Behind the Scenes at Alice Lane

Summary

Dear Alice | Interior Design

Episode: Behind the Scenes at Alice Lane
Date: July 30, 2026
Hosts: Jessica Bennett (A), Suzanne Hall (B), Corey (C)

Overview

In this episode of Dear Alice, the team goes candid with a behind-the-scenes Q&A sourced directly from their own staff. With nearly 20 years of design experience, the Alice Lane team—Jessica, Suzanne, and Corey—open up about personal joys, design lessons, work relationships, design mishaps, and the realities of running a high-end design firm. The conversation is lively, intimate, and peppered with stories both hilarious and heartfelt, offering listeners a true peek behind the curtain of one of the industry’s most respected firms.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

Personal Joys & Growth

[01:01]

• Suzanne: Finds the most joy in witnessing growth among team members and her children, striving to reach their potential with intention rather than speed.

  “I feel like I'm tracking growth a little bit more steady. Not in a way to just like get there faster, but to get there with more intention...” – Suzanne [01:01]

• Jessica: Celebrates working with her two daughters at Alice Lane (one in digital marketing, one in social media production), and the joy of product development and launching new lines.

  “It's so cool to see them in their element, asking smart questions... In fact, my 26 year old was like, this is my dream job.” – Jessica [02:31]

• Corey: Shares the satisfaction of finally bringing challenging products like the Cocoon Swivel and the Caviar fixture to market after years of iteration.

  “Years. And just so many renditions. Two trips overseas... I felt a weight lifted off of my shoulders...” – Corey [05:05]

Design Dilemmas & Guilty Pleasures

Ugliest Thing You Refuse to Get Rid Of

• Both Jessica and Suzanne admit their basements are design dead zones—ignored because they’re not “main level” priorities and are currently chaos zones for kids.

  “Even Adam was like, we gotta do something about that... I'm like, we should put the sectional in their dumpster.” – Jessica [05:54]

When Is a Room Finished?

[07:33]

• Corey: Believes a room is never truly finished, as preferences and needs evolve.
• Suzanne: Says it’s a feeling—only the homeowner can know when it feels right.
• Jessica: Points to three essentials: window coverings (drapery), art at eye level, and “occasional” accent pieces.

  "It's the art and the window coverings... that make a space feel finished.” – Jessica [09:32]

Playful Segment: If You Were a Furniture Piece...

[10:19]

• The team describes each other as favorite furniture pieces based on personality:
  • Suzanne: A super-comfortable swivel rocker, “motion, premium down cushion” [10:56].
  • Jessica: Classic Klismos chair for her foundation, elegance, and no-nonsense attitude [12:52]; also Beatrice Brass Etager for her ability to touch every department.
  • Corey: Jude Chair in Hair on Hide—a multi-functional, iconic piece, likened to a “Swiss army knife of chairs” for his adaptability [11:49].

Color Questions: One Shade for Life

• Green: Suzanne’s pick, for the sheer variety of tones—plus, she wore a mint green wedding dress [15:03].
• Blue: Jessica and Corey both, for its restful, classic quality and versatility [15:13].

Projects that Changed Everything

[15:49–20:45]

• Each project teaches something new; gaining experience sharpens every tool.
• Tiger Oak: Suzanne highlights this project for its collaborative builder relationship, risk-taking with color, and industry impact [16:37].
• Showroom Build: Corey details the chaos of general contracting and “getting scrappy” during COVID shortages and budget blow-outs.

  “We were double over budget and hadn’t broken ground yet.” – Jessica [19:41]

If You Had to Start Over

[21:52]

• Jessica: Would bring in an outside advisor earlier to maintain “calm in the storm.”

  “Anything is figureoutable.” – Jessica [24:11]

• Suzanne: Only hire people that are a “full body yes”—don’t settle or hope to change people.
• Corey: Wishes they’d started product development sooner, but notes, “everything happens when it’s supposed to” [25:29].

Hilarious Install Fiascos

[29:56] Funniest Install Ever

• Corey tells of accidentally sending $2,000 worth of accessories to the dump, but successfully retrieving them after hours of “rummaging through garbage” at the landfill—earning “funniest story” status [31:16].
• The team agrees installs are an endless source of chaos: furniture craned through windows, items cut in half and rebuilt, designers sweating bullets over every delivery [29:20–29:51].

Lightning Round

• Matching tattoos? All three pick a chair. Corey jokes about getting “AL” tattooed on his neck [32:03].
• Favorite paint for primary bedrooms? Consensus around nude and clay tones for softness and versatility [32:27].
• Recent purchases: Suzanne and Jessica—eyewear; Corey—soft skateboard wheels and Cocoon Swivel chair [34:42].

Favorite—and Least Favorite—Parts of the Job

[36:11]

• All agree: relationships with clients make the work magical (“like having a crush again”). When it goes well, it’s energizing and transformative [36:45].
• Least favorite? The heartbreak of claims, furniture damages, and warehouse sales—seeing hard work end in “failures” is tough [39:24].

The Podcast’s Importance

[39:56] If the podcast ended tomorrow...

• It’s like creative therapy and a book club rolled into one—provides catharsis, camaraderie, and perspective for the team and their design-obsessed listeners.

  “It's a place to sort of unravel it and talk about it... it's almost like a counseling session for design.” – Jessica [40:52]

Nerves & Growth

[41:32] What makes you most nervous?

• Installs are universally stressful even after double-checking measurements.
• Photo shoots: Stressful pursuit of perfection, long hours, physical exhaustion.
• Public speaking brings pre-event jitters for Jessica [43:29].

Transformation Through Podcasting

[45:34] Are you the same as episode one?

• All have grown immensely, both as designers and as podcast hosts (“I have a degree from being on this show”) [45:39].
• Early episodes were rough, but growth and getting back up again is part of their DNA.

Surprising Facts & Company Culture

[47:04] What would shock listeners about Alice Lane?

• Sometimes the breakroom fridge stinks!
• Despite appearances, there’s a lot of scrappy problem-solving, figuring it out as they go—no ego, just a willingness to change, adapt, and work hard (“there's no job we're above, even crawling through a dump”) [48:51].
• The strong camaraderie (“we’re just a bunch of dudes”) belies the firm’s high-end, elegant image [49:50].

