The System for Building a Business That’s Bigger Than You with Emily Hewett

Julie: Welcome back to the System for Everything podcast. Today’s system tip. If your business is busy enough that you’re tempted to clone yourself, don’t hire someone better. Welcome back to the System for Everything. If this is your first time tuning in, this is a, the podcast about the systems that keep life and business running, especially when the business you built ends up growing bigger than the craft you started with.

Today. We’re talking to someone who knows that evolution first. Hand designer turns. CEO. Emily Hewett of a well-dressed home. Emily is the founder and principal at a well-dressed home, a Dallas-based interior design firm with a Bachelor of Science in Interior Design. Emily launched her firm in 2010.

Beyond Emily’s many titles, she finds the most fulfillment in her roles as a mom and wife. Alongside her husband of 16 years, she has kept busy raising active 13-year-old twins. Emily loves her work, Pilates. And travel. Welcome Emily. Thank you for being here today.

Emily: Thank you so much for having me. I’m thrilled to be here.

Julie: We are gonna start our episode as we always do with the system. Reboot. A quick little reset to start our episode with some humor and humanity. Emily, I actually learned about one of my favorite comedians now ever from you because you posted something a couple years ago about entitled Housewife.

Emily: Oh, I’m obsessed with her.

She is hysterical.

Julie: Oh my gosh. She’s amazing. I, so give me your most entitled Housewife line. Like what do you connect

Emily: with? Oh my gosh. Can I say it?

Julie: Sure.

Emily: Tits to the wind, cocktails to the brim.

Julie: I love it so much.

Emily: That’s just the one that always sticks in my head. She is so funny.

Julie: I I can’t hear anyone that has the name Scott anymore.

Emily: I know.

Julie: I’ll be like Scott.

Emily: Yes,

Julie: I’m obsessed. She’s so good.

Emily: She’s so good.

Julie: All right. What is a design trend that you hope dies a painful death?

Emily: Oh my gosh. Well, I don’t know if this is necessarily a trend, but I, we see it a lot in homes when people are hiring us, thank goodness. But when we walk in their homes for the consultation, the scale of their furniture is always off.

Like everything is way too small. Their rugs are too small, their furniture in general is too small. So we are always happy to see that die when we come in and correct everything for them.

Julie: Oh my God. I love that. And my husband and I are currently looking for a rug for like our living room area that’s now our daughter’s playroom.

Emily: Yeah.

Julie: So I totally get that where I was like, you know, you have to measure. We can’t just eye it.

Emily: That’s right. You cannot just eye it

Julie: because it’s definitely gonna be too small. All right. When is the last time you made a design like decision in your own home? That went totally sideways.

Emily: Oh my gosh. I cannot believe you’re even asking me this because it literally happened a few weeks ago.

I had a full meltdown. Do you wanna know what it was?

Julie: Yes.

Emily: Okay. We redid my daughter’s room for, mm-hmm. A multitude of reasons. Basically, I had a wallpaper company come in and wanna do a collab. We were putting our home on a home tour, a holiday home tour, and. She’s kind of grown out of what we originally designed for her several years ago.

Oh, please excuse my dogs over here.

Julie: We like dogs on this show. Don’t worry about it.

Emily: I wanted to give her something punchy in her room, which we did with the wallpaper, but then. I went super punchy with the trim and the doors and the cabinets, and we did this like super pink, punchy color uhhuh, and it was way too much on everything.

So I had a full meltdown. I had the painters come back and paint the doors back to white, the cabinets back to white, and we kept the trim that like dark pink color. So yeah, it’s no joke. I mean, even as a designer, you think you’re like blown and going and everything’s great. And then one day you walk in the room and you’re like, shoot, I made a mistake.

Julie: Oh my gosh, that that makes people like me with no design skills feel a little bit better.

Emily: I was just trying really hard to match her personality. She’s very bubbly and very outgoing, and I was like, oh, I definitely took it too far.

Julie: All right everyone. You have met the personality. Now meet the powerhouse.

