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
Brenda Miller - Interior Designer & Owner of the Miller House
Unlock the secrets to transforming your living space with the wisdom of Brenda M. Miller, seasoned interior designer and owner of the Miller House. In a time when our homes have become multifunctional sanctuaries, Brenda's insight is more valuable than ever. From her early days of furniture restoration to her role at Ethan Allen, she has weathered economic storms and emerged with a philosophy that marries personal style with timeless design. Her reflections on seasonal decor, particularly the charm of fall, will inspire you to infuse your home with the warmth and beauty of the changing seasons.
Ever considered the impact of rearranging your furniture or how a touch of color can breathe new life into a room? Brenda's storytelling will captivate you as she recounts her near leap into reality TV and her unshakable dedication to her craft. Her colonial Williamsburg-inspired home stands as a testament to her ability to create spaces that resonate with her clients' desires. Her personal anecdotes, including a transformative redesign for a friend, underscore the transformative power of interior design done right.
Finally, join Brenda as she shares her entrepreneurial spirit, with ventures extending from wedding styling to gardening. She embodies the tenacity and creativity required to thrive in the world of small business, offering sage advice on customer service and the art of marketing. Brenda's journey is a beacon for those with unfulfilled aspirations, reminding us that the pursuit of our dreams is always within reach. Let her story motivate you to chase after your goals with unwavering determination and an open heart.
My name is Brenda M Miller and I own the Miller House in Stephen City, Virginia, which is just outside Winchester, but I also work here at Ethan Allen at the Sterling Dulles Plaza location as an interior designer.
Speaker 2:Lovely and usually when are clients coming to you, when are they looking for you?
Speaker 1:Anytime, all the time, anytime, usually. It was funny during COVID when everybody was stuck in their homes and the businesses were closed. People were sitting and kind of looking at their interiors. I have never been so busy as during COVID, because people just wanted to make changes or they started to work from home so we had to convert living rooms into offices or guest bedrooms into offices. So, yeah, interior design is one of those things. It's anytime, yeah, anytime. I tend to get a little busier in the spring because people are purchasing second homes. So I love going to warm climates. So I will travel to South Carolina and all those places and you know I need inspiration with the water and the beach, absolutely yeah that helps.
Speaker 2:Wow, that sounds incredible though, that like during COVID, dark, crazy times, unknown times but it sounds like you were booked and busy during those times. Right, I'm sure there were some like moments of like whoa, what's going on here? But, as you said, people staying home and like, well, let me see this, let me click on that. Wait, actually, let me hit up Brenda real quick.
Speaker 1:Well, it's funny because I have a hard time myself. I'm a touchy, feely person, so buying a whole room or a whole house just based on pictures, that made me kind of nervous. But I did have a lake home in Wisconsin and I talked to my husband into driving 14 hours during COVID and went to that home and I literally had the vehicle full of fabrics and rugs because I was doing the entire lake house Wow, and went up there and spent two days with the clients and furnished the whole thing, except for five pieces of furniture they brought from their other home. Okay, just those five.
Speaker 2:Just those five, all right, and now tell me a little bit about your journey, to how you got here. Were you always like an artistic interior design person, or how did that come to be? No oh yes, I'm creative, but not um, I guess it started.
Speaker 1:My parents started all this. It's their fault. Since I've been a toddler, my parents have been in the furniture industry. I grew up in Annapolis, Maryland. I am an only child. My parents owned a used furniture store. Then they sold that and moved to the Winchester area and my mom got into antiques and my father got into furniture stripping. So he had seven different stripping tanks and that's where I learned wood species.
Speaker 1:I learned how to refinish furniture. So people would bring things in and they'd say, do you all refinish? And my dad would say, my daughter will do it for you. So I started refinishing furniture and then I started doing visual merchandising for my mother in her store and it just evolved and I actually went to school to be an educator and I worked up the ranks and became an assistant principal. Being an only child, I loved kids, wanted to be around kids. So then All that time my parents have now been in business 53 years in the same location Wow. So I've been doing a lot of staging and doing things in her store over the years and went back to school for interior design, caught the eye of some builders, started doing parade of homes, won several of those contests, and then it's just been a journey from there Amazing.
