Though the name Venus Williams is synonymous with tennis, it should also be equated with entrepreneurial success. In addition to her amazing athletic prowess (21-time Grand Slam winner in singles and doubles combined) Williams is also a business powerhouse. In 2002 she launched interior design firmV Starr Interiorswhich has a diverse roster of clients including Williams College and condo complexes. She also has her own clothing line,EleVen, andalong with her sister Serena Williams, became a partial owner of the Miami Dolphins in 2009 making them the first female African Americans to have an ownership stake in an NFL franchise. And along the way she earneda degree in fashion design to become a certified interior decorator, as well as a bachelor of science in business administration from Indiana University East.

Clearly she can she has some quality career and business advice to dispense. Ladders caught up with Williams at anAmerican Express Travelevent, a long-time partner of Williamss, to celebrate the top 2020 Trending Destinations.

Definitely an entrepreneurial spirit. That is very different then coming from a corporate structure because you wear a lot of hats and you need to deal with change quickly. You are often working in environments where you are creating from the ground up. Also the attitude. You cant always teach attitude you can work on behaviors and things like that but attitude can be challenging. You need someone who can roll with the punches and can laugh and smile and fit into the environment and really do upbuilding. That is extremely important. I hate if I come to the office and someone is not doing that because that is not the example I have set, to destroy an environment that means so much to me. I want someone who knows how to reach people. Thats a lot! But you can find these folks. It is possible.

Short plane rides are fine but they can even be a problem. With long rides just try to be realistic about your schedule. Theres different things that you can do in terms of supplements for an energy boost and ways you can figure out, but you can only drink so much coffee before your brain turns into a noodle.

When I was in school I did so much work on the plane so I was very ahead when I would get to the tournament. I dont have time for that at a tournament. There were a couple of years where there wasnt one plane ride where I wasnt working the whole time, especially on an international flight. I would work until basically i had to go to sleep and then I got to the tournament and it was fine!

What is your best advice for someone starting a business?

Do your research you really need to know your market, know your niche and know your opening. Be well informed because that will make a big difference on whether it works or not. Second is you dont have to take all the risks because you can always test to see what works and what doesnt because then if you fail you fail in a big way. And be ready to pivot becayse sometimes your dream isnt going to work so be honest with yourself about that and just realize this isnt working. and then you can pivot.

Its dfiffernt for everyone. I need alone time. I have to be alone so if I dont get that then I am frazzled. Everyone has to know what their button is. And everyone has their thing, even self-starters. .Just being aware of why you procrastinated is helpful. Maybe a project is so big you dont know where to start. Breaking it up into pieces and giving yourself deadlines and being aware of your thoughts of why you are procrastinating helps you to bring it to light. And then ultimately just getting started. Once you get started, the anxiety level goes down.

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Venus Williams on the 1 quality everyone she works with must have - Ladders

Pauline Brown, former chairman of North America for the luxury goods company LVMH, argues that in additional to traditional and emotional intelligence, great leaders also need to develop what she calls aesthetic intelligence. This means knowing what good taste is and thinking about how your services and products stimulate all five senses to create delight. Brown argues that in todays crowded marketplace, this kind of AI is what will set companies apart and not just in the consumer products and luxury sectors. B2B or B2C, small or large, digital or bricks-and-mortar, all organizations need to hire and train people to think this way. Brown is the author of the book Aesthetic Intelligence: How to Boost It and Use It in Business and Beyond.

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TRANSCRIPT

ALISON BEARD: Welcome to the HBR IdeaCast from Harvard Business Review. Im Alison Beard.

Trader Joes grocery stores, Disney Theme Parks, Veuve Clicquot champagne, Essie nail polish, Aveda shampoo, Airbnb, LEGOs. Apart from being both popular and profitable, what do all of these products and services have in common?

Our guest today says that theyre all created with something she calls aesthetic intelligence. Pauline Brown is a former chairman of North America for the luxury good company, LVMH and also previously worked at cosmetic company Estee Lauder. But shes talking about more than making gorgeous handbags and fancy makeup. Shes also a Wharton MBA, a former Bain consultant and a former managing director of the private equity firm, The Carlyle Group.

After decades in business shes come to believe that her kind of AI can help any organization to be more successful. She says it can be developed in both. She says it can be developed in individuals, teams and entire companies. Shes even taught a class on it at Harvard Business School.

PAULINE BROWN: Thank you for having me Alison.

ALISON BEARD: So, here at HBR, we know intelligence emotional intelligence, artificial intelligence, market intelligence, even design intelligence. But what exactly is aesthetic intelligence?

PAULINE BROWN: So, in a word its taste. Sadly, taste has taken on a very superficial connotation. Aesthetic intelligence is the ability to use ones senses to both appreciate and elicit, and recreate pleasurable experiences.

So, if I use a very mundane example, going to a great restaurant. Obviously, a great restaurant has to consist of great food and an interesting or well executed menu. But its also about the design. Its about the ambience. Its about the acoustics. Its about the lighting and how the lighting works in different areas of the restaurant. Even down to the choice of utensils and how that interacts with the food that youre eating. A steakhouse requires a very different aesthetic design of its utensils than does say, a sushi restaurant. But in both cases that decision is fundamentally important to the experience.

ALISON BEARD: So, I can see how a food business, fashion brand, beauty brand, can engage all the senses with its products or its retail experience. But how does that extend to more pedestrian products or services? Like a tire maker or accounting firm, or a software company?

PAULINE BROWN: Well, historically it didnt and thats part of the problem. It goes without saying that if you work in luxury goods as I did, or in fashion, or in cosmetics that you wouldnt exist without this principle of aesthetics.

