73: How Breegan Jane Built a Bold Design Brand—and Landed 13 HGTV Shows

🎙️ Episode 73 — How Breegan Jane Built a Bold Design Brand—and Landed 13 HGTV Shows

In This Episode:
If you’re an interior designer dreaming of being on television, this episode is your roadmap. John McClain sits down with HGTV star, product designer, author, and branding powerhouse Breegan Jane for an unfiltered conversation about what it really takes to get noticed by TV networks—and how building a bold, authentic brand is the key to long-term success.

Breegan shares how she:

• Built a strong design brand that attracted casting directors (before having an agent!)
• Landed 13 HGTV shows including Extreme Makeover: Home Edition and Dream Home
• Balances being a mom, business owner, philanthropist, and global product designer
• Designed her dream home based on purpose—not resale value
• Brings bold, personal design decisions to life (like steel drums in the playroom and no upper cabinets in the kitchen)
• Created viral design moments while staying rooted in authenticity

Whether you're a designer who wants to be on TV, launch a product line, or just live more boldly in your business—this episode is packed with actionable inspiration and behind-the-scenes insight.

Breegan Jane's Website: https://breeganjane.com/

Breegan Jane's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/breeganjane/

Learn how to build a profitable, polished interior design business—without burning out. In this free training, John McClain shares the 3 secrets that took him from overwhelmed to booked out, including pricing tips, service structure, and mindset shifts that actually work.

 CLICK HERE to watch now at https://mcclainmethod.com/dbft-video-optin

Learn how to build a profitable, polished interior design business—without burning out. In this free training, John McClain shares the 3 secrets that took him from overwhelmed to booked out, including pricing tips, service structure, and mindset shifts that actually work.

CLICK HERE to watch now at https://mcclainmethod.com/dbft-video-optin

Transcript

 The McClain Method Podcast with John McClain and Breegan Jane, episode 73

A lot of designers who want to be on television. How did you decide, first of all, that that was something that you wanted to do and that you were comfortable doing, and then how did the opportunities come to you for that? 

I definitely built my design career knowing that I wanted to go into television as a designer.

I think that is one of the. First steps. If you are a designer and you wanna do it on tv, then just say it out loud and start getting used to saying it out loud. The second was getting my branding right. If I wanna be on television, my website needs to be on point. I need to be talking to an audience on social.

Your personal opinions that you share with your family might not be something that we wanna paste across television if you don't want it on the front of the New York Times. Don't put it anywhere. 

Hey, y'all. You're listening to the McClain Method Podcast, episode number 73. Welcome to the McClain Method, the podcast for interior designers who are ready to stop hiding and start shining.

I'm your host, John McClain designer, business mentor, author, and your branding best. This is not about paint colors or pendant lighting. It's about building a business that's both visible and profitable inside and out. From marketing and messaging to mindset systems and visibility. We cover the front stage and the backstage of your design business because your brilliant.

Deserves the spotlight and your business deserves to run like a dream behind the scenes. So if you're ready to be seen, get recognized, and get booked, it's time to let it shine. Welcome to the McClain Method. All right, welcome back to another episode of the podcast. I'm so excited about my guest today for a lot of reasons, but I am excited because she's my friend.

In addition to being a really amazing designer. Just an all around great person. Have the wonderful, talented, and just all around fantastic Bri and Jane on the episode today, and I know you're going to wanna stick around to hear all that Bri has to share because this lady has a lot to talk about every single time that I've seen her, there's always some new fabulous bit of information.

So Bri, welcome to the podcast. 

John, thank you so much for having me and love straight back to you. You are one of my favorite people. And yes, we get caught in conversations that go deeper than design, so I'm really excited to let everyone in on what we talk about behind the scenes. 

I know it's sort of like they can be a fly on the wall, right?

Of all of our little crazy conversations, which really I think is so cool for a podcast platform to have that. So thank you for being here today. And you know, one of the things. When I think about you and I think about your designs and what you do, it's always bold designs. It's always taking risks.

There's lots of personality in everything that you do. So for those of us who might not know, and if you're under a rock, you have to be the only way that you don't know who brien is. But for those who don't know, Breeden and her background of design, tell everyone who you are, how you got into design, and kind of what your philosophy is on it.

Totally. I do what I like to call modern, approachable luxury, and so for me that really is a little bit of luxe. You're always gonna find some gold, some sparkle. Famously have disco balls in my kitchen right now, which John is talking about, the personality that exists. But I'm also beach girl, so I grew up just a block from the beach.

I live two houses from the beach right now. My clientele has always been Malibu, California, the Palisades. And so everything is really informed by the coast, but also I think people don't think about the durability aspect of living near the ocean. So my spaces need to be very lived in. And then the minimalist, modern aspect, I think comes from that lifestyle part of wanting to simplify for the sake of enjoying the things that we have and appreciating them.

So a lot of my. Design you'll see is more in a neutral palette, but not lacking in personality. Just to kind of take in the scenery of the beach, but then to also think about how sand and water are gonna affect elements in a different way than like a cabin home. 

That's good. And you and I align on a lot of ways in our design aesthetic, but also in the philosophy behind it.

Because I think most people who don't do design, who have no idea of how designers work, they looked at something that you create and they think, oh my God, I can never let my pets in that home. I can never let my kids in that home. Right. And that's not the case. 

One of the things I used to get challenged on all the time when I was really building my clientele here in Los Angeles was white slip covered couches.

They are the furniture that Malibu is famous for. We've seen them in every TV setting from years ago in entourage, but even more currently. And people were always like, how do you and why do you do a white couch with kids? And I said, it's bleach friendly. It's a durable material. You know, before we had Boucle, I had two sets of white slip covered couches for pets and families, and I always recommended two sets because you could change out the individual cushion one at a time as like dirty dogs or kids with crayons came in, but you never had to deal with the livability of a beautiful pattern.

That you were trying to keep intact. 

