We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Laura Medicus a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Laura, thanks for joining us today. Can you talk to us about a risk you’ve taken – walk us through the story?

I was working for another designer and not at all happy in the job. My mom said, “Why don’t you just open your own company?” After I laughed and said yeah right and then laughed again, she said, “No really, what’s the worst that could happen? You find out it’s not for you and just get another job.”
That resonated with me and I realized it’s pretty easy to file for an LLC, and then realized that my job doesn’t have a lot of overhead. This is something I can operate out of my home and I definitely knew how to do almost all of it.
Sometimes you need someone to just ask you – what’s the worst that could happen? If you’re okay with the worst, then what’s stopping you?

Laura, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I have a degree in Interior Design from Florida State. I always knew I wanted to be an Interior Designer and initially thought, after graduating, that I would enjoy the world of healthcare design. I moved to New York City, got a job at a big firm and then realized that I absolutely hated it. I hated the corporate structure of a large company, hated the hours that were mandatory in a fast moving Manhattan firm, and was bored by the repetition of big healthcare. After about 3 years of that I switched to high end residential and never looked back.
Making the move from NYC to Colorado was a difficult transition. The clientele I had in Manhattan had drastically different budgets than the Colorado folks (at the small company I worked for anyway) and after the adjustment period I really grew to love working closely with clients on their homes.
I love older homes and really love helping people live longer in these homes and feel proud of the house they own. I love getting to know my clients and how they live in their space. I view what I do as a collaboration between myself, the clients, the general contractor and the tradespeople. I love nothing more than someone throwing out an idea at a meeting and the rest of us loving it and running with it. People, serendipity and the homes bring me joy on a daily basis.

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

Building a strong relationship with General Contractors and Architects has been a blessing for my business more so than client referrals. The best projects I’ve had have come through an architect or a GC referral. I’ve learned that while client referrals are nice, they don’t typically lead to the type of project I’m looking for. I’ve had a few very good clients find me on social media but the majority that come through social media aren’t a good fit.

How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?

Consistency and doing the work is key. Answering phone calls, emails and texts in a timely fashion from General Contractors, Clients, Sub-contractors all lead to me not holding up a project. When you’re there and present every day, people know they can rely on you. Being consistent with your work, your timing, how quickly you can respond to a situation and a job site helps move the project along. Talent is great, but consistency will get you there in the long run.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.lauramedicusinteriors.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lauramedicus/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lauramedicusinteriors/

Image Credits

Jordan Katz