A creative career doesn’t expand by accident. It expands through clarity, leadership, and the systems that let you step into something bigger than your original craft. Here’s my conversation with Emily Hewett on this system for building a business that’s bigger than you. All right? I wanna start at the beginning because what you have built is pretty extraordinary.

I mean, you didn’t just grow a client roster. You grew. Out of the role you originally imagined for yourself?

Emily: I did.

Julie: So was there a moment that you realized, oh, this business is getting bigger than the version of me who does every design Myself?

Emily: I don’t know that there was really one specific moment. About a year and a half in, I did hire my first employee.

I brought her on part-time and then within a few months I was like, wait. Scratch that. Can you come on full time? Um, but I would say in 2018 I realized I really needed to. To step away as a designer and step in as more of a leader and a mentor and a business owner. So yeah, that’s what I did. And I, and I still definitely oversee all of the projects and we have meetings on all of these projects and, you know, I, I have a hand in it, but we have, we’ve trained the team to know what I would put out there as a designer.

So, yeah. And now we have 20 employees.

Julie: Oh, that’s incredible. What surprised you the most about stepping away from being the designer and stepping into being the leader?

Emily: Um, what surprised me the most is that I am obsessed with running the business. I am obsessed with building it, growing it, honing our processes.

It fulfills me probably more than designing.

Julie: Oh my gosh. That’s wonderful. Okay, so you step into this CEO role, not because you know design stopped mattering, but because the business needed you. And that brings us to the next chapter. You built a lot of creatives. I know listening, dream of scaling, but few actually do it really well.

And you didn’t just scale, you opened a whole second location. I mean, that is huge. Systems and leadership decision. Mm-hmm. So what did that. Hiring process looked like during growth? Was it like, okay, I just need a body, or like I need a role?

Emily: So at first it was definitely like, I need bodies in here. You know, I’ll get you in here, I’ll train you.

But I do wanna be very clear about the fact that we grew. We, we never grew too fast. Yeah. So it was very, very important to me to be intentional about not kind of overstepping our boundaries. And, um, as we got new client, more clients, I would hire one more designer and then. More clients than others. So I didn’t just jump in and go, okay, we’re gonna go from five designers to 15.

Um, we did it one designer at a time, one procurement role at a time. And, um, and that way it, it, I was more comfortable doing it that way because I didn’t want to be wasteful with people’s time and,

Julie: yeah. And your own.

Emily: Mm-hmm.

Julie: What were some early systems you had in place, or decisions that you’d already made that made that scaling possible instead of just chaotic?

Emily: Well, it’s paying attention to your numbers. Okay? So paying attention to what you’re bringing in versus your overhead. And if you see more people lining up at the door, are those people enough to allow you to hire another designer? Um, so it’s really about paying attention to your numbers and, uh, making sure that what you bring in or what’s waiting at the door will more than cover another body.

Julie: Yes. Okay. So then while all this is happening, the team, the growth, the clients, you also kind of transitioned and. Really became you were the face of the brand. Mm-hmm. Like when people think of it, it’s you. So you are in this rare space where you’re not doing the day-to-day design anymore. Mm-hmm. And yet you are the person that everyone recognizes.

Right. You online in collaborations in your own home build. Mm-hmm. I mean, that is. It’s own job in itself. How intentional was the shift into having that like public side of the business?

Emily: Oh, that was not intentional at all. No. ’cause I’ve always been very much, yes. I started the business. My name is on the door.

Yes, it was my idea. But we this, this machine. Would not just function with me, right? We have a great team of designers. We’ve got procurement, we’ve got, um, a resource room librarian. We’ve got a whole backend of people that you never even see accounting and legal teams and all of that. So yes, it, it has turned into like me being the face, but it is, this company is not all about me.

Not, not even for a second. However, I do want to still be the face because I want people to know me and to know my intentions and to trust me so that when they are handing us, signing our contracts and handing us checks, they know that. They are going to be treated fairly and they’re, we are going to spend their money the way that we would spend our own.

