The Wide-Open Future (Mel Bean)

This week on the Creative Genius podcast, Gail Doby welcomes Mel Bean, the principal of Mel Bean Interiors, to talk about her 20-year journey through the interior design landscape and the predictability of scaling an elite firm.

Mel pulls back the curtain on how a structured leadership framework—specifically partnering with an exceptional Director of Operations—unlocked a positive operational flow that allowed her to step back into her role as a visionary. She discusses overcoming limiting beliefs regarding business ownership and how deep dive financial modeling completely shifted how her company tracks profitability and projects revenue. Finally, Mel outlines how she structures a hybrid environment that gives her staff the flexibility to be deeply present for family milestones without sacrificing professional excellence.

In this episode, you’ll hear about:

• Changing Paths: Mel’s realization a few years into college that she needed to leave to unlock her hidden creative side.
• Shopping vs. Designing: Breaking down the 20+ decisions that go into a single furniture piece, and why social media can be a powerful client-education tool.
• The Non-Billable Employee: Overcoming the fear of hiring a non-billable Director of Operations, and how that single choice can skyrocket your growth.
• Data Over Doubt: Why escaping isolation and swapping raw, un-redacted financial metrics with design allies across the country fuels true inspiration.
• “Why Not Me?”: Moving past imposter syndrome and the limiting beliefs of a non-entrepreneurial upbringing to confidently pursue massive lifestyle goals.

If you’re listening on your favorite podcast platform, view the full show notes here: https://thepearlcollective.com/s15e1-shownotes

Episode Transcript

Note: Transcript is created automatically and may contain errors.

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GAIL DOBY
Welcome to Creative Genius. I’m so glad you’re here, Mel. And I can’t wait for us to have this conversation. So here’s my first question for you. Who would you have or what would you have on a desert island if you were stranded?

MEL BEAN
it’s funny that my first thought that I have is that I want my espresso machine so that I can make my morning latte.

GAIL DOBY
I’m sure there’s some plugins out there somewhere.

MEL BEAN
I I’d need an ice maker then as well though, because you can’t have a hot latte on a desert

GAIL DOBY
Well, there you go. I like that. Okay. Well, interesting thing to think about. And I’m sure there Yeah. And I bet there might be a few people on your journey with you. Who would you have with you?

MEL BEAN
Probably a first for you.

MEL BEAN
Well, I would want to take my boys for sure. my sons Cooper and Chase. They are seniors in high school. And of course, other than just being obsessed with them as my children, I also think they are so much fun. So they would turn a kind of an unfortunate situation into a good time, I think.

GAIL DOBY
that sounds like fun. Well, I’ve only seen them in passing on our Zoom call, so it’s really fun.

MEL BEAN
I might be biased, but I think they’re pretty great.

GAIL DOBY
Well, I’m sure you feel that way as every mom should. So good for you. Well, let’s talk about your journey into being a designer. How did you get started with that?

MEL BEAN
Gosh, well, I started college dead set. Well, even in high school, I was going psych pre-med. I was good at math and science. And so I went really deep into college prep and into all of the classes that would set me up for success in that career. And it wasn’t until a couple of years into college that I started doubting that. I got into some tricky classes that I could do fine in, but I wasn’t excited about.

And I started to get the concern of is this what I’m going to feel like the rest of my life? And it wasn’t immediately clear to me that I wanted to do interior design. But once I did discover it, I felt like something had clicked into place when I changed my major in my first class. And it just made me want to go back and get a do-over on I wish I’d taken the art classes in college, but I was too focused on all the college prep. I wish I’d had done these things that

not only would have kind of led me to my career path sooner, but also would have just helped me to get to know myself in a different way. And so I was really thrilled to get into interior design in college. And then as quickly as I could, I got an internship so that I could see, okay, what is this really like? What is this, what is the day to day? What does it look like? I know it’s not like a HGTV show. I know that’s not the reality of this industry. And so fortunately I loved it.