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Joy at Work:

  "The fact that you said potential, that you're seeing that and feeling that in others, that that brings you joy, that is literally the definition of happiness." – Jessica [01:43]

• On the Realities of Leadership:

  "Nothing's a big deal. And I think we can so easily turn it into a bigger thing or make stories up in our head about what this must mean...." – Jessica [22:01]

• On Hiring:

  "Unless you're a full body yes, don't do it." – Suzanne [24:13]

• On the Podcast:

  "It's a place to sort of unravel it... it is for design because it is so complicated and everybody thinks interior design is so fun, but it's a place where we can talk about it with you..." – Jessica [40:52]

• On Never Being Above the Dirty Work:

  "There's no job that anybody...That's—You crawl through the dump, I'll crawl through trash. I don't care." – Corey [48:51]

• On Early Days and Evolution:

  "If you do go all the way back to season one, I guess you'll just see a lot of growth. Growth within us." – Jessica [46:13]

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Episode Flow & Timestamps

• 00:00–01:01 | Introduction & overview of episode’s Q&A format
• 01:01–05:34 | What’s brought you the most joy this year?
• 05:34–07:29 | The ugliest thing in your house you can’t get rid of
• 07:33–10:16 | How do you know when a room is finished?
• 10:19–14:30 | Describing each other as furniture
• 14:34–15:48 | If you only used one color: green vs blue
• 15:49–20:54 | Projects that changed design perspectives
• 21:52–25:52 | If starting over, what would you do differently?
• 29:56–31:55 | Funniest install story (Corey’s dump rescue)
• 32:02–34:27 | Lightning round: tattoos, paint colors, eyewear
• 36:11–39:44 | Favorite and least favorite parts of work
• 39:56–41:26 | The podcast as creative therapy/counseling
• 41:32–45:14 | What makes you nervous in design
• 45:34–46:55 | Growth since starting the podcast
• 47:04–49:53 | What would shock listeners about Alice Lane
• 50:00–50:33 | Wrap-up and call for listener questions

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Conclusion

This episode is an honest, revealing look at the team behind Alice Lane—their values, challenges, wins, and quirks. It demonstrates that even the most polished design firms are fueled by adaptability, hard work, a willingness to do the dirty work, and a shared love for the creative process. With their trademark camaraderie and humor, Jessica, Suzanne, and Corey invite listeners to see not just their finished projects, but the culture and humanity at their core.

Transcript

[A]

Hello and welcome to Dear Alice. If you're new here, we're the designers behind Alice Lane, an interior design firm that we've been in business almost 20 years now. And we're building.

[B]

When you're having fun, it sure does, right? Am I right?

[A]

We're designing custom homes, remodels, and interiors. And each week we share everything that we're learning. The design principles, the mistakes, the insider knowledge that we use every day with our own clients right here on Dear Alice. Today, we are actually answering questions from our own team here at Alice Lane. Think of this as a behind the scenes Q and A where nothing is off limits. And to be candid, none of us know what the questions are.

[C]

This is the first time no one knows, so. And I think probably the first time we've answered any questions from our team

[B]

here, from our, our cohort. Low key, scared.

[C]

I hope we have names. Who asked these questions?

[B]

I know this is not anonymous.

[A]

For real.

[B]

Okay. All right. Okay.

[C]

That's awesome.

[B]

Is going to be fun.

[C]

We'll go. Question 1. What has brought you the most joy this year?

[B]

Hopping deep, deep in first, I think growth of work wise of team members and just as far as really aligning all the right people in the right spot, feeling that they're in the right seat to grow to their potential. That brings me a lot of joy at work, but the same thing at home. You know, seeing the growth of my children and seeing them mature into each phase of life, we just start to see the perspective of just, I don't know, what are we trying to accomplish here? What. What kind of joy are we trying to bring to ourselves, to our clients, to, you know, these things that we do every day just being. I don't know, I feel like I'm tracking growth a little bit more steady. Not in a way to just like get there faster, but to get there with more intention for my kids, for the people I work with, for my clients. So I'd say growth has brought me the most joy.

[C]

It's awesome.

[A]

That's great. You know what? Harvard has this happiness study. It's like the longest going study, I believe at Harvard, it's. It's all about what is happiness. And the way they define happiness is the feeling you get when you're striving towards your potential. That's joy. And so the fact that you said potential, that you're seeing that and feeling that in others, that that brings you joy, that is literally the definition of happiness. So good. So good. I have to say it's been really fun for me because my two girls work at Alice Lane, as you guys both know. And my oldest daughter, she's 25, 20, she turns 26 this year. She is working on the back end of our website. She graduated in digital marketing and she's so good at her job. I was just in a meeting with her.

[C]

Yeah, her and Jane both are. I feel like it's, it's crazy. Yeah.

[A]

It brings me so much joy to just have a front row seat. I mean, they have managers that aren't me, but I have a meeting with each of them at least once a week with their teams and it's just really cool to see them in their element, asking smart questions, giving smart data back and really being good at it. In fact, my 26 year old was like, this is my dream job. And I said to them, like, you don't have to do this. Like mom gets to do her dream. I want you to do your dream. And so it's really fun that we're all sharing in this dream together and that they're good at it. My youngest, Jane, she, if you watch our social media content or follow us mostly on Alice Lane home account, she's the one that's filming and editing a lot of those series, especially if they have me in it. And it's so hysterical to work with her because she just sits, says it like it is to me because I'm her mom. We'll be filming and she'll be like, which means stop doing that right away. Start over. So she's the meanest producer there is. But I love it because at least she's not going to make me look ridiculous.

[C]

Yeah. And there have probably been people we've had in the past that just don't feel comfortable approaching you like that. It's like they probably think like, Jess knows what she's doing because she's the boss.

[A]

Like, nah, I don't know what's coming through that camera. So I so appreciate that she's really candid with me. I get a lot of joy from working with my girls here, which is fun. But my first answer was going to be, was bringing products to life, getting to do product development. All the launches that we've done this year has been so joyful because it's kind of like having a baby. You carry these things for more than nine months and we name them and we capture them in lifestyle as well as white backgrounds. And we're really trying to tell their story through marketing and it's so fun when they launch. I feel like, launch week is really fun to get to finally share what we've been working on for so long. And, like, the cat's finally out of

[C]

the bag, and then see what people are gravitating towards, what's selling. Yeah, yeah, yeah. That really is so fun.

[A]

Yeah.

[C]

Quick story about Kate. We've messaged, you know, about work stuff. And I was asking her. I was like, oh, yeah, who is this? Like, she asked me to do something. Like, who's this coming from? And this is the first time she had said it to me. She was like, adam. And I was just like, what do you mean, dad? Like, yeah. I don't know if I would be able to have that take to separate that, but I thought that was awesome. A professional lover. Yeah.

[B]

In fact, I've gone on, like, work trips with Jane and, like, things, and she will just be like, Jessica, da, da, da, da, and Jessica this, and, like, straight to your face, like, jessica, stop doing that. And I'm just like, oh, my gosh.

[C]

Yeah. Yeah. It's like, she's the boss, Jane.

[B]

Yeah. Yeah, exactly. Such a good question.

[C]

I have feel the same thing with product, but I'm going to say specifically the cocoon swivel.

[B]

Oh, yeah.

[C]

And the caviar. Both the largest. Well, the. Those took forever, you know. Yeah. Years. And just so many renditions. Two trips overseas. So, yeah. Just to kind of get those out. I was just like. I felt a weight lifted off of my shoulders, and I love both of them, and there's been a great response to both of them. I think we're still sold out of the large caviar flush mounts.

[A]

Sue lives with that in her bedroom every night. Yeah, that's really good.

[C]

What's the ugliest thing in your house that you refuse to get?

[B]

This is a good one.

[C]

Oh, man.

[A]

I'm gonna answer by saying my entire basement.

[B]

I was gonna say that that was gonna be mine.

[A]

What is it? If it's not on the main level, it's just fair game to me.

[B]

I'm just like, yeah, don't.

[A]

Yeah, I know.

[B]

So you don't tell.

[A]

Like, we're the interior designers. And even Adam was like, we gotta do something about that. I think it's because we had company coming over. And so the guest bed downstairs, and you have to look at this room in the eyes as you walk downstairs, and I need to change all of it. It all needs to go. In fact, our neighbor right now is. They've ripped off the front of their house, and they're getting a new Front house. And so there's a huge dumpster just, like, right in front of their house, which means we're staring at it, and I'm like, we should put the sectional in their. Their dumpster. I'm like, I don't think we can fill up their whole dumpster with that sectional.

