87: Be the Unicorn in the Room: Visibility, Partnerships & Mindful Success with Antonio DeLoatch

EPISODE 87 — Be the Unicorn in the Room: Visibility, Partnerships & Mindful Success with Antonio DeLoatch

If you're an interior designer craving more visibility, confidence, and high-quality clients, this episode is your new playbook.

I’m joined by NYC-based designer and mindfulness advocate Antonio DeLoatch - a man who has mastered becoming the unicorn in the room. Together, we unpack what it really takes to stand out in a crowded design industry, elevate your brand presence, and build a business rooted in clarity and intention.

We talk High Point Market strategy, storytelling, designer mindset, brand collaborations, and the moment Antonio realized he needed to plug the “holes in his bucket” to grow with purpose. This conversation blends mindset, marketing, and soulful business strategy—exactly what designers need in today’s landscape.

Inside this episode, you’ll learn:
✨ How to elevate your visibility as an interior designer
✨ Practical conversation starters for networking (without the awkwardness)
✨ How mindfulness and clarity fuel luxury-level client experiences
✨ Smart strategies for building brand partnerships & collaborations
✨ Why storytelling is essential in modern design marketing
✨ How to show up consistently—even when you don’t feel “shiny”
✨ The visibility moves that helped Antonio grow in NYC, DC & LA

If you’re ready to build a memorable brand, attract aligned clients, and step confidently into the rooms where your future business lives, this episode will feel like a masterclass in both mindset and visibility.

Connect with Antonio:
Website → https://www.antoniodeloatch.com/

Instagram → https://www.instagram.com/antoniodeloatchdesigns

If this episode resonates, share it with a designer who’s ready to shine. 🌟

Design feels natural. Business doesn’t. And that is frustrating.

Design Success Academy was created to help interior designers finally feel confident running the business side of their work.
Inside the program, you’ll learn how to price with clarity, create simple systems, position yourself professionally, and build a business that actually supports your creativity.

👉 Learn more: https://www.mcclainmethod.com/dsa

Transcript

Antonio Deloatch The McClain Method Podcast Episode 87 Transcript

[00:00:00] 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 bestie. 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 brilliance 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. Hey friends. Welcome back to the McClain Method podcast. If you don't know, this is the podcast where we pull back the curtain on what it really takes to run a soulful, profitable interior design business. [00:01:00] And today I'm chatting with a dear friend and a powerhouse in the design world as well.

Antonio DeLoatch, who is the New York based designer behind Antonio DeLoatch Designs, and a man with, I think, a global state of mind and a really serious eye for. Luxurious, but also mindful living. And you're gonna hear a lot about that if you were at High Point Market. And you might have caught Antonio and I together where I was moderating a panel.

It was more about how to find the losses in your business. But then we started on this rabbit hole of there's a hole in my bucket. And that opened up a whole line of conversation between Antonio and I, and I think that the audience loved it as much as we did. So without further ado, I'm going to jump in now to the episode and I want to welcome you, Antonio, to the podcast.

Thank you, John for having me. I feel like this is like a long time coming. I feel like there's been tons of dinners that we've sat next to each other and coffee and panel discussions where this is just like it [00:02:00] feels like it's meant to be. I'm super excited to be here and I mean, we all have holes in our bucket, and this is what triggered our conversation today.

You guys are gonna love it. And you're right, it's so overdue. I feel like if we had just had a microphone a couple times during our other conversations, it would've just been a great podcast episode of its own right when we're just chatting off the cuff. So we're gonna bring that energy to all of you today, that same off the cuff energy where we're just sharing information and Antonio is an open book that you'll find.

So first things first, for those who may not know you just yet, Antonio, can you give us just a quick intro to you, your firm, and your approach to design? 

Yeah. So again, I'm Antonio DeLoatchatch. We run Antonio DeLoatch Designs. I'm located in Manhattan, uptown on the historic block of drivers row in Harlem. Moved back from Los Angeles just shy of almost four years ago.

Um, I got so used to seeing the two year mark that just felt really good and I can't believe that it's been almost four, um, from New York through and through. So we're here running up and down the East coast. We've got a presence in [00:03:00] dc, still keep a presence in la but New York is whole and for us in our interior design firm.

The thing that really grounds anchors us and like builds our platform is our mindfulness practice. I'm a yogi at heart. I practice yoga three to four times a week. And so in doing that and learning how to meditate, the mindfulness practice really kept coming up. And we're truly curating a home that's in service to you.

So this way that you can go out and better serve the world. And I really think that it all starts at home with like systems organization and that soulful living part that John mentioned at the opening of the podcast today. 

Hmm. You're just saying all the right things. Antonio, I love all of that. That's so good.

And I think that it's probably what resonates with the clients that work with you and the colleagues in our industry. So it's, it's fantastic. Now back to that hole in the bucket situation. So that just came up at, during the conversation and I'll, I'll, I'll never forget it because your, your eyes lit up and you just looked like you had just had an [00:04:00] epiphany of some sort.

So what did that mean to you in that moment when we started bringing up. Hole in the, in my bucket and you know, how did it change? Maybe your outlook on how you're looking at your own business. Just curious. 

Yeah, I think that there, I think you caught it. I think I definitely had this like aha moment because we're asked to speak on these panels at market and our big stages across the US and we're meant to talk about like our brands, our business, what's working, what's not, and then all of a sudden like just sitting there, I was able to kind of go inside and go like a little bit deeper and been like, oh wow.

Like I'm giving the advice and I'm pretty good at tracking myself, tracking the advice. And the advice is coming from true pain points that I've gone through. And I think that's what resonates with a lot of my followers. But then all of a sudden I was sitting there and I was like, well, if we're talking about best practices, we're being vulnerable at market and I'm navigating through market with a different lens.

And I was like, wait, what are the things that I've been trying to plug myself. [00:05:00] Maybe I need a, you or somebody else listening to be able to say, oh hey, did you try doing it this way? Like, I just listened to your podcast about the Instagram algorithm and how it's changing in 2025. Right? Like it's those little bits of those whispers that if you're able to honestly say to yourself, well that is a pain point and maybe the pain point is a fold in my bucket, and if I could figure out how to make the whole smaller, then maybe I could run a more efficient and better business.

So you caught that live in the moment for me. 'cause I was like, oh, somebody said something and I was like, oh, that's me. 

Don't you love it when you're, yeah, you, like you said, you're meant to teach someone else something. And then you're like, oh wow, wait a minute. That just hit home. That really is something that I need to actually think about in my own life and in my own business.