So it is important for me to, for people to know me to, and to understand how, you know, basically the, the basis of this business. But I also need people to know that it is not about Emily, it is about the entire team.

Julie: What goes into deciding what you share online versus like what stays private?

Emily: Like personally or professionally, or both?

Julie: Both.

Emily: Okay. Professionally, what stays private? You know that a lot of times when it comes to clients, that’s, that’s up to our clients. I mean, they do sign a contract saying that we can talk, we can share their project, we can share them, but, but we do have clients that are not comfortable with that and we respect that so.

You know, if a client doesn’t wanna be on camera or doesn’t want their project featured, that’s not a problem. When it comes to like the business, listen, Instagram and Facebook, social media is a highlight reel and we share all the good things, but there are. Just as many stressful things going on in the background.

You know, there are at times there are clients that we don’t wanna be dealing with, um, that somehow fell through the cracks when we were allowing them to hire us. But it happens. Um, sometimes employees turn into employees that we no longer want to entertain. I don’t share any of that because. You know, privacy reasons, I guess.

Yeah. And also that’s not fun to watch. I, I would never share anything like that. Personal, I stopped sharing a lot of personal aspects of my own life several years ago, and I just felt like it was, it’s because we got to the point of having so many followers that people were randomly making comments towards me or towards.

Our designs where I was like, why in the world would I put anything more personal online? But, uh, so I just said, you know what, I’m not even gonna risk this. I’m not even going to, you know, I don’t, I don’t put my kids out there as much anymore. Um, there was a point where we had first moved into this house and people were anxious to see it and to hear about it and to know like the why behind the designs.

And a, about a week before we moved in, I found out my dad. Was terminally ill and

Julie: Oh my gosh.

Emily: Yeah. So for the first six months I was on camera and saying like, look, it’s so great and here’s why we did this, and let me share that where I, I was, I was walking away and like dying inside. Yeah. Because of everything that was going on.

Personally, I, I didn’t share any of that because. It was too painful.

Julie: Yeah.

Emily: Yeah.

Julie: Oh, I get that completely. And I, I mean, as somebody who, I mean, I voraciously watched the Home Sweet Hewiet stuff. I loved it. Mm-hmm. ’cause that’s like one of my dreams to, to build a home from the ground up that I, I, I would never have guessed that.

Emily: Yeah. Well, and, and eventually a, about six months later, when he passed, I did. Post, like, Hey guys, as a reminder, it looks great. And Instagram is a highlight reel and everything looks hunky. Dorian rainbows and butterflies, you know, for these last six months. But literally my family was, was interest really just going through pure hell.

Yeah. So,

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Emily: before life throws a plot twist.

Julie: I hate to do a hard pivot.

Emily: Yeah. But

Julie: speaking of your home, I mean we, we do have to talk about that. ’cause it, yes. I mean, people were obsessed and I don’t just mean me. So I think probably building your own home has gotta be. Different from designing for clients ’cause there’s no real, you know, approval process.

Yeah. And no presentations. You just kind of,

Emily: well actually

Julie: facing unlimited choices.

Emily: And, and I did work with our team. I mean, my team at a walrus home helped me. I mean immensely in this build process. I love that. And we, we said, okay, we’re gonna do it like I’m a client and I’m gonna, I’m gonna do, oh, I love that.

One round of revisions and we’re gonna do a presentation. Yeah. That didn’t work. That didn’t work. Because I quickly realized I, I have so much access to too many things and I’m getting, I was getting overwhelmed and um, oh yeah. You’re trying to like please the people and please your family and please your budget and all of that.

But, uh, you know, it’s hard. It was very, very hard.

Julie: What was the very first decision you made when starting that build?

Emily: Well, first we had to make a decision on where we were going to build, and we bought two lots, literally two streets over from where we were living previously. So we knew we wanted to stay in the neighborhood.

But it was, it was wild because while we were in our last house, I thought, okay, we’re gonna need a little bit more space. And we have boy, girl twins, they’re gonna need their own bathrooms eventually. Mm-hmm. For, you know, for sleepovers and all the things. And my husband and I would drive to the gym every morning in front of these, this tiny little like shack.