[C]

Just sneak a sectional over.

[B]

Just chainsaw that. He's just, like, signed in a piece.

[A]

Parts of it. Parts of it in our garbage can each week.

[C]

That's hilarious.

[A]

Oh, that's so bad. Sorry.

[B]

No, that's a good one. No, probably the basement, because it's, like, the most untouched in our house. And it's. Honestly, it's where the boys go to break havoc, so I know that it's fulfilling divine potential of just chaos right now. But, like, whenever I'm down there, I'm like. Just has the old house smell, and I'm just. Anyway, I'm so over it.

[A]

So, anyway, once they get to, like, a ripe age where they don't destroy things anymore, then. Then it will be worse. Then it'll be worth fixing.

[B]

It will. It will.

[A]

Until then, just let them break.

[B]

I know. Lord of the flies, Guys. Lord of the flies.

[C]

I have the sample of the side table that, for some reason, we got a new one, and then. Then it was moved somewhere else in the house. I'm like, can we just not have this in our home anymore? But I don't know. Right now, it's. There's a plant that's sitting on it, so I guess it's, like, over. Yeah. Mari's keeping it. I'm letting it be. It is. What? You know what I mean. Keeping the side table, saving the marriage type of thing.

[B]

There you go. There you go.

[C]

How do you know when a room is finished? Oh, man. I'm gonna say this. I don't think it ever is. I think evolution to me, I change so much, and I want different things all of the time. I've learned I just need to accept that about myself.

[B]

This is an interesting question because, like, for me, it's a feeling. If I feel good, I think things will always shift, and you'll always be exposed to new things, and, you know, things will kind of take the place and. And whatnot. I was just looking at a home. Our chestnut row job with our client. She was FaceTiming me, and we've had the initial install, getting things slowly finished up, and just. She's lived in it for a few months, and she's just. This doesn't feel quite right. There's some off Balance or something. At this time of day, this happens. And so I really do. It's a feeling. There's an absolute feeling where you're just like, logistically you have all the right things. You have things that are like, filling up space, but it doesn't feel right. And really, I think that that is something that gets a feeling because it could feel right to a designer, could feel right to a friend, but if it doesn't feel right to the homeowner, then it's not done.

[C]

Yep.

[B]

And something needs to switch.

[C]

I get that.

[B]

I love that she's recognizing those things because we can get it a place that she's really proud and it'll still evolve, but it'll evolve to her feelings of what she's experiencing, what she wants to feel, you know? And so I. Yeah, I would say

[A]

feeling for me, I'm going to try and boil it down to three things.

[B]

Got it. Get it.

[A]

I think it's usually window coverings that it doesn't feel finished until it has window coverings and drapery or Romans of some sort. That always signals a finished room. It just makes it feel done. The other thing is art. We just recently finished my primary bath, as you know, and the potty closet is also plastered, and there's actually quite a bit of space in there. And Adam was like, when are we hanging art in here? It's so funny because, you know, he's more oblivious to the design. And I was like, well, we haven't purchased the art yet to be hung, but we will do that. And there is something about having art at eye level that really makes a space feel finished. In fact, we were styling in a big project that we did over a decade ago, and I was getting a shot of one angle and it had this massive wall, and because it's behind you when you come in, there's no art on it. And I was like, this would be the shot of this room if there was art installed. They just kind of quit collecting on this home. And the home's actually for sale and so they won't be buying anything for it. But it's just like such a missed opportunity. Window coverings, art. And then my last thing is occasional pieces is it's that little dining chair sized chair in front of the mantle or in a bathroom, or that little table next to the tub, or the cute little tiny side table that can just hold one drink. It's the little occasional pieces. It's the art and the window coverings for me that make a spaceful finished high Five.

[C]

Yep. Totally agree. I would go.

[B]

Okay.

[C]

Yes. On that. Okay. Describe each other as a furniture piece. What are they and why? Wow.

[B]

That's gonna take a second hold.

[A]

I think Suzanne hall is a swivel chair.

[B]

Who doesn't love a swivel chair?

[C]

Yeah.

[A]

I'm picturing you. We just did a photo shoot last week in Odessa, and when we got outside, and there was those outdoor swivel rockers. Oh, it's also a rocker. It's a swivel rocker. Yeah.

[B]

Motion.

[C]

Yeah.

[A]

I really feel like you do love motion. I feel like you're some sort of swivel rocker, and you're super comfortable. Everybody's comfortable around sue, so she's the most comfortable swivel rocker.

[B]

It's the premium down cushion.

[C]

Guys, I'm going to say an occasional chair just because of your rocking chair. I think like, a yellow mohair because you have awesome style, but you're still, like, funky and stand out.

[B]

Still a diamond fiber.

[C]

Yes. And you can be used to, like, be in any conversation because you're just such a people person, and you love to be around people, and that feeds you energy.

[B]

I love it.

[C]

That's good.

[A]

Let's do Corey. Cory's a guitar player.

[C]

No.

[B]

I'm like, you're such a rock star.

[A]

It's not that moody room of his.

[C]

If I was in Beauty and the Beast and one of the people that got turned into a piece of furniture,

[B]

I feel like you're in. I think you're like, real hair on high. Thank you. Anyway, I'm like, there's this, like, one chair. It's an occasional piece, but it's really comfortable and it's iconic. I can't remember the what architect designed it, but we did it in our Lovers Link project. It's such a rad chair, and ergonomically, it's perfect.

[C]

Like, it gets the arms that go like.

[B]

Yeah, it has arms that go like that. And it was upholstered in real zebra, so there's no funny business as far as just. It's all cool. There's no, like, extra stuffing, but it's still so comfortable. I think you're very genuine, and I think you have a lot of integrity. You're hard working. That one also had, like, a tilt back and swiveled and did all the things. And you don't necessarily know it when you first look at it, because you're just like, that's a dope chair. But then you sit in it and you got. You're like, my gosh. Swiss army knife of chairs. You know, like, he's our special projects. He can do anything. And so to me, you're. That. That's awesome. And it's like it's upholstered in something that's true and genuine. And that is you, Corey.

[C]

Thank you. Wow.

[A]

When you said heron Hyde, I immediately thought of our Jew chair. And we had this ad that was running and Corey walks into the frame, sits down in it, crosses his leg, picks up a magazine and sits in the Jew chair. And that was like a best performing ad for us forever. So you're the Jude chair in Hair on Hyde.

[C]

That's awesome. One of my favorite, favorite pieces that we've ever done.

[A]

I love that.

[C]

Yes.

[B]

You know, I'm just gonna say this because I did this little chair painting series.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Forever and ever ago. Just studying all these different chair frames and drawing them and watercoloring them. And when I was doing this, the Klismos chair, I, like, thought of Jess. It's so graceful. And I feel like it's the foundation for all things as far as just this, like, Egyptian. And you have that as far as just like ergonomically the back and it occurs around you. And as far as the lines are so minimal. It's like one of those stripped away things. And the fun thing about Jess that everybody should know is that she is so genuine. I know she's a. She's a pretty face girl. Most people are just like, my gosh, she's your friend is really lovely. I'm like, she's beautiful inside and out, but she's no nonsense. And I think, like, the Kleesmos is that it is just like the foundation form for all great design. As far as when you're coming to, like, furniture and the lines are perfect and it's occasional, it's not a chest pounder, but it's the perfect piece in any room. So that's just me. She's a.

