Episode 19 - Designing Success: Christine Woodward on Empowering Boutique Firms & Women in Design

Transcript

00:12

Okay, here we are. Powerhouse Smart Friends and Colleagues. Another fabulous episode of the Powerhouse Cool Collabs podcast where I am so proud to be able to share the coolest leaders in luxury design, build, and real estate with all of you. Um, where we get to learn how it is they've um, grown their, you know, their story, how they've grown their career, as well as living with an attitude of gratitude and giving back to help humanity. And our guest today is newer to me, but I have um done some

00:49

research and we she and I have chatted several times. And I think she's going to be an incredible asset for all of you, especially with her um areas of expertise, you know, fits right into that luxury architecture, interior design world. So, as we get started, this is a commutable podcast, so it's uh short enough for you to get, you know, get in the car and really get some valuable information as you're on your way during your busy day. Um, but it's also going to have lots of good

01:20

information for you to follow up afterwards and reach out to our guest. So, I'm going to let beautiful Christine Woodward introduce herself. Um, she's one of the smartest ladies I know. So, Christine, tell us your story of, you know, your history, where you are, and how you got to be this incredible consultant in our industry. Thank you. So glad to be here, Wendy. Thank you. Such an honor, and thank you for the kind welcoming. Um, so yeah, I'll kind of try to be a nutshell of a backstory. Uh, I am a former designer

01:53

myself. I have a masters in architecture. I practiced interior design for the last 15 years. Um and in doing so while getting my masters in architecture did studies management at Harvard and I'm currently in my last year of my MBA at Johns Hopkins. So it's always been this this yeah this love for design but also for business. And so 5 years ago, I decided to merge the two after having climbed the ladder um of the design side at firms like Gendler, uh Restoration Hardware, working on the

02:21

design firm side of things um and lots of other design firms across the country, both in hospitality and in high-end residential, extremely high-end residential. And um so 5 years ago decided to launch what is now um a business coaching and consulting company exclusive to interior designers and architects and the like within our industry across the country. So we have clients all over the country, our team members all over the country. Um yeah, and it's just been an incredible journey. It is really trying to be that

02:48

right hand to the owner in a way that helps to um get them out of their own head so they can figure out what priorities are the you know most relevant to their goals and figuring out those goals as well. So uh and then we have a tactical approach as well with everything else we do. We do recruiting, HR, streamlining operations, financial projections and consulting, um, branding. Yeah, we really try to be what and if we don't have it because we don't do PR. Um, if we don't have it, we have an

03:21

incredible, you know, in our pocket list of vendors that we've worked with and we know the good ones and the maybe not so good ones, I guess I should say. Yeah. Yeah. So, I I hope to be that resource that every interior designer and architect um needs. That's fantastic. And first of all, wow, Harvard, John Hopkins, super smart. And you actually did the roles that you're actually trying to help elevate people in those positions. So, um you've been there and you've seen the what works and

03:53

what doesn't work. So, it's the mentorship is so valuable. So when we first met, you you told me that you know um as in some consultants and some firms, some coaches um have different niche niches, you know, they they like to work big companies or small companies or Yeah. Um I noticed that yours is specifically the more boutique. So tell me about tell us about that and why and how you really feel like that's an area you can you have a passion for. Yes, absolutely. Thank you. I'm glad you

04:23

brought that up. Uh so you'll see in our website we have we share who our clients are. Um we're honored to work with every client that we've ever worked with and you will see at the top as we're very proud we've worked with some incredible firms that are larger. So Ken Folk for instance um and uh but that's actually the outliers. So typically as you alluded to the standard size firm we work with is 1 to five person firms maybe and then I'd say about 50 to 60% are the 1 to five person firms and then

04:52

you know the five to 10 person firms and then outside of that is more the outliers. So we're very accustomed to the small businesses um and that 1 to five person firm is not always uh employees either. It's usually contractors and we're working with the owners trying to figure out, you know, help them navigate when do I switch from contractors to employees? When do I get my office? Right? These are all questions that they don't know when they should kind of pull those triggers. Um

05:17

when is smart to do that? And oftentimes we run into this a lot. They'll initiate something along their journey that is premature and it could be something that could sink them and tank their business. Um that's a bit dramatic. Not everything does it that dramatically, but it, you know, you add enough things to the ship that are premature and the ship can't hold it and we start to sink. Um, and it can be really disheartening and um, for a lot of reasons either disheartening or the financial aspect and the company

