The Alimond Show
Welcome to The Alimond Show --join us as we share our entrepreneurial guests' stories, uncover their secrets to success, and explore the unique paths they've taken to build thriving businesses in our community.
In each episode, our host, Aliyah Dastour, sits down with a diverse group of local business owners, from the corner cafe to the boutique shop, from tech startups to family-run enterprises. We peel back the curtain to reveal the trials, triumphs, and transformational moments that have shaped their entrepreneurial journey.
Discover the passion, perseverance, and innovative thinking that fuels these businesses, as well as the challenges they've overcome along the way. Whether you're a budding entrepreneur seeking inspiration or simply a curious listener interested in the stories behind your favorite local spots, The Alimond Show has something for everyone.
Our guests share their experiences, insights, and valuable advice that can empower you to turn your own dreams into reality. We discuss topics like marketing strategies, customer relationships, community engagement, and much more, offering practical takeaways you can apply to your own business or career.
Join us every week as we celebrate the unsung heroes of our local business community and explore the vibrant tapestry of entrepreneurship in our area. Tune in to The Alimond Show and get ready to be inspired, informed, and motivated to support and nurture the businesses that make our community thrive.
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The Alimond Show
Erika Bonnell Owner of Erika Bonnell Interiors
Explore the world of luxury interior design with the incredibly talented Erika Bonnell of Erika Bonnell Interiors. Erika's journey from hesitant heir to a design dynasty to master of bespoke spaces is nothing short of inspiring. In our candid conversation, she offers a treasure trove of insights into her meticulous management of complex projects, budgets, and personalities. Witness how her boutique firm crafts each client's dream space with an unparalleled attention to detail, and learn how her team's dedication to their work extends well beyond the clock's hands.
This episode is a must-listen for anyone captivated by the transformation of homes into personalized havens where style meets substance. Erika sheds light on the latest shifts in design trends, steering away from the ubiquitous Modern Farmhouse to embrace bolder, more unique aesthetics. We also dissect the leap from corporate life to entrepreneurship, along with the crucial importance of setting healthy boundaries for work-life balance. In the digital realm, we dissect how Erika's strategic shift toward social media prowess and impactful photography is setting the standard for marketing in the visually-driven landscape of today. Join us for an engaging look at the intersection of creativity, business savvy, and innovative marketing in the luxury interior design industry.
So, erica, thank you so much for coming into the Alamon show. Thank you for having me, of course. Can you tell me a little bit about your business and what the name of it?
Speaker 2:is so. I am Erica Bunnell Interiors and we run a luxury full service design firm.
Speaker 1:OK, and can you tell me a little bit more about what you guys do? Who are your ideal clients?
Speaker 2:Oh, yes, I love talking about this stuff. So we handle larger projects and, again, full service luxury. Lots of times we're handling whole houses, furnishings and decor. Sometimes we are starting from the beginning build process all the way through to the end of furnishings. Yeah, so it's very complex. There's a lot to manage. There's a lot of budgets to manage. There's a lot of personalities to manage, because we're not only working with clients, we're working with trades, we're working with vendors, we have our own staff and employees to deal with. So it's a lot of balls to juggle.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and it sounds like you are a big scale kind of company. How many employees so?
Speaker 2:we are a small boutique firm. We're very careful with the amount of projects we take at one time because we want to provide really hands-on service for every one of our clients. We have, let's see, five people here in Virginia. My operations manager is in Florida. He's actually my brother, yeah, so we grew up in a family business, so we've just continued that rolling. So there's probably five to eight of us floating around out there.
Speaker 1:Yes, OK, wow, OK. And what made you want to start this business? What is your history?
Speaker 2:Oh, my Well, I kind of went, I think, the hard way, probably. I grew up in this business. My parents my mom was a designer. My dad was a furniture maker in Lexington, virginia, OK, so I grew up helping my dad deliver furniture and hanging out with my mom as she's dealing with fabrics and things for clients. It's something that, while I was growing up, I hated and I said I would be running as far from this as I possibly could. They drug me to furniture market and I had to do all of these things that I didn't want to do. Long story short, full circle. And here I am. Yes, very funny how that works.