I literally saw it in your eyes at the moment and I, I loved it. And I think too, it honestly reminded me to be open to those things too. 'cause you get into this routine, like you said, where you're. Day to day, running your business, doing the things and you're like, wait a minute. I need to really stop and analyze these things and see [00:06:00] where there are holes in my bucket and how to fix those holes.

And sometimes it might just mean a whole new bucket that you need, right? Sometimes those holes just can't even be patched. You just need to sort of scrap what you're working on and then get something brand new. Not a brand new business, but a brand new path in your business. So I love that. And you also said something else to me, it wasn't during that conversation, but it was after the fact when you and I were chatting in the showroom, you said that you wanted to be the unicorn in the room.

And honestly, that's really powerful. So what does that phrase mean to you and how can other people bring that into their lives and their business? 

Yeah, so the unicorn like idea kind of came about again, another aha moment when this past February, I have a group of or some good friends that are podcast.

Posts and real estate agents, they represent four different boroughs here in New York City during Black History Month, and they had asked me, along with a JP Morgan Chase and a few other big businesses here in New York City to be sponsors of their launch of their [00:07:00] season. I was standing in a 10 and a half million dollar penthouse in Midtown East, and I was the only interior designer in the room of like over 150 people.

I wasn't just the interior designer standing in a beautifully designed penthouse. I was also one of the sponsors. Everybody thought that I designed the penthouse, so all night long I had to been like, not my work. It's beautiful. I didn't do it. But then it got to thinking, people were like, oh, he does this.

We're standing in a beautiful space. Then I stood there and I had this moment where I realized like I'm the unicorn in the room. And then that made me go a little bit deeper and look at like my networking, the rooms that I'm putting myself in, how I've dropped from LA into New York City post the pandemic over the course of the last three years.

How do we act as unicorns, even a room full of designers and be special in high point market and still stand out and other rooms like, you know, markets and conferences and things of that nature. So yeah, I mean, I don't know, the [00:08:00] unicorn thing just kind of was like I was standing in a room full of people, but yet I felt sparkly.

And you unique and like the only one. 

Okay, that's so cool. And I agree with all of that. And it's funny, even though you didn't design the space, people associated you as the interior designer and so you sort of, and not necessarily of that space, but just as an interior designer, right? So I think it just opens up a floodgate of ideas for me.

Like I tell a lot of my coaching students. If you're brand new and have done a lot of projects, put things that inspire you put hotels that inspire, you put travel destinations that inspire you, but to your point, when people see that on your IG or wherever and you in that room, they associate that with you.

So it's all about being in those spots and then finding those moments, like you said, that you can find those associations that really bring people from just like saying, oh, there's another person in the room to say, oh look, he's a fabulous designer in the room, and whether or not you designed that space or not, now they associate you with that and it opened up doors.

[00:09:00] Have you always embraced that uniqueness in yourself or was there a time when maybe you tried to blend in with, with other people? 

I've never fully blended in. I just think that like, so I got kind of roped in, maybe pulled into like one of those networking triangle pyramid businesses in my early twenties.

And honestly like I didn't make a ton of money out of it, but it was the biggest blessing. Because Patrick Mazer ended up being big VP in this organization, ended up becoming my mentor. He genuinely taught me how to network. He would send me out into the middle of the room with a mission and was like, okay, you've gotta answer these five questions.

Go talk to John and you've gotta come back and figure out how to give me these five details. How many kids does he have? Where does he live? How long has he been in the business? What does he do for a hobby? And then I just kind of broke my shell and like people watch me network. And they're just like, how do you just like throw yourself in a room?

And I was like, I don't know. It's just like I've just been taught to not stand on the wall. And then I've [00:10:00] been able to like apply that into the business and being able to be unique enough that like design is 90% of what we do, but there's the other magic portion, right? The portion that's like lifestyle, that's the travel, that's like the things that give me joy.

And I think that's the human connection. And I think that if we as designers can get and creatives get a little bit better at being vulnerable to just like put the business aside sometimes and be able to peek behind the curtain and be able to say like, these are the things that give me joy. These are the things that help me design your beautiful spaces.

And okay, there's, okay. There's two things there I have to dive into. First of all, first of all, the fact that you had this, it wasn't even really training that you saw at the time where someone threw you in. He threw you into that situation and it was like, okay, do this. It was like, here's the task, complete the task.

And the task was to find out more about a person so that you could start a [00:11:00] relationship with them and hopefully turn into a business relationship. I think that is so key for designers who are timid or shy or they're in, as you said, they're at High point or they're in some social networking space and they're like, oh God, I'm just gonna stand here in the corner.

Do nothing. Yeah. And you definitely don't do that. I've seen you out and about and you're shy isn't even in your vocabulary, first of all. And, and I don't think there's ever a conversation that you couldn't, you know, jump into or start. But I think that's something that a lot of designers don't have. A lot of designers just don't have that capability of jumping into those.

And I think it's because you have this skillset it sounds like, that, you know, parlayed itself into design. And I, I always say, you know, you can be the best designer in the world, but if you don't know how to speak to your customer before, during, and after that period, you're never gonna have business. So what advice do you have for people who are like, oh God no, I can't go into the bed group of people.

It's so intimidating. What would I even talk about? Do you have anything that you might, that you learned then that you could share now for people who are timid and scared? 

Yeah, I think that [00:12:00] one, figuring out what is making you scared. Like for me, like I grew up, you know, middle class never knew that even interior design was even an option.

A level of luxury was not really there. I found myself in Manhattan running a $30 million plus retail location and having to learn how to sales floor to cocktail waitering. I encourage people all the time, take a look at like your journey in life and those hard moments that you shied away from, or things that made you feel really, really small.

And I encourage people to go deeper into figuring out why did I feel like I wasn't worthy of that thing? Or why couldn't I speak to the $20,000 sofa and I lost the sale? I really encourage people to get off the wall and get into the middle of the room and start to identify the things within ourselves that we want and aspire to achieve.

And then in return, we have to [00:13:00] figure out how to build the road from where we are today to where the thing is that we want to achieve. And along that way, we're going to meet people in the hallway, in a big room, at a gala. And to me, if you treat each individual that you meet as a key holder, that's going to then unlock the next thing.

That's where the magic lies. And if you just stand against the wall and you never find and gather the keys, then you're never going to unlock the next level 

ease. I love that. Yeah. Get those keys and get into the middle of the roof and, and to your point, even though someone may not be the owner of the company or the CEO or even the decision maker, if they have an end to that person and you're at a cocktail party or a high point event and you're chatting with that person, and then that person becomes a.