[A]

That. I will try to live up to that. That is really lovely. And I do love a Klismos chair.

[C]

To break away from the chair. I'm going to say Beatrice Brass Etager, because I think you're just very put together and you're very classy and classic, which to me, Brass is. And at Alice Lane, you legitimately touch every single department. So you know what I mean? You kind of have just every shelf. You encompass everything and you lead the charge. We're shoulder to shoulder, but we're definitely, you know, following, like, your vision. And you're just that beacon at Alice Lane.

[B]

And that's in our head.

[A]

That is so nice. I do love Beatrice. So thank you. That's so lovely.

[C]

What a great question. Whoever did that one, that's really sweet. Good job.

[B]

I wish the names were on here.

[C]

I know. If you had to decorate using. Using only one color, what would it be? Wow, that is tough.

[B]

Green.

[C]

Are we saying green? Yeah, everything. Everything in a room. Different shades, though.

[B]

Yeah. It has the most shades of any color on the wheel. So green.

[A]

Yeah.

[C]

So that's great. Yeah.

[A]

Did not know that sue loves green. She wore a green wedding dress. A beautiful, very light seafoam green. Would you call it seafoam?

[B]

I think it's mint. But then it had the lace overlay, so it was a wedding dress. I knew what it was.

[A]

I'm just kidding.

[B]

I love.

[A]

In the 90s, we called it so pretty. Okay, I will. Blue.

[B]

I know. I'm just like, it's blue.

[A]

In fact, we were in a space yesterday that we're shooting tomorrow, and it's an all blue chandelier room. It's every shade of blue. And I love being in that room. It's. My brain loves it. My eyeballs love it. I don't know why I love blue so much. I know it's such a basic answer, but I just.

[B]

It's not. Oh, it's a classic.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

It's the Klees most answer.

[A]

It is fun to be in a room with all one color. How about you, Corey?

[C]

Yeah, I would say blue, too. I just feel like there's so many different directions you can go with it, but there's something like classic and restful. I would say that.

[B]

Love. Great question.

[C]

Is there a project that fundamentally changed how you approach design?

[A]

Almost every project, there's something that's going to change the way that you do design. And that's why I think the longer you do it, the better you get at it. Because we're often working with different builders, different trades, and we're learning from all of them. Right. It is a luxury to get to work with a builder over and over again because then you're speaking shorthand. But that's not always the luxury that we get, I think, from every single project. We're just always learning about how that builder takes you through the process, what trades they're using, how to communicate with them. Boy, let's never do that again on any project because they just couldn't communicate back or. I feel like every single time you work with somebody new, it sharpens your sword in a different way. I don't know that we'll ever be done learning. Is there a project that fundamentally changes how you approach design, Sue?

[B]

Yeah. Which project was it? And I think it has to do with the builder relationship. I would say Tiger Oak only because the builder. I'd worked with a lot of builders at that point. We had done a lot of really great homes, but it wasn't as far as just Corey from Robison. He was so approachable to talk to. The true honesty from designer to builder that had the clients back, all three of us, like, it was a really great trifecta. The results were really good because you're on speed dial. We were talking, I feel like, almost every day to one or the other. And so it was just shorthand. And we were able to, I think, come up with some really interesting things that weren't happening at the time because they were willing. And he was a yes man. Again, the more you do it, the more comfortable you get in your own point of view and your tone and delivery, I think the truer the design can be. And I think that that was just like a step toward that direction. For other. As far as just communication efforts and stuff with the team, I think that that makes a really, really great project is when you can, again, short, shorthand it. If your point of view can be more quickly translated through your communication, that's everything. That's why the client hired you, is for your point of view. And if the builder can understand that faster, he's going to deliver a better project.

[C]

I feel like, obviously, working at Alice Lane, but, you know, not work, not being in the Design Center. At the time, Tiger Oak was. There was like a huge shift. I mean, a lot of people, like, stood up and took notice of our talent and. And ability, and especially you guys in. In the design center. And it was kind of monumental. For Alice Lane, there's a lot of things that were very cutting, especially at that time, thinking of the kitchen, you know, being one of them. Yeah. I still feel like I'll see photos of that project and I'm like, that's crazy. It's still mind blowing. And it was almost 10 years ago. Eight years ago.

[B]

2018. Almost.

[C]

Yeah, eight years ago.

[B]

So as far as, like, Big color was starting Utah, so wasn't used to it. So I think everybody was just, like, shocked by it.

[C]

But it's such a breath of fresh air at the same time.

[B]

Yeah.

[C]

I was thinking about different pieces that we've worked on. There are a bunch of them that have kind of changed me in certain ways. But I'm going to say the showroom 100%. I've always been a scrappy, figure it out type of person. That's never been tested. Therefore built more confidence in me doing that than the showroom just having to pivot on things last minute. You know, obviously it was at a time where budget's going haywire for those

[A]

of you that aren't aware. So Alice Lane has been around for 18 years, and we rented our first two locations, and then during the pandemic, we bought land and we said, let's pay ourselves rent. Let's own our own building. So we set about designing the building with an architect, and we had all of the budgets. In pandemic hits, they run out of concrete. We're building a tilt up construction building that's 31,000 square feet. Corey is over this special project and they run out of concrete. And Corey's trying to help general this thing. And all of a sudden, the budgets for this building are through the roof. So much so that we were like, I don't know that we would have built this, except we've already. We were double over budget and hadn't broken ground yet.

[C]

Yeah, yeah.

[A]

So it was just.

[B]

I don't even know, got punch after gut punch.

[A]

Yeah, it was the wildest of times. And probably so many of you have built during this time because a lot of you are designers, and so you're probably seeing your budgets go wild. Furniture ordering was wild. It took a year to get a sofa. It's crazy. Anyway, the building we're in right now is a building that we own, and Corey helped general it. So that's the project he's talking about. Sorry, back over to you.

[C]

I mean, just having to get scrappy and that, yeah, gave me a lot of confidence in. In doing that, especially on a large scale. I came in a couple weekends and I was like installing trim and stuff like that, which wasn't a part of the game plan, but it was like, hey, we got to get this done. There's also our showroom that we own. We want it to be amazing. Or like, how do we. In these confinements, how do we make it to the best that we can? I think that's part of our ethos at. Alice Lane, and this showroom is an example of that.

[B]

Isn't it so fun that all three of us, we've just been here since. For so long that none of us are too good for any. Like, we're taking out the trash the last couple weeks. Been doing a lot of Manual labor. Yeah, but. And at the same time, I'm like, we're not above it. We're just so proud of the end product we're going to get in there. And anyway, I'm really proud of that.

[C]

Yeah, I love that, actually. A tip to everybody new at Alice Lane. Entrench yourself in that culture. And that's how you're going to fit in. Especially just back in the Orem days when we all worked in that small design center, went to lunch all the time together, like as a team. And we were just.

