Speaker 2 (00:00.344)
Hello, I'm Maria, host of the My Local Marketer podcast, a show that aims to shine a light on businesses, groups and people in and around Reading. This week, I'm speaking with the wonderful Holly of Ho Scott Interior Design. Holly not only shares some great interior design tips, but she also shares some great business advice. As always, please like and share this episode if you can. Now, without further ado, let's jump in. Hello, Holly, and welcome to the My Local Marketer podcast. Thank you for coming on.

How are you? And arch, I should say.

Good, sorry Archie wanted to join us today so he is comfy on my lap. I'm really well, thank you so much for having me. I am so excited to be here.

And just so we're in your beautiful, beautiful home today, which I think is quite apt because you're an interior designer. So yeah, I'm loving this back.

Everyone asks me what it is and I think everyone sees it differently which I quite like.

Speaker 2 (00:55.042)
I do like that. think that's what I like about art though, that you can interpret it in different ways. So could you please introduce yourself and Holly's got interior design for our listeners?

Yeah.

Speaker 1 (01:05.031)
So I am Holly. I am based in South Oxfordshire and grew up around here as well. So I'm an award-winning interior designer, which is very exciting. And I'm really passionate about creating happy homes. So I like to call myself the happy home designer. I want to give confidence to homeowners to create homes that reflect their personality, their style, their success, because

For me, it's just so important. And I offer one-to-one interior design services where I can design your home for you. But I also have my design academy, which includes my happy home design online course, which teaches those who want to learn the skills and gain the confidence to do it themselves how to do it. And I love just seeing everyone's confidence grow and watching them transform their homes. So fun.

Now we're going to go into the academy that you mentioned a little bit, but first of all, you have a fascinating background. Could you share your journey with people, how you've actually ended up here with your business?

Yes, I always love hearing somebody's story. So I would love to share it with you. So I've always been creative. I studied art and textiles at school and then went to university and studied mixed media textiles because I wanted to do something that was hands-on and creative. I then came out of university and went traveling and came back and thought, right, I want to get a job that's creative. What's out there? And actually it was my dad that said to me, what about window dressing? And I said,

what's window dressing? I didn't even really know it was a job. But when I was little, we used to go up to London at Christmas and look at the Christmas lights and drive around the Christmas windows and I loved it. So that's kind of where my journey started. I then picked up the phone and called Selfridges because that was my favorite store, probably is still my favorite store. And they offered me work experience with their window team, which was really fun. And then I

Speaker 1 (03:07.606)
worked with the visual merchandising team and when they said, why don't you do that? I said, what does that involve? And they said, all the displays in the stores. I was like, okay, yeah, that makes sense. And they then paid me freelance and my first job, because I was applying for jobs at the time, was with Harvey Nichols and that was doing the windows and the interiors. So I did that for a few months. I was actually commuting in from Henley and when you work in windows or display within stores, you have to be in.

a few hours before the store opens because you have to make changes when there aren't customers in the store. So it was a pretty early start. Then I also worked at Harrods doing the windows there, designing with brands because marketing sell the windows to different brands. So I was the person that bridged between creative and what we wanted to run across the windows and the brand to bring their vision, the visions together. But I also was a window dresser. So I also

to do the fun stuff of going in the windows and dressing the spaces. So that was great. I then moved to Ralph Lauren where I worked in the interiors team. each store is very different. So Bond Street is a completely different vibe to the Brompton Cross store, for example. So we would design every room within the store or space within the store depending on which collection of clothing was coming in. Depending on the season, Wimbledon was a huge thing there because they

obviously sponsor and that was really good because we changed everything every season from the rugs on the floor to the artwork on the walls to the props that we put in. I had to source grand pianos and Ducati motorbikes for the Bond Street store, had to find chairlifts, snowmobiles, a white peacock for the Brompton Cross store so it varied so much and that's

probably where I really learnt my skills of pulling everything together in a space. We also starred the mannequins and put all that together, but it was looking at a space as a whole. And I think my whole journey has been about kind of creating a talking point, making people stop and pay attention to something that they walk past, whether it's a window or a display.

Speaker 2 (05:25.3)
So what led you to interior design from the window dressing there? Because it wasn't just a straight step, was it? You did your

Yeah, so we moved out of London when I was heavily pregnant with our first daughter who's now 13, which is scary. And I knew I didn't want to carry on working in retail. I knew I wanted to work for myself. My dad had a wedding venue locally. And so I always was passionate to do that. Also working in retail wasn't going to work with a baby. In November, you're working through the night hanging Christmas garland and things like that. I wanted to be a mum that was around. I ended up joining Stella and Dot.

which was a network marketing jewelry business because I wanted the jewelry and kind of accidentally built it into a really successful business over three years, built a team, helped others to do it. And it was great because it was my fashion fix, it was my social element and it worked around being a mum. When they pulled their European business, I was a bit like, what am I going to do? And everyone who knew me said, you've been wasted, you need to be creative again.

