June is here, which means so is summer! School is getting out, vacations are being looked forward to, and the weather is warming.

Our first new article this week is about referral marketing: one of the most powerful marketing tools at your disposal in this relationship-driven industry!

The next article is about keeping your intellectual property and trade secrets safe so that they add value to your business in the long term.

It’s the last chance to register for our upcoming Mastery Lesson on Selling to the Luxury Client! Sign up now to join us on Thursday. You won’t want to miss it!

Registration is now open for our July Business Breakthrough Live. You’ll hear more about that later, but if you’d like to see if your business can make use of this educational getaway, we’re giving you an early peek at registration.

Finally, our Client Crush this week is The Design Besties! We met with them while at High Point Market and love what they’re doing. Check out our highlights below.

Interior Design Referral Marketing Strategy: Turning Referrals into a Predictable System

If your design firm relies entirely on passive word-of-mouth, you are capping your growth potential and leaving your revenue stream at the mercy of your network’s timing. By applying the “Flywheel Effect” to your firm, you can transform random recommendations into a deliberate, engineered system that generates dream-fit clients automatically. Read our latest article to learn how to eliminate backend friction, build strategic B2B loops, and confidently lead your firm as a true CEO.

Continue reading…

Intellectual Property: Protecting Your Firm’s Trade Secrets

Your unique workflows, vendor relationships, and client data aren’t just parts of your daily routine—they are valuable trade secrets that drive your competitive advantage. Protecting these proprietary assets with proactive legal and digital security measures is essential for transforming your studio into a true legacy brand and a valuable, sellable asset. Read our full breakdown to learn how to reasonably safeguard the business you’ve built.

Continue reading…

How Interior Designers Break Into — and Stay In — the Luxury Market

In this powerful session, you’ll learn what truly separates designers who occasionally attract luxury clients… from those who build entire firms serving them.

Luxury clients think differently. They hire differently. They evaluate designers differently. And they expect a level of leadership and experience that most firms were never taught how to demonstrate.

That’s why so many talented designers stay stuck just outside the luxury market — even when their work is exceptional.

This Mastery Lesson will change how you see the luxury client — and how they see you.

Business Breakthrough Live is an intimate two-day experience designed for established interior design firm founders who are ready for their next level of growth. Join Gail Doby, Erin Weir, Patti Julber & Daniel Nieto from the Pearl Collective team in Denver for strategic planning, luxury sales and marketing insights, live coaching, and peer discussion. You’ll leave with greater clarity around profitability, leadership, team development, and creating a business that supports the life you’re working so hard to build. Limited to 15 founders. Application required.

The Design Besties’ Amazing Project

The Design Besties are a collective of creatives driving change through events and impact-focused initiatives. their mission is to strengthen educator wellbeing and workforce sustainability through education and high-impact projects—most notably, their National Teachers’ Lounge Movement. They transform overlooked teacher lounges into professionally designed, restorative spaces and honor the educators who shape our communities through human-centered environmental design.

Photo: The Design Besties Team pose with their Amazing Transformation ― Whitney Atkinson, Lori Johnson, Rhobin Dela Cruz and Nikki Watson

They believe in lasting change. Every partnership, project, and event is a collaboration that turns creativity into real-world impact. By bringing together designers, brands, and communities, they amplify purpose, elevate voices, and foster connections—because design isn’t just about spaces; it’s about stories, healing, and human connection.

Photo: Samuell High School Teachers’ Lounge Makeover 

That belief fuels our Teachers’ Lounge Movement, where they reimagine educators’ spaces as sanctuaries of care and comfort. It’s their way of giving back to those who shape future generations—proving that when design meets purpose, it can inspire, uplift, and transform entire communities.

Photo: Andrews’ Teacher Lounge Makeover 

This Business Diagnostic is designed to analyze current gaps in your knowledge, skills and business. Our team will use your responses to provide customized recommendations to help you progress more quickly, make more money and achieve more freedom in your business.

The post Pearl Collective Newsletter – June 6 2026 appeared first on Pearl Collective.

What qualifies as interior design trade secrets?

Trade secrets are a key aspect of intellectual property that creates a safeguard around your firm’s confidential business information. That information goes beyond just your designs. It can include processes, vendor lists, and even the lessons you’ve learned through Pearl Collective coaching. These are assets with measurable value, even if you didn’t explicitly pay for them. It is confidential business information that gives you a competitive advantage and is not generally known or easily discovered. Trade secrets differ from patents or copyrights as they require no registration and can last indefinitely, as long as they remain secret through reasonable efforts.

Here are some examples of business assets that count as trade secrets:

• Client lists and data: This information includes preferences, project histories, contact details, and pricing strategies.
• Proprietary design processes or methods: Think of your sourcing techniques, unique workflows, or custom design systems that differentiate your firm from the competition. 
• Vendor and workroom relationships: The relationships you spend time developing often offer exclusive deals, preferential pricing, or unique artisan contacts.
• Financial and marketing strategies: What you have developed and/or learned regarding costing models, profit margins, or targeted client acquisition tactics has great value.
• Custom designs or compilations: Just as fashion or product designs are protected, before you share them publicly, so should you protect your specific combinations of colors, materials, layouts, or software customizations. 
• Internal expertise: This expertise may include software templates, rendering techniques, or project management systems that you have developed in-house. 

Trade secrets are identified as requiring secrecy because of their economic value, and they should be protected.