[B]

We were the muscles. We moved all this. We unloaded trucks, and he unloaded so many trucks. Yeah, we didn't even have a warehouse in that. First it was just the back room. And so the microwave shared space with the towers. And then all the sofas were up vertically. And then we'd just be like, shimmy things around, even. Just all the learning curves from the beginning. We were installing a library yesterday, and I'm remembering we didn't have books, but then we're just like, what's missing? Books. So Jess and I would bring our books from our own personal library to Style within the Showroom. Because we were just.

[A]

You couldn't just put accessories on everything. You had to have.

[B]

We had to have books. And we're like, well, I guess.

[A]

And then we were like, we should sell books.

[B]

We should sell books. That's the great idea.

[A]

2008 or 9. Yeah, totally.

[C]

If you were starting Alice Lane again today with no reputation, what would you do differently?

[B]

That's a great question. I'll hand it over to you.

[A]

You know, I think the thing that has been so grounding for me, and I would say anybody that's starting a new design firm or a new business, we have a gentleman on our executive team that we meet with once a week that's not in our business, but he helps work on our business, and he knows our business. And it feels like any problem we can bring to him, he's very calmly can tell us how to dismantle the bomb. And it's not a big deal. Nothing's a big deal. And I think we can so easily turn it into a bigger thing or make stories up in our head about what this must mean or what this is, or it becomes so huge that it hijacks your brain and you can't actually do your job because this thing that's happening is so all encompassing and you can't sleep at night and everything else. And it's just so nice to be able to bring it on Tuesday and say, so this happened. And then he'll be like, oh, yeah, well, you know, I've experienced something similar to that. And if you just do this or, oh, you know what, let's just pick up the phone and we'll just. Nothing's a big deal. And I love that so much. And I think if I could start Alysanne again, I would do that a lot earlier. I don't remember when he entered the picture. Maybe it was 12 years ago and we've been in business 18 years or. I don't know, maybe it was like

[C]

six months before I started.

[A]

And how long have you been here?

[C]

Thirteen and a half years.

[A]

Thirteen and a half years, so. And we've been in business eight, so probably 14 years. Yeah. I love having that calm in the storm, some sort of advisor to the business. And I know that doesn't have anything to do with reputation or excellence or hiring the very best people, but I think that your own standards will align you. We always say high tide raises all boats. You're going to hire people that you know are extraordinary and you're going to work hard with them and you're. I'm just going to assume everybody's going to do great work and. But there, no matter what, there's going to be things that come up and feel like they're going to sink your battleship. And you just need to be able to have people that can help you know how to solve those problems and have them help solve for them or they're that. I feel like they have people on speed dial that can help, you know, take care of any issue or. I don't know, it just brings a lot of just sophistication and calmness to any storm and you feel like you can do anything. Like anything is figureoutable.

[C]

Yeah.

[A]

Which I love. Yeah.

[B]

The thing I can think of. I love that answer is when you're hiring. I don't know. We are. We have a friend that's just. Unless you're a full body. Yes. Don't do it like she's at the stage of life. She's lived long enough that she's just. If it's not a full body. Yes, it's a no. I really do feel that way as we've just. As far as teams have evolved and changed over the years, the people is what makes it great. As far as the talent, the feeling that they bring into a space that can't change people. You can train them, you know, as far as in skills and things like that. Don't expect that you're going to change somebody when hiring, make sure it feels like a full body. Yes. Like, okay, I'm 80. I think we can get by with this. Anyway. None of those have been good for either party. And I'm just like, the best thing I think you can do for your business and just your progress is just hire the right people. It's the best of your knowledge.

[A]

Also say, and move on quickly.

[B]

And move on quickly.

[A]

Because I think that that's. That's best for both parties. Because you both know it's not a yes. And if you keep trying to fit, which we've historically done for so long, but once we. Once we know, we just. Out of respect for everybody, you just need to move quickly.

[B]

The most fair thing to do it is.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Anyway, great question.

[C]

One small thing to add to that. I worked here for probably five years or something before we started developing our product. I would say there are some times I wish we would have started that earlier. Everything happens when it comes.

[A]

Yeah.

[C]

You know, when it's supposed to.

[A]

We also did that during the pandemic.

[C]

Yes, exactly. It would have been nice maybe to have, you know, some ground. Yeah. Our very first container came in the first week of April, 2020. And then we got it. We were like, how. Everything's gonna be shut down? Like, how are we gonna. It's a very stressful time.

[B]

But all things happen for a reason.

[C]

Yes.

[B]

We had to learn that way.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

That's like. We have to just chalk it up, too. That's right.

[C]

Alice Lane started the end of 08. It's like, man, we have the best timing.

[A]

Yeah.

[C]

Yeah.

[A]

But I feel like you do it the hard way first, then you know how to do it.

[C]

And there's only one way to go from there. It's like we're at bottom.

[B]

Yeah. And nothing's hard. Nothing's hard.

[A]

I feel like you got real muscles from that whole thing.

[B]

And then.

[A]

And then you've got. You gained so much experience on how to dismantle that bomb.

[C]

Yeah.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Resistance training.

[A]

It really is resistance training. Yeah. We do it the hard way first.

[B]

Sure do.

[C]

If your house had a theme song, what would it be? Another solid question, you guys.

[A]

I'm just going to say right now, sue and Corey are going to have the best answers for this.

[B]

No, it's a lot of press. Sure.

[A]

Corey is a musician, and sue hall is also a musician.

[C]

She was singing some Spanish.

[A]

She's always singing or always whistling. Her son is in ukulele lessons and song lessons and her husband makes the very best playlists.

[B]

It's true. I'm, like, trying not to let you down, Tom.

[A]

Let's see.

[C]

I have mine.

[A]

Oh, let's have it.

[C]

Bohemian Rhapsody.

[A]

Oh, nice.

[C]

Because it has so many, just different changes.

[B]

You're high, then you're low. Exactly.

[A]

Yeah. Yeah, that's good.

[C]

There's. There's some calming moments. That's what I would say.

[B]

Talking heads. This is the place.

[C]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. I'm like, I would say that for you, too.

[B]

Yeah, I feel good about that.

[A]

I don't know. What's my song? Will you guys give me a song?

[B]

You got Justice. He's happy and boppy, but also have,

[C]

like, a cool vibe.

[A]

Like, you want to hear something fun? My young daughters, who are in their 20s, were like, mom, listen to this song. It's said. And I was like, oh, that's hilarious.

[B]

Hold on.

[A]

Did you guys. I mean, I don't know. I've seen that, but it was like, on social. People are using a lot of Shy day on their feeds. I just, like, that was I sent.

[B]

That's probably, like, the thing that I sent to. Annoyingly, to Corey and Jess is screenshots

[A]

of songs the best.

[B]

Again, I sound like Provo grandma right now. Just like, I wouldn't send it to you if I wasn't thinking of. Yes.

[A]

Yeah, we love it, so. We love it.

[B]

I'm like, I think that they would like this song. Okay.

[A]

We'll have to put a pin in mine. I'll have to come back.

[C]

I don't know. And, like, maybe I'm gonna say something tame and Paula.

[B]

That'd be good.

[A]

I don't know. Tame Impala.

[B]

I'm excited, and I want to say Mika gift me a song.

[A]

Oh, I love.

