155. Inside My Business: Decision-Making, Priorities, and Podcast Changes
How do you make decisions that honor both your business goals and your energy as the owner? Every decision about where I invest my time, money, and mental bandwidth shapes not only my bottom line but also my day-to-day experience as a business owner. The most sustainable businesses come from taking a holistic approach, listening to both the data and my gut when making decisions.
In this behind-the-scenes episode, I’m pulling back the curtain on my own business to show how I make choices about resources and navigate changes as priorities shift. After almost three years of weekly podcast episodes, I’ve been taking a deep dive into how this investment of time and money fits into the bigger picture of my business. I share the process I use to evaluate what’s working, what needs to change, and how I balance feelings with facts when deciding what to keep, adjust, or release.
You’ll get a real-world look at strategic decision-making in action. I walk through how I track business results, why creating space for strategic thinking is essential, and why the right decision doesn’t always feel good in the moment. Plus, I share an important announcement about changes to the podcast schedule and how this shift demonstrates exactly how I’m walking my talk when it comes to resource allocation and running toward what I want to create in my business.
If you've been thinking about working with me one-on-one, be sure to get on the private coaching waitlist! Click here to learn more about Design to Thrive and secure your spot to be the first to know when availability opens up.
What You’ll Discover from this Episode:
Why tracking both data and your internal experience creates the richest framework for decision-making.
How to evaluate whether your marketing investments are truly supporting your business goals.
The reason creating space in your brain is essential for implementing new strategies.
What “running towards” versus “running away from” looks like in business decisions.
Why waiting to make a decision rarely makes the discomfort go away.
How treating business changes as experiments reduces the pressure.
The importance of revisiting your why behind every business investment.
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141. Running Toward vs Running From: The Mindset Behind Your Goals
150. Build Momentum through Strong Decisions (CEO Summer School)
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Full Episode Transcript:
Hey designer, you're listening to episode 155. In today's episode, I'm going to be pulling back the curtain on my own business to share how I make decisions about my own resources, my time, money, and energy, and also how I navigate changes in the business as priorities and goals shift.
You'll also be hearing an important announcement about the upcoming changes to this podcast. After almost 3 years of weekly episodes, I've been doing a back-of-house deep dive into how this fits into the current business. This episode is truly going to be an example of how I walk my talk in my own business, and I know it's going to be helpful for you to be thinking about how you make decisions and move forward with your goals in your interior design business as well.
Welcome to The Interior Design Business CEO, the only show for designers who are ready to confidently run and grow their businesses without the stress and anxiety. If you're ready to develop a bigger vision for your interior design business, free up your time, and streamline your days for productivity and profit, you're in the right place.
I'm Desi Creswell, an award-winning interior designer and certified life and business coach. I help interior designers just like you stop feeling overwhelmed so they can build profitable businesses they love to run. Are you ready to confidently lead your business, clients, and projects? Let's go.
Hello designer, welcome back to the podcast. I'm so glad to be here with you as always. It is definitely feeling like a fall transition point here. And I don't know about you, but this time of the year, and I think maybe just the contrast of coming back from that summer slowdown, it's got me really feeling pulled towards clearing out space, both literally and figuratively, and shaking up my routine.
Just to give you some examples, I've done a complete overhaul of my inbox subscriptions. That has been, I feel like, life-changing. I went through and unsubscribed to anything I no longer wanted because what I found was I was missing things that I actually wanted to read or know about. And that has felt amazing. And then if you listened to episode 154, you heard about my closet cleanout. That episode was about how to do the thing you keep putting off.
And I've also joined the gym that my husband goes to shake up my workout routine, and I was actually there this morning doing a strength class. And now this is the second time I have encountered this particular instructor. And what I've found is that he does cartwheels off of the little platform where he's leading the exercises. And this is just amusing me to no end. And today, I thought, well, maybe the first time he was just having a really high-flying energy day, but no. Today, I'm doing my bicep curls, and there he goes. So I started laughing to myself and felt kind of embarrassed, but fortunately, he did not call me out or ask, "Are you laughing at me?"
So, anyways, that's what I've been up to. And in the spirit of really looking at things from a fresh perspective and deciding what stays, what goes, what do I want to invite in, what do I want to release? I have definitely been doing that in my own business.
he summer slowdown that you've heard me talk about if you've been listening for a while, I definitely had a lot more time with my family, more time to play, to relax, and I think it's been a really good reset to help me zoom out and look at some of the decisions that I've made in the past or activities that I've been engaged with very consistently and look at them with new eyes and say, do I want to keep doing things this way? Do I want to spend my time this way? Do I want to invest the business resources that way?
And so today, what I want to do with this episode is pull back the curtain in my own business so that you can learn from what I'm doing and take what serves you and apply that to your own business. And I'm going to be talking about how I track business results, I make decisions, and how I prioritize the use of resources. I'm also going to be making an announcement about the future of this podcast and, of course, what that means for you as one of my very dear listeners.
As I've been looking at the flow of episodes, I definitely see this thread of decision-making. And I've been talking about it a lot on the podcast and a lot with clients lately. And easing back into work this fall, I definitely have been looking at what do I want the rest of this year to look like and the start of next year to be.
