031: Building Your First Team: Lessons Learned Growing a Design Business

Growing a design business doesn't start with hiring a full-time employee—it starts with building the right support system.In this solo episode, Rachel Larraine Crawford shares her personal journey of growing Tiger Veil from a one-person operation into a collaborative team. From hiring an accountant as her very first business investment to bringing on a full-time team member and mentoring emerging professionals, Rachel offers an honest look at the lessons, mistakes, and mindset shifts that shaped her approach to building a team.Whether you're wondering if you're ready to hire, feeling overwhelmed by wearing every hat in your business, or trying to determine what support would create the biggest impact, this episode provides practical guidance to help you move forward with confidence.In This Episode, You'll Learn:Why your first "hire" may not be an employee at allHow to identify which tasks only you can do as the founder of your businessThe difference between creating support and simply hiring staffWhy hiring should be viewed as an investment in growth, not just an expenseA practical framework for determining your next hireLessons learned from a hiring decision that wasn't the right fitThe value of mentoring emerging professionals and design internsHow to build a team in stages as your business growsGet your Interior Design First Hire Readiness Checklist Here.Stay Connected:Sign Up for Our NewsletterASID San Diego WebsiteLinkedInFollow us on InstagramAsk your question, share a topic of interest or be our guest here.Subscribe to the podcast so you don’t miss upcoming episodesShare this podcast with a fellow designer in your communityQuestions, sponsorship or feed back: sandiegoasid@gmail.com