season 7
A kitchen and bath design firm went from constant panic to actually sleeping at night. Not because they hired more people. Not because they reduced their project load. Not because they found some magical software that did the work for them. They stopped waking up at 2 AM wondering if they’d ordered the wrong cabinet…
If your team is drowning in project emails, frantically searching through threads for client answers, and watching designers become bottlenecks because all project knowledge lives in their inbox—you’re not alone. Most design businesses assume the solution is better email management. Inbox zero strategies. Filters and folders. Maybe new email software. But one cabinet dealer discovered…
Some software rollouts look more like mutiny than improvement. You announce system changes, and instead of enthusiasm, you get eye rolls, passive resistance, and that special kind of silence that means “we’re not on board.” Here’s the hard truth most business owners miss: Software implementation isn’t a technical challenge. It’s a human one. Your team…
This article is based on the Elevated podcast episode 26 of Season 7. Listen to the full episode below or watch on YouTube. The kitchen and bath design industry stands at a critical crossroads. While other industries have rapidly embraced digital transformation, cabinet dealers and design firms are just beginning to recognize the competitive advantage…
Welcome back to Elevated. I’m Brandy Lawson, and today we’re diving into a topic that’s creating significant buzz, both excitement and anxiety, within the kitchen and bath industry: artificial intelligence (AI). While many are eager about AI’s application in design, visualization, and renderings, the most profound transformation is happening on the business side of design…
Welcome to Elevated. I’m Brandy Lawson, and today we’re diving into one of the most stressful moments in business the panicked realization that you have to change the software you’re using. Whether it’s realizing the price of your jazzed-up messaging tool has skyrocketed or that your trusty old program is now more fossil than a…
Welcome to Elevated. I’m Brandy Lawson, and today we’re diving into a critical software decision that can reshape your business: your architecture design tools. Choosing between Chief Architect, SketchUp, and 2020 Design goes far beyond comparing feature lists. The right tool impacts workflows, client presentations, and even revenue. Let’s look at a real case where…
Welcome back to Elevated! I’m Brandy Lawson, and in this episode, we’re diving deep into a topic that often plagues kitchen and bath designers: why your client management system isn’t working as you hoped, but more importantly, what actually will. In the whirlwind world of kitchen and bath design, a well-oiled client management system is…
You bought the software. You did the training day. You handed out the login credentials. And three weeks later, your team is still using the spreadsheet. This isn’t a people problem. It’s a software training plan for small business problem, and it’s one of the most common (and expensive) mistakes design firms make when implementing…
Welcome back to Elevated! I’m Brandy Lawson, and today we’re diving into a topic that distinguishes the software winners from the software victims in the kitchen and bath design industry: software implementation plan for kitchen and bath designers. Excitement over new software is common, but skipping the critical step of planning often leads to disappointment…