I used to joke, actually only half-jokingly, say that at LVMH a company that generates more than $40 billion a year in revenue doesnt make one product that anyone needs. And so, why do people spend so much money on LVMH products across 70 brands and five different sectors?

And its because they are brilliant at providing products and services and experiences around those products and services that elicit true delight. So, when I think of other industries that never thought that aesthetics should even factor in, or if it did it was sort of like icing on the cake, I say you know, thats because weve lived in an era, in an industrial era at that, where the primary motive of most of these other industries was to grow through scale and through efficiency, and through automation, and all the things that sort of define big industry of the last century or so.

Well weve taken that principle to its extreme to the point where I think were actually in an era where were experiencing diseconomies of scale. Where by virtue of you doing you as a company, doing things faster, and bigger, and more powerfully, youre actually at a disadvantage to all those entrepreneurs who are doing things differently and interestingly.

So, we moved into this different era. Big companies have not adapted to it and I would even argue that business education hasnt adapted in its vernacular and in its concepts to the era that weve moved into.

ALISON BEARD: So what are some examples of commodity products or services that have applied aesthetic intelligence in order to capture customer interest?

PAULINE BROWN: The most obvious to me is Steve Jobs and his re-creation of what not just a computer, but any technological device could feel like to a user. Prior to his infusing his own aesthetic into all Mac products, computers were just about microprocessing power. And there was a race to do things faster and cheaper.

He was the first one who came around and said, you know what? We should do things fast and they should be functioning at a high level, but were not going to win on that basis. Were going to win because were providing a human experience that really lifts the user in ways that no one else in his industry had thought even possible or valuable.

And whats interesting about Steve Jobs as an example is he was not an artist. It didnt take an artist for him to really redefine what a computer could feel like. He just had extraordinary aesthetic intelligence.

Other example would be what Howard Shultz did with Starbucks. Prior to that a cup of coffee was a cup of coffee. His genius was taking what is one of the most commoditized products in the market, which is a coffee bean, and saying I can sell it at a premium not because youre buying coffee, but because youre buying into a third space as he called it. Everything about the Starbucks example was using aesthetic principles to the extreme.

ALISON BEARD: OK, so Im going to keep throwing up challenging examples. How does a purely online company, so no taste, no touch, no smell, only visual, maybe some sound deploy aesthetic intelligence?

PAULINE BROWN: Well its hard. Because if you think about aesthetics as I define it, which is really about touching as many, if not all of the five senses, the human senses, online at best gets one and a half of them.

Even the visual which is clearly the strongest, the strongest stimuli of doing anything digitally, is not even as strong as an offline experience because its 2D. And we see things in 3D.

Audio, getting a lot better, but I would say not as good as a live concert. When you listen to something, a music digitally versus listening in a theater, its a very, very different human experience.

So, one of the digital examples that I like to give is sort of why is Airbnb the biggest of its competitive lot? Lets say we compared it to HomeAway or VRBO, or their precedent company which was Craigslist. Craiglist was posting homes for rent a decade before Airbnb was even conceived.

So Airbnb comes around, comes along and doesnt from a functional perspective, doesnt offer anything notably different, but whats interesting about Airbnb, unlike all these other players is that the two founders actually were graduates of Rhode Island School of Design. It didnt come out of technology.

And they were able through the few queues that you have at your possession with digital to express something that became more than just an apartment rental, but it became a different way to experience travel.

ALISON BEARD: So, how is this different that sort of traditional branding, marketing, excellent customer service? How does this move it forward?

PAULINE BROWN: So, if you go back to the genesis of branding, it really started in the age where, now Im going back a few 100 years now, where sellers were having to market their wares to buyers who werent necessarily their neighbors in their communities. And there therefore was a built in distrust. I dont know, and technically actually a brand was branding cattle.

And really what a brand was, was just a guarantee by virtue of my name is on it and therefore you know that theres somebody whos standing by the quality of what Im selling. When you fast forward into say the 50s and 60s and 70s, and Id say one of the leaders in brand management, Proctor & Gamble. They sort of took this idea of recognition and trust and a sort of guarantee built around a name and said, OK. Now we can take it a step further and really elaborate on it via commercials.

You look at now, were in 2019, and advertising really doesnt drive much, relative to what it did just 20 years ago. For one because just the fact that Ive heard of the brand, or the fact that my grandmother used it doesnt make it desirable to me. In fact if you look at industries like food, the movement has been more toward local discovery, a special. I think were trusting our senses to have that element of desirability in a way that we havent for at least 50, 60 years.

So all of the concepts that built modern day branding are not really working anymore. And so, I think of it more around experiences that delight. And you mentioned earlier in the intro about design thinking. The differences between aesthetic strategies and design thinking that design thinking is essentially using the skills of good design to solve problems.

But the benefit of aesthetics is its not solving a problem, its offering delight. And delight is something you cant test for. Its not something youre going to learn through customer research. But it is so, it is as important now to a buyer as it was 1,000 years ago, 500 years ago, 100 years ago, 20 years ago. And this is what big companies, I think all companies, but especially big companies have completely lost grasp of.

ALISON BEARD: And have you worked with, or seen large companies that have managed to turn it around and build aesthetic intelligence into their organizations?

PAULINE BROWN: I have, but I would say not without a lot of challenges. I think its easier to work with fast growing innovative young companies and ones that are armed with young people who are a little less entrenched in the old way of doing things.

What Im suggesting here though is not that big companies are going to go away. Obviously there are still a lot of capabilities that we rely on to be a high functioning society. And Im not suggesting that big or small companies do away with big data and analytics, and all this sort of quantitative reasoning that has driven them for so many years.