Best practices to protect trade secrets

Being proactive in protecting your firm’s trade secrets means being prepared. You may never have a problem, but challenges can happen. An angry or unhappy employee, vendor, or client could cause havoc and expose valuable trade secrets, and you need a plan in place in case that occurs. Courts require “reasonable measures” that are designed for your firm’s size and the value of the information. So consider the following recommendations.

Identify and inventory your secrets

Work with your team and conduct an internal audit to classify sensitive information. Mark those documents and files that you have identified as “Confidential” or “Trade Secret” so that everyone can easily understand their importance.

Educate your team

Make sure your employees are very clear as to what is considered a trade secret and why they have such great value. Develop a work environment where your employees value the firm and feel part of the team. A strong culture will result in more loyal employees who won’t spill the firm’s secrets even after leaving the company.

Use strong agreements

Develop a relationship with an attorney who understands the field of interior design and always have them review your agreements. Just as clients hire you for your design expertise, you should hire someone with legal expertise.

Require Non-Disclosure Agreements (NDAs) or confidentiality clauses with employees, contractors, freelancers, interns, and clients. Use separate NDAs for sensitive pitches or collaborations. Include confidentiality provisions in employment contracts, vendor agreements, and client proposals.

Consider non-solicitation clauses to protect client relationships and, where enforceable, limited non-competes. Be aware that some states (such as California) heavily restrict non-competes, so check your state’s laws.

Implement Security Measures

Physical: Be sure filing cabinets are locked. Consider who has the key to certain critical documents.

Digital: Use password-protected files, encryption, role-based access controls in design software (such as AutoCAD, Revit, or project management tools), and monitor downloads. A strong software suite will make this easier.

Regularly train employees on what is considered confidential information and risks. That might include accessing files on personal devices, or what is allowed to be sent to a client.

Establish policies for document retention or destruction and exit interviews for departing team members. That includes interns. Make sure everyone leaves on good terms!

Handle third parties carefully

Be sure to have NDAs with photographers, suppliers, manufacturers, real estate partners, etc. Be cautious with sharing your portfolio. Protect your intellectual property by using watermarks or limited previews. When it comes to AI usage, be sure to understand your tool’s policies on how your data is utilized. Many free AI tools will use your chats and uploaded files as training data, while many paid or pro plans keep your data confidential.

Respond quickly to breaches

If a former employee joins a competitor’s firm or leaks information, document everything and promptly seek legal advice. This also underscores the importance of NDAs and strong employment contracts that cover the usasge of sensitive information.

What are common risks in Interior Design?

No matter how careful you are, there are always risks. And often, it comes down to the human element. Team members, employees, or contractors could take client lists or processes to competitors or use them as the basis for their own firm. Clients could also take unused design concepts to other designers. Anyone with file access could accidentally or purposefully leak a sensitive document by sending it over email and granting sharing permissions to a bad actor. Plus, classic scams that aim to steal your personal or business files are always a problem, whether it’s a scam email, ad, or website.

Recommendations

Consult an intellectual property attorney who has experience with creative professions. Have them draft tailored agreements and review your policies. This is particularly important when enforcing across jurisdictions. 

Be proactive by integrating IP protection into your onboarding, training, and exit processes. Effective training is one of your strongest tools.

Consider a broader IP strategy. Copyright designs where possible, trademark your firm name/logo, and use trade secrets for elements that are non-registrable. Never trust the goodwill of people or the public when it comes to your important assets. Use the law in your favor!

Building a Legacy Brand

Protecting trade secrets helps safeguard your firm’s unique value, client trust, and financial success in a competitive field. If litigation arises, the courts look at your consistent effort as demonstrating the “reasonable measures” they look for. 

Your processes, vendor lists, and proprietary Pearl Collective tools are measurable assets. Don’t take them for granted. Recognize their value and have a plan and vision for your firm’s future. When you build a legacy brand that will last for generations, you build a brand that has value―a unique brand. Understand that the well-oiled machine that you’ve put your blood, sweat, and tears into is a sellable asset, not just a business. Focus on legacy thinking―what will happen to your firm when you decide to retire? Legacy thinkers do not just close their doors and walk away when they retire. If you have built a legacy brand, then you should be thinking about succession planning for an eventual exit or sale of the business. Legacy thinkers understand that there is more value in building a long-lasting business than covering a shelf in trophies and awards. So focus on building a legacy brand and protecting those trade secrets that are a key part of your firm’s long-term value.

The post Intellectual Property: Protecting Your Firm’s Trade Secrets appeared first on Pearl Collective.

This passive approach is a primary vulnerability for a scaling business. When you treat referrals as spontaneous gifts rather than an engineered system, you are capping your growth potential. To achieve true financial freedom and long-term sustainability, you must shift from “working in” the daily design emergencies to “working on” your overarching business model. By applying Jim Collins’ famous business concept of the “Flywheel Effect” to your firm, you can transform random word-of-mouth into a deliberate, self-sustaining interior design referral marketing strategy.

The Myth of the Passive Referral

Many successful designers suffer from a dangerous form of external validation. They assume that because their portfolio is beautiful and past clients occasionally send a friend their way, their marketing is good enough. However, passive referrals are inherently unstable. They leave your revenue stream at the mercy of your network’s timing, moving you back and forth between being completely overwhelmed and entirely stagnant.

When you lack a predictable pipeline, you inevitably fall into a pattern of people-pleasing rather than doing what’s best for your business. Out of fear that the phone will stop ringing, you accept non-ideal clients or low-margin “Dabbler” projects. These projects clog your active studio capacity, create immense administrative friction, and require endless hand-holding of wishy-washy clients. A true CEO understands that a sustainable business requires predictability and repeatability. To break through the plateau and protect your net profit margins, you must stop waiting for the next interior design referral and start engineering them.