[B]

Because, like, that's just the ipod and the OG Alane was hooked up, and it was always playing Micah. And I'm like, I will forever think of Jess and Adam. Because I had never heard of M before I started working here. And that was our soundtrack. Micah is Forever like you.

[A]

Yes. Okay. And there's a song by the bleachers called Isimo I S I M O.

[C]

Yes.

[A]

I love that song. Whenever that comes on, I just love it. So.

[B]

Okay.

[A]

There we go.

[B]

Love that work. That's a great. That's a good question.

[C]

What's the funniest thing that's ever happened during an install?

[B]

The funniest? I don't know. There's like, some, like, we could have

[C]

an episode that are install stories.

[B]

Actually, we should.

[A]

I'll paint the picture, for those of you that aren't interior designers, as you can imagine, an install is when the home is finally complete and now she gets to get dressed. And that means that your furniture, which has all been in storage, is finally about to roll up on a big 18 wheeler and it's going to be brought off the truck, unboxed, checked for any imperfections before it's brought into the house, and then put in its spot right where the interior designer drew that it's going to go. Sometimes on installs, the thing can't make it in the front door. It doesn't fit. Or you learn that you have to crane the piece up and into a window or onto a deck or, you

[B]

know, chop it in half and put it back together.

[A]

Or you're going to find out that in large cities there's deconstruction services that can cut your sofa in half, get it in, and then reconstruct it. You cannot believe the dismantling of bombs that happens on installs. And you have to put your thinking cap on and you have to act like everything's normal because sometimes the client is there and you're like, oh, this we'll just get a deconstruction service over here to.

[C]

Happens all the time.

[A]

So common. You go to lunch, we're gonna have this thing in the house. By the time you're back, you go get a massage.

[B]

You deserve it.

[A]

Yeah. So you cannot imagine the things that happen on an install.

[C]

I have one. I don't know if it's like super funny, but pretty close to when I had first started, we didn't have like a warehouse team. I organized the entire delivery. It was up in Provo. I won't say her name, but no, she's great. Day one took everything there. Obviously there's a ton of trash that comes out. We had that old, like, black trailer, remember?

[B]

Yeah.

[C]

After day two, we had a bunch of trash, put it in the black trailer. A couple of the warehouse guys that we did have at the time. We also take accessories to place and sometimes the customer doesn't want them, which is totally fine, and then we take them back. Someone put all of those in a black bag. There was like probably four throw pillow. Ryan Studio pillows. There was a throw blanket, some books that got thrown into the back the trash truck. And it all got taken to the dump. And it was literally $2,000 worth of stuff. I was sick to my stomach because I was in charge of all of

[B]

that and get in so much trouble.

[C]

I went to the Lynden dump four hours later. No, you didn't. Yeah. For some reason, I was just like, I can find these. I can find this stuff. And, you know, they throw it at you and then compact it. I was rummaging through garbage. Literally garbage at the dump.

[A]

You win.

[C]

I know.

[B]

I have nothing.

[A]

You win the funniest story.

[C]

And I look over at this pile and I see the top of this pillow sticking out. I'm like, no freaking way. So I'm climbing up this mountain of garbage.

[A]

Oh, gosh.

[C]

And now these days I've probably just been like, eh, that's.

[B]

We're in our losses.

[C]

Yeah, exactly. But I was determined, and I had a sales order and I had circled everything that was on it, and I found everything in that pile.

[B]

Oh, my gosh. That's such a good one.

[A]

How do we not know this story?

[B]

I know. I'm just like, you don't want to make mom mad.

[C]

Yeah. Yeah.

[B]

Oh, my gosh. I didn't know this right, either.

[A]

It's crazy. Okay, well, you win.

[B]

I know.

[C]

That was awesome.

[A]

Yeah, that was awesome.

[C]

Lightning round. Lightning bonus round. Okay, you have to get matching tattoos tomorrow. What are you all getting?

[A]

A chair.

[B]

I was about to say a chair.

[C]

I've had this joke that I was going to do a fake tattoo, but you're just like, hey, I'm super committed to Alice Lane. Get an Al tattooed on my neck.

[B]

You win. We're getting it. I love it.

[A]

I love it.

[C]

Oh, that would be so funny.

[B]

So funny.

[C]

What are some specific paint colors you are loving right now for, say, a primary bedroom?

[B]

Specific paint colors I'm loving right now.

[A]

Let's just say I love a nude for a primary bedroom. You know the wall covering that's in Boston's primary bedroom.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Something about that just signals it's soft. It's not white, it's not beige, it's not pink.

[B]

No.

[A]

It's just this beautiful nude tone. And when I just barely did my bathroom in kind of a nude plaster, it's kind of that color, but probably 50 lighter. That's in that beautiful woven grass cloth. That's nude. I love. I love a nude in a primary bedroom. What do you love in a primary bedroom?

[C]

I was going to say something in the, like, you know, clay esque, like, realm, because I feel like you can do so many. Have so many different variations with that. And I think.

[A]

I think we're all sort of kicking on that same sort of clay nude. That whole terra.

[C]

Yeah.

[A]

Field to wake up, whether it be a woven or a plaster Or a high gloss. It's all going to be stunning. But I just think that's such a nice soft color and I feel like we'll look pretty in that color too. I just think you want to look

[C]

good in your room and you don't want to wake up to something too intense. Yeah, I need a slow roll in my morning, so.

[A]

Yeah, I like saturations.

[B]

I love a deep, dark bedroom.

[C]

A recent purchase you loved it could be anything.

[B]

I am getting so many great glasses right now.

[A]

Oh, yes.

[C]

You really? Yeah, we talked about that earlier.

[B]

Gosh, I'm so excited. We went down to Richfield to the Valley Vision, which where Jess's dad, that's her dad's office and her brother in law works there and sister and it's so much fun. People are like, why are you going to Richfield? I was just, oh, you don't even know me and the boys, we go and it's kind of like our thing. We go down and like we have like this drive and it feels like a little bit celebratory and we're gonna go get our eyeballs checked. And I'm excited about all the glasses I've gotten so far, but there's one specific pair that I haven't gotten yet. Call this Danish designer. And I'm so jazzed about it. It's the only one I haven't received. I'm just like biting at the bit to get them. So I think, yeah, glasses, because I need them function.

[A]

Yes.

[C]

But also they're cool.

[B]

It's. Yeah, it's an accessory, so I'll do that.

[A]

Yeah, there's something about an eye doctor that has a private practice that can do whatever they want and bring in any frames. And they really do shop far and wide and get really cool specs. And sue looks great in all of them, so you look really good. I am getting excited because every 4th of July I get myself a new pair of specs down at the clinic. And I think that's almost always a Maui gym. I love the lens. I love the look. I heard they merged with Gucci a few years ago on the fashion portion of it.

[C]

That's cool.

[A]

And then of course, they have the very best lens in the market. So I always love getting a new pair of sunnies every summer. So I'm thinking about that. But I'm trying to think if there's anything else I've purchased that I'm crazy about lately. How about you, Corey?

[C]

I mean, I have a furniture specific one, but I also have something Else, I'm super into skateboarding. They just released these, like, really soft wheels, which are not a thing for, like, street skateboarding, But I bought them, and they're amazing. Just how they sound to me and how they feel. There's. Yeah. And they.

[B]

I feel cushion, almost.