GAIL DOBY
Did you were there any surprises when you got into it?

MEL BEAN
So many, I really didn’t have a lot of expectations of what it looked like. I think that’s I didn’t grow up with any interior designers in my life. And so I think that’s part of what took me so long to consider it as an option for myself. now it seems a little obvious with hindsight. and so I went into it, the advantage of that is I didn’t go into it with a lot of expectations. I hadn’t seen the way other people had done it before me. So I was really fortunate

to learn under several different design firms here in Tulsa where I live and really wonderful people who kind of went above and beyond in training me and giving me opportunities. And so I did see everything from creating inventory and showroom and the back end of what all goes into that through managing projects and the infinite number of details that go into it. I think that’s something that most clients are so shocked by.

Today is the amount of detail that goes into every project, the number of decisions that go into it. So that was surprising to me, but also felt like a great opportunity. I saw all these ways that really nuanced ways in which I could guide a project or guide the the feeling a space gives me and the people who use it.

GAIL DOBY
Mm-hmm. Yeah. And it’s something that seems so normal for us that are designers because we can envision what it’s going to look like done, even when we’re just looking at fabrics and pieces of wood and just samples. And I think it’s it’s really hard for people who aren’t visual like we are. So how do you get over that hurdle with them of how they helping them envision this?

MEL BEAN
You know, it’s been interesting with social media. That’s recently been kind of a trend that designers are doing and we haven’t participated as well, that you show a single image and pop up all of these decisions that went into that one image. And we’ve had a lot of clients say how helpful that was to them. it is our job to create really clear expectations about the time and investment it’s going to cost our potential clients. and so we

guide them through our process. We really explain everything, but we we communicate the difference between shopping and designing. Sometimes I wish we could just shop. Sometimes I wish I could just select this one item, this one item, this one item and put together a a design that way, but it’s not the way we work. I wouldn’t actually want to work that way. It would be so limiting to our vision.

Whereas one furniture piece, as you know, may have, you know, 20 decisions that have to be made in order to get to that one look. And so it does help. Social media helps a little bit. Educating on our process helps a little bit. And then we do use visual tools and present like this is the fabric, this is the wood sample, this is the wood species, this is the trim detail, this is, you know, and so many, this is the exact size. Here’s the cushion infill. there are so many more options.

But that can feel overwhelming, but at the same time that’s why we’re here is we’ll tell you what we think is best. So you don’t have to make all those decisions. We are the experts who have educated ourselves on which info from that vendor is the best for this sofa type and that chair type. So you don’t have to do any of that. That’s part of what you’re hiring us for.

GAIL DOBY
Mm. Yeah. Well, and I think that the you’re making a very good point that most clients don’t understand that. They don’t understand the complexities of this business. And I remember just talking to a couple of my CPAs that I’ve worked with over the years, I’ve probably worked with four so far. And over the years they’ve said, You have the hardest business I’ve ever seen. It is so complicated and so many details. Wow. And they just don’t

understand why it has to be so difficult. But again, like you said, one item could have twenty decisions easily.

MEL BEAN
Yeah, we’ve experienced that as well. We’ve actually had to transition from CPA firms over the years to find the right fit because they’re not used to a model in which we’re billing hourly for time, we’re purchasing products, we are marking up those products, we are you know, it’s just a lot of moving parts that isn’t it’s not really like any industry that I’m aware of.

GAIL DOBY
Mm-hmm. It is not. It is not. For sure. I know that getting into this for myself, I was a career changer. So for me, I remember that I was shocked when I had my when I got my design degree and I said, Okay, well, I’m done now. Now how am I gonna get business? And luckily I had a sales and marketing training, but I remember that I was just perplexed because I thought, you know.

I have a business degree, but that doesn’t mean I know anything about this business. And it took me a long time to learn the inside and outside of the business to the point where that’s really what I love is teaching that part because the it’s so complicated for our business.