What Im suggesting is that it needs to be balanced with other types of thinking. Because when you look at the research, the vast majority of reasons that anyone will buy one product over another, anywhere from 80 to 90 percent of the decision is based on how that makes, that product or service makes the person feel.

And yet, marketers and researchers are predominately focused on what their customers think on how they would reason the features, the functions, the costs, the benefits. That is not whats driving buying decisions and yet we really are a rather unsophisticated as a marketplace in terms of understanding how people feel, empathizing with it and then actually taping into it. And delivering in ways that are genuine and that are uplifting.

ALISON BEARD: Yeah. Weve talked mostly about customer facing businesses so far. Can this work for B2B companies too?

PAULINE BROWN: I think it works for all companies. I mean, or almost all companies. Maybe not oil and gas. But, let me give you the example from by Carlyle years. So I was a partner in the consumer and retail team based here in New York.

And I always thought why does Carlyle win some deals and its arch competitors Bain Capital, KKR, Blackstone win others? Some of it is that on the margin it was around valuation, but if you sort of breakdown their business models, all of the firms are essentially doing the same math. They have access to the same lending terms. Theyre working with pretty much the same group of Bulge Bracket firms, lending firms and so forth. They have access to the same deals. And theyre recruiting from the same three business schools, one which is Harvard.

So what is their differentiation and why if I am a seller of a quality company in a very competitive market, why would I pick say, KKR versus Carlyle? And I looked at the aesthetics of David Rubenstein, founder of Carlyle, one of the three, and the aesthetics of Henry Kravis, founder of KKR. Henry came out of Wall Street, sort of classic investment banking background. Hes a big art collector. When you enter his office, a lot of heavy wood and art dripping on the walls.

You go to Carlyles headquarter office in Washington, D.C. You have a pure expression of David and his value system. Hes the son of a postal worker from Baltimore. David and all of his expressions, his choice of prescription eyeglasses, his choice of suits and his choice of office space and how that has built out without, in the most economic fashion is a very pure expression of what he believes.

There are people who look at KKR and say, you know what I want to be? Thats a master of the universe house and I want to be there. And there are others who look at Carlyle and say you know what? These people theyre down to earth and they are there to just drive value and theres no waste. That works for me.

And in another domain this might be called culture, but I actually think culture is hard to put your arms around. I think culture is very amorphous. But the aesthetics of those environments and the people who lead them, that to me is very clear.

ALISON BEARD: That actually brings me to my next question. You talked at one point about good taste. Is there widespread agreement on what looks and sounds, and smells, and feels, and taste physically delightful? Does biological science back that up? Dont we have different preferences and surely across cultures we think differently, right?

PAULINE BROWN: So, this is an age-old debate. Is there such a thing as good taste? And the way I always responded is no. Theres a lot of different tastes, but there is such a thing as bad taste. So, in the history of mankind, or modern mankind, I dont think anyone ever walked past a jackhammer and said, oh that sounds so good to my ear. Theres certain things that just are jarring and unpleasant, and that are you know, constitute for biological reasons and for cultural reasons, things that we want to avoid.

And then you have a whole range of human experiences that speak to people in different ways. I mean even Steve Jobs who had a very kind of midcentury California influence on what for him, felt good, and it was minimalist. That is not my taste because my taste is more formed as a first generation American Jew of a very strong European household with a lot of sort of Victorian era styles that I grew up with.

I have a very different sense of what feels good to me and where I come alive. That said, I can appreciate a lot of different tastes. And Id say its the same thing with music. There are people who love rock and there are people who love country music. One doesnt constitute better taste than the other. But the important thing for the individual is to know what their taste is.

ALISON BEARD: Is the idea that you need to figure out the taste of your ideal customer and design your products and services to appeal to them?

PAULINE BROWN: Absolutely not.

ALISON BEARD: Oh.

PAULINE BROWN: I always say it doesnt start with the customer. It starts with the value system of the organization and the organizations value system really starts with its founders and its leaders. And then it should go all the way down. So, lets go back to the Steve Jobs example. He didnt sit in a boardroom and say, how can we design this such that feels good in someone elses hands? He said, how can we design this so that it feels great in my hand? And then he maintained very, very clear standards around that aesthetic design that set of aesthetic principles.

So, I think typically it starts in a really well-branded company with one person and one person whos all powerful. And then, to be sustained as say Disney has sustained its aesthetic principles, it takes the right systems in place. It takes a lot of consistency. It takes training. I mean Walt has been dead for many, many decades, Walt Disney.

But when he was there he had this sort of profound sense of how can I create a theme park that really is so immersive that it isnt just about the ride, or the snack bar. But its about the world that youre stepping into. And the fact that so many decades after his passing that it keeps getting better and better in terms of its reach and its ability to continue to delight, even for people who go back time and again. I mean that is masterful. That is a truly aesthetically intelligent organization.

ALISON BEARD: And what about a company that doesnt demonstrate aesthetic intelligence currently? How can they try to create it when the founders long gone, everyone has disparate views on what the companys aesthetic should be?

PAULINE BROWN: So, the first step, you know theres a reason that that company has been around for however long. And the first step is to sort of go back to the roots of what did the founder believe? What did the early people who came to the fore, whether it was in the form of employees, or in the form of partners, or in the form of customers, what were they gravitating to and why? And what are sort of the other things that are sort of part of the heritage of this?

And then the other point Id make is we very much in big companies devalued creative people. We often kind of siloed them to the art department. And I always say why is it that in big companies we would expect a CEO to be very facile in finance, in operations, maybe in engineering. But somehow we dont think that they should really own art and creative functions with the same command and the same involvement that they do these other functions.