Yeah, I love that. And I think that, again, if you just stop and really work with your clients as designers and think like, oh, what are they needing? They're needing something that you know is a slip cover, that they can have a replacement in the closet they can just pull out.

But again, a lot of public looked at designers and think that we are just designing these precious spaces that can never be touched. But you have two kids and your kids live and. Play in your home, right? 

Yep. Yep. And so as I built my career, I found that I was drawn to a lot of moms who were like, you'll get it, you know, so we would like it, but they would say things like, but I can't have a white couch because my kids are not clean.

And I was like, the reason I have a white couch is because my kids are not clean. So it's, it's fun to always like, discover yourself more and evolve as a designer. To also know that like purpose has always been a through line and people can't always see the purpose in the photo if it's not what they do.

You're right. And I think that's why the discussion behind it is so important, the why behind it. I remember years ago I did something similar and it was in traditional home and I got so much flack from people saying, oh my God, you have a white or a cream sofa in this house and they have two kids. And I'm like, yeah, I sure do.

And here's the fabric and here's what it's made of. And it's, you know, all these things. But you know, it, it is that explanation. We sometimes have to do the reasoning, as you say, the purpose behind it, right? Yeah. That really does inform the general public about things. Yep. Your new home is so gorgeous.

It's so amazing. It's so sassy. It's so out there, and I love every second of it. And what I love about it, Bri, is that. Not only does it take bold choices that you make with design, but it feels so much like you and who you are. So are you calling this your forever home? What are you calling this home? Is this the 

Yeah, my dream Forever home.

I built this house trying to fill every corner based on my purpose and not thinking about the value add from a financial standpoint, but the value add from a lifestyle question. First and foremost, and that was a different way of approaching design for myself, right? Like I've been doing this for my clients for years, but when it comes to myself, sometimes I make the smart choices or I make the very bold design decision because I know it's gonna get a lot of attention.

This time it was like Brien is building a house for brien and Brigans kids, and I'm not gonna care what anyone thinks. And I'm not gonna pull back on expensive choices that feel right. 

Oh my gosh. Preach, sister. Preach. Because everything that you said is things that I think every designer should do and even some homeowners should do because we're so used to just like scrolling and seeing the same thing on Instagram and every room looks the same, or you go onto a website and everything else looks the same.

Because I think a lot of people are afraid to take those chances and to really think outside the box. So was it hard to get outside of your own head? It is. 

And it still is. Yeah. My, I posted my kitchen, for example, on TikTok. I get the one mom that responds and goes, I love all the storage. I did not put any uppers in my kitchen.

And that for me was a thought out lifestyle choice. I felt like one of the things that I wanted to create was a space that didn't just collect clutter. And being like a mom with kids in their sports tops and all the like things that just get put in the back of your cabinetry, stress me out. Like it's just too much clutter.

It's stuff to go through. It's stuff to organize every year, every six months. And so I purposely went with like, I'm doing less storage in this kitchen. I'm doing more refrigeration because I don't wanna be eating pantry foods. I wanna be eating refrigerated foods with life to them. And it's interesting, even now in my career, I still feel like I have to stand up for myself because it almost was like she was pointing out a design flaw and I was like.

No, no, no. Not a design flaw. Purposely a challenge for me to live the way I want to live life, not based on every kitchen supposed to have uppers. 

Oh, yeah. It is really hard to kind of silence those voices from outside, but when you just stand in your purpose just as exactly what you're doing, you're like, yeah, I did it.

I did it because of this. And also, who cares? You don't live in this house. I designed it. For myself and in my own home, I did something similar. I was like, okay, nope. I'm gonna do this because I've never seen that done before. Or I'm going to do this because I really want to take this chance, and it really means a lot to me.

So when you did that and you started to put the design process into place and take it from your brain to the actual design, was that complicated? Or were there things that you're like, oh, brien, like that's never going to work? Or did you have to kind of. Curtail yourself and pull yourself back in a little bit, or No.

So 

there's always a few things, at least for me as a designer that I picture, but then having made or manufactured or customized is a challenge. So I definitely hit a few of those in this home. One was the rock climbing wall and play gym for the kids. It's something a. Select few people are actually installing and especially installing residentially.

I wanted to make sure it was safe, so it took me like a year of research just to find the people who were doing play gyms in a way that I felt comfortable putting it in my home. Another one was like these beautiful, like I knew I wanted an open bathroom, but I needed mirrors and I wanted them attached on the countertop to the ceiling.

What designers understand and what homeowners may not know. That height and getting that right and customizing it and building it outta brass is not something you can order out of a catalog. And you truly have to find an artisan to bring your, your vision to life. And so those challenges. Always come up, but they're part of like my glutton for punishment in the process.

I think like, don't tell me no 'cause I will figure this out. 

Isn't that great? Yeah. I think a lot of designers too are sometimes afraid to do custom pieces. They don't really either know how to do it. They don't know where to find the artisan to do that. I think it's just a matter of research and putting your feet to the ground and figuring it out, because otherwise every home is going to be cookie cutter and look the same as your neighbors.

But how would you recommend a designer who wants to have all these bold ideas bring those to fruition? 

I think one of the most important things you touched on, which is the research, so for me, whether it's a teammate, usually that's already a part of the Brig and Jane family, I give them a task.

Sometimes I bring my mom in on that. This is something anybody could use. Like ask your friend to help you find that one thing. And for example, with the custom mirrors, I went to a friend who wasn't a part of the team, but a very good engineer who makes amazing things for Google. I am building a whole house.

I don't have time to find this artisan. You are really good at making things. You don't have the time or energy right now, but could you help me find somebody that you trust? And I ended on just bringing him on as a consultant. Because it's easier John to do it right the first time and have really spent the money on the research than to try and make those decisions quickly.

Yeah. It's that whole measure twice cut once philosophy, I guess, right? Like do all the pre-work ahead of time and then you're ready to go. And I think just ask someone, so if you have a metal worker and you're thinking like, oh, can they make a mirror for me or a bed frame for me, it never hurts to ask because maybe they've been wanting to branch out in their creative aspects, 

right?

