Dear Alice 101

Summary

Dear Alice 101: A Comprehensive Introduction to Alice Lane Interior Design

Podcast Information:

• Title: Dear Alice | Interior Design
• Hosts/Authors: Jessica Bennett (Jess) and Suzanne Hall
• Description: Dear Alice is an Interior Design podcast hosted by Jessica Bennett and Suzanne Hall, the creative minds behind Alice Lane Interior Design. The podcast delves into the high-end design and interior fashion world, presenting it through a lifestyle lens infused with wit and impeccable taste.
• Episode: Dear Alice 101
• Release Date: January 2, 2025

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1. Welcome and Reintroduction

In the premiere episode, Jess and Suzanne set the stage for Dear Alice 101, a special episode aimed at newcomers and existing listeners curious about the origins and motivations behind their podcast and business.

Suzanne opens the conversation warmly:

[00:12] Suzanne: "Welcome to Dear Alice, a lifestyle approach to interior design."

Jess follows with enthusiasm:

[00:21] Jess: "Hi, everyone. Welcome to Dear Alice. We are going to be doing a fun episode called Dear Alice 101. This is for all of you that are new out there or also those of you that are wondering why on earth do we have a podcast?"

They humorously address their trio dynamic, including their third member, Corey, who joins later in the episode.

2. Services Offered by Alice Lane

Early in the episode, Suzanne highlights one of their key offerings:

[01:18] Suzanne: "One of the things that we have to offer is called our home furnishings design department. It's a complimentary service where our designers assist with space planning, selecting the right size rugs and furniture, and ensuring that your home's feel truly 'you.'"

Jess adds:

[02:27] Jess: "It's amazing. Please take advantage of it. It's such an amazing service."

This service aims to make interior design accessible without the financial barriers, allowing clients to furnish their spaces confidently.

3. Superpowers and Toxic Traits

To humanize themselves and connect with listeners, the hosts engage in a lighthearted discussion about their personal strengths and weaknesses.

Suzanne's Superpower:

[02:46] Suzanne: "My superpower is that I sketch better than I talk."

Jess praises her rapid sketching skills:

[03:15] Jess: "Suzanne sketches are so fantastic… It's her party trick, for sure."

Suzanne's Toxic Trait:

[04:55] Suzanne: "My toxic trait is I'm overly kind. I apologize too much."

Jess playfully remarks:

[06:25] Jess: "People tell me my teeth are too white."

Jess's Superpower:

[06:35] Jess: "I would say I'm a communicator. I love words and language. I love being as descriptive as possible to articulate design visions."

Jess's Toxic Trait:

[09:11] Jess: "My toxic trait is that I've had to develop the ability to make decisions quickly and explain them, which sometimes leads to hurting people's feelings because I'm trying to be more direct."

Corey shares his superpower and toxic trait:

[10:05] Corey: "My superpower is figuring things out. My toxic trait is being passive-aggressive."

These personal insights foster a relatable and authentic connection with the audience.

4. Background Stories of the Hosts

4.1 Jessica Bennett’s Journey

Jess shares her transition from advertising to interior design:

[12:47] Jess: "I studied advertising design at Utah State University and worked as an art director on several campaigns. My passion for design led me to interior design in 2002, starting with a corporate headquarters project."

She emphasizes the importance of mentorship:

[15:58] Suzanne: "Jess's ability to create a brand has been unique because she wasn't schooled in interior design but brought a fresh perspective from advertising."

4.2 Suzanne Hall’s Pathway

Suzanne recounts her educational and professional background:

[17:48] Suzanne: "I knew in high school that I wanted to do interior design. I earned a degree in interior architecture from Utah State University, completing internships in Scotland and Alabama, where I met my husband."

She highlights her commitment to technical skills:

[19:32] Suzanne: "Interior design is very intense and technical. I had to bury myself in my degree to master it."

4.3 Corey’s Creative Evolution

Corey discusses his passion for building and creativity:

[24:12] Corey: "I've always been interested in creating and building things. From dismantling a skateboard as a child to building furniture in high school, I've loved figuring things out."

He shares his early career experiences:

[26:03] Corey: "I started working at CR Doors building custom doors and later joined Alice Lane in 2013, bringing my knack for problem-solving to the team."

5. The Genesis of Alice Lane

The hosts delve into how Alice Lane was founded amidst economic uncertainty:

[29:30] Corey: "We started the story in 2008 when the economy was falling off the cliff. Interior design, especially brick-and-mortar, was a challenging business."

Jess explains the market gap they identified:

[30:09] Jess: "I saw a need for a more transitional, clean, and bright interior design offering in Utah, contrasting the prevailing Tuscan styles with heavy colors and textures."

The decision to invest heavily is highlighted:

[32:35] Jess: "We sold our house to take all the capital into Alice Lane because we saw the potential and the need to fulfill it ourselves."

6. Evolution and Expansion of the Business

Alice Lane has grown multifaceted over the years, addressing various market needs.

6.1 Home Furnishings Design (HFD)

Suzanne elaborates on the creation of HFD to complement their design services:

[41:25] Suzanne: "HFD was developed to handle individual room furnishings, allowing clients to allocate their entire budget to furniture without design service fees."

This service became a seamless extension of their core offerings, enhancing client satisfaction.

6.2 Product Development

Jess and Corey discuss their foray into creating proprietary products:

[45:07] Jess: "We decided to develop our own products to offer something original and avoid the price wars common in the market. Corey heads this special project, which involves designing, prototyping, and refining products over about two years."

This initiative allows them to fill gaps in the market and offer unique designs.

6.3 Online Store and Warehousing

The necessity of an online presence led to the creation of an e-commerce platform:

[42:00] Jess: "We launched elsanehome.com to cater to out-of-state customers, expanding our reach and adapting to the digital marketplace."

Corey expands on warehouse management:

[43:59] Corey: "We started with 5,000 square feet and recently signed on for a 72,000 square feet warehouse to handle increasing shipments and manage logistics efficiently."

6.4 Podcast Creation: Dear Alice

The podcast originated as a response to frequent customer questions and the hosts' desire to share their expertise.

[49:44] Jessica: "We started by answering design questions on social media, inspired by 'Carpool Karaoke.' When the 30-second answers weren’t sufficient, we realized a podcast was the ideal platform to provide in-depth insights."

This led to the birth of Dear Alice, aimed at demystifying interior design for a broader audience.

7. Vision and Philosophy

The hosts emphasize their commitment to personalized design and continuous improvement.

Suzanne shares:

[56:01] Suzanne: "Everything's figureoutable because we have the team. We strive to make things better, staying adaptable even after 17 years in business."

Jess adds:

[57:00] Jess: "We don't believe in gatekeeping. Interior design is a complex and emotional field, and we aim to provide free information, inspire, and help people create spaces that reflect their individuality."

This philosophy underpins all their services, from personalized design to accessible online resources.

8. Engaging the Audience

In wrapping up the episode, the hosts encourage listener interaction and feedback.

[60:02] Corey: "If you could leave us a five-star review on Apple Podcasts, it helps us grow and reach more people."

They also invite listeners to connect via social media:

[60:39] Jess: "Follow us on Instagram at @AliceLaneHome for store updates and @AliceLaneInteriors for design projects. We're also on TikTok as @Alanehome."

9. Conclusion

Dear Alice 101 serves as an in-depth introduction to Jess, Suzanne, and Corey, shedding light on their individual backgrounds, the genesis and growth of Alice Lane Interior Design, and the multifaceted services they offer. Through personal anecdotes, professional insights, and a clear passion for design, the hosts establish a strong foundation for what listeners can expect from the Dear Alice podcast.

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Notable Quotes:

• [02:46] Suzanne: "My superpower is that I sketch better than I talk."
• [04:55] Suzanne: "My toxic trait is I'm overly kind. I apologize too much."
• [06:35] Jess: "I would say I'm a communicator. I love words and language."
• [10:05] Corey: "My superpower is figuring things out. My toxic trait is being passive-aggressive."
• [29:30] Corey: "We started the story in 2008 when the economy was falling off the cliff."
• [32:35] Jess: "We sold our house to take all the capital into Alice Lane because we saw the potential."
• [45:07] Jess: "We decided to develop our own products to offer something original."
• [56:01] Suzanne: "Everything's figureoutable because we have the team."
• [57:00] Jess: "We don't believe in gatekeeping. Interior design is a complex and emotional field."