Speaker 1:That's amazing. And then, as far as hiring and staffing, what kind of people do you look for? How did you find the people that you have now?
Speaker 2:That is probably one of our biggest challenges. I don't know if you guys hear that regularly we do actually.
Speaker 2:So interior design when you're looking from the outside, it looks like a very glamorous job. There are a lot of people who enter into the industry without really understanding what all is involved. I would say there's probably it's probably 20% creative and the rest is the hustle of running the business, managing the budgets, managing timelines, making sure product is in logistics, all of that stuff. So it's not really what people think it is. So we have gone through a lot of, I would say, people who aren't really prepared for what they're stepping into. It's a very fast-paced industry, especially when you're a smaller business and you aren't this large corporation with all of these different departments. We kind of do it all, so you have to be ready to juggle. There's a lot on the line there, lots on the line and we're handling I don't know. Sometimes we handle five, six clients a day.
Speaker 2:So you've got to be able to jump back and forth mentally quickly. So we do. We have gone through, I would say, a fair amount of people, finding the right people. We have an amazing team. Now I've got an amazing design director, emily. She's been with me for about three years now. We have my brother, who's the operations manager. He grew up in the industry so he understands what it entails. I mean. Then we have a few great junior-level designers. So it's fantastic, but it sure has taken a while.
Speaker 2:Yes, it's a little painful, I know that's a lot of business owners that we've talked to here.
Speaker 1:They say that's like the number one struggle for a small business owner.
Speaker 2:Well, you can't grow without the right employees. So I think people have to be very prepared to run their business as their staff, to run their business Like you can't expect to do so much business if you don't have the right staff to handle it Absolutely.
Speaker 1:And now, on that note, what can business owners look for? I know you found the right team now. How did you know? Or what were you looking for? How did you? Was it something on the resume?
Speaker 2:Their personality, it's more of a type For me at this. So I will tell you I'm not a schooled designer, so I didn't graduate from college with a design degree. I have a lot of hustle. I look for people at this point who know how to hustle, who are passionate about the industry, who understand that we are not a nine to five day job. We've got clients emailing us at six o'clock in the morning sometimes because the contractor is there and they don't know what to tell. Oh surprise, they didn't realize the contractor was coming and so we're managing a lot of things. This is a creative industry so you can't fit creativity necessarily in a nine to five little box all the time. So, and if you don't have that passion, people just they really aren't willing to step outside and do what needs to be done.
Speaker 2:Like I said, it takes a lot of hustle to be successful in this business. So for me it's more looking for a type of person. So that's it. Find that little hustle in there. Find the hustle, that is for sure.
Speaker 1:And someone who's driven, someone who wants to succeed, yeah okay, and then do you have a particular style with the renovations that you guys do, or so?
Speaker 2:I would say we are very classic, but with a modern edge.
Speaker 2:We really focus on you can kind of tell with how you're dressed too a little bit Like it gives off that nice yeah, we really try to focus on bringing each of our clients unique perspectives to the forefront of our designs, but in a way that they never would have been able to do it. Most of our clients, I would say, are busy professionals. A lot of them they know what they like when they see it. They don't necessarily know how to convey that to us, or nor do they ever have the time to even begin to take on this process. I mean, designing and furnishing or renovating or building an entire home is a massive undertaking. There's a ton of time required to make sure everything happens, and we're so very process oriented that everything kind of happens in steps and stages as we go along.
Speaker 1:Okay, and if you could just grab your business in three words, what would those words be? Oh my gosh, creative, detail oriented and concierge level service Okay those are good ones, thank you, and I saw online that you have two dogs.
Speaker 2:Oh my gosh. Forgive me, I can't remember their names Frankie and Belle, Frankie and Belle. And right now I have a foster dog named Major. Okay, three party. Yes, that is like my side gig. I feel like I'm very passionate. I volunteer at our local animal shelter so I'm trying to bring awareness to the homeless animals in our community and trying to help find them homes, and it just breaks my heart.
Speaker 1:I know I'm like that too, with like any like. I have three cats, but I always adopt them.