Confidant and a friend and a supporter of you and a cheerleader, they could have the key to open that door to the next room. Right. So it's like, don't discount the person that you're speaking with. 

No, and it's not always a client potential. It could [00:14:00] be unlocking something within your business. It could be unlocking something.

Personally. It's that level of growth. I wish that in college and high school, they taught us how to network and be a little more social because everyone's got a different story. Everyone's got a different journey. If you can just grab the nuggets or the keys along the way and be able to physically apply them to yourself, my brand and my business is my everything.

I've tried really hard to unbundle the two, but as I'm learning something over here, I'm filling both buckets. That also makes sense. 

So for someone who says, okay, I don't even know what a conversation starter is, but do you have any practical advice for someone who, okay, I'm gonna take a deep breath and I'm gonna step into the middle of the room.

I'm going to speak to someone. Like, what would someone even begin to say to open up a conversation lane or open up a pathway to growth with that person? Do you have any things that you've used, any phrases or any like conversation? Is it a story about your life? Like what do you recommend for people to say, okay, here's how I'm going to start this [00:15:00] conversation and create a new relationship?

Yeah, 

so like I use New York City as an example, right? Like recently it was pouring, raining, didn't wanna get on the subway. You could easily use that as like an opener, right? Don't stay there. Allow the human connection, right? I'm not opening up. And if you look at like people in Europe, they don't talk about their business and like that's not the immediate thing that they're going to, right?

It's about the human connection. I'm so excited I'm here, but this rain, it kind of feels like you're, and doesn't the showroom feel the same way? And then it's like, oh my gosh, like the renovation. And then you start to be able to just break the barriers down. So for me it's a lot of that day to day doesn't always have to be about the weather.

It could just be about a simple experience. Like I had this great cup of coffee today and that's what got me to seven o'clock. And then they're like, oh my gosh, me too. And then you're able to just kind of make it person. 

That's so good. What I'm hearing is that it's about the human connection, not about any sort of expectations that you might [00:16:00] have about moving forward with that person in any other way.

And I think we all approach new relationships, whether it was business or personal or whatever. Yeah. With just finding that human connection. Right. That's key. 

The design is the bonus, and I've come to learn that later in life. You got the position, you are there. Okay, cool. Now I had to learn how to lead without that, and then I figured that moment out and then I moved and then moving and relocating from the west coast to the east coast.

But that story can only last but for so long. And it's like, okay, it's been two and a half, three years now. Like we can't talk about relocating anymore. So now you have to come up with the human connection. What else? I just came back from the south of France. Do we compare that to the, uh, it's the human part of life and then the design kind of happens around it.

Mm. Yeah, that's a wonderful way to approach any relationship. And even if you go into a consultation with a potential client with that same mentality, that mindset will lower the guard, I think of the client to say, [00:17:00] wow, like he's actually just a human being talking to another human being that, and we're here to solve a problem.

Yes. But we're just human beings at the end of the day. And I think so many of us get so timid about wrapping ourselves around this whole idea of, oh, this is a sales call, or this is a networking event. It's like, no, this is just humans in a room and interacting with each other as people on the planet.

Right. Is there a brand risk maybe, that you've taken that has paid off? Like what, what something that you've done to your brand. Obviously you moved from one, you know, coast to the other, but is there something that has really worked well for you as pivoting in your brand or changing in your brand and maybe one that you would do differently, perhaps?

Yeah, I mean, I feel like we're always pivoting. It's like the art of the pivot is like, you know, something to master. One thing that I invested in. When I first came back to New York, was investing into show houses, and I've done two, I don't know if I need to do another one anytime soon. 

They're not easy.

They're not easy, but it's like I went [00:18:00] into it with such a specific lens and there are these moments where it actually really allowed me without a client to showcase my range. And then coming back to the East Coast, there's a different sense of design on the East Coast and I've been away for so long, but making that investment again allowed myself to put myself on a platform where I could celebrate like my victories, my big and small wins.

It allowed me to showcase like what I was capable of. And I didn't go with the biggest room in the house. It was just like you could take the walk-in closet and still make an impact. You can take the pantry and still be able to a, place yourself within a neighborhood, align yourself with an organization, and then c, be able to create a genuine stream of potential clientele because people are going, and so I would say one of my words of advice would really be to kind of look at like where your marketing dollars are and what's going to give you a the, [00:19:00] it's not always about the biggest return.

Sometimes it's about the biggest exposure. 

Yeah, I love that too. The smallest room can make the biggest impact is a great thing to remember there. 

The bathroom on the fifth floor, like all the way in the solarium. Literally, it was like you opened up the door and there was 12 of us crammed in this bathroom with like rubber duckies floating in the bathtub and like we were all drinking champagne and taking selfies in the mirror and everyone, and like I had music.

Yeah. But it was like the it spot out of this 5,000 square foot house. 

Yeah. And even taking that further into your idea of going into the middle of the room, that room doesn't have to be a 20,000 square foot room. It could be a tiny little room, a bathroom like you're speaking about. And that room can make a big impact if the right people are in that space and if you approach it in the right way of just making that connection with everyone 

and learning how to have fun with it, right?

There's always this sense of like, you never know if you get there early enough and you take advantage of the cocktail hour, you could then maybe talk to somebody else that's at the other end of the table. You never know where the whispers [00:20:00] or the magic is gonna come from. 

The point is just get into, just get in that room, right?

That's the point. 

What are we actually genuinely working on and what big answers or small ones am I trying to work on or solving them? 

Yeah. And those holes in the bucket bring about the pivots that you mentioned earlier. And I think one pivot that I saw, one major visibility pivot with you recently was that high point market where, I mean, my God, Antonio, I feel like you were everywhere.

Every room that I walked in, you were there. Every event that I went to, you were there and you had a photographer that you brought with you. Your market presence was just magnificent. So what inspired you to go to that level of intention with what you did at the last market? 

Yeah, I think that it's like one, somebody walked up to me last year and called me a thought leader in the industry and that really like woke me up.

And I also think the second thing that kind of allowed me to go a little bit deeper and allow my voice to be a little louder was at Lu Ann's conference in [00:21:00] Orlando where you were on stage and somebody had walked up to me in the lobby and thought that I was a speaker. And so they were like, oh my gosh, I can't wait to hear you speak.

And I was like, I'm attending the same way that you are. And they're like, oh my gosh. Like I was really hoping like I saw you in the light and I thought that you were gonna like be dropping gems. And I was like, that's amazing. And so then like that started to like wake me up and realize that like my journey and my story matters and that like if I can bring the bar down a little bit lower, if I can be a door opener for somebody else that genuinely wants to tap into their mindfulness practice, wants to understand how it starts at home, and that we can curate a space that then I can go out into the world and be better, right?