This structure ensures that listeners gain a comprehensive understanding of Alice Lane Interior Design, the hosts' passions, and the valuable services they provide, all while maintaining an engaging and informative narrative.

Transcript

[Suzanne]

Welcome to Dear Alice, a lifestyle approach to interior design.

[Jess]

Hi, everyone. Welcome to Dear Alice. We are going to be doing a fun episode called Dear Alice 101. This is for all of you that are new out there or also those of you that are wondering why on earth do we have a podcast?

[Suzanne]

Who are these three chumps?

[Jess]

Yeah, we were like, maybe we need to reintroduce ourselves. You know how people do that on Instagram when they hit, like a certain amount of followers and they're like, hey, for you that are new. So we wanted to do that for you just to tell us a little bit about each of us, why we're doing a podcast, what we're all about.

[Corey]

I don't know a little bit about Alice Lane.

[Jess]

Yes. Mostly that there's a lot of facets.

[Suzanne]

To, I think the three of us.

[Jess]

Yeah.

[Suzanne]

Super dynamic, no doubt. But the business, there's a lot of different things that we do and have, like, done just because the need has been there. So we're going to tell you about all the different things.

[Jess]

Yes.

[Suzanne]

Allison.

[Jess]

Yes. So if you've ever been wondering, we're hoping that we're going to answer some of the questions you've had in your head today as we get into it.

[Suzanne]

Come. All right. But first, I want to remind everybody one of those things that we have to offer is called our home furnishings design department. And you guys, we do have an interior design where we do like top to bottom homes. That's alid. Our home furnishings design is for if you just need help with furnishings. And it is a complimentary service. We have designers on staff that will help you space, plan, get the right size rug, get the right size furniture, and feel really confident moving forward with something that feels like you. They have resources, these all of our vendors, and it's just such a great service. It's complimentary. It's a way for us to be able to help as many people as possible. Again, the service is complimentary and I just suggest you guys go there if you need any help. If you're going to start the new year out in 2025 and you want to furnish something new, even like one bedroom, full family room, whole house, whatever it is, go to alice lanehome.com and go to the design service tab and go to home furnishings Design and fill that application out. Yeah, we'll get right back to you.

[Corey]

Fill that out. We'll get back. We'll go back. Yeah.

[Jess]

It's amazing.

[Suzanne]

Please take advantage of it. It's such an amazing service.

[Jess]

Yes.

[Corey]

Since this episode is about us, like, individually, but then all collectively. I wanted to know what your guys's superpower is and what your toxic trait is. We all have them.

[Suzanne]

Ooh.

[Corey]

I've been thinking about it, but, yeah. Sorry to put you on the spot. Let's go. Sue first.

[Suzanne]

Okay, Superpower. We'll start positives. Right, Superpower. I sketch better than I talk.

[Jess]

Yeah. Susan sketches are so fantastic, and, you know, when she starts doodling that, that it's gonna. People get so enthralled, they feel like they're watching a magic show before their eyes. And oftentimes, in presentations with clients, she's sketching it out, and they get so excited. Clients go wild for it. It's her party trick, for sure.

[Suzanne]

It's a party trick that I like, was always.

[Jess]

She's her fast sketcher, which is also, I think, a double. A double threat, because I'm a slow sketcher.

[Suzanne]

I'm like, I've seen your stuff. You know how to sketch.

[Corey]

But.

[Jess]

I do. But you. She doodles it out. There's a scribbly sort of exacting ness to it. It's a really amazing. It looks just like the room when you're done, but there's a looseness to it that you can interpret. It leaves room for interpretation. Yeah. Yeah.

[Suzanne]

It's a really good. It's my best communicator to builders, to clients, to my kids. Like, any. Anything. Like, it comes in handy. So very often I always tell, like, people that are interested in going into the design field. I'm like, if you can just, like, start to do this, it will help you so much to be able to translate your ideas.

[Jess]

Yeah.

[Corey]

I built cabinets, like, I. In my mass, like, primary closet.

[Suzanne]

Yeah.

[Corey]

Off of your sketch.

[Jess]

Yeah.

[Suzanne]

I've had builders be like, can you just, like. I don't know, just stay with me always and just, like, draw the issues.

[Corey]

And, you know, the other amazing things. Like, in. In music, I think, really, in any art, if someone can hear or see something of yours and know who it is, like, that's like, the goal, right? Like, you can hear, like, guitar playing. Be like, oh, that's like Jimi Hendrix or, you know, whoever. I feel like that's how your sketches are. I see them. I'm like, that's for sure. Suzanne.

[Jess]

Yeah. It's her thumbprint.

[Suzanne]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Corey]

That, to me, is the most amazing thing about it. It's like you have your own thing. You do it well, and it is 100%, like, unmistakably you.

[Jess]

So.

[Corey]

Yeah.

[Jess]

Okay.

[Corey]

Such a Great.

[Suzanne]

I'd say that's my superpower and my toxic trait. Well, what. What am I talking.

[Jess]

I don't know. I feel like that's such a hard question.

[Suzanne]

I know. That is a really hard question on the. On the spot.

[Corey]

I. I had to dig. I will say so sorry.

[Suzanne]

I say sorry a lot.

[Jess]

You apologize a lot.

[Corey]

Over apologetic.

[Jess]

You know what? You're probably just really kind. Like a Canadian.

[Suzanne]

Probably.

[Jess]

They say.

[Suzanne]

They call my toxic trait is I'm overly kind.

[Jess]

Well, that's what they say. They' they say that you're Canadian. Nice. Because there's nobody nicer than Canadians. And so because you're so kind, you're just. They say they apologize a lot. Yeah. Is that funny?

[Suzanne]

I drink well. Okay. This is something that's kind of funny is, like, I always. We were just talking about, like, if someone were to illustrate me and do a doodle of Suzanne coming into the office. I have, like, three heavy bags, so I'm just, like. Just a bag lady. And then I have, like, three massive drinks and, like, probably a snack. I always have something in my hand, whether it be a pen or. Or a drink or a snack. You know, like Brad Pitt in Ocean's Eleven.

[Corey]

Yes.

[Suzanne]

Not as, like, cool and sexy as he is, but, like, same idea. Just like, if there was a video of me, like, I always have something in my hand, and it's probably a nervous. A nervous tick. I don't know.

[Jess]

No, you're very busy.

[Suzanne]

I'm very busy.

[Jess]

Very, very busy.

[Suzanne]

Yeah. Toxic traits. Yeah. I guess that those are it. I'm just too darn nice. I say, sorry, too much, and I always have a drink.

[Jess]

Yeah. That's not.

[Suzanne]

Shoot me.

[Jess]

Everybody's like, please. They're such worst toxic traits. Those are lovely.

[Suzanne]

It's like when you're interviewing for a job and they're Tell me about, like, some of your, like, faults, and they're just like, oh, I'm just too. I'm too productive.

[Corey]

I work too damn hard.

[Jess]

Work too damn hard.

[Suzanne]

I'm too. I pay attention to too many details anyway. Okay.

[Jess]

People tell me my teeth are too white.

[Suzanne]

That's hilarious.

[Jess]

Okay, let's see. Superpower is. I don't know. I think that our strengths can be our weaknesses, too.

[Corey]

So true.