Speaker 2:So they had their own furniture store right. And then they just were like Brenda's got it. We'll teach her a little bit, but then off you go, a little birdie.
Speaker 1:Yeah, my father felt I should go to school for business and I said, dad, you're teaching me everything and I didn't really care about accounting and all that kind of stuff. I'm not behind the, I'm not the desk type. So they sold part of their business to me in 2002. My mother, who is now proudly 85 years old but looks like she's about 50, still runs her store. So we actually have three buildings in one location in Stephen City. Wonderful, the Ethan Allen part of it is. When the recession hit, it hit Winchester really hard and we actually had foreclosure bus tours. So my husband said one of us has to find a full-time job to have health insurance. Well, I had Ethan Allen Furniture growing up as a kid. There was an opening down here where I was a teacher and applied for Ethan Allen, got hired the same day and so now I am one of their designers here at the Sterling location Awesome. So I work 24, seven you do. One girl, many hats is what they call me Just one hat today.
Speaker 2:Yes, Under that hat many. For sure, yes. And now talk to me a little bit about events you have Like. Is this for like other interior designers or is it for clients? Specifically, when are you having these events, these get togethers?
Speaker 1:At my store, my retail store, we try to do it during the holidays or before the holidays. So in the spring we usually have a spring open house in March. So we highlight all the new florals and pillows and accents for spring. Because you know, as you finish Christmas and you put all the stuff away, everybody says my house looks so bare. And they immediately, it's like in January. They're calling do you have any pillows in yet? Do you have spring stuff in it? It's like no, not yet. So we have an open house in March, not yet, not yet. So we have an open house in March. And then we have another one in the fall and that's. It didn't used to be as big. Christmas is huge, yeah, but fall is becoming that way because you can actually leave your decor out a little bit longer. That's right. People started in August, some might start it in July.
Speaker 2:July.
Speaker 1:But it stays out a little bit longer. So we're finding that fall open house is now just as busy as Christmas. But it's just a fun way to highlight decorating ideas and just show people how to use florals and create. I just like to create things.
Speaker 1:I know Like yesterday I created a pot wreath. I've never done one. What is a pot wreath? The terracotta pots that you have plants. And I had a huge wreath and I put never done one. What is a pot wreath? The terracotta pots that you have plants? And I had a huge wreath and I put terracotta pots around it and now it's on the front door. And I've already had people ask me to make me make some for them.
Speaker 2:Look at that already I know.
Speaker 1:So I'm an interior decorator and designer, so it's kind of that's why one girl many hats.
Speaker 2:Yes, it goes together, well together. And how are you marketing all these things that you're doing? How are you getting the word out? Are you big on social media? What are you doing?
Speaker 1:A little bit of everything. Tell me about it. I'm not very technical, you can ask anybody, but I have ideas. So I do a lot on social media. I have Facebook pages. I have Instagram. I have LinkedIn. I have Facebook pages, I have Instagram, I have LinkedIn. I have Pinterest.
Speaker 1:I do a lot of ads in the newspaper, even though people don't read the newspaper as much. I love that, though I just did an ad in the paper. I tend to do the ones that are the little inserts that stay around a while. Yes, I just did one for custom window treatments and generated four leads from that. Look at that. So yeah, and I'm on Houzz. So H-O-U-Z-Zcom for those listeners that don't know what Houzz is, it is totally houses and rooms and inspiration, and I put my projects on there and I have probably, I think, over 70 five-star reviews. Right now I'm trying to work on that. Um, it caught the attention of a couple in in Hilton head, south Carolina, this week. So look at that. They're building a second house here in Ashburn, which I'm like why are you going from Hilton head, but they have grandkids here. So I'll be working on that project but yeah.
