Modern Systems And Pricing Strategies For Remodelers

Hello and welcome to Designer Discussions with Jason and Miriam. Today we have a special guest, and it's Diane Wellhouse from Wellhouse Consulting Services. And she's going to talk to us about how to strategically operate your business in today's challenging marketplace. Welcome to the Designer Discussions Podcast with Jason and Miriam.

Tune in each week where we talk about marketing PR and business advice for design professionals. How are you, Diane? I am good. How are you?

Doing good, doing good. We had we had talked last week, and I was looking forward to having this conversation because we talked about a lot of information that our listeners need to hear and that they want to hear about as well. So let's start by having you just explain a little bit about who you are for our audience. Sure, absolutely.

So I'm uh Diane Wellhouse. I'm a certified kitchen and bathroom modeler through the National Association of the Remodeling Industry, Neri. Um, I do have an interior design degree, and I've been in the remodeling design space for the past 18 years. Um, and I started my company in uh 2023 because I had recognized that there's a need out there for contractors, trade partners, um, designers that need assistance in running their business, right?

So many of these people start their own companies because they're so great at what they do, the services they provide, right? They're talented. They use their hands great and their minds and their visual abilities to make amazing spaces. But now when we turn that into how do we run our business, all of a sudden we start to struggle.

And that's an area that I really excel in is operations and running a company. And so I decided that with my background in this space, the talent that I bring to the table, I could be of service to those who want to um seek their greatest potential. I can help them get there. I love that.

And we had talked a lot last week, and I just want our listeners to know that you actually owned your own remodeling shop for a while. And let's just talk about the transition because we had a funny uh talk about how when you transition, a lot of the old ways you had to change. So talk a little bit about that. Yeah.

So at the time when we took over, um, it was Wellhouse Construction Services, uh, it was a family business, and I had married into the company. And uh we were we were gonna be fourth generation. And when you take over a company like that and it's that old, a lot of the systems and the processes were not up to date. You know, everything was sort of on pads of paper, everything was in files, and our QuickBooks was only thing we were tracking was rough carpentry and finished carpentry and nothing else.

So here we are with a business that's a hundred years old, and I have really limited data and information to really be able to move this organization forward. So literally had to start everything over, completely created a brand new organization, all new QuickBooks, had established all new processes and procedures so that we could set ourselves up at a baseline foundation to actually be able to scale the organization to where we wanted to go. Generations behind us were really happy with where they were at, didn't want to grow, didn't want to deal with the people challenges, didn't want to deal with the system challenges.

Where at the time my husband and I, we came from corporate America and we were ready to go. And we we saw the big vision, we saw the potential of this company. We just weren't foundationally set up right. So that's what I did is go in and turn all that around and create the processes and the systems we needed to scale.

That's a lot where I actually hear from a lot of designers that and then something that we deal with on the marketing side, when we go in, they're behind in terms of the operations, in terms of technology and just all that stuff because they still operate on Google Sheets per se and not anything in today's world. So talk a little bit about when you help or when you consult with Remotlers now, what is the first things that you suggest they have to update everything in terms of their operation?

Right. So the first things we're gonna look at is okay, what systems do they have and what technology are they using? Right. Um, and depending upon what their vision is as to where they want to go, is kind of gonna guide that conversation.

You know, like I just had a meeting with someone who's looking to potentially sell their business. They've been there too, multi-generation, they're running out of generations to take over the business. So they want to sell, you know, but they're using um a software for accounting that isn't mainstream. It's not QuickBooks.

You know, so let's have that conversation about, you know, value to a buyer is going to be mainstream things that other people are using that they can easily tap into. They have a proprietized software package, um, similar to like a builder trend that they're using, but it's proprietary. And now that's not scalable or transitionable because now I don't have resources to be able to continue to grow that system. Or if I want to make changes to that system, I'm talking about customization versus using something that's more out of the box that I can actually call a company and say, hey, help me with this, you know, versus trying to learn software that's proprietary.

You know, so we're looking at what is it that you're using, where are you wanting to go long term? And then let's go out and research and pick those appropriate pieces of software that you need to advance your company. And sometimes, you know, Smartsheets, you know, it's it's you know, Google on, you know, it's uh sheets on steroids, right? You know, sometimes that works because, you know, you can program everything in, it can automate itself, and that might just be the solution that works for you.