The Flywheel Effect: How Momentum Takes Over

In classic business consulting, the flywheel concept describes a massive, heavy wheel that requires immense effort to push at first. In the beginning, you push with all your might, and the wheel barely moves. You keep pushing, and slowly, it completes one rotation. But as you continue to apply effort in a consistent direction, the wheel builds kinetic energy. Eventually, the momentum of the wheel takes over, and it begins to spin rapidly on its own, generating massive output with minimal ongoing manual effort.

In an elite interior design firm, your referral system should operate exactly like this flywheel. You do not want to reinvent your marketing wheel with every quarter, chasing the latest social media algorithm or advertising trend. Instead, you want to align your entire operation—your team, your systems, and your client interactions—so that every single project automatically pushes the flywheel, generating the next ideal client without your constant, frantic intervention.

Step 1: Eliminating Friction in the Client Journey

The flywheel can not build momentum if your operational backend is a mess. In a growing firm, profit and referrals do not vanish overnight; they leak out unnoticed through unmanaged logistical details and messy communication. If your design team is bogged down by a cobbled-together tech stack, double-entry errors, and systems that do not talk to each other, your clients will inevitably feel that friction.

Friction kills the momentum of your flywheel. A high-net-worth client will not refer a firm, no matter how beautiful the final reveal, if the execution phase was a chaotic nightmare of missed deadlines and uncommunicated freight delays. To build an effective interior design referral marketing strategy, you must first build a high-functioning business. By setting clear responsibilities and allocating time more deliberately, you insulate the client from operational chaos. You set the initial strategic vision at the start of a project, your structured team handles the complex execution and procurement, and you return to deliver the final, exquisite service polish. This leaves you with more time to push the company forward rather than being stuck in the day-to-day answering client questions. When the client journey is seamless and low-friction, the first major push of the flywheel is complete.

Step 2: Shifting to Relationship-Driven B2B Loops

To increase the speed of your flywheel, you must expand your network beyond past residential clients and build strategic loops with complementary industry professionals. True business mastery involves treating architects, luxury builders, and landscape designers not just as project partners, but as primary referral engines.

This requires a shift to a highly proactive, relationship-driven strategy. Instead of hoping a builder remembers your name on their next project, establish a formal communication channel with them. Educate them on your specific ideal client profile, and be clear about the types of projects where your team adds the most value. Furthermore, adopt a community-over-competition mindset with your peers. Treat other interior designers as collaborators rather than threats. When your firm establishes clear boundaries and a narrow niche, you can confidently refer non-ideal leads to your design colleagues, establishing an ecosystem in which they happily return the favor when a project aligns perfectly with your specialized expertise.

Step 3: Mastering the Direct, Artful Ask

The final element that keeps the flywheel spinning is overcoming the tendency to be meek or awkward about asking for business. Many designers suffer from an internal fear of rejection, choosing to remain silent rather than clearly asking for a referral. They assume that if the client is happy, they will automatically tell their friends.

A proactive leader uses kind, clear, and direct communication to seed the next referral throughout the entire project lifecycle, not just at the very end. During the initial onboarding phase, communicate your expectations upfront by saying: “Our business model thrives on delivering exquisite service to a select group of clients. Our goal is to make this experience so exceptional for you that you will confidently introduce us to your peers at the end of this journey.” When you frame the ask as an ongoing standard of success rather than a desperate plea for work, you establish your brand authority. Then, during the high emotional energy of the final reveal, follow up on that promise. Provide the client with a seamless, low-friction way to introduce you to their network, successfully completing the loop and sending the flywheel into its next profitable rotation.

Transitioning to True Time Freedom

Building a predictable interior design referral system is the ultimate path to reclaiming your time and financial freedom. When your marketing strategy is integrated directly into your repeatable operational systems, you no longer have to act as a frantic fire-fighter, constantly hunting for your next source of revenue.

Your business shifts from a high-stress hobby into an elite, scalable enterprise that delivers consistent profit margins. Your team is empowered to execute, your pipeline remains full of your dream-fit clients, and you are finally free to lead the firm as a true CEO.

Are you ready to stop leaving your growth to chance and start engineering a predictable pipeline? Apply for our programs today, and let us help you audit your current operations, eliminate the friction in your backend, and build the well-oiled machine you deserve.

The post Interior Design Referral Marketing Strategy: Turning Referrals into a Predictable System appeared first on Pearl Collective.

What a last two weeks! Last week, we were in Charleston for our Boardroom Mastery Retreat. It was a great time full of education and relaxation ― and of course, quality time with our incredible clients.

Then this last week, we had our May VIP days, working closely with clients to grow their businesses.

If Boardroom Mastery and VIP sound like tools that your business could benefit from, take a look at what we can offer.

But being busy with our clients doesn’t mean we don’t have great new content to share. First, we’re discussing work in progress, and how indecisive clients can cause major issues to your cash flow. Then, we’ll discuss the psychological effects of price anchoring and how the first price a client hears may set their expectations for the rest of the project.

Don’t forget our next Mastery Lesson! Selling to the Luxury Client is coming on June 11. Register now and join us live online for expert teaching on luxury sales.

Last but not least, Emily Anne Interior Design is our Client Crush this week! Read on to learn about the firm’s latest recognition.

