097: How to Build Supportive Relationships Within Your Design Business

Michele  00:01

Hello, my name is Michele, and you're listening to profit is a choice. Joining me on the podcast today is Kara Cox of Kara Cox Interiors. I've just got to tell you this is such a fun and delightful conversation. It is recorded in mid April while we're still in the middle of kind of figuring out what all COVID is going to look like in this disruption and how things are going to start that. What I love so much is Kara's opening and inviting personality. And she just draws you in. She has that beautiful Southern speech and I loved it so much. The thing that also struck me, and you're going to hear about it here, it really got my attention. A couple of things. One was the idea of how beautifully she was mentored and taken care of by another designer who then also encouraged her to launch her own design firm and that's not what we hear very often. So listening to her share that story and that sweet relationship was just such an encouragement. On top of that, Kara goes on to talk about how she has worked really hard to figure out how she serves others, not only her staff and her clients but her community. So I think you're going to be really encouraged by that. And I hope you enjoy the podcast.

Michele  01:27

Every day empowered entrepreneurs are taking ownership of their company financial health, and enjoying the rewards of reduced stress and more creativity. With my background as a financial software developer, owner of multiple businesses in the interior design, industry, educator and Speaker, I coach women in the interior design industry to increase their profits, regain ownership of their bottom line and to have fun again in their business. Welcome to profit is the choice. Hey, Kara, welcome to the podcast.

Kara Cox  02:00

Thanks so much for having me, Michele.

Michele  02:03

Oh, you're welcome. You know, we were having such an awesome conversation prior to hitting record, I realized if I didn't hit record, we'd have the whole podcast done. I am so glad that you're here. I was sharing with you even before we came on, if anybody has not looked at your website, they have got to go see it. I've got to throw it out at the beginning, not just at the end, but as Kara Cox Interiors, and it is just so beautiful. Your designs inspire me and they make me smile. And I see a lot of beautiful things as certainly you and everybody else does. But just your picture out there and the work that you've done and just the way that it slides through academics just keep it up on my second screen.

Kara Cox  02:46

That's our goal, to inspire people and to just give them a beautiful home to come home to, that's comforting and reflects their personality. So we're really proud of the work we do and the fact that there are elements that flow through all of our projects, but we do really unique designs for each client and what they're asking specifically for in their homes.

Michele  03:09

Well, that's the kind of design that I love. I'm not big on formulaic anything. That's why even as a coach, I say to people, there are certain principles that are good for business, and I will help you put those in, but my goal is to help you build the business you want to build, and it sounds like you want to do it. And so I love when design is an expression of the people that live there. And it doesn't look like again, like it was cultivated from a magazine. Like here's the front of a local store. Let's just replicate that.

Kara Cox  03:36

I like to think of it like our filter that we're applying their aesthetic best, right?

Michele  03:41

Absolutely. So I would love to hear we were just starting to have the conversation before we kind of caught ourselves and thought, oh, what's going on? And I'd love to hear how you got started in design and how you got started and all of this you were going all the way back to like what age 14 or something

Kara Cox  03:58

Well, really more college. So I, my first degree is from UNC Chapel Hill in journalism, and had an advertising focus in that degree. I thought I was going to go take on the fashion world. That was my goal. So I left college and went straight to New York City, did a postgraduate training program with Saks Fifth Avenue. I was big city girl out of here, small town, North Carolina, goodbye, not coming back. But I had a boyfriend at the time. Now, he’s my husband, who had a family business in North Carolina, and he ended up bringing me back to North Carolina after my time in New York. So it was a good reason to move back. It's worked out well. We're married. We've been married 16 years now. So when I was 22, I grew up with parents who were professionals. So my dad was a doctor and my mom was a career counselor. We were always charged with how we could be in service to others as a family, and what were you going to do for the world? My mom really struggled with the fact that I was going into fashion. She just thought it was a frivolous career. How were you going to do good in the world? I also think there was a little fear. I moved to New York in 2002. So right after 911, and you know, her baby's going off to New York City.

Michele  05:27

You're young and all those things! 

Kara Cox  05:29

Absolutely. And so and it was a risk that she hadn't taken in her own life. And so to see her child go off and do that, I think it was scary. And they did not hold me back, which was, I think, such a gift that my parents gave me. They were always you know, you can do whatever you want to do set your sights high.

Michele  05:45

You know, it's so interesting. So I graduated from college from the University of South Carolina, so the state right below you, At 21 I got in the car and accepted a job in Atlanta, which was In big city, right, I moved here by myself. My parents had always grown up in the same town lived in the same town and been parents in the 60s and 70s. So everything is a little bit more you take a job, and then you retire from the job and you have your pension. And so it was quite a shock to them that I at 21 got up and walked away by myself to the big city, bounce it very similar to the way your parents felt almost like they were excited for me they cheered me on. But my mother told me she spent so much time on her knees and prayer over me, because scared to death for me to be here by myself. And I didn't have to fear I didn't see some of it was just age and some of them fearless, right? Yes, you're in your 20s. And now I'm a parent of 20 year olds, and I'm over here understanding why my mother said she was on her knees a lot. They don't have fear like we have, but there were so many good things that come out of that. So tell us what are the things for you? I mean, good grief. That's awesome.

