As many of you know, last June I launched The BBC Collective for Event Professionals. Together, I am so proud to say, we have made meaningful change in the industry and we are just getting started. The change comes from a willingness to erase the proverbial box and question everything, together. My mission is to help creative professionals come much much closer to their truth as businesses; to have the business itself be as creative as the art is produces. And it is working.
When I think of doing a similar group for Interior Designers and after talking to many many designers, I realized what is also necessary is the voice of a master designer. A designer who can bring his decades of experience in the industry to the discussion. Someone who has seen and done it all — AD 100 forever, completed incredible residential and commercial projects around the globe, authored four books and counting, entered into more than a few success licensing deals, and a tremendous retailer to boot. What would a weekly experience be like with both of us? One where the same format as The BBC Collective would operate: written post with a recorded conference call to follow (all archived), private Facebook group for ongoing discussion, quarterly one-on-one check-ins. If I were a designer who really wanted to up my game, to question all that I am doing, to challenge myself not just to change but to truly evolve, would this be for me?
So I asked my mentor Vicente Wolf if this is the kind of work that would excite him at this stage of his career. Something he would really value and appreciate? I shared my experiences with The BBC Collective with him and after about five minutes he was all in. That was a month ago. Today The VW COLLECTIVE is here. We will start our conversations on July 10th.
A little history on Vicente and me. I have known Vicente for over 14 years. I worked with Vicente for almost five years on everything other than his core design business, making many many deals for commercial projects (hotels, condominiums, and country clubs), licenses and other endeavors. During that time Vicente taught me all he could about the design business and I have used that foundation to grow my own philosophies about what makes a successful interior design business. Nine years into my consulting career serving many of the industry’s elite has brought me amazing insights into this incredible business and I feel like we are just getting started. I also feel like the interior design industry is at an inflection point. The brave new digital world is affording opportunity like no other and, at the same time, exposing those who have not yet done the work of rethinking the way things are and ought to be. Above all, this is the purpose of The VW COLLECTIVE — to move the industry forward. The reason the group is limited to 60 designers is we want every designer to be able to have access while at the same time be strong enough in number to bring meaningful change to the industry as a whole.
All of the details of how The VW COLLECTIVE will operate, what it costs and how to join are are on the site. Here are a few that are not there: if you join before July 2nd, we will have an hour long recorded call to discuss your business (scheduled at your convenience). Vicente will also want to talk to you one-on-one about what you would like to get out The VW COLLECTIVE.
One last thing. Vicente and I know that there are many amazing professionals that have so much knowledge beyond what he or I could bring. Media, marketing, licensing, publishing, even color experts who spend their lives immersed in making what they do impact the design world. These experts will be part of The VW COLLECTIVE once or twice per month and will be paid to do what Vicente and I will do each week— write a post and have an intimate conversation with members that will be recorded.
If you are ready for The VW COLLECTIVE, we are ready for you. It will be an amazing journey with will take. Together. I, for one, cannot wait.