I had set up HH styling, which was event styling and interior styling, but I wasn't really actively doing it because I was busy being a mum and doing the jewellery on the side. And I thought, no, I do need to stop and do what I love. And that's being creative and creating. I feel like my superpower is having a vision for something and then bringing it to life. And I can absolutely do this with people's homes. I didn't want to work in retail and actually I love people. So

Being able to really help somebody create a space that they love, I guess is where it started. I then found another jewelry business because that's how my income was coming. I was used to it. And I'd also built an audience of women who liked me to style them with jewelry. But I was networking at the time and we went into lockdown and I was sat there and thought, trying to talk about styling jewelry and selling jewelry just seemed a bit odd when we weren't.

Speaker 1 (07:26.838)
leaving the house, we didn't know what was going on. It just didn't feel quite right. And we were all in our homes and people were stuck in their homes and probably weren't particularly happy because they were actually spending time thinking about their homes. I don't really like this room or I don't really like that space. So it then seemed a good time to actually shift my focus to me more on helping people with interior design. That's then when I found the interior designers hub, which I joined.

which gave me the business training that I needed and I was lacking confidence with to set up an interior design business. So that's when I rebranded from HH Styling to be Holly Scott Interior Design and started to actually focus on the interior design and not the jewelry.

Every step I think you've taken has been towards this ultimate goal. I you've always followed your curiosity, which is great. I think everyone needs to do that more. Is there any advice that you would give yourself now looking back that you think, I would have done this a bit quicker, I wouldn't have done this? What do you think?

So that's a really interesting question. think I've learned things throughout every step I've taken. So actually as a leader with Stella and Doc with the jewelry business, I learned how to coach and I did learn a lot of skills for running your own business, marketing, things like that. So I wouldn't necessarily take anything away, but I think what I would tell myself or what I would do differently is actually just do it.

and have the confidence and start putting yourself out there and have a bit more self belief, I think. I think if I'd done it, well, you you can't change things and how they were and everything has a path, but actually could I have just been a bit braver and made that step earlier? Yes, probably.

Speaker 2 (09:23.726)
think one of the things that stops people is that they look around them and like I said, they get imposter syndrome. There are so many amazing people doing things out there. They're doing exactly what I want to do. They've already established. why should I do it? competition, as we know, is intensely fierce across all industries, including interior design. So how do you make yourself stand out from the competition? How did you develop your USP to, I'm just thinking how this would help people who maybe are just starting out and thinking, oh,

I can't do any things, already people in there.

Well, so it's interesting. think there's two points actually. So firstly, I would say your competition, don't look at them as scary because I think I did a bit more before and that imposter syndrome before I was properly running my business. You know, when I was starting, I was scared of it, of other designers. But when I joined the interior designers hub, that is...

actually creates a community of other interior designers also wanting to start up businesses, create their businesses. And we're all there actually to support each other. And I would say with any business, yes, that you're going to have competitors, but actually, how many potential clients have you got? And everyone's different and people will buy into you as a person because they like you and they like what you do. So I don't think we should necessarily look at it as

competition because somebody is going to buy from the person that's right for them. I am really passionate, as I've mentioned, about creating happy homes and that's, I would say now my USP because I like to think that I'm friendly and approachable and a people person. You are, just say that. Thank you. So I think some people look at interior design as a bit intimidating and scary and for me it's...

Speaker 1 (11:16.16)
not about that. You know, it's very personal inviting somebody into your house or into your home and having advice from somebody. So I really like to make sure my design process, and I think that's what I've developed over time, is really making sure that I'm creating a space or designing and creating a space which reflects my clients' loves and what makes them happy rather than just creating, yes, I could design and create a beautiful room, but if it's not creating the right feeling that you want,

and it's not actually serving its purpose, its practicality, then it's not gonna be a happy space. So I think find what you're passionate about, what your values are, and make sure you have a USP to make you different so you've got something to talk about that attracts your ideal client to you.

