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Show Summary
In this engaging episode of the Real Estate Pros podcast, host Q Edmonds welcomes interior designer Caitlin Sargent, who shares her insights on the importance of interior design, the three pillars of her business, and the challenges faced in the industry. Caitlin emphasizes the significance of transparency, authenticity, and problem-solving in building successful client relationships while balancing personal values and business growth. The conversation is filled with humor, relatable anecdotes, and valuable lessons for anyone in the real estate and design fields.
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Caitlin Sargent (00:00)
Maybe there’s shame in our skill set. I’m not sure, but man, I’ve learned that if shame is any part of my process, it is poison. I am done before I start.Quentin (00:08)
Woo!Caitlin Sargent (00:11)
So if I feel shame about what I charge people, that’s my responsibility to spend time like that. I don’t have any more shame about what I cost, honey.Quentin (00:23)
Mm-mm.Caitlin Sargent (00:23)
have any more shame. I’ll tell you right now. I’m $250 an hour. I have a 10-hour minimum and I charge 30 % over cost on everything.Quentin (02:04)
Hello everyone. Welcome to the Real Estate Pros podcast. I am your host, Q Edmonds. And y’all know I say it I’m excited about our guest. We’ve been talking a little bit backstage. just gonna tell you all about our business, but it’s gonna be impossible for us not to weave in business in person. It’s gonna be impossible because we are who we are, right?we, the businesses that we build is a extension of who we are, the journeys that we’ve been through, the experiences that we had. And so I’m just so excited to open up and have a moment to let Ms. Sargent talk about her business, about her experience. I just know you’re going to get a ton of ton of value from today. So I want to introduce you again to Ms. Caitlin Sargent , I’m sorry.
Ms. Caitlin how you doing today now? I’m sorry. How you feeling today?
Caitlin Sargent (02:55)
Q of just all you need to know all you need to know two thingsDon’t salute me, but I am a sergeant Okay So you won’t forget that and I’m the oldest Caitlin you’re ever gonna meet that didn’t used to be Bruce Jenner So that’s the everything you need to know
Quentin (03:02)
Mm-hmm. Hey! Come on.So I’m gonna tell y’all now, get your pens ready because though she got line after line, this woman is gonna drive through this conversation. I can tell you. So if you ever wanna have some good puns, have some good quotes, I’m telling you today is the day. What an intro. I’m so delighted to have you today. And listen, I’m so excited.
Caitlin Sargent (03:33)
Thank you for having me. What a great way to start my day.Quentin (03:37)
if you don’t mind, listen, I want to dive in, bring people into your world, let them know what your main focus are these days, let them know what markets you’re operating in and just feel free again, just take us into your world, Miss Kate.Caitlin Sargent (03:45)
Okay.Well, thank you again for having me. I’m coming to you from my dining table in Denver, Colorado. ⁓ It’s finally comfortable here. We’ve had a lot of hot days and then we had a lot of rainy days. So you got me on a good hair day, thank goodness. ⁓ But I am excited to share with you, you know, a lot of people wonder really what interior designers do. What is that about?
⁓ And I’m really here to clear that up and let you know exactly what I do, especially how I work with real estate agents. You know, if you don’t have a house, I can’t really help you. So it’s helpful to work with real estate agents who are putting pre-qualified and qualified clients who’ve already been through an incredible working experience ⁓ to partner finally with me.
Quentin (05:25)
Beautiful. I love it. Listen, we were talking backstage and I want you to tell them about the three pillars in your life. I’m not gonna say, I call them pillar, but it’s these three points that you go by. And hopefully I’m not jumping again. I hope that it’s all right for you to share, but please tell them the three, because they were so, so vitally important to what you do. So please do. Yeah.Caitlin Sargent (05:38)
No. All right.Yeah.
I would say first and foremost, the umbrella that arches over those three pillars is that turnkey home interiors is really good at finishing projects. So many interior designers, builders, ⁓ different people in the home trades industry are great at starting projects. How many D, Y, I, D, Y, I don’t even like the term.