I like that. And one of the things we talked about, which is huge, is pricing because a lot of designers and Romanos out there don't charge enough for the services that they offer. And that oftentimes lead to cash flow issues. So talk a little bit about how you've helped to guide and help how to charge the pricing issues.

So, you know, the big thing is I can't tell you how many companies I work with that have been in business for five, 10, 20 years that have never created a budget. Don't have it. They they don't know their numbers. Um, and that's really where the problem comes into play.

Because when we start looking at, okay, let's take, let's open up your QuickBooks, let's pull out that profit and loss sheet, let's look at the balance sheet, you know, let's look at how well your organization is performing. And this is where we start to see that we're really in a hobby. We're not in a business because we're not making money, right? Loving what we do, yeah, I'm getting paid, but they don't understand why it is that they don't have money at the end of the day.

And it's because they just don't know their numbers, right? Um, and sometimes what they'll do is they'll go, well, industry standard says, you know, I should have XYZ markup. So I'm just using that. Well, that doesn't translate to every single business accurately, right?

You have to understand, you know, what is your revenue goal? You know, what is your historical cost of goods going to be for that? And then what are your personal expenses? Because your and my expenses are not gonna be the same.

You know, if I've got brick and mortar, if I have a showroom, um, you know, what what do I all have? How many employees do I have? What softwares am I running on, right? And what did those cost me?

So really understanding what your expenses are. So now you can actually calculate what it is you need in whether you want to use markup or margin, know your numbers to be able to apply that. Now we understand what the base markup should be for, you know, specifically on those services that designers are selling, right? What should I mark up my sofas and and the other accessories and things that I'm selling?

The other key thing for designers is really understanding how many hours you're being able to actually bill out and what rate. Tracking the historical information here is key because, you know, if you have people on your staff, what rates are they using that you're charging them out at? Calculate, and you can find this very easily online. Do a search that says how many actual business hours are in the given year.

So, like right now, there's about 2,000, you know, business hours. So we're taking out, you know, all weekends, we're taking out all the major holidays, including the federal holidays, whether you observe those or not, let's get a baseline. So we got about 2,000 hours that are happening in in the year that you can possibly bill out. Well, if I'm the business owner, uh I'm probably not even gonna bill out up to 50% of my time because I'm also running my business, right?

So I have things to do that I can't charge someone else for. So let's just say for conversation's sake, I get to bill out at 50%, right? So that's my number. And then what about my staff?

What are they doing and how much are they billing out and at what rates? Do you have different rates for administrative type work that you're doing? Are you having different rates for actually providing the service that we do? So designing, sourcing, purchasing, and those things and understanding how many hours, which means your people have to track their hours so that you can then have this information and data.

And now you can actually see how much money you're bringing in, calculated by the amount of hours that I'm billing out, to add that to the things that I'm marking up, right? The cost of goods sold that I'm marking up to my clients to understand then what is the true revenue that I'm bringing in. And, you know, designers should, you know, if you're not making at least a 10% profit at the end of the day, and I'm talking true profit at the end of the day. So not, you know, I'm paid, my people are paid, all my bills are paid.

You know, there's got to be at least a 10% profit at the end of the day. Otherwise, you you're you're kind of in a hobby, right? Um, you're you're not really making the money that you need. And that money at the end of the day is so critical because you have to start putting that money away for reinvestment in your business.

And I like to work with um designers and contractors and help them build a budget that once we get to that bottom line, I have a whole nother section, you know, about reserves. How much money are we putting in reserves for a couple of different things? One, true reserves for like the COVID that we had, right? Businesses shut down.

You still have to pay your bills. Your fixed expenses aren't going anywhere. And if you want to keep your employees, you got to be able to pay them too. So let's start building a reserve that will cover, you know, at least six months, ideally a full year of your operating costs.

And that money just sits in investments and it's there because, you know, something's gonna happen again. It's, it's, it's not, it's not if it's when, right? When are we gonna have a market turn down of major um proportions like we did back in like 2008 to 10? When are we going to have another COVID type moment?

Um, so I'm prepared for that. My business will stand the test of time if I've got that money in reserves. Secondly, what are we doing in terms of planning for and investing in capital expenditures? Do I need new software?

