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

Hi Lieve, thanks for joining us today. What’s the backstory behind how you came up with the idea for your business?

How I came up with the business? Well, it was initially born by the experience of people who pursued me.

It became very clear already in my early college days – you know, those days when I was surrounded by friends and neighbors in apartments around my own apartment – that people would ask me for help with their spaces. Friends would come over, see my apartment and immediately ask for my help. I always got questions like: “How do you do that?”, “How do you make this space feel so good?”

During college I entered into a corporate career, so it wasn’t until many years later, that the idea of home design began to resurface at the forefront for me. After buying and lovingly renovating my first house, I once again found myself surrounded by people asking for help. And since I came up very artistically – my education was heavily focused on fine arts, decorative arts, restoration and art history – starting my own business became an obvious and very full circle moment for me. By merging my artistic upbringing with my corporate experience, I had grown into the strong – and rare position of being able to build a financially successful creative business.

But that wasn’t enough for me. I wanted to build a business that felt something, stood for something and really delivered solutions that were not only highly unique, but also long lasting. As I began to develop clients, I started to realize that I was in a deeply privileged and personal position to help people feel better about themselves, within their space. By taking the time to get to know them, their goals, their dreams and wishes, I could solve for and guide them into better daily experiences. So with that, I decided to build a design firm that stands most strongly on its philosophy and its meaning toward projects.

We TURN style. No two projects are ever the same. I view each engagement as an opportunity to take my clients to places and into perspectives they haven’t often been in. With every project highly custom, I serve as a guide for my clients, helping them shape better lives in their everyday – whether that be purely in the functional aspects, yes, but also in the aspirational ones. My business drives out-of-the-box thinking and thrives on artistry and the celebration of the individuality of people, or families, and the way they hope to live. This approach has become not only central to me, but also to anything else I touch as an entrepreneur. I feel deeply privileged to have found myself in a position of stewardship and I enjoy playing a small role in helping someone get past a bottleneck into something great; even if that is through what we surround ourselves with.

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

It might be fun to start with my unusual name. My first name Lieve (sounds like Leva) is a very old Flemish name, and comes from my heritage which is originally from Belgium. I grew up between the US and Europe and have a lot of affection for language, diverse cultures and geographies.

I am an experiential interior designer, but also an entrepreneur. In other words, regardless of discipline, I believe in creating tangible solutions for people to feel better about themselves through what they see and experience.

My firm, Turnstyle Design, was founded almost 20 years ago and provides full service, highly customized interiors to those who are ready to come into their own. Though I get very spirited with education, artistry and the celebration of personality, I love to take people into unexpected places and make them feel happier through whatever they surround themselves with. Fun fact: that notion continues to spark ideas for me, so watch this space.

Any advice for managing a team?

Developing and working with others is an absolute joy. Sure, it comes with friction or difficult moments, but overall I have been lucky enough to have really interesting and open people around me. For me, anything we do as humans, centers around people, so my advice for managing and maintaining a high morale within a team comes down to a few key things: empathy, education and the fostering of culture.

People generally join a team because they want to contribute. They may forget that along the way – get mired down in a lot of office politics, or feel the resistance of a growth moment, but as an employer, you serve to set the example. By getting to know each person as an individual you can first learn where they shine, but also where they struggle. By providing a supportive structure to help them overcome hurdles, you begin to work together in a highly connective way.

This then lends itself nicely to education; something very high on my list. I see it as my job to show people what I want, what I need and what my professional standards of quality are – so that they can see through the same glasses I see through as we work together. By broadening a team’s understanding of something, you give them a wider palette to pull resourcefulness from.

Lastly, I believe in creating culture. I want the people whom I work with to feel part of something purposeful. What we do may not be saving lives, but we do play a small and important role in the everyday of the people we serve. When a team culture can rally around that common goal, everyone feels compelled by the privilege to do so.

How did you build your audience on social media?

I am sure we can all agree that social media is a tricky one. Firstly, it’s important to remember that a lot is out of our control, since online marketing is largely driven by evolving algorithms. But that aside, I find that slow, steady and real makes for the best growth. Social media is a place for discovery, so if you can remember this as a guiding element, you can create great connection with your audience. By continually bringing your viewers back to getting to know your product and the impetus behind it, your audience begins to feel a deeper connection to it. That makes it personal and places you more top of mind than perhaps another brand in your category. All and all, it’s a slow process and one that may carry mistakes along the way, but never mind those, trial and error help you to better understand what you are trying to communicate and what your audience might be interested in knowing.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.turnstyleid.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/turnstyledesign/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TurnstyleInteriorDesign/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCZPFzEZU3pcm2MMd3oJfNjA
• Other: https://www.houzz.com/pro/turnstyleinteriordesign/__public https://www.pinterest.com/turnstyleID/

Image Credits
Turnstyle Design LLC / Twist Tours