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The DesignDash Podcast

The DesignDash Podcast

Hosted by Laura Umansky and Melissa Grove

BusinessSocietyCultureArtsInterviews guests
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Episodes

100

Latest episode

Aug 2026

Language

EN

About the show

The DesignDash podcast is a guide to designing a life you love. Co-hosts Laura Umansky and Melissa Grove dive into what it takes for women to feel fulfilled both personally and professionally, to live their lives to the fullest and without compromise. Special guests will share their own journeys, their successes and their challenges, as they pursue life with curiosity and intention.

Listen to episodes

60 recent
August 13, 2026Episode 10323 min

Episode 103: How to Actually Build an Ideal Client Profile For Your Design Firm

In this episode, Laura and Melissa explore how defining your ideal client or avatar can transform your marketing and project selection. They share practical tips on identifying, refining, and communicating with your perfect audience to grow a more fulfilling and profitable business. If your inquiries never quite match the work you want to be doing, this is the episode that tells you why, and what to do about it. Check out our website too: https://designdash.com/ Follow us on socials: https://www.instagram.com/designdasher/ https://www.tiktok.com/@designdasher https://www.facebook.com/DesignDasher

July 30, 2026Episode 10233 min

Episode 102: Building Furniture Meant to Outlast the Trend Cycle with Adriana Hoyos

In this episode, Adriana Hoyos shares her inspiring journey from a self-made interior designer in Ecuador to a globally recognized furniture and interior design brand. Discover her unique design philosophy, the importance of legacy, and how family and resilience drive her success. Check out our website too: https://designdash.com/ Follow us on socials: https://www.instagram.com/designdasher/ https://www.tiktok.com/@designdasher https://www.facebook.com/DesignDasher

July 24, 2026Episode 10130 min

Episode 101: How to Build Beautiful Spaces From Existing Pieces with Anne Golliher

In this episode, Anne Golliher, founder of Storied Interiors, shares her unique approach to interior design, focusing on using clients' existing pieces and creating meaningful, personalized spaces. She discusses her journey, business philosophy, and how she connects emotionally with clients while building a profitable business. Check out our website too: https://designdash.com/ Follow us on socials: https://www.instagram.com/designdasher/ https://www.tiktok.com/@designdasher https://www.facebook.com/DesignDasher

July 16, 2026Episode 10026 min

Episode 100: Why Discounting Can Hurt Your Luxury Interior Design Business

Every discount you've ever given a client told them something you didn't mean to say. If you lowered your rate, you confirmed it was never fixed. If you passed along a discount without being asked, you told them your margins are bigger than they let on. Clients read pricing behavior like a signal, whether you intend to send one or not. In this episode, we discuss the two places money moves in a design firm: services and product. Most designers treat them the same way. They're not the same. Cutting hours isn't the same as cutting your rate. Passing along a trade discount isn't the same as competing on price. Confusing the two is the fastest way to downgrade your own positioning without noticing it happened. There's also a specific, deliberate way the most expensive luxury brands in the world still discount, and it has nothing to do with lowering price. Almost no interior designer uses this mechanism, even though it's sitting right in front of them. We name exactly where the line is, what it's actually costing you, and the one move ultra-luxury brands make that most designers have never even considered. Check out our website too: https://designdash.com/ Follow us on socials: https://www.instagram.com/designdasher/ https://www.tiktok.com/@designdasher https://www.facebook.com/DesignDasher

July 9, 2026Episode 9939 min

Episode 99: From Fortune 500 Dietician to In-Demand Interior Designer with Cheryl Luckett

Cheryl Luckett didn't quit her corporate job on a whim, she engineered her exit. Down to the month. Recorded live at High Point Market, this episode traces how Cheryl went from a decade-long career as a corporate dietician to founding Dwell by Cheryl, now a nationally recognized design firm with licensed furniture and textile collections. So how did she do it? Tune in to find out. Check out our website too: https://designdash.com/ Follow us on socials: https://www.instagram.com/designdasher/ https://www.tiktok.com/@designdasher https://www.facebook.com/DesignDasher