Kara Cox  06:59

It was and you know, it just opened my eyes, I had been able to travel and study abroad in college. So I spent a semester in Florence, which really opened my eyes aesthetically. I think that's when I really opened up to realizing I wanted to be a creative. And that was different for everyone in my family. I have an older brother who is a corporate attorney. My parents both were professionals. They did not push me towards a creative career. And so, I had to figure out for a few years what that looked like. So when I moved back from New York to North Carolina, there's obviously not a large fashion industry in North Carolina. And I started to think what am going to do with this knowledge and this experience I've had that allows me to be creative. So, I ended up working in a furniture manufacturing company, Klausner Furniture for about a year when I first moved back to North Carolina. I was doing fabric purchasing and at the time, it was really more financially driven and not as creative as I would like. So I left there and became an editor for Home Accents Today. It was falling back on the first degree I had in journalism. And through that experience, I was able to travel to all of the furniture markets nationally, and even some international trade shows. I was exposed to so many products so many vendors and that first trip to High Point market, Atlanta Market. Dallas Lighting Show I was just exposed in those two years to the industry that I fell in love with. So, I realized during that time of traveling and creating relationships with vendors in the furniture industry that I really wanted to be doing the creative work, and I didn't want to be writing about it. I learned great skills with trend forecasting. As product editor, I learned great product knowledge and can still look at a piece of furniture or an accessory and named the manufacturer because I became so familiar with their products in that timeframe. But I ended up having my first child fairly early. I decided when she was born that the travel was too much for me to keep up. So, with a one year old, I went back to get a design degree, and did a two-year program that was really technical training, which was what I felt like I needed to have the knowledge to start a business at some point. But I had already developed my aesthetic on my own. I ended up going to work for a designer in Greensboro, who was absolutely phenomenal. Her name's Lindsay Henderson, she is still in business now. She's in Charleston and semi-retired, but she was the most amazing mentor to me and allowed me to learn from her. She taught me the business side, she exposed me to new sources, new ways of designing that I had never been able to experience in a hands-on environment. And she is known for training people really well. She's had very successful designers come out of her firm and is just the most open and giving mentor. And so, she really set me up to be successful on my own. And ironically, I was working for her from about 2008 to 2010. So, in the time where we had a massive financial crisis, business was drying up. She was an interior designer who had such large projects going on, for her clients that they carried her through that time. And we were doing a lot of construction projects at the time, but in 2010, that's when it really hits North Carolina a little bit later, and it hit the furniture industry a little bit later here. So, her business started to become slower. And I had a second child at that time and decided to go out on my own and start my own business. And she really pushed me from the nest. I mean, she said to me, you're ready, you need to go do this on your own. And I didn't think I was ready. I was like, no, please let me stay. I don't I don't want to do this on my own. I knew it was gonna be a lot of hard work. But it was a good transition time for me when I had my second child. So, I left her firm.

Michele  11:37

Can we pause there for a second? I just want to celebrate her for a minute. Right?

Kara 11:41

Sure. She's amazing.

Michele  11:42

She is amazing. And her attitude is amazing. And the reason I want to do that here is because in our industry, we can if we're not careful, be so focused on getting our own that we're not helping those around us succeed. And it sounds like by you saying she didn't just mentor you She mentored many designers that came through her program. She, in my mind has very much a servant heart. And this idea of helping you become the best you you can be, you know, I always say we need to find somebody who sees what's in us, even if we don't see it. And it sounds like she was one of those people in your life. She saw what you could be in what you could do. And like you said, pushed you out of the nest.

Kara Cox  12:26

Absolutely, she really was. It she, she changed my life. She really did. And she was so open and giving, even after I left her firm, to say, hey, if you need to come use my fabric library, you know, keep your key and come in and get whatever you need was a resource if I had a question or I didn't know how to do something, I could call her and we still had lunch and we stayed in touch and we still do. She's now in Charleston, so I don't get to see her as often.

Michele  12:58

She recognized what a big gift that was. Here's what I want to challenge the listeners here is be that for somebody, right, right, I'm not talking about feeling like somebody's taken from you all the time. And I'm not saying that she didn't do it for every single person she met. But she did have those select few that worked with her word for her, worked in some capacity. And she didn't hold back she poured into them to make them the best that could be knowing in my mind that if you if she can do out of the nest is because you were ready and she was willing if they if she had a need to bring in somebody else and train them up.

Kara Cox  13:36

Absolutely no fear of competition. Absolutely. And she had such an amazing business and she's so talented. Aesthetically, her design is so beautiful.

Michele  13:51

That's a model that I like. I am literally almost stunned because we have conversations quite often with people who will say, Well, nobody will help me or nobody will talk to me or in my area all the designers are close. I mean, we're certainly getting more open in online forums and you know, Facebook groups and things like that going to market new things, we're sharing more, but I even know their designers. You're like, I'm not telling you where I got this table, because this is my table in my aesthetic. I'm like, never heard of it. This is stupid in my whole life, only because all you're doing is hurting that company. Right? So they can't sell enough of those.

Kara Cox  14:25

Not that confidence she had the confidence that her designs were so unique and so specific to her clients that no one was gonna replicate that. And so there was no fear in sharing her tricks and her knowledge with someone she really was such a gift to me.

Michele  14:43

It also makes me think about when you said a minute ago how your parents wanted you to think about serving. So to put you under a mentor who literally served her clients and her community and then served her employees, the servant leadership that she shows To the right, that worked for her, really probably helped define the way that you serve and lead now and your own company that you were saying, You started in 2010. So, pick back up and tell us where you started. And then I would love to hear, I know, this wasn't in any question that asked you, but how you've taken her idea of servant leader to you, and then put it back into business for those that report to you and network with you. Right, I know you did.

