Episode 51: with Interior Designer Christina of Sun Soul Styler Interiors
apple podcasts | SPOTIFY | GOOGLE PODCAST
Today we have the amazing interior designer Christina & owner sun soul style interiors. Sun soul styles is an interior design firm based in hawaii, and they also offer in person and remote servies worldwide. Christina’s work has been featured in Aritechinual digest magazine, HGTV, and more. Her work blows me away and her style is so incredibly beautiful. It’s unique, has so much character, inviting, and seriously my dream style. Not only are you gonna wanna grab your notes for this episode, but you are absolute going to want to follow her social media! Today we chat about her journey into starting her company, some of Christina’s favorite projects she’s worked on, where she gets her inspo from, budget & charging her clients, as well as so many good business tips that can apply to any type of business!
What are some of your favorite projects that you have worked on?
One of my recent favorite projects recently was for a couple from a boutique shop on Kauai. When I used to come over here, I would pop into her shop because I was obsessed with it. From there, I would DM her and keep in touch. Once I moved here she reached out to me about designing her house, and I recently finished the design process and I can’t wait to share the work with everyone. It’s so much fun working with friends, and also clients who have such a fun style and vision.
How do you get your clients and decide who is a good fit for you?
A lot of interior design is word of mouth. I’m very active on social media, but I recently did a Pinterest course through a friend to grow my Pinterest account. Now Pinterest is the number one referral to my website. Press and publicity definitely help, and I recently had a feature in Architectural Digest which helped a lot. I think in this day and age, having digital PR is really important. In terms of who is a good fit, I am constantly refining this because in the beginning you want to just take everyone on. I think now I am realizing I need to take on clients within a certain budget to make sure it is profitable. I also am realizing that when clients want things done as soon as possible, that is a red flag.
Do you have a planning process? How has that evolved since you started planning?
There’s two options most designers go with: flat fee or hourly. I do an hourly rate, and at an on set of a project I’ll give them a range of how many hours it will take. I like to give clients a sense of how much it’ll be, and then I’ll also charge a 10% fee on items I am personally orders. There is so much back and forth I do, especially since I live on Kauai.
What would be your tips for someone who wants to get into this space or start any kind of business?
If you don’t have a formal educational, don’t worry. However, I think if you can take some courses locally, definitely try that! I also think you should try interning with a designer — you might not enjoy the process of running a business but I think getting experience with that would be great to try. Don’t be scared to take on projects even if you don’t have a portfolio. Don’t ever do work for free— you definitely don’t have to charge a lot but don’t let any work be done for free. I personally went to a Design Camp which was amazing. I learned SO much and met so many incredible designers that I keep in touch with to this day. I would also recommend setting up your tax stuff well in advance. Get a good system going right off the bat to save you time and money.
A special thank you to the following sponsors:
Betterhelp: Get 10% off your first month at https://betterhelp.com/equippedcreatives
17 Hats: Use code “EquippedCreatives” for 50% off your plan
Narrative 10% off: https://narrative.so/?affiliate=equippedcreatives
Pixellu: Get 15% off all plans using the code EQUIPPED15 and following the link: https://www.pixellu.com/?fpr=equippedcreatives
