Episode 61 - Amanda Maday: Blending Brands and Emotions in Design - A Curious Builder Insight
Episode #61 | Amanda Maday | Blending Brands and Emotions in Design
In this engaging episode of The Curious Builder, host Mark Williams chats with Amanda Maday from Studio Grey about her journey navigating the tricky waters of both commercial and residential design. They dive into the emotional connections and challenges specific to each field, with Amanda sharing insights from her TV experiences on "Rock the Block" to how these have amplified her design firm's visibility. Don’t miss their discussion on the vital role of understanding client budgets and maintaining creativity within those constraints, all while making the design process enjoyable and personal for every client.
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About Amanda Maday
As the founder and Design Director of Studio Grey, Amanda uses her 20+ years of interior design experience to create and develop commercial spaces such as restaurants, hotels, mixed-use, multi-family, and workplace with a brand focus. She understands the important influence a brand has on its interior and exterior environments to enhance the user experience. Amanda received an accreditation in LEED building practices in 2009. Company awards include IIDA Commercial Design & FAB Awards winner for restaurants, ASID award for Best in Show-Commercial & 1st Place-Commercial restaurant design, NEWH Top Interior Design Firm 2023 and 2024.
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Mark D. Williams
Today we had Amanda Mayday on the podcast. And it was just a real joy to have her on. We had met maybe six, seven months ago. And she is a phenomenal talent and her team in the commercial design space, we talked a little bit about her background being in reality TV and HGTV, and they just wrapped up season five of Rock The Block and so just kind of more of a side thing, great for expanding her network across the country. But we spent most of the podcast talking about brand and hospitality. And I we really dove deep on those two topics. And so I think if you are looking to sort of understand that your own brand of your own company and what that might mean to attract your clients, as well as just kind of open up your mind to maybe spend more time thinking about your brand. I think you're gonna really find a lot of value in this episode. So without further ado, here's the curious builder podcast. Welcome to the curious builder Podcast. I'm Mark Williams, your host today I am joined with Amanda Mayday, from Studio gray. Welcome, Amanda.
Unknown Speaker 0:58
Thank you. Thank you. And yes, you said it right. It's very good. Laughing
Mark D. Williams<br> 1:02
before we started to hear that it's about it looks like it's spelled ma da or my day and you're like, Nope, it's made a drum Island, you know, write that in the sand.
Unknown Speaker 1:09
Exactly. They won't notice stop. Actually just notice in the paper.
Mark D. Williams<br> 1:13
I think it was a week ago where someone wrote aid or help in the sand out of fern leaves. And it was this island. And I guess this island is notorious for people going fishing and getting stranded getting stranded like they picked up people here fairly regular.
Speaker 1 1:29
Okay. All right. Well, I think I would spell help anyways, just because it's a little bit shorter. So let's go
Mark D. Williams<br> 1:34
together. Which I don't even know what it stands for. Well, this pug legs starting off great,
Unknown Speaker 1:39
you know, bring a daiquiri or something like that.
Mark D. Williams<br> 1:42
If you knew you're gonna get lost. I mean, maybe you want to bring us on? Yeah. Well, let's talk a little bit about studio gray. You had reached out to me last summer, I think I toured your new facility. Yeah, already. I mean, time goes by.
Unknown Speaker 1:55
Yeah, almost a year ago. Now.
Mark D. Williams<br> 1:56
Tell us a little bit about what studio gray is and what you do. And then let's dive a little into your history because you have a very robust background that I'm very excited to get into before we get into what you're doing today. Yeah,
Speaker 1 2:08
studio gray. We're a commercial hospitality designer. So we focus on anything from restaurants, lodging, hotels, to workplace retail multifamily, kind of all the commercial design projects. So we are an architectural designer working with clients to you know, start from floor plans all the way through construction, and through, you know, them opening the doors. And so we're a small boutique firm, that really just kind of dives into more of the creative side of design definitely focuses on more of this high end look, no matter what your budget is. So we we get to kind of do all different types of projects in that commercial field. That's
Mark D. Williams<br> 2:47
amazing. I want to talk a lot about that. And before we kind of dive into the meat of that, give us a little bit more of your backstory. I was reading a little bit on your website, your 12 years as a designer, and I'll just read this because there's so many for multiple design shows, you know, Rock The Block, bath Crashers, house crashers kitchen Crashers, there's a lot of crashing going on in the design here. Blog cabin, America's most desperate kitchens and rustic Reno, basically, actually, I'm glad the podcast started out with Mayday you had the perfect name, it sounds like you were a rescuer to these disasters. Is that about some Oh, well,
Speaker 1 3:18
I mean, I guess maybe almost. Yeah, it is kind of funny. I was working as a commercial designer, you know, it's my my full time job and was reached out to by an old kind of elementary school friend. And she was saying they needed a designer for their crash or series. And I was like, Okay, I'll give it a shot. I can do it on the side, you know, what does it all entail? And it's fast. I mean, they're really fast from, you know, design through to the actual build, which, you know, doesn't please take place in five days, you know, it's a week, but that's still crazy. It's all the prep work ahead of time, that is just insane. And so it did one episode and I fell in love with it. You know, I was like, This is so interesting getting to see that like behind the scenes sort of field of you know, production design and TV is just on a whole nother level. It was just really fun and unique. And you you make good friends, I think with the the crew there pretty quickly, because you're in it all day long. It's stressful. And so yeah, I think it was 13 seasons later with that, that specific show, and then just met some of the producers and they recommended me to more and more television shows. And I don't know they're fun. So I would call it more of a hobby, if I could call it that. Just to know, it's not what we do all day long. But whenever we get the call, we're like, oh, well, we haven't done one in a while. It's kind of fun. It's quick. Let's see what we have, you know, the bandwidth for
Mark D. Williams<br> 4:47
Tell me a little bit about I think just I think a lot of people would glamorize you know the HD TVs and I know just talking to some other people that have been there's very little that's glamorous about it sounds and correct me if I'm wrong. So I want to hear you talk a little bit about But, you know, it doesn't pay? Well, it's a lot of work. It's very stressful. And yet people still sort of clamor to do it. Is it because you're going to get future work? It's a reputation builder? Like, why do it? I mean, first of all, is my is my statements. Are those accurate?
Speaker 1 5:15
I would say yes. 100% Yeah, it's no mean to each their own, everyone has kind of a different agenda for it. But for myself, and my company, specifically, it was to kind of meet new people on a national level. So some of these shows were in California, some in Washington, so I was getting to travel all over and meet people, different construction crews, different producers, just different business owners in all different parts of the country. And so it was really a strategy about just trying to, you know, market ourselves a little bit more on a higher level than just locally. And getting to do design work that technically doesn't have a client is like the best thing ever. So if I don't get paid as much to do it, but I can explore new ideas and new things and new, you know, possibilities that maybe someone would hesitate on as a homeowner or whatever it is, you can kind of like take some of those liberties and stretch the boundaries a little bit more. So it was like a good training exercise or just explorative you know, design work to really see what worked well. And looking
Mark D. Williams<br> 6:18
back, would you a do it again? And be? How many years has it been since your last show?
Speaker 1 6:23
We just finished one Rock The Block season five, just finished airing. So we were done in November of last year?
Mark D. Williams<br> 6:32
That was my question isn't gonna apply? Like, if you go back to beginning to change something, you're still in it?