Kara Cox  15:28

Well, you know, I think that is has 10 years since I’ve been in business, and it's taken me probably eight or nine to answer that question that my mom put to me at 22 of how are you going to help the world? What good are you doing in the world? If you go into this aesthetic career, you know, what, how is this helping people? And I have finally become so confident in that answer. And it has taken me a long time. You know, we don't realize the impact that our words our children, have. I think of that all the time as a mother because I do have two kids, I have a 13 year old and a nine year old. I think of the things I'm teaching them, the things I'm sharing, and with my employees as well. I have realized that I have been led with the clients, I have the projects I've taken on in ways that I can exemplify service to others. It is such an important part of my business model. You know, in my bio, on my website, I say that I'm really a people person first, and I'm a designer by trade, because I realized that I've been given a gift of relationship and being able to develop friendships and relationships with my clients. It is the most important part of my business. And so with that, I want to do the best job I want to be in service to them. I want to blow their socks off with, you know, just exceeding their expectations. And in every way, both in the design work, but also in the service that we provide to our clients.

Michele  17:06

Before we came on you and I were having a little bit of that conversation and that's exactly the way that I approach my business, I always have been serve their socks off. And I'm going to give them more than they could ask or imagine, like, I want it to be an abundance mindset, not a scarcity mindset. I don't ever want a client to work with me and think, well, Michele held back and didn't give her best or didn't give her all. I want them to think oh, my gosh, I got more than I thought I would get or more than I paid for it, or she recorded me or did whatever. And I think that's why I was so attracted to your site into your words into what you said is because that why, and that set of values like I immediately picked up on that before you and I even got on the conversation like I knew I felt it. I think that speaks a lot to the way that you have articulated on your site. Standing ready because if we think about this, right, all of our messaging, all of our work I remember from a young age thinking to myself with my kids, my words have life or death. All of our words in life or death, we're either going to crush somebody, like I could crush somebody with my words as easily as I could choose to bless them with my words. And so I can encourage and empower, or I can trash them. And so we have a choice all the time and what we say and how we say it what we do. I'm not saying I'm perfect at it, I mean, I can mess up just like the best person. But it's about being intentional with the choices of words that we use. And so when we do our marketing and our messaging, if our values are like, what your values are, and what my values are, the more that we talk it and the more that we say it and the more that we've lived it and the more that we do it, then our clients are automatically drawn. I think that's probably one of the things your mentor knew. These were her values, and she put them out there so much that the right people to work with you're going to be drawn to her and she was okay with Kara being Kara because what you put out is going to draw the right people to you. And this is what we all do.

Kara Cox  19:04

Absolutely. Absolutely. And she's been so great to just even check in over the years and say, I'm so proud of you. I'm so happy to see you your success and what you're doing and to have that cheerleader in your corner is so meaningful. And so what do you try to think about that as I lead my team as well. I've done a lot of study in the enneagram your motivations and how to motivate people.

Michele 19:32

What enneagram number are you?

Kara 19:36

Oh, I'm a one. I'm a take charge kind of girl.

Michele  19:38

Okay, so I feel funny. I've probably taken it three times. I think I'm a three. But I have a heck of a lot of tendencies to a one. I just don't quite have the perfectionism to the point that it is stifling to me. Yes, like things to be right. I edited a magazine and publish one for four years. I like I literally am talking to my client yesterday. I'm like, Are you having misspelled words on your website if you weren't even looking at that, but if I email people sometimes and I go, I, I'm trying to help you, but there's some misspellings on your website and like they drive me crazy.

Kara 20:10

I know. That’s where a journalism degree comes in handy.

Michele  20:12

It does. I mean, I've got you know, the books behind me on this method and that method and what I'm looking for do I want that awkward comment? Do you want me just? Yes, I know. I can drive people crazy with that. But yeah, the enneagram is pretty cool to figure out is cool.

Kara Cox  20:28

I just think the more we learn about ourselves, the more we learn about the people that we work with on a daily basis in our team, the better we can meet their needs and figure out how to motivate the individual which may be different than our motivations. So, as a perfectionist, I strive to do go above and beyond and sometimes to the point where it's detrimental to me or my family's health, because I'm putting my clients first, right and actually, you know, I think the last few weeks have been interesting to me because I've had more time to be with my kids and be at home and think about how I can serve them, in addition to serving my clients, and that maybe I need to put a little more effort into that. So but I do you feel like what has made me successful in business has been that strive for relationship and to service my clients in a way that they really leave with an amazing experience.

Michele  21:33

So let me ask this. I know that from our quick conversation before, I mean, we're filming this in the time of COVID. Just, you know, it's always good to have a reference point about where we are when we're talking. But when you and I know that you were very successful today, and you mentioned that you have some projects that are able to pull you through this because they were larger construction projects. But when you started at the very beginning in 2010, building your own company, did you create a full blown business plan, or was it a little bit more loosey goosey to get? I'm not suggesting that it wasn't before thought it wasn't a little more relaxed, maybe it definitely was more relaxed.

Kara Cox  22:12

I don't have a business degree. So I did not have a business structure. I am married to an entrepreneur, which is great and he is a third generation business owner. I did have his help in structuring my business and looking at how to grow it, how to market it. Honestly, my advertising degree came in handy. I was able to market myself, I've not had to outsource the marketing or the advertising part of my business, but I started slow. Part time, I had a four year old and an infant. It was from my guest bedroom for several years and then I moved into a teeny tiny office that I think was literally 100 square feet. It was basically an escape from toddler. It allowed me to just get a few hours of work in while they were at preschool or in the afternoons and not have to be changing diapers at the same time. I started very small and I've had three offices out of the home now. You continue to kind of move to larger spaces, and meet needs slowly and grow strategically, as I was able to finance that. I've been really proud of not ever taking a business loan or having business debt. I have grown in as small a way as I could. So as I was able to pay for things, I would take the next step forward in my business. And sometimes that's good or bad. Like there are things that you want to inject money into if you're looking at a really faster growth strategy. But for me with the age of my children and knowing that I needed to balance that family life, a slower growth pattern was better for my business and so I'm now in a position where I have two staff people. I have an office manager and I have a junior designer. I have a beautiful studio outside of my home that we moved into about a year ago. We're on a little small street with small businesses, other entrepreneurs, and great foot traffic, but we're not retail. So it's really studio space. For us, it's office space. We love being able to bring our clients and to present to them here. But we took a slower growth strategy and part of that also was because when I worked for Lindsay, her clients were very high net luxury clients. When I went out on my own at 30, I did not have a high net luxury client. I had other 30 year old clients who I was piecing things together in their living room. I was updating their bedrooms, I was doing a nursery it was one room two rooms at a time and we still Slowly built the business to the place where I was able to do whole house projects we could take on construction. And I hired a business coach.

