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✨ Get Your Story Straight.

Love a good story-driven newsletter? Me too! Join our community of over 8000+ home industry professionals learning how to tell better marketing stories so they get heard *and* hired 🎉. Get straight-talk advice, templates, workshops, and trainings developed specifically for interior designers, architects, and other creatives on a mission to level up their work, and their life!

Are you selling the sizzle?

🔥 Sizzle theory and the evolution of the modern sales pitch. Like most people obsessed with emerging technologies through the years like film and video, my grandfather became a meticulous record keeper. And as I've been very slowly packing and unpacking his house for the past few years (mostly I just move boxes into the garage tbh), I was delighted to discover a series of handwritten notes and photos amongst an album of professional memorabilia from early in his career after he returned from...

🫶 The art of selling...without selling out.

Why making genuine connections feels really hard these days—especially online—and how to make it a more fulfilling process.** Hiya Reader. Marketing feels overwhelming for many creatives because it’s rarely taught alongside the craft of making in art and design schools. And yet it is itself an act of making...of making connections, making a point someone might not have thought of before, of making ideas visible and irresistible, of making an emotional bridge between your work and the people...

Is there a secret network of tunnels under downtown High Point...?

✨ From paint with crystals to whole-home integration, here’s what made HPMKT unforgettable. Hiya Reader. Whether we crossed paths at Market Square or in one of the many bustling showrooms, I hope you were just as enchanted by High Point Market’s magic this past October as I was! And for the new faces here: Hi, I’m Ericka! 👋 I’m a designer and brand strategist, obsessed with how our built environment shapes the human experience. Through this newsletter, I share stories and insights about...

Inconsistent marketing leads to inconsistent income.

⏰ Time sensitive inspiration from MY inbox! I couldn't have said it any better, so before I say anything more I first want to say, thanks GAIL! 🙌🏿🙌🏾🙌🏽🙌🏼🙌🏻🙌 Anyone who's been in the design industry even for just a beat has certainly heard of Gail Doby—a celebrated interior designer with a background in finance and banking. Her business acumen and wisdom has guided numerous designers, architects, and other creative professionals to profitability and financial freedom. Gail's monthly business...

Unreasonable hospitality. ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Is it reasonable to expect, Reader—throughout your months to years-long client engagement process—that every touchpoint of their experience with your brand might not just be well-considered, but unreasonably well-considered? A recent book by Will Guidara (of Eleven Madison Park and NoMad restaurant fame) got me thinking about this very thing: Unreasonable Hospitality* *Read the book? Want to talk about it? The BOH Book Club kicks off this Wednesday. Join the conversation hosted by Fred...

Ordinary isn't profitable.

Hiya Reader. I've just returned from a remarkable few weeks in le Haute Pointe (my fancy name for High Point), and I have to say it was one of the best spring market seasons ever. Here's why: If you've ever been the underdog trying to vie for the attention of well, all the eyeballs, then you'll understand this story. Over the last two years, I've worked with a team of industry rockstars—most notably Jane Dagmi and Jessica Duce—to conceive, plan, organize, and execute the Vacation Rental...
See you in le Haute Pointe!

☞ The Ultimate Guide to *le Haute Pointe*!

When my very fabulous French tutor Florence volunteered this translation for my hometown, I skipped a beat. Le Haute Pointe. Yeah, ok, that checks. In the mid-1800's the unimaginatively-named-yet-newly-incorporated city of High Point was the highest point on the railway between the far eastern and central areas of North Carolina, and was quickly establishing itself as a city of industry that would change the fate of home furnishings and interior design in landmark ways. Little did anyone...

[WARNING]…this email was not written by AI 🤖

It's a choose-your-own-adventure kind of email today! :) Hiya Reader. Ever get that feeling like something just isn't quite right, but you can't put your finger on it exactly? Like when something is just a little too perfect. Maybe it's that lush lounge space that stuttered your scroll a moment ago. The one with just a few too many plants, impossibly high ceilings, or a bizarre fireplace placement...the longer you look, the more you can't look away, right? (images: @lizgilbertdesign) Or maybe...

🎧 What I learned being a guest on 20+ podcasts this year.

Why the law of 100 works, and how to get started. In a world where algorithms dictate trends and social media seems to shape our creative expression, it's crucial to remember one important thing Reader: The essence of true creativity lies not in perfection, but in consistent, fearless expression 💃🏽🕺🏽✨ One of my marketing goals this year was to increase the reach of my own brand's message, the heart of which is this: having a crystal clear narrative is the key to solving all your marketing...

Agents of change.

🦒 A few weekends back, it was chilly and rainy (and dark by 5pm), so I snuggled up on my sofa with some delivery and started watching the Steven-Spielberg-produced series Life on Our Planet on Netlix. Photo: Netflix Morgan Freeman's gentle narration laid out the Rules of Life, which of course reminded me of what it's like in this everyday hustle of running a business. It was all languid giraffe parades, cozy cub snuggles, and elephant ear tossing until it got real. Really real. He went on to...

Love a good story-driven newsletter? Me too! Join our community of over 8000+ home industry professionals learning how to tell better marketing stories so they get heard *and* hired 🎉. Get straight-talk advice, templates, workshops, and trainings developed specifically for interior designers, architects, and other creatives on a mission to level up their work, and their life!