MEL BEAN
But and it’s constantly changing, as you know.

GAIL DOBY
is, it is, yeah. Yeah, especially with AI. AI is changing the whole world of design and business and life and everything.

MEL BEAN
Yeah, definitely. I mean, I think about how, you know, constantly, every single day we are paying attention, learning new things, honing our processes. Even after t more than two decades in this industry, seriously every single day I’m honing our process. And

That’s been really powerful. I kind of like that about it. We are not in a stagnant career. We are not in something that is I like the creativity. I like the problem solving. It’s not without its challenges. But I do think it’s really exciting to see where it leads you because as you and I have worked together, we’ve worked on one year goals, three year goals, five year goals, and then five years later it looks very different and we have different opportunities. And then as you said, like AI.

it’s changing the structure of how we do things. And I feel like we’re just dipping our toes into all the ways we can utilize it. sometimes I laugh because I think, well gosh, my teenagers know more than we do. It’s just kind of like a baseline for them of this exposure to AI. And I really like to see how other designers are using it. There are ways I am excited to use it and ways I will never use it. and I think that’s

Heart of the excitement and responsibility.

GAIL DOBY
Yeah. Well, and I think back to when I started InDesign, the internet was just starting. It really was. It sounds so antiquated. That is so crazy. Yeah. And it’s so crazy to think that now we just don’t even think twice about it. We go to Chat GPT. We even bypass Google to go get more in-depth answers to what we’re looking for. So yeah, I think we’re going to see a big shift in our

MEL BEAN
Remember it.

GAIL DOBY
industry over the years with having AI. So what’s the biggest lesson you’ve learned so far with in your business?

MEL BEAN
I think it’s well, it’s something that you and I have talked about recently. the right person in the right seat.

GAIL DOBY
Mm-hmm.

MEL BEAN
It seems obvious, but at the same time I’ve learned over the years how that can launch you to achieve your goals or put a real roadblock in your goals, even if everything else is going right. And so it’s a challenge because it’s not always clear. It’s not always clear when you’re hiring. it’s something that I have seen personally how it can add so much more stress to my life if there’s not the right person in the right seat. things that

stress that I shouldn’t that I don’t need that’s avoidable. And then I can see how it also can take so much off of my plate, how things can get into a really positive flow when you have the right person in the right seat. And you know one of the best examples I have of that is Kath, my director of operations. it can feel scary to hire a non billable employee in our industry. and she has become just a core part of

developing the MBI strategies like strategic planning, obviously overseeing operations. She has enabled me to do some of the things I love while we as a team can grow the business in a way that really suits our lives. And it can be whatever we want it to create it to be. We’ve gotten to cultivate our culture into a what we dreamed it would be that supports us to have like personal lives and families and be able to pick up our kids from school and

so I think that’s all impossible if you don’t have the right person in the right seat.

GAIL DOBY
I I totally agree with you. And Kath is amazing and you have just such a great second in command. And I think one of the things that’s been really interesting is watching you and and certainly you came back for a second VIP and and just having that conversation with her in the room.

So that we’re looking at what is your vision going forward? What are we building? What are the opportunities you have? What are the challenges you’re having? And just bringing her perspective into it has been a real asset for you.

MEL BEAN
Yeah, and I think back to our first VIP day, it was really interesting. That was twenty twenty. So we had a virtual VIP. I hadn’t seen Kath in person. We’re doing this from our kitchen tables separately. She’s at her house, I’m at mine. And it was all pretty new in navigating. I really hadn’t had

anyone at Melbean Interiors that was so intertwined into the like behind the curtain a little bit on yes, financials, but just strategy and vision and goals and the structure of the team over one year, three years, five years. And at the beginning, you know, that was for us and our business was changing a lot. Part of the reason that we hired you is because we felt like we’d have s we’d had some success. We’d had some ideal clients and

we were lacking a really clear vision for where we wanted to take the business and we didn’t have like data on what other designers were really doing, what was working, what wasn’t. There’s a lot of like even it’s gotten a lot better, but a lot of keeping everything tight to chest. And so you gave us a lot of data, a lot of guidance. But then also beyond that, our experience has connected us with other designers from all over the country who

We’ve developed really strong friendships with trusts. They become allies in our lives. And so we experience share. We give a lot of information that probably wouldn’t have really thought I’d be diving that deep into people outside into details with people outside my company five years ago before we kicked off. And so Kath being an integral part of that from the get go was really foundational in us being able to implement the things that we were that you were helping us like have clarity on.