Kara Cox  25:10

So, probably in a year, I'm trying to think it would have been 2014 I believe, I did Tobi Fairly’s mastermind program. At the time, she was really focusing her business coaching on designers only interior designers. I had some friends that I had met through show house, Lisa, Mindy and Tracy Zeller, who are still dear friends of mine today. And they had worked with Tobi as a coach. They said she's really transformed the way we're doing business. And I knew that what I was lacking as a business owner was that business structure. The creative part, I didn't need training in that I knew how to do a design plan. I knew how to do CAD, I knew how to do a floor plan. I knew how to pull fabrics that is ingrained. You either have that aesthetic or you don't as a creative, but I did not know how to grow a business, how to structure a design business. So I joined her mastermind program for a year. And I learned so much by being able to come together with designers from all over the country, that have similar problems. No matter where our businesses are located, or what size town we're in. We're all dealing with similar issues in growing and servicing our clients. She really gave me the confidence to create a business structure that was profit based. And I don't think I had that mindset before I was introduced to her business coaching or to these other designers who've become an amazing network that I can call on now with questions and for help if I run into something where I'm stuck there, just an amazing resource to have but she really, at the time was preaching a flat fee model for design fees and a markup on the procurement end of a project and no one in Greensboro, North Carolina was charging a flat fee for a design project, everything. Everyone was working on an hourly basis, or they were just charging markup. Right. And it was very much an antiquated system.

Michele  27:26

It wasn’t one that was going to work. You know, it's so interesting. Tobi and I were just recently both part of the film in 19 hours. Yes, a week or so ago and super smart lady. A couple of comments on what you made. Of course, I'm a business coach. So I think coaching is very important. I have my own coach, I've always had a coach. Yes, as fast as I could find one and get one that I thought can take me where I needed to go for the things that I needed to learn. I have one and I've had more than one coach. So sometimes I will have a coach for a specific thing that I'm working on. I had One coach that I worked with for five years, I'm with another coach now, who can get me to the next place faster than I could get there by myself? Because we all know what we know, but we don't know at all.

Kara Cox  28:11

Absolutely. And I could not agree more with that.

Michele  28:14

You were talking about being in a mastermind. I have my designer's inner circle, which is my mastermind. And it is really amazing because especially in this time of COVID, right, we're all in there. And we're almost meeting every week right now. Right? And we're normally we might need a little bit more spread out, and it's across the country. And so we're able to connect these designers. They're seeing that they're not alone. They're able to share their challenges. They are strategizing together, on what to do and how to do it, and that they talk about the mastermind, what it really is, it's a bigger idea set than any one person could have long. You take two people it's from Napoleon Hill, Thinking Grow Rich. It's called a mastermind Alliance. You take two people, you put them together and it creates what's called this third mind which is the Mastermind, because it's that iron sharpens iron, two people together. You can come up with something bigger and better than maybe what either of you could do. So I'm in my own mastermind, where I am a member., and then I have a mastermind. So I just want to say the value is that valuable it? Yes, yes. Why would we do anything by ourselves? I mean, look at sports, look at anything. Everybody has somebody that's moving them forward. And in a time, like what we're in right now, with COVID, it can really make us feel so very alone. And I would recommend Now is the time to get a mentor to get a coach to find a mastermind to get involved in a group of other people that can help strengthen what you're doing and where you're going and how to get there. Because I think the ones of us that try to stay back and hang out alone and do it alone with our own grid. I think we're going to struggle.

Kara Cox  29:54

It really is making it harder and harder. Yes, yes. So I couldn't agree more. And I do think I've had several coaches over the years. It's something I enjoy investing in, I enjoy investing in self improvement and ways to expand my knowledge that like you said, I know what I know. But I don't know everything. And so what I also find invaluable are the relationships again, with these designers in the group. I was only a member of her mastermind for one year, and it was six years ago.

Michele  30:27

But I still made an impact on where you are today.

Kara Cox  30:31

It did and I'm still in constant communication with the other members of that group. So I have made lasting friendships. Just last week, I was on Rachael Cannon’s podcast. She is a dear friend of mine that I met through that group. We've traveled together, we've been to markets together. We can call each other with business problems and say, Hey, have you ever had this happen? What did you do in this situation? I'm looking for this brass barstool. Do you know where this was sourced from? It's just having a network of knowledge and all aspects that as entrepreneurs, we need absolutely those people to call on. So, but it also expanded my viewpoint. I grew up in a small town, I did not have a business degree. So for me to learn a business model that was not being practiced in my area was really important. And it was a big risk for me to take as a business owner. I remember the first few times I said, Hey, I'm going to do a flat fee. And this is what the scope of work is. And this is what I'm going to charge. And it was such a big number compared to saying my hourly rate is $150. People just looked at me like I was crazy. And they couldn't wrap their head around what that meant. But then once I explained it, and I said, This allows you to plan from the beginning of a project for what you're investing in the design portion. Then what you're investing in your furnishings budget, you don't have surprises. You're not getting a big bill at the end of the project. That is hours and hours of work that you didn't know was happening behind the scenes.