ALISON BEARD: You have a very hard business background. Youre a Wharton MBA. You worked at Bain. When did you start thinking about this area being so key to companys success?

PAULINE BROWN: Well Id say early. For one because I was struck when I first left Bain, I was in the strategy group at Estee Lauder Companies and I started to realize that a lot of the things that I was trained to do so well from Wharton to Bain, really didnt serve me so well in a company like Estee Lauder. I kind of had to unlearn some of them.

So, because the reason people are buying and not just cosmetics, but Id say especially something like cosmetics, is how it makes them feel. People want to dream. They want to aspire. I mean thats just a human nature. And those are not the things that I was prepared to deliver on coming out of Wharton or Bain.

ALISON BEARD: When you brought these ideas to business leaders outside fashion, luxury, cosmetics, food, do you get questions about return on investment though? We make this more of a sensory experience. We invest in bricks and mortar, retail experience. But what does that do for our bottom line?

PAULINE BROWN: Well the first flaw in that question, and I do get that question on occasion, is that it takes a lot more resources to do what Im suggesting than not to do it. So lets just take a classic, I dont know, a public school. That public school where I would say is generally going to be pretty weak on aesthetics and a concern with this that I experienced. Theyre going to choose a color paint for the wall. Theyre going to choose a tile for the floor. Theyre going to choose a font for the signage that goes on the front of the school or the back of the school.

These are all decisions that are happening and yet, what Im arguing for is mindfulness. That if youre going to pick a color pallet for the wall, why shouldnt it be one thats bright or cheerful? If youre going to pick a light bulb for the ceiling, nowadays it cost you no more to do a lightbulb that has a bit more warmth in its reflection, that might feel a little more inviting versus one thats a little cold or fluorescent that feels sterile.

And that has a real impact on, in the case of a school, how students respond and interact and how at home they feel. So lets start with the decisions, the aesthetic decisions youre already making, but youre not making them mindfully.

And the other point I make, and this is an important one is that the, implicit in that question is that to have taste it takes money. I often say that the people I know in my world who have the best taste do not have the most money. In fact I sometimes think the people with the most money have worse taste because they dont, it doesnt require tradeoffs.

ALISON BEARD: So, how do you hire for aesthetic intelligence then?

PAULINE BROWN: Well, I think you have to start with, the hirer has to start with themselves. So, if I hire a great art director and I say go make this look and feel great while I go tend to the P&L. Its not going to work. You could have all the intelligence you want, but its not going to find its way. It has to be empowered.

So for example when I was at Estee Lauder, Estee Lauder is a portfolio of brands. Its not just one flagship brand, although the Estee Lauder name is one of the larger ones. And one of the last deals I worked on, I was in the M&A department, was the licensing arrangement with Tom Ford who at the time, and this is 2004, was not that well known. He had just left a few years earlier, having been the chief designer for Gucci.

He did things that the Estee Lauder brand or the Clinique brand also in the portfolio, could never do. And I would tell for starters these big companies whether theyre in finance or in automotive, or in any business to stop playing it so safe because thats a race to the bottom.

ALISON BEARD: And can a manager whos not involved in marketing, or branding, or product development, design apply this idea to how they do their jobs?

PAULINE BROWN: Absolutely. I mean for starters, apply it to your office. Your space. And I dont mean you need to hire an interior decorator and make the space something that is completely out of sequence with where you work and what others are doing. But why is it when I often walk into an executives office, I see very sort of standard industrial setup, right. And maybe theres two or three photos sitting on a desk. But the lack of personal expression says to me that that person has so suppressed who they are, when theyre in their professional space. But if I go to that same executives home, even their home office, I see a very different side. And so, the first step wherever you sit in the organization, and assuming youre in the right organization, is to bring a lot more of you to your professional space.

All companies, almost all companies have to move a lot farther away from delivering on value and delivering on features and functions, and the like. And really start to what I call, become more human in everything they do and become more real.

We want as a people, and its probably because we see whats happening to the planet around us. We want to get back to nature. And so, people in companies I think have to find ways, many more ways to bring nature and replicate nature.

I also think theres going to be a backlash as were already starting to see against all things digital. It took us a few years to realize the effect of e-cigarettes on our health. And I think its taking us a lot longer to realize the effect of e-living on ourself and our sort of human development and our cognitive development.

And so I think things like a digital Sabbath and sabbaticals are going to be more of a mainstream thing. I think anything that removes people from the screen and makes them feel alive again will be embraced.

ALISON BEARD: Pauline, thank you so much for talking with me today.

PAULINE BROWN: Thanks Alison. Ive enjoyed it thoroughly.

ALISON BEARD: Thats Pauline Brown, former Chairman of North America for LVMH and author of Aesthetic Intelligence.

This episode was produced by Mary Dooe. We get technical help from Rob Eckhardt. Adam Buchholz is our audio product manager. Thanks for listening to the HBR IdeaCast. Im Alison Beard.

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To Truly Delight Customers, You Need Aesthetic Intelligence - Harvard Business Review

An interior decorator was explaining the products she was using to update a family room and pointed to the wallpaper that now hung on two of the walls stating "don't worry, this is not your grandmother's wallpaper."

A chef known for taking everyday recipes and turning them into gourmet specialties brought his dish out of the oven exclaiming, "this is not your grandmother's pot roast."

A retailer in Washington stocking items for needlepoint designs contrasted what she does from the "old, stuffy hobby" because "this is not your grandmother's needlepoint."

