As summer ends, I will be back to blogging for at least a minute. So much has occurred since my last blog post that it is honestly hard to know where to start, so I will begin with what is coming up. We are on the fast track to the Holidays now. It is nonstop for this girl, and I love it that way. I have multiple projects finishing up, and I can’t wait to show you the results, even if they are my smartphone photos. Let’s dive in to what’s ahead.

Up first is a workshop that I am proud to collaborate on. I have been working on this since last July, when I released my signature course, “How to Decorate a Christmas Tree like Alisa Berry.” So many designer friends and acquaintances asked me how I turned this into a career. I am honored to share that with anyone who has a passion for design and creating joyful spaces. Christmas design and decorating will always be my first love. It hasn’t always been as popular as it is now, but this business has afforded me many opportunities that I would not have otherwise had.

This workshop is a comprehensive look at the business of Christmas Decorating. If you are ready to take this leap of faith and try something fun and lucrative, I have assembled an incredible lineup of speakers to help me teach you exactly what you need to thrive and succeed in this business. Our corporate sponsor is Mr. Paul Guess with Guess and Company of Des Arc, Arkansas. If you aren’t familiar with Guess and Company, you should be. Each year, Paul and his team assemble a magical Christmas Wonderland in a 60,000 sq. ft warehouse turned into a showroom with dazzling displays of Christmas Decor to delight any Christmas Crazy.

The lineup of speakers includes Linda Holt of Linda Holt Creative. Linda is a master photographer and interior designer. Her passion is teaching interior designers how to photograph their work professionally with a smartphone. She has launched her own course and will expand it into the world of Christmas Decorating just for us.

Our next superstar is my friend and fellow interior designer, Lori Carpenter of Lori Carpenter Designs. Lori has also been in the Christmas Decorating space for nearly 30 years. She has award-winning Christmas Designs and will teach us how to add extra cash to our Design Business with this service. Lori uses the service to work with clients to create a dazzling display from their front gate to their dining table and all points in between.

Getting your ideas and designs across to a client is essential to any design project, and Christmas Designs are no different. Our next speaker, Shannin Williams, owns the Bertrand Williams School of Architectural Rendering. Shannon is an accomplished interior designer and architectural illustrator, and she will share with you how to bring your designs to life through hand-rendered illustrations. I will warn you, it is quite addictive once you learn it because it is so effective and creative.

So, what else is included in this workshop? Well, I will be teaching you how to start from zero. I want you to feel confident in taking this workshop and starting your own business. It will not be enough to know where to start, so I will also share the keys to my success in my business with marketing strategies and ideas on how to effectively market your new business for this season and into the 2025 season. In these two sessions, I will cover pricing, sourcing, expenses, and ideas for finding your place in this fantastic business. I am sharing my insights into what clients expect, how to keep them happy, and, most importantly, setting yourself apart from the crowd.

One more surprise in this workshop. The Christmas Warehouse at Guess and Company officially opens on October 7th with ticketed VIP nights and will be open to the public on October 18th, 2024, but you will get the first look inside all they have to offer this year. It is part of the new Designer program that Paul Guess is offering to designers and decorators in the business. You can sign up as a registered designer to receive tiered discounts on the merchandise you need to source for your projects this year. A dedicated Designer Sales Liaison will work with you one-on-one to find what you need for your projects. They will ship it to you immediately, directly to your job site or address. In case you don’t know, this is huge. There is no other program like this where you can buy what you need as you sell it and you don’t have to pay for all of the storage. What makes this even better is the service that Paul’s team brings to this. I ordered multiple times last year, and not one item shipped to me was broken. That is unheard of in our industry. I can’t wait to see all of the magical displays and merchandise that Paul has in store for us this year. It will be a treat.

If you would like to join us for this workshop, you can click here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/deck-the-halls-christmas-decor-mastery-registration-952016536087?utm-campaign=social&utm-content=attendeeshare&utm-medium=discovery&utm-term=listing&utm-source=cp&aff=ebdsshcopyurl use PROMO CODE: AUGUST50 to save $50 on the ticket price. We would love to have you join us in this wonderful world of Christmas Design and Decorating, you never know where it will take you.

Next September, I will speak on a panel during Dallas Market Design Days on Thursday, September 19, 2024. If you are a designer or in the trade, I invite you to join us for this panel as we discuss the trends for 2024 along with the pulse of the business. Immediately after the panel discussion, I will help lead a tour through the Dallas Design Market Center of vendors available to your business. These are the best in the industry, and we will introduce you to the showroom managers and give you tips on working with these vendors. One of the critical aspects of any excellent design business is the products you source. Sourcing quality products with unique features and appeal will be crucial to a thriving design and decorating business.

As September comes to a close, I will share with you scenes from our vacation in Napa Valley, CA, San Francisco, and along the Pacific Coast Highway. Why does this matter? Everything I share with you is about living life boldly. I was invited on this trip with a group of designers I belong to, Vacation Rental Designers Collective. We were treated for several days in Napa Valley, CA, at the La Meritage Resort courtesy of SKS Appliances. At the SKS experience and design center, we trained firsthand with luxury appliances under the guidance of SKS Chef Nick to learn how the appliances work and how to stay true to food. Why is this important? Living boldly is living a healthy life that begins in our kitchens. More to come on this. Stay tuned