a note from my desk....

The Business You're Trying to Build Already Exists.

It's yours.

Last week, I shared how I caught myself feeling anxious because my morning was... quiet.

I had intentionally created breathing room in my schedule, yet my first instinct was to wonder if I should be doing more.

That conversation with myself reminded me of something I've been thinking about ever since.

It's incredibly easy to compare ourselves to the way someone else runs their business.

Someone else's schedule.

Someone else's pricing.

Someone else's services.

Someone else's marketing.

Someone else's success.

And before long, we begin questioning our own decisions.

I've learned this lesson the hard way.

Any time I've tried to build my business according to someone else's blueprint—or followed advice that didn't feel true to who I am—it has never served me.

Never.

Because a thoughtfully designed business isn't built by copying someone else's.

It's built by understanding yourself.

Interior designers understand this instinctively.

No two designers see a room the same way.

You can stand ten designers in the same empty space, and each one will imagine something completely different.

Yes, we learn principles of scale, proportion, colour, and function.

But your eye is still your eye.

Your creativity is still uniquely yours.

Your clients hire you because they want your perspective—not someone else's.

Your business works exactly the same way.

You get to decide:

Who you want to serve.

How you want to work.

What services you want to offer.

How you want your clients to experience your business.

There isn't one right way.

There's only the way that's thoughtfully designed for you.

Let's dive in! 🌊

This Week Inside the Method

This Week's Blueprint Build from your values; not someone else's. 📐 Stop measuring your business against someone else's highlight reel.​ What you see online is rarely the whole story. Stay focused on the business you're intentionally building. 📐 Lean into what makes you different.​ Your perspective, your experience, and your way of serving clients are your greatest strengths; not something to hide. 📐Make decisions that fit your life.​ Success isn't about building the biggest business. It's about building the right business for you.

This Week's Workshop 🛠️ Your Business Blueprint Before you compare your business to someone else's, get clear on what matters to you. Take five minutes with a notebook and complete these sentences: The kind of clients I love working with are… I do my best work when… I want my business to be known for… Success looks like… I want my business to give me the freedom to… When your values are clear, your decisions become much easier. 🛠️ Your "Comparison Filter" The next time you see another designer's Instagram post, website, or business model and think, "Maybe I should be doing that..." Pause and ask yourself these three questions: ✔️ Does this align with the business I'm intentionally building? ✔️ Does it support the life I want to live? ✔️ Am I inspired by this or am I simply comparing myself? If the answer is "comparison," let it go. Not every strategy is meant for your business. The goal isn't to build someone else's version of success. The goal is to build yours.

☕ Where in your business are you making decisions based on comparison instead of conviction? Perhaps it's your pricing. The services you offer. The way you market your business. Or maybe it's simply the pressure to build your business the way someone else says you should. This week, instead of asking, "What is everyone else doing?" try asking yourself: "What feels true to the business I'm intentionally designing?" The most successful businesses aren't copies of someone else's. They're built by leaders who have the courage to trust their own vision. Hit reply and let me know.

📐 Keep Building

Every week, you're presented with countless examples of how someone else is running their business.

Take inspiration from them.

Learn from them.

Celebrate them.

But don't lose yourself trying to become them.

The world doesn't need another copy of someone else's business.

It needs the one only you can build.

Thank you for spending a few minutes of your Friday with me.

Until next Friday, 💛
Marsha

Helping interior designers build businesses as thoughtfully designed as the homes they create.