How to build trust, create resonance, and land high-end projects (without feeling like a sales rep).
What is Hothouse?
Hothouse is a free professional development group for ambitious interior designers, promoting the Hothouse Method of Business Growth: Design; Declare; Deliver.
Design – we plan our businesses
Declare – we set goals and targets in public
Deliver – we measure and watch our businesses grow
Hothouse isn’t about theory – it’s all about action. Whatever stage your business – between startup and stardom – Hothouse is here to help you thrive, and push towards your business goals.
Hothouse brings structure and momentum to help your business grow. 🌱 Join the group here.
June Intentions and Focus
🎓 Two Live Webinars This Month – Sales, the Luxury Way
This month, we’re diving deep into one of the most essential (and neglected) business skills: selling luxury interior design services.
The good news? Effective selling at the high end is far more subtle than you think. It’s about trust, empathy, and quiet authority - not slick talk or hard closes. That said, the methods aren't immediately obvious.
Join both sessions via the Events tab in the Hothouse Facebook group, add them to your diary now:
Webinar One: The Psychology of Luxury Sales
📅 Thursday 12 June @ 10am UK / 11am CEST
How to Build Trust, Shift Power Dynamics, and Reframe Selling for HNW Clients
In this first session, we’ll explore why elite clients don’t want to be sold to - they want to be guided. You’ll learn how to take on the role of trusted consigliere, building trust as a strategic asset, and guiding the sales conversation with confidence.
Webinar Two: Selling Luxury by Design
📅 Wednesday 25 June @ 1pm UK / 2pm CEST
Practical Sales Systems and Strategies for HNW Projects
This session is all about practical strategies, and how they differ for each stage of business development. You’ll see how small changes to systems can reflect trust and calm - and help you to work with more aspirational clients.
Join Hothouse (the webinar links are under the Events tab).
This Week’s Blog Post: Why Trust Is Your Most Valuable Currency
As part of this month's deep dive, this week’s blog explores how trust is the bedrock of successful luxury sales.
Learn how adopting the mindset of a trusted advisor transforms client interactions - being a trusted adviser takes the emotion out of pricing, the sales out of selling, and the flak out of (the occasional!) failure.
Social Media Insights – Part III
One of the best pieces of advice I’ve had this year (thank you, Milla of Pink Storm Social!) is about being more relatable in your social media content.
👆This 'I've been in your shoes' post - as recommended by Milla - is one of my best-performing ever.
For high-end designers, being relatable can feel risky. How do you stay aspirational while also making clients feel emotionally safe and deeply understood?
To help you out, I asked GPT-4 to suggest refined, empathic social media post types that show quiet authority and emotional fluency - all while demonstrating that your clients are in safe hands.
You’ll find five examples below, ready to adapt and post. Try one this week, and let me know how it lands! Maybe just set the text over a short video of
In case it's useful, the prompt I used was: “Researching the pain points of HNWI, can you please suggest a few refined, discreetly empathic social media post types that help interior designers demonstrate quiet authority and emotional fluency, while still creating deep client resonance - demonstrating that they really get their clients, that their clients are in the safest of hands?”
A. “Moments You Don’t See, But Feel”
Conveys invisible layers of service — what the designer does behind the scenes to protect the client’s energy and experience.
Example:
The moodboard isn’t the hard part.
It’s knowing which joiner won’t ghost the project.
Which supplier’s lead times are smoke and mirrors.
When to push - and when to wait.
Good design feels effortless — because the weight of the work is quietly handled for you.
B. “You Don’t Need to Prove Anything Here”
Quietly offers emotional sanctuary to clients used to operating in high-performance, high-scrutiny environments.
Example:
In this space, you don’t have to wade through endless choices.
You don’t need to justify your preferences.
You don’t need to explain why it matters.
I already know it matters. That’s what I'm here for.
3. “When Clients Fall Quiet”
A gently observant post showing emotional sensitivity and the ability to intuit client needs.
Example:
Sometimes a client falls quiet during a site visit.
I’ve learned that it’s rarely boredom.
It’s often fatigue, or overwhelm, or a silent recalibration of priorities.
My job isn’t just to talk. It’s to notice.
To read the room - and the moment.
And to quietly adjust the plan to reflect what truly matters.
4. “Trust Is a Two-Way Investment”
Gently conveys that the client is being held with care and discretion, while hinting at mutual respect.
Example:
When a client trusts me with their home, it’s never taken lightly.
I listen carefully. I hold things back when needed.
I bring in the right people, at the right time.
That trust becomes the foundation of everything else - including the finished space.
5. “What’s Left Unsaid”
Acknowledges the emotional weight of a design project without stating it too bluntly.
Example:
Some projects are about more than aesthetics.
A fresh start. A life change. A quiet act of self-respect.
Those things aren’t always named out loud.
But they’re present. And they shape every decision.
6. “It’s Not Just a House”
Subtly reframes the home as a vessel of identity, memory, and aspiration - ideal for a designer working at the top end.
Example:
It’s not just a house.
It’s a family legacy. A private retreat. A statement of intent.
I work in millimetres - and meaning.
Both matter.
A Reminder: Business in a Box
Do you know someone trying to launch their design studio without a clear plan?
Interior Design Business-in-a-Box is my new course for ambitious new designers - pre-order now for September delivery.
My Week in Hothouse
TBH it has been a challenging week outside of the office - that's why this newsletter is two days late! - no fancy commentary this week. It is what it is. Onwards and upwards.
Dates for June
All joining links are in the Hothouse group under Events!
🔹 Thursday 12 June, 10am – Webinar One: The Psychology of Luxury Sales
🔹 Wednesday 25 June, 1pm – Webinar Two: Selling Luxury by Design - Practical Sales Strategies and Systems
🔹 Bootcampers’ Board Meetings - by invitation, see group invites
Final Thought
Growth is often mistaken for accumulation: more clients, more work, more visibility.
But true growth demands subtraction. At every new tier, there’s something you must leave behind: a habit, a mindset, a method that once served you well, but now quietly limits your potential.
The hardest part of levelling up? Letting go of what used to work.
Have a great week!
Julia
Founder - Hothouse.
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