Sarah: Alrighty! Good morning, everybody. Welcome to Biz Talk! We have a great guest today who is going to help us all when it comes to redesigning your space. Let's get started.

Kelsi: We lost her. There she is!

Sarah: Hey!

Mary Beasley: I'm sorry.

Glyna: I'm like, "Well, that's a first." We lost our guest before we started!

Sarah: For a minute I thought we were going to have a no-show.

Mary Beasley: No!

Glyna: Well, good morning, everybody. How are you ladies doing?

Kelsi: Just fine.

Sarah: We are good.

Glyna: Good. Now you got me laughing so my face is red. That's a good way to start it off. All right, this is a great day in the Fusion One Lounge today. We are so excited to have a special guest. I'm Glyna Humm, and I wanted to introduce the other marketing gurus here. We have Sarah Gilliland and we have Kelsi Munn, and we are having so much fun in this Biz Talk series being able to share some tips and info from different business people. And before we get started Sarah, could we see where our broadcasts are?

Sarah: Yes, you got it. Okay guys, don't forget that we go live every week on Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter. You can always catch our Marketing and a Mic, awesome podcast, and don't forget to follow us on Instagram and LinkedIn, and I want to remind you guys all to subscribe to our YouTube channel. Let me tell you, we put out such good information every single week, so you have got to subscribe.

Glyna: Yes, definitely. Well, we are so excited about our guest today, and I think we may even have another special guest if I saw out of the corner of my eye. We have Mary Beasley here with Let's Be Frank Designs. Good morning, Mary!

Mary Beasley: Good morning. Thank you for having me on. I'm excited!

Glyna: And do we have another special guest?

Mary Beasley: Oh, yes. Look, this is Frank.

Kelsi: Hey bud!

Glyna: Introduce Frank.

Mary Beasley: Yes, this is Frank. He's my little guy and he's kind of who inspired the business in general. So, I can explain that a little bit more, but I'll let him go. I just wanted to let him say hello.

Glyna: That is so adorable. Frank, you're such a good guy!

Mary Beasley: He is. All right go, Frank!

Glyna: Everybody's like "Frank, Frank." We do have some early birds this morning here, Mary joining us. Uh-Oh. Maybe he's not too happy. He wanted to stay on?

Mary Beasley: Okay, sorry. His toenail got hung in my sweater! He's good.

Glyna: Poor guy. He's like "Lord".

Mary Beasley: I promise I don't abuse him. He just got caught in my sweater!

Glyna: I wasn't even going to say anything. I was... No, believe me, I know that dog is not abused. If any of you follow Mary on social media, that dog is the most loved little guy out there. And he's very lucky to have Mary as his Mama. We do have some early birds joining us this morning. We have Lavon Chaney, Melissa Dixon, we have Melissa Keck, we have Ashley Lemley and Cindy Edmunds, and Cindy's like, "Frank is too cute." Well, why don't we get started, Mary? And why don't you just tell us a little bit about how you got started in interior design?

Mary Beasley: Okay. So, I think it's always been in my DNA, and always been in my background. My mom was part of Home Interiors in the 80s. She sold that product and so we were constantly changing our home and we were putting up new wallpaper and painting the kitchen pink. I mean just craziness, but I was always helping her, but I think she brought out the creative passion in me. So, it's always been there. But after college, I became a teacher first and I was constantly helping my fellow teachers redecorate their homes, and designing for them. And then fast forward to a few years ago, I was still decorating for friends and they were like, "Mary, why don't you turn this into a business? You could do well at this." And they just kind of pushed me to take the leap of faith and to start the business. And I've now turned this passion into a paycheck. And it's been so rewarding.

Glyna: Well it's been really fun watching you, that's for sure. Well, we are so happy that you're here with us today.

Sarah: Yeah, absolutely. So, we got a glimpse of Frank and so we want to know if you've noticed that Let's Be Frank Designs is this... I love the name of your company, it's so cool. What inspired you to want to name your business Let's Be Frank Designs? And what's the meaning behind that tagline?

Mary Beasley: Well, first of all, I sought out some wise counsel before I started the business, and they were like, "Get your logo and your name first and then let that follow." And so I did that I thought...Okay, what is it when we're decorating, we just genuinely need someone, to be honest about our home decor and whether we need to update it. Especially if we're trying to sell our house, you just really need someone to come in and say, "Let's be honest, we need to declutter and keep this house from looking like Cracker Barrel." No, I'm kidding, I don't do that. I just thought, how many of us can say that our house is showroom ready right now? Well, most of us cannot. So, I thought I need to be honest and then be kind about it too, because if you're creating a space in someone's home, you want to make it beautiful, but also understand that it is their personal space and it may be very sentimental. So, you have to be kind about that and understanding and patient. So, and then of course let's be honest, Let's Be Frank is what that means. And then Frank, my dog, had to be involved because he's just so wonderful. But I thought it was perfect. I thought it's a perfect name.