My mom really good at anything seashell. So if I need a seashell mosaic, if I'm wanting some sort of coastal coral element, I'm like, mom, you know, in Los Angeles where every, you know, seashell from across the world is, I'm gonna need those resources now. So it's also leaning on your friends and what they're good at.

Um, yeah, we put a lot of music elements into this house. I brought in music production hands. Even just to sign off on some of the wiring that I was doing that was a little bit different than what my AV company was used to in residential, but not big enough to like need a club guy. So I brought in a producer and was like, does this make sense?

And I write all my inputs and my outputs 'cause I gotta close up these walls and. I only wanna do it once. 

And your son's is a soon to be dj, right? He's DJing. 

I have two DJ boys. Okay. You know they excited of drums. That's what mommy's given them, is their creative outlet. 

You've given them more than that.

I've seen this house and what you've given them. It is truly a playground for adults and for kids. Now, if a homeowner's listening, because we do have homeowners, you listen as well. Yeah. They're thinking, okay, brien, cool. You did that in your home. You renovated the entire home, top to bottom. I can't renovate my entire home, but I might want to take one bold step to make something, you know, impactful and to make a big change in my house.

Do you have any advice for people who are saying, I love this idea, but I just wanna do it on a smaller scale maybe? Yes. 

I think that typically there are two issues I see in my client's homes. One is a beautiful space in their house. They never touch that they don't wanna touch because it's the one they think is the prettiest.

But to me, that is such an opportunity for change because I don't care how beautiful it is. If you don't use it, your husband doesn't use it, your kids don't use it, your dog doesn't use it. Nobody's using that room, but you get to walk by it and go, ah, we can do better. I think we can do better, and let's give you some of your square footage back.

So let's attack that space and lean into your vulnerability of, but I love everything about it. Bring that into the new space, but don't waste precious square footage. Right? So that's one that I'm always like, they're like, no, I don't wanna touch it. I'm like. But you don't use it. That's it. I'd rather touch that space.

And then the other one that I always see is like the pile of clothes on the bed or the kitchen stuff that has made itself onto the counter where they ask me to ignore it. They're like, oh no, we're not dealing with that. I'm like. Do you see what a problem this is causing in your life? And they feel so overwhelmed by it that they don't wanna address it.

So instead of addressing their kitchen storage, they hire me to redo their bathroom to make it cuter. And I can't help but walk past it and be like. What are we doing about this over here? 

That's so true. You know, when I do a consultation, I warn clients. I say, you can straighten up, but I don't want your house to look like you don't live in it.

I wanna see how you live. And it sounds like that's what you're saying to your clients as well. And honestly to the general public, if you live a certain way, incorporate that into your home. If you need to drop zone for bags for kids, let's build that. 

And I feel like for some reason, what. I get called to do or hired to do is always the middle, like the dissatisfaction, but there's nothing really broken or fixed.

Yeah. And it's the things that are perfect, but they're not using, or the things that they really don't wanna deal with, they tend to get overlooked. I think those are your bigger opportunity points. 

Very good advice for everyone, listening, designers and homeowners in general. I wanna pivot a minute because.

For those of us who do know you, we've seen you all over television. You're literally, every time I turn it on, I'm like, there's Regan on another television show. So it's so great and I love that you're sharing just a little tidbit of the advice that you have here. You're sharing it to such a broader audience, and people may know you from Extreme Makeover Home Edition to all of the HGTV shows that you were on as well.

I think it's like. 

Well, we're 13 HGTV shows now, and Dream Home is been my, you know, sort of show for the last five years. And building that house is one of my favorite things. And it's so nice because we profile that whole build and there's a lot of why for an unknown winner. And so I think that just has been a part of my development as a designer, and it really is who I am.

What are all the options? What do we all need as humans that creates the dream home? 

Well, I love that show, and I love what you said. It sort of explains the why behind it all, and you do that so easily and you do it so effortlessly, and it just comes across so naturally, and I just love. Watching you do all of the shows, because it does just feel like, oh, Brian's in my living room right now explaining why this home was designed this way.

So kudos to you for that and doing it so easily and just so approachable in all aspects of your life. But for designers who may be thinking, oh, you know, I know a lot of designers who want to be on television as well, and they're thinking like, oh, how do I do that? How did you decide, first of all that that was something that you wanted to do and that you were comfortable doing, and then how did the opportunities come to you for that?

Of course. So I definitely built my design career knowing that I wanted to go into television as a designer. And I say that because I think that is one of the first steps. If you are a designer and you wanna do it on tv, then just say it out loud and start getting used to saying it out loud. And it's okay to have that want.

And I think a lot of people. Whether it's trying to be humble or maybe thinking it won't come, it's a hard thing for people to really admit. Then the second was getting my branding right, so if I wanna be on television, my website needs to be on point. I need to be talking to an audience on social, and I grew up in Hollywood and I grew up in print and commercials.

So I had some basic knowledge just growing up in the industry of knowing what casting directors look for. You know, you hesitate on your personal opinions that you share with your family. Maybe hesitate on that bikini shot that looks really good, but might not be something that we wanna paste across television if you don't want it on the front of the New York Times.

Don't put it anywhere. 

That is good advice. 

At times. That was challenging because I am pretty strong and I do have strong opinions, but I've always wanted to maintain open as a brand. Make sure that I didn't close people off to my offerings as a designer based on my own opinions. So yeah, I worked really hard and then it's very interesting because it's like calling in what you want.

It was casting directors that found me. I had no agent, I had no manager. I figured I'd have to get those things first before TV shows. I went into development with HGTV on a series, then got picked up for Extreme and then just kept going, so you can do it. 

You sure have kept going. And I think it's just admirable the way that you explain it, because so much of what we want in life, we are afraid to voice it and we are afraid to put it out into the universe and let that start to happen for us.