Alright already, we get the idea. Anything classic, conventional or traditional gets associated with grandma. And to what end? Seemingly to associate the former with something outdated, antiquated, evendowdy. The inference is that the one unlike your grandmother's is modern, stylish, and state-of-the-art. I can speak only about the grandmothers in my life, but to that end I do have something to say. Enough with putting down our grandmothers' stuff.

My grandparent's home was beautiful. The dcor was bright and pretty, but most of all, impeccably cared for.

My husband's grandmother had a kitchen many of us would deem small, yet out of that kitchen came remarkable baking and delicious meals every week that kept everyone fed, no matter how many people came through the door.

Grandmothers are enterprising, creative and industrious women. This incessant need to separate what our grandmother's did with what we do today is not only disrespectful but also totally misguided.

Those grandmothers, whose tastes and talents we now so easily disparage, were the ones getting things done. They ran businesses. They raised children. They served on committees and drove fundraisers. They had the ambition and ideas to see things happen, and the wisdom to know how to get it done. And they're still at. Perhaps even harder than ever.

We have robot vacuums, self-cleaning this and that, and appliances we can operate through our smartphones, yet my home never looks as immaculate as my grandmother's did. We have large kitchens stocked with every cooking device at our disposable yet we're hard pressed to replicate what grandma did with four burners and an oven.

It's easy to look at past generations and dismiss what they said or did because we question its pertinence to the complexities of life today. There's little relevance, we might assume, to our lives. But how wrong that assumption would be. Our grandmothers and their grandmothersand the grandfathers too, by the wayare people we would be well served to emulate; not negate.

Those that came before gave us lessons in building family, faith, and community; along with examples of honest living, unbounded hospitality, and genuine care for friends and neighbors. Certainly there are exceptions to this broad brushstroke, but the best in us is likely the legacy of what they passed on.

For a lot of grandmothers, hospitality was a normal state of affairs; not an event to be planned for. The door was always open and the coffee always on. Our grandparents took care of their neighbors because they knew their names and spent enough time with them to be aware of their needs. What we could learn!

We like to operate from the premise that anything we come up with today is that much better than anything from the past. We want to be on the right side of what is contemporary and not be handcuffed to what is deemed old-fashioned. But while we may not share tastes in dcor, handiwork or food, (then again, we might) we are the poorer for it if we reject out of hand what is associated with our forerunners. There are things we would do well to reclaim and say, "yes, this is my grandmother's."

Those hands that hung that wallpaper, cooked that pot roast and created that needlepoint shaped the families and communities we now call our own. If you have someone in your life who fills the role of a grandmother, take her hands in yours and be grateful. That's my outlook.

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My Outlook - Because They Knew a Thing or Two - The Outlook

If you are interested in becoming an interior decorator, it's important to know what the career path entails. You're probably wondering how to get started as well.

A successful decorator does much more than pick out pretty fabrics and rearrange furniture. In a typical day, they may deal with cabinet spacing, steer a homeowner away from a budget-blowing item, track down a missing tile installer, work on a seasonal installation for a business storefront, make a presentation in front of an architectural review boardand the list goes on.

This is a small sampling of a decorators daily duties. As you can see, they need vast knowledge to perform the various skills required, and lots of experience doesnt hurt either!

But how does a decorator or a person get to this point? There are a few key points that can help you understand how to become a decorator and what it takes to be a successful one. However, good decorators know that decorating is a wonderful journey and a lifelong pursuit of knowledge!

If you think you have some design sense, but little experience, you might be wondering if there's a way to tell if you'll be a good interior decorator. The great news is that there is! Just ask yourself a few questions:

Technically, you do not need a degree to become an interior decorator. However, knowledge never hurt anyone. Plus, clients and firms are usually more receptive to hiring someone who has taken the time to secure a degree.

Many people wonder if they need artistic talent to be a decorator. Again, its not necessary but it certainly doesnt hurt. Many clients arent great at visualizing a final outcome. Its important to be able to show your clients a potential floor plan or room colors in three dimensionswhether in a drawing or on a computerbefore you begin the actual work.

The two main organizations for decorators are the IDS and the CID. Joining is not mandatory, but these societies offer great ways to keep a finger on the pulse of the design industry. Plus, they offer opportunities for further education, networking, and more.

Should you join? These organizations provide a serviceat a costso it is up to you to decide if either (or both) of these programs would be beneficial to you.

There is a wide range of career opportunities in the design field. The majority of decorators are residential designers, but many work in the commercial field, such as the hotel or restaurant industry. If you would like to specialize in these industries, additional education or experience may be required.

However, the decorating field goes beyond being a designer. Many decorators enter the retail industry or work in sales. Furniture stores, home stores, fabric stores, window and blind stores, and home supply centers are only a few examples of industries that often employ decorators.

There is also a growing field of crossover careers. For example, a number of designers find a voice as a writer and editor, offering advice using their design knowledge. This is fast becoming known as "interior design journalism." Many decorators also work in the specialized service industry and become decorative painters, window covering designers, and more.

The biggest question you may have is where to start. It's one that comes with lots of answers. The best advice is to start slow and be patient. The tips below may help you to get going in the field of decorating and open up jobs and opportunities to you. Always remember, you and your work are your best tools for advertising.

Network with your friends, relatives, neighbors, civic organizations, neighborhood associations, your church, or other local businesses and organizations. Local trade shows can be wonderful ways to meet people in the industry. Word of mouth is a huge tool in the life of a decorator.

This is a competitive field, but it's rare to meet a designer who isn't willing to share information, advice, and tools of the trade. Overall, it's a friendly bunch and people want to help others in the field as much as possible. Of course, always be willing to pay forward or back any kindness shown to you.

