Peter hello and welcome to another episode of the traveling introvert with our career conversation segment that we do once a month. I am really excited to speak to this following human because they popped up in my feed. I have a I have a feed where I stalk other introverts and I sent out a message on their web sibing like, yo, you don't know me, but can you come on my podcast? And the said yes. So I am now going to pass it over to today's guest. Duval, how are we doing? Yay. Hello, I'm well.
Thank you so much for having me on. My name is Duvall. I am a residential interior designer in Fairfax, Virginia, based just outside of Washington, DC. And I am an introvert. Well, that's my first question out the window. Now I'm going to be scrambling. What does introversion mean to you when you
say you are an introvert? Yeah, obviously I think the main definition that most people know is that just we get our energy by being with ourselves and by ourselves and so where others can relatively drain you out of your energy. I think for me, introversion is really just I find my peace and my calm being centered within myself and with myself. I think that's what my introversion looks like. All right, thank you.
Interesting that you said you think most people know that introversion is this, but if you look up the Cambridge dictionary, there's a whole other definition there that is not that. Really? Yeah, I've got a personal vendetta against the Cambridge dictionary. It's been ongoing for years. It's updated slightly and then I went and looked
and I was like, no, why are you still doing this? But it's one of the reasons why people feel the way they do about introversion is because there's a lot of outside stuff that says things that might not be correct. I know, right. So with that in mind and you said it's being with yourself, from what I'm gathering, it's also knowing yourself and what you can do. Is there something that you do regularly that has improved your business? Yeah, I mean, there's a number of things I do in regards
to my introversion. I do have set times in my schedule that I'm by myself. So I am married for about five years now and we have a little dog and I love my wife and I love my dog, but there are times in our schedule that several hours out of the week is just for me and so that's just for me to recenter. I just need space by myself. I don't need anyone needing anything from me. So
that's definitely really big. And even my wife, she's very good about like, hey, you need your time alone because I can get irritable. Also, I time block my schedule pretty well, so I'm a very big person on time blocking, so that my time. I feel like I have control over it because I think also, again, as an introvert, when you have too much spontaneity, and I think that can be draining for me. I can't have too much of just like, anything goes and we go anywhere and do
anything. Even though I seem like a fun person, I'm not really a spontaneous person, so I think I do that a lot. Yeah. And it helps. It helps my business. Okay. I want to go in two different directions. One, you mentioned you have a partner, and so how did you communicate with them, your needs as an introvert? I was like, I need to be left alone. I love you, but I need you to leave me alone. That's pretty much what happened. And then, of course, we have therapy.
We don't have one now, but we've been through a lot of therapy. Just because I'm a person who I don't feel like I feel like I need help expressing kind of what I need just within myself, for myself and with someone else. Right. And I think that I read as an extrovert, so I think it looks contradictory when it seems like I want to be left alone. But the if you put me around people, like, I seem very lively and social, but then by ourselves, I seem
like I don't want to be social. So that was a long we had to learn how to communicate my actions, basically. I don't know if that makes any sense. It does. And so many more people should do therapy just to do therapy because everyone needs it. We're not born and we don't automatically know all the things, and then we meet different people, and different people communicate differently or not. We all have stuff and things. So yes, do that.
And really quick. She communicates very differently where she is an identical twin, and she has always had someone. So she's from birth to when we got married, she was always with her twin. I know. And then we got married late in life. So for 35 years, she was with someone sharing space, always having space. So then putting that with someone who's a massive introvert, it was a very tricky conversations we were having. Yeah. You all can't see my face, but I'm doing the shocked Pikachu. Oh, no.