We've obviously just touched on a couple of the challenges that you faced as you've gone through your journey. Could you just clarify the challenges that you faced as you've gone along and maybe how you've overcome them?

think every business has ups and downs. There's always challenges. It's always thinking of what those challenges are. So for me, I would say with how you gain business. So I was really lucky that actually when I properly launched and rebranded to be Holly Scott Interior Design, it was during COVID and people actually wanted to do something about their homes because they were spending time in it. So I was really lucky that I had business coming in from the start. I had

a bit of a lull last year, at beginning of last year, I think it was an odd time for most businesses I spoke to. So it's then just reevaluating what's working and what's not and changing things up. So I was going out and networking more and it's just getting, sometimes you just need to bounce ideas off other people. think having, getting help, as in, in the sense of business help and support from, whether it's a coach or

Speaker 1 (13:15.68)
experts within a field that you're struggling with is definitely something that can help. But you know, I've made changes last year throughout for my Happy Home Design course. I wasn't getting it in front of as many people as I wanted to. So I stepped back and thought, okay, well, what do I change? So I made different changes throughout the year to try different things and actually realized, okay, well, I'm not really bringing people into my world, which is when I started to do more of my free workshops so that I can be educating more people and

kind of introducing them to my world.

think it's fascinating because as business owners, especially if it's just you or you've got one or two other people, you are quite isolated. It's you, you're focusing on your business, there's no one else around. But ironically, that's when you need to, as you said, actually be going out, be networking, be talking to other business owners, finding out what other interior designers are doing, your people in your industry, people in different industries. So more than ever, you've got to be out there. So although it seems to be an individual thing, you've got to be out there and be really social.

For the business as well, interior design has always struck me as something where you need to keep up, like fashion, you need to keep up to date with changes and trends and things like that. What are your thoughts on that? Is that something that you actively do? And if so, how do you keep up to date with any changes?

So I go a little bit against the trend and don't believe in following trends because it's all very well following a trend, but if it's not creating a space, know, if it's for example, a color that's on trend, but you don't really like the color or it's a color that's creating, you know, there's so much around color psychology or creating a calm feel, but you want it in a space that you want to feel energized, then actually that's not going to create a home that's getting the right vibes for you.

Speaker 1 (15:04.854)
I personally don't like to follow trends. It's always good to see what's out there because if there's new things that you can incorporate and it's always good to be inspired. obviously when I'm sourcing for clients, whether it's furniture, paint colors, wallpaper, there's going to be stuff that comes up in current trends that are going to appeal to certain clients. So that's fine. So I'd like to go to design exhibitions. I'm also follow social media. As we do, I'm on email lists for my

kind of go to stores and things. also looking at, you know, home magazines. So I like to keep up with what's going on, but I don't follow them.

What do you find the best ways are to market what you do? I know we've touched on networking and I agree. think networking is something that all business owners need to do. Is there anything that you think that you found as well that's worked particularly well for you?

So yeah, networking is great, I think in-person and online events, but depending on what your business is to whether you need to be in the local area. So obviously if I'm wanting to find more design clients where I'm designing for them, I need them to be in a local radius ideally. But for my online course, actually anybody really around the world could join that. So I do a mixture of that. So I've always been on social media, Instagram a lot, Facebook quite a lot.

But the problem is I find these platforms move so quickly so you can post something and people don't see it. So what I have found and also through networking and meeting other people, a lot of more business to business businesses are on LinkedIn. So I have made a really active effort to show up on LinkedIn a lot more over probably the last year, maybe not quite that long because

Speaker 1 (16:52.084)
I have been educated on LinkedIn that you can post content and it will show up for weeks and it'll keep coming up to people. So LinkedIn is something I've been focusing more on, but also going to different new events, whether it's around sales or business related content within it, because actually you meet other like-minded businesses and also getting myself in the press.

So I've had a few magazine articles, I've been in the local newspaper, I was on Marlow FM before Christmas. So just trying to show up. I think you have to have marketing, it has to be like a daily activity. You have to show up or do something daily to make sure you are marketing yourself and your business. I love

that. Let's go into a couple of those points just for a second. So you were on Marlow FM. How did you actually manage to do that? Did they come to you or do you send out press releases? How did you manage to find

Actually, that was through LinkedIn. So somebody that I've known for years, in fact, she was our NCT teacher, does a show on Marlo FM and she had posted saying something about her show and I'd been on it actually years ago talking about Christmas styling tips. And I said, I'd love to come on the radio again. And she said, well, I wasn't suitable for her show, but actually she was away one week. And she said, actually, are you available on this date?

which I think was like the following, you know, a couple of weeks time, I said, yes. And then I got a message from the lady who was taking over her show and said, I'd love you to come on. So I guess it was kind of chance of seeing something and asking. Put yourself out there actually as asking. So I'm trying to appear on more podcasts this year. That's one of my goals. And it's about asking when you meet people, you know, in networking groups, I'd love to be on a podcast like.