Do I have aspirations of having a showroom or brick and mortar? Do I need new vehicles? Do I provide vehicles to my people? So, what are those capital expenditures that we can see coming in on the horizon and start allocating monies for that?

And then lastly, human. I like to prepare for scaling my business. So if my goal is to be, you know, double my revenue size, I obviously can't do that unless I hire people to be able to write perform those services for me. But if I can get at least six months of a salary saved, when I bring somebody on, you know, you figure there's that, you know, 60 to 90 days of warm-up time, right?

I'm sometimes not necessarily making you money. I'm trying to figure out where the restroom is, right? So getting myself up to speed, I'm losing money as the owner because I just hired somebody new. And then, you know, they're really starting to pump things out from that 90 days on.

So for three months to six, you know, six months, we're really starting to now ramp up and actually produce. But I've got that salary covered because I got money in reserves before they actually start making me money. And then that also lessens the hiring anxiety. What if we don't get the business?

I'm taking a risk by bringing somebody on. What if they don't perform real well out of the gate? Well, now I've I I could put myself to peace of mind. I can go out and hire, get the candidate I want, get them onboarded and get them up to speed.

And I don't have to panic about new revenue coming in to cover them because I already have that sitting on the side to do that. When you head over all that with the businesses that you talk to, how many of them are actually overwhelmed or how many of them have like have the aha moment? Like, okay, that makes sense. Both.

So yeah, the the aha moment is like priceless. They're all like, never thought about it that way. Especially when we talk about, you know, saving for, you know, human reserves, right? That a lot of them don't even never thought about that, just assumed I had to, you know, pray for more business or get to the point that I am so overwhelmed in my business that I need to hire.

But then I'm like, yeah, but now you're stressing because you're now trying to hire while you're trying to service all these clients and you don't have the bandwidth to service all these clients while you're trying to hire. So, you know, let's plan for that. And if you've got that money in reserves, it's never a bad thing. You know, even if plans change, your business isn't ramping up as fast as you want, having that extra money on the side and being ready for when you want to is priceless for you in terms of peace of mind and running your business.

Usually when you talk to the businesses that you work with, does marketing and ER ever come up and how you talk to them about how they need to grow? Yeah. Um, I try to get them grounded on, you know, who they are. So, you know, why, what's our mission?

Why, why do I exist as a business, right? Because that's kind of really where marketing stems from. My why? Why are we here?

And what is that impactful emotional why, right? It's not about making money. That's a given, right? It's about what am I doing?

What am I providing to the universe? What am I providing to my clients? That deeper why in what I do. And then understanding from there, you know, what are our values and what are our principles?

How are we going to operate this business? What do we believe in? And what type of customer service are we going to do through our principles? This is how we expect everybody at our company to behave.

And from there, you can now start to develop, okay, what is our proprietary process? What are we selling on so that when I go in and start talking to clients about what differentiates me, I need to understand that and identify that. So what starts to lead to my differentiator is my mission, my values, and how we operate as a company. And now I can formulate that into a differentiating statement about my company.

And then I can start to build my processes off of those things. And that's where all of the marketing things really start to come into play because we're grounded on who we are, what we do, why we do it. And this is our proven process that we have established and we know it works every single time. If we go out and we just simply start marketing for the sake of marketing, we're just sort of throwing darts in the air.

We're not focusing on who our ideal client is. I also work with them to identify who's that. Who's your ideal client? You know, are they, is it what kind of income?

What communities and zip codes do they live in? You know, the amount of discretionary dollars, like people who maybe buy theater tickets, people who buy luxury cars, um, you know, because that's that's that's the folks that are going to be able to afford the designer services, right? So how do we pinpoint and identify who that is in my local market? And then what's that message that's going to tailor to them?

What are they really looking for from my experiences? What are they looking for? And what do they want? You know, they want turnkey uh professional services.

They don't want the hassle because they're most likely a dual-income working family, right? Bringing in your doctors, lawyers, you know, bringing in high income. And they don't want to be bothered. They want to know that when I hire you, you're a professional, you're getting things done, and I don't have to worry about it.

That we're gonna have a set timeline, you're gonna bring in the checkpoints, you're gonna show me what's happening, we're gonna make the decisions, and I can trust you to get that done. So those are the types of things we want to pull out of the team to say, let's identify all of this, let's write it down. And then we create our marketing plan because now we can find those people. Are they on LinkedIn?

