1188: In Good Company: CEO Conversations with Kate O’Hara: Scaling Your Design Firm Part 1: The Three Paths Forward

Today With Kate O’Hara: As you grow your business, you inevitably hit a point where you just can’t force more projects into your pipeline. So…what happens next? Do you bring on another designer? Are there other options? Do you have to let go of creative control if you do bring on another designer? How do you make sure it’s a successful process? In Part 1 of this two-part episode, Kate O’Hara shares the answers to all of these questions. She breaks down the three options you have in terms of growing or scaling your business, and how to make sure that each one sets you up for success. (Then in Part 2, she highlights how to take the space you create as you scale to diversify your income and create more revenue opportunities.) LuAnn Nigara and Kate O'Hara's Ah-Ha Moments “Now you’re letting go of what happens to those clients when they’re in the hands of your other designers. So you have to have a strong team and people that you really trust to the moon and back.” -Kate “It’s all of the little, tiny little touch points that are coming out on your website, that are coming out in social, that are coming out in the magazine opportunities, the publication opportunities that you have, where you are literally saying we, us, not just the words we us, but all the different ways that it actually is we, us.” -LuAnn “I think we sometimes we forget in our efforts to create really strong company culture and to be this type of firm people want to work for, it doesn't mean we have to be the type of firm that everyone and anyone can work for.” -Kate More About Kate O’Hara Kate O’Hara grew up in the world of design. After a decade with the company, she stepped into the role of CEO + Creative Director, expanding the family design firm into new regions of the U.S. When she isn’t traveling between our Minnesota and Texas offices, you can find Kate speaking at conferences, working with our design team, and connecting with new clients and furniture lines. Connect with Kate O’Hara ⁠⁠⁠Website⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠Facebook⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠Pinterest⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠Houzz⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠LinkedIn⁠⁠⁠ What’s new with LuAnn Nigara ⁠⁠⁠The Power Talk Friday Tour⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠Watch the Docuseries!⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠ Get The Goodies! For checklists, resources, and extra goodies from A Well-Designed Business sign up for free ⁠⁠⁠here⁠⁠⁠. To Get on LuAnn’s Email List, text the word designbiz to 444999!

You can listen to 1188: In Good Company: CEO Conversations with Kate O’Hara: Scaling Your Design Firm Part 1: The Three Paths Forward online on Radio and Podcast. Open the player on this page to stream the available audio.

1188: In Good Company: CEO Conversations with Kate O’Hara: Scaling Your Design Firm Part 1: The Three Paths Forward is an episode from A Well-Designed Business® | Interior Design | Designers | Business |Interior Design Success by LuAnn Nigara.

This episode is 57:07 long.

This episode was published on May 1, 2026.

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