05:45

goes under. I have not worked with any companies that were at that stage, but I've definitely heard the things that they're tossing onto the ship and I'm saying, "Wait, no, let's hold off on that." You know, here's kind of the milestone at which you want to add that to the ship down the line. Um, so being strategic with what they want to do. Um, I think I alwaysude it to it being a tornado. You know, there's so many things that every owner thinks they need to do, should be doing. It feels like it

06:13

should be happening all at one time. And so we're helping to create clarity within that tornado and prioritize what does need to be done. So, so if somebody and I I I like I said when I had first met you that, wow, this is going to be so valuable to so many people that I know. I I get the call all the time. Do you have any suggestions? Or I'm stuck. And so if somebody's thinking about um you know, is this the right approach for me? I've never even thought about hiring a company such as

06:40

yourself or a consultant. Um you know, what are some of the red flags that are going off in their head that they they they maybe need to make a call? And then what's that initial process for you for you to decide if it's a good fit for you too? Yeah, great questions. uh those initial flags. I hadn't actually had that blank uh question before. It is you've been spinning. That's the first thing that comes to mind. You've been spinning for too long. You don't know what's up, what's down. You can't make

07:11

traction on anything. You start something, it stops. Uh the needle feels like it hardly moves on anything. Um yeah, the the clarity is not there and you don't know what to do. and everything you do do does not make any progress. I mean that almost exacerbated deflated you know disheartened state that's when I think someone should absolutely get a coach I strongly dislike using the word coach because so oftentimes the term conotes someone who's just there to kind of talk through things and yes we are strategists but

07:47

strategy is nothing without implementation and so we are both part strategist and impleer and integrator to make certain that the needle is moving on what we have talked about and the way our fee structure and the how we work together helps to ensure that um we are not a program you don't you know start at the same point for everyone it's meeting you where you are but to answer your question on those red flags it's kind of that exhausted state um I think it's really important to have someone

08:14

that knows the industry so I've worked with a lot of clients who said I've worked with coaches before consultants and um it's not gone anywhere but they also didn't know the industry and I do think that's extremely important because our industry is really unique Yes. And not maybe in the best way in that it's extremely antiquated. So, um, and it's kind of hard to believe for a lot of people who have worked in other industries. I mean, the fact that a lot of firms don't function with financial

08:37

projections, all of that's happening and taking place in the owner's gut, you know, is incredible. I I honestly applaud owners. I'm not It's not I'm not laughing at it. It's it's really incredible. So, financial projections, the way we hire and retain people. Um, we're all creatives, and I'm putting myself in that camp because I am a creative. I come from that. And so, I know what it's like to be the owner who's of a creative agency who is creative. They're not the best managers, most

09:04

design firm owners. And so, someone outside the industry can't understand that for a lot of ways. And it can feel like you're not talking to the right person. And I've just heard that over and over with clients that we've worked with that have previously worked with coaches or consultants outside the industry. Um, so those are red flags. If you have worked with someone before but kind of got burned, if it was someone from outside the industry, I would say that's a red flag that that's why you

09:28

feel burned and don't want to work with someone else again. And then making certain that things are moving forward. And this is where we raise our hand and say, "Hey, this has been now three sessions. We're not seeing the needle move. These are action items. let well before even that third meeting we're saying who can be doing this instead of you. If they say oh so and so can on my team or no I will I'll get to it and three meetings in or four meetings in and we're not seeing that needle move

09:51

we'll raise our hand and say this might not be a good fit because we want nothing more than our clients to take action and and step away from our engagement saying great insights and I actually made progress. The worst is to say great insights but nothing happened. So, um, those are the red flags. And then your second question of working with us and how that kind of unfolds is what that looks like. Yeah. Yeah. So, so all excellent. I I get that completely. So, now the next thing I'm hearing my audience say is, "How do I

10:22

know if I can afford you?" Yes. Yes. Um, and and actually, I'll piggyback a little bit on that last one because I know your last question was, um, how is it a good fit for us? It is someone who's ready to take advice from someone, right? Uh hopefully pick the right person. Obviously, our expertise in the industry as I allude to us being the right people. Uh but you have to have that good personality fit, right? So I our team members push back. If someone says, "I need a senior designer, you know,

10:52

because we're recruiting for them or uh this person's not a good fit. Tell me how to manage them out of my business sort of thing." We'll push back and say, "Okay, before we make that decision, tell us how you've been managing them. What feedback have you been giving?" Oh, I haven't been giving any feedback. I'm laughing because it's it's happened so often, not laughing at the person, but it's just comical. So, we will then actually help to coach them into

