We were lucky to catch up with Alissandre Haas recently and have shared our conversation below.
Alissandre , looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Looking back, do you think you started your business at the right time? Do you wish you had started sooner or later
Owning my own business seemed like a very distant dream, I had always worked for others and it just seemed like the normal thing to go to work and put in your 9-5.
I think once time goes on and 20+ years pass by the things you want to do creatively don’t get done or others push your ideas down, you start to build a strength inside that pushed outside and urges you to blossom into something new
I think the timing was perfect, everything fell into place like it was destined to be.
Alissandre , love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?
I have been working designing with Tile & Stone over nearly 30 years, In that time I worked for many companies working with clients plus designing and opening showrooms.
Starting my own design studio/showroom was a big leap for me, thinking I need this big financially back to do so probably put me off for many years, Covid came and all things in life were then different.
I had a new outlook on life and the future and I went for it, It was a jump in the dark that turned into the best decision I ever made.
I wanted Tile Fever to be my curated space to work with all the tile artisans I had admired in my career, to bring my passion into one space and be able to inspire designers with products that wow’ed them and give them beautiful materials to create spaces to last forever with texture, color, pattern. tiles from all over the world.
Tile Fever is a family business my sister and I started it together back in 2020 we worked a year together getting it going, We then had my partner Andy jump on board when things got to busy for us to do alone.
It was a busy first year from designing to ordering the tile & stone, receiving the order and checking it in to make sure the tiles are perfect then loading into contractors trucks it was fun, We could do it all, just two girls and a lot of strength and good work ethic, we got from our mom.
Instagram and our local designers from the beginning supported us, I had many client that followed me through my career and stayed with me. I have worked 20+ years with some of my designers and we do every project together.
Being local in my hometown in my comfort zone with my family and everything I ever wanted around me makes this place very special.
What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?
Definitely Instagram its been an incredible platform for us, designers do a lot of shipping online. There are big e-commerce tile companies that you can buy from but it takes away from companies like ours that supports small & local vendors.
Instagram lets us show our tiles and our projects, and it reaches to the end of the earth.
We get may requests and messages from all over, its nice to have the support and following.
Can you tell us about what’s worked well for you in terms of growing your clientele?
Offering the most amazing and thoughtful appointment while approaching each project with a fresh inspiration. designing from the heart. Treating our clients as we would hope to be treated. Understanding that other tile experiences may have not been as fun or creative.
I recently went on a tile inspiration trip to New York and every shop I went into So very few actually lifted there head above the computer screen to say hello can I help you.
You need interaction and that’s what we do, We pull it all out, we get people excited about picking there tile.
I take time to hear about the project and ask as many important questions before making any selections with the client. There are so many types of projects that we work on. This makes the appointment so much more effective and saves time.
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Image Credits
Melissa Pergerson