Michele  32:12

Or asking you can you work faster? Let's just stop this, I'm done. I'll do it the rest of myself. I mean see a lot of that happening.

Kara Cox  32:20

I just find that it has built trust with my clients that has become really important because they know upfront exactly what I'm charging exactly what it's going to cost them out of pocket. I do run a very transparent business model, and it makes me feel comfortable because I know I'm not taking advantage of anyone. I am being completely clear about what it costs me to run a business and then I'm a business owner. This is not a hobby, I have to pay bills, I have to pay salaries, I have to pay overhead. And this is what I have to charge in order to do that. So I now feel very confident and being a To communicate my value to my clients and what they're getting with that fee.

Michele  33:07

Yeah, I love a good flat fee. I gotta say I love all flat fees. I love a well thought out flat fee and I absolutely recommend that if you know what you're doing. You don't know what you're doing, you can lose your entire business with one bad decision.

Kara Cox  33:22

Absolutely, and you have to track your profitability, you have to do hours and constantly tweak it to make sure.

Michele  33:28

That means you're going wait and you get to take your hands off and move right. It is still very monitored way of doing work. I like it because even in my business I don't do I hourly work, you can't in most cases. I do have a special right now during COVID to just book with me for 30 minutes. Outside of that I normally require a year right with me like I don't do I really work I do flat rates because that's how I can really serve their socks off. I know these things are going to take time. Just like you can't go in and transform a room in two days, we're not HGTV, not at the level that they really want it transformed. We're not talking about just slapping up some paint, throw a couple of pictures from home goods, we're talking about really doing the room. You can't do that in a couple of days. That is a process. And the same way I see your business for me to come in and help you design your business and create that really lasting transformation. It takes time it's an investment it's an investment from all about a good and well thought out flat fee. Alright, so let me ask you this. You've mentioned High Point Market and other markets quite a few times. I want to jump in and talk about what you love about market and then I know that you have some exciting news that came out of all of your going to market and see market. So do me a little bit about what you look to get out of market because you've already said and I love this because I want all of our designers maybe some haven't built it into their budget to go to a market and Then not everybody can go to high point, but maybe they live in another area of the country, they can go to the one at one of the ones close to them to get started. But just the inspiration, just the idea of what could be getting to know those product lines, understanding what is available makes you a better designer overall.

Kara Cox  35:17

Absolutely. And I think as designers, we have to have a hunger for learning, and constantly reinventing ourselves and constantly educating ourselves about the newest products, the newest fabrics, but is coming to the marketplace that we haven't seen before. We don't want to create formula rooms. We want to bring new and exciting and we are the people pushing the boundaries for our clients. So I've been so lucky growing up 30 minutes from high point that I've always been able to go so I guess 2005 was the first time I went to High Point furniture market and I've been to every single market since then. So I guess that's 30 markets in the last 15 years, and I'm really sad. They just announced today that they've canceled market for this spring. they canceled the June Market.

Michele  36:16

You know, I hadn't heard that. And that was that was supposed to speak at market and that was when we did the 19 hours with my DOMA. Yes, I'm gonna bring the High Point training to go ahead and give that out. And I really wondered if June would continue. And I think a little early and I do. I'm excited that they've made a good choice for the overall health of everybody. But it saddens me that we are having to make those kinds of decisions. Okay, absolutely. I love going to market.

Kara Cox  36:44

Yes, and I think the sourcing that you're able to do at a market is just as important as being face to face with the manufacturers with your reps creating that relationship. I tend to only buy from my direct accounts. I've worked a long time to build direct relationships with manufacturers and offer my clients dealer pricing structures from who I'm able to buy from. So, to me being able to see the pieces in person, see the scale of the chairs sit in it, how, what's the pitch of the back? These are questions that our clients are asking us. They want to know that what they're purchasing is comfortable, that it's good quality, that the finishes going to be good quality. You need to see these things in person. And so I cannot stress enough that if a designer can't get to hop away, go to Atlanta, go to Dallas, go to Las Vegas wherever they can go New York and see as much as you can see in person. It just expands your library of knowledge so much and it also builds your relationships so that when something happens or you need something in a rush from a manufacturer, you can call your rep. They know exactly who you are, they have a face with your name. They are much more willing to work with you and develop that relationship as a dealer and as a designer to meet your needs. So it's just invaluable relationship building as much as it is sourcing to me. And through that experience, last year, I was able to be a style spotter for Half White Market, which was a lot of fun. And I felt like I kind of went back to the hat of product editor again for those two markets because we were trend forecasting and we were having to see all the products and look at what we felt was the newest and the freshest and the on trim items. And so I go to market for that reason as well. What is coming up in the next six to 12 months that we haven't seen yet. So I'm always looking for to be ahead of the curve on this trends in the home furnishings marketplace, but through these experiences I was introduced to a company in Greensburg. They're actually based in Greensboro and a family who has built an incredible business called Thompson Traders and the Thompson family. This business was created by the mom Alexandra, who is absolutely amazing. I am such a big fan of female owned businesses and female driven aesthetics. So we just instantly connected we actually first work together. We bought a house about five years ago and partnered with Domino magazine on a renovation project. Thompson Traders came in and worked with me on two custom pieces for that renovation project of custom vanity in our powder room, and a beautiful custom hood for our kitchen. They really specialize in metal work and most of their pieces are made in Mexico. They're made of copper, but you can have them finished in antique nickel burnished nickel, brass they have a wide range of metal finishes that their copper can be finished in. So we've worked together on custom projects for the last four or five years I've put their beautiful hoods in several client projects and we've custom designed multiple pieces together and so they approached me about a year and a half ago about creating a license collection with them. It is going to launch this summer, we've created a collection of kitchen and bath items. So there's a tub, a bar sink, an apron front kitchen sink, a hood, and a vanity. So freestanding vanity and they're nickel and brass in design. They were inspired by a trip that my family actually made to Mexico about a year ago. We rented a home into loom and every wall of the house was round. It was awesome. Made of plaster. And there were no corners or edges. The stairwell was round. The kitchen island was oval, every single. Wow, no corners. So it was so inspiring to me that this entire home could be crafted in this really soft, feminine, curving design. And so I kept thinking, how can I translate this into metal? Because bathrooms and kitchens are such hard spaces?