11:15

retaining that person. A it's less expensive to retain that person. Now, I realize sometimes in a situation like that, it may have been too long. It's hard to turn a ship around at that point. But I'm a hopeless optimist in that it's again it's less expensive and the person knows their business. So can we try to turn that around? So oftentimes we'll meet with the team members themselves and try to re realign the culture both either for that specific individual or everyone on the

11:41

team. So we have done all that as well. But all that to say we're pushing back. We're not just taking a I say a ticket like it to say okay we'll go fix this. You know, it is we're we've got the big picture in mind and we've seen and aggregated so many firms best and worst practices that we're going to push back and and work as a almost a partner in your business really that skin in the game feeling to analyze what we should be working on and is this the right thing we should be analyzing and are we

12:06

analyzing it from the right perspective as well right so yes this person's an issue in your business but is it that they need to leave the business or is it actually on us as owners we need to step up as leaders and manager better managers um so that I wanted to piggy back on the push back and and who's the right fit for us that push back is okay and that they're looking for that partner in their business. That's us and that's what I'm sussing out when I'm meeting with clients. Um and then being

12:29

able to take action. So, we're not here as a webinar or a course. Uh you are not just gleaning information. That is not how we work. Um I strongly dislike that because you go back into reality, nothing happens. This is all about implementation and integration of what you actually learn. And then your question to me, sorry I was so fixated on who's a good fit for us. your last question to me. Sorry. That's okay. Good. All good. And I think before you answer that question about um how does someone, you know, fit this

12:57

into their budget, make sure that they they realize that this is a cost they they have to, you know, they have to incur in order to grow or to stay in business. Before you answer that, I just want to say that it was so smart of you to to take that conversation a little further when someone says, "I need to move someone out or they're not the right fit." Because a lot of times that's what I find as well is, you know, not just because you're a great interior designer doesn't mean you're a great

13:22

manager. And so 99% of the time usually means they are not. And that's nothing against them. It's every reason why I moved away from design and went into the business side because I wasn't as strong a designer as they are. Right? So we all have our our our paths um and our gifts. And I think it's acknowledging those gifts and being aware of that and knowing where you should step aside and know that you need to level up yourself. Um, and if you don't want to do that, that's fine. Not

13:47

every owner wants to be a manager, then you need to get someone else who will or you're not going to retain people. You're going to get a bad reputation. Uh, acquiring talent's going to get hard harder and everything starts to get harder and harder and harder and your reputation is everything out there, right? So, um, to your question about how do we know if we should afford this? It's very much to what I was mentioning earlier that are those classic questions that people say when should I uh go out

14:10

and get an office? When is my first W2 hire, right? Knowing when to bring on a coach, a consultant, a right-hand partner in your business and taking on that investment. It's a very good question. It's also one that I get when it's like PR, that sort of thing, right? I will say um boy, I don't know if I've succinctly answered that in the past because I've had clients say that, but it's so unique to their situation. We'll kind of go through their P&L, that sort

14:34

of thing. But to more blanketly answer that, their pipeline is decent. Otherwise, I think you shouldn't spend resources on us. You should just go do business development. And I will just give you a tip right now. Everyone who's listening and watching, business development, I strongly dislike using that term, but now you know what I'm talking about. It's really business building relationships. Just start going and building those relationships. get enough projects that feels like, okay,

15:02

now I can breathe. My nose is above the waterline. Then I would say if you feel like you've done this long enough that you kind of don't keep making the right decisions, bring someone on as an outsider. And we work with our clients in a way that you know, we're monthtomonth. You can work with us one or two months. Now, I do not want to pretend that big movements will be made in that, but maybe you'll glean enough from us. Oftentimes, you will. I'm just not promising. You'll glean enough from

15:27

us that you can say, "Okay, I've got enough. I'm going to go implement that and run with that for six months and I'll come back, right? Or three months. Um, and then people come back. And that's how I want people to leverage us. Um, a lot of our cl I will say though, the majority of our clients stay with us more six months and then ongoing beyond that. Um, but that's that's kind of a good way of leveraging people, right? Find individuals, companies, coaches, consultants that can fit with your

15:52

budget and kind of the eb and flow of where you are in your business. uh unlike a sign up for a whole year and commit to tens of thousands of dollars. Don't do that. Absolutely not. If you're questioning if you can invest in this, do not go do one of those. Hands down. Um that again is one of those adding too much weight to the ship and before it even gets out of the port and now you're heavier than you have fuel for sort of thing. I don't know why I keep going back to this boat, but I'm a rising tide