And that could be anything that you're wanting to do in life. The other part that I grabbed from that was you mentioned your brand and I think everything that we do. As a business owner, I don't care if you're a one person show or a 25 person business. Your brand is your brand. And one thing that I heard you say was that you've always kept that brand in your mind from the beginning, right?

Of what you wanted the world to know about you, how you wanted this rounded view of yourself for the public. And that is sometimes hard for people to grasp, I think. What do you think was the key for understanding that? Oh, I need. First of all, develop a brand and then how to develop that brand. Was it just being true to yourself and like limiting things that you say?

Or was it all the things, I know you mentioned your website Yeah. And all that, 

so, so I've written children's books. I had a mom radio show. I've always done design. I do a lot of philanthropy. So people were telling me like, streamline your brand. Be the designer, be the mom. And I was like, no, that's not authentic to me.

I'm not. And people would be like, it doesn't alling, you're this girl that loves Ibiza, but then you're giving a homeschool advice. How do those things even come out of the same human? But I sound that it can all make sense because I make sense and they're authentic to me. So as long as they weren't being forced, I was like, no, I'm not cutting off that part of the brand.

That doesn't fit into whatever you think the brand is. The brand is me and I make sense. So, you know, that was the heart of it. Then it's really about going through like the methodology of branding. What are your colors? Who's your customer? What's your mood? What are you known for? And I swear John, I made a document.

Like almost a decade ago that I still refer back to, and we have not deviated far from, because we sat down on paper and I say we, me, myself, and I and teams and you know, but really me saying this is who I am, this is who Brig and Jean's gonna be. It's nice to keep going back to that, not to redevelop the brand every year.

This is my branding 1 0 1, I swear, because again, I know people who have been in business for 15, 20 years and still have no clue who their customer is and what they stand for and what their colors are, and they're all over the place. And you can tell when you go to their social media or you go to their website that they really don't know who they are.

And when you don't know who you are. How are you going to attract people who want to work with you? And you mentioned authenticity and being yourself, and I think you know, all the wonderful crazy things that you just described, Ibiza, and you know, all the things. It's just like that is so uniquely you.

But did you find when you started to really just embrace your true self, that the people who needed and wanted to be a part of you actually showed up and came to you? 

Yes, the best, the best attention I've gotten from my audience was always when I felt the most vulnerable and was like, I don't know if they're gonna get this.

The best brand relationships I've had are because they've seen who I am. They're not hiring for a slot. So, yeah, it's hard and a lot of my sort of lifestyle. Part of the brand is being a mom and being vulnerable. And so even certain blog posts where I was just like, am I really gonna publish this? It was always the one that garnered the most response from my audience.

With a thank you usually. Mm-hmm. 

So you mentioned your blog, and I know you're working on a vlog. You have your vlog now as well. I want people to hear this because I think we get so one track mind sometimes, and we think, oh, it'd just be my website, or it only has to be Pinterest or a blog. But you have branched out and you've done a lot of those things to kind of expand your brand in a lot of different ways.

So talk about what the various. Things that you do to get the word out about who you are and all the things that you have going on. Because I find it refreshing as an entrepreneur to be able to say, oh, I'm kind of tired of doing this for the moment. Yeah, let me move over to do this. But I don't know if that plays into how you work your system 

1000%.

And I think it kind of goes back to what we said on the branding. One thing that I've tried not to do is change the brand and refresh it based on the trend, but I have chased different sides of what content I produce. And so Instagram's been the nicest to me from the beginning, but I started playing Facebook and LinkedIn a few years ago and LinkedIn is still wonderful for me.

And it's interesting to me that like a lot of designers. Aren't playing on LinkedIn. It also helps me stand out. It's worked. And so one of the things that I did this year is I've always wanted to do YouTube. Content producing YouTube shows is expensive. I have lots of ideas that might be happening, but I was like, you know, I really just wanna lean into the authenticity this year.

And so doing the vlog was like a personal challenge of, alright, this is where content is going. It's going global. A lot of my brands are available globally now. It's not just Instagram. It's not just TikTok like. I stopped posting anything directly on there because of the ownership rights of publishing content there.

I still don't fully understand it, but I'm like, Nope. Like we're not uploading to the site anymore, any photos or videos, so what are we doing? We're vlogging 

and you found an avenue that it sounds like it feels good to you as well, and I think that that's important. We force ourselves sometimes as business owners to do things that other people are doing, like I've seen the most.

Just the craziest, most silly like reels and I'm like, girl, you shouldn't even be on the camera right now. Much less putting this out into the world for God's sake. You know what I mean? But I think that we do things. 

Yep. And then they hit and that person gets a million views and you're like, yeah, why don't I.

You gotta, you gotta let go of the perfectionism if you're gonna play like the social media content creation, long-term game. 

Well, and it sounds to me that perfectionism is not something that you really strive for in your designs and your life. I think that it's, what I'm hearing is that you're striving to be the best version of yourself at all times, and that's what comes across to the general public.

And how do your clients feel about that? 

But it's because I'm a recovering perfectionist. 

What step are you on out of the 12 steps of that? 

Well, this was the first step. I have this little tattoo on my wrist and it is a hand drawn star. Any designer type a person will know that a hand-drawn star is a very difficult shape that will never be perfect, and I put it where I had to look at it every day.

I can cover it up with a watch really easily. It was a challenge for me to remind myself that I could find beauty in the imperfection. And it's literally one of my favorite tattoos. People don't even realize I have it 'cause it's so little. But I think I got it when I was like 18 or 19 to deal with my perfectionism in a physical symbol.

And you're still manifesting it to this very day. Something that you started so long ago that, that's so cool. Well, five years ago, I should say. Just five years ago when you were 18, that's Yeah. 

Yeah, exactly. Just back. 

So those who see you on television and they see the beautiful designs you're pouring out to the world, what is one thing that the viewer might not realize that happens behind the scenes on a TV show when the reveals there, the house is beautiful?

