RSE Partner Series: Interior Designer Kathy Russell

RSE is proud to partner with a number of hard-working and talented entrepreneurs. We present here an occasional series of articles focussing on the stories and journeys of our partners and their efforts to contribute to the lives of their customers and community. In today’s edition, Interior Design Partner Kathy Russell reflects on her journey as an entrepreneur and seeks to share some of her lessons and experience with others. 

I would like to share some of the story of my journey along the trail of becoming, and then evolving as, an entrepreneur. It is a story of hitting the bumps along that trail and how to view these challenges as opportunities for change and growth. Some of my journey is reflected in the company names that I have chosen to find one that ultimately resonated with my vision, mission and my goal of giving back to my community.

After a long corporate career, I left that world and thought I would do something that would help busy professionals. For six months, I researched many avenues, only to come up with a Concierge Service. I decided to take the certified program offered through the National Concierge Association in Minneapolis, Minnesota. There was nothing like this in Canada at the time. While doing the program, I joined the board as the Co-chair of the Chapter-at-Large. What an amazing experience that was. I learnt a lot from an amazing group of experienced concierges and cannot say enough good things about how helpful and giving they were. This underlines how important it is for the entrepreneur to have solid and genuine connections with others.  

No one can truly prepare you for this role. You just jump in and work your fingers to the bone. You literally are the accountant, the marketing person, the administrator, the bill collector (that’s when you have clients!), the salesperson and the worker.

Upon completion of my certification, I opened Butler Girl and had no clue how much work it took to be an entrepreneur. No one can truly prepare you for this role. You just jump in and work your fingers to the bone. You literally are the accountant, the marketing person, the administrator, the bill collector (that’s when you have clients!), the salesperson and the worker. You are so green, you have no money coming in the door, so you have no choice but to do everything yourself. The hardest part about being an entrepreneur is getting clients. So many people I met over the years, threw in the towel after just a year. For most it just doesn’t happen over night. It takes a lot of work and, as we used to say before social media, we had to “pound the pavement” (looking for clients).

The next seven years I spent working with many different types of clients and loved helping them with their busy lives. I did things like run their errands, get tickets for events, picked up their groceries, did their gift shopping. I mailed their parcels, picked up their dogs at the airport, took their dogs to the airport. (Sometimes I think this could be the basis of a movie!) I picked up a girl at the airport and took her to her hotel. I then went back in the morning and put her back on a plane. She was sixteen. I got artwork framed. I went to an elderly lady’s apartment, the superintendent had to let me in, and picked up her medications and prescriptions and shipped them to Alaska for her. You need to know and understand precisely the requirements and rules for dealing with dogs, medications, special documents etc. This gives you just an idea!

The last two years of my working under the name Butler Girl, however, was when I received the biggest demand for organizing and downsizing clients. The amount of stuff people kept in their attics, basements, storage lockers etc., was insane. However, we don’t judge. What people don’t realize is that if you haven’t used  something in a year, you probably need to purge it. Yet, even more important, it is just unhealthy to have so much stuff filling your home or space. I could write a book that would make you think twice about keeping a lot of stuff in your home or space!

With all the downsizing I was doing, people started to ask me to help set-up their new space with some old pieces, together with some new things. Some individuals, on the other hand, decided to toss everything and start anew. Well, this was right up my ally, as I have always loved decorating and aligning furniture in my home. Ask my husband, he never knew where the couch would be when he came home… 

I absolutely love doing this type of work and wish I had done it thirty years ago. Who would have thought? But it’s my passion and I love it.

So, this was how things began all over again for me with another venture, this time, in interior design. I spent the next year doing the Interior Design Program. I completed it and received my diploma from the Interior Design Institute. You have no idea how excited and proud I was that, at my age (over 50 is all I’ll say), I could achieve this. I absolutely love doing interior design work and wish I had done it thirty years ago. “Who would have thought?” But it’s my passion and I love it.

Still, I had yet to find the right name for this new direction. My initial web person suggested that I name it “Kathy Russell Design.” Most designers do something like this, they name their company after themselves. So, I went with it. I always felt, however, that the name didn’t really resonate with me as a company name. I didn’t want to look at my name every day and then have it posted everywhere. Then I decided that I would specialize in a particular aspect of interior design and only do small spaces, hence the name “Small Space Design”. Well, this ended up being too “cookie cutter” for my creative side (that I had now discovered). I then literally stepped back and recalled my downsizing days and asked myself, “what brought me to this chapter of my career?” I remembered that the foundation was to help people have comfortable, functional and healthy homes or spaces. Remembering your core values and initial inspiration as an entrepreneur is very important. 

Still thinking about the conundrum of choosing the right name for my business, I took my cousin Wendy to lunch for her birthday. I told her what my vision was and after a little while in the restaurant, she said, “What about ‘Design Smart Interiors’”? And that’s when the light went on! Let me mention that the word “Smart” in the business name doesn’t refer to “smart technology.” I believe that we are all way too overindulged with technology. For me, “smart” comes down to the basics of living in a beautiful, yet comfortable, functional and healthy home or space, without at the same time breaking the bank. The name ‘Design Smart Interiors’ fit my vision, my mission and my commitment to giving back. It all feels right now. 

While all of this was being done, my former clients were still sending me business. This was a huge benefit of having built those relationships over the last several years, and underlines another key point of entrepreneurship, that of the importance of valuing your relationships with your customers. They are relationships that need to be tended and cared for.

Another important connection arose because of Red Scarf Equestrian’s reaching out to me. They liked my story and wanted to partner with me on designing equestrian styled homes and spaces. This has been very exciting and, a year and a half later, we are still working together. I am now looking forward to working with them from their new home soon to be opening in Collingwood.  

The trail of entrepreneurship is not all bumpy, though. It is exciting and rewarding to have been approached to mentor interior design students from Georgian College. Too, my business has been chosen as one of the three finalists for the new “Business of the Year, 2019” award offered through the Newmarket Chamber of Commerce. These are, at least in part, a reflection of all the work that has gone before. Persistence is perhaps the most important key to finding your way through the entrepreneurial maze.  

I Had the pleasure to meet HGTV’s host designer Tiffany Pratt. She is awesome! (see photo with Kathy Russell, Tiffany Pratt, and four other ladies).

Lastly, I am grateful for my husband, my grown children, close friends and my mentor Maureen Burleson of thinkprofitfirst.com for sticking by me through all the ups and downs and changes over the last nine years. You cannot do it alone. You need support, or it becomes a lonely road. Please feel free to comment and share. If I can answer any questions or help support you as a business owner, I am happy to help and share (kathy@designsmartinteriors.com).  Happily serving York, Simcoe, Caledon and Collingwood areas.

WHO IS KATHY RUSSELL?

Kathy Russell enjoys helping her clients create spaces they can “happily call home.” She holds a diploma in Interior Design from the Interior Design Institute and is an Accredited Member of Decorators and Designers Association of Canada. You can find her at designsmartinteriors.com.