Ashley Hughes on the importance of auditing your existing clientele, how to create a rendering that reflects the client you want to attract, and finding the vendors that align with your ideal demographic.

Lilse McKenna on the value of using hand drawn floorplans and elevations to present her ideas, why she’s turned to Substack as a creative outlet, and how she uses her sessions on The Expert to keep her problem-solving skills sharp.

In a live edition of the show, hosted by Four Hands, Heather Fujikawa of House Sprucing and Jean Stoffer and Grace Start of Jean Stoffer Design shared advice on post-pandemic recruiting tactics, discussing price changes with clients in the era of tariffs, and expanding a firm’s client base to include out-of-state projects.

Ariel Okin on why her firm doesn’t shoot every project, how a switch to hourly billing has made the firm more profitable and how her presence in the project process is changing as her businesses grow.

Jenna Chused on why she’s shifted her sourcing approach to shield her business from price volatility, how tariffs show up on her firm’s invoices and how early budget discussions prevent sticker shock further along in the design process.

Dan Mazzarini on how he used his firm’s recent rebranding as a team-building opportunity, the one question he uses to kick off every project and how he’s talking to clients about the economics of design in today’s climate.

Anissa Zajac on the importance of setting clear expectations with clients from the outset, establishing in-person touchpoints at key moments in the design process, and the remote project management tools that keep all team members on the same page.

Heather Fujikawa on her designer-client matchmaking process, what it takes to diagnose and solve the firm’s bottlenecks, and the value in handing control over to a leadership team.

Noz Nozawa on the value of investing in a professional recruiter to find top talent, how to gauge a candidate’s design passion in the interview process and why it’s essential as principal to set the firm’s standards for boundaries and communication.

Jean Stoffer and Grace Start on how they’ve kept their relationship healthy amid rapid growth, their strategy for scaling several different design-related businesses, and how they’re navigating a major C-suite transition at the firm.

Georgia Zikas on the importance of conducting regular assessments on a firm’s financial health, tips for curating a network that produces potential clients and the importance of conducting regular assessments on a firm’s financial health.

Lindsay Anyon Brier on the value of hiring a COO, the team-building efforts that keep her firm closely connected, and how her brick-and-mortar store has opened her up to the broader design community.

Dwayne Bergmann on how to assess the financial health of a firm that’s on the market, a breakdown of the two most common types of business acquisitions and how a simple pros and cons list can help identify the challenges that lie ahead when it comes to leading a firm.

Luis Fernandez on how he’s carefully considering how much liability he wants to take on with each job, what he’s learning while exploring different approaches to billing and why he has appreciated this phase of working on his own rather than staffing up.

Michael Hilal on photography—what to shoot, when to shoot it, and why it matters.

Minneapolis, Minnesota–based designer Anne McDonald on why bringing on a CFO has helped her look toward the future, how she is navigating a shift towards smaller projects, and how her team is adjusting to a new pace of work.

Jean Liu on communicating additional fees to clients in a pre-invoice estimate, the value of using credit cards as a form of consumer protection and preparing for tariff-related fees.

Dwayne Bergmann on why his firm uses different billing models depending on the project type, how opening a storefront took his firm to the next level, and why he doesn’t ever discuss markups with clients.

Brian Paquette on vetting storage partners, how warehouse insurance can result in profitability for both parties, and why the design business is 95 percent execution and logistics.

Michelle Gage on the book that transformed her approach to leadership, the benefits of hiring a brand manager and how she educates clients on the costs of design.