What is one thing that maybe you're like, oh, but you don't know this happened? Is there anything that comes to mind? I 

think one of the. Funniest things we do is multiple takes of the same reveal. So, you know, people will be watching the show and I'll walk somebody into the kitchen, right? And they'll go, it's amazing.

So we do that on camera the first time, right? And they do get to see it. But that cameraman doesn't always have his camera on that woman's face perfectly. Right. So I think one of the myths I can bust is some of those reactions are the second or third time when we need the homeowner's face to go. And then the funniest one to me is always the silent walkthrough.

So they'll use my audio from maybe the original take, but then our faces need to match up or they need to cut away. So when we're doing these reveals, we have to ask the homeowner, now will you walk around the house with me just nodding and smiling so that in case the camera needs to use a shot with a different audio, we can cut those together.

And you'll see these new homeowners, they have these beautiful spaces, but now they're actors and they're like, wait, wait, what? I'm like, we just walk around going. One big reveal takes like 10 shots. 

That is such good juicy stuff. That's so fun to hear that. Yeah. And the homeowner's like, I just wanna walk around in my kitchen and start pulling things outta the drawers, right?

Yeah. 

They wanna like move on to the next room and we're like, no, sorry, 10 times in this room first. 

I'm glad we don't make our own clients without the camera do that. Right? Oh yeah. They would feel so uncomfortable. You've mentioned your branding and your brand, and you have your beautiful designs that you do, but you've also done something masterfully, which was poured these into product designs and it's beautiful products that you have out there now.

So Clark and Clark's one, but tell me about how and why you decided to move from. Home design and also bring into product design because I think that is something, again, that a lot of people aspire to do and might not have the means or the understanding of how to do that. 

Yeah, and I think for me, that was a lot of my why and a lot of the reason I wanted to be on TV from the beginning.

I kind of emulate. The person that I needed when I was younger that I wanted to look up to. 

Hmm. 

And for me, I am a girly girl who's like really into fashion and a little bit fanciful. My mom wasn't necessarily like the girl who loves sparkles. I was always drawn to like the woman who just had fancy dresses and earrings on.

And so I think a lot of my products and my wanting to touch customers I knew was so much bigger than client. It was wanting to touch people's homes. Without having the ability to touch as many people as I wanted to touch physically. Mm-hmm. And so I knew product design would be the way that I could share myself with other people and say, it's okay to be unapologetically you.

I love that. And I think that that is just a great way to expand your brand. We were talking earlier about how to bring things from your home into client's home. This is just a simple. Easy way to have a bit of high-end design in your home by adding a lovely wall covering, by adding a lovely fabric that you see in your selections that you have.

Well, tell me about your brand. 

I have a partnership with Clark and Clark. We have fabrics and wall coverings. Mm-hmm. So I have two big mural offerings. One is like a beautiful watercolor that's large in scale. That beach girl in me is infused in there. That appreciation for art is in there, but then also what I couldn't find in luxury design in an approachable way, which is like hand painted murals.

It's something my clients don't think about or don't have the artisan, like you were saying earlier, that they know who can come in and paint. So we did that in a wall covering. We did one as a really big palm tree that's like this great pattern and print and very happy and very brien. But then when you get into the fabric, I also did like a safari twa and that was really developed when I was in Kenya doing.

Philanthropy work, but also looking at nature and saying, what do I not see, you know, enough of. And for me, a safari is just like that absolutely lux, beautiful, natural moment, but it's also a way to uplift an area we don't see done in the luxury market all the time. So that is available on Para Gold for designers.

It's through Cravit. We are global on that. So Sanderson Design Group does sales in London, we're in South Africa. That is amazing. Um, and apparently I do well in Scotland and Germany. Who knows. 

I love the stories behind it and I think that the stories of why something is designed the way it is, or where your inspiration came from is so important for people to understand and, and by you just giving me that synopsis of just the one wall covering it, makes me wanna buy that and put that into a home, just so I can tell that story.

But we were talking before we got started about, you know, you just returned from Mexico. I understand. And then you love experiential travel. You love to travel and just be totally inspired by it. Yeah. So talk about that and I, I can hear it coming through. I, I feel the emotions coming through when you talk about the why behind things.

But tell me about your travels and how these life experiences reflect what you do. As far as being a designer, I 

think that, I've always been curious, that's something I was as a little girl and I still am now, and I like to challenge the why. And as I'm an adopted child, and I'm biracial, so half black, halfway, my parents are lovingly, purely Caucasian.

And so there was always this need for discovery. I think that that is unique, or at least I see it come a lot with adopted children because there's a want to answer not just who you are, but who is everybody and why? Because you're just a fish out of water from the beginning of your inception. In this world, I had this big curly hair and I was Berea Good, and where did that come from and what makes us, us.

So travel has lent me a lot of the deeper questioning, but also a lot of the why's, and so I just really enjoy culturally submersing myself into something that feels different and uplifting it and learning from it and being curious about it. I just took the boys to Japan in January, like could not have been.

More different culturally. My kids loved it. Um, and there were so many things like I'm like, why does America not have bide toilets in every public restroom? Why did Japan figure this out? And we didn't. 

Then you can bring those things back. Obviously not only in the aesthetic reveal of your products and of your designs, but also in the functionality because there are things that you see that other people are doing and you're like, wow, that would be really cool if we just brought that in to a client's home in the us.

And also just understanding the why. Like I remember going to homes in Kenya that were luxury homes and they had a kitchen sink in the living room. And I was like, this is so interesting. Like it took me like three times seeing it. I'm like, all the fancy houses have like a kitchen sink in their living room.

Oh, and I finally got up the courage to ask, and it's like, oh, duh. You know, for them in these rural areas where running water is not as prevalent, one of the fanciest things you can do is put a faucet in your living room. So it's like. Their version of a Bentley, and it serves both a functionality standpoint of hand washing for your guests, which like makes sense.