[Jess]

So that's one of the things that I'm starting to notice about my superpower. So I would say I'm a communicator. I love words. I love language. I loved listening to my mom talk on the phone as a. As a preteen and I would listen to the words she would choose, and I key into that with other people in their communication. And I just love to be as descriptive as possible because the work that we're doing, as many of you designers out there know, is we're trying to explain and articulate what it is that the client is going to have in their home. And so I have to think of the most descriptive and honest way possible. And I feel like there's a real storytelling to that as well, 100%. And so in. In the presentations when sue and I used to present together would be me articulating sue sketching, and they would really have a really full bodied view and understanding of what it was that they were getting. So I felt like right there, I felt like I was the mouthpiece and sue was sketcher. And we still continue to move forward with those superpowers and we're in little different lanes now, but it's still really fun to get to work together because our superpowers are so unique from each other. They're complex, but we appreciate them. Yeah, definitely. And watching sue sketch makes me want to pick up a pen and. And go after it again because it's so fun to watch that come to play. My toxic trait, I was telling sue this the other night is also, I feel like I've had to develop this executive ability to make decisions quick and explain it, because I've heard some people say, I don't know what Jess like, they'll leave a meeting and they'll be like, I don't know what Jess wanted, because I'll tell them both sides of the coin and why both are great. And I don't want to hurt people's feelings. And so I haven't been able to be really quickly transparent about where to go with it because they're looking for direction. And so I've tried to get more decisive about it so that. And more direct so that I don't waste as much of their time and they're more clear about what way to go. And so sue and I were sitting in a meeting the other day and Adam goes, yeah, boy. The girls, my daughters, I have two sort of adult daughters. They're 19 and 24. And they were like, boy, yeah, if you want to get your feelings hurt, just talk to mom and she'll tell you. Exactly. And I was like, oh, no. I've become that person because at work I've been trying to work on this weakness of mine, which is being to talking about both sides of my mouth. And now I'M working on being more direct and I'm hurting people's feelings.

[Corey]

I'm gonna say I agree with that, but I also appreciate it because I never have to guess where I stand. You know what I mean? Or if, like, I'm heading in the right direction. Because you'll just be like, no, it needs to be. I'm like, okay, that's great, because then I don't have to. There's no ambiguity to it, you know, So I can. I can see what you mean, and I agree with it. But I. I like it, like, so now.

[Jess]

So now I've got to work on getting there faster and being as nice as possible. Being Canadian nice while being direct.

[Corey]

Yeah.

[Jess]

I don't know.

[Corey]

Let's do that.

[Suzanne]

This goes back to, like, the character check, though. Like, I'm like, I know you and I know you're nice. So therefore, like, if you know a person anyway. So I guess those that don't know you.

[Jess]

Yeah.

[Suzanne]

Not your daughters. They know you pretty well anyway. So. Anyway, there's always the care. I'm like, I know. Yeah, I know it comes from a good place. And it's like getting from A to B way faster.

[Jess]

Totally.

[Suzanne]

Yeah.

[Jess]

Corey, what are your toxic traits and your superpowers?

[Corey]

I'll start with my superpower as well. I have always thought, like, I'm never. I'm not, like, I'm great at, you know, I'm the greatest bass player. That's. That's not. That's not my thing. Mine is, like, figuring it out. So if I honestly, in my mind, I feel like if it can be done, like, I can do it, you know, maybe I'll. I may not be ever the greatest at it, but if Corey were to.

[Jess]

Have a tagline, it would be, everything is figureoutable.

[Corey]

Yes.

[Jess]

Yeah.

[Corey]

I honestly believe that.

[Jess]

And it's why. It's why we were able to recognize this superpower of his and put him over special projects at Alice Lane. Because you don't know what the special project's going to be. But there's always, always special projects, which. One of the biggest now is product development. And he has figured it out, which is so great.

[Corey]

Yeah.

[Jess]

Yeah. What's your toxic trait?

[Corey]

Yeah, I'm going to be real honest. Like, I'm a. I'm a passive aggressive person. And that's because we all are. Yeah. I mean, I just believe that, like, the best way to show someone what they have done wrong is to do it to them.

[Suzanne]

Yeah.

[Corey]

And because, like, I've realized, like, you know, and Like, I don't know, like in the times where I've been. Yeah. Like I was like, oh, man. Like I hated when that person did that to me. It's like, oh, I kind of did that too though, you know what I mean? So I'm just like, oh, well, I. Yeah, yeah. So that's one thing I like try to work on. I have. Yeah, I have a therapist that I see and yeah, he helps me with that. So at least I'm working on it.

[Jess]

Yeah.

[Corey]

You know, so, yeah, I'm a passive aggressive person. So if I have done been passive aggressive to either of you, I'm sorry. Never done me working on it.

[Jess]

You haven't done me dude either. Yeah, there you go. That's really vulnerable to say your toxic traits.

[Suzanne]

It's almost easier to talk about other people, like, like I could have said your superpowers like in a heartbeat because I know them.

[Corey]

I thought you're going to say toxic trait, but I could assume I could have told you that.

[Jess]

No. Yeah. So great. I think that's really fun. Ok, well, yeah. Should we get into it?

[Suzanne]

Who are we? Who are we?

[Jess]

Yeah.

[Suzanne]

Okay. We want to kind of take an episode like Jess said, to kind of like introduce, reintroduce ourselves. You know, it's the beginning of a year and hopefully this kind of becomes like a trailer for Alice Lane just so you can get to know us and who we are, what we're about and what our backgrounds are. I always think is really, really interesting. I love a documentary, so I love finding out kind of like a little bit more deep about like how they got from here to there.

[Corey]

Little peek behind the curtain.

[Suzanne]

And it like explains a lot of the reasons, like, why a business develops the way it. Because of that background. So anyway, so here we're going to kind of talk about where we all came from briefly and then how we all got together and then what we do.

[Jess]

That's great. Okay, so I'll start. I studied advertising design at Utah State University and design has always been my passion. I loved working at agencies as an art director and worked on several really amazing campaigns in a couple of different cities and really thought this was what I was going to do for life. Like, I really, really loved it and I could use the communication piece of my brain. Even though I was an art director, it was fun to work with the copywriters and just see how all of this gets made. But really I was on the design forefront of like, what is this? And we knew what the message was from the copywriter. But then visually, how is this going to come into play? So really, really fun to get to work in that highly creative field. And. And then I had an opportunity to do interior design for a friend who owned a big tech company here in Utah and wanted me to do their corporate headquarters. And through much of him talking me into it, even though I knew I didn't have the chops to do it, he really felt like I did. And, you know, there's something about somebody's belief in you that is so, so powerful. And I just feel like. I feel like as adults now, like, I mean, obviously I was adult when I took that, but adults that are in the middle of our career, that we give opportunity like that to others to really see it in them and tell them why we see it in them and to help hone that talent. Because I so appreciate that somebody took the risk on me and saw something in me that I didn't know if I could do it. And that was doing this corporate headquarters building, not the branding, but the interiors. And that was kind of my first foray into it. So I've been doing interiors now since 2002, and I started doing some commercial work, which I felt really comfortable with because I was always branding and. And, you know, helping figure out lobby signage and all of that. So I got to really take on the interior side. And from that, I was freelancing at the time from home. I had two little kids, a kindergartner and a baby, and I just kind of kept moving forward and then started helping friends and neighbors and kept working on art, my own home. And anyway, then we saw this. This sort of lack in the marketplace to take the opportunity, and we'll get into more of that. But that's just a little bit about my background. And I think. Oh, I've told you guys before. One of my favorite podcasts is called Second Life, where they talk about what their first life was and what they did and how that forayed into what they do now. But how that first life has become such a strength for them, like having those harnessed those skills and figured them out, that they use them so much in this. And I do find today that a big part of my role at Alice Lane is in the marketing now. I kind of took that on like a year or two ago just to try and get the messaging and the branding right. And it's been really fun to kind of get back into it. Not as an art director. I, on purpose, don't put the Adobe suite on my computer, because then I know I'm getting into the weeds if I want to start playing art director again. But it's fun to be high level and understand what I understood in my first life.

[Corey]

But it also kind of connects all of the pieces that we're doing. Rather than kind of like, you know, product development being in like, you know, in a silo, you know, like, yeah, marry that with marketing and then, yeah, we're cooking with gas, you know, like, definitely.

[Jess]

It's nice to have that understanding and, and know how. Because I do feel like so many people are so shy about what they do. I could go off on that. But that's enough about me. Suze, you go.