Managing WIP (Work in Progress) as a Liability

Is your bank account feeling squeezed despite a project pipeline that seems full? Your Work in Progress (WIP) might actually be a liability that ties up capital and acts like an interest-free loan to your clients. Learn how to reclaim your cash flow and sanity by prioritizing project completion and setting firm deadlines to keep your business moving forward.

Continue reading…

Price Anchoring: Leading Design Clients to the Best Choice

If your clients are paralyzing your projects by debating minor expenditures on multi-million dollar renovations, you aren’t facing a budget problem—you’re facing a choice architecture problem. By mastering behavioral economics tools like price anchoring, you can strategically frame your value, eliminate decision fatigue, and confidently guide high-net-worth clients toward preferred selections. Read our latest article to learn how to transition from a passive suggester into a decisive leader who shapes the entire decision-making environment.

Continue reading…

How Interior Designers Break Into — and Stay In — the Luxury Market

In this powerful session, you’ll learn what truly separates designers who occasionally attract luxury clients… from those who build entire firms serving them.

Luxury clients think differently. They hire differently. They evaluate designers differently. And they expect a level of leadership and experience that most firms were never taught how to demonstrate.

That’s why so many talented designers stay stuck just outside the luxury market — even when their work is exceptional.

This Mastery Lesson will change how you see the luxury client — and how they see you.

The results are in! On April 29th, the Whitefish Pilot officially crowned the winners of its annual Best of Whitefish competition. Among the celebrated local lineup, Emily Anne Interior Design secured a well-deserved 3rd place finish in the highly competitive Interior Design category.

Organized by the Whitefish Pilot—a staple of local journalism that has been documenting the community’s milestones for over a century—the friendly competition is a massive celebration of what makes Whitefish unique. It honors the hardest-working, most beloved people, places, and businesses that give the town its distinct character.

“To create a design studio that feels both elevated and approachable, where creativity and collaboration go hand in hand.” That was the clear vision Emily Mejia had in mind when she founded Emily Anne Interior Design back in 2015. Nearly a decade later, that philosophy continues to resonate deeply with the community. This latest accolade from the Whitefish Pilot’s readers proves that her signature blend of high-end style and welcoming collaboration is exactly what makes Whitefish feel like home.

This Business Diagnostic is designed to analyze current gaps in your knowledge, skills and business. Our team will use your responses to provide customized recommendations to help you progress more quickly, make more money and achieve more freedom in your business.

The post Pearl Collective Newsletter – May 23, 2026 appeared first on Pearl Collective.

That prejudice can tilt their judgment. Choice Architecture refers to how options are presented to influence a choice. Many designers present choices without considering external influences or context, whereas successful, high-performing CEOs use Behavioral Economics to design the decision-making environment. 

Behavioral economics is the study of the psychological factors that factor into the decision-making of individuals or organizations. That study includes how those decisions vary from what is implied by traditional economic theory. The psychological factors include cognitive, behavioral, affective, and social factors involved.

Mastering Price Anchoring and Choice Architecture creates an environment where you stop being a suggester and instead become a driver, guiding design clients toward decisive action.

1. The Anchor Price

It’s important to understand the science of how the human brain works. It relies heavily on the first piece of information it receives―the “anchor”―to evaluate everything that follows. 

The Concept

Keeping in mind how the human brain works, you might start by presenting a premium product or service to set a high reference point. This approach will make subsequent lower-priced options seem more desirable. In addition, it is important to organize choices that highlight the best value, to guide clients toward preferred selections.

It is also important to highlight the why behind the higher-priced items. Appeal to a client’s sense of luxury and educate your client. Explain that the more expensive sofa is of higher quality construction and will hold up to the wear and tear in a family room with children and pets. By the same token, you may show them a hall table of lesser quality that will only be used decoratively. It just needs to have a great look, but it will receive very little use. Make them understand why you’re presenting a certain choice, so they can consider beyond looks and price tags.

The Professional Fee Anchor

Lead with your highest-value service tier. This approach allows subsequent options to feel like a strategic investment rather than an unnecessary expense. Just as with the sofa example above, always take the opportunity to educate your client. You are immersed in the design field, so you may take much of your knowledge for granted. Don’t forget to share the reasons behind the options you are offering so the client understands the value and quality in front of them.

The Breakthrough

Your aim should be to shift the conversation from “How much does this cost?” to “How does this compare to the value we established?” 

Make sure you build trust in the beginning and establish that their vision can be met within the budget they are willing to invest. Then you must paint the picture of that vision so that the first question is not “How much does this cost?” Rather, the first questions are design-related, and quality and value-related―not financial.

2. Choice Architecture

The Concept

Choice architecture relates to organizing how you present options in order to influence the final decision―without removing the client’s freedom. It’s not about the money, but rather the context of the decision―how the information was presented.

Reducing Choice Overload

Too often, designers make the mistake of giving a client too many choices. Having too many options may lead to decision paralysis. If they are paralyzed by these choices, it could also cause project delays. Again, client education from the beginning is important. Share with them the value of working with a professional―it is your job to gather their information and then select options based on the information they share with you. Explain how that saves them time and being overloaded with too many choices, making it easier for them to make a decision more quickly, so that their project is not delayed. 

Instead of presenting 10 fabrics, present 3, with one clear “Designer’s Choice”. Three is a great number in the field of design, whether it has to do with grouping accessories or choices presented to clients. This approach makes you come across as confident and knowledgeable. 