How many of those people are so great at starting a project but not finishing them? I would say the first thing you need to know about working with Turnkey and why we’re called Turnkey is because you’re going to open that door, walk into that house, and it’s done. So we’re great at finishing projects. But the way that we execute that are three non-negotiable standards that we set in every working relationship. And this is not just with our clients. This is going to be with our trusted vendor partners.
This is gonna be with the people that we do business with. ⁓ First and foremost, which I think is sort of tricky because a lot of people don’t want to share how their business operates. And there’s definitely boundaries to this, but it’s transparency. I am going to expect my clients to be fully transparent with me and I’m going to be transparent with them. You’re gonna understand our pricing structure.
you’re going to understand how we operate as a business. ⁓ You know, how I make my coffee, if you must know. But for the most part, what I’ll say is that transparency is the first piece that establishes a really healthy working relationship. Designer, general contractor, client fallout is like the number one issue that happens. And I think it’s because expectations are not managed well in the beginning. And I also think it’s because ⁓
people feel like they’re gonna get taken advantage of. So we need to flush that out in the very beginning. I don’t wanna be taken advantage of by my clientele. I don’t want my time and ideas to be abused. And I don’t want their resources, their home, and that opportunity to be abused. So the first and foremost is transparency. And we established that right off the bat.
Second piece, and this is a big one, and I hope that my interior designer darlings are out there in the world listening, strong leadership and decisiveness. This is your yacht, baby. You just bought this beautiful yacht. She is something. You got the insurance. Good. But you don’t know how to get that yacht to port, okay? I do.
love your yacht and I love you, but sometimes I’m going to tell you to sit down and drink your mimosa in the back.
And I think that so many times as recovering people pleasers and so many of the people in this industry are people pleasers, that’s just how it goes, we’re constantly walking that fine line of raising the bar of expectations and meeting our clients and also sacrificing our own value and worth. I am here to tell you that that is that fine line, make it bold, make it clear, make it fine, finer.
Make it thick, make it a sidewalk. This is your home, these are your resources, this is my project. I am gonna get you through this and you need to trust me like you would trust a surgeon.
Third and final, and this is my favorite one and you might have some commentary on this one, Q. We are going to be working with my trusted tradesmen and women.
appreciate that your mom once took an art class in stained glass.
like that your friend Karen has great taste in a pretty house.
or her.
My tradesmen know what to expect from me. They understand how I want them to work. They understand that they’re not going to be vaping or trapping mud through your house. They understand that I’m really nice and really sweet until I’m not.
And I am fiercely protective of my tradesmen and my clientele, and I’m the one brokering that relationship. So I can guarantee their results. I know what to expect. And again, if I’m here to finish this project for you, then you have to allow me to use the people and the resources that I know work. And that’s how we turn the key and get you in the door. That’s how Turnkey works.
Quentin (10:30)
I love it. Listen, you can start it, but listen, they can finish it. And I just love all your beautiful analogies. I love the fact we not hiring Pookie and them and Ray Ray. I just…Caitlin Sargent (10:45)
Listen,and by any means. Like, Ray Ray, nice to meet you.
Quentin (10:49)
Right.You are a master of the pause of my day. I love the way you pause and let it breathe. I just love it. I love talking to you. Now listen, yeah, I love talking to people from their unique lens, right? Especially when problems come up. I think I was talking to one interior designer and she brought up a raccoon. And I was like, I never thought a raccoon would be in this story. But this is, she answered this question because there’s time when moments get real, right? When things go sideways, when you had to pivot fast.