GAIL DOBY
Sure. Well, and I was thinking about the and it had been that long five year period, and then you came back for the VIP. And some people come back two years, three years, and we have people that have done seven or eight of them. And it’s so interesting seeing how it changes each time somebody comes back because usually there’s some big transition or change in the business that you’re getting ready to navigate, or you’re right in the middle of it, you don’t know what to do.

And it was it was really interesting and a lot of fun working with you and Cap and just having that interaction where we were just r diving into all those different ideas that you all had and figuring out which ones make sense, which ones don’t make sense, and what is the timing of when those things should be attacked if you’re gonna do that.

MEL BEAN
Yeah, our visions for the business are very different. next year will be ten years of Melbean Interiors and the things we wanted to achieve, many of them we have. And so now the opportunities seem very different. you know, we’re thinking about things beyond what I would have considered as typical parts of an interior design firm.

we’ve got a lot of opportunities, we can take it a lot of different directions at this point. And so that’s for us right now was a really critical time to check back in again, really explore those opportunities and start to make decisions about which things are a go right now and which things are a maybe later or maybe never.

GAIL DOBY
Right. And sometimes that’s the best thing is just knowing, having clarity about what you are and aren’t going to do and what you might do is and knowing what that timing is so that you’re not wasting valuable energy on things that will take you off track from what you really need to be focused on. gosh, yes. And I’m one of those, so I I know

MEL BEAN
Yeah, reigning in the visionaries. Some

yeah.

GAIL DOBY
Well, what were you hoping to gain as a result of getting into coaching? Because I think that’s something that a lot of people when they’re thinking about getting coaching, they might have some fears about it, about what’s going to come out of it. So what were you hoping to gain first?

MEL BEAN
Yeah, sure. I mean, the fears were time and money. especially during that time I was homeschooling my kids, running a business, like lots of things were up in the air. so that w those were the hesitations. And then I can laugh about that a little bit now because every bit of time and money that I’ve invested has been way more beneficial than those dollar amounts or those hours. It’s helped me tremendously. So, yeah, what I was

hoping to achieve at that time, I felt as if I was spinning my wheels a little bit. We were working so hard, but not necessarily in a clear direction. So it didn’t feel like progress. I mean, success felt great. It didn’t feel like we are working towards a place that we very clearly want to be, both in the business, but also what it meant for my personal life. the types of hopes and dreams I had, you do a great job of looking at both.

so that’s been really helpful for me and I’ve needed accountability. I’ve needed kind of the the coaching calls, check-ins, the dive a little deeper into certain challenges we’re experiencing at any given time. And so I think a lot of us can feel pretty alone in doing this, right, in this business. And so what I said about people keeping things tight to chest,

that feels lonely too. And so it’s actually it doesn’t feel threatening to open up and share. It actually feels much more inspiring and ener energizing to feel connected to people in that way. And so having you to talk to, having the other coaches to talk to, share insights and wisdom gave me a lot of confidence, gave me data. You know, I like data. It gave me an understanding of, I mean, the financials, for example,

you’ve completely transformed the way that I approach my financials and I really like to dive deep and analyze and project. And it’s really been helpful for me though, because it felt like again, like I’m doing a lot of this work, but maybe it’s not the most beneficial way to spend my time and energy. And so now I feel like I know what to do to invest my time and energy and money in a way each day that is actually pushing me closer to my goals. Mm-hmm.

