WHAT YOU’LL LEARN IN TODAY’S EPISODE:

WHY CONFIDENCE ISN’T TIED TO EXPERIENCE

WHAT CONFIDENCE LOOKS LIKE IN ACTION

WHY REPETITION CAN LEAD TO CONFIDENCE

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Today’s topic hits home for so many designers. It honestly doesn’t matter if you’re new to construction or you’ve been around for years. Today, we’re talking all about confidence, and specifically that gap between experience and confidence. 

This seems to trip up so many designers, and the two don’t always go hand in hand.

So if you’ve ever thought, “Once I’ve done this for a few more times or few more years or months, then I’ll feel more confident.” You are not alone in that thought, but I am here today to challenge that idea, because time in the industry does not automatically translate to confidence. 

More importantly, it doesn’t guarantee profitability or respect on a jobsite. Both of which, you need to have on every project in order to not only be successful, but to be profitable in building your company towards all the goals that you have set. 

It doesn’t matter how long you’ve been in business, this can affect us all

I’ve had dozens of conversations recently with designers who have years of experience. Some have been in business for decades. And yet when it comes to pricing their services or managing the construction projects or asserting their role with contractors, they often, and more often than not, hesitate. 

They’re second guessing they’re pricing. They avoid charging for construction management at all, or certainly not enough. They say yes and approve things they know they shouldn’t or honestly don’t understand, which they should go. 

So they end up staying quiet at meetings on the site, and that is disastrous for the project. 

Confidence is built. It is practiced, and it is a byproduct of clarity and systems.

True confidence is not performative or curated. And it definitely does not depend on how big your team is. 

The most confident designers I know didn’t get there by waiting for years to pass or some arbitrary threshold to cross over. They got there by deciding that they were done winging it. They stopped trying to prove their worth through hustle and started claiming their space through process. 

What does that look like in action?

If you want to feel confident in front of a contractor, it doesn’t matter whether you’ve been doing this for three years or thirteen years. What matters is that you know what your role is on that job. Can you articulate it clearly to the client and then to the builder? 

Now, can you back up your recommendations on the project with process and not just taste? 

I want each of you to stop waiting for confidence to show up like a surprise guest. 

From this day forward

From this day forward, I want you to create a repeatable way to set your fees, present your role, lead a project, and advocate for your client. Those are your roles on any construction project. 

Doing that work will allow you to stop thinking that confidence will always be just out of your reach. 

Your confidence will come with repetition

This is something that often gets overlooked. Now, this doesn’t mean ‘years’. It doesn’t have to take years. 

It comes from doing enough projects that you start seeing the patterns. 

You start anticipating the questions before they’re asked.

You refine those processes not once or twice but over and over again until it becomes second nature. 

Process paralysis is not where you want to be. You want to be agile. You want to be understanding of, ok, this part worked, but that part seemed clunky. I’m going to refine it for my next project.

That is called moving your business in the right direction for you. And it will look different for every single business.

But in order to get that repetition, you need a steady stream of work.

That doesn’t mean you have to be doing million dollar jobs. It’s repetition.

And honestly, the way you ensure you keep getting the repetition you understand that you now need is strong industry partnerships. 

You cannot wait for the perfect client to knock on your door. That just won’t happen. You need to be building relationships with contractors, trades, and vendors who refer you again and again and again. 

That pipeline isn’t just good for business, it is honestly the fuel for your confidence because those relationships will bring you the repetition that you need.

With every project, you are not just delivering great design. You are honing your leadership, your communication, and your processes. And that is how confidence becomes real, lasting, and most importantly, unshakeable. You absolutely can get to that point.

When you stop questioning yourself, you make better decisions. It’s that simple. When you stop apologizing for your pricing or justifying your expenses, your clients stop pushing back. And when you step into that leadership role early, projects flow more smoothly.

Remember, confidence is not performative; it is built. And you absolutely have the ability to build that confidence to create more profitable projects that bring you joy.