That's that you all should see her face. Oh, no. Okay. And then the other part of that was you mentioned time blocking. Did you always do time blocking? Or how did you figure out that that was the method that would work for you and your business? Yeah, I didn't always time block. I knew I was always pretty good about my schedule, so if I have events or things to go to, that was always pretty good to be in my calendar because I don't like to miss things. I like to be on time, I
like to be early where I can, and I'm very good about commitments. If I say I'm going to do it, I'm going to do it, like, no questions asked. And then as work got busier and the I think the demand on our brand was getting bigger, and it still is. Time blocking makes sure it helps me make sure that I'm not forgetting to do work that I've already committed to, but it
also acts as a protection. I can just put time in the office, and if someone asks me something and I don't want to do it, I'll just be like, actually, it's not available. I don't have capacity that day to do it. So I think that also kind of protects me just from, again, my own space and the need to recharge. So it's been super helpful. And so with running your own business, do you have colleagues?
Yes, my team consists of it's five of us, and then her team is now two of them, and then we have three ancillary team members that come in and out of the business, kind of like as an independent contractor. So it's a total of was it 310, maybe ten of us, 1011, something like that. And so with the amount of people that you have on your team, how do you go about setting boundaries with them and their needs? Good, thoughtful questions. Look at you just being awesome.
Well, my team knows how I am, so at this point, they are all kind of like, I don't know, I'm pretty good. I don't know, I'm pretty good about, like, at my desk, I will wear my headsets so that I can just kind of focus, and I don't want to be involved in a lot of conversation and then days and weeks where I think I'm pretty good about just setting my boundaries. Right. If I'm feeling overwhelmed, I will work from home so that I'm not bothering and I'm
not disrupting someone else's good space. Right. And then when we have to socialize a lot for our job, so whether we travel for work or we're having to do events for like a week or so, I usually will take the next week, and I'll work from home just to kind of have my own space. So I think everybody kind of reads me pretty well, but I think for the most part, most of the team well, half the team is probably introverts.
Okay. And so when you're onboarding, when people don't know you, how do you express what the culture is like in your organization? Yeah, I talk to them about culture a lot, actually. Culture is very big for me. I'm very crazy about my culture because I want everyone to want to come to work. So we cultivate that very heavily. And as far as, like, introversion goes, as far as that, I do kind of let them know up front, I'm like, okay, I seem very social and I'm very personable, but
I'm not a really social person, so don't misread it. And sometimes I think my facial expressions, because I might be deep in thought, will look more concerning than I am. So I always try to prep client new people, just like, hey, just don't worry about my face. Anything you need, I'm here for you. And then I think over time, just being around me, I think people can see the dichotomy, I would say, of my brand and what we offer clients versus how I manage my time in the office.
So, yeah, that brings us on to clients. How do clients handle the boundaries that you may put up for them? All of our clients are pretty good, but also we have a pretty good onboarding system, and I'm pretty good about managing their expectations. So most clients just kind of read us as extroverts, but they would think nothing different, and we don't have any reason to not
tell them otherwise. And then our system is set so that our customer interface for an entire project can be as little as five interactions, which is how I structure the business to minimizing and draining me. I know she's laughing at me and giving happy hands. Happy hands, happy hands. No, you can relate. I'm sure you can relate. I'm sure other listeners can relate. I used to have a lot of touch points with clients,
a lot of interaction. And after realizing this is my business and that's not something that gives me life, it drains me. We've set our business up. We have touch points, and in each one of the touch points, I have my team members all with me almost on every visit so that I always have an escape. And my team also knows I sound crazy. The more I talk about this, I think they get it. The can start seeing my facial expressions. Hey,
we need to get me out. And it's not because I can't manage it, but it's also because running a business and we're everywhere all the time, I have to reserve energy, and so I can't just give it all at every moment. I have to be strategic with it. And I think that's another thing. Probably most people can relate. Like, every day, I start out with a certain level, and I try to give as much as I can throughout the day strategically. And the when I'm out, I'm out. I don't tell
you that's it. And so with your business and your career and the brand that you're building, can you tell me one or two misconceptions that people might have about it? Oh, yeah, we have a ton of misconceptions. My business is we do interior architecture and design. And I think most people, when the think about interior designers, it's just like, oh, pillows and fabric and window treatments, and that is exactly what we do. That's not uncommon, and that's what we do. But I also
tell people, like, for us and many other designers, we do full new builds. We work with developers and architects. And what that means is, any house that you walk in, someone had to make decisions for everything in that house, and that's what we do. So your floor color, your window treatments, the trim details, your crown molding, your lighting, your window framework, the cabinets, the knobs, the tile work. Where did it start? Where did it stop? What color is the grout? How tall is the
tile? I think a lot of people think builders do that, and I think they think the contractors are doing that. And that's actually not true. That's what designers do. Like, we make every selection where your lighting is placed, how high the lighting is placed, the color of your light bulbs, and then we also come back in with furnishing. So we're doing area rugs, sofas, and chairs. But I think people don't realize how holistic our work is. That's a big misconception.