Speaker 1:And a lot of it's word of mouth. Absolutely, I think that's the best one, right? Yeah, and I follow up with people with handwritten notes saying thank you and then I'll put referral cards inside that they can hand out to their friends. Because if somebody comes to a house I told a client the other day he was so excited and he said I really want people to, I want people to like my house. I said no, you don't, he goes. I don't. I said no, you want them to walk in and go. Wow, he goes. That's what I want. That's what I want. So if they have people come in and say, wow, who did this? I want them to be able to say, hey, brenda Miller, hand them something, because sometimes you life happens and you forget names and they've never met me. So, yeah, no, give them something that they can hand out. Yeah.
Speaker 2:And I love that you handwrite your stuff. That's like a nice little personal touch, oh yeah. I think that's, that's sweet. We do that too, we, when we do our little thank you stuff.
Speaker 1:we love getting that little it makes such a difference to people it does to me too.
Speaker 2:Yeah, no, I love it Like someone took the time out of their day to write this for me, like something about that, like they took a moment.
Speaker 1:Yes, absolutely, it's very sweet, absolutely.
Speaker 2:And now, where do you see yourself in the next five years with your business and yourself as a person growing?
Speaker 1:I've always wanted to be on HGTV. Let's manifest that for you. I came really close and I kind of. There used to be a show called Design Star, I don't know if you all heard of that.
Speaker 2:I'm not familiar with it.
Speaker 1:Basically, they had designers and they gave them different projects to do. But in order to get on the show you had to do an interview, or you had to do a well audition, I should say, and an interview. First year I didn't hear anything. Second year, my husband walks in, he goes you've got a phone call. Mark Burnett, the producer of the show, is on the phone and I'm like you're kidding, right. And I got on the phone and he's like hold on hold on a minute I could hear him shuffling things on his desk and he says why didn't you audition? Oh, and I said you'd probably never accept me because I was too. I think at that time I was too traditional, because the East Coast is a little more traditional and all the filming was being done out in California, a little more contemporary, modern, and I said I just didn't think that there would be an opportunity.
Speaker 2:No, because, since everything is so contemporary, it's nice to have, like you know, a different. I know.
Speaker 1:And then do that now? Now, the new terminology is transitional, yes, so, um, that was probably about five years ago that that happened. Um, I should have followed up and said hey, if you don't, you know, choose me for that, I'll be a host for a TV show, you know whatever, just to. But to answer your question, I love what I do. I hope I'm just continuing to do what I do and I hope that people see my designs and my personality and realize, hey, she's a fun person. I'd really love to work with her and just keep it going. I just want to make people happy. I want them to come home and feel like, ah, you know, yeah, so if people you know I become a brand, that kind of thing, that would be great. If I don't, it's not a big deal. It's just about making people happy and loving what I do.
Speaker 2:Absolutely, and I just want to say that, hgtv, if you're listening, please give Brenda another shot. I know right, she's amazing in her personality. It'll spice it up for you.
Speaker 1:I love it. Yes, thank you.
Speaker 2:You and her personality, it'll spice it up for you. I love it. Yes, thank you, you're welcome, thank you. And then now you said that you're more traditional, but what does that mean for you Like, is there a signature color where you're like that's Brenda, what is your style? Can it vary? Are you a chameleon?
Speaker 1:To look at me and for people that don't know me that well, they'll be shocked to know that my home is very colonial Williamsburg.
Speaker 2:Oh, I would not have guessed that. Yeah, no so.
Speaker 1:I have the cedar shake roof, I don't have doorknobs, I have door latches in my house, I have all hardwood floors, I have the wood beams, I have the shutters on the windows, I have the not gardens, with 300 boxwood on my property. With 300 boxwood on my property. Yeah, so that's why I say I'm traditional, yes, but most of my designs that I do are transitional. I think this area, you know, every person is different and every home is different, but I wouldn't say I'm ultra modern. I've done it, I do it, you're like I can do it yeah.
Speaker 1:I don't have a problem doing it. If you look it, I do it. You're like I can do it. Yeah, I don't have a problem doing it. If you look on my house, you'll see a total black and white with animal print and all that kind of stuff. But the East Coast is known more for traditional and transitional style really, so that tends to be more, I'd say now, more transitional. Yeah, um, colors, I love colors. People say, oh, the gray, gray has been around forever. It's just that certain people on HGTV highlighted it more and brought it to life and barn doors and all that kind of stuff. But, um, I'm not, I don't wear blinders. You know, when you look at some designers and you see their projects, they're all geared, geared toward neutrals and grays and that kind of thing. Not me. I base it on my client and their function and what story they want to tell in their house. Absolutely, yeah.
