Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Leslie Archila. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Hi Leslie, thanks for sharing your insights with our community today. Part of your success, no doubt, is due to your work ethic and so we’d love if you could open up about where you got your work ethic from?
Well, I think that it all comes from your home. My parents are not perfect humans at all, but they do have good ethics. They taught me to work hard and dream, because if you work hard and you are loyal to what you do, try to do it the best you can, then everything falls in place.
Appreciate the insights and wisdom. Before we dig deeper and ask you about the skills that matter and more, maybe you can tell our readers about yourself?
I’ve been a designer for 23 years now. I graduated from college in 2000. I would say that 90% of my projects are residential. For some reason life took me in that direction. I love residential projects though! I find it fascinating figuring out spaces for my clients. They all have different needs, styles, spaces and ways of using their space.
The world is changing constantly and to keep up with it I’ve had to reinvent myself to satisfy the needs of my clients. I’ve done this by providing different kinds of services, services that fit the client’s needs better. I feel like the pandemic had a big impact on the way we used to work then and the way we work now, which in my case is completely different.
We are living in a world that moves faster and faster everyday. A lot of people want to see results faster, but they don’t want to wait for that sofa anymore. I completely understand that, since I’m kind of impatient as well. That’s the reason that I’m coming up with a new service that will be a faster process and yield faster results. I’m calling this service “Flash Consult”. This is basically self explanatory. A client can schedule an appointment for a “Flash Consult” where I meet with them for 2-3 hours and we design their room together during that time.
I think that this kind of service will be very exciting for people that are looking to have their spaces looking great but without having to spend days and days figuring out their rooms. They want to move forward and enjoy life in their new space right away. I would be there to basically guide them and show them what they can find out there for their spaces. This is definitely the kind of service that would be perfect for clients that like to be involved in the design process.
I will still keep providing my regular services, which are consultations where I create the whole concept for my clients and take the stress off of them that they might otherwise feel if they were more involved in the design process.
If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
Well, I think that one of my specialties is that I love 3-D rendering. I’m pretty good at it, and I try to make my spaces look almost 100% the way they are going to look in real life. This is the reason that my clients get so excited when they are able to see what their space is going to look like. The client doesn’t have to imagine what their room or house is going to look like because the entire room or house is right there on the computer screen. I would advise younger designers to learn to put together presentations that give the client the most accurate representation of their room and get the client excited about the service you’re providing. You don’t need to explain that much when you can actually show your clients the results in advance.
All the wisdom you’ve shared today is sincerely appreciated. Before we go, can you tell us about the main challenge you are currently facing?
The internet can be an amazing thing, but it can also can be your worst enemy. All the interior designers out there know what I’m talking about. As a designer you create and curate amazing designs. Unfortunately, sometimes these designs are being copied with a less expensive version of what the designer had proposed for the room. It is impossible to stop this from happening because there is always the idea out there of, “I need to save a little bit of money, so I’ll compromise the quality of my pieces if that’s what I need to do.
In my case, what I’m doing is advising my clients on the quality of the products and the amount of money they will actually be spending if, for example, they buy some dining chairs online that they will have to replace in a year or so. Also, the value of having human interaction in this whole process is very important. When Joe and Marcus, our delivery guys, do white glove delivery, they check to make sure that the item being delivered is in good condition. If the item has a scratch on it, for example, they will make sure the item is replaced if necessary. I think that this is an added value that you don’t get when you purchase online, so I’ll stick to it and keep making sure that my clients have that close relationship and customer service that they need.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://
lesliearchila.com/ - Instagram: https://www.
instagram.com/archila_ interiors/ - Facebook: https://www.
facebook.com/ lesliearchilainteriors/?ref= aymt_homepage_panel&eid= ARAy5S8QUalLkmnJ9IHz1Cs9AIgPkS 7SkW6h7oOWrAOs_ 03xZoVpBZrsRp6FwFx7OaMD_tt6lS_ 25xgm
