We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Nicole Deline a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Nicole, appreciate you joining us today. Owning a business isn’t always glamorous and so most business owners we’ve connected with have shared that on tough days they sometimes wonder what it would have been like to have just had a regular job instead of all the responsibility of running a business. Have you ever felt that way?

I am thankful that I am a business owner, even though it can be so difficult at times. I sometimes daydream about having a normal job with a regular paycheck and the security that brings, however, giving up the flexibility on the potential to make more or less money is not worth it. Even though there are times that I am struggling and question myself on why the hell am I doing this, I always come back to how dreadful bored I would be knowing that I was getting the same amount of money every two weeks. I suppose it takes a certain personality type to be OK with uncertainty. And I am forever trying to solve how to get more consistency . I wouldn’t give this up though. What I have learned is doing it alone is not the way to go. I’ve always been a perfectionist and I’m certain no one can do the things. I do the way I do them. However, working as a team and taking on different tasks is the key. And I am only just now starting to execute that. I learned how to delegate and realize that I need to make sure that the business is still running if I’m not there. I know that may seem obvious to a lot of people, but I always had to figure out everything for myself. I love what I do, I love to design and build things. I’m a problem solver and I love puzzles. Every project I take whether it’s architectural, furniture, or a small fastener or stand. It’s all a puzzle to be solved.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

I always like to build things. My dad bought me my first toolbox at two years old with real tools. He had an auto body shop where I spent a lot of time growing up. As a kid, I drew a lot. I also took everything apart in the house and put it back together, sometimes in different configurations.I wanted to be an architect from a very young age and I was always interested in art. So I went to school for art first and then onto graduate school in architecture. In undergrad, I really focus in metal sculpture. In undergrad, I focused in metal sculpture. I loved (welding). I liked how you can take this strong, rigid material, melt it and form it into something else, something fluid And then it would solidify and become strong again. During an after grad school, I worked with an architect who is also an artist and my mentor. When I went on my own, I started building more furniture, metal furniture with a mid-century influence. So I combined my fine, art, undergrad, and architecture, grad, and the outcome was Furniture. Currently I practice architecture, build furniture, and sculpture. All these projects are similar to me just different. And as I said before, they’re all puzzles and patterns that my brain Loves to make sense of. So I’ve been doing the same thing since I was two It just evolves in different ways. I’ll do it forever.

What’s been the most effective strategy for growing your clientele?

The most effective strategy for building, my clientele has been, honesty and perfectionism. I’m always real with my clients. I don’t promise things that are unrealistic even if it’s not what they want to hear. I also always give my opinions, even if it’s at the risk of not getting the job I feel passionate about giving the right product. Because there’s always a solution, we design something else or we take a different route, but I rather have it be something I love as well. I do struggle with perfectionism I fight with myself while I’m building something. sometimes I don’t want to give it up in the end But I have to say most of my great clients have used me for years and I appreciate that. And friendships have grown with my clients. Everything comes out better in the end when you’re working with people who are like you. The projects that I’ve taken on that I took because I needed the money or I didn’t have that many clients are always the hardest to get through.

Can you talk to us about how your funded your business?

I started building things for people without any money. I rented a garage for $150 a month and I worked in there. I used to have the idea that I couldn’t afford my own space and that was for other people. I didn’t grow up having money, or with parents who were particularly savvy. There was a lot of love and a lot of good food though, That helped a lot. But I just so happens I love to talk to people, I’ve always met a lot of different people from a lot of different walks of life. And over the years, I read a lot of books relationships with money. And I started to realize it wasn’t that I couldn’t afford a space I just had to problem solve on how to get the space. So one of my first spaces where I really did a lot of serious furniture building and sculpture making I decided I would teach classes at space and that’s how I would make the money to pay the rent at the bare minimum. And if I got any jobs that would be over and above, but as long as the rent was paid I was good. Then I started getting busy and this was a pretty small space by the way, and I was too busy to teach classes. So I put a hold on teaching the classes and I was literally crawling under and over projects to get to the other project. I realized I needed a bigger space and I had the same thoughts on earth. Am I going to be able to afford a bigger space? I actually have bigger classes, only four students at a time in the small space. So I started with the bigger classes and I made sure that the classes covered my rent and once again I got even busier and there have definitely been ups and downs in the bigger space also But since I’m a lover of puzzles, there’s always a solution. I guess the point is I started with no money and I made it work.

Contact Info:

• Website: Studiodeline.com
• Instagram: @studiodeline

Image Credits
I took the ohotos