Default Choices

Setting the “default” as the highest-standard installation or procurement method protects your “Exquisite Service” legacy. If they are your ideal clients, and you have built a relationship based on trust, they will then trust your selections. By incorporating established design principles, functionality, and aesthetic appeal as your “default,” you will ensure consistently high standards. Through your proven strategies, you will also increase the likelihood of meeting client expectations and gaining a reputation for just that. That reputation should also help you streamline the design process―saving time and resources.

3. Framing the Value

Loss Aversion

When framing the value during the design process, clients will be more motivated to make a decision based on loss rather than gain. In other words, it is more effective to focus on a missed opportunity or a logistical error that might occur because of a decision not made. Despite the negativity, this approach will usually motivate them more than highlighting a gain or advantage. Humans make decisions based on fear, but this tendency can be used to guide your clients to a proper decision.

Choice Architecture Invoicing

Just as it is more effective to point out the value and the “why” of procurement choices rather than the cost, the same is true in how you frame the cost of your fees. Use strategic clarity to frame your fees as risk-mitigated and time saved rather than hours spent. Again, communication matters. Think of your invoicing as an additional opportunity to highlight the value your firm offers and reinforce your brand―not just a list of hours spent.

The Reframe

This is another opportunity to shift the clients’ view from the cost and the “can I do this cheaper?” mentality. Help them shift their focus from cost to investment. Then underscore that this investment is necessary to ensure a successful project.

4. Managing Decision Fatigue 

The Internal Cost

Consider the cost involved for your firm due to every small decision you force a client to make. Those multiple small decisions increase your administrative burden as well as potentially unbilled “hand-holding” time. It can also create a feeling of overload for them and reduce their enthusiasm for the project. In simple terms, it can cause a mental shutdown.

Designing the Workflow

Having software and systems in place can streamline the process and reduce your administrative costs and the client’s decision-making fatigue. When you create a well-oiled machine, your team will appreciate it, and the client will only see the high-level strategic choices. Streamlined processes reflect positively on your brand.

The Outcome

One of the most effective outcomes of automating much of the decision-making process is the protection of your time freedom. It gives you more time to use in marketing―or to reclaim for your personal life! Imagine that!

5. Trust is the Ultimate Multiplier

The Principle

Don’t mistake the use of these tools as manipulation. They are for leadership, a quality that offers great value for the client. They are coming to you for your expertise in guiding them toward a successful design project. Be their leader, and guide them toward what you know is best.

Maintaining Brand Authority

Often, high-net-worth clients may have successful businesses of their own and so appreciate strong leadership. They actually prefer a designer who narrows their choices and leads with confidence. 

The Result

By incorporating these tools, you are building a relationship-driven business where clients feel cared for because you have removed the stress of indecision. They will feel they have been given the personal attention desired and that they are working with a professional firm that values their clients.

The all-important reality check is that if you don’t design the choice, the client will―and it will usually be based on fear and price sensitivity. That will not create a memory of a positive relationship with your firm. Instead, use tools like price anchoring and choice architecture to be a strong leader, and clients will share their great experience working with your team. 

Apply now to learn how to implement psychological pricing and leadership like a CEO designer.

The post Price Anchoring: Leading Design Clients to the Best Choice appeared first on Pearl Collective.

How Can WIP Be a Liability?

Every open project your firm has ties up capital in the business. Until a project is finished and the final invoice is received, your projects might feel like offering an interest-free loan to your clients. Normally, this isn’t a problem. You know how long a project should last, and can make projections, or perhaps you get paid partially upfront, or by stage.

But with a project as long as an interior design project, things can add up over all of that time. Scope creep is a real phenomenon, and can enter into a design even without the designer or client intending it. Or, a client might delay their project due to personal or financial reasons, meaning you need to hold onto materials that you’ve already paid for. On the less tangible side of things, the more projects you have in your backlog, the harder it gets to focus. It takes time to mentally swap between projects, sift through documents, and juggle calls from that client who suddenly decided to start communicating again.

Identifying the Red Flags

We strongly recommend that interior designers step away from fixed fees and adopt time-based billing. WIP is a great example of why. The more the project scope creeps upward, or the more you have to spend time hand-holding trying to wrangle low-communication clients, the less you get paid for your working time, if you’ve opted for fixed fees.

If you have five non-ideal projects that take the same bandwidth as one ideal project, that doesn’t necessarily mean you’re succeeding. Those non-ideal projects keep you busy, but they don’t advance your business forward.

They:

• don’t create useful future connections,
• don’t meaningfully grow your portfolio,
• run the risk of being delayed.

A single good project will be much more valuable and trustworthy.

Invoicing should be easy. If something in your process or technology stack makes invoicing cumbersome or slow, that might contribute to poor cash flow. You might be doing work far in advance of actually receiving payment, which is risky depending on what other expenses come up in the interim.

Focus on Finishing

Some personality types thrive on starting projects, but struggle to finish them. Lead by example, and focus on one or two major projects, and the steps required to complete them. Sometimes external forces get in the way, yes, but you should do everything in your power to keep things moving. The goal should be to minimize the number of different projects and instead focus on a smaller number of big ones. The more stop-and-go in your business, the more time and money you spend on overhead. Plus, the minimum amount of work it takes to start a new project gets multiplied across more and more projects.

You don’t have to wait until full project completion to bill for the work that’s been done. You can bill in stages or based on milestones, keeping the cash flowing more steadily. This may also be easier on the client, who can now pay in installments rather than one big sum at the end.