When I wrapped up the CEO Summer School episodes, I ended with an episode titled "Building Momentum Through Strong Decisions." That was episode 150. And as I look forward to what it is that I want to do and, of course, not do through the end of the year, and same goes for you, now's a great time to be thinking about that. It's all really just decisions to be made. And then once I make those decisions, then I can roll with it.
One of my favorite things I tell myself when I'm feeling indecisive or dragging my feet is, "Okay, Desi, come on, let's make this decision, and then we can move on with your life." I don't know, that brings some levity to it for me. Take it or leave it if you want to use it too.
But what I've really been doing is taking a look at resource allocation in the business. That is how I'm spending my time. I'm always tracking my time and looking at how am I using this? Is this the way that I want to intentionally choose to use my time?
Same thing with the financial outputs. Just even my mental bandwidth too, I've been thinking a lot about to have space to think more creatively and more strategically to pull back out. I didn't have a lot of that over the summer because the hours I was working were very limited, and they were mostly devoted to continuous content production for this podcast and serving some clients. And so it was very constrained. And so now I think that's also contributing to this, okay, let's zoom out. What is it that really wants to bloom or flourish?
When I talk about this review of resources, it's been very much a combination of how I'm feeling, what I'm feeling drawn to creatively, what's giving me energy, and conversely, what's feeling more intensive or more like friction, or less of a balanced energy exchange for my input in relation to the results that it's creating.
And while it's been an internal exploration, it's something where I'm also very much looking at the data, tracking stats, reviewing my profit and loss statement. It's always going to be both. I think we have the richest experience and greatest bandwidth for decision-making and creating what we want in our lives and in our business when we can approach things from this holistic perspective. We're taking into account the human experience, and also what numbers show us and what the business is telling us it needs or wants.
So I really want you to consider that for yourself as you're reviewing this past year. I mean, we're headed into the final months of 2023 and starting to evaluate how did this year go? How do I want next year to go? And I really encourage you to look at your business from this holistic perspective of I'm the human running these things. That is very important. And there's also numbers in my business. This is what is happening from a data standpoint. And how do we bring those both together so that way we're not letting feelings run the business, but our feelings are very much taken into account.
Going back to resource allocation, my business is pretty lean. The main line items from a financial perspective are my assistant, my podcast producer, and then the software that I need to run my business.
If we were to look at a pie chart in terms of how I invest in marketing, both from time and money, there's a pretty significant chunk of that goes to this podcast. And I have loved that. I would have never started this podcast without being able to invest in a producer. That was very clear for me from the get-go that if I was going to try and do a podcast, I would not do it on my own because I would end up crying probably from the technology. I just know myself well, and this has been an absolute worthwhile use of my time and money.
And the podcast has really grown over the almost 3 years of its existence, which 3 years, I really cannot believe it when I look back, and I think about having a podcast. It still feels I just started it sometimes. And also, it has been a long time. And I know it's helped so many of you. And I hear from designers about the changes they've made just from the podcast alone, never even having spoken with me. And to me, that is truly, truly remarkable.
And it's also a significant way that I connect with potential clients and help them understand who I am and how I approach coaching so that by the time we're working together and we're talking about what it would be like to be supported by me, we have this strong foundation in place and it really helps me bring in clients I love to work with and also clients that are a really good match for how I'm going to help them in their business, right? Because it's really important in an intimate relationship, such as a coaching relationship, that there is that fit.
This podcast has also helped me reach other companies who've brought me in to speak and invited me to work with their staff or to be part of an industry event. And I have been honored to have had those opportunities.
These are all amazing outcomes, and I think for all of you as a point of reflection, be thinking about how does your marketing really support the business's goals, the things that you want to be doing more of, the things that you want to see happen for yourself, for your clients, and for those you serve.
So in all of those ways, this podcast has become exactly what I envisioned it to be when I set out to create it. It's valuable for those who tune in, so valuable. And it also supports the work that I want to do in my business. And that is a win-win, and I'm always looking for those.
So I said, the podcast has grown. It's grown in listeners, it's grown in downloads, and what I know is that I want it to grow more than what I've been seeing over time. This goes back to the data tracking of if you're going to invest in something, especially marketing in your business, you want to understand what are the outcomes that you're working towards, and having a defined way to track, is it actually doing what I want it to do? And I said, it's doing what I want it to do, and I want to see this flourish.
I know that my listeners are devoted. And if you're new, welcome, welcome. I'm so glad to have you here. And I also know there's some of you who listen to every single episode, sometimes multiple times. I want more designers to have that opportunity to engage with this podcast and really see the impact of doing the mindset, emotional, and strategy work that I help my clients with. And I've had ideas about how I want to get this show in front of more designers. And some of those I have implemented.
But there are things that I know I would like to do that I simply have not created the time for. I'm not going to say I haven't had time for it. I have decided to not do it because I didn't want to increase my working hours or take away other things. And I also just really haven't had the mental bandwidth.