I mean, like it was falling down, um, on these two lots, you know, two streets away from us. And it had the most beautiful view. Of this park in front of us that had the most beautiful sunrise. And we were like, geez, whoever lives here is so lucky to have this every morning. And then one day a for sale sign went in the yard and I was like, wait a minute.

Both of these lots belong to this. This tiny little house that’s like this dilapidated little house. Let’s look into this. And so we did and we put in an offer and it was accepted. After someone else’s offer was denied, it wasn’t quite that easy. But um, but anyways, yeah, so, so we made a decision on the lots and then we had to make a decision on the builder and the architect, and then we had to start making a decision on the plans.

And so, I mean, when I say there are literally more than a thousand decisions that have to be made when you’re building a house, there really are.

Julie: Yeah. What is something that you did in. Your home that you knew was like a signature Emily thing, but like maybe it wouldn’t have been client friendly, like you’d never suggest it to a client maybe.

Emily: Well, I don’t know that there’s anything like that that, that we did that I would never suggest to a client, but I can tell you one thing that we did that everywhere that clients are very afraid of is marble.

Julie: Oh, okay.

Emily: Yeah. So I literally have Are

Julie: they afraid of it? Is cleaning it or expense?

Emily: Yeah. Well, I, what they’re really afraid of is the durability of it, and it’s very durable.

Oh, okay. But it, it, it stains if you will. Mm-hmm. And let me define stains. ’cause people hear, oh, marble stains, we don’t wanna do that. But it’s not like you spill a glass of red wine and there is. Red all over your marble. Yeah, it’s that it etches so that that polished look in those areas can go dull. So it just looks like water spots.

Right.

Julie: Oh, okay.

Emily: But to me, that’s the beauty of the marble. It shows how it’s been worn and how it’s been lived in. And so we literally have marble on every single countertop in this home except for my, my son’s bathroom, which is soapstone.

Julie: All right. If someone is listening and they are starting a new build or just a remodel, what order would you recommend they make decisions in so they’re not just.

Painting three times over.

Emily: Oh my gosh. Okay. So as far as order goes, that really is going to depend on their builder. Their builder will say, usually the builder needs the plumbing and the appliances, appliance selections first. Okay.

Julie: Okay.

Emily: But, but I, at a well-dressed home, we design in a way to where. The appliances and plumbing are, those selections are made first, but then everything else, the paint, the cabinets, the countertops, the decorative lighting, the wall tile, everything else.

Is made together so that you can understand where you are in budget and where you are as far as the aesthetic of the home. Because you don’t wanna say, oh, I want, you know, blue walls. Well, but then you find this beautiful marble or this beautiful tile and you’re like, well that doesn’t go with the blue wall.

Well, I like that better. And now I have to redo the blue wall. So, so we like to design it all as one so that you understand how everything is coming to life together. And you don’t have to, you know, go backwards.

Julie: Is there one like hidden design decision that people should care about more? Like, um,

Emily: oh my gosh.

The floor plan. I mean the floor plan. Yes. That is what cannot be changed later without spending a fortune. So, so if anyone is building or remodeling, um. Get a designer to look over your floor plan, you would not believe. I actually had a, we had a client come in several years ago who was like, listen, we’re about to basically knock down this house, or there, it was a remodel, but they were basically gutting the whole house and remodeling.

Julie: Mm-hmm.

Emily: And the, the architect had provided them with a kitchen option. That was fine. Right. But it, it wasn’t working for them. It was too small. It was too cumbersome. So then the architect provided them with another design and they were like, ah. I mean, it’s fine, but like we really don’t want a window to the street and we really want more seating in this area and whatever.

So they came to us and we worked diligently and provided them with three different options that they literally could not choose between. They were like, we love every single one of these. They ended up going with one of them, obviously, but um. It, we just, we ask for so much information, like, why do you need more seating here?