If I can be on stage and inspire and encourage somebody to just like not give up onto their brand or their business, like to me, that's huge. And so we kind of started digging a little deeper into some of that like legacy work and what does my brand really mean to me? And I [00:22:00] think some of that had to do with unbundling my personal identity with what the brand really was.

Hmm. 

Interesting. Well, I think it's so cool that you, you say someone came up and asked you that, but I think it's because now I know it's because you put out who you are at all times, and when you are yourself at all times, you're putting your best foot forward. You're, you know, looking as if you belong in that space.

And whether you realize it in your mindset or not yet you do, and more people should go into that with that approach. Because if you go into a space knowing who you are, knowing what you bring, and then sometimes it does take someone else to say, well, okay, actually I have you on this pedestal. You know, like you're here and you didn't know that yet.

I think that's a wonderful realization to come to. So when someone's looking at all of that and they're trying to maybe make their brand presence more intentional, what does that really look like in practice? What do you do specifically? Let's get tactical with this. Like what do you do specifically to elevate your brand presence in your own business?

What are some things that some people might do in their own? [00:23:00] 

Yeah, I mean, I've accidentally ordered like. Over 1500 plus five by seven postcards two years ago for High Point, instead of ordering regular post like regular business cards. Okay. They've kind of become my staple now, like where I've read these oversized postcards that are actually, they're like really great branding moments where like I put my face on the back of it just like a real estate agent would.

It's an opportunity to showcase my work. I just kind of self-publish my own coffee table book, which has become a really great marketing tool because it allows me to just like show the breadth and depth of my work. My work is unique in the sense that none of it is really the same. I've had some very unique clients from, you know, a rabbi to Bachelor to a family of five and like how do we meet those moments?

But I think that being able to celebrate myself in my portfolio, it's allows me to talk about the mindfulness practice in a beautiful way because it allows people to [00:24:00] say, oh, like. I can resonate with these little things along the way. And now I just feel like there's so much happening in the world. The design that we have to put our personal touch on it, there's no like cookie cutter, like designer in a box.

And so I've just gotten used to, I, I don't know. I mean, I guess I've, I've figured out a way to keep putting the portfolio and the storytelling forward. 

Yeah. And I'm almost, 

I just found a bagel place in New York City, I believe it is. And I just went down the rabbit hole on their marketing strategy and how it's like lifestyle and video, and it's like people in Tribeca like dancing, but like, there's nothing about bagels on their entire Instagram page, 

but it's 

like all lifestyle, right?

Yeah. So I just have like really dove deep into like the lifestyle, the mindfulness, and then be able to just celebrate it and feel really good about it. 

It's kind of fun too, right? When you start to explore new things that other people aren't doing and, and to me, if you're doing [00:25:00] the same thing everyone else is doing, how the heck are you gonna stand out to someone in that mix of everybody?

Because there's a lot of designers in New York. Yeah, there's a lot of designers in LA where I live. There's a lot of designers across the world and the country. So it's like you have to find that thing to stand out and, and again, I'm getting these takeaways from you. My takeaway was you're the unicorns literally in the room.

And then sometimes you make yourself the unicorn by standing out with literally the pieces of paper that you have this oversized postcard and your self-published coffee table book. I think those are really unique ways. Two stand out in the mix of the sea of sameness that we see. Tell me about this coffee table.

I think it's fantastic for people who want to market themselves. So how did that come about? Because I think that is something that people are gonna want to know more about. How did you do it? Why did you do it? What are the results from that? Tell me all about it. 

Because I was standing in a room that was way bigger than myself and I was talking to this executive.

He was super fired up and he looked me like dead in the face and he was like, so like, what do you have that's like [00:26:00] really unique for me to put in my office? And I was like, oh, I've got this coffee table book. Like it just, it showcases my range and all my work. And he is like, great, like how do I get like 30 copies of that?

So like now I needed to go home and like actually like do the work and like figure out how to self-publish this moment. And so I found a company called Blurb Online and they actually give you an ISBN number and they have their own like online bookstore. It's not necessarily the place that I would stick with forever, but it was a great start.

Like my profit margin is decent but it's really not about the profit because one, one of those could turn into like one of my biggest projects yet. So like it's just part of my marketing dollars at the moment. But yeah, it's a great start and it was easy enough to produce and to do it myself. And you know, I ordered like.

150 of them, and I carry one with me at all times and I just strategically talk about it. And I think that's the thing that we have to get comfortable with. And that's the thing I love about you, [00:27:00] John. It's like when you're talking about your clients, your brand, your business, like again, you light up like the journey.

I mean, looking at you with like your most recent client with the baby's nursery, right? Like you, it, it comes from the inside and it just like you illuminate. And to me there's something that then like resonates with other people, whether or not it's a designer or a future client or somebody that's then gonna refer you to their neighbor, right?

Yeah. Because it's like you're excited about it. And I think so often we get lost in the bucket and they're trying to fill the holes in the bucket that we're actually forgetting to celebrate the thing that we're really called to do. 

And if you don't have the passion in what you're doing, then why even do it?

Why? If you're not loving it, then just stop fi or find a way to fix it. And I think, as you said, one of those holes could be, why don't I have the joy in my business? Did I have the joy in the beginning? Where did it go? Why did it leave? And your coffee table book is just a brilliant idea, [00:28:00] a brilliant idea.

And for someone who had, I had a publisher publish mine, I can tell you I've not. You know, I'm not like running to the bank every day with a check to deposit from this. This is, even mine that was not self-published is a marketing tool. So I love that you're using it as that, which is exactly why I wanted to even get a book published and it same mindset, right?

So, you know, looking back I'm like, well, maybe I should have gone Antonio's route and just self-published it myself. I, instead of going to a publisher. But, but I think your point behind it is it is a tool to introduce yourself in a kind of a nonchalant way. I find it very easy. I leave it at consultations with clients.

I send it out as gifts to some people, right? So for me it's a great icebreaker for people and I'm sure the same for you it sounds like. 

Yeah, and I mean, talk about the whisper and putting myself in the room. Like I invested in myself to be at louann's Conference for Health and Wealth. You spoke and I like, again, it's like you feel like everyone's got a coffee table book, but your relationship to your coffee table book is something that's [00:29:00] so different than I've experienced with like a handful of other designers.