[C]

Yes. Cushion. Yeah. And then less effort to get going faster. Yeah. Which I need because I'm a little bit older than all the kids at the skate park. But as far as the furniture goes. Cocoon swivel.

[A]

Yeah.

[C]

Two weeks ago, we had a babysitter come over. Her name's Ruby. She lives in our neighborhood. I'm like, ruby, come here. Come sit on this chair. Check. She doesn't even care. I was just like, swoop. Now you can rock on it. Like, she's.

[A]

Yeah.

[C]

I've been loving those. So good having everyone sit on them that comes over. So knock on my door. You'll. Yeah. Come in, and I'll show you the cocoon. What's your favorite part of your area of business? And your least favorite, favorite part of

[B]

the area of our business is, again, I love people. I'm an extrovert. So I would say the client. I really do like. I love the relationship and just like understanding them and growing it. It can sometimes be the tricky part, too, you know, as far as just if you're not aligned, I would say probably. Probably the client is why we do this thing. And, you know, because, again, if we did, like, the same. A spec house with a builder, so easy. Just stamp that out. But it's fun to take somebody's personality and interpret and really understand why they don't like that certain thing or why

[A]

they want this feeling.

[B]

And how. What does that look like through our lens feel like?

[A]

I mean, when it is going well, don't you feel like it's like having a crush again?

[B]

It is.

[A]

It's like you're thinking about them all the time. You're dreaming about them. You're waking up, you're getting ready, and you're trying to solve their problems. And you're not billing for any of that, of course, but you're just. It's so much a part of everything that you're just thinking of because you're just trying to solve for the greatest, highest version of their life possible. And so when you do get in with the right designer and you have that aspect where you're just really crushing on each other, only great things are going to come out of that. You'll go through hard things, but it won't be bad because you're going to be able to get on the same page pretty easily. So I hope that everybody gets to feel like they're having a crush when they're. When they're working. True.

[C]

It's fun to be obsessed with something.

[A]

It is fun.

[B]

And at the end of the project, you're like, well, surely it's weird. I just talked to a client the other day, and, like, her house is, like, finished, but we're just, like, doing the last little bits. And we got on the call and we're like, I miss you. How are you? How are the kids? Like, when are we gonna go to dinner? You know, as far as. And that's. It's a really. It's a cool feeling to be like, they'll. They'll call me shorthand and, like, just to be that person. As far as. Just like, they trust your taste on their behalf is pretty cool. So.

[A]

Yeah, that's good.

[B]

Love.

[C]

I feel like my job specifically at Alice Lane is, like, very fitting to my personality and the aspect of, like, the blend of, like, creativeness and. Yeah, like, left and right brain. It's, like, very much in the pocket of who I am.

[B]

Like, in an escape room all the time.

[C]

I feel like that's what I was gonna kind of say. Maybe, like, is not. Not my. It's not my least favorite. It just is overwhelming sometimes because I get all of the problems. It's like he came in wrong. Or this person has this claim, this caught on fire. I'm like, what? Whoa. It's like so much coming at me all the time. That gets exhausting. But at the same time, it's like, I'm blessed to be equipped with the ability to solve gifts.

[A]

I will say my least favorite is claims. Not our claims department. But just when we see or hear if something fails.

[C]

Yeah.

[A]

Why it fails. And having to get curious about that and then being. It's. It's so sad, you know? Or.

[C]

And it makes you feel like you suck.

[A]

Yeah. Or if the delivery guys stood something up on end and busted the legs on something. You're like, guys, when we deliver dressers, we can only deliver them by carrying them this way. Or. I don't know. It just breaks your heart when furniture gets damaged. I'll say my least favorite. It makes me so sad. The warehouse sale. The warehouse sale breaks my heart. Everybody loves it. I'm so happy for everybody. They score. And when I walk in that room, I just see a room full of failures.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

That's my least favorite. How about that?

[C]

I get it. I love the energy of the warehouse, so I'm not going to lie.

[A]

I know.

[B]

It's really.

[C]

I'm a wheeler and a dealer, so that's just like. My grandpa would take me as a kid. He loves yard sales, that type of guy, you know, I mean, that's his generation.

[A]

Yeah, it is fun.

[C]

So I've just been like, still my generation.

[B]

Yeah, still my generation.

[C]

Like, this is my yard sale.

[A]

You know what I mean?

[C]

But I get. I feel the same way because I'm like, man, we worked so hard on this stuff and it's. Yeah. If the podcast ended tomorrow, what would you miss? This is a break in my day.

[B]

It's right here. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[A]

This is our book club. Sue and Corey and I. I don't read books, but I imagine it's like this where you and your closest friends get together and you talk about one thing and it's a book. And for us, it's about the design that we're working on right now. And so it's kind of a place to sort of unravel it and talk about it, unravel it all on the table and say, here's what's going on and talk about it. Or say, this is awesome and let's share with people how we made this happen, or let's make sure they don't miss out on these design details or whatever. And so I think obviously, like the brother and sisterhood that we have here and just the almost counseling session, it is for design because it is so complicated and everybody thinks interior design is so fun, but it's a place where we can talk about it with you, who are a lot of you interior designers are the design obsessed like we are. And it's just a place to. To share it and talk and be

[B]

around like, like minds. It's not necessary that, like, a lot of our jobs, too, is just like, we have employees. And so like, you're. You're serving or you're thinking about not only your clients, but just all the people around you and trying to solve for all these things. So it is like, it's therapeutic for sure to just be like, this is why we started it. This is why we're doing this thing. This is why, you know, like, I don't know, it brings you back, I think, to, I don't know, the romance of design.

[A]

I only wish it was a live audience so that people could also engage in the conversation because it's. It's such a rich, very detail oriented conversation. I know it would be so Fun.

[B]

We go on tour.

[C]

Yeah, we should do that. Message us where you want us to come.

[A]

I know.

[C]

Dear Alice alisonhome.com what makes you the most nervous?

[B]

Installs.

[C]

Yeah, installs.

[B]

It's so funny because a million times you've measured it, the furniture should always fit and still like you're just the night before. You have anxiety, you can't sleep. It's like. Or if I'm flying for an install, I'm just like, God bless it. Like, this goes well. That is like your number one prayer to heaven above that everything will fit and the client will be happy. That's all you want. And so it's the thing that is the most gratifying, but it's the thing that makes you like most just on edge for a sec and then it happens. You're just it fit. You're surprised even though you measured 10 times. Cut once.

[A]

I say along with that, in that same vein is the photo shoot, which we just barely got off one last week. And it takes a whole week. You're styling for a full day, usually traveling for two full days to get there. Styling, which is, I think, our version of the Iron man because it's so physical and. And you're trying for perfection. Yeah, right. The house has already been installed, draperies, everything. All the players are there. And now you're bringing in forged branches and you're bringing in fruit or food or everything. And you're just trying for perfection. And the photographer arrives and you're looking

[B]

at perfection, but it does something.

[A]

You're trying to make it look effortless and perfect at the same time. And. And it's so physical and it's so hard. And they're like, let's do the early morning shoot and get the house at sunrise, but let's also get the night shoot. And so pretty soon it's an 18 hour shoot. And it's so physical and every bone in your body, you're like, did I get hit by a bus? I'm not sure. But you do stay up all night just trying to anticipate what you're going to need or what you don't need or what happened. It's just so.