July 2, 2026Episode 9822 min

Episode 98: Top 3 Ways to Get New Design Clients Fast

Most designers are doing marketing backwards, and it's costing them the exact clients they want. In this episode we're getting brutally specific: the three things that actually bring in new clients right now, and the three things everyone's doing that feel productive but won't move the needle at all. One of these strategies has turned a single handwritten note into a six-figure renovation years later. Another has closed a client in as little as two weeks. And one thing almost every designer is told to invest in? We're breaking down why it won't get you a client this month, and what it's actually doing for your business instead. This is what's worked for us, what hasn't, and why, so you can stop guessing where to put your time and start putting it where it counts. Check out our website too: https://designdash.com/ Follow us on socials: https://www.instagram.com/designdasher/ https://www.tiktok.com/@designdasher https://www.facebook.com/DesignDasher

June 25, 2026Episode 9723 min

Episode 97: What Do You Do With a Client Who Will Not Stop Revising?

The indecisive client isn't your problem. Your process is. Most designers diagnose revision chaos as a client personality flaw. The ones running the tightest, most profitable studios know it's a systems failure, and there's a fix. In this episode, we're getting into the psychology of the indecisive client, why it happens, what it actually means, and the exact process we use to move a project forward without losing the client, losing our minds, or losing money. Check out our website too: https://designdash.com/ Follow us on socials: https://www.instagram.com/designdasher/ https://www.tiktok.com/@designdasher https://www.facebook.com/DesignDasher

June 11, 2026Episode 9619 min

Episode 96: Your Pipeline Is Full. The Project Is Perfect. Pick One.

Capacity is a ceiling most designers never expect to hit. Until they do. The inquiry is perfect. The scope is substantial. The client is exactly who you've been optimizing your portfolio to attract. And your studio is already running at full stretch. This is the paradox of a well-run firm, success creates its own bottleneck. And how you navigate that bottleneck determines whether you scale intentionally or just survive the season. Laura and Melissa have been here before. They're here right now. And in this episode they break down the exact decision tree they use when the answer can't simply be no — waitlisting with real commitment behind it, the referral strategy that protects relationships without sacrificing opportunity, and the calculated risk of taking on work that doesn't yet have a home on your team. If your calendar is full and your ambition isn't, this episode will hit different. Check out our website too: https://designdash.com/ Follow us on socials: https://www.instagram.com/designdasher/ https://www.tiktok.com/@designdasher https://www.facebook.com/DesignDasher

May 21, 2026Episode 9521 min

Episode 95: How to Hire, Onboard and Actually Utilize a Summer Intern

We hired two interns this summer. Here's what most firms get completely wrong. There's a version of the summer intern that costs you time, energy, and patience. And there's a version that quietly transforms your studio, generates revenue, and hands you back your bandwidth. The difference isn't the intern. It's the structure. In this episode, we're getting into everything, how we source, how we screen, how we onboard, and how we've built a system where interns aren't just helpful, they're billable. We talk about the industry knowledge gap that's widening every year and why the designers who actually last in this field all have something in common that no university program is teaching anymore. There's a reason the best hires we've ever made started as interns. And there's a reason most internships feel like a waste of everyone's time. We know the difference. And this week, we're talking about it. Check out our website too: https://designdash.com/ Follow us on socials: https://www.instagram.com/designdasher/ https://www.tiktok.com/@designdasher https://www.facebook.com/DesignDasher

May 7, 2026Episode 9432 min

Episode 94: The Back Half Blueprint for Design Firm Owners

It's May. And I need you to do the math with me for a second. Seven months until December 31st. Seven months to actually make this the year you said it was going to be back in January. Most design firm owners will hit December the exact same way they hit January, overwhelmed, underpriced, and wondering where the year went. This episode is about making sure that doesn't happen to you. Laura and Melissa get into the real stuff this week. The decisions that feel small in May but completely change what your business looks like by December. The ones you keep saying you'll get to. The ones that are either going to cost you another year or finally make this one count. If you've been doing good work and still feel like something isn't adding up tune in! Check out our website too: https://designdash.com/ Follow us on socials: https://www.instagram.com/designdasher/ https://www.tiktok.com/@designdasher https://www.facebook.com/DesignDasher

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