Featured on this episode:

• Join the wait list for my revamped course, The Designers Edge
• Follow me on Instagram @devignierdesign/ 

What you will learn in this episode:

• How to clearly explain your role on a construction project so clients, contractors, and trades understand your value.
  
• Why letting others define your role keeps you sidelined—and how to step into decision-making authority.
  
• Practical phrases you can use to position yourself as essential, not optional, on every project.

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“So….what do you do here?” Have you ever been asked that? This is something I’ve been asked more times than I can count and it recently happened again.

It can be anyone who asks this, the contractor, or the electrician, the client, it doesn’t matter. Most of the time, it’s always well meaning, and it’s often just plain curiosity. 

But it also reveals a bigger problem.

Most people, including the people we work with, don’t really know what we do on a construction project. And when they don’t know, they can’t value what we do on a construction project, and when they can’t value it, they definitely won’t think to include us in the next project, let alone collaborate with you in the current project. 

After having this moment again recently, that’s what made this crystal clear what I wanted to share with you today.

I have been working with a long time client on something completely new for me: a green house. This was not anywhere in my bingo card for the year, I never thought this client would discuss a greenhouse with me. We had built her main house together and this was a oh, hey, by the way, idea….. And she said, “I’ve always wanted a greenhouse.” 

That was a start to a two-year journey, from dream to reality. 

We learned that the greenhouse we were going to build came as a ‘kit’. Which, ya know, sounds like something you pick up from  a big box store on a Saturday and have it up by Sunday. Which, holy cow, not so much. There is a foundation required and a fairly complex project. So, I looped in the contractor that had built the original home, and we all agreed it was worth getting the original architect also involved to help site it perfectly on their property. And from there, it was my project to shepherd. 

Everything was moving right along, we were making design decisions, the contractor was lined up, and then my client did something unexpected…..

And that was buying the property behind her house. And now suddenly we had a whole lot more room to play with for siting the greenhouse.

So then the greenhouse concept grew into a full-blown mac daddy, she-shed. 

So, of course, it had to be completed with a Parterre garden with symmetrical paths, center fountain, planting beds, the whole nine yards. 

This is really a space that you see in these beautiful garden magazines, often in Europe, and you think, who lives like that? Well, my amazing client is living like that. 

But here’s where it got really interesting. And by interesting, I mean complicated. So in order to take advantage of the new property, we needed to do what the Surveyor referred to as a “minor lot line adjustment.” 

Let’s just say my definition of minor and the townships’ definition of minor were definitely not in the same ballpark.  Trust me, if you’d asked me at the beginning of this project if I’d be discussing grade elevations and site lines for a greenhouse/she-shed/garden complex, I would have told you you were nuts. 

But here’s the thing: that’s the beauty of what we do. We just never know where a project will lead. And if you are open to it you will learn all kinds of incredible things along the way.

And every one of those experiences makes you a better designer for the next project that comes your way. 

Explaining my role

I took the opportunity to pepper the greenhouse installers with questions. This is a team that they send out nation wide to only install these greenhouses. They are experts in what they do. I wanted to understand everything. Now my working knowledge of greenhouses is fluid and confident. 

And one of those crew members looked over at me during that week we spent together and asked, “Is this your house?” And I said, “No, I really wish it was, but, no, I’m the interior designer.”

Pause

Pregnant pause

You could see him processing it…

And then he siad, ‘’Oh, so, what do you do on construction projects?”

He wasn’t being dismissive, he was just generally curious.

In his experience the homeowners made selections with their contractor. He’d never seen a designer involved in this part of the process. 

That is when it hit me, if he doesn’t know then how many other trades, and clients and even architects don’t know either. 

Sometimes we are the ones allowing our roles to be defined for us. And usually it’s being defined smaller than it actually is. 

So when we step back and let the contractor lead all the conversations, when we only speak up about fabrics, or furniture placement or maybe even the electrical or the pain colors, when we don’t clarify our scope with the trades on day one, we reinforce the perception that we’re in a supporting role.

And when you act like a supporting role, you will stay in a supporting role. 

And please know I am I card carrying member of this industry and have been for three decades watching our industry try to solve this issue. We have had professional organizations like ASID and IIDA. There’s the NCIDQ licensing exam to prove our expertise. The industry has experitmented with different titles: Interior Designer vs Decorator, Interior Architect, Interior Construction, Interior Project Manager. And yet, outside of our industry the confusion remains. 

What I’m learning is that titles and credentials – of which I have a bunch, they don’t change public perception. It is only how we show up on the job sites, in those meetings, and in front of the client that changes the perception. And yes, one person, one job, one client at a time. 

It is really important to do that, because when others don’t understand our full capabilities, we totally get sidelined from the critical decisions, we get brought in too late so that it’s challenging to make meaningful impact, we definitely lose opportunities for bigger and more profitable projects, and worst of all, we train the market and our colleagues to see us as optional.

Own your role

The important takeaway from today is you need to own your role. 

So when someone asks, “Why are you here?” Or, “What do you do here?” Or before they even have to ask, have an answer that’s short, clear and positions you as essential. 

You can can say, “I’m the interior designer, I work with the client, architect and contractor to make sure every selection works together and supports the vision of the project.  

Or, you’re going to position yourself more of a decision maker: “I make the thousands of decisions about finishes, layouts and details so the team can build with clarityand the client can enjoy the process without stress.”

But there are some designers who see themselves as protectors of the design intent. 

So they may say something like, “I make sure the design intent is carried through every stage of the build, from the foundation to the fixtures, regardless of the surprises along the way.”

And ultimately, some of my favorite moments are when I say that I’m the translator. 

Can you imagine if you led with any one of those sentences? They will likely be gobsmacked because they will not expect those words to come out of your mouth because they’re not accustomed to us in that role. 

So I can guarantee you that crew from the greenhouse will probably talk about me. They had never worked with an interior designer on any of their other greenhouse projects. They were typically working with architects and contractors, and of course, homeowners. But by the end of that installation each crew member knew exactly what I was doing there, and they also knew why it mattered. 

I was able to help them problem solve.

I was able to give them the client’s perspective on how she would want X or Y or Z element implemented. 

And the next time they’re on a project with a designer, I can guarantee you, they won’t be as surprised. They actually will enjoy the collaboration. 

It is not enough to be great at your job.

You have to be great at explaining your job, and then follow up with being great at it. 

Because if they don’t know what you do, they can’t value you and your expertise. 

And if they can’t value that, they can’t hire or recommend you for it. 

So say it clearly and say it often and then follow it up with some badass expertise. 

Like this Episode?

• Be sure to check out Episode #214: LuAnn Nigara on Leadership, Profitability, and Owning Your Role
• Be sure to check out Episode #162: The Crucial Role of Interior Designers in Construction Projects
• Be sure to check out Episode #15: Why Women Are Perfect for Managing a Renovation Project