Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Alaina Ralph. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Hi Alaina , thanks for 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 love having my own business and the creative freedom in affords me along with other perks like setting my own schedule. But there is something to be said for working for someone else and leaving the job at the office at the end of the day. I started working in design in the firms of other designers. I always knew that I wanted to have my own business, but there was so much I learned about design by working for others. The first designer I worked for is brilliant at architectural detailing and laying out a space. The second was so artistic when it came to telling a story with color and antiques. From both I learned to handle several large and demanding projects at once and their unique approaches to the design process. There was also a different kind of freedom of managing a project but not bearing the weight of the responsibility of having the final decision. Even when delivering bad news I was a step removed as just the messenger. I can still feel wistful for those days, especially when I have to have a difficult conversation with a client, remembering when I was able to pass that task up the line. I take it very hard when I have disappointed a client, but sometime there is no way to avoid it. An example that comes to mind is a time right after the pandemic started. Just before, I had moved into a new house and gotten married all within two weeks. I had been stretched very thin and was ready for a break, but I was still in the middle of several projects. It seemed like every conversation I had with clients at this time was delivering bad news. Either another delay to something that they had been waiting on for months, or having to reselect a fabric that they loved because it was backordered for 67 weeks (an actual time frame given). Once things opened up again and clients were back to a more normal times, their expectations increased, but the lead-times for new furniture remained at all time highs, which translated to frustrated clients. In the end we got through it and it really showed me how important open communication is to managing expectations.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I am an interior designer in Charleston SC and I have worked on small and large projects all over the country. I studied art in undergrad with the idea of becoming a painter when I found a love for interior design. I went to grad school for design in Washington DC and worked for a firm there for a couple years before moving the Charleston to work for another firm for several years until I took the leap with my own business. My background in art has be so helpful in my approach to design and communicating my ideas to clients. My goal is to create spaces that express my clients personal aesthetic while putting my own mark on the design. I find it to be a personal experience and I have kept my office small, which limits the number of projects I can take on at once, but allows me to work directly with each of my clients.

What’s been the best source of new clients for you?

I have been lucky enough to have projects published in national and local magazines which helped my work reach new clients.

Any fun sales or marketing stories?

I had gotten the news that House Beautiful was interested in my personal condo to be featured in their small spaces issue. My own space always tends to be a work in progress and typically gets the least of my attention. Also I am not really much a a cook so my kitchen was pretty unfit for photos at this point in time. They were interested in the feature without the kitchen, but I felt it would be worth it to get it in shape in time for the photoshoot. Jumping into a kitchen renovation a couple months out from the photoshoot was a big risk since I knew it would mean creating chaos throughout the entire space with no room for errors. I am an optimist so I took the leap! My goal was to make the kitchen more functional and fit in with the very feminine vibe of the rest of the flat. When I found the pink onyx tiles, I knew I would design everything around them. Of course I ran into set backs which lead to those pink onyx tiles being installed the night before the photoshoot. But we made the deadline! The grout may have been wet still, but it was ready just in time. Of all the rooms I have had published it is this kitchen new clients mention the most and I am so glad I took that risk.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.alainamichelleralph.com
• Instagram: @alainamichelleralph
• Facebook: alaina michelle ralph

Image Credits
Julia Lynn Julia Lynn Peter Murdock Alaina Ralph Peter Cole Julia Lynn