How to Fix Your WIP

Don’t feel like you have to accept every project that comes your way. Saying no is empowering, and there are options other than flat-out rejection. If you’ve built a local network of fellow designers, you can refer a non-ideal client to a more appropriate designer. This means you can focus on high-margin work that advances your business goals.

Finding places to increase operational efficiency can also help plug the leaks. For example, a functional suite of software can save lots of time. If you have to hunt around for the most up-to-date vendor record or invoice template, you’re wasting valuable time. Knowing where the most recent version of a document is, and trusting that it is the most recent, is worth every penny.

Create deadlines for your clients. Let them know, firmly, but kindly, that decisions must be made within a certain timeframe in order to keep the project moving forward. If the client fails to meet the deadlines, you may need to put that project on pause and focus on a more critical one instead of waiting around for an answer.

It’s difficult to scale a successful business when you’re drowning in a backlog of work. A healthy firm isn’t measured by how many active projects they have, or even how many they’ve finished, but by the quality of their projects and how profitable they are. Keep the future of your brand in mind, not just the present moment. So review your project list today. Do you have any that are more appropriate for a hobbyist dabbler who is just getting started? Or any that have simply stretched on for too long and need a set ending date? If you need help plugging the leaks, fill out Pearl Collective’s application form today.

The post Managing WIP (Work in Progress) as a Liability appeared first on Pearl Collective.

We’re back from High Point Market, and wow did we have a whirlwind of a time! It was a great experience, but there is plenty to do back home. We’ll have photos and a recap for you soon, but for now, we’ll tell you about our latest upcoming event! We just had our Financials for Creatives Mastery Lesson, and registration is open now for our Selling to the Luxury Client Mastery Lesson. Master your finances with us on June 11th. Register here!

We also have two new articles covering difficult but necessary topics. First, five truths that you have to accept and move on from if you want to grow your business, then a guide on how to respectfully say “no” to a client, and why you might want to.

A happy Mother’s Day weekend to all of the moms reading this! We won’t say anything if you pour yourself an extra glass of wine this Sunday.

5 Truths Needed for Interior Design Business Growth

Scaling your design firm requires accepting a few honest—and sometimes uncomfortable—truths about how you run your business. To break through your current limitations, you must stop being your own primary bottleneck and start working on the business rather than just in the design. Ready to master these lessons and build a legacy business?

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How to Say No to Design Clients

Every “yes” to a mid-level, high-maintenance project is effectively a “no” to the career-defining opportunities your firm needs to scale. Shifting from a scarcity mindset to a CEO mindset allows you to protect your team’s finite resources and reclaim the strategic white space necessary to move from a design hobbyist to a true industry powerhouse. Learn how to say “no” with care while maintaining your status as an expert through a strategic peer referral network.

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How Interior Designers Break Into — and Stay In — the Luxury Market

In this powerful session, you’ll learn what truly separates designers who occasionally attract luxury clients… from those who build entire firms serving them.

Luxury clients think differently. They hire differently. They evaluate designers differently. And they expect a level of leadership and experience that most firms were never taught how to demonstrate.

That’s why so many talented designers stay stuck just outside the luxury market — even when their work is exceptional.

This Mastery Lesson will change how you see the luxury client — and how they see you.

This Business Diagnostic is designed to analyze current gaps in your knowledge, skills and business. Our team will use your responses to provide customized recommendations to help you progress more quickly, make more money and achieve more freedom in your business.

The post Pearl Collective Newsletter – May 9, 2026 appeared first on Pearl Collective.

The Scarcity Mindset vs. The CEO Mindset

Fear of scarcity is a common trap designers fall into. There is a fear that if you don’t take this $40k kitchen remodel, the phone will stop ringing.

When your thoughts start to move toward scarcity, remind yourself that your firm has finite resources―in team hours, and mental bandwidth.

You need to ask yourself if the job is the best use of those resources. Is it really a good fit? And, of course, always evaluate if it is an ideal client. Shift your thinking from “I need the work” to “Can I survive the work?”

The Math of a Small Project

There is an important reality that many designers forget or willfully ignore. The truth is that a small project often requires the same amount of administrative hand-holding, procurement tracking, and fire-fighting as a large one. Think about it this way: A certain amount of work is necessary to start and maintain a project, regardless of size. The larger a project is, the more those fixed costs can be distributed. On a small project, those costs hurt more.

The design process is basically the same for a large project as a small project, but the return on your investment of resources is generally greater on a larger project. As an example:

• Project A is a $50k project with 20% net profit = $10k.
• Project B is a $500k project with 20% net profit = $100k.

If Project A takes up 50% of your team’s time, you have just spent $50,000 of potential profit (Project B) to earn $10,000. Is Project A really the best use of your firm’s resources? If you are caught in the scarcity mindset, you may take Project A, then not have enough resources to accept Project B. 

How Small Projects Hurt the Business

Moving from a design hobbyist to a true powerhouse in the industry requires not getting tangled up in the weeds. It means you have a team, including a dedicated Project Manager. One of the problems with small projects is that they often lack the budget for a dedicated Project Manager. That creates the bottleneck by forcing the Principal to focus on the small things.

When the Principal chooses the tile for a guest bathroom, they are not building the relationship-driven networks that lead to strong brands. Building those networks is what helps to fight the scarcity mindset, as you are constantly filling your pipeline with ideal clients. You can’t afford to be caught in the weeds. Your job is to be out marketing and building your business, making high-level decisions that your team can execute on. You need to learn how to say no to design clients who present small projects that will only end up distracting you from bigger fish.