This includes carriers and manufacturers of furniture, wall coverings, tile, flooring, fabrics, etc. Don't forget about contractors and subcontractors who build or do painting, brickwork, electrical, plumbing, etc.

Retail home stores are great places to hold a day job until you build up your clientelebut dont discount the general laborers. You may learn more and meet more potential clients by working for a local painter than you ever will by clocking time at Pottery Barn.

A business card is great; a website is a huge bonus. But one thing you absolutely need is a portfolio. Your website can be your portfolioand if you have a website, it probably should bebut people want to see your work, even if it is limited. If you havent had much hands-on experience, start with your own home or family members. Most people will be happy to chip in some money for supplies if you are willing to redo a room for free.

Decorators often work in the interior sales industry, touting wares to local home stores for a commission. More experienced salespeople often garner a salary also. If you would rather work from home and set your own hours, consider starting a home-based home decor business. This can also be a great way to network!

This industry is constantly changing and you need to know what is going on in the trade. If you enjoy decorating, this will be easy and fun for you. Follow color trends, read trade magazines and attend market and home shows. After all, learning never stops!

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How to Become an Interior Decorator - The Spruce

Interior decorating refers to the art and science of making an interior space more aesthetically pleasing and functionally useful for its inhabitants. While the exterior of a building can sometimes also be included in interior decorating, the term usually referssolely to the interior design.

Anyone who has ever decorated a home or office has taken part in interior design. It's a popular topic of many home and garden entertainment television shows. It is a popular hobby for many people because you don't need a degree to take pride in decorating your home.

An interior designer is someone who is hired to design a space. While this job may seem like simply choosing paint and placing furniture there's much more to it. Interior designers take part in the conceptual development and execution of their design. They often are involved in site visits and working with construction management especiallywhen it comes to large commercial buildings.

You can hire an interior designer to redecorate aroom in your house or to help you completely remodel it. When it comes to large remodeling jobs hiring an interior designer will help ensure that you get the maximum amount of use out of the space you have. They will also help ensure that the design does not cause any safetyhazards.

Interior design is seen as an art of composition because it requiresdesigners to bring various pieces together to form one stylish look. They handle every part of the rooms look from the material of the floor in some cases to the knick-knacks on the bookcases. It can often take months for an interiordesigner to complete their job because so much goes into it.

If interior design is something you love then turning it into a careermight be just what you're looking for. While some places requireinterior designers to have licenses these laws vary by location. If you're looking to change careers without taking on more student loan debt, interior design isn't a bad choice. The majority of interior designers get their start in the business by being the assistant to an existing firm or designer.

As with most jobs, it is becoming more and more common for people to get college degrees in interior design. It is a popular major in many Chinese universities. Schools in the United States and the UK offer courses like Interior Architectureas well. Almost a quarter of all interior designers own their own firms so if running a business is something you've always dreamed of you're not alone. The other 75% of professional interior designers are employed in firms of all sizes.

Architecture firms often hire interiordesigners to decorate the lobbies and waiting areas of corporate and government buildings.The majority of non-residentialbuildings you enter probably had an interior decorator, which shows just how much need there is for them!

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What Is Interior Decorating? - The Spruce

So you've decided to make a few changes at home, and you realize that you're going to need a bit of help. You begin looking for possible services and find that some professionals describe their work as interior design while others are interior decorators. Suddenly you're faced with new questions, namely, "What's the difference?" And more importantly, "Which one do I need?"

Interior design and interior decorating are often mistaken as the same thing, but the terms are not completely interchangeable. There are many similarities between the two jobsso many, in fact, that opinions vary on exactly where to draw the distinction. There are also more than a few differences between the professionssome subtle, some significant. As you decide which kind of help you need when planning changes in your home, it will help to understand the differences between professional designers and decoratorstheir schooling, the credentialing, their services, and their clientele.

Who you should hire depends on your needs. If structural changes are needed (such as removing a wall, moving plumbing or wiring around, or adding new windows or doors), then generally an interior designer is the better choice. Designers can help plan for significant structural changes and help make them happen by working directly with architects and builders. On the other hand, if there are no structural changes needed but you need aesthetic helpdeciding on a style; choosing wallpaper, paint, and furnishings; picking window treatments, and choosing lighting and accessoriesan interior decorator will probably do the trick. Experienced decorators know what works together and can transform a room to suit a client's needs and desires.

In the end, however, choosing the right professional depends largely on the skills of the particular professional, not the job title. A great many designers with formal schooling spend most of their time doing work that can be best described as decorating since it involves no renovation or structural work. And there are just as many professional decorators who, through long experience, are perfectly capable of working with contractors and builders in the same way as a designer.

When hiring a professional, begin with clearly understanding your own needs and look for a pro who has a proven reputation for meeting those needs, no matter what the formal job title. It's generally true that designers are for space planning and structural execution, while decorators are for the final aesthetic decisions. But don't be afraid to cross lines to hire a decorator with a reputation as a good designer, or a designer with a flair for decorating, provided their skills are proven.

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Interior Design vs. Interior Decorating - The Spruce

In this part-time online Interior Decorator Certificate Course you will learn important principles and practical step-by-step techniques for interior decorating and getting started in a career as a professional interior decorator.

You will learn: what an interior decorator does and how to decorate, how to develop your skills to succeed in an interior decorating career, how to get hired for a job as an interior decorator, and how to start your own interior decorating business.

Imagine having a rewarding, high-paying job that lets you use your creativity to make homes and businesses more beautiful and comfortable. Welcome to the world of interior decorating!

