About this podcast
Designing Success from School to Studio by Rhiannon Lee is dedicated to filling in the gaps in your design course to encourage you to build a sustainable business that supports your dream lifestyle.
Are you searching for strategy, systems and support? Looking for a community to bounce industry issues around in? In this podcast, we will cover the interior design business infrastructure you need to supplement your design school curriculum with practical insights and actionable advice. We also cover all things marketing, product innovation, client acquisition, and more. Go beyond the theory, filter through the stuff that doesn’t serve you and get on with creating.
You will find real talk with industry professionals, practical tactics from business realists that leave you reenergised and focused on exactly how to improve the current landscape of your own business. For more behind the scenes of the interior design industry, check out oleander and finch in Instagram https://instagram.com/oleander_and_finch
or head to www.oleanderandfinch.com
Episodes
The newest 20 of 199 episodes
- What does it take to stay relevant in interior design for more than two decades? With Robyn Hawke · 1 h 15 minText me and tell me what you think of this ep. 21 Years in Design, Still Evolving: AI, Business and Human-Centred Design with Robyn Hawke According to Robyn Hawke, it involves…
- What I would tell you if you were paying me to teach you about AI · 39 minText me and tell me what you think of this ep. Join the 7 day email challenge HERE AI policy kit availible HERE 2027 business planning group kicks off 30 October - check it out…
- 2025 Aidan & Rhiannon (replay part two...) · 40 minText me and tell me what you think of this ep. Six Years In: Business, Family Seasons, and Using AI as a Support Tool (with Aiden) Host Rhiannon Lee introduces a 2024 catch-up…
- replay from 2023 part one of my conversation with my husband Aidan · 46 minText me and tell me what you think of this ep. revisiting one of my most popular chats over the school holidays - part one of mt chat with my husband, tune in for part two next…
- Should you run your FF&E past a low-tox consultant? With Susie from Casa Flair · 38 minText me and tell me what you think of this ep. You can smell it the second you walk into some budget stores. Then we bring the occasional chair home, pop it in the corner and…
- Finding your creative voice, pricing your work & actually putting yourself out there, with Kasia · 37 minText me and tell me what you think of this ep. What happens when the thing you started doing for yourself quietly becomes the thing you want to build your life around? In this…
- Before You Use AI With Client Work: 7 Things Every Interior Design Studio Needs · 25 minText me and tell me what you think of this ep. Explore the AI safe policy KIT here Check out Studio Build HERE If you’re using ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini or other AI tools inside…
- The Instagram Strategy That Added 4,500 Followers in 30 Days · 19 minText me and tell me what you think of this ep. If Instagram has felt like you’re posting into the void lately, Trial Reels might be worth your attention. In this episode of…
- AI in Design: Client Data and IP Policy's · 40 min · Season 3 Episode 193Text me and tell me what you think of this ep. Clients are starting to ask interior designers how they use AI with their private information — floor plans, budgets, family…
- What I told a room of designers about AI at The Design Show, Sydney. · 31 minText me and tell me what you think of this ep. Register for the AI Safe Webinar, HERE Join the weekly email list HERE learn how to build out project management in Notion HERE…
- 20 years and beyond with Mandie Wright, of Infinite Interior design and renovations. · 1 h 3 minText me and tell me what you think of this ep. Thanks for listening to this episode of "Designing Success: From Study to Studio"! Connect with me on social media for more…
- why interior designers keep landing $4k jobs, not $40k ones · 33 minText me and tell me what you think of this ep. Thanks for listening to this episode of "Designing Success: From Study to Studio"! Connect with me on social media for more…
- Emergency meeting - Fable 5 for designers · 42 minText me and tell me what you think of this ep. Want to watch this and see the screen share version of the apps? chek it out on YouTube here…
- Natasha, Emily and Oula, tell it how it is. · 1 h 3 min · Season 3Text me and tell me what you think of this ep. Oula, Em, and Natasha all said the same thing: they didn't expect the business structure side of it, they thought it was going to…
- EOFY - tips for interior designers · 35 minText me and tell me what you think of this ep. Most interior designers hit 30 June without ever looking down. This episode covers the end of financial year financial habits solo…
- Ewa Doherty on starting and scaling with an exit strategy · 58 min · Season 3 Episode 184Text me and tell me what you think of this ep. Starting an interior design business with an exit strategy — rather than building it to keep forever — is one of the most…
- The client who says: "I just need someone to execute my vision," This is why I don't work with them anymore. · 23 minText me and tell me what you think of this ep. When an interior design client says "I just need someone to execute my vision," they've already decided they're the designer and…
- Are you over-delivering in your proposal? · 28 minText me and tell me what you think of this ep. Interior designers often over-deliver at proposal stage — sharing mood boards, design direction, and creative strategy before a…
- Why AI is making hourly billing dangerous for interior designers · 48 minText me and tell me what you think of this ep. Value pricing means charging for the outcome your client gets, not the hours it took you to deliver it. In 2026, that distinction…
- “You’re Behind” Is the biggest lie in AI right now. · 26 minText me and tell me what you think of this ep. AI is not replacing interior designers — it's replacing average ones. Rhiannon Lee, AI strategist for Australian interior…