Like why wouldn't we have a sink readily available before our friends come over for dinner? But it also was a status symbol. I. So I just love learning these things because although I may not put a kitchen sink in my living room, it challenges me to think what is my kitchen sink and how can we create life in a home that isn't just the cookie cutter?

Yeah. Do you find that those ideas and the things that you've seen and been influenced by just pop up randomly as you're designing a home or working even on your own home. You're like, oh my gosh, I remember X, Y, and Z that I saw in a visa and I wanna bring that here. Is that how it works with you?

Sometimes, or, I'm banking them for later. Ah, at times there's like a saved memory bank of like. Ooh, I'm gonna use that somewhere sometime, and I wait for the right product or project. Or for me, it's like, Ooh, I'm gonna put that in a house for me. 

Yeah. There it's like, it's almost like the saved file on Instagram where you hit the save button and you like go back and look at it later.

Yeah. It's 

like a Pinterest board in my brain. 

I have a feeling your Pinterest board is getting pretty full. 

It's. It's true. So 

now I want to talk about something that's so exciting is your new book and I can't wait to see it. We actually share the same publisher on my book with your book as well, right?

So great publisher, but tell me about the concept of the book and how the process was. We're gonna get into all of that, but what is the concept behind it and and what inspired you to write another book? 

Yeah, so for me, this is the first design book, and so that had a different challenge than obviously children's books, and it also means something different to me and the point that I'm at in my career.

And I wanted it to be meaningful and again, align with everything that's me. And one of the things that I think is. My offering is my vulnerability. Doing it yourself as an established designer with a career and then sharing with people the why was really the purpose behind the book. So my book is not gonna say, use this tile, grout this way.

It's, here's what I thought about, because I've designed so many people's homes and here's where I challenged myself mentally. This is how I ended up with three disco balls in my kitchen. I'm not teaching you, you should put three disco balls in your kitchen. I want you to ask yourself, what are your three disco balls?

Then build it into your own design. 

Okay. That should have been the title of your book. What are your three disco balls? I think you just explained it very well and I think that that is something that a lot of homeowners don't think about is getting in, as you said, into the mind of the designer of the why behind We did this and, and yes, we can go and purchase something, but also if we're wanting to create something that's truly couture and truly special, you know, for our clients and.

For ourselves. Do you give also practical advice to say, here is how I followed through with that, or is it, is it hard philosophical? Yeah, of 

course. And it's got all the photography to support sort of the design that we're talking about. Took me a year to write the book and obviously two years working on the project.

So it was nice to really be writing it in my process because it's not an after the fact. Result. It's me writing it as I'm designing it and then bringing the book out once the house is done. But it, it really follows along through that process. Mm-hmm. And I think it's really useful to anyone who's really building a home.

I think people really underestimate how long that process is and how you only have one opportunity to make some of those choices where you put plumbing for a sink will determine where sinks are for like the next 10 years. And I don't know if my homeowners really understand that, and that's part of our job as designers, but if you can't hire a designer, I'm asking you the why's so you can go back and ask your contractor.

It's almost like those foundational aspects of building a home or renovating a home that a lot of the consumers might not understand or think about, but don't 

think about it. 

Yeah. And it's not their job. Right. It's, it's our job to help them with that. But I, I love that you're bringing that to the forefront and say, okay, yes.

It's beautiful now, but just strip this away and I'll show you, you know, the dissected version of this and why it came to be. I did something similar in my own bathroom. There was a plumbing that we could not move, but I wanted the sinks to a different spot. So we built the wall out to allow us to move the plumbing over to look like it was in a different spot, when in actuality, the room is like six inches smaller than it was before, but it's those little tricks that get the final version of what people see.

You know, in the books and online and all the things. Right. And that's why we weren't magic. Yep. 

My son's room has gotten a lot of attention. It has some hand drawn art in it too, but something nobody has commented on is there's a pull right in the middle of his room and it's a foundational book. I couldn't move it.

And if I had done that for a client, they would've lost their mind over a pole being in the middle of the bedroom. Right? But for me, I knew it would kind of make this great separator to his desk. So I purposely placed furniture. Nobody notices there's a pole in the middle of his bedroom. But if I had asked a client to trust me in that.

It would've been really difficult for them. And it's like, well, I'm not gonna redesign the space of the entire layout of this floor based on one pole. Like having the room spatially the way I wanted them was just more important. 

And now you have that story to tell too. For clients who don't understand why you might wanna do something unorthodox or you know, different than the norm, you say, look.

My son has a pole in his room, and you would've never let me do that in your own house. But here's why it works. And I think we can take those risks on our own houses, right? And then we can use those as examples for everybody else to try it and bring them on the forefront of saying, let's think outside the box.

Let's do something a little different, right? 

Totally. 

That's great. So when you're writing the book, I always find this interesting. It wasn't, as you said, it's a very long, long process to get this from, you know, outta your brain, onto the Word document and then onto the final pages of the printed book.

Were there things along the way that you might have discovered about yourself or things that you might have set? Oh, this is something that I took for granted because I do this every day, but I want the world now. To see that. Because for instance, for me, as I was writing my book, I said, you know, I really want people to know the process that I go through from the start of a project until the end of a project.

Because I never had really shared that with the general public at that point. Other designers, yes, but not with the consumer. So were there things like that, that popped into your brain along the way that you were like, oh, let me share that. 

I think how methodical I am in that thought process. I didn't realize how much of my strengths really came from there.

Just by being curious and challenging things like I know I think about my client's projects, but to actually write it down and be like, oh, I was so purposeful about the kids playroom. For example, we have steel drums. In their playroom. I knew I wanted an instrument any child could interact with. I knew I wanted a sound that wasn't going to make me want to shoot my own brains out.

And so I was like, what is a beautiful sound? And I went and I, I tried xylophones, I sound an African instrument store. Like, because, and I was like, 'cause I'm gonna, I'm gonna listen to these things. I can't buy these online. Yeah. Like I need to know what the sound is gonna be in my house. And so when you go through and you, you go into my home, you know, a friend came over, she was like, oh my gosh, I thought there was music on.