How are you living in this space? Oh, you’re gonna do homework over here? Oh, you wanna have a seating area? So I think that maybe they just weren’t providing all of that information to the architect, or the architect wasn’t asking. But the bottom line is, as designers, we gather so much information about the space.

Not only what it you want it to look like, but how you wanna live in it. Um, so we’re often able to give them more options or even better options.

Julie: Okay. Finally, what is one design decision that people can stop agonizing over today? Like that just does not matter.

Emily: Oh my gosh. Um, so many times people get very hung up on.

Whether or not their light fixtures match their cabinet hardware and match their plan. Like just mix it up, you know, um, they say, well, if we have chrome hardware or if we have, you know, antique brass hardware, do we have to have that? No, just pick what you like. Make sure it’s the scale. I feel like scale, make sure it goes with the aesthetic, but it doesn’t all have to match.

In fact, it really sh it shouldn’t all match.

Julie: Yeah. I feel like the only time I would notice is if like both sink handles were something different.

Emily: Exactly. Exactly.

Julie: I wouldn’t notice.

Emily: Right.

Julie: All right, Emily, please tell everyone where they can find you online, how they can follow you, how they can work with you and your team.

Emily: Okay, so you can find us online in social media. Um, our most popular uh, platform is Instagram and that handle is a well-dressed home LLC. And then you can also go to our website for more information, a well-dressed home.com. And if you want to inquire about our services, there is an inquiry form on the contact page of our.

Julie: And you guys do smaller projects too, like if somebody’s just redoing one thing, right. Versus like a

Emily: whole, we can do so, so we do have a minimum of at least one full room when it comes to furnishings. We do have a minimum of at least one full room. Um, but we do offer, we are a full service, interior design firm, so we do offer designs for new builds, remodels and furnishings.

I

Julie: love that and one day my dream is to work with you. Oh, when I win, love win the lottery. That’s just, we

look

Emily: forward to it.

Julie: That’s how much it would take for me to build a new take. Alright everyone, it’s time for our system shutdown, our little cool down lap at the end of the episode. If you have been here a while, you know we’d love to end with something fun.

We have talked about fictional moms. We’ve debated the best TV character arcs and even explored which reality tv. Should absolutely not be adopted in real life. But today we are wandering into the world of iconic tv, home design and only tv because if we open the door to film, I will fall down a Nancy Meyers rabbit hole and spend the next 10 hours talking about the it’s complicated bakery kitchen.

And I will never make it out in time to publish this episode. So here are a few TV homes that I think about more often than acceptable. All right. The Cohen’s kitchen from the oc Marissa caused chaos everywhere, but Sandy and Kirsten’s kitchen. I mean, that kitchen was the blueprint for early two thousands.

Dream remodel white cabinetry, giant island. The kind of lighting that makes your problems look smaller. You can practically hear the bagels toasting Madeline’s house from big, little lies, coastal perfection if aspirational, interiors butt. With secrets or a style. I mean the, this show invented it. All right.

The Roy family homes from succession pick any house, literally any of them. They all say the same thing. This place has never known a speck of dust or an emotionally available father. It is minimalist wealth. With a hint of intergenerational trauma. Mindy Lahiri’s apartment from the Mindy Project. Bright, bold, feminine and unapologetic pattern mixing jewelry trays everywhere.

A gallery wall that says I may have questionable dating choices, but I have excellent sconces. I mean, it is maximalism, but make it polished. And finally, the Golden Girls Miami House. From the Golden Girls, of course, Ratan everywhere. Pastel upholstery. I mean, the entire space is just one big hug from the eighties, and honestly, it still holds up.

It is coastal grand millennial before Coastal Grand Millennial was a thing. All right. That’s it for today’s episode of Something in this conversation sparked something for you, a new way to look at. Growth, leadership, or even your own home. Share it with a friend and tag me. If you enjoyed this conversation.

Hit follow on the system for everything. See you never miss a Thursday episode. And if you’re feeling extra kind, leave a quick review or a rating. It truly helps more people discover the show and keeps this little corner of the internet going. More stories, more systems, and more clarity are ahead. Until next time, take care of your systems and yourself.