Most interior decorators are hired to decorate residences, whether the entire home or a single room such as the living room, kitchen, bathroom, or bedroom.

Interior decorators are also hired to decorate interiors of a wide variety of businesses. Perhaps you can imagine yourself doing interior decorating for an art gallery, boutique, corporate head office, hotel, law firm, model home, museum store, restaurant, or spa.

As an interior decorator you will have the satisfaction of making your vision a reality. You will meet interesting people, and because many people who hire interior decorators are wealthy, you will likely spend time in many beautiful homes.

If you start your own interior decorating business you will enjoy the freedom and financial rewards of being your own boss. And perhaps most importantly your interior decorating work will be fun, interesting, and personally rewarding.

The Interior Decorator Certificate Course is an online learning program with suggested readings from the textbook (FabJob Guide to Become an Interior Decorator). This course is self directed, which means you may study and complete assignments at times that are most convenient for you from the comfort of your own home.

This part-time Interior Decorator Certificate Course Online has a recommended completion date of 6 weeks from the start of the program, however, you may choose to complete the Interior Decorator Certificate Course Online in as little as 4 weeks or as long as 12 weeks, depending on your schedule.

The Interior Decorator Certificate Course Online has been created to allow you to complete it without any teaching assistance. However, if you have questions or need assistance, you can receive help from a Faculty Member throughout the 6 weeks of the course. Your Faculty Member is a valuable resource person who can provide you with personal teaching assistance to help you succeed in the course and advice to help you succeed in the career.

COURSE STARTS: March 11, 2019

COURSE LENGTH:6 weeks part-time(You may choose to complete it any time from 4 to 12 weeks)

COURSE TOPICS: See Course Topics in the tab below for a list of topics covered in the Interior Decorator Certificate Course Online.

HOW TO REGISTER: Click REGISTER NOW below to register for the Interior Decorator Certificate Course Online

This all-inclusive Interior Decorator Certificate Course Online package includes:

You can have all this for an incredible price. It can cost hundreds, or even thousands, of dollars to take other programs. (We found courses based on old editions of our guides with registration fees of up to $999 and more.) We are able to offer you online courses at a significantly lower cost to you because of our expertise from almost 20 years of producing the leading online guides for non-traditional careers.

Our online Interior Decorator Certificate Course has previously been offered for a registration fee of $297 U.S. and includes a textbook and professional membership a total value of almost $377. SPRING SPECIAL: This all-inclusive registration package for the Interior Decorator Certificate Course is priced at only $97 U.S. for the March 11, 2019 course.

Click the REGISTER NOW button below to register for the Interior Decorator Certificate Course.

If the course is full, please email iapcollege@fabjob.com to be notified when a new course date is scheduled.

Enrollment is limited and registration is on a first come first served basis, so we recommend that you register early for the Interior Decorator Certificate course to avoid disappointment.

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Interior Decorator Certificate Course Online

Project: Landscape Designer

Location: Kansas City, MO

Date: 01/03/2019

What kind of location is this?: Home/Residence

Request Stage: Planning & Budgeting

Desired Completion Date: Timing is flexible

Property Owner: Yes

Project: Landscape Designer

Location: Lake Waukomis, MO

Date: 12/2018

Nature of project: New landscape from bare dirt

Square footage: Side yard, Hillside

Who will install?: Will hire contractor to install

What is the approximate size of the area to be landscaped?: Large (3,000 - 10,000 sq ft)

Request Stage: Ready to Hire

Desired Completion Date: Timing is flexible

Property Owner: Yes

Comment: We have a house on lake waukomis and we need to do something with the side of our house, probably some hardscapes of some sort as well as the top of a retaining wall which runs probably about 60 feet or so.

Project: Interior Decorator

Location: Kansas City, MO

Date: 12/2018

Project Type: 1-2 room project

Rooms Included:: Living room, Kitchen

Approximate Budget: I don't know

Request Stage: Planning & Budgeting

Desired Completion Date: Timing is flexible

What kind of location is this?: Home/Residence

Project: Interior Decorator

Date: 12/2018

Project Type: Full home redesign

Rooms Included:: Living room, Kitchen, Bathroom, Master Bedroom, Dining room, Other bedroom

Approximate Budget: I don't know

Request Stage: Planning & Budgeting

Desired Completion Date: 3 - 6 months

What kind of location is this?: Home/Residence

Property Owner: Yes

Comment: just moved into my first apartment, and unsure how to style it and maximize the space in my 920sqft apartment

Project: Interior Decorator

Location: KANSAS CITY, MO

Date: 12/2018

Project Type: 1-2 room project

Rooms Included:: Living room, Kitchen

Approximate Budget: $1000 - $5000

Request Stage: Planning & Budgeting

Desired Completion Date: Timing is flexible

What kind of location is this?: Home/Residence

Property Owner: Yes

Comment: interior decorator

Project: Interior Decorator

Location: Kansas City, MO

Date: 12/2018

Project Type: 1-2 room project

Approximate Budget: $1000 - $5000

Request Stage: Planning & Budgeting

Desired Completion Date: 1 - 3 months

What kind of location is this?: Home/Residence

Comment: Would like help staging living room w colors rose gold, copper, w a cream or gray sofa.

