FEATURED ON THIS EPISODE

INTERIOR DESIGNER’S GUIDE TO CONSTRUCTION MANAGEMENT

WHAT YOU’LL LEARN IN THE EPISODE:

THREE STEPS I USE TO CONFRONT ANXIETY

WHAT TO DO WHEN YOU FEEL LIKE AN IMPOSTER

HANDLING THE  INFERIORITY COMPLEX WE GET WHILE SCROLLING SOCIAL MEDIA

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In any given week, I speak with countless designs across the country and even the world. And recently, the topics seem to be coming back to marketing – which makes sense. It’s a critical part of our business. But what I’m starting to realize is that the questions aren’t revolving around marketing but an underlying anxiety and stress about the current state of their business. 

And while I’ll never claim to be an expert in anxiety, I was forced into a crash course on how to manage it, and that’s what I want to share with you today.

I probably should have picked up on it sooner that the constant theme of marketing I was hearing from designers was really about something deeper that they were struggling with. And that is some form of anxiety or stress.

I learned about anxiety many years ago because I parent an anxious kid. It wasn’t until I was helping her through her issues that I started recognizing the signs of anxiety in my own life. I didn’t really focus on the physical things that were going on inside me until the professionals were helping me identify them in my daughter.

And so, while I was helping her learn how to cope with her anxieties, I was getting better at recognizing them first in myself, then in others.

What I learned from helping my daughter cope with this is to develop skills. That is really to look at whatever is bothering you and ask, “What’s the worst-case scenario?”

The next questions you ask yourself are, “So what?” and “Then what?”

The designers I am talking to recently are starting to really panic that the phones aren’t ringing, or they didn’t get the job they went for. They’re wondering why. It’s always something that they think they’ve done wrong.

Well, I’m here to say that after 30 years in the business, there are quiet times. Every summer used to be crickets or when kids were home from school. Me and my girlfriends would have our times of freaking out, and we’d have to remind each other that this is how August always is. Or, this is how the end of the year always is. Take a breath – calls will come. 

Now some of that has changed over time, but I’ll tell ya what, August is still pretty damn quiet. I’ll tell you what else is quiet – now. There is a lot going on, and it makes perfect sense that our clients or potential clients put us on the bottom of their list or the top of their list come January.

Once you get that anxiety gone, look at it as an opportunity for you to enjoy the holidays. I love to work on office projects during this time when I have the time to really dig in and not be constantly pulled away with meetings and calls and working on proposals.

For the designers who put out a proposal and didn’t get the job, that sucks. I am here with you, and I know that it sucks. But I’m also here to tell you it happens. It happens to all of us. And it won’t be the last time it happens. The reality is that you won’t get every job, and that has to be okay. And I say it has to be because you have to understand that these things happen, and you don’t go down rabbit holes that take you months to get out of. 

You need to get back up. You need to dust yourself off. You need to do a quick evaluation of what went wrong (you may never know) and then act accordingly.

Whether you didn’t get a job or the phones have gone quiet – it is temporary.

But if you allow it to consume you, then you will be knocked off course and will lose the time you ultimately can’t get back.

Maybe instead, you work on a marketing plan for the beginning of the year. Reach out to people you already have a relationship with. 

Another topic that I speak with designers about a lot is their insecurities and their concern that they don’t know what they’re doing on a job site.

That also happens to me.

It happens far, far less than it used to. But there are certain scenarios that I get anxious about. And I go through the same steps I learned with my daughter. What is the worst-case scenario?

Maybe it’s how you will be perceived as being the Only Girl On The Job Site. Maybe it’s not knowing everything. Whatever it is, how can you mitigate it as much as possible? I know that when I started my podcast, I listened back to my older episodes and heard how stiff and uncomfortable I sounded. But I have practiced and practiced conveying my thoughts, and now is so much easier. 

This is something you can do on your own, anytime. Whatever your scenario may be, run through ideas to get yourself comfortable so that in the moment, if it happens, you know what the worst-case scenario is, you can handle it, and you know what to do next. 

And then lastly, I know you hear about this all the time, and I fall into the same trap of this inferiority complex we get when we scroll through social media.

And I do the same steps with this. For example, I haven’t put up my tree and seen everyone’s pretty decorations on social media. So I ask myself, “What’s the worst-case scenario? So what? And then what?”

So, the point of all of this is to please keep emailing me. Keep reaching out about your marketing plans and about the job you didn’t get because I get it. I want you to understand that this is a part of business. 

Also, keep working on your marketing plans and keep working on your projects, but first and foremost, work on the underlying anxiety that’s causing you to race towards a marketing plan, race towards calling people, race towards putting out more proposals that may be bad fits for your business model. 

Do the steps I talk about in today’s episode. These steps are what I have seen bring my daughter so far in her life and what I implement in my own life.

If you have any questions, you can always reach out to me through my email at renee@devignierdesign.com or DM me on social media.