Are they on social media? Where am I targeting my money to actually find those clients and pinpoint my message based upon who are we and how we service them? I love it. I'm over here getting emotional.

I'm I'm over here saying amen as you're talking because anyone that listens to our podcast knows I always talk about the ICP, your ideal client profile. Who that is, you have to know who they are because you cannot market if you do not know who they are. Because I like to also say if you're marketing to everyone, you're actually marketing to no one. As you were talking, I was over here saying amen all the time.

And I love that. Yeah, and you know, and it helps you, you know, when you get the call for service, having that crystal clear picture of who your ideal client is and what you're looking for also helps you qualify the call that comes in, right? Because you are going to get people who are going to find you and see you. Um, you know, might even be a referral, who knows?

And you have to make sure that that's customer's the right fit. Because we all know that when you compromise on who your ideal client is and your processes, because you're looking just to bring on the client. And I get it, it's it's it's a natural tendency for a business owner. You know, if the phone rings, um, you know, I could use the business.

You know, we want to grow, I want the business, but really staying grounded and focused, having that checklist right there at your desk. So when the email comes in, the phone call comes in, you can easily quantify, is this my ideal client? And having the courage to say no. And I love that.

It's courage, right? It's complete courage. Um, having the courage to say no, knowing that and believing in the fact that if you're doing your marketing well, the right client will come to you. But being a service to the person that is not your ideal client by offering a suggestion of where they can go and find someone who might be able to meet their needs.

You know, is that the local NARI chapter or the Nary national directory? Is it the NKBA local chapter or their national directory? Places where you can point them to to say, you know what, we focus on this. I'm hearing that perhaps we're not a right fit, but allow me to help you find someone who is going to be able to address your needs.

I love that because we're actually working with a client now that they know who their ideal client is. But before they used to take all types of jobs that were not their right fit. Now they take the right jobs and they hand the jobs that are not their right fit to their so-called competition. And in turn, their competition sends them their ideal client profile.

So I love it. I love them. So now talking about Neri and NABA, can you talk a little bit about, you know, the importance of those organizations to the industry? Yeah, absolutely.

So, you know, I've been involved with the National Association of Modeling Industry, Neri, for, you know, 18 years. And, you know, your membership is truly priceless because you are surrounding yourselves with like-minded people, people who get you, who understand what you're going through, the challenges. And believe it or not, these organizations, um, they're not competitive. You know, meaning where I can go to networking events, their national conferences, meet people and share ideas, talk about the challenges I'm facing.

And people are willing to have those conversations about, well, this is how we do it. You know, and then further, obviously, these organizations provide great education to help you develop your business, your skills, you know, and train your people as well. So it's not just for the owner, great value to everybody inside of your company and they kind of meet you where you're at. You know, and Neri's got a wonderful certification program, as I mentioned earlier.

You know, I'm a certified kitchen and bathroom modeler through Neri. You know, it it's a it's a rigorous test. You know, and I took the exam. I mean, I literally walked out of the exam room going, oh my goodness, I've owned my own company.

I've been, uh I'm a school-trained professional interior designer. I know all these things. And I think I just failed this certification because it's, it's, they really teach you something. You know, so you spend weeks, um, 16 weeks doing um course preparation.

They kind of take you through all the modules that are going to be on the exam. And then you sit down and and you take the exam. And, you know, if you could pass the exam, it's it's great credentialing to have behind your name. Um, it's an ability to uh again enhance your sales and your marketing.

You know, tell people that, you know, you're a professional in your industry. You Have done these criteria to get to where I'm at. I've advanced my education and my level. I'm a student of my game, in which then I can service you better because I am on top of what is happening inside of my industry because I belong to these organizations who are constantly bringing the latest trends, the latest information, the best education possible that then I can use to service my clients better.

It's it's that great extra marketing piece to one up your organization in the mix of this space. I want to say that, Diane, I think the Milwaukee um Nary chapter that you led for a while, it's the largest one in the country, isn't it? So it's uh yeah, it's uh we always talk a lot about trade associations and the benefits. Um you talked about marketing a little bit, and I'm just curious if you because I'm the PR um expert of the duo here.