Project: Landscape Designer

Location: KANSAS CITY, MO

Date: 12/2018

Nature of project: New landscape from bare dirt

Request Stage: Planning & Budgeting

Desired Completion Date: Less than 2 months

Property Owner: Yes

Comment: I would like to get some estimates for landscaping

Project: Design a Building (Non-Architect)

Location: KANSAS CITY, MO

Date: 12/2018

Project Type: New structure

Building Type: House

Specific Needs: Would like recommendation

Approximate Budget: $10,000 - $30,000

Request Stage: Planning & Budgeting

Desired Completion Date: Timing is flexible

Historical Work: No

Comment: designer building

Project: Design a Building (Non-Architect)

Location: KANSAS CITY, MO

Date: 12/2018

Project Type: New structure

Building Type: House

Specific Needs: Would like recommendation

Approximate Budget: $10,000 - $30,000

Request Stage: Planning & Budgeting

Desired Completion Date: Timing is flexible

Historical Work: No

Comment: designer building

Project: Landscape Designer

Location: Kansas City, MO

Date: 12/2018

What kind of location is this?: Home/Residence

Request Stage: Planning & Budgeting

Desired Completion Date: Timing is flexible

Property Owner: Yes

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25 Best Interior Designers and Decorators - Kansas City MO ...

Project: Design a Building (Non-Architect)

Date: 01/02/2019

Project Type: Interior remodel of a few rooms

Building Type: Commercial office

Specific Needs: Project evaluation

Approximate Budget: $1000 - $5000

Request Stage: Ready to Hire

Desired Completion Date: Less than 2 months

Historical Work: No

Comment: medical office that needs new wall paper, paint, tiling; but not significant structural work

Project: Design a Building (Non-Architect)

Location: Los Angeles , NY

Date: 01/02/2019

Project Type: New structure

Building Type: Commercial office

Specific Needs: Technical construction documents

Approximate Budget: I don't know

Request Stage: Ready to Hire

Desired Completion Date: Timing is flexible

Historical Work: No

Project: Landscape Designer

Location: Los Angeles , NY

Date: 01/02/2019

Nature of project: New landscape from bare dirt

Square footage: Hillside

Who will install?: Don't Know

What is the approximate size of the area to be landscaped?: Very Large (More than 10,000 sq ft)

Request Stage: Ready to Hire

Desired Completion Date: Timing is flexible

Property Owner: Yes

Project: Interior Decorator

Date: 01/01/2019

Project Type: Full home redesign

Approximate Budget: Up to $1000

Request Stage: Planning & Budgeting

Desired Completion Date: Timing is flexible

What kind of location is this?: Home/Residence

Project: Interior Decorator

Date: 01/01/2019

Project Type: 1-2 room project

Rooms Included:: Living room, Dining room

Approximate Budget: Up to $1000

Request Stage: Ready to Hire

Desired Completion Date: Timing is flexible

What kind of location is this?: Home/Residence

Property Owner: Yes

Comment: Apartment in Manhattan. In the process of buying furniture and rugs. Realized we could use some help on layout and items.

Project: Design an Interior Lighting Plan

Date: 12/2018

Nature of Project: To improve/add lighting in existing home

Need for Lighting Designer: General lighting layout, Assist with fixture type selection

Areas Needing Lighting: Bedroom(s), Living/Dining area

Approximate Budget: Up to $1000

Request Stage: Planning & Budgeting

Desired Completion Date: Timing is flexible

What kind of location is this?: Home/Residence

Property Owner: No

Comment: I need to choose fixtures and fixture types to light a foyer/dining area and living area, as well as new bedroom lights.

Project: Design an Interior Lighting Plan

Date: 12/2018

Nature of Project: To improve/add lighting in existing home

Need for Lighting Designer: General lighting layout, Assist with fixture type selection

Areas Needing Lighting: Living/Dining area

Approximate Budget: I don't know

Request Stage: Ready to Hire

Desired Completion Date: Timing is flexible

What kind of location is this?: Home/Residence

Property Owner: Yes

Comment: I have 2 lines of high hat fixtures in my living room. They need to be replaced with new lights that are also repositioned.

Project: Interior Decorator

Date: 12/2018

Project Type: Design consultation

Approximate Budget: Up to $1000

Request Stage: Ready to Hire

Desired Completion Date: Timing is flexible

What kind of location is this?: Home/Residence

Property Owner: Yes

Comment: I would like to get an estimate for

Project: Interior Decorator

Date: 12/2018

Project Type: Design consultation

Approximate Budget: Up to $1000

Request Stage: Ready to Hire

Desired Completion Date: Timing is flexible

What kind of location is this?: Home/Residence

Property Owner: Yes

Comment: I would like to get an estimate for

Project: Design or Plan an Interior Space (Credentialed Professional)

Date: 12/2018

Nature of Project: New home

Specific Needs: Other

Approximate Budget: Up to $1000

Request Stage: Ready to Hire

Desired Completion Date: Within 1 week

What kind of location is this?: Home/Residence

Comment: Looking for help on how to decorate or optimize space in a nyc apt

Continue reading here:
25 Best Interior Designers and Decorators - New York NY ...

I was lost, and in need of some serious design assistance, and that is when EcoChi came to the rescue!Debra and the EcoChi team became the interior designers of our new restaurant. Before contracting with EcoChi, I met with several other designers, but it was not until I spoke with Debra, that I found someone who saw my vision. She was able to articulate and envision how I wanted the space to feel and look. It is very difficult to be able to cohesively design an environment that simultaneously inspires you, soothes you and revitalizes you, and yet, Debra is able to execute such a vision. Its all the odds and ends that bring your space together, and EcoChi was able to tie together these design elements, leaving a fabulous end result.The experience you will garner with Debra and EcoChi team will be such a happy and memorable experience. She is very professional, and she forms a very personal and unique relationship with you. Furthermore, she always promptly replies to all your questions morning or night! I look forward to working with her again in the future!

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The 10 Best Interior Designers in New York, NY (with Free ...