Kelsi: It is a perfect name. Why wouldn't you want to be Frank? Right? So, I've got this little graphic here of some awesome pictures of Frank to show everybody. Can you tell us a little bit more about him? How long have you had him?

Mary Beasley: I got him when he was eight weeks old. And so now next week he'll be nine years old. So, I've had him a while. I don't have children, so he is my baby. And everybody says, "Oh, my dog is the best," but I've had a lot of dogs and he's like THE best, he's the best I've ever had. He just has such a great personality and he's laid back and chill and never meets a stranger. He loves ice cream. I mean, what? That is so awesome in itself. I don't know, I love the quote, "Be the person your dog thinks you are." And so I kind of made that my standard. Frank is so patient and loving and he's so excited to see me when I get home in the afternoons. And so I want to show patience and kindness and loyalty to my customers like that. So, I mean, let's be honest. I want to be like Frank!

Glyna: Don't we all? And he likes riding. I've seen him on your boat. I've seen him on your four-wheeler. He likes going with you everywhere.

Mary Beasley: Yes, he's my buddy. He's my travel buddy.

Glyna: Tell us about what kind of interior designs that you offer. What are some of your services and what are some of the things that you do for people?

Mary Beasley: Okay. So first of all, I have a team of girls. Heather and Lindsay are on my team and they are wonderful. They're both great designers and decorators as well, so we have a great little team and we can come in and design a remodel. I mean, if you're wanting to redo your entire kitchen, we can do that. We can design it and lay it out and get it ready for contractors. Or we can just do interior decorating, like design a look for you. We'll shop for you for new furniture. We'll come in and put everything in place as well onsite. So, if you just need someone to pick out furniture or pick out the right pillows or bedding, we can do that. So, that's a big part of our business. And then we also do home staging for realtors or home sellers themselves. Like if you're just getting your house ready to sell, we'll come in and set it up like a model home basically, to sell.

Glyna: Fantastic. So, basically any and all interior design you are up for, it sounds like.

Mary Beasley: Oh yes!

Glyna: That's awesome.

Sarah: So, Melissa's got a question. She said, "Mary, many of your designs are incredibly calming. In such a yucky world lately, where do you find that inspiration?"

Mary Beasley: Oh, wow. That's a good question, Melissa. And you're spot on, later I think we're going to talk about trends. And one of the trends right now is Feng Shui. And I think it's because of the world is so crazy right now, we have the election coming up and we have just a lot of unrest in our environment, and people want a more calm place to go home. So, I look for calming paint colors if we're redecorating, really calm neutrals are very important just to create a soft space for everyone. Especially with kids at home, you don't want bright, crazy colors because that just gives them more anxiety, I feel like. So, that's how I inspire, I look for calm colors, calm textures even, and stay away from harsh, dark leathers, that sort of thing. That would be an example, I guess.

Glyna: Perfect.

Sarah: Yes, that's good advice there! Okay. So before people pick up the phone and call you, what are some things that they should consider doing before they get ready to launch into these projects with you?

Mary Beasley: I think most important is think about your time frame that you're shooting for and your budget. I always ask, "What is your all-in budget?" And time frame, because unfortunately, if you've ever done a home project, it usually takes a little bit longer and is a little more messy than you expect. So I try to just be upfront and honest about that so that there are no surprises. Like if you're doing a kitchen remodel, you need to know that there may be a week or two that goes by where you can't physically get to your refrigerator. You need to prepare for that, you know, and then just prepare for it's probably going to be a little bit longer, because usually when you're uncovering and remodeling, you may find something else that we need to do to make it right. I just try to be really upfront about that.

Kelsi: I'm muted, sorry. My cat was causing a ruckus in the background. So you gave us a few tips already about things to consider, like your budget and your time frame, but can you dive in a little bit deeper about what you need to really prepare for when you are doing a big remodel? Like you said, you can't get to your kitchen or your refrigerator, but is there anything else that you can throw out there? Like, do they need to leave the house for some things?