Speaker 1 (18:49.633)
Who will have me?

And just to ask you about the LinkedIn, social media is not the I know I need to do more. You do it quite regularly now. How have you found that is best for you to do it? Do you just do day by day thinking, what do I need to do today? More of a recording approach or do you have to plan out your posts in advance? What's worked?

I think it's probably easier if you plan it in advance. I'm a creative, so my brain doesn't always work like that. At the moment, I tend to do it daily, as in decide what I'm talking about daily, but I think you need to work it around what events you've got. For example, I was hosting a design style workshop on Monday night. Last week, I was talking about, you know your design style? Do you want to know it? Are you looking to update your home? I was

kind of marketing myself and talking about that on LinkedIn and inviting people. This week, the doors to happy home design are open, so I'm talking about that. But I like to educate people. And also if I'm out networking, it's about, I think sometimes sharing, and it's just about creating connections in that space. I think it's actually easier to create connections on LinkedIn than some other social media platforms.

And I think a lot of the people that I'm connected with or I connect with the people I've met at networking, so you've already had a touch point with them. So it's just kind of keeping in touch and making business friends.

Speaker 2 (20:14.572)
And I think that's good. think sometimes you just need to start and then increase to the daily. So just getting going into a routine.

Yeah, mean some weeks if I'm really really busy I won't post every day. It just depends, I think you've just got to try and fit it in and even if you just do something small or just do it once a week you know I think it's about being consistent with something.

We touched on one of your goals for this year. You said is to go out and start meeting people more. Do you have any other goals for this year for your business for development?

So yes, I would like to, I think, get out and meet new networks. So I'm consciously trying to go to in-person events which attract women in business who are wanting to grow their businesses because I think it's really inspirational being around other inspirational women in business, learning from each other, connecting, because then you build those relationships. For me, it's also being more visible. I think we can always be more visible.

You know, I'm really passionate that I can help people to gain the confidence and have the skills in a really easy way through my Happy Home Design course. So for me, one of my big goals this year is to go out and maybe educate people, do my design talks or talks to inspire people and let people know about my online design academy to grow that side of my business.

Speaker 2 (21:36.77)
Wonderful. And do you have any tips for anyone who is hoping to look at their home, develop their home?

Yeah, so this can be for anyone who's planning just to redecorate to maybe, maybe they've started working on a room, but they don't feel like it's finished. A lot of the time people get to that point and then they get a bit stuck to bring it all together. Maybe somebody is starting a project and just feels a bit overwhelmed or maybe you're renovating or even planning an extension. The thing I would, you my top tip is really think about how you want to use the space.

and how you want to feel in the space and use that as a starting point. I mean, I could go into so much detail, but those are the two things you really, really need to think about because you need to make sure you're choosing colors that are creating the right feeling and the right mood and knowing your design style because that's going to help you to be clearer, make quicker decisions and to avoid the overwhelm and the worry of making expensive mistakes because we definitely don't want to be doing that.

There's quite a lot of good resources for free within my design academy, but one that's really good to look at is my four essential design secrets to really know the four steps you need to take to make sure you're on the right track.

include that in the link to show it, it's on the landing page. So if anyone's listening you'd like to go and get it then you know where to find it. Is there any thought or key thing you'd like to leave our listeners with today?

Speaker 1 (23:08.302)
I think, do you walk through the front door of your home and feel that sense of joy and feel, I'm home? Because if you don't, then I would really advise you think about changing it. We spend so much time in our homes and it's creating memories for our children and it's about turning a house into a home. You know, we're in a new build and when we first moved in, you know, the furniture and the artwork and everything was great.

but once we actually had it fully decorated and pulled it all together, I can't even describe the difference. I mean, I know I do it for my clients, but I've never done a project like that for ourself. And I was like, wow. So we feel calmer in the right places. We feel more energized in different areas. And actually I love spending time in our home. So does your home give you that sense of joy or that sense of calm or whichever feelings you're craving? And

Does it reflect you? Does it reflect your personality? Does it reflect your style and does it reflect your success? Because if it doesn't, then you might want to think about updating it so that it really does, because it makes such a huge difference and it will affect your wellbeing, your happiness.

Holly, thank you so much for creating all the podcast today. You shared some amazing tips. I can't wait to go home now and implement some of them in my own home. good! Let me think as we were talking, then like, do I love that space or do I love that space? Yeah, I've got some work to do. So thank you, Holly.

Thank you so much for having me. I've loved it. It's been great.