I'm sure you've felt this in your own business, where when you're wanting to implement something new, it does require some space in your brain, sometimes a lot of space, to envision what you want, to plan it out, and begin that execution. It's always going to take more of you to do something new than something that is just cyclical or something you do day in and day out.
One of the strategies that I've been wanting to revisit is Instagram. I know that designers are on Instagram. So naturally, it would make sense for me to be on there promoting the podcast. Now, aside from a weekly story where I post the podcast episode, I really have not been active on the platform for at least a couple of years.
I'm not sure exactly when I did this, but I created a nine-grid, so three rows of three, and treated it essentially as a landing page because I didn't want someone to come there and think, I don't post or I'm not active, this business isn't in business anymore. But what I did want is to have something where someone could go, get a sense of who I am, what I do, and really try and get them to then redirect to other places where I am more active, my newsletter or this podcast.
And that has worked in many ways, and it freed up time, right? This was a time of I need to allocate resources, right? I was investing a ton in the Instagram strategy I had, and I knew I wanted to turn my focus to creating this podcast and getting things really up and running there. And that was part of my decision-making process back then.
So in that way, it has been great, and I loved that decision. I also know that this is a place where I could be leveraging a lot of the great content that I put out into the world and repurposing it, sharing it with more people, getting new eyes on the value that I'm already putting out. It's the perfect example of yes, that worked for the time being, and I don't know for sure if it's going to work in the future. But I do know that I can't keep doing the same thing I've been doing, meaning how much I promote this podcast, which is really not at all, and expect different results.
It's also an instance where I want to explore how would I do Instagram differently now? I used to post five times a week with these really in-depth, I mean, it was not a caption, it was basically an article. You can scroll back in my feed, and you can see all the things I've written. And it took so much time. And I'm very thankful to past me who did that work because it developed how I share my ideas, and I think it made the podcast a really natural transition. And I also know it's really not the best way to use that platform in terms of content and gaining visibility through it.
The other thing I've been considering is how much I return back to more intentional pitching. This is something that I used to do a lot for myself and that could be pitching to other podcasts, publications, possibly other speaking opportunities. So if there's a show you'd love for me to be on, definitely let the host know. All this to say is it's time to get back to more intentionality and variety with visibility and marketing.
This is not the same thing as now I'm going to go throw spaghetti at every wall, right? So just to be clear, this is saying it's time to test something new. And that does require me to redirect some of my focus and some of my resources.
That brings me to what I want to share today, the update I'm making to the podcast. I've been so consistent over the past 3 years, and I want you to know I'm going to remain consistent. Consistency is just going to look different right now in this season as I free up space.
After this episode airs, we're going to be moving to an every other week cadence. For sure, this change is going to be in effect for the next few months. It might be longer. Giving myself this timeline of this is what it is for the end of the year allows me to not use up mental capacity being wishy-washy or trying to negotiate with myself and rethink my decision.
For me, this is a right now decision, meaning this is what I'm doing for now, and I can, of course, re-decide. But it's really me walking my talk. It is me embodying what I teach you. And that includes things like creating moments for reflection and evaluation to possibly reset or recommit.
And it's very much me running towards, which I talked about in episode 141. It's not that I am running away from the podcast. It is running towards creating more of what I want with this podcast. This is also an example of something that I hope you take and integrate into your business, where you're looking at your resources from this holistic perspective. And also giving yourself the opportunity to revisit your why behind the things you do, the things you invest in, and how that relates to the impact you want to make through your business.
In full transparency, this has been a really difficult choice to make, even though it's one that I want to make. And I love creating this podcast. I always have more to say to you. When I started this show, I was never worried about running out of ideas, and that has proven to be true. And I'm going to continue to share my ideas with you here, and also getting on the newsletter list, getting Monday Mindset is really the best way to keep in touch. If you go to desicreswell.com/monday-mindset, you can sign up for that. And I'll give you some more details on what that looks like.
But it's been really interesting just having this a little bit more breathing room, having even just made the decision has been really wonderful in terms of thinking about how I want to share and what I want to share with you. And also, in the name of transparency, I want to be clear that this change does give me more breathing room and flexibility in my time throughout the week in how I choose to use it. And that might not always mean I'm going to trade exactly what I would spend on the podcast for doing that level of marketing. It's probably going to ebb and flow, and sometimes I'm planning to do something for myself in that time.
I say that because I want you to be clear that if there is something that you want to release in your business, it doesn't have to be automatically replaced with more for your business. You could make the choice that you want to release it for you. And of course, we have to balance this with the business's needs, your needs, all of that. But I wanted to call that out real quick.
But going back to yes, this was a difficult decision, and the lesson here being too for you that sometimes we know what the right next step is, and sometimes what's right for us, it doesn't necessarily feel good to make the decision. And sometimes acknowledging, yes, this is what I want and this is how I'm going to follow through on it, doesn't always feel the best. And this has felt right, the right next step for me for a while now.
And it's one of those things where I had shared in a past episode, often we tell ourselves that waiting to do the thing is going to help it feel better. And what really became clear in the last couple of weeks is waiting will not make the discomfort go away. If anything, the discomfort has grown, and knowing that this decision is waiting for me to act upon has been uncomfortable.