Speaker 1 6:37
Well, you can still ask that question. I think the last season love the crew love the group that keeps asking us back, it was very stressful, just with the time like we were just behind on the build. And so everyone was just stressed because in TV, there is no tomorrow, like it is today. And it needs to happen now. And just the the crew and the talent, the onscreen designers, like everyone just was really feeling the stress of it all. So I think we need a break after that one. But it's a Never Say Never idea. And
Mark D. Williams<br> 7:06
from a relationship building standpoint, I have to imagine the people you've met. And after 13 years of doing it, I assume it's translated into studio gray in not only your repertoire, but probably the connections and future jobs. I mean, has it been a major feeder for sales? Or how have how have you benefited? Other than it's obviously your innovation and all the, you know, design creativity that you get to have which alone is great. But I'm guessing you've gotten a lot more out of it as a whole. Is that accurate?
Speaker 1 7:37
I think so. I mean, I guess I'd have to really look back and see kind of what transpired from that. I think for the residential design that we we do is kind of been people see that we've done TV are like, Oh, that's so awesome. And so it kind of might persuade people to Yes, you know, if it's between you studio gray and another firm or something, and they might think they've done TV work, I can see all this work that they've done on all different scales, it kind of tipped the scales in our direction. I think it's more of just a people love to see T V on there. And so they just think it's kind of a cool nod. It's a fun story behind it. And I think with just some of the groups that I still talk with, it's more like, Hey, if you know somebody out here looking to do a, you know, hotel renovation or something, have them give us a call. So I think it's just being able to have those different colleagues in different states will benefit us in the long run.
Mark D. Williams<br> 8:32
Well, let's, let's so yeah, I guess we're here now, and tell us a little bit about how you started studio Gray, you know, where you were before? Or what led you to be, you know, an entrepreneur, like, when did you say you know what, because I always find it really interesting being one myself, it's like, everyone has a different path. You know, sometimes we say, you know, it's you were forced in it, like, you know, any like your personality was such that band, I'm not working for someone else. That was my experience. Like, I've got to work for myself, or
Unknown Speaker 8:58
well, and once you do, you can't really go back. So
Mark D. Williams<br> 9:02
I guess how long have you had studio Dre?
Unknown Speaker 9:03
We are going to be 11 in next month. Congratulations.
Mark D. Williams<br> 9:06
Have you ever thought in your 11 years? Have you ever gotten to a point where sort of burned out and you're like, you know what, I'm just gonna go work for someone else. And then you spend like a week talking to your family and friends. Speaking for someone, a friend of mine. It's like, the rooms in the room. And I was like, man, you know what, it's been 20 years. I'm just gonna, I'm just kind of burned out. And so then you kind of look around, you kind of think about it. And then all your family and friends are like you went last two days, corporate America, you know, after. So have you had a similar process like that?
Speaker 1 9:40
I mean, I definitely know I wouldn't make it in corporate America for sure. But even on a smaller scale, I just, there's definitely moments in time where I'm like, Oh, just be so much easier to go work for somebody else and not have to go through this grind. But I would say it's not even a week of time. It's maybe like 20 minutes where I'm like, No, I couldn't like I don't want to I quit. And I don't think it's about quitting. It's more just like I want to prove to myself I can do this and show that I can do this because I love what I do. Like I do it because I want to. And just some weeks are harder than others. But I think that's the fun and the excitement of it. And just kind of the constant always thinking about like, what's next? What's new, what can be different. And I think that's kind of that entrepreneurial mindset of always striving for the next thing,
Mark D. Williams<br> 10:26
I haven't thought about it before until you just made his hand motion that put a different word my mind, you know, you often hear about someone that has drive, you know, they have drive, you know, could be sports could be entrepreneurship, like we're talking about, but and I think Dr will get you a long ways. And I think you have to have it, honestly. But I think pole like if you love something like I'm thinking like often the distance in this image, right, like the love of the craft of the love of whatever, it's sort of pulling you towards this idea. And I think if you pair love with, with Drive, I mean, that's a winning formula. Yeah,
Speaker 1 10:57
I mean, I hope so. I mean, that kind of answers, maybe your first question is how I even got into it. And, you know, I've always really liked design, my dad owned a advertising typography business, and it just did really well at it. And I think that kind of design is sort of ingrained in me a little bit. So I got to go to his company and kind of see him succeed at this was really cool. And so I think I always knew I wanted to start a company, I didn't necessarily know what it was, I fell into design, probably senior year of high school did some internships are like programs that you could do and realized I wanted to go into interior design. So long story short, you know, ended up at a firm my first job and loved it loved the project I love the people just really loved it and wanted to do well and worked my butt off, like just constantly and you know, through recessions and all this, you know, you kind of had to pull your weight because, you know, people weren't, they were losing their jobs. So there wasn't a lot of bandwidth within these firms. And so I was just working hard, it was just many, many, many hours on end. And part of it is I probably did it to myself, because I really wanted to have a successful project for the clients. And it wasn't always just for myself, I wanted to do well for them. And just one day, after many, many years, I found I started to get burned out and I was like, I am not happy with what I'm doing. I want to walk away from this. And that was like a, you know, sirens went off in my head, like, what is that? Because you love what you do? Something's got to change. And so I would say about a year in the making, it took me to kind of decide to eventually, you know, talk to my boss at the time and say, I think I need to move on. I realized I either need to go somewhere else, you know, apply for a new job. I need to just go on my own and take a break for a little bit. Or maybe now's the time to start my company.
Mark D. Williams<br> 12:52
What are you doing residential or commercial at the time? A commercial? Okay, yep. So
Speaker 1 12:56
my career is in commercial design, residential is always kind of been on that side work. And so at the commercial firm, I was doing, you know, smaller residences, or, you know, friends of friends or the television show work, and, you know, very little commercial design of, you know, friends of friends, they need to refresh. So I had some stuff on the side that financially would have pulled me through, you know, for at least a year or so. So after doing kind of the math and the sort of business plan and talking to people about how do you even start a business? Like, I don't have a formal training or background in that, it seems like most entrepreneurs do not no, no. So I was like, Who can I ask and kind of talk to to make sure that I'm, I'm at least starting off on a proper foot, maybe not the right foot, but at least that you know, step in the right direction? Yeah, so you're into that, you know, my boyfriend, but now husband, at the time was like, now you got to do it, because I can see it in you like you're not happy. And it's not like you to be that way about your work. And then just decided studio Gray was formed. And I thought if I can make it three years, I'll be really happy. And now we're coming on 11 year. So hopefully, we're doing something right here. Two
Mark D. Williams<br> 14:03
questions out of that. One is how did you pick studio great to be the name.
Speaker 1 14:09
So I am not Amanda Gray, as some people think is my name and is not? It is it's meant to represent a team effort. I think I've always seen these firms that always put their name on the door. Nothing wrong with that at all. I just knew it wasn't for me in the way that I wanted to run my business and treat it more as a leadership opportunity instead of like an ownership opportunity. So the gray kind of came into talking with my husband, I was just like, well, it's like, what do you want it to be? Like? Well, it's, we're not just doing modern design. We're not just doing hotels, we're not just doing restaurants where I was just doing houses, it's kind of everything in between. It's it's like that gray area. It's not just black and white. And he's like, okay, so it kind of feed on that a little bit. I'm like it really is about the team. It's not just me. It's not Is you it's kind of that everything in between. So the gray just kind of felt like a neutral balance to what the company could be, as it grows. So it allows it to, I think, will stand the test of time. And being sort of that neutral color. And then sticking with the E in the gray is just a nod to my own heritage just been Norwegian Scandinavian, it's kind of taken on that European spelling of it. And it allows us to be not just interior design company, not just an architecture company, not just a branding company, it allows people to think explore a little bit more about who we are. And so we can be all these different facets for them.