[B]

Yeah, one thing that'll make everything else, like, roll. And so you're looking at inspiration. And I'll get. No, it is, is. Even yesterday we were styling for a shoe and at one point, three of us, we were just. Jess is the only one here that suffered from type 1 diabetes. But we're like, I think my blood is low. My sugar's low.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

And I don't feel well. And then all three of us are just like, me, too.

[A]

I need. Yeah.

[B]

Anyway. But it's tax. It's super taxing.

[A]

Nervous, too. I'll say every once in a while I'll need to speak in front of our trade event or something. And so just anticipate. I feel like anticipating something is more nervous than actually doing the speaking.

[C]

Yeah.

[A]

And so I find that whole day that I'm just like, oh, do we have the right slides? What do I know what my speaking points are? And it's just like you're kind of sweating and freezing at the same time. Your hands and feet are so cold and you're. But yet you're so uncomfortable all day. And you're like, I wish I could just hurry and do the thing and get it over with. But, yeah, public speaking, it's just always a little bit unnerving.

[B]

I have a question for you because you're filming all the time.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

For. With Jane and the product and everything. Do you ever get nervous? You always feel composed. I'm sure there's, like, more than one take, but you're pretty good at the one taker.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

Do you ever. Again, do you ever get nervous?

[A]

I. Yeah, those days. Because we do a lot of filming on Thursdays at my house where we're teaching something. It's the same thing. You're trying for perfection, where you're styling the scene and you're looking through her lens and you're making sure the lights right. The light's not good. Let's eat lunch really quick. And then try for that light. And let's try this in a different room. And it's. Or if we're filming on the floor and people walk in and you're in the middle of it. I feel so shy. That's the one part that makes me so crazy, is that you open up a business because you love to design and you want to offer beautiful furnishings and a design service. And then the year's 2008. All of a sudden, here's the year 2010, Instagram starts. And then you're like, post it once a month or once a week or whatever. And then now it's. The frequency is you've got to just, like, constantly. Now the biggest thing is the talking head, where you want to have a founder story and you want to have somebody teaching you something. And so now you have to spend all this time calendaring out what you're going to be teaching and talking about and where you're going to be doing it and that's a huge part of the job. Now we're like, I wish we could just keep our heads down and design, but you can't. You've got to show up in this other way in marketing.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

That if you're shy, that's really hard. And I, I feel for people because I, I look at any past content, I usually want to put my head in the sand. But eventually you get a little bit more comfortable with how it works. But you still never get comfortable with having to see yourself in content. Yeah, that's hard.

[C]

Do you think you are the same person at episode one as you are now?

[A]

That's a great question. Definitely not.

[B]

Hopefully.

[C]

I've said a million times that I feel I have a degree from being on this show. I've learned so much. I feel like I'd be horrible addition to this podcast if I was the same person because I, I have learned an, an insane amount thanks to you too. I'm proud of that.

[A]

I was thinking about this driving in today. It's funny that this is a question, but I was thinking about the first podcast and I thought if anybody discovered the podcast today and they're like, oh yeah, this is gonna. I'm gonna go back and re. Listen to old episodes. I. I feel so embarrassed about the

[B]

first start at season four.

[A]

Exactly. Like they always say, never compare like your worst to someone's best, you know, and, and if you do go all the way back to season one, I guess you'll just see a lot of growth. Growth within us. And I think as designers too, like the rooms that we did then are different than the rooms that we're doing now. And it will be true for everybody here that you just gotta start. You're never gonna be perfect at it. In the beginning, you just begin and then you slowly learn and you learn most from failure and you just get right back up and then you keep going. And I just think it's really cool what can happen if you keep getting back up again.

[C]

Yeah.

[A]

And I'm proud of us for not quitting, even though our first episodes and first years were not very sophisticated. But yeah, I'm glad we're doing it.

[B]

Yeah, me too. Hurry for failure.

[C]

Exactly. What's one thing listeners would be shocked to learn about Alice Lane?

[A]

Sometimes the refrigerators stink really bad.

[C]

Yeah.

[A]

And sometimes McKinley and I go and throw away all the things in the refrigerator.

[C]

So if you're missing anything, if I'm

[A]

ever there when she's doing it, I'll help her, and then we'll open the doors and get out to the dumpster. No, I don't know. No, that's not a very good answer. What's a good answer?

[C]

I'm gonna say, what's the Nike book? Shoe Dog?

[B]

Yeah.

[C]

They talk a lot about in that book, that Nike's just figuring it out, too. And you look at Nike, I think, and you're like, they have everything. And it's probably a process. And, you know, all that peeling back the curtain at Alison, I feel like, is the same, like, you know, we started the podcast just. Just to do it, we had to learn to get better. And so, yeah, I think there's a lot of stuff that we just figure out as we go, and it's probably not as buttoned up as people think, but that's the magic in it, is that it's all of us collectively putting our best foot forward, and we can keep that behind the curtain and still present the company in the way that

[B]

we want to change it and change it again. It's. That, to your point, just like everything is always evolving. I still, like, I was talking to somebody the other day, and it's like, how's. How's business? Long. Like, it's good. We're just. I still feel like babies, even though, like, we've accomplished a lot, we've done a lot of homes, evolved and added things. But just like, we're still. I think that's one of the cool things about I'll Sing is just like, we're still young, so we can change it. If it's not working, let's change it.

[C]

Yep.

[B]

And I think that that is. I think it's the magic sauce. Right. That just, like, we're not. There's no ego. There's. There really isn't. I think that. That I hope people, like, I hope you're not surprised by it.

[A]

It.

[B]

But just that, like, we all. We're very human. There's nothing too precious that it can't be addressed, you know, so.

[C]

Yeah. And that's. Honestly, that's everybody. There's. Like, you mentioned earlier in the podcast, there's no job that anybody. Especially us three. That's. No. That's. You crawl through the dump, I'll crawl through trash. I don't care.

[A]

Yeah.

[C]

You know.

[A]

Oh, I don't know. I loved your answer. I. It's.

[B]

Jess is hilarious. I just want you to know, like, late night Jess ensues. Like, I'll record, too. Like, we're hilarious.

[C]

Yeah. And I worked at a door shop with a bunch of guys before this for years. So that's very much what I was used to in a work environment. And I was really nervous coming to work for Alice Lane. I mean, I think I. Other than Adam and Drew, I was the only guy at that point in the design center with all of you guys. And I felt that I needed to be so proper, you know what I mean? Not. This isn't a construction site anymore type of thing. Just, like, spending time with you and, like, seeing how you guys are. I was just like, ah, that's actually the same. Yeah.

[B]

You know, she's a bunch of dudes.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Yeah. That's so funny. That's a good one.

[A]

So great. We're the luckiest.

[C]

We are. Yeah.

[A]

Great questions.

[B]

I know. That was really fun.

[A]

So fun. I hope that gives you a little peek behind the curtain about how things work and what surprises us and how

[B]

it all ticks, how human we all are.

[A]

Yeah, for sure. Interior design.

[B]

Interior design.

[A]

Thanks for tuning in, you guys. If you have any questions for us, please send those to dear [e-mail] and make sure and give us a follow on Instagram. We're at Alice Lane Interiors and at Alice Lane Home, if you want to see the store side of things. You guys have a great week. We'll catch you next time.

[B]

Sam.