We were lucky to catch up with Lindsay Crockett recently and have shared our conversation below.

Lindsay, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today One of the things we most admire about small businesses is their ability to diverge from the corporate/industry standard. Is there something that you or your brand do that differs from the industry standard? We’d love to hear about it as well as any stories you might have that illustrate how or why this difference matters.

I have had the good fortune of being on both the commercial and residential side of design. Something I often saw lacking in residential design is project management. While I love the creative side of design, I am equally passionate about the process and keeping a project on schedule and within budget. I don’t ever want the client to feel like they have hired a designer and a contractor that each need to be dealt with separately, but rather two entities that have joined forces to create a team. I strive to build these kinds of relationships with others in the trade so as to bring a calm, ease and sense of cooperation to a project. I pride myself on having the tools to manage the relationships needed to complete a project and the organizational skills to keep it moving to meet its intended completion date.

Whether walking into an existing project or one just getting started, I have many times had to work with individuals that are new to me. Learning how to manage these situations, I never come empty-handed. With processes in place, I am able to present a contractor with inspirational images, sizing, specific details,etc.., so no matter the situation, I have given them clear direction. Oftentimes, they are complimentary of my approach—thus making their job easier and the project a success.

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?

I graduated from the University of Arkansas with a Bachelor of Interior Design from the E. Fay Jones School of Architecture—Woo Pig Sooie! I knew from a young age that design was my passion. Throughout my education, I became keenly aware that my strengths lied in organization and that I favored residential design. My college experience, however, was more commercial-centered, so when I graduated, I launched my career designing large scale churches and schools. After two years, I moved to residential design with a small boutique firm. I honed my residential skills for the next 7 years and ultimately realized that owning my own business was a dream come true.

Working for others proved to be a good training ground. I learned invaluable lessons as to what I knew I wanted to do as a small business owner, as well as things that I would want to improve upon. It became clear to me that I wanted my clients to not only see me as their designer but also their advocate. Just like working with contractors, I want my clients to feel a partnership in the process—-that they can ask me about anything or suggest anything knowing that I will listen.

As a designer, I wear many hats—-middleman, mediator, sounding board, suggestion box, scheduler, guide, etc.. I LOVE all of them! There is never a dull moment.

How did you build your audience on social media?

Part of wanting to be a successful small business owner is recognizing when I need to rely on the expertise of others. I knew from the get-go that social media was going to be key to my branding and that I needed to find an expert to help me launch and maintain my online presence. Ali Berkel Creative has been a godsend! We work together to steadily build my following. Having Ali has been one of the BEST decisions I have made this last year so that I can better focus on my clients and their needs.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

Whenever I am asked this question, I have to smile as I know of a situation early-on when resilience was key to where I am today. Being housed in the School of Architecture in college, my degree required endless hours in the studio—-lots of days, overnights and weekends. I was missing a lot of ‘college life’ and halfway through my junior year, I phoned home to tell my parents that I was wanting to leave the program. They listened and then posed the question, ‘what would you do instead?”. After much deliberation and perseverance, I was reminded of how much I had always wanted this as my career path. I grew up with HGTV, TLC’s Trading Spaces and Joanna Gaines. How could I give this up? With three semesters to go, I finished as I had wanted and have never looked back.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://crockettandcokc.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/crockettandcokc/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100088924881839

Image Credits
Riley Swain with Swain Studio