Hothouse Week 3 - Keep the Momentum Going!

🌟 What is Hothouse?

Hothouse is a private group - an interior design business accelerator - designed to help you grow your business faster through collaboration, intentional action, and goal-setting. Each month, we’ll focus on strengthening a key area of professional performance, and together, we’ll track progress toward meaningful results.

JANUARY - we are coalescing as a group, learning systems, and I've been encouraging members who don't have much experience with AI to adopt it. That's because in coming months we'll be focusing on business development work that will benefit from the added power/efficiency of AI assistance. 

📌 Join Hothouse! It’s Free

👉 Click here to join Hothouse on Facebook.

Or search ‘Hothouse - Excellence in Interior Design Business’ on Facebook.

Know someone who would benefit? Please share this newsletter with them - all interior designers are welcome!

🗓 Highlights from the New Designers’ Meeting

This week, we hosted our first New Designers’ Meeting! Key themes emerged as we discussed the challenges of starting a business and laying strong foundations. Here’s what we covered:

1. Start with a Minimum Viable Product (MVP):

Progress beats perfection. Launch with the essentials and refine as you go - waiting for everything to be perfect only delays your success.

2. Build Your Personal Brand:

Connect with clients on a human level. Embrace video content, share your story, and showcase your expertise to earn trust and draw in hesitant clients. 

3. Create a Business Plan:

A solid business plan is the foundation for long-term growth. (See more on this in our AI mini-course below! Also, business planning will be a group focus, probably in March).

4. Streamline with AI:

This week’s how-to video shared practical ways to use AI in interior design. More details below!

5. Leverage Our Hothouse Community:

• Share your challenges.

• Ask for feedback.

• Jump in to help others where you can.

🛠 Initiatives Under Consideration

From group discussions, we’re exploring:

• A checklist for new designers. I'm mulling over how the group can provide the very best support to designers who are launching. 

• Smaller workgroups focused on key areas like Instagram (the first of these is planned for next week - see below).

• Sharing Instagram handles and following one another.

Preferred meeting times were also discussed, with mornings emerging as a favourite. I’ll be sending out a poll soon to confirm the best time for future sessions.

📅 Coming Up in Hothouse

🎥 Instagram Strategy Brainstorming Session

📅 TBC - Friday, 24th January at 2:30 PM UK / 3:30 PM Europe

As discussed during the New Designers Meeting, we will be trialling an informal meet-up format to share Instagram experiences and strategies. There’s no external expert this time—just a chance to brainstorm, chat, and plan steps for the coming month. An opportunity to commit to a low level of Insta activity, and to be held accountable. This will be a Zoom meeting, I'll put the link into the group when the time is confirmed. 

🗓 Friday, 31st January, 9:15 AM

Bootcampers’ Board Meeting

This session is exclusive to Recipe for Success Bootcamp graduates. We’ll discuss recent progress, set new goals, and collaborate on challenges.

(Link will be shared privately with Bootcampers.)

🤖 Integrating AI Into Your Interior Design Business – Mini-Course

The free AI Induction Course is now live!

👉 Follow the course here

• Video Content: About 25 minutes.

• Exercises: Expect an hour or two of focused work - BUT! the time you save in future weeks will more than repay this effort!

For those diving into business planning, there’s an AI-assisted exercise available under the group’s Files tab. Two versions are ready: one for Word users, another for Pages.

🤓 Your feedback is invaluable! Let me know how you get on - I’ll use your input to improve future materials.

⏳ We're Halfway Through January – Let’s Refocus

How are your January goals coming along?

It’s not too late to realign and make progress:

• Post updates in the group for accountability.

• Share challenges - this is a space for support and encouragement.

Remember: Compassion matters. Celebrate your efforts and the progress you’ve made, however small. Being intentional increases your chances of success, and every step forward counts!

Speaking personally, my goal of launching Meta Ads by month-end is slipping—I need to double down! How about you? Share your progress in the group.

🖋 Journaling – My Week 3 Progress

I’m just about to upload my Week 3 video journal to the group, and I feel staggered by the power of this activity. Assuming I make good progress this year (fingers crossed!), I’ll attribute much of my success to this weekly 30-minute analysis.

This week - because last week's stats were so poor - I paid a tiny bit of extra attention to LinkedIn and, of course, the results ticked up. Small gains in mailing list subscriptions might seem minor, but they massively outpace growth before I started tracking. I expect this to take off properly when I start placing Meta ads. My goal for 2025 is to grow this number to 1,000.

This practice is genuinely transformative - I believe it may well be where the magic happens. If you haven’t tried journaling yet, why not join me?

🤝 Let’s Grow the Group Together!

This journey is so much better with company. If you know an interior designer who would benefit from joining Hothouse, invite them to join our Facebook group and share this newsletter with them!

👉 Click here to join the Hothouse Facebook Group.

Together, we’re building a supportive, inspiring community of designers who are ready to grow, learn, and thrive. Let’s make 2025 extraordinary—for all of us.

✨ Final Thought

Progress isn’t about perfection; it’s about moving forward with intention. Use the tools, resources, and community around you to take meaningful steps toward your goals.

2025 is brimming with potential - I am determined that we all grow our businesses this year - let’s make the most of it together!

Warmly,

Julia

Founder, Hothouse

P.S. Share this newsletter with a friend or colleague who’s ready to take their interior design business to the next level. Let’s grow our community and make 2025 a vintage year!