And there's a passion, there's a joy. There's like the way that you speak about your book and journey that you went on to produce your book and how you use your book as a marketing tool. Like those are those nuggets in the gems that like I took in and then like I stored and I processed. And then I was like, oh.

And maybe that's the reason why it effortlessly came out in the middle of this conversation though. I was like, oh yeah. Like we could figure that out and you know, but again, it's, it's resonating with the joy, with the human connection with your journey and like how much dedication you put in to producing your book and how much your book really means to you.

Yeah. And yours to you. It means the same to all of us. And I think the part that resonated with you when I was speaking about it was like the storytelling behind it, right? The story of why I did it, why I wanted to do it, what I'm doing with it now, how I, for me, it changed in the beginning it was very like a, you know, narcissistic kind of a thing.

And then it turned into like, no, [00:30:00] no. John, this has to help. This has to do something bigger than that. You have to, you're not gonna go through all this subterfuge just to have a book come out for the hell of it. Right. You need to have a book that means something. But it was because of storytelling. And you're great at using storytelling like you said.

So why do you think storytelling matters in today's sort of branding game that we have? What is the important, and I just had Jude Charles on the podcast last week, and Jude is fantastic with storytelling obviously. And I was like, God, I really need to up my storytelling game, which is not even a game with me.

Why do you think storytelling matters in today's world with marketing and branding? 

I just think we're inundated with so much that like there's no right way to do it. Yeah. And I think that the more that you study the storytelling, I just had this conversation with my coach. I have a business coach, and I was sitting there and I was talking about outsourcing my newsletter and I was like, I have this vision, I have the inspiration.

And he straight up just was like, you don't need to hire her. You just need to be more disciplined. [00:31:00] And he was like, no, like for real. Like it's your voice, it's your vision. Like why are you going to outsource it? He was just like, it just needs to be a thing. That's part of your cadence, it's part of your storytelling.

And I was getting so lost in the sauce, meaning that I wanted the newsletter to be the blog, and it was a couple years ago where blogging still was kind of have really great momentum and I'm just not a blogger, but I'm realizing and I'm teaching myself the short form of storytelling. Even the way I use my reels.

Some of my reels are like three minutes long. They're like small videos and I use them a little differently, even though I might not get the 50,000 views, but the three or 5,000 that I'm getting, I'm hoping that they really land and that the people and I can see that they're staying, they're watching the whole, it's the storytelling.

It's the thing that makes me a little bit more unique. It's about experience and it's about the vulnerability and kind of breaking through the barriers and trying to figure out how to be successful in this industry. 

[00:32:00] Yeah, that's really good. And I think it is important to, again, find ways to stand out if everyone's doing a, not that we're doing dancing reels anymore, some people are, I hate them, but if you're doing a dancing reel and every, you're copying everyone else's dance, it's like, why do that?

Or if you're looking at, you know, Antonio and thinking like, okay, I'm gonna copy him. No, don't do that. Find aspects of it that relate to you, but find the ways like Antonio's done to make it difference, which is great. I love what you do. You're always just sort of like bucking the system in a lot of ways with how you put things out there.

And I think that is what makes you the unicorn in the room. You've also collaborated with a lot of different platforms and brands and so forth, and had a lot of partnerships with them, and I think that is a goal. So what do you think the secret is to building partnerships like that? I 

think it's two things.

One, not being afraid to ask for it, and two, consistently showing up as yourself on a good day, on a bad day. Again, like going back to that networking. Training that I had, [00:33:00] Patrick always said to me, be excited even if you have nothing to be excited about. And so often life is just can be heavy and we have to figure out how to take the deep breath and shake it all off and come into the room as your most authentic self.

And I think that that's the thing that people will resonate with. And I just recently received a client referral from a fabric vendor where I've met her two or three times, but every time I met her I was consistently Antonio. And you think about how many interior designers this one fabric vendor comes across, especially in New York City.

So then to have a girlfriend being like, Hey, you're in textiles. What designer would you recommend? And for her to give my name means that like. I didn't think I was making that big of an impact on her enough to stand out to hundreds of other designers. But it was all because authentically, like I show up as my [00:34:00] best self on a good day or a bad day, my assistant says it all the time.

She's just like, even when you're having a bad day and you walk outta the room and like, God, I didn't give my best. And she's like, you still gave like way more than you thought you did. And I just think over time it's just because it's like, it's my baby. It's the thing that like really means a lot to me.

But without the business and unbundling the two, all you have is your, is yourself. Right? Is like, is your integrity. 

Yeah. And you're showing up as yourself genuinely at all times, authentically as you. And that resonates with people for design projects that are potential or resonates with those potential partnerships with, you know, KBIs or coverings or whatever.

Right? So all those things are. It kind of rolled into one. If you are showing up as your best self, and I do the same thing, whatever is in front of me at that moment, I don't care if there's like, you know, things blowing up beside me, I can literally focus on what's there in front of me. Yeah. Because at that time I've committed to that.

Right. We've committed to that time and we've committed to that space, so that should be what matters at that point. [00:35:00] Right. I kind of put those blinders on and I go in, I'm like, Nope, you're here for this. Do this and do it. Well, and I think that's a key part of what you just said. 

Yeah. For you with storytelling, which I again, I think you're great at, like do you have a tool in your tool belt that you always like reach for or one that's like evolving and like your storytelling today?

Yeah, I do. One thing I do is I have a note section in my phone and I keep anything that pops into my head during the day. Simple things like I was walking my dog the other day and this crazy neighbor didn't have their dog on a leash, and then the dog. Try to attack my dog. I don't know how this is gonna work into a story, but I feel like there's something here to share.

So I'll just put those notes in my phone and then I'll just revisit those during my coffee time in the morning where I'm just sitting watching the news and holding the dog and going through my phone. I'm like, oh my God, one client just said this to me. That is what that story could apply to. So then I'll kind of put it into this recesses of my mind and I'll pull it out during conversations with people.

So I kinda have this like, uh, list [00:36:00] of things in my head where I'm like, oh, that's a story about overcoming obstacles. Or there's a story about when a design project went wrong, or how am I, and it doesn't even have to be exactly related to that if it corresponds with the lesson that I'm trying to tell the other person or the outcome that I had from that.

So that's, that's what I do. It's really simple for me, honestly. That's cool. Yeah. 

One other thing I started doing is collaging in Pinterest. I've never been a Pinterest person. Yeah. The thing that comes Pinterest girly, even though that doesn't apply. Right. And it's like they're like obsessed with Pinterest.