16:17

lifts all ships kind of mindset. So, I love it. So my Yes. That's You know what? the fact that you're flexible like that and that you you know and and that's so I guess what I'm going to say to the audience who's listening to this is I think you should just make a phone call or an email to Christine and it never hurts to have a conversation. Absolutely not. No, obviously if you've just started and you don't have um the as you said the business going, you need to have some flexibility to be able to

16:44

invest. But even if you start and then you get that going for a month or two or three, I found that what happens is you then maybe take a break and implement and then you come back and you're that client that turns to be out to be a lifetime client because you see the value and you're able to implement. You'll be able to take the best for your own custom situation. So, I think that's really nice that you're flexible like that and and and it sounds to me and I already know this, but it sounds to me

17:14

you feel like uh this is giving back and helping other people and it's not just about the money for you. So, share No, honestly, I was just going to say too this you know that we are on a fee fee schedule or fee structure of monthly and cancel anytime kind of thing. It's like that doesn't benefit me. Um, we used to actually be hourly, but it didn't have inherent in it the commitment that was needed on the client side in order for us to all be successful, right? This is a partnership. Um, and I keep using the

17:42

term partnership. I really the the greatest compliment is is for a client that even if you know it fizzles out because they're finding they don't need us right now. I kind of think of it like you know you feel with your mom where you're like, "Okay, I'm good. Mom, I don't need you anymore." But then like a new shift happens in your life and you go back to mom. That's us. I'm not saying I'm a mom. I am actually a mom, but I think because I'm a mom, I'm

18:03

thinking about it in that that in regards in that you're going to have times where you fizzle out and you feel like, "Oh, I don't need them. I'm good." And you'll get a big head probably about it. I can guarantee you'll come back to us three months, six months down the road and I'm not going to feel bad about that. It's going to be the biggest compliment to me that you didn't need us anymore, that I made, you know, we became obsolete, we did our job, and

18:25

then you came back. So that's why I have the monthly fee structure is hopefully to try to keep that commitment structure in place so that we can move the needle and then you can fizzle out and we can make ourselves obsolete and then you come back to us when you have the next big shift in your business. So as terms of the giving back too we have on the 19th of every month. So we are named the business company I don't even actually know if I shared that right now in my spiel was is is 19th and co and it's

18:49

actually um named after the 19th amendment the women's right to vote. I'm huge in female empowerment both in the women that work with us uh and those that we serve only because I say the majority of the industry is is women. But I will say women and traditionally underrepresented is who we serve. Um and the industry is just prime for that. So it just really worked out. It's it's wonderful. So on the 19th of every month, I give back my time um for free to uh provide consultancy even to

19:17

companies that might not think they uh really it's for those companies that can't afford it and they know they can't. So I get back on the 19th of every month. Otherwise, business development calls, you know, yes, it's for those that do think that they can afford it and they're just kind of figuring me out and see if it's good fit. So that's that's my giving back. That's wonderful. Share a little more about that. So, you know, and what I'm thinking is most people don't know if they can

19:41

afford it. And they might attend one of those 19th events and turn around and say, "I didn't realize that if you know, this pays for itself. I'll be able to grow my business Xfold by just and and you know, so you it's a you know, an ROI that I can't resist. So, tell us how 19th works and and how long have you been doing that? That's so special." And thank you. Yeah, that that dawned on me the 19th of every month. Um I think it's going on two years now. Wow. Might be a little coming on two years, I

20:13

think, is where we're at. Yeah. Um I'm I'm grateful to be able to offer that. Um in fact, I think the Yes. I need to make certain that the link is regularly put out there to be able to schedule and it actually is open to any um female or traditionally underrepresented entre entrepreneur. So, it could even be outside of our industry as well. Um, as far as how we work and understanding, you know, again, because we're monthtomonth, that makes it very flexible. And even if you get with us

20:42

one session and decide that wasn't maybe the fit we were looking for, we'll, you know, refund you that other half. I don't want to advertise that too much, but I just want to stress that that's how that's what I believe in that I'm I'm just stand by what we deliver. Um, and if it's not a good fit and I called it wrong, uh, and you tell me it wasn't a good fit and it wasn't what we it's definitely happened, but I say in five years that I've been in business, it's

21:05

happened I think three times. So, um, but hey, you know, I'm not infallible and I'm only human. Um, but yeah, does that answer your question on that, Wendy? Yeah. No, so I thank you. If you want to give me the link, I'll put it in all the other things and how to reach you. And then is this 19th a group session? Is it a one-on-one session? Is it Oh, it's it's one-on-one. As we start to get a longer list and a wait list, we have already thought about the group, but you'd be surprised how many people