[Suzanne]

I will, I will in a second. But I will say that you're ability to be able to like create a brand like that has been such a unique because I worked with a lot of like other interior designers before I got here. And your ability, like having not been schooled in it, but schooled in something else, it's kind of like that rule, like you don't box a creative person in because they can do a lot of things.

[Jess]

Yeah.

[Suzanne]

They have a lot of arms and they can solve any problem if they're creative. Right. So you'll be able ability to create brands for people, like for a company, but also for people, because that is what we do. And I think that's an interesting thing for people, listeners to think for yourself, like, you're creating a brand. Your home is a brand, how you present yourself and your family is a brand. What does that brand say about you? And so it's a really interesting for you.

[Jess]

And your home is your corporate headquarters.

[Suzanne]

Exactly.

[Jess]

And so you got to tell the story of your family, which has been such a belief for me coming from the advertising world is like, we've got to tell their story and everybody has a different story. So. Alice Lane. We're not going to repeat the same work. We're not going to repeat the same paint colors.

[Suzanne]

It'd be a lot easier, trust me.

[Jess]

Oh, yeah. Well, see that a lot where you kind of hire a designer and you get their look and we're really about figuring out their brand, their corporate headquarters and making that special to them.

[Suzanne]

Yes.

[Jess]

And then throwing away the playbook and going again, which is so invigorating for creative people to get to do this work. Put me in.

[Suzanne]

Coach is the best.

[Jess]

So fun. Okay, so how'd you get your start?

[Suzanne]

So I, I knew like in high school that I wanted to do interior design. So I was lucky in that that I Like, I knew what I wanted to do. And so I also went to Utah State and I. Yeah, it was like, a really long process. All those that are in design school know that it is not what people might think it is. It is very intense and it is very technical. And I'm an artist and I'm not the most technical. So I had to really bury myself in my degree. And so I got a degree in interior design, interior architecture at Utah State University. It's a four year, and I loved it. I loved it so much. And through that, I got to do some really interesting, like, internships and opportunities. I was able to do one in Scotland. I won an internship in Alabama for a magazine, which I was super interested in also. Again, just like the journalism of just like, telling the story of a home, I think is just fascinating.

[Jess]

Yeah.

[Suzanne]

And so I was able to work for Southern accents. I met my husband out there in Alabama. And so it was just like, just all these beautiful, like, little detours of life that, like, showed me, I think, just different styles and aesthetics. Whether it be, like, historic in the UK versus Southern versus Utah. You kind of. You start to see different, I don't know, consistencies with the demographic. Right. And so that was really interesting to me. And then I came back to Utah, obviously, to finish my degree after my internships. And anyway, and I stayed here and I worked here for several different firms. I worked for a firm up in Park City briefly as a. As a draftsman. I was hand drafting everything. So I was able to use my. My skills there. Right. Yeah, they had cad, but that's what she was known for, is for her hand rendering. So I did that for a while. Not for a while, actually. Like, she was terrible. But what was her name?

[Jess]

It was a good experience.

[Suzanne]

It was a good experience. And then, like, I worked for a retail space, and then I went on my own for a while and I did renderings, like, freelance for other firms. And then I worked for a firm in downtown Salt Lake City. And it was when I was working there for over a year, I was at that one. And that's when I met Jess and Adam at Alice Lane. And it was a new. A brand new shop. It was only open for a couple months when I walked into their doors, and I just thought it was darling. I'm like, what is this cute store?

[Corey]

Everyone did.

[Suzanne]

Everyone.

[Corey]

It was a breath of fresh air.

[Suzanne]

Yes, right there. Because I think at that time, it wasn't just in Utah. I feel like everyone's like, Utah. It was all this, like, Tuscan, cheap, Tuscan, Tuscan style, where it was heavy reds, knock down walls, golds, you know, just really muddy colors. And it was that way for a long day. Usually a trend lasts like at least a decade, felt longer just because we were in it for so long. But that wasn't just Utah. That's, I think the entire western United States, I think was in this Tuscan era. And. And that's all you could find. And so. But having gone to other places, I saw what was like, possible. And having looked at magazines, like national, international magazines, you see what's possible. But no one in Utah was offering that. And I imagine majority of the western United States was offering that. And so when I walked into Alice Lane and it was so clean and so fresh and so bright. And I was just like, this feels really, really good in my home state to feel some of this. So I really do. And then like shortly thereafter, like, Jess and I like did a trial day. We worked together and we really liked each other. So anyway, so that's a little bit about my background.

[Corey]

Were you way intimidated at first or like, were you nervous at all? Like, okay, cool. Yeah, yeah, I wasn't either coming to Alice Lane, which is strange, I think.

[Suzanne]

I, like I said I worked for like a lot of different and like women in construction and in this business, which has like been male dominant for a very, very long time. And now interior design kind of has a piece of their pie, right, which is a lot of females. They were really direct, which they had to be, I'm sure, to be taken seriously. But Jess was like a really refreshing, like cup of. Cup of something because she was so kind and she, because she didn't have that background in necessarily like being like interior design school. She had like a new perspective and it was a very unintimidating perspective because she was learning with me and like, we were both kind of growing together. And I think that that's why it was so successful is because I think the guard was down. And both her and Adam were so lovely and kind. Adam was like at the front desk, like checking people out. Jess was like futzing and accessories and styling around the place, but it was just them, you know, I'm sure there was other, like a couple other people, like, hands helping, but it was just like such a. It just felt really good. And I remember it was 2008. I don't know if we'll get into your. Should I go start. Keep going. I don't know. Or should we. Let's. Corey, tell us about You. And then we'll talk about the beginning.

[Jess]

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[Corey]

Corey Place.

[Suzanne]

Corey Place.

[Corey]

I'm the VP of product development and special projects. Like, like, just like kind of, you know, preparing for this podcast. I was like, thinking, like, man, I've always been interested in, like, two things. Being creative, creating something, and then, like, building things. When I was 12, my mom got me my first skateboard and I went there, picked it all up. They call it a complete when it's like everything. You're not just buying, like, the wood part, which is called the deck. So I got a complete and I saw him, like, put it together. You even like, press the bearings in and everything. The very first thing I did when I got home is like, not ride it. Like, I took it apart and I. And my mom's like, what the hell are you doing? I'm like, I just wanted to, like, I don't know, build it myself type of thing. It was Like a LEGO type thing. Yeah. So I didn't, like, really understand that about myself then, but I just loved building things. And then I loved creating as well. Like, and not necessarily, like, in, like, drawing art. Like, I've never really been good at that, but, like, even in skateboarding, I would skate obstacles differently than people would or, like, like the normal way you would do it, you know, and so it's kind of. And then kind of when I started working and like, building my career, it kind. It's. Everything that I've done has been, like, has put me in, gave me the information I needed and the knowledge I needed to, like, thrive in the position I am now, which is awesome. I started working at a picture frame shop when I was 14 years old. Like, just mitering and cutting, making picture frames called the Beveled Edge in Springville. Shout Out.

[Jess]

I didn't know that either.

[Corey]

Yeah. And then I went. And then Springville High School has a. In my opinion, the best wood shop program in the state. And so I started building, like, furniture there. And yeah, like, they do things like old school ways, like with kicker and guides. Like, they make you do a kicker and guide system for your first project.

[Jess]

So. Cool.

[Corey]

Yeah, it's. It's just really cool. Like, I don't know, like, they teach you, like, grassroots of furniture building, you know, So I got really into that. And then from there I got a job in Springville, like, at CR Doors. Building. Building doors, custom doors. And like, they need cabinets and cabinets for, you know, for on the side and whatnot. And as I was graduating college and communication, I met Tom and then met. See, because we all went to dinner randomly just as complete strangers, which is so fun.

[Jess]

Which is so on brand for Tom and Sue.

[Corey]

Yeah. And not me at all, actually. So it was. Yeah, it was really cool. And then, yeah, like a month later, I started working at Ellis Lane. And it's. I did not feel, you know, I came from working in a, you know, mill and with 100% men, you know what I mean, to pretty much. I was like one of the only, I think, ad. Me and Adam at that point were like the only men at Alice Lane and didn't feel intimidated.