And I really want you to hear that. If you have been thinking about changing something in your business, if you've been thinking about a pivot, a new way of doing things, maybe different types of people supporting you in your business, really ask yourself, is this a thing where if I let it wait, will this actually help it be any better? Or am I just kicking the can down the road? Because what I find is there's going to be discomfort either way when we're making changes, so we just have to choose the flavor of discomfort that we're going to lean into.
One of the ways that I help myself navigate around some of those unpleasant emotions of feeling like, "Oh, I don't like change," is treating things as a giant experiment.
This change of going to every other week episodes is a test, and if things go terribly south, meaning everyone stops listening because they're, I only will listen if you release an episode every single week, which is something my brain actually told me, and I think probably is not true. Or it's, I miss this so much. I want to be putting it out every week, and I need to figure out a way to make that happen. I can always decide to do it differently. But for right now, I want to free up that space so that I can see what I can do to get the show in front of more listeners, and reducing the episode release schedule is going to give me some space to do that.
So I want to assure you, I am still going to be here. It's just going to be every other week, and it's going to be the same highly valuable episodes that you have been here for this whole time that are meant to support you as the human running the business and meant to support you as the designer, as the creative who wants to be fulfilled, and of course, run a successful business. So that is not going to change. And I really have seen this as I've thought about it as a positive shift for you as the listener as well.
If you listen to this show where I often am talking about planning, goal setting, productivity, managing a team, you are probably busy. And after 154 episodes, you might not have listened to every single episode. And I bet there's a few there that you would love to hear, probably more than a few. So this cadence is going to be an opportunity for you to go back and look at the feed and say what is it that I want to listen to now? What didn't I hear that would be really helpful to me where I'm at today?
And from my stats, I also know that so many of you enjoy listening to the episodes multiple times. And with each listen, you're reminded of an important concept, or you've implemented one piece of what I've shared, and now it's time for the next layer. Even just coming back and listening to the episode at a different time, you're going to be a different version of you. You're going to have different challenges you're experiencing, and things are going to land differently when they're revisited when it's the you of today versus the you that listened to that episode a few weeks or even months, or a year ago.
So not only is this every other week schedule going to allow you to fully digest each episode, you'll also have that opportunity to go back to episodes you missed or need to hear again.
The other great thing is that I'm really hoping that as I think about how I engage on Instagram, hopefully we can be in more conversation with you, commenting on posts, replying to stories. I mean, I absolutely love when I hear from you. Whether it's to share something you took from the podcast and ran with, or it's you reaching out to say, “This is the problem I've been experiencing. Can you give me some ways to think about this?” And it inspires me to share either on the podcast or in Monday Mindset because I know if you're having the problem, somebody else is too.
Lastly, I want to acknowledge that some of you might be disappointed at this change. And I totally get that. I have been there with shows that I love and have been a little disappointed when they've said the show's going away or they're switching to every other week or once a month. And that's been part of what has made this hard, is that I do feel really connected to each and every one of you, even if we've never met. I care deeply about the community that we've created around this, whether I've never spoken with you or you're a client who listens regularly to reinforce the work that we've done together. So while this has felt difficult, I also feel really confident that this is the right decision for right now.
As we wrap up, I want to invite you to keep our weekly touchpoint going from my newsletter, Monday Mindset. You can sign up for that by going to desicreswell.com/monday-mindset. And every single Monday, this one I've been doing since I started my business, so it is years and years. I will send you a little note, and it really sets you up for success during your week. It's bite-sized, and sometimes it's a tip or a strategy you can implement. Sometimes it's a coaching question to help bring you clarity and help you know exactly what needs to be done that week, or sometimes it's something fun and personal, just because we can all benefit from a little bit of delight on a Monday morning.
Honestly, I hear from designers that this is an email they look forward to at the start of every week. And it is our way to stay connected and for you to keep hearing the messages that you're used to hearing on this podcast on a weekly regular basis. And it's also where I announce opportunities to work together first, so it is where you want to be. I'll give that to you again. It's desicreswell.com/monday-mindset.
I'm going to be back here in your ear in 2 weeks. October 29th is the next episode, and it's going to be a brand new one. I'm going to be talking about a concept I call a fear inventory, and it really is a strategic business move anytime you want to make a change or up-level to ensure that you are not getting in your own way or creating self-sabotage. I have used this process so many times over the years making changes in my business, including with this one about the podcast, and I'll walk you through how to create your own step by step. So make sure you're subscribed to the show so you get the episodes automatically added to your feed.
Before I send you off, a few quick notes too about working together. And as I said, the newsletter is the first place that you're going to hear about these things, but I want to make sure you're in the loop.
Now, I've been offering some single strategy sessions, and those have been incredible, and there's only a few left. And if you've been wanting to do that, if you've heard me talk about it, maybe you're on the newsletter and you're like, I really want to book one, now is the time.
You can go to desicreswell.com/resources. You'll find the link to my calendar. We will book a time, and I will get you going with the coaching as soon as you schedule because I'm going to be reading your quick submission and then giving you something to dig even deeper before we meet.
