Confessions of an Interior Designer

Episode: “I confess… my silent client took all the credit”

Host: Caroline Turner
Guest: Zoe Feldman
Date: November 5, 2025

Episode Overview

This episode kicks off Season 2 with Caroline Turner welcoming acclaimed designer Zoe Feldman to discuss the messy, hilarious, and often outrageous realities of high-end interior design. The main themes revolve around finding one's place in the industry, the dynamic of client-designer credit, AI's strange influence on client expectations, and the evolution of design business practices. The episode is packed with candid confessions, practical advice, and raw insights from two experienced designers.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

Zoe Feldman’s Journey into Design

[02:12] – [07:39]

• Unexpected Start: Zoe didn’t intend to enter interior design. Initially a “C student” with no career direction, a failed foray into advertising, and her mother’s suggestion led her down the path.
• The Power of Naivete: She landed an internship at Mark Hampton by cold-calling, despite not fully understanding the prestige. That leap paid off, leading to a design assistant job under Alexa Hampton.
  • Quote: “I think people are often, like, too concerned about protocol and therefore don't do things. … I hadn't had any proper training.” – Zoe [05:33]
• Cold Calling Today: Both Caroline and Zoe agree that cold-calling shows initiative and resilience, qualities valuable in design.
  • Quote: “The person who cold calls me... shows me, like, okay, they have guts… we have to do hard things in our job all the time.” – Caroline [06:34]
• Learning Multiple Styles: Zoe credits her ability to merge traditional and modern design elements to the diverse influences she absorbed early in her career.

Building Zoe Feldman Design

[13:01] – [21:40]

• Growing Through Adversity: After moving to Florida post-9/11, Zoe launched her own firm—unprepared, newly divorced, and facing early challenges. She now runs a team of 30–35 with offices in DC and NYC.
• Scaling & Delegation: The importance of trusting her team, learning when to step back, and how her involvement has evolved.
  • Quote: “At the moment, I remain very involved, but I do feel a sense of freedom in the last couple years in my growth that has allowed me to have way more balance in my life.” – Zoe [14:28]
• Show House “Big Break”: A pivotal moment was saying yes to a high-profile DC show house, despite not having budget or clients. This risk paid off, gaining press and credibility.

Anonymous Confession 1: The Silent Client Who Took All the Credit

[25:44] – [34:22]

• Confession Summary: A designer shares the pain and frustration of working with a high-profile influencer who ghosted during the project, left the designer doing all the damage control, and later claimed public credit without mentioning the designer.
• Designer Reactions:
  • Legal vs. Ethical Credit:
    • “If you get paid and you get paid fairly, then they don’t really have a responsibility to credit you… it’s just an ethical question now.” – Zoe [25:59]
  • Marketing Clauses: Both agree it’s critical to include marketing/credit clauses in contracts when working with influencers or high-profile clients.
    • Quote: “If you are creating content about our spaces, then you legally have to credit us.” – Caroline [26:34]
  • The Reality of Process: Many designers empathize, sharing that all the guardrails in the world struggle to contain disorganized or uncommunicative clients.

Actionable Advice:

• Get marketing and credit terms in writing before the project.
• Set regular deadlines and check-ins to mitigate ghosting.
• “When you’re young…sometimes you just have to live, and those life experiences help shape a new rule or a new thought, you know?” – Zoe [34:09]

Anonymous Confession 2: Clients With AI-Generated Fantasies

[36:51] – [48:13]

• Confession Summary: A designer describes the new challenge of clients bringing in AI-generated inspiration images filled with physically impossible features (e.g., stairs into walls, five-legged chairs).
  • Quote: “Now we have to spend half the meeting convincing clients that physics still applies.” – Anonymous Confessor [36:51]
• Discussion Points:
  • Pinterest Problems (Now AI-Enhanced): The bar for unrealistic expectations keeps getting higher.
  • Zoe’s Approach: She trains her team and clients to “sample” work for feeling, not literal replication.
    • “Everything’s a bit of a squint test anyway.” – Zoe [38:50]
  • Both designers use in-house renderings/AI as a powerful tool for client visualization, but always with clear caveats about the difference between renderings and reality.
• Positive Spin: AI helps as a design tool but cannot replace original creative thinking and experience.
  • Quote: “I just think we’re really afraid of progress. And for the people who aren’t afraid of progress, I think they will win in the end.” – Zoe [44:35]
  • “There is no computer that can do what we do, and even if it can create the image, they can’t implement.” – Caroline [42:41]

Actionable Advice:

• Educate clients on what’s feasible and real; steer them towards the “feeling” of an image, not specifics.
• Have open dialogue about AI and rendering limitations.