[Jess]

Besides the delivery guys.

[Corey]

That's true. Yeah.

[Jess]

Yeah. And the accounting team.

[Corey]

Yeah, they were here. Yeah.

[Jess]

What year did you start?

[Corey]

I started January 2nd of 2013.

[Suzanne]

Wow.

[Corey]

So. Yeah. Well, is that. Yeah, 12 years. That's. Wow. It's insane.

[Jess]

Yeah.

[Corey]

Yeah. And I feel like. I've Feel like I've always fit in, and I think that's a testament to, like, the culture at Alice Lane. It's just like, you're not, you know, an outsider, even though I was, like, a totally different background than everyone else.

[Jess]

But there are no outsiders.

[Corey]

Yeah, exactly.

[Jess]

Yeah.

[Suzanne]

So also, Corey's a rock star.

[Corey]

I don't know if that's true. I. I play in a band. Yeah. And which is also kind of goes back to the creative thing and then, like, the figuring things out. It's like, I didn't. In ninth grade, someone was like, we need a bass player for our band. I was like, like, I'll do it. They're like, you know how to play? I'm like, nah, but I'll figure it out. I was tone deaf, actually. Like, I couldn't tell, like, the difference in pitch and stuff like that. When I heard music, I couldn't even hear the bass. When I said yes to that, I had another friend I was skateboarding with, and we were skateboarding outside of a music shop. I was like, I need. Like, I'm ask. I need to buy a bass guitar because I want to join this band. I don't even know what a bass guitar is. So he went in there and showed me. He's like, it's the one with four strings. And that's literally how, like, zero knowledge I had. And that's probably. I mean, that's a testament to, like, Corey will figure.

[Jess]

Figure it out.

[Corey]

I'll just figure it out. So amazing.

[Suzanne]

There's the bravery of kids, too.

[Jess]

I just have bravery. For any interior designers out there, you need somebody that's just going to figure it out. You have to have somebody on that team that can dismantle a bomb with a paperclip and a stick of gum. And that is Corey on our team.

[Corey]

Thank you.

[Jess]

Yeah.

[Corey]

Yeah. And that's why I think we all three, like, work well together. You know, we just have our own complimentary skill sets.

[Jess]

And, yeah, school sue will be over here sketching it. Corey will be, like, dismantling it. I'll be telling you how great it's going to be.

[Corey]

Exactly.

[Jess]

Yeah. And that is. That is. That is so far who we are as humans. If you guys want, you can check out our love story episode on how we all met. That episode goes really along well with this.

[Corey]

It dives deeper.

[Jess]

Yeah. Yeah. So we won't go into that whole thing, but that episode aired on July 13th of 2023. But I wanted to get into why on earth did I start Alice Lane? So we started the story in 2008. Like sue said. The economy was falling off the cliff.

[Corey]

And furniture is a really hard business.

[Jess]

Like, yeah.

[Corey]

Interior, brick and mortar. Yeah.

[Suzanne]

Also.

[Corey]

So.

[Jess]

Yeah. I mean, this industry has changed so much. The world has changed so much. If you guys remember what your cell phones look like in 2008, like, we've really changed a lot as humans since then. Technology, online stores weren't really a thing very much in 2000, so that wasn't even on the radar for us. We were just brick and mortar. But you're right. I can't think of a. I mean, I'm sure there are harder businesses, but those of you out there listening that are doing the same thing, it's. There's a lot easier ways to make a living.

[Corey]

You have to love it.

[Jess]

There has to be passion. Yeah. And I think that has been the fuel in all three of our tanks. It's just been the passion for what we do because it's fun, you know? And I think much like when we had Nancy Meyer's daughter on the Annie Meyershire, when she came on, she said that her mom always says work is more fun than fun. And of course, she gets to produce amazing movies. But I often feel like that about Alice Lane. I'll go home at night and I just continue to work because it's just so fun to figure some of these things out. And it is a passion.

[Corey]

You know, wins are like big W's. Yeah. Like, they're the biggest dopamine hits that you're just like, yes. Like, we did it. You know what I mean?

[Jess]

Yeah.

[Suzanne]

She cried when we presented. That was amazing.

[Jess]

Yeah. It feels like we're landing on the moon sometimes, which is really exciting. But so I saw this need in the marketplace because I had been doing interior design, both commercially and residentially, and I was like, where is all this stuff that I'm seeing in these books and magazines? It is not in our home state. I cannot find it. I'm looking everywhere. I'm going into all the stores. They're pulling out catalogs from vendors to help me try and find something because it's not on their floor. And it's just. It feels like four times harder than it should be. And I saw a real need in the state of Utah. Utah. For a more transitional, cleaned up offering than these really big, curly, tufted, heavy leather, dark colors. Chenille was a thing back then. I mean, so fuzzy, everything the fuzziest. Yeah. Anyway, it was just really heavy decorating at the time.

[Corey]

It was getting tired. Like, so tired.

[Jess]

Hot iron railings, like, lot of dark stains. So I was just like, I, I know my projects need it and hopefully other people's will too. Let's just do this right. And it was kind of a hope and a dream and it was able to crystallize through having a partner that wanted to do this with us. And in order to do it, I had to sell my house because I needed to take all of the capital that was in the house, which was almost paid off. Adam and I built this home on a street called Alice Lane, which is why we named the store after it is because we had to sell the house to take all the money and bring all the money to the table to make this happen for our ourselves. And he was able to match our investment and that gave us enough to go ahead and feel comfortable doing the dream.

[Corey]

Probably not like, I mean, that's just hearing you describe that, I'm just like, wow, if I were doing that would be so scary to me still.

[Jess]

Like, so scary.

[Corey]

So you say comfortable, but probably still nerve wracking.

[Jess]

Yeah.

[Corey]

And like you said, you're crossing your fingers, you know, totally.

[Jess]

I mean, I think if, you know, I heard I have. We have a lot of cute single girls that work for us here at Alain. And so I was listening to a dating episode on a podcast recently because I was like, oh, I gotta send this to them. They're gonna love it. And they were asking or they were giving really great dating questions that you could give on a first date to really help get to know somebody. And one of the questions was, what is the biggest plot twist of your life? I'm telling you already, I'm gonna put.

[Corey]

That for an icy.

[Jess]

Well, because as so many people starting to date are like, they keep asking like the basic interview questions and they're really high level and you're not really getting to know each other. And if want to get to know somebody to know, if you even want to go on a second date, then you got to take this seriously. You've got to have great questions. Otherwise you're just going to keep getting the same results and you're just going to keep not finding somebody to couple up with. Right. So I love, I mean, so I think this is, I'm just telling you all right now, this is the greatest plot twist of my life is, is doing this store like this was not in the cards in any way. My husband is very linear, very measured. So are his parents. I can't even. I would love to go back and, and re. Listen to him trying to tell them why on earth we're doing this because it was like, I was so passionate and so excited about it. And I don't know how I got him to come on board, but I did. And we did the big plot twist. We sold the farm, as they say, and we found a building down in Utah county on the busiest intersection in Utah. And it was floor to ceiling glass.

[Corey]

Which is like, it's like an hour and 20 minutes away from where you were living from Alice Lane.

[Jess]

Have all my friends from my safety net also. Biggest plot twist of my life. Leave all your friends. Right? They're not going to come shop at your store. You think they will? And I remember hugging everybody and being like, guys, I'm in the same state. We're going to see each other. We're going to dinner. It's going to be a blast. Never happened. Like, really, just. Just like free fall off of a cliff.

[Corey]

So crazy.

[Jess]

With all of our life savings. I'm 33 years old.

[Suzanne]

Say, how old are you?

[Jess]

Yeah, 33. And my kids. My baby was like 2 or 3 and had never used a daycare in my life and had to drop her off Sweet Palms.

[Corey]

Just. You talking about this?

[Jess]

Yeah. And then my youngest, I had to just find a preschool for her. You know, it was just like the wildest, wildest thing. No, no, I think she was in elementary, actually. She was in elementary school, so we had to take her to a new school. No friends. Like, it was wild, but. And then we had to build out this store because it was really ugly. And so we went into construction, had to find a builder. And me, I'm just doodling out what I think would be good because I'm not using AutoCAD and just completely.