Caitlin Sargent (11:17)
especially.Quentin (11:19)
And so yes, I would love Ms. Caitlin, if you could share a story, a time when you had to pivot fast, because I think hearing it from your unique lens would be perfect.Caitlin Sargent (11:27)
So there’s too many stories. There’s many opportunities. I will tell you that there’s a couple of things that I’ve learned the hard way. Like I tell people, I’ve cut my teeth. I’ve bled for your benefit. And the first thing I’m going to tell you is it’s not uncommon when you’re working with somebodyand you can really like them. They’re great. They’re funny. They’re attractive. They show up on time. They’re sweet. But if they keep making the same mistake over and over again, you’re now the fool. And I can’t tell you how many times I have had to say to somebody, you know, you are great. I actually like the work you do. However, I’ve made a commitment to this client.
to finish this project within a certain timeframe and I’ve made a commitment to myself to be profitable and you’re keeping me from meeting that expectation. It’s not personal. It’s something I learned the hard way, like it’s not personal, it’s business. I used to think that was a bunch of nonsense, right? Because we put our hearts and souls into the work that we do, but now I’m starting to understand. I’m starting to understand what that means, but I’ll tell you a funny story.
you’ll like this.
was at a client’s home, we were doing an interior, it was a remodel, but we’re at the stage where we’re painting everything. And the client is complaining because it smells funny. And my whole thing was like, well, yeah, you’re living in a construction zone and ⁓ it’s gonna smell like paint and fumes and whatever. He was like, no, this is different. This is something different. And now you have to know.
They don’t have any appliances. They don’t have anything. You know, this is just a box getting painted. So I’m like, I better stop by and see what’s going on. I walk in and one of our crewmen, who’s wonderful, Carlos, is sitting there. He has brought a microwave with him, brought it into the client’s home, plugged it in and is heating up fish tacos.
Quentin (13:41)
YouGoodness.
Caitlin Sargent (14:22)
bringing that microwave in here. So I just want you to picture this sweet, hard-working, decent guy named Carlos literally brings his microwave with his lunch inside. So all we have to do is plug it in and push the button.Quentin (14:38)
⁓ my goodness, yeah.Caitlin Sargent (14:40)
I lovedmaking that phone call back to my clients, Marissa and Josh, and saying, no, you were right. Yep, something fishy was going on. You were right.
Quentin (14:50)
⁓ goodness.Caitlin Sargent (14:51)
So you’re like, what’s going to take me to my job site today?Quentin (14:54)
Oh, man. I love it. Carlos, when he said, your lunch box, he was like, I got one better for you. I’m going to bring my microwave with my lunch in it. I mean, he was solving problems. know, Carlos was solving problems. Creating problems for you, but solving problems. Exactly. He was trying to be efficient, you know? One thing I love that you said,Caitlin Sargent (15:08)
It’s like, Miss Caitlin Miss Caitlin, I just did not want to leave and get this job done. ⁓ I appreciate that, Carlos.Quentin (15:19)
And I think this, well, no, I’m just gonna say this because you use the word attraction, right? When it comes to relationships and attraction could be, yes, you you physically look attractive, but it’s like, what’s attracting you to the person that you want to do this business with? So attraction comes in so many different forms. And as we know in relationships, just because your attractiveness isn’t by, doesn’t mean it’s gonna be a gay relationship. So I love it how you use your pillars.I love it how you being honest upfront because yes, I’m attracted to you. That was just the initial phase, but what’s gonna make this thing substantial and last worthwhile? It’s gonna be more than just what attracted me to you. It’s gonna be all the little things within the deal that we’re trying to do. And so I love that you brought that out. And I just wanted to howl like that because like I said before, as you talk, so many different things pop in my mind, you have a great way of just painting pictures.
And so I’m going to let you respond to that. But I want to ask you this question too. And you can do them both if you want. I would love to know, what are you focused on solving the scaling next? Like, what’s the next real goal for you?
Caitlin Sargent (16:23)
Well, I would say one of the things, there’s so much that you learn the hard way, right? And we’re post COVID, you know, that changed kind of like, first and foremost, I have a background also in financial advising and in business. And one of the things that I took a break from the interior design world, because I really wanted to learn about money and investing. And so I had the opportunity to do that.didn’t do it for a long time. I’m a creative person, had some success. But one of the things they teach you about the market, and I think this is true about business, the market goes up, the market goes down. The biggest deciding factor, it seems, between successful businesses and unsuccessful businesses is staying power and the ability to solve problems in real time. But I would say the other thing that
I’m really focused on in this next year is sustainability in how I balance the type of business I want to grow and the life that I want to live.
