1.🪴 What is Hothouse?
Hothouse is a free professional development group for ambitious interior designers, promoting the Hothouse Method of Business Growth: Design; Declare; Deliver.
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Design – we plan our businesses
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Declare – we set goals and targets in public
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Deliver – we measure and watch our businesses grow
Hothouse isn’t about theory, it’s all about action. Whatever stage your business – startup, lightweight, middleweight, heavyweight – Hothouse is here to help you thrive, and push your business up to the next level.
Hothouse brings structure and momentum to help your business grow. 🌱
2. 🗓 July Intentions and Focus
In July and August I'll be helping designers with random questions in Hothouse, just jump in and ask, I'll look forward to chatting with you there.
In September we'll be back with New (School) Years Resolutions - a big push for growth in Q4.
3. 💌 This Week’s Blog is for Beginners (But You’ll Want to Read It Too)
Remember the early days of your design career? The awkward pricing chats. The logo tweaks that mattered so much. The silent terror that a client might... actually commission you?
This week’s blog is a love letter - not from me, but from you. Five years from now. Wiser, steadier, successful, and with a kind take on those nerve-wracking first steps.
The intention here is to help new designers - my Tier One 'Startups' - stop second-guessing and start making things happen.
And if you know someone just starting out, feel free to forward it to them ❤️
4.🧯 Lost Mojo? You’re Not Alone
Next week’s blog will go deeper into one of the most common challenges I hear from seasoned interior designers: “I’ve lost my spark.”
Whether it’s the admin, tricky clients, a creeping disconnect between your values and the business you’ve built, or a feeling that everything has changed around you leaving you out of date - so many designers reach a point where the business feels flat.
Here’s a preview of the 5 ways we’ll explore to get your mojo back:
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Revisit your first love. Play. Rediscover the part of design that lit you up.
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Audit your boundaries. Overgiving is a silent joy killer.
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Refresh your client filter. The right clients energise you.
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Redesign your own business. Don’t live with a broken layout. Fix it.
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Find your people. You don’t have to do this alone.
This final point is the game-changer - and perhaps the most potent element of my Bootcamp programme, it was designed with boosting motivation and job satisfaction in mind.
Next week’s newsletter will include a link to the full article, and if you want to connect come along to...👇 item 5 - the new designers' meeting.
5.🪴 New Designers' Welcome Meeting – This Thursday
If you’re new to Hothouse - or building your business from the ground up - join me Thursday 17th at 10:30am UK time on Zoom (you'll find the link under the Events tab in the Facebook group).
We’ll run through the group’s free resources and support, plus leave time for your questions - whether you’re stuck on pricing, overwhelmed by systems, or unsure how to get your first (or next) client.
This session is ideal for:
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New designers 👩🎓
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Career changers 🎯
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Anyone making a bold pivot 🔄
- Anyone who fancies a chat!
Please let me know if you’re coming, and if there is anything in particular you'd like to discuss. I can’t wait to meet you. 🌼
6. 📅 Coming Up in Hothouse
As the summer holidays begin, our formal programme slows down - but I’ll be in the group daily, answering questions and offering support.
Looking ahead to autumn, we have:
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A legal Q&A on contracts and terms and conditions with a lawyer
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Instagram strategy guidance tailored for designers
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A conversation with a stylist on finishing touches
Plus, I’ll be delivering two live workshops for the BIID, find out more from the BIID website.
7. ✨ My Week in Hothouse
Still in Paris, still swapping homes (I shared my home-swapping tips last week [read them here]).
This is the third month we've spent in Paris in the last few years, so (thankfully, given it's hot and busy) we’ve already ‘done’ the major sights. Our daily routine is 3-4 hours of exploring, timed to work with the exhibitions and galleries we want to visit (this is also our daily exercise), then the what's left of the day and evening is work-time.
That said, having had a holiday in June, and with the upheaval of moving around, my business growth has stalled over the last few weeks. The calm summer period offers time to prepare for a big final quarter of the year. I’ll be increasing my social media output, running Meta ads, and launching a new push for growth.
I have a group of motivated designers already planning to make Q4 count - if you’d like to join us, just reply to this email, message me on LinkedIn or Instagram, or shout out in Hothouse. ✉️
8. 🙋 What Would You Like More Of?
Hothouse is built for you - so your input genuinely shapes what happens next.
Please do send suggestions my way via Instagram, LinkedIn, or email: [email protected]
9. 🌀 Final Thought
This week’s newsletter may be aimed at beginners - but we all benefit from taking a beginner’s approach from time to time.
We tend to assume experience is everything - and of course, it brings perspective, pattern-recognition, and a certain ease. But it can also bring habits, blind spots, and a creeping sense of “this is how things are.”
New designers don’t have that problem. Their secret weapon? Curiosity. Willingness to ask questions. Openness to new models and methods. That’s not inexperience - it’s adaptability.
So whether you’re just starting out or ten years in, try this: look again. What have you taken for granted in your business that could be reimagined? What would you do differently if you weren’t already doing it a certain way?
Regardless of how long we've been at it, we should all strive to keep our learner’s mindset alive - it’s a design strength. 💡
Very best wishes
Julia
Founder of Hothouse
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