We were lucky to catch up with Laura Maresca-Sanatore recently and have shared our conversation below.
Laura , appreciate you joining us today. Learning the craft is often a unique journey from every creative – we’d love to hear about your journey and if knowing what you know now, you would have done anything differently to speed up the learning process.
I learned everything about design from my old boss. I started at her company on the financial side, working on making the business more profitable and working on better billing practices. When you are working on the numbers side of things requires you to get familiar with the business, processes and products. I became part of the support staff that would order materials for jobs, work with the clients more behind the scenes and coordinated deliveries/trades. At some point I was taught how to draft and was given the opportunity to start specifying products for clients. I guess it all came pretty natural to me and I spent my last 5 years at that company learning all I could about the design world, asked a lot of questions and absorbed as much as I could before going out on my own.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
Quick introduction… other than me being an interior designer, I am also a yoga instructor. This is something I am totally passionate about and something that shapes my every day, who I am and what I stand for. I also had another career in healthcare for 10 or so years.
The how I got into this business was all by chance. I was working in the healthcare industry for about 10 years and after a move decided that I wanted a break from that industry. At that time in my career I was running doctors offices so I was much more financial and administrative. I applied for a job in a local paper for a Controller position and figured “what’s the worst that can happen, just apply” so I did and got the job.
I think that everyone has the ability to learn a craft at any time. If you are willing to check your ego at the door and be open to new possibilities, anything is possible. I learned about an industry that I would have never gotten into. Where I grew up, interior design wasn’t prevalent and it was certainly nothing I would ever see myself doing. I do believe that my previous career in healthcare has given me the gift of listening and wanting to help people create spaces that are comfortable and inviting. I am proud that I am self taught, that I have no formal education in Interior Design, I am proud of the incredible work we do and the amazing team of people that stand with me everyday to help make LMS Design successful.
Can you tell us about what’s worked well for you in terms of growing your clientele?
My last client is my next referral. I really do my best to finish strong and on a super positive note. I would say about 95% of my business is completely referral based, which is an awesome feeling. We also work hard not to take on too much work so that we can give all of our clients the attention they deserve. It makes them feel important (because they are) and not just another client.
What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?
The reward is in the feedback we get from our clients. Hearing things like “you have over exceeded our expectations” is something that gives me chills every time. When you first present your design to a client, it can be overwhelming and nerve racking. As a designer I put myself out there in every design presented. But when you see something come to life, that’s the money shot. That’s what gets us all out of bed in the morning and that is what makes this such a rewarding career.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.lmsdllc.com
- Instagram: lmsdesignllc
- Facebook: LMS Design
Image Credits
eric striffler