Business Operations & Giving Back

[48:13] – [56:41]

• Branding and Scaling:
  • Zoe shares how rebranding and hiring were major, sometimes agonized-over decisions that elevated the business.
• Sustainable Team Growth:
  • Sweet spot for project load: 2–5 per designer/team, depending on size. Prioritizing staff work-life balance over maximum capacity.
• The Give Back Initiative:
  • Inspired by her father’s example, Zoe implemented a policy where initial consult fees go directly to charity, with the firm matching the donation if the client signs on.
    • Quote: “What if we charged for it, but 100% of that went to donation? And then if they sign with us…match it.” – Zoe [53:54]
  • At project’s end, her team also plants trees as part of their environmental commitment.
  • Caroline plans to implement a similar donation-based consult approach.
    • “My hope has always been that other designers would do it. It’s such an easy way to give back.” – Zoe [55:07]

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

On Cold Calling & Career Beginnings

• [05:33] “I think people are often, like, too concerned about protocol and therefore don't do things.” – Zoe Feldman

On Credit and Contracts

• [25:59] “If you get paid and you get paid fairly, then they don’t really have a responsibility to credit you… it’s just an ethical question now.” – Zoe Feldman

• [26:34] “If you are creating content about our spaces, then you legally have to credit us.” – Caroline Turner

On Client Communication

• [29:04] “When I’m worried about something, I just like discuss it at nauseam in hopes that should they not heed our warnings that it won’t come back on us…” – Zoe Feldman

On AI & Design

• [38:50] “Everything’s a bit of a squint test anyway…so you like a plaster staircase…we can give you something that has a similar feeling.” – Zoe Feldman

• [44:35] “I just think we’re really afraid of progress. And for the people who aren’t afraid of progress, I think they will win in the end.” – Zoe Feldman

On Staff Growth

• [49:58] “They shouldn’t feel underwater. I don’t feel that people produce good work when they can’t leave before 9pm…They should feel like they can function and go to the gym and spend time with their families.” – Zoe Feldman

On Philanthropy

• [53:54] “What if we charged for it, but 100% of that went to donation? And then if they sign with us…match it.” – Zoe Feldman

On Using AI for Content

• [43:14] “ChatGPT is so fucking derivative…It would sound really pretty, but would offer nothing.” – Zoe Feldman

Important Timestamps

• [02:12] – Zoe’s nonlinear journey into interior design.
• [05:33] – The value of cold-calling and taking unconventional career leaps.
• [13:01] – Managing a growing team and learning to delegate.
• [18:41] – Show house experience as a career turning point.
• [25:44] – Confession 1: The client who took all the credit.
• [36:51] – Confession 2: The AI-generated expectations client.
• [48:38] – Agonizing business decisions and rebranding.
• [52:38] – The Give Back initiative and environmental responsibility.
• [56:41] – Balancing media/partnerships with client work.
• [58:24] – What made Zoe “feel” recently—live music and the importance of human connection in spaces.

Episode Takeaways

• Proactive contracts: Always include clauses for marketing/credit if that matters to your business.
• Educate clients: Use every opportunity to set realistic expectations, especially in the AI era.
• Sustainability & giving back: Even small, easy policies can have wide philanthropic impact and filter clients.
• Growth is personal: Scaling a design business requires thoughtful balance of staff welfare, ambition, and creative direction.
• AI as a tool, not a replacement: Lean into technology, but don’t forget that true design comes from original, lived experience.

Where to Find Zoe Feldman

• Instagram: @zoefeldmandesign
• Website: zoefeldmandesign.com
• Offices in: Washington DC and New York

For more confessions or to submit your own story, visit carolineturner.co/pages/confessions.