little bit on Facebook.
• 43:07
  Speaker 2: It's at Wildkind, so W-I-L-D-K-I-N-D interiors.
• 43:13
  Speaker 2: I'm dabbling with other socials, but they're the ones that you can find me on, and I've also got a website wildkindinteriorscouk.
• 43:23
  Speaker 1: Absolutely marvelous, marvelous, marvelous.
• 43:24
  Speaker 1: Well, I'll put the links to your social feeds in the description.
• 43:28
  Speaker 1: So if you're listening to this, go down and have a look.
• 43:30
  Speaker 1: If you're watching this, go down and have a look and reach out to Louise.
• 43:34
  Speaker 1: She's always posting.
• 43:36
  Speaker 1: It's great to see.
• 43:37
  Speaker 1: It's great to see that.
• 43:38
  Speaker 1: You're also getting out there.
• 43:40
  Speaker 1: You're doing your talks as well.
• 43:41
  Speaker 1: So local networking events.
• 43:44
  Speaker 1: She talks to all different events and things.
• 43:45
  Speaker 1: So do look up, keep your eyes open for her.
• 43:47
  Speaker 1: She's a lovely character.
• 43:48
  Speaker 1: It's been absolute pleasure and an honor to have you joining me here today.
• 43:53
  Speaker 1: Thank you so much.
• 43:54
  Speaker 1: That's all right.
• 43:55
  Speaker 1: That's all right.
• 43:56
  Speaker 1: Do you have any final thoughts before we wrap this one up?
• 44:00
  Speaker 2: That's.
• 44:01
  Speaker 2: I think I need to take some kind of vitamin for my memory.
• 44:04
  Speaker 2: And.
• 44:04
  Speaker 2: Apologies for stumbling over that little question bit, but no, I'm all good, it's been fun, thank you.
• 44:12
  Speaker 1: No, it's good, it's been good.
• 44:13
  Speaker 1: So, again, make sure that you've enjoyed this episode.
• 44:18
  Speaker 1: Please feel free to share it with any friends, anybody that's out there.
• 44:22
  Speaker 1: You can leave us a five star review, which is always gratefully received and helps the show to reach a few more people as well, and it's your good deed for the day if you do so.
• 44:31
  Speaker 1: But yeah, follow, subscribe, like comment, reach out to Louise on social media I'm not sure what happened there and, at the end of the day, make sure that you have your vision.
• 44:42
  Speaker 1: You know how to take action on your vision.
• 44:44
  Speaker 1: You break your vision down into goals, outside chunks and tasks that you can do every single day.
• 44:49
  Speaker 1: You be consistent and persistent in your approach and you can achieve anything.
• 44:53
  Speaker 1: I look forward to you joining me in the next episode.
• 44:56
  Speaker 1: You all take care, and bye for now, raus.