Speaker 2:Yes, it's just so sad seeing them all in there it is and you feel so bad for them. So this just helps me also bring a lot of them, a lot more work, life balance, to the table. I volunteer time. It honestly feels like yoga to me because I escape all of the stuff that's going on on the day to day and I'm doing something good for my community and the animals of the community.
Speaker 1:What are you like outside of work, Like would you like to do any hobbies?
Speaker 2:Well, my volunteer, like I am like there all the time. I have two children who at this point I have a college age son and my daughter's a senior in high school, so they don't need me anymore. So I'm out walking my dogs all the time. I do like to work out if I have time, but I'm probably a very boring person. I love gardening, Like I like my oasis at home and that's what I want to help people have.
Speaker 2:So many people don't know how to create that oasis at home and we want the whole package, the whole lifestyle package inside and out, because it can be so great?
Speaker 1:No for sure. And why do you think it's important for people to have their little home oasis at home? There's people who have homes but they're always like out or they don't want to be home.
Speaker 2:Yes, well, I mean, there's so much to your home, having it organized to function the way you want to live. Do you want to entertain? Do you want to be ready to have your friends pop over and like be set for cocktails and snacks? Or you know you've got kids and you don't want them just walking in and throwing backpacks everywhere. So it really is. For us, it's getting to know who our clients are so that we can really create this home experience. We almost like to call it more of a home experience, because we want to bring forth everything that they want to be able to do in their homes and make that happen for them.
Speaker 2:I really don't think people so many people haven't grown up with that type of mentality and understanding how great your home can be on the inside and the outside and how much you can truly enjoy it. And we really challenge people to think you know you don't live like this now, but imagine if you had it. How would you want to do it? You know it doesn't mean it's going to take $10 million to get you there, you know. But there's so many simple things you can do. There are extravagant things you can do we're happy to help do all of it.
Speaker 1:So what's one small tip that you could do to make your house feel like a home, just like rearranging something or painting it some way, oh my gosh.
Speaker 2:So really, for me, the most that makes it feel like a home is not aesthetics, it is the functional aspect of it. That's something to think about, because I usually think like, oh, it's the aesthetics, yeah, no, like that's just surface. To me it really is how you want to feel in your home and how you want to function. I will say, aesthetically, one great way to determine what or how a person's home should feel is by looking in their closet.
Speaker 2:That says so much about a person, so a lot of times we ask to see our clients' closets because that gives us such an insight. I would be like don't give me 10 minutes please.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I know really, maybe an hour I get that, yeah, so, as far as aesthetics, have you noticed a trend or anything going on right now with houses or people?
Speaker 2:Well, yeah, let's say, hopefully, modern Farmhouse is gone and blah is gone. We are fans of bold color and making an impactful statement and not looking like the Jones's next door, so we try not to really go towards trends. Our thing is really creating that space that feels like you're bringing out your best self. Our job is to keep up so we don't look dated, but we're really not trend people, although we will call the Modern Farmhouse trend gone, trend gone.
Speaker 1:OK, all right, and then if you could give one piece of advice to any business owners out there, particularly small business owners, what's something that you would like for them to know or would like to?
Speaker 2:help them with. Absolutely there's no easy button. I feel like so many people go into a small business or some type of entrepreneurial idea thinking that this is going to be an easy path. There is no easy button when it comes to starting and running your own business. It takes a lot of hard work and a lot of passion and a lot of time, and don't expect to be this massive success right off the bat.
Speaker 1:It takes a little while. Oh my goodness. Yeah, I mean a lot of people go into it in the wrong headspace or they find out a little bit the hard way, and it's just like that's why we do these podcasts, because we want to help everybody who's got those questions, who needs insight.
Speaker 2:Absolutely, and I do feel like I will say sometimes I feel like people will leave corporate America to step into the small business space. However, corporate is all they've ever known, so going into small business is a massive transition, so just be prepared for that.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I always hear that from corporate it's nine to five, but as a business owner it's probably like 24 seven. That's what I hear. Yes, and on that note, I'd like to know how you set boundaries for yourself as a small business owner when it's you know.