GAIL DOBY
Yeah. And it’s it’s so interesting and you were talking a little bit about you were worried about the time, you were worried about the money. Was there anything else that was holding you up or creating concerns around going through the program?

MEL BEAN
Yeah, I think even though I was wanting to connect with people, there is a little reluctance when it’s new. And so I think I was a little reluctant to share, maybe at at the very beginning. And I I think for me, I’m just a person who it takes me a moment to feel familiar, and then once I feel familiar, I’m good to go. And so I I think the familiarity, like the lack of

I mean it’s just uncertainty, Gail. We all love uncertainty, I guess. So that was a piece of it. I think we all have some limiting beliefs that we have to overcome. And for me, some of those go back to the reason I didn’t find this profession for myself sooner. And I didn’t grow up around any interior designers, but I also didn’t grow up with an awareness of entrepreneurs really around me. And so I didn’t realize until I was even in

in my career that maybe I had some limiting beliefs about that being for like other people.

And obviously I consciously don’t believe that, but in there was something that I discovered in myself that was like a business ownership is for other people. This career is for other people. And so I had to overcome that to start my business. And I felt like I did. But then I think we all have a little bit of imposter syndrome. So diving deeper into these things is so helpful, so beneficial, but also can feel a little scary. That wasn’t a conscious hesitation that I had, but I think

If I’m being really honest with myself, there was a little bit of that in taking on hiring a coach, hi you know, diving deeper into the visions I see in my business and, you know, could I achieve these goals? Could I do the things that I dreamed of doing? Mm-hmm. And now of course I’m like, why not me? Why not if anyone else can, why not me?

GAIL DOBY
Well, and you’re a good business business person. And I’ve that’s one of those things that when I look at who is going to be successful in our program, it’s always someone who’s a learner and somebody who’s willing to take action and is willing to be uncomfortable because you have to be uncomfortable to make the changes. And if you can do those things, you can completely shift your business. So I think

It’s interesting because I know you and I had a conversation before you decided to come back and do that second VIP. So let’s talk about what prompted that because that that’s another big decision to make.

MEL BEAN
you I’ve gotta make sure I’m aware of which thing you’re talking about because I feel like we went through so many things. You know, I came with a laundry list of of potential. I’ll just share that I am a forty five well I’m forty four right now. I will be a forty five year old single empty nester. My boys are seniors in high school. They’re going off to college. I have a wonderful business with an incredible team who have an

GAIL DOBY
I know. I

MEL BEAN
enabled me to be able to take dream trips with my boys and they’ve been more protective of my time than I would be. And so I’m in a position where I don’t have some of the parameters and limitations on my next five years, ten years of my life versus where I thought I would be right now. Mm-hmm. I thought I would have things anchoring me to Tulsa a lot more than I do.

my boys are not looking at college anywhere near here. So it’ll be interesting to see where they land. But personally, that feels you know, the opportunities are wide open on what I want to do. Do I want to launch, I have kind of a property business that I want to explore different ways to move in that direction. I have some concepts for the business that I’d like to explore. Do I decide

If my boys end up on a beach somewhere, beach town, do I buy a beach house and split my time between Tulsa and wherever that place is? And do I launch a second Melbean Interiors? So as you can see, that’s just a few things off the top of my mind. I mean, the other dreams are do I live six months out of the year in Europe? Do I, you know, it’s kind of crazy to say these things out loud because I would have just thought I wouldn’t be in a position to be considering these things just from commitments in my

So in some ways it’s easier when you have limitations that you can like focus your goals. So right now the future feels wide open for me. I have a lot of visions for the business itself. and so our VIP day was largely like help me have some clarity on what are some viable options to explore, what are some things you guys understanding?

my business so well, understanding me personally, my life, my goals so well, you were really able to have conversations that gave me a little more clarity on what’s most important to me, what’s most realistic for me, what excites me and energizes me about the things I’m going to choose to do over the next couple of years.

