We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Christopher Charles Evans. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Christopher Charles below.
Christopher Charles, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Let’s talk legacy – what sort of legacy do you hope to build?
My hope is that my legacy will be one of excellence in interior design, creatively forward design thinking, and a world recognized interior design influence.
Christopher Charles, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
I started my interior design journey in 2003. At the time, I was working in the oil and gas industry as an accountant. I was doing interior design part-time, on my days off and the weekends. The scope of the projects was limited to decor, furniture sourcing, color consultations, and space planning. In 2009 while working at my accounting position, I had a stroke at my desk. I took a medical leave of absence and during that time I decided to start the process of transitioning to interior design full time. In 2010, I registered my business, and then in 2013, I applied for an LLC designation for the business.
I continued to work as an accountant and simultaneously grow my interior design business with an increasing number of projects with an ever-growing scope of work. In 2015 I tenured my resignation at the oil and gas company and jumped into the interior design field full time.
My design firm provides design services for clients with great taste, a keen eye for detail, and a penchant for swoon-worthy finishes. In addition, the vast majority of our clients are quite busy and want a designer and process that they feel completely comfortable giving full autonomy.
My business is the business of problem-solving. We solve issues surrounding aesthetics, color palette, style, functionality, and space planning. We also aid clients in decluttering, organizing, and art procurement. I consider our firm to be a boutique type of firm with “white glove” service. What sets us apart from others is the intentionality and intensity of our commitment to the design process and finished design. The client’s experience with the process needs to be as spectacular and enjoyable as the final design reveal. The spaces we take on are treated as our own until we turn them over to the client.
I find myself most proud of the trust that clients develop with us throughout a project. Clients become friends and in some cases, they become like family. It may not be the most apropos part of our business model, but it works for us! These are merely spaces that we are designing, these are environments that individuals, couples, and families will live, love, laugh, and possibly even cry in. These spaces need to support and underpin all the phases and moments of our clients’ lives.
The most important takeaway for potential clients, followers, and fans concerning our firm is that our passion for excellence in interior design is unmatched and unfettered. We strive to have our brand recognized for being uncompromising and trustworthy with a singular loyalty to the client. Lastly, we are dedicated to creating a body of work and experiences with our design process that results in joy and saturated satisfaction.
We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.
The first two years of full-time interior design were not kind in regard to consistent projects. I had always had wonderful repeat clients, however, new clients and projects were difficult to procure. I invested thousands and thousands of dollars into organizations and marketing programs that garnered very minimum return on my investment. I struggled with the fear that I would have to return to corporate accounting. Every time I would prepare myself to send out a resume or enlist the services of a recruiting agency, I would get a design project lead or a former client would reach out to me for additional work. These instances kept me encouraged and sustained the business during very uncertain times in the business.
I was able to use the lull times in the business to revamp my design processes, re-work contracts and re-imagine what my interior design business would like and how I would present it to the public. It turns out that the downtime in projects was a huge benefit to me on a personal level and to the business at a bottom-line level.
With an invigorated zeal for interior design and a sharper and clearer vision for the business, I was able to become laser-focused on my design point of view and identifying my ideal clients. Ironically, I increased my rates and increased the stringency of vetting potential projects. My focus was redirected from attempting to take on every project presented to me to only taking on projects where the client and I had a great collective vision for their space.
How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?
I believe what has helped build my reputation within the interior design industry is an unyielding loyalty to my clients. In particular with projects that require construction and numerous general contractors, trades, and subcontractors, clients have to not only feel but know that someone has made their best interest, needs, and wants paramount. Without fail, our clients always comment on the apex of loyalty they not only felt but were able to witness during the design process. The intentional personal investment into a client’s project is certainly the main character of our firm. This personal investment into every project can be exhausting and stressful, but that pales in comparison to the financial and emotional investments that clients make when trusting us to create their dream spaces.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.christophercharlesinteriors.net
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/christophercharlesinteriors/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/christophercharlesinteriorsII/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/christopher-evans-5a06aa177/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/CCIIndigoREDllc
Image Credits
Laurie Perez Aaron Dougherty Josh Gremillion