Mark D. Williams<br> 15:37
I love how colorful an answer that was for a very bland or gray. Well, I love all the nuances of it, because you took a common symbol of like, you know, like, Oh, that's a gray area, which normally normally the way we would speak, you know, if something is kind of gray, it's unclear. It's undecided. It's, you know, I want definition, what is it? And you've taken it almost like it the way I'm interpreting anyway, is more imaginative. It could be anything, it's in the gray, it's in the cloud, you can't see it, but it could be a mountain, it could be an aeroplane, it could be the Sistine Chapel, it could be anything you want. I think that's very creative. I like that a lot. Out of curiosity was the firm that you work before was that named? That was that was their name on the name of the company on the door? It did.
Unknown Speaker 16:22
But I think there's a, I mean, just in Minnesota,
Mark D. Williams<br> 16:24
I
Unknown Speaker 16:26
99% just
Mark D. Williams<br> 16:27
form your decision. Because I've spoken many times in the podcast, I wish I did not name my company, Mark D. Williams Custom Homes, I wish someone had pulled me aside a 23 year old, you know, and said, hey, you know, maybe your name, you know, maybe think bigger than that. And I anyway, it,
Speaker 1 16:44
I mean, maybe a little bit, I think the end goal was just knowing for whoever does come to work with studio Gray, I want them to feel like they have like purpose there, they have a say in what happens at that company, which they do, I think of my number on the door, it feels less about them. And it's more just all about me. And it's not all about me, I don't do all the work every day, my team is amazing. And they come up with the ideas and we work collaboratively and collectively, to come up with these designs. It shouldn't just be my name on the door. It should be everyone's. And so I really wanted, you know, future employees to feel like they actually can make a difference at this company and smaller companies, you get that opportunity. I
Mark D. Williams<br> 17:26
was gonna save this for later in the interview. I think we'll do it now. Just you're talking about your team. And it was one of your team members that reached out to me, you were out of curiosity, was it your team member that's approached you and said, Hey, man, I think you should go on the curious builder or did you know, you know, who we were here locally,
Speaker 1 17:43
it was it was her it was my teammate. You know, I've done like some smaller, like public speaking things. And I, I get nervous, I think as some people do, but I love it. Like, I used to do dance for many, many years, like, you know, kick line and jazz and hip hop and all this stuff growing up. So like taking this very shy, shy girl and putting her up on a stage where she has to perform in front of a bunch of people took me out of that shell and allowed me to like get used to public speaking or being in front of people. And so the larger the group is almost better, you know, then smaller groups, I'd be like, it's too much pressure that way.
Mark D. Williams<br> 18:17
perspective, I think you're right. I think when it's small, there's more intimacy, which is a different group dynamic and very good. Yeah. But it's just different. And almost when you get to a big group, it becomes less personal. Because everyone just sort of blends into this. Yeah. Where I was going with this as I was in preparation for the interview just on your team website. And for anyone that hasn't seen it, go to studio gray.com I assume, and to do great design.com design.com. And we'll have in the show notes later as well. But I loved your q&a for each one of your people. It was really playful. I've noticed that in researching, we had a building builder on recently, and his was like, you know, a project manager was like, you know, lead ninja or just play forward, right? Like, you know, you can take your craft seriously and not take yourself seriously, and I liked and what I really appreciated about yours is they had these really fun questions like, you know, you know, my name is Amanda and my favorite drink is gonna be you know, bubble tea, you know, or whatever it is. And then you have these fun little leading questions that allowed someone because one of the biggest challenges we have as entrepreneurs is there are a lot of good designers. There are a lot of good builders or a lot of good artists. How do you establish relationship and connection so that someone picks up the phone a client calls you and you may only have that one call to convey warmth and until it all these different things, but I find that reading about people's team tells you a lot and it actually so I'm actually changing some of my some of my portfolio for my employees after reading yours. Oh, wow. I've been played the new names because of the Southern southern builder. And now I want to do q&a Because it's so fun and playful. And it's it just it is I just liked it
Speaker 1 19:55
a lot. Yeah. And it's not like it's anything new. It's just what we want to show people is that we are Are humans, okay? We don't take ourselves too seriously, we take your project seriously. But we also want people to have fun while they're doing it, because it's stressful, it costs a lot of money, it's a long time to deal with this, you know, they're stresses that are going to happen. But it's just trying to show that like, this can at least be a fun process with a team like us. Because we want to make it more of that personal experience. So getting to have people call you back is more of a, it's this personal level we take with it, you're not just another number coming through our door, you know, your, your project won't be a rinse and repeat mentality, it's not going to look the same as anyone elses, it is really about making it about that client, and showing that we're listening to them. And we're, we're personal on, you know, maybe, hey, you mentioned you have a dog, and so just a little gift, we're gonna send you as a dog treat of some kind, you know, it's just showing that, like, we're here to listen, we're going to communicate efficiently. And that's what's going to help, you know, get clients in the door is just showing, you know, our honesty and just how human we are.
Mark D. Williams<br> 20:58
I love that. I want to talk a lot about brand and hospitality with you. But before we get there, you know, I'm as being a custom home builder in this space. I'm very familiar with interior designers on the residential level. I'm really curious to know what is the same? And what is different from commercial? And I would imagine, you know, those that are educated are probably like, Oh, Mark, that's a dumb question. I know the answer. And I think a lot of people have stereotypes about designers just in general. So I would just love to hear from you. What is the difference? Because it seems like is it analogous because I just had lunch with some architects yesterday. And they had mentioned that most architect firms or, you know, solo practitioners are hovered is, is usually, you know, 95 five, so it's 95% of it is either all commercial with maybe a few side projects that are residential, or the flip 95, residential with 5%. What is the commercial and interior design split? Not only for you, but speak maybe more to the whole industry as a whole, and then maybe talk a little bit about the differences?