[Corey]

Did it have all of the windows in it? Like, do you know how many windows were there? Okay.

[Jess]

Yeah. We added these X grids over the top of them and then cosmetically changed the exteriors. You guys, who's gonna spend. There wasn't like a TI allowance for this thing. And if it was, it was maybe like $50,000. And we all know we spent hundreds.

[Corey]

Yeah.

[Jess]

So it was. Yeah. I mean, this is. Gosh, if I could go back and rewrite this, like, nobody would sign up for this plan, but it was really, like, so much passion. And we just, just. We got this build out done and we opened in. I think we. Adam officially quit his job in July, and we kind of free fall until we opened in September. Yeah, that's so kind of wild.

[Corey]

I'm glad you did it, though.

[Jess]

Yeah, me too. Me too. Did it yeah. Anyway, every single part of our business has started because we saw a need in the market that we needed to fulfill. So the first thing was, here we are just this retail store which was obviously need that we started. And then people would start coming in and they'd be like, what do you call this stuff? You know, And I didn't. I was like, transitional, you know, because it was this space in between contemporary and traditional that was clean and it was bright and it was light and all. We had two sides of the store that were all floor to ceiling glass. And so it was just bright in there. It was happy, and it was different than the other showrooms.

[Corey]

Glowed as you, like, drove by. Because that was the. That's how I, like, first heard of Alice Lane, is I just drove by and I was like. It always caught my eye. I was like. Like what? I would take that road back. Like, take the long way to Springville. Like, leaving college, I went to school right near there. And at night, just like the whole, like, inside of the building would glow.

[Jess]

We turned on all the lamps at night. We kept those, like, as many lights on as we could. That made sense. So it just kind of felt romantic and glowy. I would say if any of you guys have shops do that, because it's more romantic at night to have it all aglow. I do the same thing at my house at night. I turn on all of the outdoor sconces, and my house is usually the only one that's glowing on the whole street. But it just looks so welcoming and warm. I really love it.

[Corey]

It catches people's attention. It definitely did mine.

[Jess]

Yeah. Yeah. Well, so people come in and they'd be like, well, can you come home with me? You know, because I. I don't know what to do in my house. And I didn't have a service, so we needed to create a service. Luckily, Suzanne had walked in our doors by that time, and we created alid, which was Alice Lane Interior Design. We didn't call it that probably right at first. It took us a minute to. To figure out what we offered, how to charge for it. Right. But people needed design help.

[Suzanne]

We love this so much. You do it for free.

[Jess]

Oh, yeah.

[Suzanne]

We do it like in our sleep. We love it so much.

[Corey]

A lot of the time back then.

[Suzanne]

We kind of did.

[Corey]

We did.

[Suzanne]

Yeah, we did.

[Jess]

Yeah. And the showroom was. It opened at 10, like most retail shops, and it closed at 7, which, you know, was kind of late. And then we'd lock the doors at seven. And then sue and I would go to the back table, and we would start designing for people, and we would stay till 11 or midnight or whatever. And we just.

[Suzanne]

One or two.

[Jess]

We just worked longer than nurses, and we just did it for the love of the game. Honestly, it was so fun. Yeah. Yeah.

[Suzanne]

And I just want to, like, again, remind 2008, like, nobody's building new. It's all remodels. And we are like, as much as people were coming through the door, we were just, like, we would try and get ourselves, like, into their house. So we would, like, do what we'd call approvals, where we take furniture out to their house and then just see if they like it. And if they did, awesome. And if they didn't, we'd take it all back, which is really, really hard. And we were like, we're tired talking. I'm like, remember when we used to wear heels? Oh, yeah. We were just like, scoot, you know? So, like, we were just constantly.

[Corey]

We were just like, I've unloaded trucks with you guys and other designers while.

[Suzanne]

You guys were like, almost, you know, for a long time. And so. And I remember when I left the firm that I was at, that's about saying earlier, and it was 2008, and she's just like, you're going to retell. You're committing career suicide. And I'm like, I have a good feeling about this place. I have a good feeling about.

[Jess]

About career suicide. It feels good. Yeah.

[Suzanne]

Anyway. But everything felt right. It was the hardest decision I made, but it was the best decision I've ever made.

[Corey]

So.

[Suzanne]

Aside from Tom, but.

[Jess]

Yeah, that's so sweet.

[Suzanne]

Anyway, it really was.

[Jess]

But just, like, thanks for taking a chance on me, guys. Yeah, we did.

[Suzanne]

Yeah, we did. Yeah.

[Jess]

So that was Alid. We. We just needed to create a design service so that we could really help people in their homes in a bigger way than just selling them furniture. And that has been just, like, such a love. So I've loved, loved doing that portion of it. And Suze has really kicked it up and taken the lead on the ALID side of things. And then hfd, which is home furnishing design that sue was talking about the beginning of podcast. This was because we needed to create a service because we started developing what we really wanted to do for alid, which is just do whole homes, because it was too hard and disruptive to only be able to do a little piece of the home, and we couldn't shoot it a lot of things for magazines. We would. When you used to submit it is that you'd have to submit a whole home. And so we kept not being able to be published if we were just doing a living room or we were just doing a bathroom or just a kitchen. So we said, okay. At one point when we were so busy, we were like, we have to figure out what we want to say yes to. And we figured out that we were only going to take on full projects, full new builds or full remodels, or at least enough of a home that we could submit for publishing, and we had to be allowed to shoot the home. So we've. We. We've taken that off the table in a few celebrity circumstances where they're an NBA player or they're a baseball player or something, where they have super private lives. So that's something that we always look at. But we were like, we need to further what we're doing. And so other interior designers that are listening, you might want to add that to your contract because you really do want to be able to shoot your work so that you can build your portfolio and continue to show people what you're doing right now, you know, otherwise, your Instagram isn't full of professional photos. Photos. It's just whatever you're grabbing with your cell phone.

[Suzanne]

Yeah, I was gonna say. And like with hfd, which is the home furnishing design service, they feed each other like Alid to be able to get pictures of that. Alids kind of become the marketing for these other design services. And again, HFD was developed because people kept coming through and, like, still needing help with, like, one room at a time furnishings, you know, just helping with those things, which is actually, like, for the furnishing half is so much fun.

[Jess]

So much fun.

[Suzanne]

So, so much fun.

[Jess]

We love it. And every needs, like putting together an outfit.

[Suzanne]

It's just like a quick, like, update.

[Jess]

Yeah.

[Suzanne]

We needed. So that's when that was developed is just.

[Jess]

It allowed us to say yes to everybody when we develop two separate programs.

[Corey]

It's a different flow than it is a different flow. And it's. Yeah. It's almost impossible to manage both.

[Jess]

And the nice thing about home furnishing design is that allows the client to use their entire budget on furniture. Right. Because they might come to you and say, I want to redo my living room. I have $20,000. And you don't want to spend 10,000 of it on design services because you only have half your budget for furniture left. And then you can't do the whole room they designed anyway. So we came up with A program that would allow them to put their entire budget of furniture towards furniture and not have to pay for a design service. So that's been really, really popular. It's been super fun. That program's probably been around for about four or five years, and we've met a lot of really amazing clients through home furnishing design and of course, through Alice Laney interior design. And then the online store is another thing that we wanted to do because people out of state were seeing it and they were like, how do we shop this? And we're like, well, come on to. Over to Utah. So we were like, we really need to create an online store. And that was, of course, the next normal thing, which a lot of people were doing. And so we went about doing elsanehome.com and just continuing to build and add to that storefront every day. And it is my favorite thing to do at night is to lay in bed and to look at the online orders to be like, what are people liking? What are they interested in? And, oh, we should get more of that. Or, you know, and just continuing to refine and add to the landscape of the online store to help service 50 states, which is super fun. Yeah. Yeah. So good. And then we started a receiving warehouse. We were doing shipping. Well, we had to just do it for our store. Anyway. This is a really expensive business and a big pain point for a lot of interior designers.