And so Pinterest has got a new feature now that's collaging and you can actually kind of create these like whiteboards and be able to just like create collages, kind of will then attach a visual to what this story telling is. Perfect. Or tell from there. 

I love that. That's great. Yeah. So it all depends on how you operate.

If visual is your way to go, then that's a great tool. I mean, God knows we don't need one more piece of tech in our lives, but that one sounds pretty easy to Yeah, that one's super [00:37:00] easy. 

And it was like with this new potential client, all I got is a white box in Tribeca. Yeah, I know. I'm kind of downloading them.

But then something on my last vacation kind of like came up and then I was like, where Like I wanted to create a different kind of mood board, right. And next I found myself on a train creating this collage that then came out to be more lifestyle. And I gave them three in front of them and they were like, this feels more like us.

See, and you cannot turn that designer brain off no matter ever. Oh, you try, right? You can't. 

Someone's I'm like, I would love it. I'm like, literally like in the south of France and I'm like, so the umbrella edge and the lead width and the pillow, and I'm like, I can't turn it off. It never goes off. 

You're like me.

So yeah, I can't turn off my design brain, nor can I turn off my entrepreneurial business brain. I know. It's like, just please take a rest. Please take a break. You're working overtime. It's like two in the morning. I don't need to think about this at all. So when someone's thinking about showing up more, like [00:38:00] we're talking about whether it be publicly in that room or whether it be, you know, trying to get a brand partnership, is there a point in your business where you felt like this was the right time to start doing that?

Let's say they're in their first year and they're like, okay, I want to do this down the road. Is, is there a marker of when that should happen? And then maybe someone's on the other end of the spectrum, Antonio, where they're like, okay, I've. Been doing design for 20 years and I've never done this. Is it time, was there an instance where you felt like, now's the time to do this, now is the time to be more public facing with my brand to reach out for more partnerships?

Yeah, so I, the partnerships feel really overwhelming, right? And it's like learning how to approach them, but then also realizing that, so I looked at it through a lens when I started, was that the brands that are saying yes to advertising with, let's just say Luxe Magazine. Mm-hmm. Those are the brands that I want on my Rolodex and like those that I'm sourcing from.

I looked at an advertising lens and a level of [00:39:00] luxury, and I would say, okay, if you're willing to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars advertising with this magazine, who are the readers of that magazine? Does that reader of that magazine then align to who my ideal client is? Can I use that product within my line list and assortment of my offering?

Then I started looking at that collage of individuals and brands and then figured out how can I plug myself into those brands to then find like-minded people that I could spread the good news to. Mm-hmm. And that's where like from like an integral thing, it was like choosing the right brands is also almost just like saying yes to the right clients and how can we have synergy and create excitement around whether or not it's a piece of furniture around creating a panel discussion.

And it all boils down to building community. And so I just think that like finding the right brands and the low hanging [00:40:00] fruit, it doesn't have to necessarily mean a licensing agreement. It could be like, Hey, let's like host this breakfast, right? Mm-hmm. Let's say yes to, I'm here anyway. I'm not gonna get paid for it.

But I really would appreciate the exposure. So starting to pay attention to like how can we get a little bit more exposure? And sometimes that just starts with saying yes and not getting paid for it. 

But was that something that you did year one, year five, year 10? Like when did you feel that urge to do that and when did you feel that you had that confidence to do that?

I feel like it was part of, in the move back to New York for over five years now and living in LA I have more friends in la you being one of them now that I don't even live there, which is crazy. And when I was in LA I was in this bubble. I realized that I was like designer that was being passed around by celebrity clientele.

I was on a bunch of NDA, so like I really couldn't talk about the work and like kind of became the local neighborhood designer and there was [00:41:00] nothing wrong with that. I was making good money and I was happy there when I landed into a place like New York City and I realized that there was an opportunity to have a louder voice, have a little bit of impact and influence, maybe have a different level of creativity.

Participate in some fun events, like what's new, what's next? Or what does it mean to be a brand ambassador? We're creating the content anyway, so why not Like ask them if I can create content for you. And I think that that's kind of really helped over the years, but it was kind of midway through. It wasn't year one.

I was too afraid year one. Finally I realized that I was starting to figure it out. 

I like that though. But again, if someone's listening, they're like, okay, maybe they only see a licensing deal as the thing that they want to do. There's so many, as you said, steps, so many other 

options. 

So many with, with honestly less headache and more exposure.

Right? Let's just be honest about it. I'll just say like, I've done things where I'm like, Nope, I would, I would've done better just doing this [00:42:00] simpler path and getting more exposure from that, because sometimes that brand ambassadorship or that simple partnership with a brand of, as you said, hosting a dinner or breakfast or working with them in some capacity.

Turns into a lot more than just, you know, having a deal, a, a licensing deal. Also too, we're so fixated on, just in my opinion, this is my opinion on print. We're so fixated on that when sometimes the digital version gets way more eyeballs on it than that print version would have ever gotten. But as designers, were so kind of focused on that area, but I've gotten way more exposure from an elder decor on digital versus an elder core in print, for instance.

So to me it's like adjusting your mindset to say, yeah, there are other options out there that are viable, but even sometimes way better than what we have, have, 

and not being afraid to go for it. Right? It's like when I landed in apartment therapy, my neighbor in la, big influencer, phenomenal photographer, she's all the way dialed in.[00:43:00] 

Then she was like, well, if you're gonna do mine, why don't you do my neighbor? My neighbor is an interior designer. And then I was like, oh. And then I met a few people during the pandemic that I had just reached out to apartment therapy and ended up getting huge exposure. Another girlfriend of mine was just on home worthy, I believe it is.

They've got a YouTube channel in seven days, 145,000 views on this video. But yet we're so fixated on like trying to get into print, but there are so many other ways that you can partner with a brand. That doesn't mean that we need to have this elaborate contract and do all of this work and hope that like it's gonna turn into like my face at the front of target.

There are so many other ways that we can partner with brands and like charity events. Doing design on a dime, supporting housing works. I've participated for three years. We have to curate $40,000 in donations. That takes brand partnership, brand loyalty, and then in return, how am I celebrating their yes to me for the charity, right?

So like [00:44:00] sometimes just saying yes to a really good cause could then get you out of your box in your bubble to just be vulnerable. It's not about you, it's about doing the good thing. And sometimes brands respond to that and that could just open up the door for more. 

Well, I mean, you're design on a dime.

Let's just say what it turned into. You were on. Watch what happens Live with Dany Cohen. That's a big deal like that. It's a huge thing. And you probably didn't expect that going into it, I'm assuming. I don't know. Maybe you did. 