Can I give you one more? Can I give you one more? I think another misconception is that we do this as a hobby, which there are some decorators who do. And so I've had a lot of people well, not as so much now, because we're much more established, but starting your career, they're like, oh, my God, you should help me with my house. Oh, my God. Come over here. I don't do this for fun. I do this and I get paid for it. So
it's a very different thing. Yes. Don't get trapped on the friends and family train where you're doing everything at a discount and the yeah, don't do it. Correct me if I'm wrong. Does this mean you deal with commercial properties or residential properties or a mixture? Correct. So we mostly stick with residential, and we can do what we call light commercial. So if it's just FFE, fabric finishes,
and we will do that. Like, I can put in chairs and change the walls and colors and flooring, but when it comes to construction of a commercial building, I'm less likely to try that. But inside of a home, I can move anything in the house. I can turn your whole house any kind of way. We rip out the kitchen, stairwells, flooring, all of your lighting, all of your plumbing, and we can put everything back.
Wow. That is awesome. And so with the business and the misconceptions, one of those misconceptions probably is the type of people or the amount of people that you have to deal with, many people, because they might assume what you mentioned, that it's just like pillows and floors, but you only deal with one person. I'm assuming from what you've said
that that is not the case. So how do you deal with networking for your business and needing to meet different people for different things in different ways? That's fantastic question. Now that we're a team, I can actually delegate our work. And so we have a lot of touch points with a lot of people. So just putting together, let's just say a sofa that alone has several touch points, because as designers, we don't just buy off the floor. So I'm not going to
creighton barrel and buying a sofa. I'm actually going to the manufacturer. We're buying the frame. We'll buy the fabric from a different vendor. I'll buy trim work from a different vendor. That has to go to one location for the sofa to be assembled. Then that has to be shipped to a carrier, who will take it to a receiver, who then delivers to us. There are a lot of touch points just for one piece of furniture that doesn't include, like, your tile work and your contractors and then your lighting
people and your HVA specialists. So one, if you can delegate, I have different team members working on different things. So I have one team member. She's a purchasing agent, so she manages all of our accounts. So all of the conversations with where we buy materials, she handles that for me. And then we have our project coordinator who kind of navigates, and then our design whatever design team. And then as far as with just conversations, I tried to minimize again, how many wait,
was this a part of the question? I feel like I just lost the rest of that question. How do you build your network? Because you have to deal with so many different humans. Sorry about that. Okay. I was rambling my network. Yeah, it's a great question. I'm drained by the question. Good Lord. Okay, so I am very good at networking. That is something that I have put a lot of time into. I'm extremely strategic about that. I'm not a haphazard kind of person. And I've
learned that networking has built my company. It has sustained my company. It is what's growing my company. So in doing that, I do try to minimize how much massive interaction I have to have for networking through the week. So I may do one or two events or one or two touch points of something like that to kind of make sure that I come in with enough energy.
