Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Kim Myles. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Kim, appreciate you joining us today. What’s one of the most important lessons you learned in school?
I attended theater conservatory (PCPA) for my A.A. degree at age 20, and was taught how to parse competition and ignore imposter syndrome.
Here’s the lesson:
If there are ten people in an audition waiting room, five of them will be generally unprepared. This leaves five ‘actual’ competitors, and of them, two will be wrong for the job. Which leaves only three competitors, and one of them is might bomb the audition, while the other is just trash at acting. Which means that of the original ten competitors, only ONE is your true competition and one is a VERY manageable number – SO beatable! This mental calculation has lead to some of my biggest professional successes. It informs how I handle almost all aspects of my seat at the table. It allows me to ‘do me’, while zapping my insecurities and doubts down into bite-sized pieces. I waste zero time worrying about what’s happening ‘over there’, and am able to focus completely on nailing my deliverables.
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?
In 2007, I won HGTV’s Design Star (a reality design competition) and have been bringing my passion for design to TV ever since. Currently, you can watch me on ‘Battle on the Mountain’ (MAX). I own Kim Myles Studios, Inc, (www.kimmyles.com) which provides design and entertainment services. I’m a self-taught artist and designer, and I think that was one of my great advantages when I was starting out – I broke rules because I didn’t know they existed. To this day, I’m deeply proud of the fact that there’s no such thing as a ‘Kim Myles Look’. My designs are entirely focused on the people that will be inhabiting the space, not my own agenda. I consider myself a ‘style-whisperer’ in this way – able to connect deeply with people in order to help them amplify their own loves and aesthetic. It’s collaborative, creative, messy and rewarding – fulfilling.
Over the years, I’ve created best-selling DIY tools, worked with entertainment and corporate partners (WBD, HGTV, OWN, Better Homes & Gardens, Chevrolet), and even won a Daytime Emmy. In 2021, I created, executive-produced and starred in the show ‘High Design’ on Discovery+, which is a trail-blazing, cross-country cannabis dispensary makeover show. As a cannabis advocate (www.cannabismediacouncil.com) I’m so proud to have been the first to unite the worlds of TV makeover and weed, and to have served my fellow small business community members in this way. We all have gifts to offer each other, and I feel so grateful that I’ve been able to create a life and business that lets me share mine.
What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?
I got my start as a reality star, and the lifespan of that job is approximately five minutes. Yet here I am, seventeen years later, still working as a host, designer and creator. I’d love to say it’s all talent and good looks;), but I believe my longevity is directly attributable to my sterling reputation — which I continue to actively earn. (Insider tip: reputations are living, breathing things that depend on solid relationships. If you’re doing it right, you’re never ‘done’ earning yours.) Whether I’m the employee or the boss, I show up early, leave late/last and bring a collaborator’s inquisitive attitude to each workday. I am always learning from the people I work with. I communicate directly and clearly, and I never forget that my contribution doesn’t happen in a vacuum. It sounds cliche, but attitude is everything. In my experience, ego is project poison. Being ‘The Big Shot’ is not the same thing as being ‘The Boss’, so whoever you are, whatever you’re creating: join the team, rally the team, do the work.
Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?
The learning and adjusting never, ever ends! At the beginning of this year, I had to pivot an entire vertical of my company. The initial roll-out of NYC recreational cannabis was a boom, and my partner and I had 5 projects lined up/ready to go. But then, the state roll-out went bust, and our clients suddenly did not have the capital for both the regulatory bullshit as well as our design fees. Months of expanding our infrastructure, building client relationships, developing proposals and contracts….WORK! Income! It just went away. I’ve learned to embrace change – not because I love it, but because I can’t do anything about it. Starting out, this kind of sudden shift in the market would have been really hard for me to shrug off, but I pivot much more quickly and calmly now. I throw myself a proper pity party, and then I make non-emotional decisions about how to proceed. I ended up shuttering the full-service cannabis design vertical, and pivoting to consulting in that space (which is still slow, tbh). Such is the life of an entrepreneur — fail fast, keep it moving. At this point in the game, I’m fully committed to having a rollercoaster for a career, so I don’t fight the dips that set up the peaks – I just take the ride.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.kimmyles.com
- Instagram: @kimmylesdesign