So do you have any specific experiences or advice um when it comes to seeking visibility and turn with the media, like not on the paid side, but on the earned side? You go out, um, have a lot of speaking engagements, obviously. But what is your take on PR in general? Um, today I think it's all about being a thought leader.

I think it's about sharing your expertise with people. So, you know, as simple as LinkedIn, making sure that not only you personally, um, and you have to decide, you have to decide how this works. So, like for me, because I'm I'm a one-man show, I use my personal LinkedIn to promote my expertise and my thoughts and my knowledge on my page. But if I happen to have a bigger team, I may want to consider also having a business page.

And then using that business page to share your expertise. Go out there and make small posts about things that are happening that are relevant to your client base. You know, talk about the latest trends in kitchen designs or, you know, bathroom designs or remodeling in general, whatever your expertise are, show that to people. Because what I find interesting is that you may not always get the likes.

You, you know, you may not go viral, but people are reading and know you're out there and they're following you because everywhere I go, people will say to me, Oh, loved your post the other day. And I'm sitting here going, geez, I didn't see a like from them or a comment from them. I'm like, I didn't even know these people saw my post. So you're doing more outreach there than you think that you are.

Same thing is, you know, work with your local media. At most TV stations have some sort of an investigative reporter, right? And unfortunately, contractors seem to be on the list regularly, right? But if you're a professional resource, they're gonna call you and say, you know, hey, we're experiencing this with this contractor.

Can you give us some tips and information about how a consumer should vet their contractor or look at a contract and how do you sell your services? You know, so put yourself out there to those people and offer to do interviews with them or be available if they need you when they're looking at someone else who, you know, unfortunately maybe isn't playing nice in the sandbox, right? Be that resource and that person that they can reach out to you. Um, you know, send articles to various magazines or even your local newspaper.

I know a lot of times we think that this isn't where people are anymore, but if you write articles and send them, you never know who might pick them up. And especially if your local newspaper has a home and garden type section, they're always looking for content and they don't always know where to go. And if you're willing to write, you know, basically take your blog and just turn it into an article, right? Um, and just send that stuff to them, kind of like free PR, like, hey, here's here's a here's a trends coming up for the summer on outdoor living.

And as a designer, what we're seeing um more and more people doing, or whatever the the topic may, right? And send that stuff out. And I think those are great ways to show your expertise. Speak, you know, if someone um has a local conference in your area, you know, reach out and say, hey, we would love, I'd love to come in and talk about again what it is that I do best.

So talk about those things and get yourself out there as the thought leader because people are looking for thought leaders because when they see that you can articulate and share valuable information about what I do and what I do well, you start to build that trust, right? And people buy from people they know, they like, and they trust. And when you're out there posting those things, sharing that information, people feel like they get to know you, you know, right? They get a sense for your style and and and what you're all about with how you write things and they can see your picture.

And, you know, so we're starting to slowly build that. And when they reach out to have a conversation, they feel like they have a connection with you, well beyond the connection that you have with them, because you're just meeting them for the first time, but they know all about you from your website, your social pages, and they they are feeling that sense of I like this person, I trust this person, and I want to work with this person. Yeah, that's great advice. We talk a lot about um working with the local and regional media as well.

So I think that's really valuable. And anybody can do it because everybody who is qualified as a designer or modeler, um, contractor, they all have knowledge that's um useful for other people. It's just a matter, like you said, of putting yourself out there. Write your own press releases.

You know, if you happen to participate in, you know, the NKBA awards program or the NARI Awards program and you win. Uh, and it doesn't matter, you know, they all have different um, it's not always winner take all. There's like gold, silvers, and bronzes, and there's all kinds of different, you know, things that you can win at. Regardless of what you have and what you do, write your own press release.

We won, you know, we're a local company that just won, you know, whether it's a a local, a state, a national award, promote that. Show pictures of the before and after, and people will will gravitate towards that. And those types of things will get published. And they're a great way, you know, to say that my industry peers have decided that I met these standards and and and put the standards in there by which you had to address.

So, like for the Nary Remodeler of the Year Awards, you know, they talked about, you know, what did the client want? Did you meet their budget? You know, how did you enhance the space through, you know, the aesthetics? You know, show us, you know, creative craftsmanship and how you solved problems.

So talk about that, that this is how we do that. And our industry peers agreed that our company addresses all of these things that consumers are looking for out of their service provider, right? You know, can this is what I want. Can you do it?