GAIL DOBY
Mm-hmm. Yeah. And they are really exciting things and they will require more changes. And some of those changes will be fairly substantial, which is not actually a bad thing. And it’s really fun. I love watching this because we’ve worked with people. We started this business almost 18 years ago. So over the time we have people I have somebody who’s just coached today and she’s been a client for twelve years.

And we are going through another major shift in her business. And it reminds me of where you are right now because it’s just similar, different things that you’re both wanting to do. But I think those big transitions are really important to have some perspective from outside. Sometimes you can’t make those decisions alone about how to approach it.

MEL BEAN
Yeah, you guys have provided a sounding board that makes me feel a lot more confident. and again the data. You guys have a lot of data that I don’t have access to. You have a lot of knowledge that helps the process for sure. And you know, I also think about my team. I’m thinking about all of these things for

my visions for the business, for my personal life, but I also have this incredible team that I’m considering their futures. They’re all in different places than they were five years ago. And they have different goals as well. And that’s really exciting to consider where they see themselves within MBI and in their own lives. And that’s been very empowering for me to have the freedom to explore this in this way.

GAIL DOBY
That’s something I love about the people in our community is how much you all care about your teens and how much you want to help them grow as people too. And I think especially with females having

someone like you who can be a mentor and a guide and a leader and show the way the fact that you can have a very successful business and have a family and do all the things that you want to do and travel and build wealth and build financial freedom, all of those things are possible. And I think our industry is probably one of the best for women to be in because you really have that opportunity that you often don’t in other

types of businesses.

MEL BEAN
I agree completely. It’s impossible for me to imagine my life in a different career looking as beautiful as my life has. And I feel very passionately about making sure that applies to my team as well. And so we have a a structure that really supports flexibility. We are still on a hybrid work schedule. So

We have our week structured in ways that we have our in office time and then we have our designated kind of free time. But it enables my team to do things I couldn’t do because I didn’t yet have my own business with flexibility when my boys were young. And so I didn’t get to pick them up from school. I didn’t they had to go to aftercare and I was working more to pay for that aftercare, you know. but I missed out on those

moments in the car, hearing them so excited telling me about the day. I got it later when I picked them up from aftercare, but it’s just a different experience. And so my team can do that. My team can go to the lunch parties and the school events and the sports and the things. And I feel very passionately that you shouldn’t have to the women shouldn’t have to feel as if they need to choose one or the other. A a business and career that they love or being a mom. Or if it’s not being a mom, being a

family member, a friend in a way this should add to your life, not take away from your life. And we don’t get into interior design because we want to be, you know, we’re it’s a creative, visionary, dreamy job. It’s a lot of hard work. And we also know it’s it’s not as glamorous as they can see. But truly none of us got into this to be overwhelmed and exhausted and pulled in every direction. And like this is really a

creative magical profession if it can support your life in the right way.

GAIL DOBY
And it can and you have made a really nice income for yourself over the years, which is something that again is probably a greater income than you can have in almost any other career as a female. Yeah. So yeah, so I it sounds as if you’ve had

a lot of insights as a result of the work. And if somebody else’s if you were talking to somebody else and they were interested in knowing about whether it’s worth it to go through the program or do the VIP, what would you say?

MEL BEAN
Gosh, I mean immediately, yes, I understand the hesitation. It’s the unknown. you have so many valuable tools that provide a lot of information that immediately make it worth the initial investment. In my opinion, that has right away, you have enough. If you commit to executing it, if you commit to doing the work, there’s like no way you won’t succeed.

and learn a lot about yourself in the process, a lot about your business, a lot about things that are blind spots too that are slowing you down. it immediately I saw those benefits and results. even in a weird time, 2020, when we first came on, I mean, such a unpredictable time. It was the roughest year we’ve ever had. You know, it was wild times and that was really stressful. And even in that those conditions.

it still made a world of difference. And then what about year two, three, four, five? Why do I keep doing it? In addition to continually exposing us to new speakers and tools and support and our coaching. And in addition to that, the community. the fact that I have dear friends who I can call with any question I have, or if I just want to vent, or if I just need support and want to talk through something, I have a community of peers that I met through Pearl Collective.