So, you my faith is super important to me. My community is super important to me. And so learning how to honor my highest self, my highest power and everything that I do, that has taken losing everything and failing and coming back from it. Because only then do I know what I can lose and keep going, what I can afford to lose.
What can I afford to lose? I can’t afford to lose my integrity. I can’t. That’s not gonna work. ⁓ I can’t afford to lose my community. If something’s keeping me from my community, I’m in trouble. ⁓ I can’t afford to lose the connection to my children and to my family of origin back East. So those are some of the things I need to be thinking about.
⁓ You know, for the same reason when you’re on the airplane when the oxygen mask drops and they say put the oxygen mask on first and then on your child. You know, if I’m not okay, neither is my business, intrinsically.
So I one have to take care of myself. I gotta be okay. And that’s a really big focus for me as a 42 year old single mother and CEO of a business that I’m hoping to take further and further and further. And I have to do it without compromising or sacrificing my values and my integrity. So there we go. Got that figured out. Man, it was that hard figuring that out. You’d think, you’d think, obviously you don’t wanna sacrifice your integrity.
But it’s not until a client says, you willing to work for less money? Are you willing to give up church to do this job? Are you willing to work with somebody who has belittled you or insulted you? It’s not until you’re put in those situations that you’re really expected to own those things. Really, what is my value? It’s not until I have to defend it or I have to stand by it that I’m then aware of, okay.
because there will be consequences that you can’t really anticipate. And sometimes they’re serious, like bankruptcy, like mismanagement of funds, like completely destroying somebody’s home without the resources or the skill set to resolve it. Those are things that sometimes, unfortunately, you have to get through it. But here’s the last thing that really blew my mind.
Every problem has a solution!
Thank God.
Thank you God that there is a solution for every problem. So I have to remember that. So in this next year moving forward, my goal is to build my business on those pillars that I shared with you, make sure that I’m putting myself in front of the right clients who are gonna value my skillset, my talent, and my experience, which is I think probably my most valuable asset that I bring to every working relationship.
But I’m also looking forward to experiencing success without compromising my value.
Cause I don’t know that I’ve really ever had that experience, Q.
used to this and you know it’s good.
like it.
Did I answer your question, sir?
Quentin (20:35)
I guess so, Ms. Kingman, I guess.So, yes, answered my question and more. You you and I, we both, we live by the same book. We both value our faith. And you said it, it reminds me of the first commandment, actually the second commandment. It says, the second commandment is like the first, is that you love your neighbor as you love yourself. And so I cannot love you.
Caitlin Sargent (20:47)
⁓ huh.Quentin (21:05)
and exhaust loving myself. And so, ooh, yeah, come on, you breathe. Come on, you want to talk to it? You breathe.Caitlin Sargent (21:08)
⁓ Listen RuPaulRuPaul’s been talking to me RuPaul is a drag queen Okay, and RuPaul says if you can love yourself, how the hell you gonna love anybody else, This is a six foot two black man dressed as a woman telling truth, okay, so I and I want you to I also want you to know that like
Quentin (21:15)
Come on! Come on!Come on.
Come on.
Caitlin Sargent (21:36)
Your beliefs are not there to be combative. know, so many of us as Christians, so many of us as Muslims, as Jews, as atheists, as spiritualists, whatever you are, you know, I’m a big believer that this is a bridge to you, not a wall.Quentin (21:41)
Come on.Caitlin Sargent (21:58)
being given some really great guidance on how to maintain my authenticity and vulnerability in a way that protects myself and the people that I interact with. I’m not looking to convert anybody, but you want to talk about it. We can talk about it.Quentin (22:12)
talk about it. Come on. Absolutely. And I mean, I love it. I know this, this translates to business well, because this again, you should be in the business of being authentic. And so when we build in these relationships without clientele, when we build these relationships in business, I love what you just said. I’m not trying to force anything on you. We can talk about it, but one thing for sure, when we talk of business or when we just talk connecting andand building relationship is going to be on an authentic basis. And I think that’s the key takeaway. I want people to know that when you are building business, if you are building your business, you got to build it from an authentic place. And my authenticity don’t have to be dogmatic, put you down, but it needs to come from an authentic place.