Can you meet my needs? Can you meet my budget? And can you provide me with outstanding aesthetics and craftsmanship, right? So speak to that and show the pictures of how you do it.

What you're talking about with the awards, I would say also for Neri members, NKBA members, apply for the awards because oftentimes I've sat on the judging side and there were not enough applicants for certain categories. So apply, you know? Yeah, absolutely. It, you know, it don't get me wrong, it's time consuming to put together a good entry, you know, but they're they're telling you what they're looking for.

Make sure that you take photographs of your projects and you know, get into the habit of doing that because that is great marketing for you, whether you were showing progress pictures and end results on your social media pages or on your website. You know, we're a visual industry, right? And and consumers want to see what's the product. You know, HGTV has made a living out of showing people how great something can be, right?

You're doing the same thing with your finished picture. So make a habit of once you get the job, go in and take all of those foundational pictures. This is what it looked like before. Mark your angles by which you're taking those pictures and then go in and take progress photos and finished photos all from the same angles.

Because, you know, if you're flipping angles, you know, consumers have a hard time understanding what you did. But if you can stand here and say, see this wall in front of me here, now it's gone. And now this space is all opened up. And we've now connected the kitchen to the dining room or the kitchen to the living room or whatever it may be.

You know, show those same angles because that wow factor of the transformation comes into play. People can see what you can do, they can see what's available and the options to them, and that's what helps sell them. So we've talked about a lot today, and you're an expert in this aspect, but I was looking at your website and you're also an expert in the bowling industry as well, which I didn't know. You bowled a 308 times.

I've never done that. So, you know, talk a little bit about that because you also helped mine the NCAA championship in bowling, which that was interesting. Yeah. So um, you know, my sport growing up uh was bowling.

Uh got into it with my family. And um, you know, it was something I was uh, I was the little sister and my big brother bowled. And so, you know, I had to be competitive with my big brother, is really how it all started. And it was something that um I took a liking to.

I was talented at. And there's not a lot of really good female bowlers in the country. And so um started to grow my interest, uh, was able to partner with a professional coach, um, which is why I do so much coaching today, because I fully believe in, you know, you need that partnership to get to that success. And so I acquired a professional coach who who, just like you see the other professional athletes, you know, seven days a week, you know, getting up and going to a bowling center at 6 a.

m. to get practice in, you know, going to the pro shop, learning all about the equipment, being a true student of your game. Um, and that uh all that work rewarded me to um bowl for the United States Bowling Congress's team USA. Um so I was very proud to represent our country uh in the sport of bowling.

And uh that was a thrill of my life uh to have that honor. And because of that, and living in Milwaukee at the time, the United States Bowling Congress was head headquartered here in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. So obviously I got to know everybody that worked there really well. And that's how I got my first job, a corporate job.

And I was in charge of collegiate bowling. And back in the day when we were trying to, the NCAA was trying to equalize the equity between men and women sports, bowling was selected as one of those sports that colleges could elect to have to equalize their gender equity issues. And so um I had I had the the fun job of going around the country and selling women's bowling to the biggest athletic programs in the country. You name that athletic director, I sat across from that person.

And, you know, it was a really tough sell because, you know, obviously this was being forced on them. A lot of colleges at the time didn't see women's athletics as revenue generating. Uh, they certainly didn't necessarily want to bring on more women's sports. And, you know, bowling doesn't always have the greatest reputation as being this high athletic uh professional type sport, right?

Most people see it more fun and recreational and more social. Um, so I kind of had a lot of um things going against me, but was able to uh acquire 40 institutions, which is what the NCAA required, got 40 institutions to adopt it. And in 2004, the NCA held its first official national championship for women's bowling. Um, and today, what I love about that part of my life is women today all across the country are getting full ride scholarships to the institution they want to go to to receive the education they want to get.

And they get to do it by participating in a sport that they have a passion for and they're really good at it. And I made that happen. And people don't know my name, people don't know that I did that, you know, because it was 20 years ago plus. Um, but I can sit here today and be really personally proud to know that those women are getting those opportunities because of something that we pursued.

So now you left something out because you explained a whole lot, but you said you bowled for the USA, but you didn't say how how you did. Did we place? Did we win a gold medal, silver, where I mean, you left that out. Yeah, we so I've uh to this day, bowling is still not an official Olympic sport.