I mean, I was supposed to be in Chicago that afternoon with the Black Interior Designer Network and I moved my flights up.

But that was all just because like it was a solid Yes. It was like it was a hell yes for me to participate in that. And now it's a staple for us and we participate every year. So this is the third year. I would've never thought that Nai Italia would've turned around and wanted to give me like over $30,000 worth of furniture.

And then that opened up a door at High Point. So you just never know where, just that simple yes can come from. I've done, you know, celebrating for Earth Day two years ago with Jen [00:45:00] Air celebrating the largest urban garden in Newark, New Jersey. So we had them come in, we put together a whole plant and event with Gen Air and it cost everybody nothing.

And it was just really great exposure. But again, we did a good thing. And so you would never think a luxury brand and refrigeration and appliances could turn into celebrating an urban garden in Newark, New Jersey. 

So cool. The interesting part is sometimes you can and probably should try to go to a brand with an idea, with a partnership concept, right?

Maybe like say, Hey, this is what we need. In our industry. Do you think you're the person to bring this to the world and bring this out there? I'm here to help you. Here's what I think we should do. I think if you come to them with a solution, they're really more apt to say, yeah, let's do this. Let's talk about that.

Right? Yeah, 

a hundred percent. It's like, you know, if you've got a bestie that's a floral designer and there's an the niche, come in with the idea and then find the synergy. Right? You know, find the vendor that [00:46:00] like you're absolutely in love with, and then figure out like what the low hanging fruit is and what could be attractive for them to make it a hell yes for them.

And then in return, like it's a win-win for both. 

Yeah. You grab that low hanging fruit and before you know it, you're on top of the tree with all the apples in your hands. 

You just never know where the yeses are gonna come from. But come in with the big ideas. Don't be afraid to like dream and vision of like, what does a wine tasting look like in my favorite tile shop?

Right. You never, everyone's got a marketing budget and like, why can't you be a part? 

Yeah. Well speaking of vision, you often say vision, brand execution. Break that down for us. How do you apply that in your life and your business daily? What does that mean to you? 

Yeah, so like big vision, I'm always three to six months out.

And then that also kind of starts nuggets of planning. What can we do better, bigger, and different next year? And I'm growing as an individual. I'm in a different place in my life where I was when I started. And so [00:47:00] that's exciting and leaning into that level of excitement, right? So if we can identify the individual, the brand, the vision, and always aligning ourselves to the mission.

Because the thing I always say is that there's power in your purpose. So if you can start to really, uh, make that a non-negotiable, that there's a mission at hand and that there's power in my purpose, then everything else will start to line up. Don't feel like you need to change your logo every year.

Fall in love with it, get it done, and like. Put it out into the world, right? Figure out like what the vision looks like and allow it to evolve, but then give yourself the mood board to be able to paint the picture of like, what does Q4 look like? What does Q1 of next year look like? What does that look like for me?

How do I show up? Do I get excited about fall market And if I'm getting excited about fall market, what could that really Then like is it the big stage for spring? Like always thinking three to six months out but always putting myself in the boat 

for someone who is like, I can't think that [00:48:00] far ahead.

I'm only in the moment. Do you actually write these things down? How do you like log this goal for your vision that you have? 

Yeah, I'm always creating like a vision board at the top of the year. 

Is that your key to vision board? Okay. 

Yeah. I actually created like a vision board. I put myself in the middle of it 'cause I'm part of the equation.

I think so often, like we do these like mood boards and vision boards and we don't always like include ourselves in it. Um. So I definitely always do that. And I set myself goals for Q1, Q2, just like any big corporation does from financial goals to social media and like status goals of like viewership and like, like right now I'm down from where I was last month.

Last month we were at like one 40 something and this month we're dropping down to like 75. I'm like, what is the difference? Is it because I'm not creating the reels? Like what is it? And so I try and set these markers as checkpoints in Q1, Q2, [00:49:00] Q3, Q4, that then allow the business to continue to evolve and grow and allow somebody else to feel the shift and the change.

'cause it's gradual. It doesn't happen overnight. 

Yeah, that's great. I mean, we did our panel, I believe you were the one who brought that up of like we were talking about what to do at the end of the year as far as. You know, looking back and maybe finding those holes in your bucket, what I'm hearing from you there and now is saying no, do that on a regular basis quicker, like quarterly at at minimum, I think to do that.

And then when you do that, you can start to plug those holes up before they turn into full on, before your bucket's completely empty, right? 

Yeah, exactly. You know, and I think it's having a really great relationship and I think in moving, one of the biggest blessings in moving back from LA to New York for me was that like I had to unbundle myself from the brand and the business.

Like Antonio was Antonio DeLoatchitte's designs, and that was it. It was just like I was the business, the business was me. And in moving back and having to kind of expand the business into a new territory, [00:50:00] I've now expanded into DC this year, and I've got a small office shared with a general contractor in Rockville.

I've had to allow myself to paint a bigger picture to go out and buy a bigger piece of canvas. Because otherwise we're just limiting ourselves. Right. And I think that in allowing myself to really identify like who is like this almost 40 something year old individual, right? That's separate from the business that's 11 years old.

Oh, that is so interesting and intriguing to me because I think we do get wrapped up in it because, hello, our name is on the door. Right. That's, yeah. You kind of, you kind of have to be involved in so many ways, but was there any habits that you stopped doing or started doing or anything that you maybe internally had to change to sort of level up to that, to, to extract yourself from it?

Like was there something that you were like every day doing that you're like, this is making me totally enshrine with my business when I really need to pull that away. Are there any habits that you had to [00:51:00] stop doing or start doing? 

I think starting was the meditation and the yoga practice like that really gave me a sense of purpose and clarity within myself and my own body was just like, okay, like I'm not just always showing up as the interior designer or as the thought leader or the expert.

Like I'm able to authentically like feel like myself, which was really great. And I think there's something be said, like we talk about like riding, a lot of times we get the question of like, what would you tell yourself advice wise from like five or 10 years ago? And I always talk about the rollercoaster, this entrepreneurial rollercoaster that nobody ever really tells us how to ride.

They just like get on, it's gonna be amazing. And then we're on it and then we're like, we're in the low, but nobody ever tells us how to like be in the low. And that low for me was when the phone stopped ringing, when I was like moved from LA to New York. And so I had to figure out how to celebrate the wins, the victories, and the things that I have accomplished.

That all that [00:52:00] magic happened when I started to unbundle myself from the business and then really be able to celebrate myself. 