Speaker 2:No.
Speaker 1:And I love that, if everybody were the same and be like okay, everybody traditional is out Everybody.
Speaker 2:Let's be modern Like that and I love that If everybody were the same and be like okay, everybody, traditional's out Everybody.
Speaker 1:Let's be modern Like that would be so boring.
Speaker 2:There's some people who don't want that you know. So I like that people. I like that you. You have a vision, you know what you like and you stick to it and you're not like oh, it's not in, I love this, but I guess people that just I had a friend of mine that wanted to create a dining area because she didn't have.
Speaker 1:She had an older home, 1800s home, and I created a dining area for her. And then her friend came over and said I want Brenda to come to my house. So I called her and I said what room do you want me to work on? And she said the whole house. She goes, I just need it different. She said just can you just move things around or whatever? And I said all right. So I knew I was going to be moving furniture.
Speaker 1:So I took my husband along and her name was Kathy sweet lady, and she again had a historical home too and she had things in her dining room that should have been in her living room and vice versa, walked up to a bedroom and the bed was on the wrong wall. So we moved it, made the room look twice as large. It's just the little things, because you live in the house, you see it over and over and it's just a different perspective. We moved artwork.
Speaker 1:So we get to the master and my husband says I am not touching anything in this room and I'm like why he goes. Do you know whose house this is? Anything in this room? And I'm like why he goes. Do you know whose house this is? I said what are you talking about? He goes, go look at those pictures. I'm not touching anything. And of course, the master bedroom was set up a certain way that you really couldn't. There were so many books and so many. And then I started looking at presidents and oh, it was Willard Scott's girlfriend's house. Okay, I was going to say like wait, wait.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so, um, yeah, so my husband's like did you guys end up touching?
Speaker 2:anything, or did you just, we just left it.
Speaker 1:I mean, because there were so many books and he had them arranged. You could just tell it was a yes and everything was where it should have been in the master Cause the TV dictated where the bed went, you know. So that's right, but but it was just so funny because I didn't realize whose house it was that I was doing at the time. I just you know.
Speaker 2:Did you take a picture and be like?
Speaker 1:you're like no, no, and, but it was. It was fun for her reaction to come back and like I never thought to do that, or I never thought to do that, so that was fun.
Speaker 2:And now I know you said, like this furniture is like in the wrong spot. Of course you probably know about this, but I recently discovered this word or this theory of feng shui is that right yeah? Yeah, it's just like. No, the energy is off, the feeling is off like the bed. It does not go here. I can't sleep, I can't think. It's all I think about. I gotta move it, do you, you? But I got to move it. Do you practice that? Do you know a?
Speaker 1:little bit about that. I get a few clients that want. The problem is is, sometimes the rooms don't allow you to do what you need to do, because even now you know it used to be, you had individual spaces that you could, you know, bring in the water element, bring in the lighting element, position the bed on the right place Now everything's open concept. It's so hard. And usually the bedrooms there's, there's all windows. Now, you know, people don't even need dressers or a lot of the furniture because they have these massive walking closets. So I don't get that request as much I used to. But now that the architecture has changed not as much, not as much, okay.
Speaker 2:Well, maybe it'll come back again or something, I don't know.
Speaker 1:People. I haven't had anybody say they want to add a wall. They always say I want to take them down. So I'm curious to when that transition will happen to creating smaller rooms. I did have to add a lot of French doors onto living rooms to make offices for people working in home and remote living, but no.
Speaker 2:Okay, well, speaking of trends, have you noticed any trends currently or that have died down?
Speaker 1:No more barn doors Okay, they're being replaced by French doors and pocket doors. Okay, gray is still around, but it's not the heavy emphasis that it used to be. Still, a lot of people are loving the neutrals, light colors with. It's easier to design a room with neutral as a background and put in the pops of color through artwork and pillows, and especially people that like to change out for the seasons. Yeah, you know, it's beautiful when you see a room in that navy blue velvet or navy blue sofa.