Michele  41:33

Yeah, very linear.

Kara Cox  41:34

Very linear. And I do have a more feminine aesthetic. So how can I create this softness and this feminine feel in a kitchen or a bathroom and so every piece in the collection is rounded. The hood is actually completely oval. And the meaning is all rounded curves. So it's really unique. It's something that I haven't seen in the market. place that I'm really excited to introduce, because I think that it's something people are going to really respond to as fresh a new, something they can't find anywhere else.

Michele  42:11

I love that. I met the Thompson family for the first time at fall market of 19. And they had a dinner at their home for some of the designers and I was able to go to that. That is one of the most gracious families I have ever met. I literally would have almost felt like I was the only one there. They made me feel so special. I mean, there will you were there. There were like 30-40 people there. Maybe. And I felt special being there. And she came up she made sure she introduced me. She talked to me. She put her arm around me. She thanked me for coming so that they could serve my socks off, at that dinner. And I think that's one of the reasons I fell in In love with their company, and look, I'm a coach, I'm not actively designing, I'm not going to be going to buy their thing am I buying from my home, but I'm not going to play the long term, you know, sales producer for them. That's just not my role. It didn't matter to her.

Kara Cox  43:15

They are for most genuine family and, you know, ironically, our children are in a Spanish Immersion school. So, my children are bilingual. And they have been surrounded their entire lives by teachers who are had that same attitude. I mean, it's just a cultural difference. And their teachers are so loving and open and demonstrative. And so I already had that experience in my life and then to meet the Thompson family. It was like such a perfect fit for me.

Michele  43:53

Because their children were there and their families were offering that same exuberance. It was it just such a warmth and a giving that you cannot even hardly. I feel like we can sit and articulate all day. But I don't even know that I could express to somebody how they make you feel?

Kara Cox  44:12

Yes, until you have met them, it really is hard to explain and they are just so giving and they're giving to our community in Greensboro. They're constantly giving back. They're constantly involved in charitable organizations, they just align with the same values that my business aligns with. And so it has been such a rewarding partnership, whether we ever sell anything.

Michele 44:40

I’m sure you will!

Kara Cox  44:43

It's just been really a beautiful process to create something with them, and know that we both have the same goals of service to others, and how can we serve people through our businesses, and so it just was A perfect fit for my first step into licensing and doing product design. And I'm really excited for everyone to see it. And I'm excited to help promote their business and their family.

Michele  45:13

I love that I'll make sure I have a link to their site and everything at the bottom of the show notes. But I really want people to check them out. They are a great company. So let me ask you this, we've kind of touched on it lightly. But let's just talk for just a minute about we are in the time of COVID-19. And so your launch has been pushed back a little bit. So that's one change. Market is no longer happening. That's a second change spray market. What are some other disruptions or changes that you have made, if at all in your business right now to adapt to what's happening?

Kara Cox  45:48

My junior designer and I are working alternating days in our studio. So we're not here together right now. Coming in one day. She's coming in the next my office managers working from home because she has two small children. And they're out of school obviously. So fortunately, we had spent the last year really tightening our structure internally in our business. And so we were in a really good place with our systems and our processes to be able to quickly make changes and adapt and keep our projects going. So we had already moved to basically everything being online as far as our financials go and what my office manager needs to do from home. She can do all of that on her computer. And, and so we are still able in North Carolina to do construction as a central business. We are still making site visits, we had masks made out of our fabric memos. Our seamstress, you know, made us some really cute masks that we've handed out to our clients and we're taking on our site visits and we're being Very careful, we're not going into anyone's hands right now. So it has put a pause on our furnishings projects. And of course, all of our manufacturers are shut down. So it's definitely extending the project timelines that supply chain is definitely yes.

Michele  47:16

For all of us. But the construction side, I would say almost the design piece is still allowed to keep going.

Kara Cox  47:24

Absolutely. And so that's just what we're focusing on right now. You know, we have a couple furnishings projects that are kind of just in hold until things start moving again. And we can process those through but we're continuing to work on our construction projects. We have three construction projects going on right now whoa houses, and we're continuing to make site visits and spec materials and our suppliers are being wonderful about getting really creative on mailing samples, dropping sample boards off at the door. We're Cloroxing them, bringing them in. We're hanging delivering them to clients. So we're just doing what we can. And continuing to move forward in a new normal, we have been really lucky to be in a position where we had that construction work to keep us going to be honest. So we were in a good place.

Michele  48:18

Have you had to pivot at all with any of your offerings, or you had enough in the pipeline that you didn't really need to pivot and change up a product offering.

Kara Cox  48:27

Well, we did. So we sent out a newsletter, probably in the first week of the stay at home order in North Carolina. And we typically don't do hourly work, we typically only take on full scale projects, or we do a designer for a day, scope of work that is kind of like a fixed fee and a fixed number of hours where we'll come in and do consultation. But we did lower minimum and so we're not charging minimums right now for furnishings, budgets, or design fees. And we're taking on some hourly work to kind of fill those gaps right between our larger projects.

