Studio Designer CEO Keith Granet seeks to elevate the trade with his design business expertise and has cultivated deep relationships with notable leaders and talents involved in the industry. We are revisiting his Connecting with our Community webinar series that showcased the experience and practical advice they had for designers in this ever-fluctuating business climate. This week we’re featuring an interview with interior designer Tom Stringer of Tom Stringer Design Partners. Tom offered a design firm’s perspective on the crisis in a particularly informative discussion salient to so many Studio Designer users’ specific concerns.

Known for his adventurous lifestyle, Tom got the traveling out of his system at the beginning of the year and for the first time in 25 years, spent a full month at home. He described how his firm tends to be early adopters of technology, a blessing that allowed his office to quickly shift into all-remote work. Tom expressed the “surreal” nature of the abrupt change in his lifestyle but is proud of how he and his team quickly went with the flow and kept moving forward.

Venice Beach, California Home

Tom discussed how important is it is to keep connected with regular video meetings and believes that routine, organization, and establishing boundaries are key to staying sane and productive while working from home. He also offered advice on task management systems, how much he thinks people will want help with their homes post-crisis, and how important it is to keep orders going so that you stay in the queue.

Florida Waterside Retreat

With his company busier than ever, Tom realizes that his firm has been operating at a breakneck speed for a long time and has promised his team that there will be some relief in the future. Operating his firm at full capacity for so long has given him tremendous insight and appreciation for working in such a resilient and still-growing industry. He shared the importance of connecting with existing clients and how it can keep work steady more than trying to capture new customers.

Walloon Lake Lakehouse

View the recording of the Tom Stringer interview here, check out the full collection of Connecting with our Community webinars, or read a blog post about the entire series.

Want to learn more about Studio Designer?

Email info@studiodesigner.com, register for our weekly demo, or give us a call: 800-300-8715. We can’t wait to connect.

Studio Designer is the leading digital platform for Interior Designers managing and growing their design businesses. Featuring fully integrated project management, time billing, product sourcing, and accounting solutions for the interior design industry.