Six Figure Designer

Hosted by Pam Durkin

Arts Design

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Episodes

178

Latest episode

Oct 2026

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About the show

Struggling to find great clients and design projects? Not making enough money and struggling to manage the projects you have? This is the show for YOU!

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60 recent

October 5, 202629 min

Ep 177: What I’d Want to Know Before Joining The Luxury Client Academy

Before joining a coaching program, you need to know whether it will actually help you make better decisions in your interior design business—not just give you another pile of information. If you’re considering the Luxury Client Academy, you probably have questions. Is this really different from another course? What if you already have a coach? Can you afford the investment? Where will you find the time? And maybe the bigger question underneath all of those: “Am I actually ready for this?” I want to answer those questions honestly, because joining a nine-month coaching program is a real commitment. I’m not interested in convincing you that you need more information. I want you to think about whether you need help applying what you already know to the actual proposals, clients, pricing decisions, projects, and problems sitting in front of you. In this episode, you’ll learn: Why collecting more information can become its own form of procrastination—and why personalized support can help you turn information into decisions. What to consider if you already have a business coach, including whether that person understands the specific ecosystem of an interior design business. How to look beyond the cost of coaching and consider what undercharging, poor-fit projects, and missed purchasing opportunities may already be costing your business. Why being busy doesn’t necessarily mean you need more capacity, and how 20 smaller projects can create a very different business than one full-scope project. How to recognize whether “I’m not ready yet” is really about experience, clients, pricing, or the question underneath it all: “Do I belong in this room?” Why qualification matters and how asking better questions earlier can help you stop taking projects you already suspect are a bad fit. What actually changes when you have stronger processes, clearer decisions, and more confidence leading your business. The Luxury Client Academy isn’t about becoming someone else’s version of a successful designer. We start where you are and work on what your business actually needs right now. Related Resources If you’re still wondering whether coaching is the right kind of support for you, this conversation is a natural next step. Ep 121: Worried? Will the LCA work for you?: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K7v2vIAJrwI If you’re tired of chasing leads, talking people into your value, or saying yes to projects that make you question your life choices, Luxury Client Academy may be your next step. It’s my private 1:1 coaching program for interior designers ready for better projects, higher fees, and less nonsense. Inquire about coaching here>> https://pamela-durkin.com/contact-us/

September 28, 202629 min

Ep 176: 5 Business Mistakes I’d Fix Before Chasing More Clients

Before chasing more clients, I want you to look at what’s already happening inside your interior design business. Because adding more work to a shaky foundation can make the problem worse. In this episode, you’ll learn: How taking whatever shows up can leave you building a business around work you never wanted in the first place. Why a full calendar does not automatically mean a profitable project mix, and how too many small projects can block better opportunities. The difference between a fee being wrong and a fee simply feeling uncomfortable, and why you need to price the project instead of the fear of the price. Why your designs can be custom while your business needs a repeatable process for pricing, communication, purchasing, scope, and delivery. How stopping networking, follow-up, and visibility when you get busy creates the feast-or-famine boomerang later. The five questions I want you asking before deciding that more clients are the answer. The goal is not to stay busy. It’s to have enough of the right opportunities that you can choose the projects that fit, hold the fees that make sense, and protect the process that allows you to do your best work. Related Resources If you’re wondering whether you actually need more clients, or need to fix what’s happening underneath the inquiries, this is a natural next listen. Ep 172: Do you really need more clients? [Try this first]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OM1VzNEEJOw If you’re tired of chasing leads, talking people into your value, or saying yes to projects that make you question your life choices, Luxury Client Academy may be your next step. It’s my private 1:1 coaching program for interior designers ready for better projects, higher fees, and less nonsense. Inquire about coaching here>> https://pamela-durkin.com/contact-us/

September 21, 202624 min

Ep 175: She 5X’d Her Fee: $17K → $96K. What Changed First?

If you’re an interior designer who keeps hitting the same comfortable design fee, this episode is for you. I’m sharing Tina’s story of going from a $17,000 design fee ceiling to a $96,000 fee and the shift was not that she suddenly became five times better at design. In this episode, you’ll learn: Why your historical design fee may not be relevant to the opportunity sitting in front of you. What needs to be underneath a higher design fee, including time, talent, expertise, responsibility, value, and the financial impact on your business. Why confidently communicating your value matters when a client starts asking hard questions about your fee. How your own pricing mindset can become the biggest thing standing between you and a bigger opportunity. Why a bigger fee does not automatically make a project a better fit and the questions I want you asking before you say yes. How one breakthrough fee can change your reference point and expand what you believe is possible for your interior design business. Related Resources If you’re working through your own fee ceiling, these are natural next steps for thinking differently about pricing and the opportunities you choose. Your Highest Design Fee Starts Before the Proposal: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BcSfLsKWptE Overcoming Fear Increasing Rates Designers: https://pamela-durkin.com/marketing-by-design/overcoming-fear-increasing-rates-designers/ If you’re tired of chasing leads, talking people into your value, or saying yes to projects that make you question your life choices, Luxury Client Academy may be your next step. It’s my private 1:1 coaching program for interior designers ready for better projects, higher fees, and less nonsense. Inquire about coaching here>> https://pamela-durkin.com/contact-us/