Speaker 1 21:57
Yeah, I mean, for for studio, Gray's purposes, we probably do 99% commercial, I think we're not against doing residential at all, I mean, I think we're actively actually looking for builders to do things, because we used to probably be more 5050 Split Commercial to Residential Design, for projects, and just over time, our commercial work is taken off, which was always the goal, but we still want to keep some of that residential in the mix, because they are very different. Commercial is, if I had to say anything, it's almost a lot more technical, or just you have to know different fire codes, you have to know different, you know, accessibility codes for, you know, guests in wheelchairs or hard of hearing heard of seen. So you have to be mindful of different ratings and codes on a city level, on a commercial level on a safety level. And so you have to know a little bit more about products that can be used in those environments, especially in food safety areas. So like restaurants and kitchens, you know, you can't just put anything in there it has to has to be a certain rating. And then just the the durability, I think knowing what products, what commercial project products are going to be used to, from the furniture, to the flooring, to the wall surfaces, what's gonna help with acoustics, so there's just a lot of different things that kind of get added into commercial spaces that maybe don't in residential, and vice versa, residential, you have almost a little bit more leeway in some of those design elements. But it's also it can be restricting because I think residentially homeowners, it's their home, this is a very personal space to them. Commercial, sometimes is less personal, because it's more about a business owned piece, or it can be. And so I think just seeing the different dynamics between clients from Commercial to Residential is is different, you know, whether it's good or bad, it's all dependent on how it's all going with that process or that project. But I think just knowing that it's easier for us to do commercial work and know all the rules and the regulations, and then do residential as a site, because it's just a little bit more of an easy process. As designers, I would say, you know, you still have to know the technical stuff and be able to draw things and, and know what lighting specs to use. So there's still things that residential designers who do that all day long, they know their stuff, they know their product. But I think where, where the weird Hiccup is, is interior designers don't like to be called decorators. Nothing against decorators at all. But designers go to school for a degree or you've learned certain things, we have to pass certain tests. So it's just knowing like, we're not here just to pick paint colors. That's a very small part of our job. Like we're drafting these construction sets, we're doing all this stuff, whether it is commercial or residential, you know, we're we're diving into all these details and nuances of how to actually make something how to actually build something so that when it's given to the construction crew, they can actually do it. It's not just pretend. So I don't know if I've even had all that. That was really
Mark D. Williams<br> 24:59
helpful. I think a couple of things came out of that. One of the things that and well, I guess we'll get back to that later on regarding architect. So not having ever built anything commercial, how much of it is being, I always would have thought that an architect who I think in the commercial, you have to have an architect on and they have to be licensed, where obviously, you can build a house with an architect, a home designer, or a draftsman, you know, you can get engineering is a third party, things like that. But I was just talking to someone who's in the commercial space today. I didn't know that. And one of the questions along with that is, I would think that architect would either keep some design in house. So I wonder, one of my questions here is how often when you're working with architects, do they already have design that they've already kind of specked? Out? You mentioned, a lot of the safety stuff in my mind was thinking, Well, I'm surprised the architect inspect this that another thing? Or is it more of a relationship, where the architect will say, Well, you know, obviously, this has to meet, you know, Ada regulations, and you already know, some of the products, they're not actually specking out that exact thing, walk us through a little bit that relationship between the architect and you know, your design firm.
Speaker 1 26:06
I mean, it's, it's a collaborative effort, you know, we don't have that in house architect, yet. Our goal has always been to have that in house. So for now, we contract that in so we will do, you know, the drawings, we will do all the specs, the layouts, those, you know, specifications and things, but where we bring in our architectural partners is more on the level of the final code check, like they've gone to school for that they have the degree for it, you know, they are licensed for a reason, we are not, you know, we are not architects, but they're gonna take it that step further and know a little bit more of those tricks of the trade or like where we need to go in for city, you know, zoning, and it just there's a different level of understanding the knowledge that they do have beyond an interior designer, but interior designers as a whole, especially ones that have their license, their ncid Q license, which is a test that designers take, you get licensed to a point where you can sign your own drawings in certain states, where you're not an architect, so we still have to know codes, we still have to know you know how many exits you need in a building based on your occupancy type, we still have to know a certain size restrictions of things. So we definitely have a level of understanding, you know, we learned some of the similar things in school. But architecture obviously takes it, you know, years beyond what we do. And so when you work with those teams, it really is this collaborative effort. Some architects are just very technical, and they kind of want to just like do a little bit more of the drafting or the signing or the project management. And some architects want to design more. So it depends on who we're working with. Some might just want to say, Hey, give me your drawings, I'll read line them, get them signed, for you put the stamp on there, you guys run with it, I'll step in when needed, and other designers or architects that act more as designers with us. And so it is more of that collaborative approach,
Mark D. Williams<br> 27:51
what percent of your work is coming where client is coming to you, and signing studio gray on, and then you're either providing a reference or an architect versus an architect calling upon you,
Speaker 1 28:04
I would say 90%, we are the ones with the project. Yep, we'll bring in our contracts. And there are some commercial projects where we won't need an architect to if it is more of a refresh, where it's not really changing the you know, the use or the, you know, we're not knocking down walls at in electrical, there's no inspections needed, you can get by, you know, without it. But I would say 90% of it, we have to outsource that, which is why we want that architect in house just to think streamline our own internal efforts. Our clients, you know, are none the wiser to it, you know, they knew who or architectural partners are, but they don't recognize that it's like with different firms. So when someone comes to us, you can come to us. And we can take care of all of those things, from architecture to interior design to those brand elements, just to make sure you have kind of this full circle design that's in house at a firm, no matter who the partners are that we're bringing into it. But we will help guide that process along the entire way to make sure that it's working from beginning to end to be successful for that that client. One
Mark D. Williams<br> 29:04
of the things that I was really interested in is and mainly just because I've spoken about it on the podcast previously, as we went through a brand refresh in our brand change in terms of you know, names, logos, color sweets, and obviously, we launched the curious builder as well. And so I really into brand, and I noticed on your website that one of the first things you do in your process, I think was under the category of what makes you different is you know, let's say, you know, a company comes in or a restaurant or whatever, that they're really focused on how is their brand being conveyed into the design? And I think that's a genius question. And then when you said that, it just dawned on me that, you know, in a residential home, there's not really a brand, but there are personalities. And you know, a lot of times like I'll look back at a home and I'll be like, oh that has the Johnsons personality all over it like that's their personality came out and I feel like we did a good job. If the home feels like the client, and but it's a three way split, right? You have the designer architect, the builder, everyone sort of has an influence on that. Or am I wrong and thinking that maybe a commercial space, you know, you have a restaurant, we'll use it as an example, Hey, here's, here's our method. Here's our menu, here's who we're trying to connect with. Here's the brand. And then you are trying to walk us through that, because I think that's, I'm really interested to hear how your process goes, how you think about it. And let's just speak about brand a little bit, because I think that regardless of what business you're in, we we don't spend enough time thinking about brand. I know I certainly did not until just recently.