Michele  49:00

So similar to what I'm doing with 30 minute, like, if you want me to look at your financials, right, figure out what your runway is how long you're or you just have any business question. I'm doing the 30 minute where in the past, I wouldn't do that.

Kara Cox  49:13

Right. And we have to be willing to adapt, like you said, and to offer some different services because we are doing zoom calls with clients. And so we can do online consultations with people. And we did a little redo of a lake house for a client who decided they were going to do a little kitchen update and update some bathrooms in this time frame for the summer. And we just speced, everything through sources that they could access and they're implementing it themselves, but we were able to turn the design around in a week for them and they have everything they need to have their contractor implemented. So we are doing some smaller things like that. And I think what I'm looking at right now is the reality that kids are most likely going to be home until the fall at the earliest And so, with that I've always just had part time childcare because my kids are old enough to be in school all day. How am I going to balance my work hours with them being at home more. And so my husband and I are having that discussion right now? Am I going to work three days a week, full time? And then I'm going to work from home two days a week? Yeah. What does this look like for our family? I do feel like they need me more right now than they have in the last few months or years. So I'm going to make some changes as well, probably where I'm taking on a smaller pipeline of work for the next few months. And that's something we're just gonna have to look at as a business.

Michele  50:40

I think that's, that's one of the things that I started mentioning back probably in March was when we really started seeing that this was going to be more than a two week, chill at home for two weeks, and it started becoming a bigger thing and something we've never had before. I know I started encouraging my clients and those that I was speaking to, to make friends. We plan an eight week plan and a 12 week plan because this could keep going. And the choices that we might wait make if we were out of work for four weeks, or if work was disrupted or changed or different, could be very different than if we've got to maintain this for 12. Then I started kind of raising the flag that you do understand everybody, when this turns back on, we are right at summer. And we already have a change in the way many of us do business with children, or with other needs during the summer. So, and for many of us, you know, in the industry, those are really not normally our heaviest months. Our heaviest months are usually like March, April, May. Then summer comes in and kids are home and projects. It might be going but it's not literally the most profitable three months for a lot of firms. and it kicks back up in the Fall. So we're going to be the last some of March and some of April, perhaps some of May and if we open back up, we're kicked out right in the middle of summer. So we have to think about that and what that might look like. One of the things I encourage everybody to do, I have it on my freebies pages, go get your cash position analysis. Go out and figure out how much cash do you have. What is your runway? How long is it going to last you? What is it that you have? And then the other thing that I would encourage everybody to do, especially with what you just said, is, we all need to know our minimums to be in business. It's not just your maximums. What are your minimums? What is the minimum that you need to do to keep your family going to keep your business going, whether it's in a time of a disruption or in a time of I need to be with my kids. But let's be honest, for many of us, our kids are healthy and whole and they're home. But they are feeling the lack of being with their friends. They are feeling the disruption to their life. They are feeling the loss of school even if they hated school. They're having to process this just like we do. And it's easy if we're not careful to be so focused on doing our work and keeping everything going and not focused on maintaining the emotional and mental well being of our families, apps. And so that I think has been a big shift for many of us. Those things have just been kind of humming along. And we're now starting to see the longer this lasts, the bigger the impact. My youngest is senior in college. And he is having to work through the fact that he had just started spring break, they shut everything down. He didn't get to say goodbye to his friends, like they didn't know it was their last time together. And for many of them, they're seniors and they live around the country, not just around the state, he will probably not see them again. There's no graduation ceremony, there's no end to these things that we would normally think of and he's processing like many are they're processing, you know, that's why to make sure that we're standing in the gap for them and that we are accessible to what they need and even just aware that they might need that. You know what I'm saying?

Kara Cox  54:00

It's not and and so yeah, I think I've made the choice that right now I do have a child who's high risk. And so we're having to be more careful with her. There is a little more fear in our family than other. And while my clients are very important, my family's important too, right? So we are talking a lot in our office with my junior designer, how she can support me to be able to have that time with them right now. This is just the phase of life that we're in. And that is constantly changing when you are a mom running a business.

Michele 24:37

So one of the things that I see and all that and I think this is where you're perfectly poised, Kara is this is a time where leadership really shows up where leadership really is showing and leading. I know a couple of my designers in my elite program, one of the things that we've talked about with them is kind of what you're doing is how much more can we educate and delegate to those that are working under us. How much more can we educate and empower them? Because many of them are in a different position than maybe the lead designer is right or the principal. And they can take on more, they're now ready. And this environment and disruption has almost fast forwarded. Maybe a delegation process that was in the works, how can we make that happen quicker? What can we do? Right? They may have in some cases, more capacity than the senior designer. So are the principal. So now how do we put the principal and more of an oversight role? Right, move them a little bit higher up instead of the technician role. So it's almost like this is moving you even a little not that we're saying we're taking away the design, but it's moving you up to what is the most important role that Karen needs to play, right? To sustain it. And now how do we take anything that was on your list that doesn't fall into that most important category and delegate it down to something What else? And for some designers, it could actually even create a new job opportunity. I think that's exciting. It doesn't mean that we all are letting everybody go. It may be that we're creating even a part time support position, yes, to take on some of those things. I know I'm looking at hiring somebody right now in the middle of going, because I am taking some things off my plate to get me even so that I can serve more and faster. And that means there's some things that have to go for me to do that.