Who we really get excited to support each other. We genuinely care about each other. And that piece of it is so integrated into the way that you structure things with retreats. And it really truly was far more than I imagined it would be. the retreats themselves. I can feel so like bogged down in my business and then go to a retreat, and in a few days I have

completely reset my energy levels, a new mindset with a lot more clarity in the bit for the business and for what I need to be focusing on. and I think even the way you guys structure those and spread them out is very wise and works for me psychologically. Like it really all is so much more than I imagined it would be.

GAIL DOBY
That’s so great. I’m so glad. We we work hard behind the scenes. Yeah. And it is a passion project for me. And I’ve been doing this for a long time. But to me, that was the thing that I just wanted other people not to have to go through the pain that I went through in my business when I was doing my interior design business. So this is business number two for me. And I think I’ve learned a lot of important lessons. And I hope the

MEL BEAN
Thank you.

GAIL DOBY
sharing those helps other people. That’s the goal here.

MEL BEAN
Yeah, I can’t imagine anyone it wouldn’t help. I think that at any level there’s a tool that will teach you something new, help you better understand yourself. it really I think that’s one of the ideas is that people think, Okay, you only need to hire a coach if you’re like brand new, if you’re entry level, if your revenue is under a certain amount, or you know, if you’re trying to get that first hurdle. But like you said with the

doing a another VIP day, this this is there’s always a different level that we have reached with a different set of demands and new things to explore and understand and new opportunities. And so it it’s able like I’ve been able to grow within Pearl and you all have guided me at each level and I find value at every level.

GAIL DOBY
It’s so fun to watch it too. Cause we see these these levels are fairly predictable. We know that people hit it at a million, they hit it at a half million, then a million, then really about two, and then about two to two and a half somewhere in there, and then it goes to five, and then it goes to say seven and a half and ten. So it jumps by big increments, and each one of those is so different. And we have people at all of those levels. And it’s really fun to see.

how people evolve, but also how you all support each other as you’re going through this journey, which is great. So let’s talk about those goals for next year. What are what’s your biggest opportunity or thing that you want to work on next year?

MEL BEAN
Well, we have some clear growth goals in terms of both revenue and profitability, but also within our team. we have a vision for how we want to structure our business. And so we know after our second VIP day, especially clearly, what role we need to hire win over the next year and two years and three years, actually. We’ve kind of got it all mapped out at this point. but that is the most clarity is around.

our hiring, what revenue is needed to support that, what type of work that we need in order to achieve this. And that kind of go goes alongside the PR firmware that we’re working with and having making sure everyone’s on the same page to get us there. those are the biggest goals I think around the business right now are very clear of financial revenue, profitability, growth goals.

continuing to secure ideal clients, understanding what that looks like and who they are and where they are. And we’ve changed our processes a lot. They’ve evolved over time and we have a lot better processes in place that are supporting these projects at this level. So I feel really good going into the year for all of those things. And then some of the other big picture things we talked about for VIP, those are also largely

waiting on seeing where my boys land for college before I can make any big decisions there. I have a lot of ideas, but we really can’t implement anything until then. So those will be a later in twenty twenty six kind of exciting sprint. We’ll see where things go. It’s a very exciting time.

GAIL DOBY
It is. It’s so fun. It’ll be great to watch see what happens next year. So let’s kind of wind down a little bit and talk about what your guilty pleasure is.

MEL BEAN
boy. Okay, so I I admittedly disassociate by reading fiction. I love to read. It’s one of the things that I wind down and relax at night, sometimes too late into the night. but it’s really helpful and centering for me. And yes, that’s beautiful classics, Jane Austen, those things. But it’s also admittedly some of the romanticy books.

