We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Sonya and Amy a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Sonya and Amy, so great to be with you and I think a lot of folks are going to benefit from hearing your story and lessons and wisdom. Imposter Syndrome is something that we know how words to describe, but it’s something that has held people back forever and so we’re really interested to hear about your story and how you overcame imposter syndrome.
It certainly helps to run a business with a friend because we lift each other up everyday. We are still in early stages of our start up journey, so we always celebrate the small wins. We get one new follower on IG, win! We get a new lead for a potential client, win! One person bought something from our website, win! And when things get slow or quiet, we tell ourselves that “they will come”. At the end of the day, we always have things to keep us busy and motivated. We are always learning something new about home design, technology that helps us with our business, and just meeting new people and learning about their home inspo ideas. We think the most important way we overcome imposter syndrome is to look back on the moment where we wrote our ideas on a napkin over a couple of cocktails. To see how much of that has become a reality and knowing we did it on our own, that is what we lean into.
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?
One night, over a couple of cocktails, we were discussing real estate and short-term rentals. We share our own personal experiences as real estate investors on how hard and overwhelming it is to not only design a space, but to stock and furnish an entire home. Especially on a budget. Sonya once spent multiple nights after work online scrolling and purchasing décor and furnishings only to realize her time had value and she could have been spending the time on higher value-added activities to get her property up and running. It was evident that the process could easily be streamlined.
We know there are many reason why someone would seek out design support. Our goal is to save people time and money. Our shared enthusiasm for creating inviting spaces is evident in every product and service that we offer. From cozy textiles to chic furniture, our business model is a testament to the power of friendship and a shared love for design, bringing affordable yet stylish pieces to homes around the world.
Our mission is to provide a seamless and inspiring virtual shopping journey, offering a curated selection of high-quality home decor and furnishings that reflect both style and functionality. We strive to empower customers and clients to express their unique taste and create personalized living spaces that resonate with comfort and elegance. We help design all kinds of spaces, from bedrooms to back porches. We also design college dorm rooms! At the heart of our mission is the belief that everyone deserves a space that speaks to their individuality (that does not break the bank or waste their time), and we are here to make that vision a reality for everyone.
If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
Amy is a Real Estate agent and Sonya worked in corporate as an Executive leader and runs 3 short-term rentals. Between both of us, we have unique skills that we bring to the table.
The three skills that are the most impactful to our journey are:
1. Discipline – It’s great being a business owner with no boss. But your are still accountable to each other and to your clients. Schedules can be all over the place and it takes discipline to stay the course and stay organized to not only meet the needs of your clients, but to meet the needs of your business strategy and goals.
2. Key relationships – As entrepreneurs, building relationships and a community proves to be one of the biggest assets to our business model. And it’s not easy to do. Knowing your audience and who your potential clients are can be tricky. What we have learned is creating long lasting relationships, no matter if they hire you or not, is crucial to future business. Because you never know who is referring you or talking about your services.
3. Technology – Not only are we in a tech-driven society, part of our business is virtual design. We have taught ourselves to be tech savvy and learn new platforms. Even coding on our website! AI is our new normal and in order to stay relevant, learning the technology and how AI works to our benefit is incredibly important. We can’t afford to outsource yet. But when we can, we are hopeful to get the extra support.
Is there a particular challenge you are currently facing?
We would say that our biggest challenge is the unknown. When there are things that we do not know, we can’t capture data to analyze a solution. For example, on social media, how do we know when a potential client is watching us or looking at using our services? Is what we are selling going to solve a problem for them? We also have the challenge of competing with other similar services. When you see them with thousands of followers, we can’t help but wonder what the “secret sauce” is to their success. We are still learning and growing so the best way we overcome the challenges are to ask questions, get feedback and keep observing how our desired clients react.
Contact Info:
- Website: stockthisdesignthat.com
- Instagram: @stockthis_designthat
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100095400884523