September 14, 202621 min

Ep 174: The Design Fee Dilemma

If your interior design fees go down when you really want a project and shoot up when you’re hoping a client says no, the fee may not be the real problem. I see designers shaving down fees because the project would look great in their portfolio or because they’re afraid the client will walk. Then, there’s the “make it worth my while” fee, hoping the project will disappear. In this episode, you’ll learn: • Why lowering your design fee to win a project can perpetuate the false belief that you simply need more clients. • How a suspiciously high fee can be an avoidance strategy. • Why a bigger fees don't magically turn a bad-fit project into a good one. • How to separate project fit from interior design fee • The one question I want you to ask before you hit send. Related Resources If this episode hit a nerve, these are the natural next step for getting clearer about pricing and saying no without asking the fee to do the dirty work. Blog: Pricing Process Power of No: https://pamela-durkin.com/marketing-by-design/pricing-process-power-of-no/ Podcast Ep 143: Pricing, Process & the Power of No: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=00lGOKfpKcs If you’re tired of chasing leads, talking people into your value, or saying yes to projects that make you question your life choices, Luxury Client Academy may be your next step. It’s my private 1:1 coaching program for interior designers ready for better projects, higher fees, and less nonsense. Inquire about coaching here>> https://pamela-durkin.com/contact-us/

September 7, 202614 min

Ep 173: Are Smaller Projects Just Keeping You SMALL?

If your small interior design projects are supposed to lead to bigger work, the question is simple: are they actually doing it? A lot of interior designers keep smaller services on the menu because they seem like an easier yes. A paint consultation, a decorating-only service, or a one-room package can feel like a smart way to get a client in the door, build trust, and eventually move into a larger project. But here’s the rub: if that next step is not actually happening, you may not have a strategy. You may just have more small projects . In this episode, you’ll learn: How to look at the actual data and see how many small interior design projects have really turned into larger jobs. Why a smaller service needs a clear purpose instead of simply sitting on your website and hoping someone finds it. The question I want you to ask yourself Why smaller projects can take nearly the same communication, scheduling, attention, and mental bandwidth as larger ones. How to tell whether your small offer is a real stepping stone to bigger work or simply a safer-feeling way to avoid selling the larger project. Why your time, marketing, and attention should support the kind of work you actually want more of. I’m not telling you to eliminate every smaller service. I like having one available when business is slow, you need a fill-in, or the right client needs a smaller starting point. But you need to know what that service is there to do. Related Resources Flexibility in Service Offerings Designers: https://pamela-durkin.com/marketing-by-design/flexibility-in-service-offerings-designers/ If you’re tired of chasing leads, talking people into your value, or saying yes to projects that make you question your life choices, Luxury Client Academy may be your next step. It’s my private 1:1 coaching program for interior designers ready for better projects, higher fees, and less nonsense. Inquire about coaching here>> https://pamela-durkin.com/contact-us/

August 31, 202612 min

Ep 172: Do you really need more clients? [Try this first]

FREE WORKSHOP 9/30: From Scrambling for Clients to In Demand. Grab your seat >> HERE https://luxuryclientacademy.com/free-workshop If you want better clients for your interior design business, taking every project that lands in front of you may be the very thing keeping you stuck. In this episode, I’m challenging the automatic “I need more clients” response and asking you to look at whether you actually need more work, or better opportunities. This is for interior designers who are busy, tired, and still wondering why the calendar isn’t translating into enough profit. When opportunities feel rare, it’s easy to talk yourself into projects that are too small, poorly matched, underpriced, or loaded with red flags. But when you have a steady rhythm of inquiries, you get something most designers don’t think enough about: choice. In this episode, you’ll learn: • Why “more clients” can simply create more of the same problems • How to tell whether small projects are actually leading to larger, better-fit work • Why inconsistent inquiries make you more likely to chase, discount, or ignore warning signs • How a steadier flow of opportunities can change the way you price and evaluate projects • Why project fit, profitability, and creative satisfaction matter more than filling every open spot • The question to ask before saying yes just because an opportunity is in front of you Related Resources If this episode hit a nerve, these two resources will help you keep thinking about fit instead of sheer volume. More Referrals Aren’t the Answer If They’re Not a Good Fit: https://pamela-durkin.com/marketing-by-design/more-referrals-arent-the-answer-if-theyre-not-a-good-fit/ Ep 109: How to sign more GREEN FLAG clients!: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kwzSlOYYJ4Y If you’re tired of chasing leads, talking people into your value, or saying yes to projects that make you question your life choices, Luxury Client Academy may be your next step. It’s my private 1:1 coaching program for interior designers ready for better projects, higher fees, and less nonsense. Inquire about coaching here>> https://pamela-durkin.com/contact-us/