Speaker 1 30:38
Yeah, I mean, we our brand first, like, that's what we want to know about. Our first questions are going to be you know, what? One? Do you have a name? You know, do you have an idea? What's your sort of business plan behind what you're trying to create? And we'll ask the questions like, tell us what you want people to feel in the space? What is the end goal or emotions that you want people to feel while they're in there? With restaurants? It's easy to talk about, like, do you want people to stay longer? Do you want them to stay and have another drink? Do you want it to be really dim and dark? So it's more intimate? Do you want people to kind of just churn and burn, get them out of the seats and move along. So it's really about finding what they want their guests to experience, and learn what that brand is all about, like, give us those buzz words, give us the ideas of like, what that name means to you on a personal level. And we're taking that knowledge, almost as you know, psychologists and trying to interpret that into an actual physical space. So the designs come second to what the brand wants to get that outcome to get all five senses in this more experiential design outcome by learning what that brand wants to be. And I think that kind of sets us apart too, because now we're coming into each project with a different lens, a different view. Sure, we know like the expert and the knowledge that we have has to go through a certain amount of programming stuff beyond that. But what does that brand want is going to help dictate what comes out of it or what it starts with? And so we try to make sure that we're always thinking of that throughout the process, instead of like, why did we, you know, pick that chair? Why is that table that up this color? Why is that reception desk? This this stone? You know, it all has a story behind it, that feeds into the brand, I think with residentially I think sometimes people forget to tell their story, they forget to share their story in their homes. So with the commercial, you really get to enhance those brands and hope that you're you're making it successful for not only the the brand as a whole, but the end user, the employees that work there that you know, front of house and back of house groups that are going to be there, you know, just making sure that it's the most successful that it can be all around. I
Mark D. Williams<br> 32:51
really appreciate that answer. I feel like it's very synergistic with our next topic, which is going to be hospitality. But I want to ask you a question about brand. How often are your clients coming in with their brand fully developed? You know, they've gone with maybe a brand strategist, like they have their color suites, their logos, you know, they've already identified all of the questions you have versus how often are you really being they're coming to you with like a blank slate saying, Hey, this is what we want. And you're like, Have you thought and then like, basically, you're acting as the role of the brand strategist,
Speaker 1 33:23
I would say most clients will come with a logo with a name with sort of an identity in the beginning, or they've worked with, you know, a actual marketing design firm. So that mean, they're obviously great at doing that. I mean, that is, it's great when we can collaborate with those teams. So when our clients come with a group, and they're like, Hey, here's our marketing team, here's what they've created. Now we're taking this and we're enhancing that and we're thinking about what they've strategize from the beginning, and how we're going to interpret that into that physical space into that design to take it from kind of this visual and this idea and this color palette, and how we translate that to an interior exterior space. And it's not just, you have red in your color palette, so we're gonna put that red on the furniture, it doesn't work that way. So we're really still trying to understand where they got to where they got, you know, from the beginning to where they got to now. And then kind of asking still more of those questions to really push the drive into that human kind of psyche side of it.
Mark D. Williams<br> 34:24
Do you have any, any stories come to mind about like a really fun brand that you were able to sort of accent or, you know, anything that sort of was just thought that was really unique, and you could sort of really shine a spotlight on that experience. And it was all related to brand
Speaker 1 34:39
there. So we actually got to work on kind of a brand concept recently, where they did come to us they had a they had a name, they kind of had the idea of what they wanted it to be, but we were there to help build their brand packet. So if this becomes a one location versus 10 locations, they kind of have that guidebook to bring to all the different areas or the different franchisees if they end going that route, but with their local local location, I don't wanna say a name yet, because I didn't ask their permission. So I'm going to be respectful of them, but I'll talk about it and hopefully share it later, afterwards. But it's a fun space. A lot of people probably know it here. And it really was taking this kind of eccentric space and giving it new life and new energy, but in more of a refined way. So it's taking something that is eccentric, and trying to make it a little bit more relatable, a little bit more refined, still have some high energy for kids and families, but also something that could be more of like an adult date night or kind of a fun, casual get together. So it was really trying to redefine an existing brand and change it into this new one, with a very specific style building. That's all right. So hopefully, this is just running
Mark D. Williams<br> 35:58
through a Rolodex of like cool spaces, I'll have to guess later offline. Yeah,
Speaker 1 36:02
it was just fun. It was energy. It was like, just really fun color palettes getting the mix in there and kind of helping build on, you know, these, you know, dog infused ideas where it's like, well, we want pets to come here. So it's like, we just got to stretch our kind of design brains a little bit more with this one more
Mark D. Williams<br> 36:17
creative. Let's talk a little bit about hospitality. And I mean, because you I often think of hospitality in association with of course, restaurants and hotels. I'm personally trying to figure out a way to develop I'm calling it a hospitality menu or experience where from the first 15 minute discovery call I have with a client to one year after they move in, I would have it all sort of mapped out. And I'm actually going to be interviewing some restaurant tours for this kind of both a curious builder thing as well as a Marc Williams customer service, things I'm just really fascinated about. I'm listening to a book right now called unreasonable hospitality. And it's a fantastic book. And but anyway, with that intro, tell us a little bit about how brand and hospitality sort of play together? And what are some of your thoughts on what is hospitality mean, not only from Studio Gray's point of view to your client, you know, the commercial client, but also thinking about the hospitality of the end user, you know, the client of your client.
Speaker 1 37:19
I mean, when people think about hospitality, you think of restaurants or hotels. So if you kind of take that mindset to it, which we try to infuse in every project that we do, whether it's a residence, or you know, a workplace, an office building, or, or something, you know, we want to make sure that we're instilling that idea of hospitality. And that is essentially creating a space for people to feel welcome to feel like you thought of things before they even knew they needed it. It's almost like a concierge service at a hotel is what we should be to the client to build on that hospitality side of it. So really making sure that you're thinking about how people use the space, how they navigate the space, or how you can help direct that experience for them, is just going to help infuse that like hospitality presence, because people are just going to feel good about being in there. And then having good customer service or, you know, an approachable, front desk, or the signage is easy to read. Like it comes down to every little piece of the puzzle that's in there. That just shows either the employee, the tenant, the homeowner, the restaurant guests, that every little thing has been thought about, from the moment you enter to the restrooms, to the minute you leave, or to the takeaway that you bring with you that marketing material, you want to make sure all those things are thought about in in my mind to that sort of that hospitality presence, where it's a personal experience for everyone, and you feel like you have someone there to either help you along the way or guide you. Or there's resources that have already been thought about and provided to you. So it just becomes this. I don't know really like personalized, just like a good feeling like people just feel good about being in those spaces. And so I think the the hospitality, how that relates then from us to our clients, is that, that just personal partnership. Like you come to the door. It's like, hey, what do you like to drink? We always want to have snacks or beverages that are meetings, like any allergies, like let's talk about, you know, food and coffee, like, you know, that's like being at a kitchen in someone's home, like you tend to congregate around the kitchen. So how can we give that sort of feeling with our clients when they come to our doors or they're coming to our meetings, and just making sure that they know we're listening? They know we're thinking about what could be better? Or what could help this process be a little bit better, so that it's really just making people feel welcome. And like they're, you know, the most important guest there.