Speaker 2:That's taken some time. I think we all struggle with the boundaries. Fortunately, as my business has become more successful and as I found the right staff, it has afforded me to be able to step back a little bit and start enjoying my time at home. I think for a while. There is such a struggle because you are the main person, you're the one kind of holding all the balls in the air. So it's a beautiful thing when you can feel comfortable enough with your team to start taking a step back a little bit and having some balance Like without my team I wouldn't be able to do the volunteer and such now. So it really is a fantastic day. You can also open that door.
Speaker 1:Yes, it has. It's been amazing. Teamwork makes the dream work. I love it. Yes, do you have any new goals or any ambitious planning that you want to have done for your business?
Speaker 2:I feel like always, there's always something on my plate that is like we don't have time to do right now. This, really, I don't know how much of a goal it is. We're sitting in a beautiful pocket right now with our client's help base.
Speaker 2:Our office is in Sterling, so we work the whole area. Sometimes we travel for projects. It really just depends. Ok, so, funny enough, my goals are like can be really weird at times, like what? Well, I want to spend some time creating video training sessions for my staff, because I feel like that's always a big challenge. Like we have all of these processes, but as a small business it's hard to take the time to document those processes so everyone can go to a place and understand. Okay, if this happens, this is kind of how I handle this, so I'd love to take time to do all of these little video sessions. So maybe one day I swear this is like on my plate every year and every year I'm like okay, this is the year it's going to happen.
Speaker 1:We'll see. I hope that it does get done because we just started, that too.
Speaker 2:Did you really?
Speaker 1:Yeah, where we're just filming so we can help any new people that come Like hey this is how we do it. If you have questions, let us know. It's like most of the hard heavy lifting is right there, absolutely and then we're here to answer and do the rest. That's what I want, so I hope that you are able to get it done this year.
Speaker 2:Thank you, and I hope yours is successful as well.
Speaker 1:Thank you, I appreciate it. And then, if you could give one message to the world, you have a megaphone here with us. What would you like to?
Speaker 2:send out. Oh, my goodness, is the message like promotional. It can be promotional. We are the best, so call us Right now. I think the bigger message would be to people who've never really considered interior design or creating that homoasis. In order to be your best self, consider your daily habits and where you live and how you get through your day in your home, because there is so much to be said for a feeling of empowerment when your home is taken care of a certain way.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it's beautiful, and do you have any other message or any other topics that you would like to touch on for here?
Speaker 2:I would say the staffing is a huge thing, the hustle is a huge thing, the determination and the drive. Know your finances. Always have that stuff in check. Sometimes I feel like you can be so busy trying to keep up and then next thing you're like oh shoot, how's the checkbook looking? The small businesses you're all over the place. And it's funny also because I feel like it takes time to get to a place where every single part of your business is being handled properly. You may start. You may not have that great bookkeeper or that great CPA or the great project manager or the legal team in your back pocket if you should need them. It takes time to build that because it takes money to hire all of these people too.
Speaker 2:So you've got to be cranking before you can start really getting hot and heavy into all of that Okay.
Speaker 1:And then, as far as marketing goes for your business, how do you do that? Are you very social media savvy? Are you online? Are you putting?
Speaker 2:billboards. Yeah, that's. Most of our marketing now is online. Things have changed so much over the years. And so quickly. But we most of our energies go towards social media. Instagram is one of our, one of our biggest. We get clients off of Instagram all the time and then we push for magazine press feature spreads and such.
Speaker 1:Like in the local magazines or like home living and stuff like that, home and design local, and then national too.
Speaker 2:You know, for us the best marketing is when people can see our projects, not a, not an ad. We really don't do ads anymore, so our goal is to spend our money on good photography in hopes that it will land us in the pages of a magazine. That's the best billboard, you know. So, between that and social media, that's really where we stick with our marketing. And then word of mouth from our clientele, which I'm sure you get a lot of, I'm like check it out.
Speaker 1:We love it we do exactly yes, all right. Well, thank you so much for being on the podcast. I really appreciate your time and your insight. I'm sure a lot of people will find this very helpful.
Speaker 2:Hopefully this was fantastic. I appreciate the invite. Yeah, of course, thank you.