On the website, you can also find the coaching tab where you can learn about what it's like to work together one-on-one over a longer period of time in a customized coaching partnership.
Of course, if you have any questions about either of those things or anything else, you can always send me a message on Instagram @desicreswell or send me an email or reply to one of my emails. I'm happy to chat.
As always, if you have any questions about those options or want to tell me what you thought of this episode, I'd love to know, do you like these behind the scenes? Do you want to hear more of them? What did you take away from it? I really would love to hear from you. You can reply to one of my emails or you can send me a message on Instagram @desicreswell is where you'll find me. And until we speak again, I'm wishing you a beautiful couple of weeks.
Thanks for joining me for this week's episode of The Interior Design Business CEO. If you want more tips, tools and strategies visit DesiCreswell.com, where you’ll get immediate access to a variety of free resources to help you take what you learn on the podcast and put it into action. And if you love what you’re hearing, be sure to rate, review, and follow the show wherever you listen to podcasts to ensure you never miss an episode. I’ll talk to you next week.
You'll also be hearing an important announcement about the upcoming changes to this podcast. After almost 3 years of weekly episodes, I've been doing a back-of-house deep dive into how this fits into the current business. This episode is truly going to be an example of how I walk my talk in my own business, and I know it's going to be helpful for you to be thinking about how you make decisions and move forward with your goals in your interior design business as well.
Welcome to The Interior Design Business CEO, the only show for designers who are ready to confidently run and grow their businesses without the stress and anxiety. If you're ready to develop a bigger vision for your interior design business, free up your time, and streamline your days for productivity and profit, you're in the right place.
I'm Desi Creswell, an award-winning interior designer and certified life and business coach. I help interior designers just like you stop feeling overwhelmed so they can build profitable businesses they love to run. Are you ready to confidently lead your business, clients, and projects? Let's go.
Hello designer, welcome back to the podcast. I'm so glad to be here with you as always. It is definitely feeling like a fall transition point here. And I don't know about you, but this time of the year, and I think maybe just the contrast of coming back from that summer slowdown, it's got me really feeling pulled towards clearing out space, both literally and figuratively, and shaking up my routine.
Just to give you some examples, I've done a complete overhaul of my inbox subscriptions. That has been, I feel like, life-changing. I went through and unsubscribed to anything I no longer wanted because what I found was I was missing things that I actually wanted to read or know about. And that has felt amazing. And then if you listened to episode 154, you heard about my closet cleanout. That episode was about how to do the thing you keep putting off.
And I've also joined the gym that my husband goes to shake up my workout routine, and I was actually there this morning doing a strength class. And now this is the second time I have encountered this particular instructor. And what I've found is that he does cartwheels off of the little platform where he's leading the exercises. And this is just amusing me to no end. And today, I thought, well, maybe the first time he was just having a really high-flying energy day, but no. Today, I'm doing my bicep curls, and there he goes. So I started laughing to myself and felt kind of embarrassed, but fortunately, he did not call me out or ask, "Are you laughing at me?"
So, anyways, that's what I've been up to. And in the spirit of really looking at things from a fresh perspective and deciding what stays, what goes, what do I want to invite in, what do I want to release? I have definitely been doing that in my own business.
he summer slowdown that you've heard me talk about if you've been listening for a while, I definitely had a lot more time with my family, more time to play, to relax, and I think it's been a really good reset to help me zoom out and look at some of the decisions that I've made in the past or activities that I've been engaged with very consistently and look at them with new eyes and say, do I want to keep doing things this way? Do I want to spend my time this way? Do I want to invest the business resources that way?
And so today, what I want to do with this episode is pull back the curtain in my own business so that you can learn from what I'm doing and take what serves you and apply that to your own business. And I'm going to be talking about how I track business results, I make decisions, and how I prioritize the use of resources. I'm also going to be making an announcement about the future of this podcast and, of course, what that means for you as one of my very dear listeners.
As I've been looking at the flow of episodes, I definitely see this thread of decision-making. And I've been talking about it a lot on the podcast and a lot with clients lately. And easing back into work this fall, I definitely have been looking at what do I want the rest of this year to look like and the start of next year to be.
When I wrapped up the CEO Summer School episodes, I ended with an episode titled "Building Momentum Through Strong Decisions." That was episode 150. And as I look forward to what it is that I want to do and, of course, not do through the end of the year, and same goes for you, now's a great time to be thinking about that. It's all really just decisions to be made. And then once I make those decisions, then I can roll with it.
One of my favorite things I tell myself when I'm feeling indecisive or dragging my feet is, "Okay, Desi, come on, let's make this decision, and then we can move on with your life." I don't know, that brings some levity to it for me. Take it or leave it if you want to use it too.
But what I've really been doing is taking a look at resource allocation in the business. That is how I'm spending my time. I'm always tracking my time and looking at how am I using this? Is this the way that I want to intentionally choose to use my time?