Mary Beasley: Depending on the scope of the work, yes, possibly. I have had some people that choose to live in the space while the remodeling is going on, but I always suggest, create another house within your house. I like to use the kitchen as an example. If you're gutting the kitchen, taking out cabinets or painting or doing new hardwood floors in there, that area is going to be taped off, roped off, plastic hanging, it's going to be inaccessible. Create another space if you're in your house, maybe if you have a basement would be perfect. Have a small fridge there, have a microwave available, have some non-perishable foods available. Just be prepared to have everything you need someplace else in your kitchen. A lot of people don't realize how dusty an environment can get if there's remodeling going on. If you're redoing sheetrock, it's going to be everywhere in your house. It goes under doors, through windows, up the stairs, it'll be everywhere. So just be prepared for that. If you can move out, if you have another, like a lake house or a friend's house you can stay at, that would be a great idea too.

Sarah: You have mentioned too that, before you think about doing anything crazy with remodeling, think about how long am I planning on living in that house? Because if you're wanting to do something that's really drastic, it may kind of impact you on the resale value if you're looking to get out of that house fairly soon. Is that accurate, would you say?

Mary Beasley: Yes, absolutely. Unless you plan on living in the house for the next 30 years, I would avoid painting a family mural on your living room wall. Don't do anything crazy. But yes, resale value is so important. We will probably stay in a home three to five years, and if you remodel everything now and paint it crazy colors and even do crazy lighting, fixtures of the house, they need to be something very neutral that the next person can use too, or else you're just going to redo it all.

Glyna: Yes, that's such great information, and I'll tell you from... I redid my kitchen in my last house, and I was not prepared to do dishes in the bathroom for four weeks, I was like "is this ever going to end!". What kind of remodeling projects, give people an idea of some of the things that you've done on the remodel side, just so they know what's possible with you?

Mary Beasley: Sure. I've done a couple of bathrooms. I did a half bath for someone. And then I did do a full-scale master bathroom remake-over not too long ago, where we installed a new tub, we took out a wall in the bathroom and just opened up the shower in general with a glass door. It turned out beautifully, but in a remodel like that, I would pick out all the tile and the shower faucets and the sink faucets, lighting, new mirrors, everything. I don't physically do the work, but I would pick everything out for that. And then I've done a couple of kitchens too, again, paint colors for cabinets and walls, hardware for the cabinets. We can even design the plan where we move appliances around. If you're not happy where your cooktop is now, there's a possibility we can rearrange the layout of the kitchen. Islands are our big thing right now. A lot of people have open floor plans and they want a huge island. We're doing away with a lot of dining rooms and we're going with eat-in kitchens all the way, which is a big trend. And then finally I've done a finished basement where we add in a media room, like a home theater room. That's been popular this year too, just because people are at home, couldn't go to the movies. So we finished out some basements too.

Glyna: I was going to say, everybody's sitting at home looking around. You said you've been busier than ever.

Mary Beasley: I have. People are home and staring at their un-updated walls or their kitchens that they hate the color of the cabinets, and they call me, which is great. I love it. Please keep calling!

Glyna: We have a couple of questions over here. We have Daniel Entrekin joining us today. And he said, "So what are some of the remodel mistakes that commonly hurt resale value, other than the family mural, of course?"

Mary Beasley: I would think just choosing the wrong paint colors, picking something that's totally off the wall. There are some paint colors that you think, "Oh my God, everybody's painting their house agreeable gray right now," but it is safe, it's a safe color. I would just stay within that realm of safe colors. Any decorator can tell you those colors or even the guys at Sherwin Williams can say, "Here's what most people go to." I'd just stick with that. And then I've seen... I've gone to some houses where people have picked really crazy lighting. I can't explain it, just kind of a crazy light fixture in the ceiling, in the living room. And that's the first thing you notice when you walk in the room, is this crazy light. And I just think that turns buyers off immediately.

Glyna: You can tell that you've worked with some realtors because I'm sure they loved you, giving people... That you make their job easy. So, Daniel no bright red walls then, we need to stay away from that.

Mary Beasley: Right.

Glyna: And I think you answered Cindy's question. She said she knows the grays have been really popular. Do you see that continuing or grays going away?

Mary Beasley: I actually see grays going away and it's more trending toward the white. Everything is going white. And then except for cabinet colors. Cabinets are going back dark again. Even black cabinets is trending, which I love that, there are some really nice muted blacks that aren't so stark and so bright. And then of course, dark blue. It's going to be a trend a while, I think. It's been in the past couple of years and I continue to see that. But I think the grays are fading out. So if you're looking to paint your house right now, I would just go with a good, safe, soft white.

Glyna: Perfect. I think you just crushed Melissa's heart. She said, "I love my gray walls."

Sarah: My entire house is different shades of gray. We bought this house four years ago when it was popular. Yes, so, but I love that white look and the black, I think that's so cool. Speaking of hottest trends. When it comes to the decor aspect of it and furniture, what do you think is kind of trending right now that you're seeing?