Here’s the simple solution. Before accepting a project, ask yourself if it will allow you to stay in your Zone of Genius. If not, you can’t afford what that project will cost you mentally.

Creating Strategic White Space

Having empty space on the calendar is not necessarily a negative. It does, though, involve strategies to overcome the fear. Be ready to do some proactive marketing. That might be reaching out to past clients or attending a networking event. It can also involve time management. Fill some of the white space with structured planning to balance current projects while being available to seek new opportunities. And an important key is a mindset shift. Reframe the idea of an empty calendar as an opportunity to focus on your business.

Use that open time on the calendar to focus on how your business operates and what might be improved. That may involve a tech audit, or leadership planning, or possibly succession planning. Be prepared for those empty spaces on your calendar and look at them as a gift. Working on your business means your firm will be even more prepared to take on the additional business generated by your increased marketing.

The power of attraction is just that―powerful. Just as you market effectively to ideal clients by understanding who they are, the same holds true for moving from a hobbyist dabbler to a design powerhouse. By understanding the needs and values of your ideal clients, you can align your energy and messaging to attract them. Like attracts like. So with that in mind, understand that if your portfolio and social media are filled with dabbler-tier content because that’s all you have time for, that’s who you will keep attracting. Tailor your marketing to the people you want to reach.

How to Say No to Design Clients with Care

Many designers don’t know how to say no to design clients. But saying “no” to a project is much easier if you have an alternative to offer those clients. Build a network of trusted peer resources to whom you can send non-ideal clients. By doing this, you still build goodwill in your community, without taking on a job that’s bad for your business.

Develop a referral script that is comfortable for you. It should be honest but offer the prospective clients a positive solution. For example: “We aren’t the right fit for this scope, but I’d love to introduce you to a colleague who specializes in exactly this.” This avoids the trap of saying you are too busy and having them say, “Oh, that’s fine, we’ll wait”.

The result is positive for both sides. You have offered a referral to a firm that will better meet their needs while protecting your firm’s energy and maintaining your status as an expert in the industry. And by passing on your non-ideal project to a different design firm, you’re not “helping the competition” or otherwise losing out―you wouldn’t have taken that client anyway!

You cannot build a top-tier firm with a hobbyist mindset. In other words, you cannot build a $5M firm with a $50k-project mindset. Be clear about where you see the future of your firm. Keep that vision in mind and project that to your team. They also need to adopt that mindset.

Now it’s time for action. Start by reviewing your current project list. Identify any small, hobby-level projects that are preventing you from finding your next major project. In addition, keep working on your mindset to become comfortable with becoming a true CEO.

The post How to Say No to Design Clients appeared first on Pearl Collective.

Community is Better than Competition

In a society built on boundless growth and rugged individualism, it can be tempting to view other design firms (especially ones that serve the same area or audience as you) as fierce competition. But the honest truth is that there is plenty of room in the market. This becomes even more true when you accept the differences between your businesses. Chances are, even if they have similar styles, any two design businesses speak to a different base of potential customers―there isn’t 100% overlap.

So how do you view your “competition” if not as rivals? Instead, treat them as collaborators. Building a local network of designers can be the rising tide that lifts all boats. If you’ve taken the time to define your ideal client profile, then you probably come across projects that don’t really suit you. But it feels bad to turn away a client and say you can’t help them. With a network of other designers at your fingertips, you can instead refer those non-ideal clients to a designer who is more appropriate for the project. If everyone is committed to helping each other, you should get plenty of jobs passed on to your firm as well.

Beyond just sharing clients, this supportive network can also be a wealth of knowledge. Everyone has different levels of experience and backgrounds. Chances are, everyone has something to share and something to learn. Don’t be afraid to give away what you may see as proprietary information. Chances are, you’ll be better off maximizing peer-level support than hoarding your secrets.

Hourly Rates Protect Your Profit

It’s time to move away from the trap of fixed fees. Many designers start by offering fixed fees for projects, but this can quickly turn into a major profit leak for you. When you use fixed fees, you end up subsidizing projects with your own money, rather than the client paying for them. So why is hourly the superior method? Let’s dig into it.

Scope creep is a real factor in almost any project, interior design or otherwise. Whether through additional demands from the client or as a result of estimates gone wrong, it’s easy for a project to balloon beyond its original scale. Hourly billing removes this as a concern altogether. Instead, the cost is passed to the client, who is the one paying for things, after all. In your project estimates, you can include a range or buffer so clients aren’t caught by surprise if the scope creeps up. But this change will be great for your financial sanity, creating a well-oiled machine where revenue is tied to the team’s work, not a best guess that you made at the start of the project.

Firm Boundaries Attract Firm Clients

Remove the phrase “I’m sorry” from your business vocabulary. Setting boundaries around your work may seem like a quick way to lose clients. After all, refusing to answer the phone after a certain time, waiting several days to respond to an email, or sticking strictly to talking business during a meeting all sound rude and dismissive. Why would someone want to work with a designer who does those things?

Your ideal client, that’s who. Not answering the phone after normal working hours, replying to emails within 48 hours rather than 48 seconds, and sticking to the meeting agenda are not rude; they are respectful to everyone’s valuable time. Decisive and direct clients will appreciate your boundaries because they have their own. They don’t want to work with a submissive, weak designer (unless they do, in which case you probably don’t want to work for them!); they want to work with someone who will communicate clearly and efficiently, leading with business savvy and confidence.