Your kids are practicing the steel drums, house sun, love it Again, I think people just don't realize those moments in life that feel so effortless and whimsical actually had the most effort behind them. As small as a steel drum purchase is. It was a lot of thought that went into. Every single corner and why 

that is the way that I wish everybody approached their home is thinking about using every space, as you said, but also making that space functional and making that space really work for everyone.

And you know, your kids are now learning to steal drum and you're not running around the house streaming because it's like a set of actual drums. 

It's like, thank God, you know, saxophones might've been problematic for the neighbors. Steal drums? Not so much. 

Yeah, I, I can attest to that because I played trumpet in middle school and high school and all of our neighbors hated us.

My mom should have thought about something different. But anyway, when we're talking now before the book comes out, but the book is out by the time this is launched. So tell everyone how they can find your book, where it is, and all those fun things. 

Well, definitely, as you said, shout out to our publisher, GI Smith.

The book is available on Amazon and Barnes and Noble, and they can also find the link to it on my website, which is just bragan jane.com, and I'm so excited about it. 

Yeah, and I'm sure we're gonna hear lots of great things about the book and book signings, I feel are in your future as well. Before we leave though, I want to talk about your philanthropy work.

You touched on it earlier, and I think there are so many things that. Round us out as a person and really round us out as a brand and as a company. And again, to let people in on the other side of, of what's important to us, right as human beings on the planet, not just interior designers, but as. Part of the human species.

Yeah. So for you, I know philanthropy and giving back is so important. So tell me about some of the ways and some of the organizations and some of the things that you do to give back and what that means to you. 

Yeah, so I was lucky to have been brought up in sort of this unquestioned reality that in our success, 10% goes to somebody else.

And I find that that is something that I wanted to uphold for me and my family. It's something I'm trying to teach my kids, and it really does so much more for me because it gives me purpose on those days where I don't feel like going and I don't feel like doing something, it's like, no, there's always somebody who's gonna be better off than us, but there's always somebody who needs our help no matter how stressed we feel by.

Whatever finances or emotional frustrations we have in our lives, there's somebody we can help. Um, and so with that, the pressure was finding something where I felt like I could make a difference. It wasn't satisfactory to me anymore to give. A few dollars to clean the bay and a few this. I wanted to align my dollars and cents with where can I make a difference and what's my cause.

And so I really have clung to education for girls in Kenya. They're escaping some cultural practices that I think are just barbaric, but also what we're doing is stopping them from underestimating the women in their communities. In the areas where we practice, a lot of them are just traded for cattle as a bride in a polygamous society, and you look at the homes and the culture that's created around that and everything suffers, John, like nobody's happy because they literally are punishing the most vulnerable aspect of their community.

That's also the most beautiful. And so by going in there and doing the work. What changes and all the work is implemented locally. It's not like I go out there and help I visit to see what the work is doing, but it's all done by the local community and them deciding for themselves what they'd like to change and how they'd like to change it.

And so by giving girls an opportunity to go to school, guess what does better? The whole economy, they're giving back to their fathers in new farming practices. They are providing educational thoughts and decisions. They're more empowered. I mean, the businesses that get created out of just. Giving them the opportunity to do so and the education that they need to do it.

It's like amazing. They have these savings groups where women come together and it's like a mini stock exchange. They all give to the pile. If they can't give to the pile, then they're less of an investor, but then they have that pile to borrow from when their kids are sick, their car's broken down, and then they pay it back as a loan.

And I'm like, what are my friends and I doing like, why aren't we doing this? Yeah, God, we could have houses in Mexico. 

I love this. I, I love all of it, but I just love the feeling that I can tell that it brings to you for helping other people. And I think that for people who are looking for something to make their lives better, to enrich their lives, it doesn't always have to be a tangible thing.

And a lot of times it's not a tangible thing, right? It's something that is so just altruistic and out in the world, and I love that. That is obviously shaping who you are. 

Yeah, well it's amazing to see and it's gives me incredible, like just heartfelt empower to continue past my own version of success because if you want to give on 10%, one of the things it drives me to do is increase what, 10% it means.

And that pushes me forward on a lot of days where I feel like, you know, I've reached a wonderful point in my career where I might have enough or my kids are okay, but I can make a bigger difference in the world by being my best self and continuing to grow because it also increases my ability to give.

What advice do you have for people who don't know how to find their outlet or their purpose of helping other people? Do you have any tips on how to sort of reach out and figure that out? Just 

I often, there's soup kitchens that will need you just to serve on Thanksgiving, like that's something the kids and I have done since they were very young.

There's companies like PATH that have these move-in programs for families coming out of homelessness and they don't have enough money for movers, so. That's volunteer work. You can do. Beach cleanups are great, but the way I found my purpose was by exposing myself to seeing a lot of pain in the world, but then also being willing to contribute.

Because that is a lot emotionally and I mean just even now the LA fires. Yeah. I had a lot of friends who were really donating their time and attention and every resource they can, and it, it's a lot to ask of yourself because it can get really heavy, but the more you do it, you will find the one. That feels heavy.

Good. It's the thing that you are meant to care about. Look, I would love to fix the coral problem in the ocean. It wasn't the thing that I wanted to solve, but I hope one of my friends takes that on. And then I'll take on girls education and then somebody else can take on the rainforest. Now we're making change.

'cause feeling like you can change the world feels impossible, but you can change something for somebody. 

Yeah. And it changes you at the end of the day. I remember the first time we volunteered at giving out food at a food pantry, and it was, I think it was the day after Thanksgiving, right. And I was thinking, well that's probably the day that they're not gonna get as many volunteers.

And it was true. They didn't have as many. We were there, and I remember this, you do your thing, you pack the bags and you're handing them out to people. And then I remember seeing like this, I don't know, maybe a seven or 8-year-old little girl come up. And at first I was like, John, you're not going to be able to hold yourself together as you hand this little girl a bag of food.