I also am pretty good about follow ups, staying on top of things and in building my networks with people, just staying on the forefront of people's minds, or just kind of making sure they had a good experience with me, even if they don't remember what I said. How did I make them feel and how do they feel around me? That's very important to me. I guess that's one of the ways I
navigate, I guess, networking. So follow up question. You mentioned about being good at follow up, and a lot of times I get clients who are very much like, I don't want to network because then how do I follow up? How do I keep in touch, how do I keep track and then get overwhelmed and then don't want to do it? So how do you
keep track? Yeah, I get that. I learned that some of the follow up doesn't have to be as big as I think, because sometimes it is one of those things that you can feel like, oh, God, here's another relationship that I have to cultivate for a long time. I don't have the capacity to manage this. I very much understand that. So moving conversations to emails is very good so that it kind of gives you that space. It doesn't feel like a
phone call. I'm also very good about sending small gifts, so like a little thing to an office, whether it's chocolates or wine bottle or florals arrangements, I think that's always a way to show people that you're thinking about them without feeling like there has to be an additional follow up conversation that's been good. Yeah, I think those are some ways. Oh, man. Gifts and cards, if you have that information.
All right. So thinking about everything that you've done with your brand and your career and your business, what is something that you would tell or what is something that you wish you had known and would have taken action on ten years ago? Ten years ago, business wise, right? Yeah. Ten years ago. Well, one, I didn't have my business at that time. I would have told myself to start sooner. I wish I had started sooner because I feel
like I would be further along. I think in my business, my brand, I think we're doing well for where we are. For the few years that we've been in business, I think we've gained a lot of traction. Very grateful to that whole
situation. But I wish I had started sooner. And then in starting the business, learning to create systems and processes that navigate the business is so vital because it can protect our personal energy, it can protect our capacity to manage relationships and the process of our business at whole. I think that's something that a lot of people don't talk enough about, is when you have your own business, you need to know how the business is run
and how you want it to run and set systems in place to. Make sure it does to support that. Or you can't scale. Or you can't scale. That's right. You can't get any bigger, can't take on more clients. There's only so much energy you have. Very true. Thank you for all of that. Final question is, in your opinion, is a hot dog a sandwich? First off, the fact that you are so serious about that question, I love it. Secondly, before I answer, hot dogs are my favorite food. Actually,
I love hot dogs. And then third, I've never thought about that. And I'm going to go with yes, it is a sandwich. It's a sandwich. What is your reasoning behind hot dogs being a sandwich? Now you have me second guessing. I don't know. I'm going to stick with I will go with no. Okay. It's not a sandwich. I love it. Okay. That's a great question. Yeah, because you get engineers who are very much it's about the structure and how many
pieces of bread. It's one of those questions that, depending on how your mind works, depends on where you filter into what you think about it. Yeah. It does have the same applications. There is bread surrounding meat, and there are additional condiments and vegetables attached to it either way, so sounds like a sandwich to me. Wait, how do you wait, what's your answer? Oh, no, I do not have an answer. This is an ongoing
question in our household, that is a thing. And if you pick a side, then all bets are off. Got it. Well, if you view it this way but then if you view it this way, is an ice cream sandwich or sandwich? It's a very slippery slope. It's a very slow okay. Does it have to be bread? Does it have to be vegetable? Does it have to be meat? It's a Calzona sandwich. I'm literally going to go back into the office, and I will ask my team
this. It's a great conversation thing. I used to do a lot of online sort of co working back in the day, and it was supposed to be a five minute break, and that question would break everything every time. People just keep messaging in the chat about it. So it's a great I love that. So thank you so very much for sharing your time, your expertise, your knowledge, your warmth with us here today. Can you let people know where they can find more about you and the
awesome work that you do? You are very kind. Instagram is usually where you guys can find us. The handle is Duvalldesign, LLC. That's D-U-V-A-L-D-E-S-I-G-N ll c. Everything is there that we have our website, Duvallrenals.com, which is my personal last name. Yeah, we would love to connect. All right. Thank you so very much. And, listeners, you can do anything that you want to do. Just manage your energy. Thank you for listening. This is
Janice@thecareintrovert.com helping you build your brand and get hired. Have a great rest of your day.