Same thing with the financial outputs. Just even my mental bandwidth too, I've been thinking a lot about to have space to think more creatively and more strategically to pull back out. I didn't have a lot of that over the summer because the hours I was working were very limited, and they were mostly devoted to continuous content production for this podcast and serving some clients. And so it was very constrained. And so now I think that's also contributing to this, okay, let's zoom out. What is it that really wants to bloom or flourish?
When I talk about this review of resources, it's been very much a combination of how I'm feeling, what I'm feeling drawn to creatively, what's giving me energy, and conversely, what's feeling more intensive or more like friction, or less of a balanced energy exchange for my input in relation to the results that it's creating.
And while it's been an internal exploration, it's something where I'm also very much looking at the data, tracking stats, reviewing my profit and loss statement. It's always going to be both. I think we have the richest experience and greatest bandwidth for decision-making and creating what we want in our lives and in our business when we can approach things from this holistic perspective. We're taking into account the human experience, and also what numbers show us and what the business is telling us it needs or wants.
So I really want you to consider that for yourself as you're reviewing this past year. I mean, we're headed into the final months of 2023 and starting to evaluate how did this year go? How do I want next year to go? And I really encourage you to look at your business from this holistic perspective of I'm the human running these things. That is very important. And there's also numbers in my business. This is what is happening from a data standpoint. And how do we bring those both together so that way we're not letting feelings run the business, but our feelings are very much taken into account.
Going back to resource allocation, my business is pretty lean. The main line items from a financial perspective are my assistant, my podcast producer, and then the software that I need to run my business.
If we were to look at a pie chart in terms of how I invest in marketing, both from time and money, there's a pretty significant chunk of that goes to this podcast. And I have loved that. I would have never started this podcast without being able to invest in a producer. That was very clear for me from the get-go that if I was going to try and do a podcast, I would not do it on my own because I would end up crying probably from the technology. I just know myself well, and this has been an absolute worthwhile use of my time and money.
And the podcast has really grown over the almost 3 years of its existence, which 3 years, I really cannot believe it when I look back, and I think about having a podcast. It still feels I just started it sometimes. And also, it has been a long time. And I know it's helped so many of you. And I hear from designers about the changes they've made just from the podcast alone, never even having spoken with me. And to me, that is truly, truly remarkable.
And it's also a significant way that I connect with potential clients and help them understand who I am and how I approach coaching so that by the time we're working together and we're talking about what it would be like to be supported by me, we have this strong foundation in place and it really helps me bring in clients I love to work with and also clients that are a really good match for how I'm going to help them in their business, right? Because it's really important in an intimate relationship, such as a coaching relationship, that there is that fit.
This podcast has also helped me reach other companies who've brought me in to speak and invited me to work with their staff or to be part of an industry event. And I have been honored to have had those opportunities.
These are all amazing outcomes, and I think for all of you as a point of reflection, be thinking about how does your marketing really support the business's goals, the things that you want to be doing more of, the things that you want to see happen for yourself, for your clients, and for those you serve.
So in all of those ways, this podcast has become exactly what I envisioned it to be when I set out to create it. It's valuable for those who tune in, so valuable. And it also supports the work that I want to do in my business. And that is a win-win, and I'm always looking for those.
So I said, the podcast has grown. It's grown in listeners, it's grown in downloads, and what I know is that I want it to grow more than what I've been seeing over time. This goes back to the data tracking of if you're going to invest in something, especially marketing in your business, you want to understand what are the outcomes that you're working towards, and having a defined way to track, is it actually doing what I want it to do? And I said, it's doing what I want it to do, and I want to see this flourish.
I know that my listeners are devoted. And if you're new, welcome, welcome. I'm so glad to have you here. And I also know there's some of you who listen to every single episode, sometimes multiple times. I want more designers to have that opportunity to engage with this podcast and really see the impact of doing the mindset, emotional, and strategy work that I help my clients with. And I've had ideas about how I want to get this show in front of more designers. And some of those I have implemented.
But there are things that I know I would like to do that I simply have not created the time for. I'm not going to say I haven't had time for it. I have decided to not do it because I didn't want to increase my working hours or take away other things. And I also just really haven't had the mental bandwidth.
I'm sure you've felt this in your own business, where when you're wanting to implement something new, it does require some space in your brain, sometimes a lot of space, to envision what you want, to plan it out, and begin that execution. It's always going to take more of you to do something new than something that is just cyclical or something you do day in and day out.
One of the strategies that I've been wanting to revisit is Instagram. I know that designers are on Instagram. So naturally, it would make sense for me to be on there promoting the podcast. Now, aside from a weekly story where I post the podcast episode, I really have not been active on the platform for at least a couple of years.
I'm not sure exactly when I did this, but I created a nine-grid, so three rows of three, and treated it essentially as a landing page because I didn't want someone to come there and think, I don't post or I'm not active, this business isn't in business anymore. But what I did want is to have something where someone could go, get a sense of who I am, what I do, and really try and get them to then redirect to other places where I am more active, my newsletter or this podcast.
And that has worked in many ways, and it freed up time, right? This was a time of I need to allocate resources, right? I was investing a ton in the Instagram strategy I had, and I knew I wanted to turn my focus to creating this podcast and getting things really up and running there. And that was part of my decision-making process back then.