I love that more people need to do that. Yes, you are a part of your business and a business is a part of you, but if you don't make time for yourself and all the ways that matter, you're not gonna show up for your business in the ways that matter for your business.

It's as simple as that. Yeah. Uh, okay. It is time Antonio for Drop It Like It's Hot. This is our bonus round segment where I'm gonna ask you some questions and you're gonna tell me the first thing that comes to mind. Now, I wrote this first question because I know you love fashion and I see you, your pet will be dressed all the time.

So what is your go-to outfit when you want to feel unstoppable? 

So, my unstoppable outfit, I do love a great tuxedo jacket. Okay. But I think my go-to is a crisp white dress shirt, a blazer, a pair of jeans, and like a great loafer. Okay. And I had to get in the way of like. Jeans can be luxurious, like the right fit [00:53:00] of jeans.

So something about just a crisp white dress shirt, like I can take over the world. 

Yeah. I have a friend who, that's his, literally his outfit for any flights that he takes for flying on a plane is a crisp white dress shirt, a jacket and jeans. And it is like he, I'm like, really? On a plane? He is like, you never know who's watching.

So I love that. Never know. Yeah. Now I hate design trends, but you know, as designers we're forced to answer these questions to the magazines and so forth, and they're inevitable. There are trends that we see happening whether we like it or not. Whether it's started by someone on television or started by someone in their home on a DIY or whatever.

Is there, does there happen to be anything that you see out there now that you're actually liking or loving? And the answer can be no. But I'm just curious if there's something that you're seeing that you're like, well, that's so bad. 

So I've gone back and forth and I, again, the download kind of came to me recently.

So this whole like maximalism moment that's like trending. Was like, okay, I get it and I can appreciate it, but I had to have like my own relationship to [00:54:00] it. And I kind of, I guess I'm calling it like curated modern 'cause I, like my fiance keeps telling me that I'm a maximalist and I'm like, I don't think I am.

I'm really more curated. But I think that we're getting better again at the storytelling and encouraging our clients to add the extra layers. Um, so maximalism to a certain relationship of like, we can go there, but I'm not putting the same color drapery as the wallpaper. 

Alright. Alright. I like this. I like this.

Do you have a dream brand collaboration while you're inspo board? Do you have anything that you would, any brand that you were like, yes, I really would love to work with them. 

So one brand that I'm happy that's kind of back is Mitchell Golden, Bob Williams. I have like fallen in love with like their aesthetic, their lines, like they do upholstery really well.

They do case goods really well. Um, and so I think that it would be really great and I've always paid attention to brands [00:55:00] that like are able to do both, that are able to do case good and tell this whole story from case good to upholstery. Like a Bernhard, a Lee Industries, right? Like, so I think those probably would be like in my top three.

I've always loved, like if I had a collection that I would want it to be a full room, right? Like that I could do the case good and the upholstery and tell that whole story. I like that. Chad a really great job. Benjamin Johnson. I love his collection with Chad at home. And again, it's like Case good mixed with the dining chair, with the dining table.

Um, played be my top four envisioning. 

Okay, well it's out in the world now and we'll girl. Yes, this, if you follow the secret, this is, we just put it out there. So here you go. Is there a design tool that you can't live without? One that you love, one that you swear by, one that you're like, yes. I mean, is it the new Pinterest thing that you mentioned earlier?

I don't know. Is there something that you're like, this is a great design tool and if someone took it away, I would be really pissed. 

So I think [00:56:00] one that I'm learning how to use with my new iPhone is the VR technology and learning how to scan the room in three dimensional renderings myself on that initial consultation.

And I think once I master it that it'll be my new design tool. 

You'll love it. I use it there all the time. It is my favorite thing. It saves so much time and energy and money, honestly. So, yes, exactly. Good. Yes. Keep going that You'll love it. You'll love it. I give that a thumbs up. And lastly, number five, is there one thing that every designer needs to stop doing?

Like stop doing it like yesterday. Is there anything that comes to mind that we need to stop doing? If 

there's a laundry list of things that we probably should stop doing in this industry, cow high rugs for whatever reason, like really get to me. Like I just would love to stop seeing cow hide rugs out there.

Um, that's a random one, but yes. Um, artwork placement where it's like not eye level and it's like super high is also like another big pet peeve of mine. And I really want [00:57:00] people to have a better relationship to art. I think those might be my top two. 

Okay. That works. That works. Perfect. Uh, I love this conversation.

I'm curious, you share a lot before we close out, is there something that you are really, really proud of that maybe you don't share that often? 

Something that I am really proud of that I don't share that often, I think, so I just took a two week vacation and before that I actually sat down with my notebook and my mood board and I had accomplished everything that I set out to accomplish for this entire year by May.

Okay. 

And then I was like, oh my God, what do we do on the back half of this year? So I'm kind of in this really beautiful place of trying to navigate and figure out the next, and that just goes into visioning and planning and celebrating yourself, and just really being able to stay the course. That level of consistency is huge.

So that's my whisper to whoever's listening today, is really look at how [00:58:00] consistent you are with chasing the dream, the vision be, or small, and to continue to believe that there's power in your purpose. 

Period. End of story with that. That's it. Yeah. Yeah. Oh my God. I've loved this conversation and I know everyone else has too.

For those listening who maybe want to find out more about you, who want to maybe buy a copy of your book, like how can they get into your world? Tell, tell them where to tell them where to find you. 

Yeah. So TikTok, LinkedIn, Instagram, Antonio DeLoatch Design. I answer all of my dms. So I've got, you know, you've got a question slide into our dm, send me an email, send me a note.

The bigger the community, the better. And again, it's all possible. And we're here, John included, to kind of break down the barriers and show that it is cap that we're capable of doing it together. 

Yeah, that's well said. And we do it together every single day and just continue to do that. So Antonio, thank you for such a [00:59:00] real and honestly generous conversation with what you shared.

I think you reminded all of us that there's vulnerability, clarity, and reinvention that we can bring into our lives. And they're not weaknesses, they're actually power moves if you bring them in in the right way. Right? So thank you for being here today and for everyone listening, plug those holes in your bucket that we talked about, right?

Elevate your presence and get visible. Get in the middle of that room, like Antonio said, Antonio, I've loved it. Thank you for being here, my friend. 

Thank you for having me again. Get a great relationship with your bucket. Fill the holes. And I'm excited to continue our conversation. Thank you for today. 

I think there might be a part two coming soon.

All right. Thanks, Antonio. 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 bestie. This is not about paint colors or pendant lighting. It's about building a business that's both visible [01:00:00] 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 brilliance 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.