EP 475 | The Most Expensive Word in Your interior Design Business Is “Maybe” with Andrea Liebross
Want to know what’s really behind under-earning, decision fatigue, and burnout in design businesses? It’s not pricing, marketing, or even workload — it’s the decisions designers make long before a project ever begins.
Kimberley Seldon is joined by life coach Andrea Liebross to explore why hesitation is so costly, how “nice” projects quietly drain CEO energy, and what it looks like to lead your business with clarity instead of hope.
Together they unpack how designers end up negotiating with themselves, saying yes when their instincts say no, and taking on work that slowly erodes time, margin, and focus. Andrea shares a practical decision filter you can use to evaluate opportunities quickly and confidently — without burning relationships or shutting doors.
If you’ve ever felt stuck between yes and no, this episode will change the way you make decisions in your business.
In this episode we learn:
- Why “maybe” is more dangerous to your business than “no”
- How to evaluate opportunities using a simple 3-step decision check: ROI, alignment, and capacity
- The difference between revenue and real profit — and why hope is not ROI
- How decision fatigue leads to burnout, under-earning, and leadership exhaustion
- A practical grid to sort opportunities into Hell Yes, Absolute No, Delegate, Delay, Delete, or Do with Changes
- Language for declining or reshaping a project without damaging the relationship
- Why strong design businesses are built on clean decisions, not good intentions
So, is it a Hell YES or an Absolute NO? Get the Worksheets >>
DESIGN INTERVENTION
Being an entrepreneur is a journey in personal development disguised as an entrepreneurial adventure. Your business will only grow as fast as you grow as a human.
About Andrea Liebross
Andrea Liebross is a business and life coach for high-achieving entrepreneurial women, author of She Thinks Big, and host of the She Thinks Big podcast. She helps women step out of overwhelm and into the CEO role of their business and life, using simple decision frameworks that turn messy what-ifs into clear, confident next steps.
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Get the Book | She Thinks Big - The Entrepreneurial Woman’s Guide to Moving Past the Messy Middle and Into the Extraordinary
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Legal Disclosure | This podcast is for educational purposes only and provides general business advice for interior designers and design professionals. It is not intended as individual legal, accounting, or professional guidance. Kimberley Seldon and Business of Design® make no guarantees regarding accuracy and are not liable for how information is used. Strategies shared may not apply to every situation—listeners should seek qualified legal, financial, or professional advice before making business decisions. References and resources mentioned may change over time.
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