Mary Beasley: Okay. So the trends kind of follow what's going on in the world, I think we mentioned that earlier. And 2020's been just a crazy year, but one of the big trends is home office furniture, it's because people are working from home and kids were home for a while. I did a lot of homeschool rooms and home offices. Oddly enough, this is odd to me, I was thinking about this last night, one of the trends right now is Mediterranean style. Especially in kitchens and bathrooms, the tile with a design on them, you've probably seen that. This is very popular right now. And then there's the coastal thing. Think- rattan furniture. You've probably seen a lot of that, very popular right now. Kelsi, I see your rattan chair. Yes, that look is so popular. And I was like, why is this? I don't understand the Mediterranean and the coastal themes, but I started thinking last night. All this year, we haven't been able to go on vacation. We've been stuck at home. I think people are wanting to bring in those vacation places into their house, like their making a beachy theme, because we haven't gone to the beach, or bringing in the Mediterranean into your kitchen. I think that's what it is. I can't explain it any other way.

Kelsi: I think it makes perfect sense. People are longing for that escape.

Glyna: And you can't, so you have to just do it at home. We have another question from Stephanie Lucas. She said, "If you have ivory trim, what would be a good wall color to go with that?"

Mary Beasley: Hmm. Well, I really like the color that Sherwin-Williams is calling Marshmallow. That's one of my go-to colors, and it's on the warm white side, but it just blends so easily with all different colors of trim. But you really need to test it out. If there's a way to find out the trim color like if you have an old paint can in the basement that has the trim color on it, then you can take it to your local paint store and they can help you match it and find a color just below that maybe. But I love Marshmallow. I love one called Creamy, it's great for walls, and then you can go white like Alabaster White would be great too. But I would suggest trying to find out the color and match it from there.

Sarah: Stephanie knows the colors.

Kelsi: Oh, perfect.

Glyna: Grecian Ivory. You heard of that?

Mary Beasley: Yes. And I don't have my color wheel in front of me, so tell her I'm sorry!

Sarah: Why not?

Mary Beasley: It's in there with Frank. Frank has it.

Kelsi: Mary tell us how do you help someone figure out what style they have if they don't already know?

Mary Beasley: Okay. I do have a little quiz when I first meet with a client, I have a quiz that I let them take home or I can email it to them. It's questions that they answer about their style and what they like. And that just kind of helps me hone in on what they want their home to look like. And then the big thing is I ask everyone to share their Pinterest boards with me. And just about everybody has Pinterest now, and you pin what you like on Pinterest. I ask them to share their boards with me, and it's almost like cheating for me because I know exactly what they want. And so when I create the room for them or I finish decorating, it's what they had picked out. And they're like, "How did you know?" I am like, "You told me! You had it on your Pinterest board." So I always ask for that.

Glyna: That's great. And I know when we talked to you the other day, sometimes coming in just making some small changes can make a big impact. What are some of those ideas when you come into a house? I mean, what would you suggest if somebody is like, "I just need a few little things to make it look different."

Mary Beasley: Well, we've talked a lot about paint today, but that would be number one. If you can paint a room, that would give you a good change to start with, but that's not a necessity. You don't have to do that. But, I also think just changing the throw pillows on your sofa is huge, changing the bedding in your bedroom, maybe even hanging new curtains. You can go with a totally different look than you've had before, if you change your bedding, go with something new. And then you could also change out your mantle. If you have a fireplace mantle, you could change the decor on that to give you a whole new look. If you're in your living room, that's what you look at. It's usually a focal point. So give the focal point a whole new look. And then the next thing I would say is if you can change the lighting in your house, that's one of the first things I look for when I walk into a home that wants my work, that wants me to redecorate or redesign. I'll look at the light fixtures. Most of us live in older homes. I know mine was built in the nineties, and that was the first thing I did was come in and change the light fixtures in every room. It just updates the whole place, it'll change the whole house.

Glyna: Exactly, and again, I'm sure your realtor friends are probably screaming, "And declutter, please declutter."

Mary Beasley: Yes. It's hard because your home is so personal to you and it is sentimental. And especially, if you've lived there for 20 years, you probably have a lot of stuff. And there's no judgment there when I walk in, because I know how it happens. You just collect over the years, but especially for resale value, it's just good to get rid of 50% of what you have. And then maybe do another 30% again. Especially if you're selling the house, this is one of the things I always say to buyers, I mean to sellers. Your house is not your home anymore, it is a product to sell. So, we need to just get rid of everything personal. And not mean get rid of like throw it away. I just mean store it away for the purpose of selling your home.

Glyna: Perfect, yes, and you always have more junk than you think.