Caitlin Sargent (22:45)
⁓think that that’s why my first point that I lead with is transparency.
Quentin (23:03)
There you go. That’s what you said.Caitlin Sargent (23:05)
because I think transparency and authenticity are really different ends of the same sphere or the same line, so to speak. I’ve met with clients before who have been burned badly and they’ve had a lot of unsuccessful projects. I think that there’s something like the 90 % of general contractors get fired from their jobs.Quentin (23:29)
Wow. Wow.Caitlin Sargent (23:32)
I would love to change that statistic. But I will also just say, because there’s this sort of, maybe there’s shame in how we make our money.Maybe there’s shame in our skill set. I’m not sure, but man, I’ve learned that if shame is any part of my process, it is poison. I am done before I start.
Quentin (23:49)
Woo!Caitlin Sargent (23:53)
So if I feel shame about what I charge people, that’s my responsibility to spend time like that. I don’t have any more shame about what I cost, honey.Quentin (24:04)
Mm-mm.Caitlin Sargent (24:04)
have any more shame. I’ll tell you right now. I’m $250 an hour. I have a 10-hour minimum and I charge 30 % over cost on everything.Quentin (24:13)
And do.Caitlin Sargent (24:14)
And do.Quentin (24:14)
⁓ listen, that’s it. Point blank Korean. ⁓ my goodness. Ms. Caitlin when I tell you I could do this with you for hours. I feel like we scratching the surface. I feel like we just getting started. There’s questions I didn’t even get to. And so I know I could do this with you for hours, but for hours, unfortunately our schedules dictate something different.Caitlin Sargent (24:38)
Yeah, you got other people to talk to.Quentin (24:38)
But listen,exactly. listen, before we wrap, if someone wanted to reach out to you, connect with you, collaborate with you, or learn more about what you’re doing, how can they get in contact with you?
Caitlin Sargent (24:51)
would love you to reach out to either my website, is www.turnkeyhomeinteriors.co like Colorado. Not saying that was a good idea, but that’s what we did. Okay. Or check out my Instagram, which is turn underscore key underscore homes on Instagram. I am here for it. I’m here for you.I’m very comfortable talking to people in whatever capacity. And the other thing I want you to know, there is no job too small or too big. I’ve learned that. And sometimes people hire me and they’re like, I just need you to come over my house today. And we just need to walk through. You got it girl. Whatever we got to do. But we got to start somewhere. So please, I can’t wait to talk to you.
Quentin (25:43)
Absolutely. ⁓ Miss Caitlin, hi. Thank you so much. I thank you for your time, for your stories, for your perspectives, for your ⁓ analogies, just for everything. This has been awesome. This has been a pleasure. we definitely need more people doing what they do the way you’re doing it. And so I appreciate you, dear. Absolutely.Caitlin Sargent (26:05)
thank you. What a compliment. Thank you. Well,all I want people to know is good design changes lives and it’s not about how the house looks, it’s how it works. And if you want your house to work for you, you know, please reach out. I’m here to help and I can’t wait to help you.
Quentin (26:22)
There she is y’all, you don’t have to salute her, that is Ms. Sargent Sargent why do you keep saying surgeon? Sargent, that’s Ms. Sargent and I thank you so much.Caitlin Sargent (26:32)
Yeah, take care, everybody.Quentin (26:33)
Absolutely. And everyone, you know you got value from this. So make sure you’re subscribed. Come on, people. Hit the subscribe button. You do not want to miss out on these amazing conversations. Come on. Come on. Absolutely. So Ms. Caitlin, thank you again. And everyone else, we’ll see you on the next time.Caitlin Sargent (26:41)
Who’s got good questions? Cue for questions, you know?Take care.
