We recently connected with Veronica Ferro and have shared our conversation below.

Veronica, appreciate you joining us today. If you’re open to it, can you talk to us about the best (or worst) investment you’ve made. What’s the backstory and the relevant context behind why you made the investment

The best investment I’ve made has been my involvement in professional organizations. Through these organizations I have gained knowledge on the industry as well as best business practices. I’ve been able to connect with vendors and learn about new products and services. But the most important is that I have developed a community that has supported me throughout the years.

Veronica, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I started my career in visual merchandising but I always had a love for interior design. In the recession of 2008 I was laid off and saw that as my opportunity to pivot – so I went back to school and got my degree in Interior Design. After some years working in showrooms and doing part time work for other designers I got my first big project which I used to launch my own business. I think my strength has been my ability to connect with my clients. My goal is for the end result to truly reflect the unique personality of the client.

Have you ever had to pivot?

When I first started I had a design studio and retail space. I went in with a lot of confidence and thought I had all my bases covered and knew what to expect but was humbled very quickly. I took on way too much too soon. My biggest mistake being that I didn’t have a strong enough team working with me. So ultimately everything fell on my shoulders. And my second biggest mistake is when that happened I didn’t find better people, I just continued trying to manage everything myself and the result was complete burnout. Thankfully I realized I had to make a change before I completely collapsed and I closed the doors. It was incredibly hard to do and felt like a huge failure. But once I paired down my business and focused on one thing everything changed for the better. Since then my business has grown year after year.

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

A big lesson I have had to learn is setting boundaries. Design is very much a customer service focused job. And because these projects are large investments and very personal, the clients can get demanding. In the past, I answered every text message – even if it was on a weekend or evening. I took phone calls and answered emails when I was on vacation. I agreed to meet whenever they wanted (evenings/weekends) – anything that I thought would make the client happy. And it got to a point that I was losing control of the projects. Now I am much more strict about communications. There are exceptions of course but for the most part I have limited project communication to working hours. And if I am on vacation, I do not respond. And truthfully I have not had push back or negative comments about this change from the clients.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.vf-interiors.com/
• Instagram: @vf_interiors
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/vfinteriors

Image Credits
Heacox Creative Co. Michael Alan Kaskel