Kara Cox  56:29

Right. And so I think, you know, that's where you look at the positives of a situation like this. You're learning to adapt, you're learning to pivot, you're giving people more support and the ability to take things on their plates that maybe you wouldn't have otherwise. And like we talked earlier, long term, this could be a great thing for our business. So it's setting us up for a strategy of growth. When things pick back up and pick back up, we're ready to meet more demand.I feel actually amazingly lucky and positive about where my business is right now. I have got really good projects. I've got really great clients. And we're going to be fine through this year, the first thing that my office manager and I did was sit down and create a budget for the entire year. Yeah. And what does this look like for us? What's our cash flow? What is coming in and design fees? What can we say no to?

Michele  57:23

What can we keep doing what we can do? We have to do we have to say no to?

Kara Cox  57:25

say no, yes, yes. Yeah.

Michele  57:27

Yeah. I've even asked my people that have created a budget at the beginning of the year because if they've been following me and I pounded it in their brain enough, they probably created one in January. But we absolutely have to go back now and create a transition financial plan yet that transitional budget plan because things have shifted and changed you and I made the comment even before I think we came on the air, it made for some design firms, they're feeling the squeeze now based on the type of projects they had and in the pipeline they had, right are some that are going to fill it over the next three months. There are some that may not fill it for nine months to a year based on their projects. So I think there's going to be a rolling impact for the full economy and for even each industry independent apps. So constantly keeping our eyes on what can I do? What can I tweet, what can I change is going to be super important. But I want to go back to kind of the way that you started the whole thing. I do believe that if we have our hearts and our minds open to it, what I do believe that this disruption is teaching us about relationship because we're caring more about how our clients feel. Not that we didn't care. But we were so busy with the business of the work, but now we really care about how they feel through this. We're caring about how our families feel. We're really getting more in tune with how our suppliers are going to be good. I mean, we better have some grace and mercy as the supply chain opens back up right We can't go in there all demanding that we didn't get what we wanted. And you promised it was going to be that we have got to show grace and mercy to each other. And I think in addition, the way that we lead our teams and lead our firms, just shows that what's going to come out of this is the ones with the good, strong, caring, supportive relationships are going to be the businesses that survive, but the ones that are very one off by ourself, I'm out to get my they're going to struggle because it they're going to be on an island by themselves. So now it's time to ship fixed.

Kara Cox  59:32

Yeah, I couldn't agree more. One thing I've decided to do in the extra time I have right now, when I can't see my clients is I'm writing handwritten letters to all of them. So everyone that I've worked with within like the last 12 to 18 months, I'm just sending them a note just saying I'm thinking of you. I hope your family safe. I hope you're healthy. This is a strange time for us. I just want you to know how grateful I am for our relationship, our work together and I'm thinking of you I'm not asking for anything, I'm not wanting anything. They're just on my heart. And I feel like it's the time where we have to reach out to other people and share that with the people that are important to us.

Michele  60:11

One of my coaching clients sent me a mask. She said, I love you, and I care about you. And she mailed me a mask. I mean, you know, that's just such a kindness. And every time I look at it, whether you know whether I'm sitting in my house or not, it makes my heart smile, but she just thought it she didn't ask me for anything. You sent me around, right? I sent out cards, people sent me cards, and it just, it's just that time to connect. And I think if anything, we should number one, realizing how interconnected we are. I think in some ways, we didn't realize how interconnected we all work. And when we start seeing breaks in supply chains and breaks in here and something happened in this country that impacts my business. We're starting to see maybe inter web connections that we didn't know existed. And so the best we can do is strengthen the ones that are good to show And then hold on to those. So Kara, as we wrap up today, tell everybody where they can find you.

Kara Cox  61:08

Find me on Instagram @karacoxinteriors on Facebook Kara Cox Interiors and my website is www.karacoxinteriors.com. So it's pretty easy.

Michele  61:21

That's good. That's good. Well, we can all find you. Thank you so much care for joining us and sharing some of your story and how you were inspired to get to where you are that inspires us. Thank you also for mentioning Thompson Traders and some of the other key relationships that you have built.

Kara Cox  61:48

Thank you for having me.

Michele 61:52

Oh, it's my pleasure. It's I feel like when we can get together, I just need to come to Greensboro and we need to have a cup of coffee.

Kara 61:55

I know, I know, absolutely. I would love to connect in person sometime soon. And hopefully it's sooner than later for all of us to get to be together again.

Michele  61:57

I know I think you know is one of the The things I can say out of all of this is, I've been more aware of what was actually a blessing that maybe I didn't recognize, I took it for granted. I think many of us could look at the ability to meet together without fear was something that we kind of took for granted until we can't have it that ability to hug a parent, instead of like you said, sitting six feet away in a garage. We took that for granted. And so I think we, I hope we learned the lesson. What are our blessings and recognizing them so that we can appreciate them more? After COVID? I always say we're gonna have a before COVID and after COVID.

Kara Cox  62:35

I hope so. I hope there's an after and I hope it's soon.

Michele  62:39

I hope it’w quick too. Well, you have a beautiful day and thank you so much for sharing and inspiring us.

Kara 62:46

Thank you.

Michele  62:48

I want to just take a minute and mention hero talked about the importance of some of the coaching that she has had in her past, and even maybe getting today and I just want to encourage you to To check out some coaches find out who you can work with, you know, not every coach is for every person. But I can tell you this, the coaching that I offer is going to be unique. It is going to be tailored to you and your business. And it is going to be done in the most supportive way. And so if you're interested in that, you can go to my www.scareltthreadconsulting.com website, you can look at my services and offerings and sign up to have a conversation, a discovery call, I'd love to talk to you to see what you need, share with you what I offer, and if there's a match, then maybe we can work together. Just whatever you do, do it with intention do it with forethought, because as I always share with you profit doesn't happen by accident.