Mark D. Williams<br> 39:50
Yeah, I mean, that's, I mean, I'm trying to think now those are phenomenal answer. I'm thinking, Well, I'm thinking about what hospitality means to me and I I think it's just the Thinking Out Loud here is it's a, it's a feeling of familiarity. It's a feeling of comfort at ease. I'm thinking about restaurants in particular right now, why, like my personal preference is just my personality, I'd like a restaurant that is maybe a little dimmer, a little darker, a little more intimate, I can't stand a really loud restaurant, I would rather have a smaller, more intimate setting where it's quieter. And because I have three little kids that went if I do go on a date night, like, I would actually like to stay there for a little while. And but then I think of like, the places that do so well, you know, like, I often frequent young bakery, you know, there's two or three locations, and but you know, the kind that fast casual dining, but it's like really good food, they do really quickly. And yet they kind of night and it seems like as a business enterprise, they really, it seems to me that they kill it like, yeah, that, that, you know, when you go really high, and people save it for a date night. And so I wonder how they get enough frequency to make it work. And so I don't
Speaker 1 41:00
know how they present it to you too. I mean, they're showing thoughtfulness and how they package the food to you or plate it. So it's just all those little things are just little touches of hospitality, that help, that whole experience that you're getting, wherever you are, I heard
Mark D. Williams<br> 41:13
one recently was in the book I was just telling you about and where it was this, you know, it's a very famous restaurant and New York and the I think it was the maitre d or there someone heard that this couple had never seen snow before it was snowing. So he told the front house to go buy a sled at a local, you know, hardware store, whatever, they brought the sled to the restaurant, and they gave it to the couple having dinner so they could take their son and go sledding. And I when I heard that story, I was just like, wow, because to me, hospitality is thoughtfulness. Yeah. And I don't consider myself a very thoughtful person. My wife is extremely thoughtful. And so I well. I really appreciate people that consider others and are really thoughtful and they think about their experience. And it's a different, it's a different objective, a different mindset. And I think you mentioned the team approach. I think, for anyone who's running any business, just spend some time thinking about what is hospitality? What is thoughtfulness? It doesn't have to be some grand gesture, either. I bet that sled car. Yeah,
Speaker 1 42:15
I mean, not everyone can buy a sled. But you know, it's, it is just being there to listen and to think and I guess, ask the questions to like, even along the way, like, what could be different? Or, you know, how's the process going so far for you? What could we do differently? What what could maybe help out in our communication style with you, because everyone is different on that too. Like we we over communicate and want to make sure people know what we're doing. Even if you know, we're gonna go quiet for a week and work, we still want to make sure they hear it. But some people like I just need a phone call. So it's like asking the questions, and just be mindful that we're all different. Everyone works differently. Everyone has a different, you know, outcome of what they want. So you just got to be able to ask those questions to while being mindful and thoughtful along the way that you want people to feel like you're doing them a good service, you're doing them justice, you're doing the job justice, and just making sure that they know that we do care about this project. At the end of the day, if it's not successful, we haven't done our job at all. Do
Mark D. Williams<br> 43:12
this again, I may be biased because I'm a man and I don't consider myself thoughtful. And most of the women in my life I consider very thoughtful, but I don't think most people would argue with me if I said women in general is a stereotype or more thoughtful. I think it's a very flattering stereotype. Do you think I'm wrong as being a woman? Or do you think I'm right?
Speaker 1 43:31
I think it just depends on the person. Okay, definitely. I just seen all sides. I mean, maybe stereotypically, yes, you could say that. I think, you know, women's brains and men's brains work differently. So I think women are, you know, more ingrained to listen more, I think, and kind of hear some of this stuff versus speak more. So I think, you know, and maybe, you know, been taught that over evolution, I don't know. But I think that's if anything of benefit to us, where we are there to listen a little bit more, and we're here to kind of understand it and make sure that we are reacting in a good way. But you have that on both men and women side. So I can't say
Mark D. Williams<br> 44:08
that. I don't know, thoughtful men. I certainly do. You know, I work with a number of architects and they're, you know, very thoughtful men. So it's not that but I think of like, I often think when I'm choosing an interior design firm for residentially, you know, they're predominantly women. I think I've had one man, interior designer, and most of them have been a women. And I really appreciate and maybe it's because building is such a male dominated industry, that I just want more women in building period, my daughter would be a phenomenal business owner, whether she decides to be in construction or building or anything, she would just be great, but I'm thinking about those in my mind. Some of them had on the podcast, as well as guests that own their business and I just really appreciate I really pay. I guess I never thought about this before. I think it's the fact of this hospitality thing. I feel like more so than everyone has a valuable part to play the architect, the builder, the trade partners, but I feel like when More so than anyone else on the building process with a client in mind, I feel like the interior designers, I feel like they connect to the homeowners, in my case, better than most other people. And I feel like they demonstrate the way that they care through listening. And in really, I always cook calm kind of my temperature. Like, I'll often call my interior designers, you know, and I'll just check in and say, you know, how are the Johnsons doing? It's funny cuz I've never actually built for any Johnson, I've used that name twice. A lot of hearings to be exactly in and I'll say, you know how the Johnson they're like, You know what I think they could use, you know, a check in, right, I feel like they could use a little pick me up or they're doing great. They're doing awesome, okay, I can give him some space, I feel like they are better at responding, like gauging the temperature of my client. So I've used for me, I've used kind of that as my hospitality check in without even thinking about it, I guess just to see, like, how is the client?
Speaker 1 45:57
Yeah, and I mean, is part of the course and interior design, you have to learn color study and color theory and, you know, take psychology classes and stuff. So it is there's an understanding of what certain things, especially different cultures, like, give to people, you know, emotionally. So everything that you create in a space does have a direct reflection about how that can, you know, affect your mood that day or change you. So I think there is a level of psychology in a way that kind of goes within the interior design industry, that you have to be perceptive to that you have to understand how that could make people feel, or at least to be successful at it, you kind of have to think about those things. Maybe that's to my benefit, I was either going to be an interior designer, or I wanted to go for psychology. So I don't know, I feel like I you know, got that in interior design. Because there's plenty of times where like, what we are a therapist today, which is fine. If we need to be that we will be that because as I said earlier, like projects are stressful, and they cost a lot of money. And if it doesn't go smoothly, it could cost more money. So it's really just trying to talk people off that ledge or not convinced them, but just assure them that this will be fine. Let's stick with it. Let's see, or don't change everything yet. Like let's see how this goes or pans out. And I trust the process.
Mark D. Williams<br> 47:10
I've often romanticized what I think commercial building is light that because construct, residential is extremely emotional, right. It's b2c. And it's a home, it's their personal space. And so I just feel like lately, I'm just like, oh, wow, everyone just has a lot of feelings right now. And it's just a lot. And and sometimes you're like, oh, man, I would love to just work for business, like, Hey, you build me this space, and they want to make money, they want to run a business. Here's the expectations, do it. Now I understand the consequences. If you don't, you know, liquidated damages. There's a there's a dark side at this point, I'm sure to, from your point of view, being a commercial designer, what do you think there's less emotions? I mean, you just mentioned some of that. If I didn't know earlier in the interview that you were, you know, a commercial designer, your answer is almost identical to a residential designer. So is my assumption that commercial design is less emotional than residential is inaccurate? Or what's your,
Speaker 1 48:08
I think it's a different type of emotion. I mean, people's homes are where they're going to live, they want it to work well. So there's a level of emotion of am I making the right choice on a paint color, you know, that alone in residential design is one of the hardest things ever, just a pink color. Commercially, they barely even look at the paint color, they're focused more on the durability of the flooring or the the countertop or the the function of the you know it in the room. So there is there's different focuses on different things. And the emotion I think, comes from more of a, you know, narrow it down to more of a financial emotion part of it, because every little thing is going to cost more money. It's, you know, a little bit more of this personal investment, if it's, you know, entrepreneur, first time restaurant, tour, whatever it may be. So there's definitely a motion in plenty of commercial spaces. It's just a different type. Because residentially that is your, your break from your commercial life. You know, that's when you go home and you're gonna stay there and you're done working for the day, you want that mental reprieve there, versus the commercial, it's it needs to function, and it's got to be successful. And it's got to make sure that we're meeting what we think we need to meet and what what we should meet for, you know, the guest or the tenant. So it's just different emotions.
Mark D. Williams<br> 49:25
Still emotional. Well, then I guess I'll stay so emotional. I guess I can't escape that.
