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Surviving Design
Join interior designers Melissa Guerra, Timm Dolley, and Melody Smith as they discuss a variety of topics related to the interior design industry. From stories about construction fails, contractor issues, hilarious client stories, and more, we will keep you engaged, keep you laughing, and provide you with a unique behind-the-scenes glance into the interior design world like you have never heard before! One part tell-all, one part industry education we hope to help and enlighten other professionals in our industry as well as home and business owners who have an interest in the design world. Join us as we Survive Design!
Episodes
40 episodes
Going Above and Beyond
Join professional interior designers Melissa Guerra, Melody Smith, and Timm Dolley as they discuss the behind the scenes situations in the interior design industry that are rarely talked about. Have you been stuck cleaning a client's home becau...
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Season 4
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Episode 1
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35:20
Collaboration or Exploitation?
Join professional interior designers Melissa Guerra, Melody Smith, and Timm Dolley as they explore the collaborative process with clients during the construction and furnishing phases of their homes and offices. Text messages at all hours of th...
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Season 3
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Episode 9
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37:57
Get Paid What You're Worth
Join professional interior designers Melissa Guerra, Melody Smith, and Timm Dolley as they discuss the elephant in the room: PRICE! You've heard it before. Sometimes you have to "fake it to make it" or sometimes you need to pick up work to pay ...
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Season 3
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Episode 8
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39:48
Be Real, Don't Steal
Join professional interior designers Melissa Guerra, Timm Dolley, and Melody Smith as they discuss a huge elephant in the design community: Taking credit for other people's work. Architectural Digest received a huge backlash when interior desig...
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Season 3
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Episode 7
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30:45
2024 High Point Highlights
Join professional interior designers Melissa Guerra, Melody Smith, and Timm Dolley as they discuss the latest High Point Spring market. This episode is all about furniture and design trends, funny stories, and the highlights of market, in...
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Season 3
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Episode 6
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33:00
You Don't Know What You Don't Know (Vol. II)
Join professional interior designers Melissa Guerra, Melody Smith, and Timm Dolley as they discuss the ins and outs of the interior design industry, especially as it relates to the "tricks of the trade" and lessons learned by making mistakes. A...
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Season 3
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Episode 5
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33:04
Disaster Preparation
Join professional interior designers Melissa Guerra, Melody Smith, and Timm Dolley as they discuss the pitfalls that design school and your mentors never taught you. As the old expression goes, "You don't know what you don't know," and this epi...
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Season 3
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Episode 4
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36:24
Mind Your Manners
Join professional interior designers Melissa Guerra, Melody Smith, and Timm Dolley as they discuss how the rules have changed when it comes to being in a client's home alone. Cameras, microphones, and other technologies are slowly seeping in, a...
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Season 3
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Episode 3
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35:26
Delivery Nightmares
Join professional interior designers Melissa Guerra, Melody Smith, and Timm Dolley as they take you behind the scenes in the design industry. This episode is all about receiving and delivery nightmares. Just when you thought you we...
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Season 3
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Episode 2
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32:09
To Hire or Not to Hire
Join professional interior designers Melissa Guerra, Melody Smith, and Timm Dolley as we explain the WHY behind hiring an interior designer. In a world full of social media fake experts and design-build companies that are more concerned about t...
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Season 3
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Episode 1
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37:32
Know Your Boundaries!
Join professional interior designers Melissa Guerra, Melody Smith, and Timm Dolley as they discuss a huge elephant in the room in the design industry: Boundaries! Sick of your clients texting you at all hours of the night and day? Sick of worki...
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Season 2
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Episode 19
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38:49
Literally Surviving Design
Join professional interior designers Melissa Guerra, Melody Smith, and Timm Dolley as they discuss the various hazards of the interior design profession and why good education or experience is a must if you are going to tackle this monster of a...
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Season 2
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Episode 18
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35:38
Client Horror Stories Vol. II
Join professional interior designers Melissa Guerra, Melody Smith, and Timm Dolley in this special edition Halloween episode: Client Horror Stories Vol. II. Just when you thought it was safe to do your job, these client horror stories will chil...
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Season 2
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Episode 17
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28:35
High Point Market Trends 2023
Join professional interior designers Melissa Guerra, Melody Smith, and Timm Dolley as they discuss their most recent trip to High Point, NC for the 2023 market. From discussions with vendors to current trends in the design industry, you won't w...
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Season 2
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Episode 16
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38:50
It's Who You Know
Join professional interior designers Melissa Guerra, Timm Dolley, and Melody Smith as they discuss how good vendor relationships can impact your business (and your sanity). Trust us. We have plenty of war stories, and we have made many mistakes...
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Season 2
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Episode 15
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32:15
It Takes Two to Tango
Join professional interior designers Melissa Guerra, Melody Smith, and Timm Dolley as the discuss the gritty details of the interior design world! In this episode, we discuss client responsibilities and how they can impact the overall aesthetic...
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Season 2
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Episode 14
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32:10
Trend Talking
Join professional interior designers Melissa Guerra, Melody Smith, and Timm Dolley as they discuss how to incorporate current trends into your clients' designs. From what trends are driving us crazy (think shiplap) to the ones we would entertai...
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Season 2
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Episode 13
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33:25
The Struggle Is Real
Join professional interior designers Melissa Guerra, Timm Dolley, and Melody Smith as they spill the tea on the behind-the-scenes workings of the interior design industry. On today's episode we talk about the struggles of being an interio...
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Season 2
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Episode 12
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36:53
An Inch Deep and a Mile Wide
Join professional interior designers Melissa Guerra, Timm Dolley, and Melody Smith as they discuss the extreme level of knowledge and expertise it takes to pull off a design project for their clients. What does it take? An inch deep and a mile ...
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Season 2
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Episode 11
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41:40
Together in Paris
Join professional interior designers Melissa Guerra, Timm Dolley, and Melody Smith as we talk about our most recent trip to Paris, how it inspired us, and how taking a break can sometimes lead to the design inspiration you've been looking for! ...
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Season 2
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Episode 10
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34:06
The Ups and Downs of Interior Design
Join professional interior designers Melissa Guerra, Timm Dolley, and Melody Smith as they discuss all things interior-design related. You think you know this industry? You don't know the half of it! In this special edition episode we interview...
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Season 2
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Episode 9
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49:04
Impostor Syndrome
Join Melissa Guerra, Timm Dolley, and Melody Smith as they discuss all things interior design. In this episode we talk about how "making it" in the interior design industry can often lead professionals to suffer from Impostor Syndrome, e.g. Do ...
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Season 2
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Episode 8
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34:07
Designer Show Houses
Join Melissa Guerra, Timm Dolley, and Melody Smith as we take you behind-the-scenes in the interior design world! In this episode, we delve into the world of designer show houses, what they are, and what the process is if a designer wants to pa...
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Season 2
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Episode 7
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26:07
The Art of Branding
Join Melissa Guerra, Timm Dolley, Melody Smith, and our special guest Kim Jones, owner of Tropical Vibes. As an owner of a lifestyle brand, Kim spills all the tea on what branding is truly about and how it can impact your design business. So wh...
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Season 2
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Episode 6
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33:06
Designing with Purpose
Join Melissa Guerra, Timm Dolley, and Melody Smith as they discuss the "why" behind their interior design profession. What got them into the business? What makes them tick? Why is interior design so intriguing, and why is it such a coveted care...
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Season 2
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Episode 4
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32:12
