We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Kate Anlyan. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Kate below.

Kate, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Can you walk us through some of the key steps that allowed you move beyond an idea and actually launch?

I worked in fashion for 20+ years before taking the leap into interior design and though I knew I loved the discovery and curation aspects of fashion design/merchandising, the itch was never fully scratched while I was working for other people. I found myself looking for an outlet on the side where I could explore what excited me most: collecting beautiful pieces that I found interesting and special and layering them in unexpected ways. The home became my canvas.

The idea of Yasu Home was born in 2018, but I still had no idea exactly how it would manifest. I had forged such wonderful relationships with makers all over the world throughout my years in the fashion industry and loved the idea of creating a shop of treasures found throughout my travels. It took on many forms and naturally evolved into full scale interior design.

Before abandoning my career I had the good fortune of taking interior design jobs on the side that ranged from helping people source rugs and style shelves, all the way to redesigning a whole house. I didn’t know a thing, but it was baptism by fire and I had enough blind confidence to bridge the gap. All I knew was I had to just start- no matter what that looked like.

Once I made the decision that this was the path I wanted to be on, we charged forward. My husband and I had a small nest egg that gave us some security as I was finding my footing. I found clients really quickly through word of mouth- in hindsight I realize that was INCREDIBLY lucky- and thankfully it has grown from there.

I truly felt that no matter where this adventure took me, I wouldn’t fail. The path may be a little questionable at times, but ultimately, I believed (and still believe) in success.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

Design and the adornment of spaces and people have interested me from the time I was a child. I was a textiles major in college and was lucky to travel the world in my 20s and 30s, where I developed my eye and my personal design ethos: layered and collected with a mix of old and new.

I want the spaces I create to bring joy and comfort and set the tone for my clients’ days. One of the first questions I ask my clients is how they want to FEEL in their space; my goal is to create highly personal and functional spaces to enhance their lives. We will bring the feeling to life using texture, color, mixed materials, and special pieces that will stand the test of time. I want to help my clients fill their homes with future heirlooms that will be treasured for generations. It starts with quality pieces that have a soul to them.

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

I think a lot of women in business suffer from imposter syndrome and it doesn’t matter how educated, experienced, or accomplished you are. This was something I had to address about a year into taking Yasu Home full-time. I found myself paralyzed with self-doubt.

In the interior design business, there are about 1000 ways a designer can make an error every single day. You are making rapid fire decisions that require you to have at least a cursory knowledge of plumbing, electrical, structural engineering, stone fabrication, fiber science, etc, not to mention gathering extremely precise measurements based on a vision that only we see (at least at first). It can be extremely daunting!

One thing that helped was finding a support system of designers with whom I could share. It made me feel so much better knowing that designers that had been doing this for 30 years shared the same challenges every day. The second thing I did was work with a coach who helped catapult me out of the cycle of imposter syndrome. She helped me realize what I bring to the table and gave me the tools I needed to remind myself of this any time I feel the doubt creeping back in.

Where do you think you get most of your clients from?

WORD OF MOUTH! I have been so lucky to have the most excellent clients and I think the reason is that my first clients came to me through family and friends and now those clients are referring me to their family and friends. Now it’s a big network of love and it cannot be overstated how important it is to enjoy the people you work with. Especially for long term projects, you can be working together for one or more years! I believe in a thorough and mutual vetting process to make sure my clients and I are a match.

Contact Info:

• Website: http://yasuhomeco.com
• Instagram: instagram.com/yasuhomeco
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/yasuhomeco/