[Corey]

Because logistically, it's hard.

[Suzanne]

It's really hard.

[Jess]

Logistically, it's really hard. Do you want to talk about the receiving warehouse side of the business, Corey? Yeah, so you know a lot about it. And.

[Corey]

Yeah, so at. At the time, we had. It's crazy, but we had, like, 5,000 square feet of warehouse space, and we got really good at the organization of it, which. Which, again, is. Is really hard because you're dealing. It's not just, you know, small. I mean, sometimes we have small home decor, but we're dealing with sectionals and sofas and case goods and. Yeah, so, yeah, just like our claims in Claims. Yeah. Yeah. So, yeah, there was just like a. A big demand for shipping and receiving and fulfillment. And we got really good at it and, like, sharpened our teeth on it ourselves. And so we started just expanding that and, you know, offering it to. Yeah. To other, like, final mile deliveries and stuff like that. And yeah, it's been, you know, kind of like, we talked about, like, that part has fed, has got. Had. Has made us even better and kind of just gave us a bigger, like, footprint, especially here in Utah. So Again, that came from, like, a need, you know, that we saw and a hole that we saw in the market and wanted to fulfill it.

[Jess]

So. Yeah, and I mean, product development, when we started developing our own product, there's so many holes that sue and I would see in the market. As we'd go to market, and we would tell our vendors, hey, you need to create a one of these, because we really need this. And let us describe to you what we want, and we need to. And we kept saying what we needed and wanted, and finally we were like, why not us? Let's just create that stuff that people aren't doing. We're giving them all of our ideas. You could practically sketch it for them. We could draw it in CAD for them. But why don't we figure out how to create this? Because the landscape of interior design had also gotten really competitive because everybody's offering everything online now, and so we're just regurgitating whatever our vendors are making and putting that online. But then all of us are offering the same thing, and then it just becomes price wars.

[Corey]

Yeah. You're getting shopped all the time. Yeah.

[Jess]

And you want to. And you're like, we don't want to be a me, too. If we're going to do this, we want to be able to offer something original to the marketplace and. And to be really passionate about it and show people how to use it in their home. And if we're doing all this for vendor products, why not do it for our own? And why not create that stuff that we really wish existed? So we set apart to do it, and we made Corey head of this very special project, and we.

[Corey]

Crazy. That started out as, like, a special project. We'll see where it goes type of thing. You know what I mean? I don't know.

[Jess]

Yeah, yeah. And it's just taken on such wings. It's so much fun to get to think of a product, create it, finesse it, get it over to them, have them make a prototype, have us kick the tires on it. It's usually about two years in the making to really have stock in our warehouse.

[Corey]

Like. Like sofas.

[Jess]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. And we're right. Yeah, we're still getting it right. It's been so much fun. But as you can imagine, the need for an even bigger warehouse comes when you're bringing in a container at a time. Time. How many containers do we bring in a month?

[Corey]

Right now, we're like five.

[Jess]

Five containers a month. So you know what that looks like? That's a train car. That's a five. That's what a container is.

[Corey]

Eight feet wide, eight feet tall, 40ft long.

[Jess]

So five of those a month.

[Suzanne]

Oh, my gosh.

[Jess]

So you can imagine what we needed. So tell them what size warehouse we just signed on for last month.

[Corey]

72,000 square feet. Which is insane because when I started our warehouse, warehouse is probably like 1500 square feet, which it's just our current.

[Jess]

Warehouse, which we signed on for about three or four years ago. When we walked through it, I was like, is this a Costco?

[Corey]

Yeah.

[Jess]

This is the biggest thing I've ever seen.

[Corey]

We're never.

[Jess]

What are we going to do with all of this?

[Corey]

And we're busting at the seams now.

[Jess]

This is so expensive. This is crazy. And we are. And we're delivering for so many other people as well as ourselves. And it's been a really amazing thing to watch that side of the business just explode and just to understand it more. And Corey is like a master shipper. And we were just at a designer dinner for one of our friends that had a book launch, and one of the topics of conversation was how frustrated people are with the price of shipping and receiving and deliveries for these installations and all of that. And I just sort of sat back and like chewed on my nails and was like, oh, I don't even want to say anything because this is like, like a huge piece of our business now. And it's. Yeah, it's a complicated little chessboard, but it's really fun once you understand it. So I'm super. I'm super proud of the team and proud that we were able to figure out that need and fulfill it also within the Alice Lane umbrella. But what you're probably really wondering is how did Dear Alice start? And that's a project. Yes. So go ahead through. Tell them.

[Suzanne]

Darrella started again, like, through the marketing and trying to, like, people would send in questions. We're like, how can we. What's the best way to answer people's questions?

[Jess]

Yeah.

[Suzanne]

And so we're like. It was around the time that Carpool karaoke with James Gordon was live. And we're like, do you guys know what that is?

[Jess]

James Corden has this really great late night show and he'll jump.

[Suzanne]

It's like a Broadway singer also.

[Jess]

Yeah. He'll be like driving down the road in his car and then he'll pull over and then somebody will get in and it's like Harry Styles hops in and they just act normal and then they start singing together and they call it Carpool Karaoke. So anyway, sorry.

[Suzanne]

So at that same time, we're just, like. We would hop in our cars to, like, go get a drink because, like, we needed a quick break. And we're like, let's just answer these questions. Let's, like, quickly record. We'll throw it on social. And so we'd have to, like, answer these questions, and we'd only have, like, 30 seconds to, like, dish out all this information on this one question. And we're like, we need more time.

[Corey]

Well.

[Jess]

And it would never. The answer. We would hand it back to our social media girl and be like, sorry, it's five minutes. I know you gotta whittle it down to one minute or 30 seconds the most. So we would do carpool Q and A, where we'd answer one of the design questions once a week. So every Friday, sue and I would go get a drink and try and bust out an answer or two as fast as we could. And finally we were like, we should just have a podcast.

[Suzanne]

It's, like, great. And, like, podcasts were just starting to, like, become familiar to us. We're like. We'd hear it, and we're like, this is a thing. Should we start a podcast?

[Corey]

I didn't listen to many podcasts.

[Suzanne]

No.

[Jess]

Then and now I didn't.

[Corey]

Pretty much, like, all.

[Suzanne]

It was 2019. Right. Wasn't it when we started 2018, we started the podcast.

[Corey]

Yeah. Like, we started talking about in 2018, though.

[Jess]

So what was our first episode, do you know?

[Corey]

Well, we had, like, kind of one like this, but just, like, what we were going to do, and I've actually listened to it.

[Jess]

Really?

[Corey]

Yeah.

[Jess]

So go back.

[Corey]

Listen to it. Good. It's obviously the very first one. Man, I'm going to say this. Yeah. We've gotten so much better.

[Jess]

Thank goodness.

[Suzanne]

Thank the heavens.

[Corey]

I don't think we had an exactly, like, clear path of, like, what we wanted to do. We had, like, a slight idea, but I. I mean, this is turned into something bigger and greater than I think we, you know.

[Suzanne]

Yeah. Imagined.

[Corey]

Imagined. Yeah. So. And it's kind of just been serendipitous a little bit, but, yeah, that was our first episode. I don't even know what our first topic was.

[Jess]

I think we decided to take room by room and talk about how to design a bedroom, a living room, you know, all that. Anyway, I'm sure we'd be dying of embarrassment. Yeah.

[Corey]

We should listen to it. And then we're. Yeah. It makes us feel good about where we're at right now.

[Suzanne]

Yeah. The need was there. People had questions. And so the reason why we call it Dear Alice is because it's based off of the old column advice, Dear Alice. And so, like, we just kind of kept with that theme and we just. We really do. We read your questions, we read your reviews, everything to try and come up with, like, more information. And again, we said this before. We think that we've covered everything like that. Surely there's nothing else we can still talk about. Right. But then people ask questions. We're like, shoot. Yeah, that is something that we need to deep dive on.

[Corey]

That's an episode.