Um, so we are still vying to get in. And the year that I was on, which is 1992, uh, the Olympics were in Korea and we were an exhibition sport. So the whole team didn't get to go to Korea, so I did not get to go. Uh, we picked one male and one female that went to Korea to do the exhibition to basically promote and try to get bowling selected by the U.

S. Olympic Committee and the World Olympic Committee to take it on. What we did was we did all kinds of international competitions. So we competed against Ireland, the Tournament of America's where we bring in all of the southern countries come in, like Venezuela and all of them come in and we do those competitions.

And yes, we we fared very well. I have a lot of really nice medals and big trophies um sitting in my house that uh represent how well we did as the United States for sure. Yeah. Awesome.

Awesome. That that's what I want to hear that we did well. Awesome. We did well.

Yeah, and and and all of that landed me into three Hall of Fames. So, you know, I I I I'm very blessed to have had a wonderful career um in bowling. I love that. Last question.

So I asked this for all of our guests. So the younger Cayenne, if you were to talk to her right now, knowing what you know, what would you advise her? And that same advice will apply to a lot of our listeners as well. Sure.

You know, there, you know, there's a couple of things. Um, follow your passion. You know, what what do you really enjoy doing and what do you really want to do? Because I think as young people, um, you know, we're we're faced to make some really tough choices about what we want to do.

And we don't always know what that is. And, you know, follow your passion because it's funny because when um, you know, when I was growing up, I wanted to be an interior designer. Um, and my family was like, that ain't gonna work. You know, they said, you know, we're we're we're a blue-collar family.

Um and I said, I wanted to own my own business. Like I would be happy starting off, you know, with an Ethan Allen or some sort of a furniture store or whatever to get started. But my long-term vision was I wanted to own my own company. Um, you know, my family's like, you know, we're we're we're your average Joe, you know, we're blue-collar.

You don't come from that circle in that world. And they're like, it's gonna be really hard, you know, to break into that and to get to that clientele, you know, because we're not in that, that space. And so I didn't, I didn't follow my passion. And, you know, and early in my career, you know, I went to college, I got out of the gate, I got three degrees.

And don't get me wrong, they have served me well, but I went without focus of what I wanted to do. And then 20 years later, you know, I just happened to, you know, get married and and marry into the the construction industry where I always wanted to be. And I went back to school. You know, I'm 40 years old, going back to school, getting an interior design degree, because it was my passion and it was what I wanted to do.

And so I found my way. Um, it just took, you know, I just took the long road to get there, but I found my way. I found my passion, I found the space I wanted to be in and what I love doing. Um, so you know, do that, you know, tap into your heart and what do you want to do?

And you can be super successful, whatever you put your mind to and what you want to do. And in today's world, specifically the trades, huge opportunities, right? There, we are looking for people to get into this industry and learn it and work it. And you can be very successful.

And what it does for you is that it's personally satisfying and financially rewarding. So it really hits the two big rocks that are that you're looking for is that personal satisfaction of what you're you can look back at all the homes that you have touched, all the lives you have improved through the functionality and the things that they wanted, to know that those people are absolutely delighted with their living quarters and their space, the place that they call home that is so close to their heart, you did that for them.

So satisfying. And then it is financially rewarding as well. So find your passion and go for it. I love it.

So if any of our listeners want to reach out to you, how do they do so? Sure. So um obviously my website is a great place to start. Come and check me out.

The services that we do, it is Wellhouse. Uh, my last name, W-E-L H O U S C Consulting.com. Um, on there is a reach out page as well.

My phone number is there, my email is there, and I'm on LinkedIn. So connect with me on LinkedIn so you can find me out there as well. And I'm always posting about various business things. So you might get some little tips and tricks and information to help you out.

Uh, but that's how that would be the easiest way is through my well, my website, wellhouseconsulting.com. Diane, we enjoyed having you on. We hope our listeners learned something in terms of operation and how they can grow effectively.

And if they have any questions, I hope they reach out to you. And we hope to hear and see you all here in two weeks on Designer Discussions. We hope you enjoyed this episode of Designer Discussions and all of the helpful information. Subscribe to our podcast, leave us a review, and share it with your friends.

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