🌱 What is Hothouse?
Hothouse is a free, private group for ambitious interior designers who want to grow their businesses intentionally. We don’t rely on bursts of motivation. We build consistent habits, and we support each other through the ups and downs of growing a creative business.
🎯 March Intentions and Focus
As ever, this month we’re setting goals, and using accountability to drive progress.
The focus this month was on Social Media Marketing — leading up to our very first Social Media Race Day, which ran last Thursday (more on that below 👇).
Hothouse is about learning by doing, and together, we have already started seeing results!
💌 Join Us! It’s Free
If you’re not yet in the Hothouse group, come and join us! It’s free and open to any interior designer committed to growing their business with clarity, intention and a little peer support.
🔥 Personal Branding – The Fastest Way to Elevate Your Business
We’ve been focused on personal branding in Hothouse, and at last week’s Bootcampers’ Board Meeting, some of the most striking developments involved designers stepping confidently into the role of their business’s star representative. This shift is positively influencing their businesses and their own confidence. At the end of Q1 2025, the mood was really buoyant 💯
This week I shared two Instagram carousels:
• Don’t Be a Disappointment 👀 – on the power of first impressions and why you must design yourself, just like you would a room. Here it is!
• Veblen Services 💸 – how certain services actually become more desirable the more they cost, and what this means for your pricing and positioning. View it here.
🌿 I spotted a great real-world example of effective personal branding this week: garden designer Colin Boggon who recently rebranded from ‘Botanica Gardens’ to simply ‘Colin Boggon’ (see the announcement here). While Botanica Gardens was undoubtedly successful, this shift positions Colin as a must-have service provider, a high-profile designer, enhancing his appeal to prospective clients. In order to operate at the highest level, we all need to assume the star mantle! It's never too late to make the switch.
📊 End of Q1 in Hothouse – What a Quarter!
Since January, I’ve tracked my business performance weekly — and the insights have been extraordinary.
My main goal for 2025 is to grow my mailing list to 1,000 names. Q1 has been… modest. But I always expected growth to accelerate later in the year once my systems and Meta Ads (what I believe will be the 'secret sauce') are fully operational.
💡 Confidence Growth
I started monitoring my confidence weekly (not scientific, a simple personal rating, with 0 being very low and 10 being excellent). Perhaps the most profound shift this quarter has been my growing confidence.
Why has my confidence grown?
-
Regularly stepping outside my comfort zone through new initiatives like Hothouse, Meta Ads, and Race Day.
-
Six months ago, I chose to stop drinking alcohol to improve clarity and performance for 2025. I'm grateful every day for the positive changes in energy, mood, productivity, and overall confidence that this has brought.
📈 Benefits of increased confidence:
• More energy 🔋
• Faster decision-making ⚡
• More visibility 👀
• Less overthinking 🧠
• Greater momentum 🚀
At the end of last year I wouldn't have believed that 9/10 confidence would be a possibility for me, yet it now seems within reach. I wholeheartedly encourage everyone to begin measuring their own goals and progress, it truly is transformative.
This process is working. What’s your Q1 story? What have you learned about yourself and your business?
📝 New on the Blog – The 10 Frustrations That Bootcamp Solves
This week’s blog post explores the 10 top business frustrations that lead designers to join Bootcamp and shares the methods we use inside the programme to address any and all weaknesses.
👉 Check out the list - do you relate?
🏁 Race Day Round-Up
Last Thursday we ran our very first Social Media Race Day! 🎉 Huge thanks to everyone who took part or watched the prep webinars (both are still available here).
💡 Highs:
• Doing the prep pushed everyone to clarify their messaging
• Profiles polished ✨
• Video skills unlocked 🎥
• Personal branding upgraded 📸
⚠️ Lows:
• Scheduling software had limitations (no music, no covers...)
• Five hours is a very long haul – and many found it overwhelming to create a whole month’s content
🎯 Next Race Day: 17th April – format and targets will be adjusted to make it more achievable and effective. News pending - watch this space!
📅 Next Month: Fees & Charging
Based on a poll in the group, our April focus will be Fees and Charging 💰
We’ll cover:
• Fee structures (hourly rates, fixed fees, others...)
• How to calculate your ideal hourly rate
• Producing and presenting compelling fee proposals
And, to help you check your processes, there will be two live webinars to support you (UK timings given):
• Tuesday 8th April @ 11am
• Tuesday 15th April @ 2pm
All links (and more news, including the agenda for each webinar) in Hothouse.
🎓 Bootcamp – Final Call for Early Bird
Bootcamp runs 22 April–22 May, during these dates I’ll be fully immersed in working 1:1 with the new cohort. I am so looking forward to diving in!
🚨 Only 2 days left for the early bird rate!
Book now for £850 (normally £1,180), (also available by instalments: 3 x £284).
Bootcamp helps you to shine so your ideal clients can see you, we'll cover:
• Strategic business planning - bespoke for you!
• Managing clients, time, marketing and mindset
• Personal branding - helping you to take that big step forwards
• Revenue stream mapping - planning the services that will weave to make your LT business
• Integrating AI - we'll use it all the time
• Confidence-building and long-term accountability - we will meet, live, regularly for the whole of 2025!
Here it is again: BOOK HERE!
📩 DM me or email if you want to chat about whether it’s right for you.
📅 Dates for the Month (UK time) - all links in Hothouse
• Tuesday 1st April @ 12pm – April Launch in Hothouse
• Tuesday 8th April @ 11am – Webinar One: Fee Proposals and Charging
• Tuesday 15th April @ 2pm – Webinar Two: Fee Proposals and Charging
• Thursday 17th April @ 9.30am – Social Media Race Day 2
• Tuesday 22nd April @ 10am – 💥Bootcamp Launch!💥
• Friday 25th April @ 9.15am – Bootcampers’ April Board Meeting (invitation only)
💡 Final Thought
Join me on my journey - the people who make the biggest strides in business are not the ones with the most talent, money, or spare time - they’re the ones who show up every week.
Who act even when they’re unsure.
Who push themselves just slightly beyond their comfort zone.
Who keep their promises to themselves.
Who measure what matters.
✨ And who choose progress over perfection.
The first quarter of this year has shown the power of steady, intentional effort. Just imagine the progress achievable by continuing this momentum for the rest of 2025 🚀
👉 Click here to join Hothouse.
Warmly,
Julia
Founder, Hothouse
Responses