[Suzanne]

Because it's also. This is an industry where. Where like, to get. For, like, designer furniture, it's. You have to go to the trade. Like, it's a wholesale. There's like a big gate up. I think, with the interior design industry, aside from hgtv, which I think is a very fictitious, like, way to present what we do. You know, it's a super complicated, very important, very emotional thing about space. And we're just trying to give more people information on how to get there, how to be inspired, where to go for inspiration, and to really introspectively look and identify who they are and shop that way. Right. So that's why we did Dear Alice. That's why we still do it.

[Corey]

Yeah, yeah. And there's. I mean, I think the hole that we saw was just a, like, free information, you know, not gatekeeping, anything. But then also there was a lot of, like, homogenized interiors. And we were just like, that's not, you know, that's. That's not how it's.

[Suzanne]

Sadness.

[Corey]

It should be. Yeah. Like. And we felt passionately and. And differently about that. And so kind of. That's been one of, like, our pillars with. With Dear Alice, I think, is that your. Your space should. Should reflect you and be. Be a reflection of who you are. And there was no one saying that, you know, and. And we. And we wanted to. And. And I remember starting at Alice Lane, you two are the ones that, like, built my passion for interiors. I, like, I said I always love building things. And I, you know, I've. I've loved. Loved the idea of having, like, you know, a nice home. But I like when I heard you guys talk about it and just explain furniture and, like, why things like pair well together and how. And how to do certain things, like, that's really what built my passion. So, like, I knew when we started talking about this is like, it's. Yeah, it's gonna be awesome. People are gonna love it because it that's what grew my passion, you know, And I tell people, like, all the times, like, I feel like I have a degree in interior design from being on Dear Alice and I. I, like, when we were doing this, I'm like, you know, like, figuring out logistically how we're going to set things up, and, like, we're going to get, like, microphones. And then Jess is like, yeah. I'm like, you're going to be on it, too. And I was like, I. I definitely will. I don't know why, but. Yeah, exactly. So. But I'm so glad that, like, you know, you said that, because it's legitimately. I love, like, every aspect of my job. This is, like, the thing I look forward to just, like, recording these episodes and, I don't know, just like, me too.

[Suzanne]

It really is. Talk about what we love.

[Jess]

Yeah, we do. And we want to share it with people because we. We don't believe in gatekeeping, and this is a hard, hard, very complicated field that we're in. It's a very hard way to make money, folks. But we all know at the end of the day, it's not about money. It's about doing something with your life that you love. And so we're just here to spread the love, spread the joy, share what we're learning. Because it's really hard. Hard. And as you can see from, like, all of the problems that we're solving within our own business by creating more heads of this monster with ALID and HFD and the online store and the receiving warehouse and the product development and the podcast that, you know, hopefully we have enough background to sit down and be able to talk about this and share what we're learning with you. After doing this for almost 17 years in business. Business, and. And I'm trying to bring to you, like, some really great minds at the table. Sue, tell them what your title is today at Alice Lane.

[Suzanne]

Yeah, I'm president of design, so I run Alid. We have several teams. And anyway, and that's to really try and cater. They all have different superpowers also, which is really fun because, again, in a batch of creatives, to have so many people good at so many different things, like, our tool belt is so broad, and I feel like we can help anybody and figure out anything back to just, like, the finding. Yeah, everything's figureoutable because we have the team, and I think it's a family, and we just. We all adore each other, and I feel like we want to, like, just do beautiful things and Work with the best people.

[Jess]

So, yeah, definitely.

[Suzanne]

That's what I do. I'm president of design. So we're just running design teams and we're working on homes throughout the nation. 80% of our projects are out of state. So again, back to the need of, like, receiving warehouses and all those things. Things. We see different holes every day, and we're just like, okay, this could be better. And that's something I think that Allison does really well, is that, like, it could be better. So let's make it better. Yeah, let's do this thing. Because we know we can. And we have the. You know, we have the. Know how.

[Corey]

We're not phoning it in.

[Suzanne]

It's not phoning it in.

[Corey]

We're trying to make it the best it can be because that's. Yeah. Yeah. Like, that's. That's what we feel it. That's how everyone should. Should approach things. And.

[Suzanne]

And we're not perfect. We're not perfect at. At it, but we're always trying to be better. And I really think that that's. Even though we've been around for 17 years. Right. I still feel like we have the mentality of, like, we're still a young company because we're always willing to change it and then change it again.

[Jess]

Yeah.

[Suzanne]

Because that's how you get better and.

[Corey]

Learn and grow and. Yeah. Especially because this industry, I feel like.

[Suzanne]

Changes and then changes again.

[Corey]

Yeah, exactly.

[Jess]

It's been a wild ride, for real.

[Corey]

Especially, I mean, if you go, like, if you start in 1988-2004, there's not going to be a ton of changes that. But just from 2008 to 2024, so many changes. It's insane.

[Jess]

Still changing. Yeah. It's like.

[Suzanne]

Right.

[Corey]

It changes quicker because of communication. Has. Has expanded. You know, I feel like trends are kind of, like, coming on and then going out at a quicker rate. Yeah. Which means you really have to keep your finger on the pulse of things even more if you. Yeah. Because like, to say on the cutting edge of things, you know, like, you really have to, like, do.

[Suzanne]

Watching.

[Corey]

Yeah. Yep. And I think both of you guys do a great job at that. And.

[Jess]

Yeah, it's really nice.

[Corey]

Fun to be a part of.

[Jess]

Yeah, totally. And I serve as the creative director today at Alice Lane Home. I don't really like to add owner to my title because I just feel like we all own it. You know what I mean? Like, we're all just so yoked in doing this together that. I don't know. That just doesn't really feel like a good title to me, but creative director fits the role that I'm playing right now. And I kind of straddle, you know, marketing, and I sit in on some special projects in Alid and key partnerships there and sit in some meetings, which is really fun because that's why I started this business. So I never want to take my foot fully out of that. And then product development really is taking up a lot of my time and figuring out how to tell the story of the product once it gets here. We do those photo shoots. We create the narrative, we set the scenes, and we do a lot of shoots. We're shooting about once a a month, which is really fun. Sometimes we have an Alid shoot going on at the time, so we're shooting twice a month. So photo shoots is something that is a talent that I'm hoping I'm adding to my tool belt after doing so many of them. And I kind of get to play art director there again, which is really exciting. And. Yeah. And then just running the business, you know, we. We'd sit for one week every one day, every week, we sit down and talk through the business, things that we need to solve for. So. So it's pretty. It's pretty fun and strategic or like.

[Corey]

Eight or nine hours. It's not like an hour meeting.

[Jess]

We call Tuesday Brain Camp. Yeah, totally. And then Corey obviously told you his title. Yeah. So that is who we bring to the table each week to record Dear Alice, to share our experience. And I don't know, I think we're pretty passionate about what we're doing, and hopefully we're able to share as much as we can with you and why. We have a podcast today. Today. So I hope that helps you guys know who we are, what we're doing, why we're doing it, and if you guys have any episodes that you feel like we haven't recorded yet or a topic you'd like us to solve for, please send those Into Dear Alice alicelanehome.com We'd love to read them. We love hearing your reviews. If you don't mind leaving us a comment, subscribing to the podcast will help us grow. Also, will you tell them how to leave a review?

[Corey]

Yeah. So if you go to Apple Podcasts, either on your phone or your computer or whatever, and go to search Dear Alice, it'll take you to our show page. And if you scroll down to where there are reviews, just above that, there'll be, like, a little purple or blue, like, link that says writer review yeah. And, and that'll let you do that. So yeah if you could leave us a five star review you know that helps us grow and it works into the algorithm that Apple has and to kind of like you know know like feature us and, and make us more findable to other people which you know is fuel in our tank to keep going. So yeah, please leave us a review.

[Jess]

Yeah that's great. And if you're not following us on Instagram we are at Alice Lane home for the store side and all that product that we're creating or at Alice Lane Interiors is the Instagram handle for interior design and all the projects that we're working on and we are on TikTok as well if you like TikTok that's at Alanehome. Thanks so much for joining us today you guys. We will catch you next time. Time. Hey thanks for listening. If you like our show please leave a five star rating.