So in that way, it has been great, and I loved that decision. I also know that this is a place where I could be leveraging a lot of the great content that I put out into the world and repurposing it, sharing it with more people, getting new eyes on the value that I'm already putting out. It's the perfect example of yes, that worked for the time being, and I don't know for sure if it's going to work in the future. But I do know that I can't keep doing the same thing I've been doing, meaning how much I promote this podcast, which is really not at all, and expect different results.
It's also an instance where I want to explore how would I do Instagram differently now? I used to post five times a week with these really in-depth, I mean, it was not a caption, it was basically an article. You can scroll back in my feed, and you can see all the things I've written. And it took so much time. And I'm very thankful to past me who did that work because it developed how I share my ideas, and I think it made the podcast a really natural transition. And I also know it's really not the best way to use that platform in terms of content and gaining visibility through it.
The other thing I've been considering is how much I return back to more intentional pitching. This is something that I used to do a lot for myself and that could be pitching to other podcasts, publications, possibly other speaking opportunities. So if there's a show you'd love for me to be on, definitely let the host know. All this to say is it's time to get back to more intentionality and variety with visibility and marketing.
This is not the same thing as now I'm going to go throw spaghetti at every wall, right? So just to be clear, this is saying it's time to test something new. And that does require me to redirect some of my focus and some of my resources.
That brings me to what I want to share today, the update I'm making to the podcast. I've been so consistent over the past 3 years, and I want you to know I'm going to remain consistent. Consistency is just going to look different right now in this season as I free up space.
After this episode airs, we're going to be moving to an every other week cadence. For sure, this change is going to be in effect for the next few months. It might be longer. Giving myself this timeline of this is what it is for the end of the year allows me to not use up mental capacity being wishy-washy or trying to negotiate with myself and rethink my decision.
For me, this is a right now decision, meaning this is what I'm doing for now, and I can, of course, re-decide. But it's really me walking my talk. It is me embodying what I teach you. And that includes things like creating moments for reflection and evaluation to possibly reset or recommit.
And it's very much me running towards, which I talked about in episode 141. It's not that I am running away from the podcast. It is running towards creating more of what I want with this podcast. This is also an example of something that I hope you take and integrate into your business, where you're looking at your resources from this holistic perspective. And also giving yourself the opportunity to revisit your why behind the things you do, the things you invest in, and how that relates to the impact you want to make through your business.
In full transparency, this has been a really difficult choice to make, even though it's one that I want to make. And I love creating this podcast. I always have more to say to you. When I started this show, I was never worried about running out of ideas, and that has proven to be true. And I'm going to continue to share my ideas with you here, and also getting on the newsletter list, getting Monday Mindset is really the best way to keep in touch. If you go to desicreswell.com/monday-mindset, you can sign up for that. And I'll give you some more details on what that looks like.
But it's been really interesting just having this a little bit more breathing room, having even just made the decision has been really wonderful in terms of thinking about how I want to share and what I want to share with you. And also, in the name of transparency, I want to be clear that this change does give me more breathing room and flexibility in my time throughout the week in how I choose to use it. And that might not always mean I'm going to trade exactly what I would spend on the podcast for doing that level of marketing. It's probably going to ebb and flow, and sometimes I'm planning to do something for myself in that time.
I say that because I want you to be clear that if there is something that you want to release in your business, it doesn't have to be automatically replaced with more for your business. You could make the choice that you want to release it for you. And of course, we have to balance this with the business's needs, your needs, all of that. But I wanted to call that out real quick.
But going back to yes, this was a difficult decision, and the lesson here being too for you that sometimes we know what the right next step is, and sometimes what's right for us, it doesn't necessarily feel good to make the decision. And sometimes acknowledging, yes, this is what I want and this is how I'm going to follow through on it, doesn't always feel the best. And this has felt right, the right next step for me for a while now.
And it's one of those things where I had shared in a past episode, often we tell ourselves that waiting to do the thing is going to help it feel better. And what really became clear in the last couple of weeks is waiting will not make the discomfort go away. If anything, the discomfort has grown, and knowing that this decision is waiting for me to act upon has been uncomfortable.
And I really want you to hear that. If you have been thinking about changing something in your business, if you've been thinking about a pivot, a new way of doing things, maybe different types of people supporting you in your business, really ask yourself, is this a thing where if I let it wait, will this actually help it be any better? Or am I just kicking the can down the road? Because what I find is there's going to be discomfort either way when we're making changes, so we just have to choose the flavor of discomfort that we're going to lean into.
One of the ways that I help myself navigate around some of those unpleasant emotions of feeling like, "Oh, I don't like change," is treating things as a giant experiment.
This change of going to every other week episodes is a test, and if things go terribly south, meaning everyone stops listening because they're, I only will listen if you release an episode every single week, which is something my brain actually told me, and I think probably is not true. Or it's, I miss this so much. I want to be putting it out every week, and I need to figure out a way to make that happen. I can always decide to do it differently. But for right now, I want to free up that space so that I can see what I can do to get the show in front of more listeners, and reducing the episode release schedule is going to give me some space to do that.
