We recently connected with Kate Keyser + Lauren Dalrymple and have shared our conversation below.
Kate and Lauren, first a big thank you for taking the time to share your thoughts and insights with us today. I’m sure many of our readers will benefit from your wisdom, and one of the areas where we think your insight might be most helpful is related to imposter syndrome. Imposter syndrome is holding so many people back from reaching their true and highest potential and so we’d love to hear about your journey and how you overcame imposter syndrome.
When we first started Ivy Lane we had major imposter syndrome because our backgrounds aren’t in interior design, and we opted not to get certified as home stagers. In our initial research into home staging, we saw that there were several different types of certifications available for home stagers, but we really just wanted to focus on our own creativity without bringing in a ton of outside influence. This felt like a radical choice, and was one that we grappled with for a long time. At the heart of it though, we are so grateful we chose this path as it’s allowed us to create and grow without limitations. We find ourselves pushing industry norms and delivering looks that feel true to us and our style. We are both people who like to play by the rules, so not learning the “rules” felt like a good choice for us initially. We have loved collaborating with experts in the industry, and continue to push ourselves to become a resource for others in the community beyond just our client base. We’ve found that a little bit of imposter syndrome isn’t necessarily a bad thing. It pushes us to work hard, be creative, and deliver a high-quality product for our clients. We’ve been welcomed into the design community with open arms and developed such amazing relationships with our colleagues.
Please tell our readers about what you do, what you feel is most exciting or special about it, as well as anything else you’d like folks to know about your brand/art/etc. If relevant, please also tell our readers about anything new (events, product/service launches, expansion, etc)
Interior design is such a polarizing and intimidating space for so many people – including us at the beginning. Design work has this air of being a very exclusive community of (mostly) unlimited budgets and unattainable looks. It’s our biggest gripe to be honest. We firmly believe that, while high-end looks have their place, design is meant to be shared and should be attainable for all budgets. The environment you live in can be so connected to your mental health and wellbeing – we would never want someone to avoid designing their home because it feels intimidating from a budget standpoint. We are hoping to show people through our staging and design work that budget-friendly options can look just as good as high-end designer pieces. We flow back and forth between high-end looks and more attainable looks because we are hoping to bridge the gap between these two ends of the spectrum.
This ideology permeates everything we do. We wear casual clothes often, not because we are lazy but because that’s what we feel comfortable in and when we do our best work. We use humor and casual language in our content because we want all audiences to feel welcomed and comfortable in our community. We don’t feel the need to sell ourselves with credentials, we want them to feel like they’re talking to a friend about home decor. Our work speaks for itself. Our community doesn’t need us to tell them why we’re good at what we do, they just want real, down-to-earth advice on how to make their space feel like them.
Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?
At one of Lauren’s previous jobs, she had a manager who used the three H’s as a guide post for hiring – humble, hungry and honest. We’ve adopted that as a motto at Ivy Lane because we really feel it encapsulates who we are as people. From hiring, to bidding on projects, to resolving client conflicts – we gut-check everything against these values and have found that they are applicable in nearly every situation. It’s simple, but super effective in helping us stay on track with our “good people doing good work” approach. It’s a great phrase to live by and for anyone on the early side of their career, we can all but guarantee that if you remain humble, hungry and honest in everything you do, you’ll go far.
We’ve all got limited resources, time, energy, focus etc – so if you had to choose between going all in on your strengths or working on areas where you aren’t as strong, what would you choose?
We think playing to your strengths is an absolute must, but that doesn’t mean you get to skip out on the things you’re bad at either. It’s really a balancing act. If you only do the things that come easily then growth will be limited, but using the things you’re good at to build confidence and success while growing your weaknesses results in a more robust form of success.
This is something we’ve really enjoyed about there being two of us. We push each other and help each other grow in our weakest areas. Kate is super detail-oriented in her creativity and really emphasizes a no-stone-unturned approach, while Lauren loves to push the boundaries with a more laid back approach. We’ve worked really hard to create an environment where each of us gets to excel in the things we are good at while growing the skills that come less naturally. This has helped us to continue to grow and learn, and push for the best results for our clients.
Starting this company has created opportunities for us to do things we never thought we’d do. In no world did Kate ever think she’d be lifting heavy furniture and driving a 26-foot box truck, but here we are. In the same way, Lauren would never have described herself as detail-oriented, but now finds herself channeling her inner Kate and fine tuning details such as making sure every chair is perfectly straight and rug tassels are just right. While it’s not always comfortable, pushing yourself outside your comfort zone is when the most rewarding discoveries happen.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.ivylanehomestaging.com
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/ivylanehome
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/ivylanehome
- Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/company/ivy-lane-home-staging
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@ivylanehome
Image Credits
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