21:36

don't take advantage of it. Gosh, that's really crazy. Well, hopefully um we have smart people that watch this, so hopefully you'll get some great new people that'll um come. It'll be what I call what is dipping your toe in the water. I agree. Yeah. And I I just can tell that you have a huge heart and that you've found your passion and you're you know you're stepping into the power and you're sharing and building and helping all these other women and business owners

22:04

really find um you know where they can be confident in building their own business. And that's what we're here for. We're actually h you said you're only human. We're actually souls having a human experience. So, um, and I'm so blessed to have, uh, Pamela McNal connect the two of us. And yes, thank you, Pamela. Shout out to you. Yes. And hopefully it's just the beginning. I would love to have you as a speaker at future events. We're all over the United States. We'll we'll talk

22:33

about that after this. I know that 19th and Company, you didn't say it originally, but it'll be in the link. Plus your Instagram and your and what tell us what you're doing for House. You had mentioned that briefly to me before we started the recording. Yes. So, we're actually partners with a lot of industry specific software platforms and other companies. House is one of them. Uh, we created for HousePro members only. So, unfortunately, if you're not a House Pro member, you won't

22:56

be able to see this, but we're one of two experts that is part of their resource library of um content. So, you'll be able to see a lot of content there that we share on our one-on-one consulting coaching sessions is there for HouseP Pro members. Um we asked were in talks with many other studio studio designer actually a partnership we have um design manager we're working on one as well. So we're out there talking to a lot of industry partners and trying to actually help um give back feedback that we hear so much

23:27

from our clients to these platforms so that they can be that much more valuable to them. Um these are obviously incredible platforms but there's always room for improvement and we're hoping to be a bridge. That's so important and I I get a lot of feedback too. I know I'm going to funnel that to you so you can send it to the right resources because uh we need those uh you know just like we need all the associations. We need we but we need it to be working for us as we're all on the same side right

23:54

so I always end my podcast with um your definition Christine of a well-lived life. So if you could please tell us what that is in your mind. Well it's exactly what I help our clients to strive for. uh to figure out and move the needle on and for me it's going to sound audacious uh as it is intended to be and that is living a stressfree well-balanced life and I know well balance is a trit concept um and in my mind a well- balanced life is I would say working part-time um so that I can be with my kids when they get out of

24:28

school. So I'm fighting hard for that. I'm nowhere near that. If anyone knows me, I'm a workaholic and don't have that by any means. Yet yet. Yet. That's right. I will. Absolutely. And the needle is moving toward it and it's really exciting. So, my word of the year is ruthless this year. Um, and ruthless with time, ruthless with focus, ruthless with goals, right? So if whatever you define for yourself is a is a meaningful life. Um then underneath that, what are the bullet points that will get you there?

25:03

Being ruthless and sticking just to those items, it's hard. But I will say I have dropped everything off. I don't do social media anymore because even though I was having someone do social media for me, it still pulled me away from my ultimate goal, right? So I know that sounds crazy, but and frankly I want to remove social media altogether because I just don't agree with it. Um, and one day maybe I will, but don't mark my words there anyone. Um, but it's things like that, right? If it doesn't

25:29

serve the ultimate goal, it needs to fall away for the time being, right? So, I'm being ruthless with that. And that is what I'm defining as a life worth living is the hardly any stress. Um, and I will say, you know, what stresses one person out doesn't stress the ne next out, right? So what I do doesn't cause me stress, but there's variations of what I do, right? So I think anyone listening, whatever you're doing, think about what where your your gifts are and and where

25:59

you really thrive because I can guarantee where you really thrive would cause the next person stress. It doesn't cause you stress. In fact, there's a book called um Oh, I'm Oh my goodness. Oh, it's by the Stamford and Berkeley professors. Oh, it's turquoise. Oh my goodness, I'm blanking on it. Well, we'll have to put it on. But it's all about it's all about how to um map out your life. And it really is what gives you energy and what is an energy sync, right? And uh stress, I think, is what

26:31

I'm saying is an energy sync obviously and what we don't want in our lives. So, um yeah, it's totally blanking right now. All that to say, I would love to help any one of you to help sift through what that is for you and help to ruthlessly get there. I I think that's fantastic and you're definitely on a beautiful journey, Christine, and I'm so thrilled to be able to share you with my audience and like I said, this is just the beginning. I think we're going to do a lot more together in the future.

26:58

Yes, agreed. So, thank you again and I'm going to put all the links so all of you can reach out to Christine and I look forward to hearing her feedback from me in the next months to come of all the new people she's met, all the relationships she's built. That's right. Thank you, everyone. Thanks, Wendy. Thank you, Christine. Have a great week