So I want to assure you, I am still going to be here. It's just going to be every other week, and it's going to be the same highly valuable episodes that you have been here for this whole time that are meant to support you as the human running the business and meant to support you as the designer, as the creative who wants to be fulfilled, and of course, run a successful business. So that is not going to change. And I really have seen this as I've thought about it as a positive shift for you as the listener as well.
If you listen to this show where I often am talking about planning, goal setting, productivity, managing a team, you are probably busy. And after 154 episodes, you might not have listened to every single episode. And I bet there's a few there that you would love to hear, probably more than a few. So this cadence is going to be an opportunity for you to go back and look at the feed and say what is it that I want to listen to now? What didn't I hear that would be really helpful to me where I'm at today?
And from my stats, I also know that so many of you enjoy listening to the episodes multiple times. And with each listen, you're reminded of an important concept, or you've implemented one piece of what I've shared, and now it's time for the next layer. Even just coming back and listening to the episode at a different time, you're going to be a different version of you. You're going to have different challenges you're experiencing, and things are going to land differently when they're revisited when it's the you of today versus the you that listened to that episode a few weeks or even months, or a year ago.
So not only is this every other week schedule going to allow you to fully digest each episode, you'll also have that opportunity to go back to episodes you missed or need to hear again.
The other great thing is that I'm really hoping that as I think about how I engage on Instagram, hopefully we can be in more conversation with you, commenting on posts, replying to stories. I mean, I absolutely love when I hear from you. Whether it's to share something you took from the podcast and ran with, or it's you reaching out to say, “This is the problem I've been experiencing. Can you give me some ways to think about this?” And it inspires me to share either on the podcast or in Monday Mindset because I know if you're having the problem, somebody else is too.
Lastly, I want to acknowledge that some of you might be disappointed at this change. And I totally get that. I have been there with shows that I love and have been a little disappointed when they've said the show's going away or they're switching to every other week or once a month. And that's been part of what has made this hard, is that I do feel really connected to each and every one of you, even if we've never met. I care deeply about the community that we've created around this, whether I've never spoken with you or you're a client who listens regularly to reinforce the work that we've done together. So while this has felt difficult, I also feel really confident that this is the right decision for right now.
As we wrap up, I want to invite you to keep our weekly touchpoint going from my newsletter, Monday Mindset. You can sign up for that by going to desicreswell.com/monday-mindset. And every single Monday, this one I've been doing since I started my business, so it is years and years. I will send you a little note, and it really sets you up for success during your week. It's bite-sized, and sometimes it's a tip or a strategy you can implement. Sometimes it's a coaching question to help bring you clarity and help you know exactly what needs to be done that week, or sometimes it's something fun and personal, just because we can all benefit from a little bit of delight on a Monday morning.
Honestly, I hear from designers that this is an email they look forward to at the start of every week. And it is our way to stay connected and for you to keep hearing the messages that you're used to hearing on this podcast on a weekly regular basis. And it's also where I announce opportunities to work together first, so it is where you want to be. I'll give that to you again. It's desicreswell.com/monday-mindset.
I'm going to be back here in your ear in 2 weeks. October 29th is the next episode, and it's going to be a brand new one. I'm going to be talking about a concept I call a fear inventory, and it really is a strategic business move anytime you want to make a change or up-level to ensure that you are not getting in your own way or creating self-sabotage. I have used this process so many times over the years making changes in my business, including with this one about the podcast, and I'll walk you through how to create your own step by step. So make sure you're subscribed to the show so you get the episodes automatically added to your feed.
Before I send you off, a few quick notes too about working together. And as I said, the newsletter is the first place that you're going to hear about these things, but I want to make sure you're in the loop.
Now, I've been offering some single strategy sessions, and those have been incredible, and there's only a few left. And if you've been wanting to do that, if you've heard me talk about it, maybe you're on the newsletter and you're like, I really want to book one, now is the time.
You can go to desicreswell.com/resources. You'll find the link to my calendar. We will book a time, and I will get you going with the coaching as soon as you schedule because I'm going to be reading your quick submission and then giving you something to dig even deeper before we meet.
On the website, you can also find the coaching tab where you can learn about what it's like to work together one-on-one over a longer period of time in a customized coaching partnership.
Of course, if you have any questions about either of those things or anything else, you can always send me a message on Instagram @desicreswell or send me an email or reply to one of my emails. I'm happy to chat.
As always, if you have any questions about those options or want to tell me what you thought of this episode, I'd love to know, do you like these behind the scenes? Do you want to hear more of them? What did you take away from it? I really would love to hear from you. You can reply to one of my emails or you can send me a message on Instagram @desicreswell is where you'll find me. And until we speak again, I'm wishing you a beautiful couple of weeks.
Thanks for joining me for this week's episode of The Interior Design Business CEO. If you want more tips, tools and strategies visit DesiCreswell.com, where you’ll get immediate access to a variety of free resources to help you take what you learn on the podcast and put it into action. And if you love what you’re hearing, be sure to rate, review, and follow the show wherever you listen to podcasts to ensure you never miss an episode. I’ll talk to you next week.
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