Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Olivia DeMontbreun. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Olivia, appreciate you joining us today. What do you think matters most in terms of achieving success?

I believe being successful comes in many different forms. But first and foremost I believe success is not defined by anything that can be measured; wealth, status, honors, etc. I think success is all about how you make people feel while you get to your own personal desired goal. I firmly believe that without love, compassion and kindness no matter what level of success one achieves, it is not truly successful. I think it takes drive and passion in order to achieve success. Without a passion for others and knowledge of how your success will affect others, I believe you will always be searching for more without feeling complete and successful.

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

Well, design has been my passion for as long as I can remember. The initial moment I knew I had a passion for design and the way things looked was when I was about 6 and my grandparents were coming over. I wanted my grandpa to think I had a newly designed room so I took a pink crayon and drew princesses on my wall and took a pink floral blanket my mom had in the living room and draped it over my bed. The repercussions of my wall art were probably not great but from that moment I (and my family) knew I had a passion for wanting things to look beautiful. Fast forward to almost twenty years later I realized that making things look beautiful could actually turn into a career. I knew I loved architecture, design, interiors and everything in between but I had no experience in the actual workplace. I ended up getting a job with an amazing designer in Nashville and she taught me so much. I am forever thankful to have learned from her and her incredible talent! But, in one of my previous design jobs I was told I didn’t have enough talent to be a designer. In that moment, hearing that was debilitating but looking back it was exactly what God knew I needed to hear. I decided to quit that job and let God lead me from there. I had so many doubts about going out on my own but through countless pushes from family and friends, and a whole lot of prayer, I finally decided to take the leap. It has been the biggest blessing and something I am unbelievably proud of.

Olivia DeMontbreun Interiors a Nashville-based interior design firm. We specialize in interiors, interior architecture, furniture placement, styling, home refresh, and almost everything in between! I think the biggest problems I solve for my clients are road blocks when it comes to knowing how to have their house feel like a home. Most of my clients have an idea of what they want their home to look and feel like but not an idea of how to achieve it. I definitely have clients who don’t have a clear vision and sometimes those are my favorite clients because I have a little free range to get inside their brains and build them a home that reflects them and their family beautifully.

I think what sets me apart from others is the fact that each of my projects represents my clients as opposed to myself and my company. I strive to create spaces that reflect who my client and everyone who lives in that space is. Of course my clients will chose ODI as their design firm because they love certain projects I’ve done in the past or a certain “style” I have, but overall it’s not what I want because I’m not living in the space every day. I believe one of my gifts is being able to see and listen to what my client wants out of a space and then create a space that reflects that very need/want.

I am so proud of this company. I’ve been able to hire two employees and that is absolutely unbelievable to me. I could not run this company without the help and support I receive from so many people in my life. I am so proud of each project I’ve completed because of the way it makes each of my clients feel. There is absolutely no better feeling than receiving a phone call or text from a client telling me how much their house feels like a home. That feeling is the firm rock I will stand on with this company forever.

Has your business ever had a near-death moment? Would you mind sharing the story?

Oh goodness, yes. There have been plenty of times where I’ve made mistakes and spent weeks trying to recover or even just days processing a mistake. I’ve had to eat costs of items that were ordered by mistake, wrong items, items that didn’t;t work, etc. There was a Turkish oushak rug I purchased for a client and it ended up not fitting in a space due to wrong measurements so I decided to try and return the rug and the cost to ship it back to Turkey ended up being double the cost of the rug. So currently that rug is sitting under the coffee table in my office. Owning my own business has taught me to be extremely detailed but also that it’s okay to make mistakes, just know the repercussions of the mistakes. There has yet to be a mistake I haven’t learned from and I’m absolutely grateful for that.

Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?

Social media is an amazing tool we have access to that people in past haven’t had. I really believe that the key to social media is being honest and real. Social media is absolutely a highlight reel of a person, company or brand and it makes sense. But what I’ve learned is people love seeing the messy. People love seeing the behind the scenes that happen before you get to the pretty ending. I think that my social media audience loves and appreciates the messiness of each project/behind the scenes. Some of my favorite design pages I follow will take their audience through the design process and I think it’s unbelievably cool to see that as someone who doesn’t know what goes on. There are a lot of people who think design is all about picking out pillows for a couch and although that is a part of design, there is so much more. Also, there is a lot more to that pillow selection than most people think.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.oliviademontbreuninteriors.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/oliviademontbreuninteriors/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100089494336990
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/olivia-demontbreun/

Image Credits
Olivia Leigh Photography