Speaker 1:Me personally, after five years, I probably get tired of it, and I, you know, and I have clients that say, oh, I just love this picture. I said, but are you going to get tired of it? And they're like, yeah, I said then let's bring a blue throw or blue pillows or blue artwork or whatever to bring that color in. But yeah, it's, it's still. A lot of natural wood is coming in, especially your kitchens, not your, not your heavy cherry, but your your mixture of wood, light wood tones and and the white kitchens are still there, but a little more natural wood, okay, mixed in.
Speaker 2:So all right and now. Who are you outside of this world? Or is this like this is my world. This is who I am, through and through, I am one girl many hats.
Speaker 1:I am a wedding stylist. I love gardening, reading, creating. Give me a picture and I can recreate something.
Speaker 2:I love to travel where to the Caribbean oh yeah, that's right. You said you love one place I do.
Speaker 1:I love warm places. I I was very much into fitness, but not as much as I used to be. I used to work at Worldgate here in Herndon, so, um, I used to be a personal trainer, so I've done quite a bit. Everybody says, of course, brenda's done it, and a lot of people call me Martha Stewart too, because they'll have a question about how to get a spot out and I'll be like, oh, you could try this, or so I'm. Yeah, I do a little bit of everything.
Speaker 2:Wonderful. I love that. I love that you're living your life to the best and traveling and getting your warm Caribbean Keeping me young. Yeah, that's right. I hope no. Yes, you have such a nice like, friendly character, like, and a good sense of humor. I love it Like I can just like banter with you all day. Good, and now, what are some of the challenges that you've learned being a business owner that?
Speaker 1:you feel have helped you grow. You have to understand that you're going to have stress. You're going to have to understand that you can't make everybody happy. You're going to have to understand that there are things that happen. You get scratches, you get dents, you get. You know there's things that happen in the industry. But I've also learned that things can be taken care of. There's a way to fix it. It's okay. You know clients.
Speaker 1:I know at one point they were waiting a year or so for furniture and furnishings because of COVID and if something came in and it had a scratch on it it was like the end of the world. But it really wasn't. It was something that it can be taken care of. So a lot of times I took that so personal. It really. I mean, I still do and I want everybody to be happy.
Speaker 1:But I realized I can't stress myself over it. You know that this is not a perfect world. I would like it to be. I would like my everything to be wonderful and perfect when it comes in. But, um, that's taught me to really sit back and learn how to control my stress level. Um, I do work 24 seven. I am constantly on the computer. I will take my computer with me on the cruise ship and I will be working on the cruise ship. That's probably not a good thing for people as an entrepreneur, but a lot of it is customer service, and the more like handwritten notes, the more that you can be on those deliveries and you can be there to answer their questions. They're going to tell people and word of mouth is sometimes the best advertisement for a small business, so the more I can do to make clients and customers happy, that's my biggest piece of advice to anybody in a small business.
Speaker 2:Absolutely. And now, is there anything that I didn't touch on that you would like to get out into the world or share with people? No, seriously, because sometimes I do forget, I miss some topics and I'm like darn, I didn't give them that chance. Not that I can think of.
Speaker 1:I mean, yeah, I'm at Ethan Allen here in Northern Virginia. I'm the traveling designer, I work a flex schedule. So just because you're located in Virginia doesn't mean I won't travel. I've been to South Carolina, I've been to Florida, texas. She loves to travel Wisconsin. Yeah, I, I. I'm not the type of person that likes to stay in a building, stay behind a desk, and, if I can see the spaces and meet the people, that's what I want to do.
Speaker 2:Absolutely. That's what I want to do, yeah.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:All right, and now my last, final question is if you could share with our listeners anything that's in your heart. It could be in regards to your industry, family, travel, warm weather. What would that be?
Speaker 1:If you have a dream, go for it.
Speaker 2:Period If you have a dream, go for it. Period If you have a dream, go for it. Thank you so much for being on the show. That's a great one. Thanks so much, I appreciate it. Yeah, we appreciate it.