We’ve seen plenty of designers who spend a lot of time as the de facto therapist for their clients, spending as much time on their project as on their personal lives. Some designers love this aspect of the job, and you don’t have to avoid it entirely. Just make sure the social calls aren’t affecting your bottom line, the pace of the project, or your own mental health.

Revenue is Vanity, Net Profit is Sanity

Being able to tell people you have a million dollars in revenue seems like a desirable goal. But it’s a lot less impressive if your expenses are also a million dollars. At the point, design is a high-stress hobby, not a source of income. That is why net profit is the real number you should be worried about. Revenue in a vacuum means nothing because it does not include the necessary expenses of your business. Net profit is how much is left over, which you get to deposit in the bank or reinvest in your business.

If you’re only worrying about revenue right now, there are a few changes you can make to focus on the right data. Track your cash flow―how much is going into overhead, furniture orders, and paying contractors, as well as when payments come in for a finished project. This can give you an idea of what times of the year are leaner than others, and you can save or prepare accordingly.

Audit your business for leaks in your profit. This can include using fixed fees as we mentioned above, but it can also include inefficient software or unnecessarily repeated work. This will help you focus on maximizing net profit by attacking expenses rather than trying to just increase revenue.

You are the Bottleneck

Many founders are the face of their business, the main point of contact, and the most experienced designer. This sounds great, but it has the major downside of you being the bottleneck. Everything must flow through you, whether it’s approvals or client phone calls. This eats into your time during the workday, leading to long hours and limiting your ability to take a vacation.

You need to be able to delegate tasks to your team and get out of the weeds of day-to-day tasks. When your staff can take matters into their own hands and be proactive action-takers, it leaves you with more time to do the things you’re best at. For any project, start by setting the creative direction, then let your team take it from there, and finally put on the finishing touches for the final reveal. Try to keep your hands out of the meat of your projects, and instead rely on progress dashboards and weekly updates from the project lead. Trust the team you hired to do the job you hired them for!

These five lessons aren’t just about running your business better. They are foundational to creating a legacy business that can operate even after you decide to leave. Stop working “in” the design, and start working on the machine as a whole. If you’re stuck in the day-to-day tasks of your business, you’re limiting your growth. Ready to master these lessons? Fill out our program application form today so we can lend a helping hand.

The post 5 Truths Needed for Interior Design Business Growth appeared first on Pearl Collective.

Just because we’re away at High Point Market this weekend doesn’t mean we can’t still share wisdom and news from the last couple of weeks!

As usual, we have two brand new articles this week. Design leaders deserve to take sabbaticals or self-improvement-based breaks. It’s good for you, it’s good for your staff, and it’s good for your business. That is, if you’ve laid the proper groundwork first. Next, we know many designers eventually feel the need to branch out. We’ll go over the advantages and disadvantages of opening a second location, as well as other considerations to keep in mind.

Save the date for our May 7th Financials for Creatives Mastery Class! Registration coming soon.

Last but not least, read our latest Client Crush on WRJ, and their latest award!

The Designer’s Sabbatical: How to Recharge for Profit

Most firm owners believe their business couldn’t survive without them for a month, but a sabbatical is actually the ultimate test of a healthy, scaled firm. This intentional period of rest and skill-building allows you to return with fresh eyes and high-quality energy, proving you have successfully shifted from a manager to a true leader. Stop waiting until you are burned out to take a break—learn how to empower your team to thrive in your absence and reclaim your creative spark.

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The Guide to Opening a Second Interior Design Office

Most firm owners believe their business couldn’t survive without them for a month, but a sabbatical is actually the ultimate test of a healthy, scaled firm. This intentional period of rest and skill-building allows you to return with fresh eyes and high-quality energy, proving you have successfully shifted from a manager to a true leader. Stop waiting until you are burned out to take a break—learn how to empower your team to thrive in your absence and reclaim your creative spark.

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Finally, Feel in Control of Your Numbers and Confident About Your Future

No Matter What Your Design Firm’s Financial Goals Are… We’ll Help You Get There.

A Live Mastery Lesson for Interior Design Business Owners​

Our Financials for Creatives Mastery Lesson helps you close the gap between where you are now — and where you know your business can be. In one high-impact session, we’ll distill nearly 20 years of experience working with hundreds of interior design firms into practical, proven strategies you can use right away.

When you enroll, you’ll get: 

A Financials For Creatives Mastery Lesson Workbook
Access to the live Mastery Lesson with Erin Weir & Daniel Nieto of Pearl Collective 
Recording Delivered post-event

Under the visionary leadership of Rush Jenkins and Klaus Baer, WRJ Design orchestrates a multidisciplinary collective—comprising architects, contractors, landscape designers, and extraordinary artisans—to redefine the standard of luxury residential living. The firm’s hallmark is a holistic, collaborative process that honors the client’s unique vision, transforming it into a timeless, livable reality.

This philosophy of intentionality and harmony is perfectly embodied in the firm’s recent Jackson Hole project, which earned the prestigious 2026 Luxe Residential Excellence in Design Award. Architecture and the art collection exist in a symbiotic dialogue. WRJ Design crafts homes that serve as the beautiful, functional foundation for their clients’ lives. By balancing sophisticated, world-class design with a soulful, human-centric approach, the firm continues to create environments that are as deeply personal as they are luxurious.

Photo by Matthew Millman

This Business Diagnostic is designed to analyze current gaps in your knowledge, skills and business. Our team will use your responses to provide customized recommendations to help you progress more quickly, make more money and achieve more freedom in your business.

The post Pearl Collective Newsletter – April 24, 2026 appeared first on Pearl Collective.