GAIL DOBY
All right.

MEL BEAN
There’s some of that as well. And also I’ll add DoorDash is the other guilty pleasure. Very busy life and cooking for one, when the boys aren’t here, you know, it’s just sometimes easier. So those are my two guilty pleasures.

GAIL DOBY
That’s so funny. I was just talking to one of our other clients yesterday and she said, I just have to tell you. She said, It’s such a little thing, but it’s such a big thing. I had told her about this meal service that we get. My husband and I, I I quit cooking three years ago. And when I quit cooking, I just all of a sudden one day just said, That’s it. I’m not doing this anymore. I have I’m so proud of myself. I have not turned on the cooktop in our brand new house.

And I and I’ve been here for ten months now. So we ordered tempo, which is so it’s like an advertisement for them, but it comes every Monday. It’s not frozen, it’s all fresh and it’s really good. So reasonably priced is less than going out and getting fast foods.

MEL BEAN
Yeah, I’ve done plans like that as well that have been really helpful and I’ve actually found a local one here in Tulsa, so I love that even more. Supporting a small local business and it’s incredible to like just what I need. And so that truly is like I think those are things that I used to feel a little guilty about. I’m glad you don’t feel that way about your cooktop because I used to feel a little guilty about that. I actually do love cooking when I have the time and energy and all of that. So I do still cook, but then having

DoorDash is a last minute safety net when I just just don’t have it in me.

GAIL DOBY
Well, it it was kind of funny and my husband just looked at me and said, Well, what are we going to eat? I said, Well, we’ll still eat, but and we go out three times a week. So we we’re not exactly suffering at all. Right. Yeah, so that’s my guilty pleasure is not having to cook anymore. Great. Yeah, it’s great. And so I’m I’m happy to share this with people because I hope they will find something like that for themselves. Because if you just are feeling overwhelmed with having to be

MEL BEAN
Right.

GAIL DOBY
the mom and the cook and take care of everything in your business too. Just give yourself a break. These things are so worth it. It just gives you back your time. So let’s talk about takeaways because we want to give some very good suggestions for people to be able to implement.

MEL BEAN
Obviously we already talked about right person in the right seat. that is so important. And I think having steps at the beginning of hiring, I’ve come a long way in what I what I’m looking for, what is our process to hire. I’ve made the mistake of doing some like rushed hires that feel like we’re in a bind. And if we don’t it’s better to sit in pain a little bit longer than

rush and make a like a fear-based hire. that’s something I’ve learned for sure. I think that some of the biggest takeaways that I have are from my career, the things that I’ve learned are definitely, for one thing, do what feels true to you. It’s great to learn from other people, but it’s also a beautiful thing to create exactly what you want to see in the world, both in design, the types of work

the type of work that you do, but also in the type of culture you create within your team. I feel like a lot of the things that I’m doing in my business are a little bit of a feminist act, like a political act to support women and to empower us to be able to do the things we want to do in our lives. And so we you can think outside of the box and create something really beautiful that maybe other people tell you won’t work and it really can.

it’s so important you won’t find success if you’re pretending to be something you’re not. You need to be yourself and you will draw in the people who are the right fit for you, both in your team and in your clients.

GAIL DOBY
So true.

I think those are great suggestions and thank you so much for taking the time today to share your experience. And I hope it’s inspiring to all the women out there who are just maybe in the early stages of of their career or even where you are, where you’re about to be an empty nester. So every point in your life is a new opportunity to learn. And I think that’s one of the things that makes you so successful in your business is your willingness to learn and face those hard.

hard things and do those hard things. So it it’s just so fun to watch.

MEL BEAN
Well thank you so much, Gail. Thanks for everything you’ve taught me over the years and guided me through and thanks for having me today.

GAIL DOBY
it’s a pleasure. So good to see you.

MEL BEAN
Good to see you too.