But then afterwards I was like. No, you did good because now she has a bag of food and, and as you say, those little things that you feel are not making a difference, holy crap. They are. They're making a huge difference. And I think that we feel like we have to make a change globally or worldwide or nationwide when all you really need to do is.

Work in your own backyard 

1000%. And I see a lot of people be afraid to lean into having that interaction that makes them feel uncomfortable. But the more you do it, the more rewarding it becomes. And I think one of the things that I've seen sneak into my brain is being like. What do I have to offer this little girl?

What do I have to relate to her with? But the vulnerability of just being human with other people who need help also helps us ask for help. It's just, it's beautiful. You gotta just jump into it. It's never gonna feel great and perfect. It's often very heavy, but it is so worth it. 

You kind of have to get comfortable being uncomfortable.

Life in general, but especially in situations like that. And as you say, I might have been, in my case, handing her a bag of food, but I smiled really big when I did it and now I'm like, I can give that smile on a daily, as cheesy as it sounds, I can give that smile on a daily basis, right? I can smile at anyone, any part of humankind, and that is something that doesn't cost me a cent, doesn't cost me time, doesn't cost me money, but it's helping other people in so many ways because maybe someone needed that.

So I love that we went down this little woowoo path here because it is important and I think it does make you well-rounded and it does make you, you know who you are and that's what people want to know about us as designers and human beings. But pivoting a bit before we close out, is there one thing that you feel makes a house a home?

Like, I know we've talked about all the aspects of being original and doing things outside of the box and doing things different than, you know, what you might see in a magazine or online, but. What do you feel makes a house a home as, and I know that that's something that a lot of people strive to have in their own houses, in their own homes, 

right?

My mind just goes to safety. You know, I think a home is a place where you feel safe, and I think that people try to label that with something visual. I'm not sure it is what makes my sister feel safe is very different than what makes me feel safe. From colors to materials, and so your home should feel safe to you.

It should hold you emotionally. You should walk through the door and just that warm hug should greet you. 

I feel the same way. I feel like your home should wrap its arms around you every time you, you enter it. And as you say, that means different things for, you know, for different people. So I wanna do some rapid fire design advice if you're ready for that.

For everybody listening. 

Let's go. All right. 

Ready? Okay. One design wrist that every homeowner should take 

Color. 

Very good. Color and fabric. Color and walls. Just color in general. 

Challenging yourself with color. Okay. I think people are very shy of color. Go crazy. That's the risk to take. It's sometimes easy to change, but people are timid.

Go. 

Okay. Very good advice. So trends we hear a lot about, everybody always asks us designers about trends, but is there something that you're loving right now that you're seeing that's actually a. Good trend 

biophilic design. I think using nature as a part of your home, the indoor outdoor living, the indoor greenery that like Hilton Carter made popular.

I love seeing plants in our design work. 

Love it. And what about something you're not loving right now trend-wise? You 

know what I, I did not get on the terrazzo train. It just still reminds me of an airport floor, and I am not about it. I've seen it done very well. But I'm like, it just is giving airport floor.

Okay. All right. And then lastly, what is one thing every homeowner should invest in in their home, in your eyes? 

More closet space. 

Okay. Thought I thought you were gonna say a kitchen sink in their living room, but okay. 

Right. Yeah. More closet space. One of the things I went and purchased for my home was a steam unit.

It's like, almost looks like a mini refrigerator. You put your clothes in it and you close it and you, it steams them. The, the relief that has given me from ironing and my kids even use it now for like their button down shirts. I'm like, just go put it in the steamer. Like it was not something I knew I would use this much, but I think our clothing, whether it's laundry right, or our closet or the famous chair that everybody has.

Build more closet space. Think about your storage solutions. Think about out of the box ways for you to create more space for the stuff. 

Yeah. 'cause there always is stuff everywhere we turn. Right. Maybe get rid of some of that stuff too. Is my, my little key 

that, that. 

I love it. Great advice for everybody.

Breed. I knew I would love this conversation because I love you, but the thread that I've seen through everything that we've talked about today is. To truly be yourself, and I don't know of anybody who is more authentically themselves than you are. It just emotes out of you in conversation, in casual conversation on the podcast today.

In person, you are who you are, and I wish more people would take that and apply it. You don't even have to be a business owner to be yourself. The gift that you give in your authenticity is invaluable, so thank you for that. 

Thank you, John. 

Yeah, I mean that so much. So for everybody listening, again, give them a recap on where they can find all the good things and we'll put them in the show notes as well.

But I want everybody to hear it from your own mouth about where they can find your collections and more information about you. They want you to be on a TV show. They want to hear you speak all the things that, and your book, tell them where to find breed and Jane. 

You can find Bri and jane@brigandjane.com.

I am Bri and Jane on Instagram, Facebook X, LinkedIn, Bri and Jane is plastering everywhere and my lighting collection with Savoy is available on Ferguson Home and Home Depot. My Clark and Clark wallpaper is on Para Gold and it's at Cravit for Designers. My new book is on Amazon and on my website, and we have accessories even in home Goods.

Johns. So I'm trying to get a little piece of my authenticity and vulnerability to everybody out there. 

You'll find Bri in the stores, you'll find her on tv. If you're a designer, you'll find her at any of the markets. You are literally everywhere, and I just love the feeling that I get when I see you. So thank you for sharing your insights today.

Thank you for sharing your vulnerability. Thank you for sharing your design knowledge and just your tips on how to be a, a better designer and a better person. I've loved every minute of it. Thank you. 

Thank you, John. 

See you soon. Thanks for tuning into this episode of the McClain Method Podcast. I'm so grateful you made it all the way to the end because that tells me that you're ready to do the work that truly transforms your brand, your business, and your life.

If you want more tools, trainings, and behind the scenes looks at what I'm building next. Head over to McClain method.com and don't forget to follow along on Instagram at the McClain Method for even more drops of brilliance. And remember, my friend, your brilliance is your brand. Don't dim it, design it. I'll see you next time.