Unknown Speaker 49:30
Maybe we're more emotional in it's like, oh,
Mark D. Williams<br> 49:33
well, you know, when you build for a couple, usually, they're usually pretty aligned, meaning the husband and wife if you're building for a couple, usually, if they're not, that's going to be a problem. But that's actually one of we will go in this podcast on that. One of the recently I was interviewed by somebody else, and we all went around the room and talked about our red flags. And, you know, the biggest one for most of us was how do they treat each other? But my question for you in the commercial space is and not knowing much about So I'm just gonna take a leap of stereotypes here, like, let's say you have a star chef. And he's being or she's being brought into, you know, create the menu there, whatever. But then you have the commercial developer if they're not the same, and they walk us through these partnerships, like, how do you, they're coming to you in the brand. Now, they've likely done the whole brand thing. Are they usually pretty aligned? Have you sensed like, sometimes they're not aligned? And how do you navigate that? I mean,
Speaker 1 50:27
yes, and no, there's going to be times where people just aren't seeing eye to eye or their goals are different, you know, whether it could be more of a, you know, a franchise, you know, the ownership to a franchisee, or stuff like that, where there's going to be different cooks in the kitchen, who have a different agenda. And so our goal is to really find that happy medium to make sure that we're meeting the expectations of one and also the other and kind of showing where we need to kind of agree on certain things. And, you know, maybe we won't exactly love this for this, you know, option here, but here's how we could tweak it and make it fit both of your needs. And I think it's the same thing, residentially even if the homeowners, you know, buttheads, it's, you have to find sort of that balance in between to make sure that both parties feel like they're winning at the end of the day, or that they're being heard at the end of the day. So yeah, we deal with a lot of different developers who, you know, operations to the front of house, the general manager to the cook line, I mean, everyone involved, you know, down to the bank has a say, in these projects. And so you just have to be mindful of what the goal is, what the final agenda is for everyone, and how to get there and try to you know, appease all parties along the way, or show why something can't be met, and how we can come up with another solution for it. So it's never a no, we can't do it. It's, uh, okay, maybe not this. But here's what maybe we can all work together to find another solution for let's talk about X, Y, and Z, do you find,
Mark D. Williams<br> 51:58
do you have to get multiple, let's say, they come to you? Do they usually say, Hey, here's our budget, design something versus design something, let's price it out and see where it's at.
Unknown Speaker 52:09
Now, usually, it's like, here's our budget,
Mark D. Williams<br> 52:11
or, like, your boss was like, no, no, no, no.
Speaker 1 52:14
I mean, it's only No. And I mean, there's been some cases where like, well, we don't really know what it is, and it can shoot you or them in the foot. It's like, well, people's expectations of dollars were Oh, we don't have much. And it's way different than somebody who says, well, like, well, I have a lot it just people's perspectives are very different. And I've learned that over time, good and bad. And so I always ask the budget question in the beginning. Again, this is a relationship we need to build on trust, we need to build on communication, we can't do our job, if we don't know what your budget goal is. Because we're going to know if we need to design something to the nines and over embellish this millwork or, you know, pick a higher end chair, we have more options to pull from because the price point is higher, versus like, Hey, we got to figure out how to still create this amazing high end looking design. But we've got to do it a little bit faster. We've got to limit the sort of embellishments that we add into it, to make sure that we're meeting that budget. So usually it's up, here's what we've got, how can we all break that down? And so we'll look at it with the team and figure out okay, square footage costs, furniture costs, what's your equipment costs? What are your opening costs? So it's really understanding, you know, what is your you're all in number versus what is your construction number, versus what is your FF and D package number? And just making sure that we're asking those questions in the beginning, what
Mark D. Williams<br> 53:31
is how often have you had someone say, you know, hey, my budget is, let's just pick a number, a million dollars. And during the and then during the design, they they keep reacting to things that are above a million and you say, hey, Amanda, just remember your budgets, a million, this is definitely going to go over is this what you want to do? And they're like, Yeah, this is I'm so excited. This is great. And so you do it and then they do that five, six more times. Then you go to the final the final deal and it's 2 million or but doesn't matter for this analogy, right? One and a half. And they're like, Hey, wait a minute. I told you I told you studio Cray that this is a this was a $1 million budget. Why would you show me something that I couldn't afford? And you're like, Well, I was reacting to you. I am showing you and i By the way, I told you along the line that we're moving the budget. Have you ever had something like that? I mean,
Speaker 1 54:25
maybe a little bit but we try really hard not to show all of the options that we probably know they're going to pick that are going to put them over budget. So I think probably the best like example to explain easily on this would be like furniture options. If we're picking a dining chair for a restaurant, and we know their budget, and we have dining chairs and then we have tables. We have kind of like a good better best mentality. So here's your price point. But here's your warranty and then here's your higher price point and here's your better warranty or what comes with that. We will put like a big red note on the thing like you cannot pick all The expensive items on every single page or you will be over budget, you have to pick a happy medium. So we'll try to show at least a good level so that they feel like they, they shouldn't always pick the highest one. And they shouldn't always, always pick the lowest price point either, but will like make sure we call out if you choose all of the most expensive ones, you will be over budget, this cannot work. So at least we're calling it out, we're keeping a record of it, whether people remember that or not, you know, we like it in writing, unfortunately, for that reason. But we try to show them something that's within reason, we're not going to show them a you know, $2,000 dining chair and say, Well, if you buy this, you could save it do the cheapest dining tables, we're not going to recommend that because we probably don't want that to happen either. It's, it's really about that balance. So the more people can share with us about their budget, on a on a range, what is your max number, we're going to work backwards from that. Sometimes just stuff happens, and there's unforeseen costs that come into play. And then we actually have to work backwards and say, We got to scale back on something. Now we've got to cut back on that finish here. And we're gonna go to that alternative, maybe you already saw, and you didn't like it? Well, let's follow along those lines, and maybe find two, three options within that price point. So it's our job to make sure we're presenting something they can afford. Yeah,
Mark D. Williams<br> 56:16
I would, I would say for myself, but I think residential construction in general, I'm not sure how great of a job we do as an industry. You know, sometimes, you know, we can get caught up, I know, I can speak for myself, I get caught up in the design. You know, I'm excited. I like what's going everyone's I would say the emotional roller coaster, you know, what the design train is going up? Everyone's excited. You know, it comes down pretty hard. When you are, you know, you get to pricing. And then I think everyone
Unknown Speaker 56:44
goes through romantic phases over.
Mark D. Williams<br> 56:48
You know, that it goes into, you know, I actually can't stand the word, but everyone uses it, you know, Value Engineering. And so or if you really want to be cute, it's ve Yeah, so it's really cute. Like, okay, so you want the same thing, you just want me to do it?
Speaker 1 57:02
How do we make it cheaper? We don't say cheaper anymore. We say more economical. Yes,
Mark D. Williams<br> 57:07
that's true. I do try to stay away. Stay away from some of those words. Cheap dollars.
Speaker 1 57:12
Again, it's that mental psyche of how people think about it, like your dollars here, let's put the value into something.
Mark D. Williams<br> 57:16
Along those lines. I heard something really interesting. It's been a while. And it was something like, If you I can't stand saying price per square foot, because people then that's all they can focus on. Yeah, they can't focus on it doesn't work that way. No, but like, if you do was interesting, someone said, change the premise. So let's just say you pick a number, let's say you say, hey, this home was gonna be between 406 $100 A foot. What number did you hear?