August 24, 202627 min

Ep 171: A Client Brought AI Images to the Interview. Now What?

A potential client walks into your consultation with AI-generated images of exactly what they think they want. Do you get defensive? Feel like you need to prove your value? Start explaining all the reasons AI can’t replace a designer? In this episode, I’m talking about why that reaction is probably getting in your way, and why the bigger issue has nothing to do with AI and everything to do with how well you qualify your clients. If you’re tired of chasing leads, talking people into your value, or saying yes to projects that make you question your life choices, Luxury Client Academy may be your next step. It’s my private 1:1 coaching program for interior designers ready for better projects, higher fees, and less nonsense. Inquire about coaching here>> https://pamela-durkin.com/contact-us/

August 17, 202624 min

Ep 170: Does Your Interior Design Business Have Hot Potato Syndrome?

Have you ever noticed how quickly you start backpedaling when a conversation gets even slightly uncomfortable? In this episode, I’m talking about “hot potato syndrome” ,that reflex to soften the ask, explain the fee, loosen the boundary, or offer another option before anyone has actually said there’s a problem. Sometimes the rejection hasn’t even happened; you’ve simply sensed the possibility of it and started reacting. We’ll look at how this shows up around money, boundaries, referral relationships, and asking for what you really want. Because growing into the business you want isn’t just about better strategy. It’s also about becoming the designer who can state the fee, hold the boundary, make the ask, and stay there long enough to let the other person respond. If you’re tired of chasing leads, talking people into your value, or saying yes to projects that make you question your life choices, Luxury Client Academy may be your next step. It’s my private 1:1 coaching program for interior designers ready for better projects, higher fees, and less nonsense. Inquire about coaching here>> https://pamela-durkin.com/contact-us/

August 10, 202625 min

Ep 169: 4 Business Lessons I Learned From a Puppy

Apparently, all I needed to sharpen a few business lessons was a puppy who had never seen grass, hated his harness, and needed to be taken outside approximately 700 times a day. In this episode, I’m sharing four surprisingly useful reminders our new puppy gave me about business. If you’ve been feeling buried under everything you still need to fix, learn, or figure out, this is your reminder that growth rarely happens all at once. Sometimes the smartest move is to stop looking ten steps ahead. If you’re tired of chasing leads, talking people into your value, or saying yes to projects that make you question your life choices, Luxury Client Academy may be your next step. It’s my private 1:1 coaching program for interior designers ready for better projects, higher fees, and less nonsense. Inquire about coaching here>> https://pamela-durkin.com/contact-us/

August 4, 202621 min

Ep 168: The Best Project I Never Took

On paper, it looked like the perfect project. An 8,000-square-foot home, a major renovation and all new furnishings. Exactly the kind of opportunity most interior designers dream about. But I walked away. In this episode, I'm sharing the story behind one of the most important business decisions I ever made and why saying "no" had nothing to do with the budget and everything to do with protecting my process. If you've ever been tempted to bend your pricing, skip steps, or change the way you work because you're afraid to lose the project, this conversation is for you. You'll learn why the projects you decline can shape your reputation just as much as the ones you accept, and why becoming a sought-after designer starts with trusting the way you do your best work. In this episode, we discuss: Why not every dream project is the right project The red flags I recognized before saying yes Why your process is one of your greatest business assets The mistake so many designers make when they're afraid to lose an opportunity How protecting your process builds trust, confidence, and a stronger reputation The mindset shift that helped me stop chasing projects and start choosing them intentionally If you’re tired of chasing leads, talking people into your value, or saying yes to projects that make you question your life choices, Luxury Client Academy may be your next step. It’s my private 1:1 coaching program for interior designers ready for better projects, higher fees, and less nonsense. Inquire about coaching here>> https://pamela-durkin.com/contact-us/

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