Speaker 1 57:41
I mean, well, I know what they heard was 400. Yeah, your time bias. I know exactly what they're hearing.
Mark D. Williams<br> 57:48
But I said four to 600. It comes in at 550. Like, I thought this was gonna be four. I didn't say that. You know, and, and so these are just numbers, a
Speaker 1 57:57
lot of people just don't know what things cost either. So that doesn't even really meaningless fingers
Mark D. Williams<br> 58:01
interesting. I've never tried this, the book I was listening to that was talking about reverse it to help people, the number will be between 604 100. So you put the highest number first, and you put the lowest number second, interesting, I don't know if that has anything to do with our brains reading left or right, or anything like that. I don't know. It's even
Speaker 1 58:21
like why we when we do floor plans or furniture options or whatever, we're doing light fixture options, we'll give a minimum of three. Because you don't feel like you're choosing between one or the other. People feel like having that third option, now you really feel like you're choosing the best option for you. So there's something about at least having three options that again, we keep in our minds that we're going to try to provide that one more options, the better people you know, can choose what they think is best for them. But to if you had to choose between a or b, it's like, this is 5050. It's almost like more pressure than it is if you had three options
Mark D. Williams<br> 58:52
with 30. You can guess I mean, there is I would say there is a lot of work, a lot of work that goes into three separate design concepts. And I don't know how in this would be we don't have enough time in this podcast to figure it all out, you would love to do part two with Amanda made a in terms of I would love to know like, like, you obviously have to charge for it on the front end. And maybe to ask clients like do you want to see two or three options or you just know, we're always gonna do three options. So you kind of build it into your design presentation. And
Speaker 1 59:20
we're always we're always going to in in when we say three options, it could be a minor, tweak a bar from this location to the other location, you know, the programming is typically you're going to be already set out. But we're gonna give options to just show like If This Then That and that might actually work better for what they're envisioning for it. So no matter what you're gonna get three options. If we do more, it's on our selves as long as we can do it within those timeframes, like the space planning part is my favorite part. And so you can crank those things out quickly, in a good way. And you can also you know, spin off and have 20 different options and now we have to edit down to three which can be hard, so sometimes you'll get five To be like, okay, just so you know, we did explore a little bit more, we're gonna look at five today, but it's not I charging them any more. I
Mark D. Williams<br> 1:00:07
do appreciate that when architects will, you know, they'll show a one, two, and then you can tell they're reading the room. And obviously I kind of know where this is going, because maybe we talked about it ahead of time. And I can kind of sometimes, not very often, maybe 20% of the time they'll pull out this plan they've been working, or like, I've been testing, yes, I've been testing this model. And
Speaker 1 1:00:26
then late night thought, starts with that early morning, whatever.
Mark D. Williams<br> 1:00:32
I feel bad for all the people I email at 430. It's all these crazy.
Speaker 1 1:00:39
Like, I should just set the auto setting to 8am. Just so people know.
Mark D. Williams<br> 1:00:42
Yeah. Well, it was a wonderful pleasure to have you on I had a bunch of questions, which we knew we would always never get to. I always kind of leave this with the end before we kind of do the extra is, you know, what are some I always find that entrepreneurs always educate themselves learning where do you find inspiration.
Speaker 1 1:00:57
I mean, I do through just like traveling, going out to eat, like in my line of work, I want to go to those places where we learn hospitality and like walk through a space and really understand what is working and what isn't. You know, and being in customer service, in my old time jobs, you know, working in restaurants, and my clean hotel rooms, you know, I worked at a golf course, and was the best car driver. So I've always kind of been in this customer service side of it. So being able to have influence on the front of house and the back of house operations to think about all the guests, really is where I want to keep learning. So going into new places and exploring different areas to travel and stay or, you know, touring different offices, going to events, to meet with new people and just hear different stories, that's going to continue my learning process, you know, outside of just reading the books and doing online courses and that sort of thing. But the inspiration really comes from getting out there and exploring like that.
Mark D. Williams<br> 1:01:53
Now, I wasn't gonna ask this. But now I really want to, if you were to encourage someone to go to a restaurant tonight, this assuming you could get in to kind of just see great design and there's so many places. So I know this is a lot of pressure because there's so many, which restaurant would you recommend someone no one is from Minnesota and they're just going to come in and you want the and I know there's I'm just asking you if you came in and you want a recommendation, where would you go? I
Speaker 1 1:02:19
got a shout out to to our friend, our client and Kim and do young Joanie pluses right in your office was it, it just became a good staple for you and my husband and I so I think I have kind of like a personal level there. Like we'd always just pop in there and somehow managed to get a seat at the bar with no reservation, like we'd come in at the right time. Our food is amazing. She's wonderful, she's creative, she's talented on a lot of different levels. And again, she's a dreamer, too. So I just I really appreciate her as a person. And so getting to experience that kind of level of hospitality and the restaurants and the food. I mean, can't go wrong with that. Like it really is just
Mark D. Williams<br> 1:02:58
that's one of my favorite places. What is What about a hotel if you had to, if you had to rough some people are flying into town. They've got one hotel to stay in? Where would you recommend they go?
Speaker 1 1:03:09
Oh my gosh, it's funny because I never really do staycations so it's a little I guess just because I haven't been to many here other than then a lot of the corporate ones I think if you want kind of this smaller sort of quaint space will tell Alma is always fun like it just again I liked that sort of getaway but it's still in the city it's still kind of a fun experience and it's just boutique feeling and all different levels and then plus you know stop another restaurant the coffee shop is all great. I'm sure a lot of people say that or if you want a fun Airbnb experience getaway motor cafe and Airbnb down in Carver Minnesota client of ours we did their Airbnb upper level it's just it's
Mark D. Williams<br> 1:03:53
been carver in Carver I grew up very I'm now I'm really interested in check this
Speaker 1 1:03:58
you gotta go there old historic building the couples from basically lives there now so they have the coffee shop and bar on the main level and then we did an air b&b I
Mark D. Williams<br> 1:04:07
think I don't think I've driven through Carver since I graduated high school. It's been a long time but a lot has changed a little bit. For those not from here in Minnesota. Almost this incredible restaurant. My wife loves it. We usually go there for her anniversary, but upstairs is what for hotel rooms. It's very small little boutique.
Speaker 1 1:04:24
I think a little bit more than that. Okay, I don't exactly know the number off the top of my head but I remember seeing more keys than that. But yeah, like a little hallway you know, it's not much but I love that because it's I like things that aren't traditional art the corporate sort of vibe they're they're great in their own you know, purpose, but I want more of that like unique personalized like one of a kind sort of destination.
Mark D. Williams<br> 1:04:48
I'll never start adding these to all of them if their logo like that's gonna be right, that makes me want to travel and eat tonight like hey, how do you you know, let's get a babysitter for the kids. Let's go yep. Oh, sure. Well for those listening that want to reach out to what are some Good, good places to find out more about studio gray. Yeah,
Speaker 1 1:05:02
you can check out our website. It's studio Gray design.com. You can call we can put my my number in the show notes, just so people can get that way or Amanda at Studio Gray design.com is always the best way to get a hold of me.
Mark D. Williams<br> 1:05:17
Wonderful. Well, we'll have everything in the show notes. Thank you again for coming on. It was a pleasure to talk to you and signing off.
Unknown Speaker 1:05:23
This was fun. Thanks a lot. Thank you
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