Sarah: Everyone needs to go and follow your Instagram and Facebook pages because you put on some incredible make-overs. I mean, incredible! Even when you're talking about simple ways to rearrange, you're a mastermind at it. It's amazing. Yes, okay, so we want to show off some of your work and again, this is just a fraction of what you have done. But I want people to see just how beautiful these before and after transformations are, it's awesome. So tell us a little bit about what we're looking at.

Mary Beasley: Okay. The two pictures up top, that's the same room the before and after. So you can see there's absolutely nothing majorly wrong about that room, but I see that kind of look a lot and we have the red bedding and just an older picture frame there. For picture sake, for resale value, you want to avoid the color red, it just distracts your eye and takes your eye away from the room. So, we go with really light bedding, as you can see on the right, we just did all white and, and just an update, just a more trendy look all the way around. And you see the clutter in the corner, the little stacked books, I think there are some bins there. We just cleaned it up a little bit. So-

Kelsi: It's a total transformation. It really is. And look at this, wow.

Mary Beasley: This is a kitchen remodel I did, and we didn't do a drastic change here. It was just simply painting the cabinets and adding a new backsplash. That is actually the same countertop, but you see how different it looks when you change the color of the cabinets.

Glyna: That's amazing.

Sarah: That is amazing.

Glyna: Wow.

Kelsi: I love how you've staged the cabinets too, with that beautiful china.

Mary Beasley: The pottery.

Kelsi: Was that the homeowner's china, or was that part of the project?

Mary Beasley: Yes, that was the homeowner's, it was just a matter of figuring out a good place to put it, and then something really pretty needed to be in that space. So.

Glyna: Well, we have Steve Johnson joining us this morning. Good morning, Steve!, And you've mentioned staging houses, Mary. You do the, what we'd call the normal staging, but you also do what you called occupied staging, which I think is different than a lot of places.

Mary Beasley: Yes, I've kind of found a niche in that. There aren't a lot of stagers, I don't think, that do occupied staging. And that just means that the homeowners are still going to live in the house while it's up for sale and while it's being staged. So, what I do is just incorporate some of our furnishings. I have a whole warehouse full of furniture, and I just incorporate some of my furnishings in with their belongings to make it like picture-perfect and ready to sell. That way we're not getting rid of all their stuff. They can sleep in their bed, and I can just go in, even and clean up the belongings that they have, and maybe rearrange the furniture to make it more sale-worthy.

Glyna: Okay. That huge. That's absolutely huge! So, you're just kind of freshening up what they have. Just adding a little bit here and there. That's awesome.

Mary Beasley: Yes. Saves the seller some money too, because staging can be expensive, I'll be honest. If you redo a whole house, if I furnished an entire house, that can get expensive for the seller. So, if we use their own furnishings, it makes it more affordable to them.

Glyna: Perfect.

Sarah: Absolutely. So there are so many aspects of what you do. I mean, you'll do remodeling, you'll do interior design. You'll help declutter. You'll do your niche, which is that occupied staging. Is there anything of all of that that you would say is your favorite?

Mary Beasley: Yes. I love the decorating part, but my favorite part of this is shopping for people. I know a lot of people get really overwhelmed, trying to shop for furniture and accessories. I've met several women who say they hate going to Hobby Lobby, and I'm like, how can you hate Hobby Lobby? And they say they hate going to Home Goods. But no, I just love shopping for other people and creating a space that they love. And I think my favorite part is the reward of hearing them say, "Oh my gosh, I love it. I could have never done this myself. I'm so thankful you helped me." I'm a people-pleaser, so I love to hear that, that I've done a good job.

Glyna: It's very rewarding.

Mary Beasley: Yes.

Kelsi: I'm going to put up your contact information so that anybody out there that wants to get in touch with you, can. You can reach Mary Beasley with Let's Be Frank Designs, by email at letsbefrankdesign@gmail.com. You can follow her on Facebook at Let's Be Frank Designs and on Insta at @letsbefrankdesign. Sorry, I got through it! Is there anything else you wanted to mention that we haven't covered today?

Mary Beasley: No. I just wanted to thank you guys for this opportunity. I think this is so cool. You all are amazing, amazing group of people. And I just appreciate you letting me share my story here. I have prayed about this a lot and I feel like God gave me a gift and this is my way to share it with people. So, I'm very thankful for it. So, thank you so much!

Glyna: Oh, thank you. We appreciate you coming on!

Sarah: Yes, absolutely. But Mary, we're not done with you yet. Okay. We've got a little game we're going to play. Let's get started on The Hot Seat.

Glyna: Okay, don't be nervous.

Kelsi: I'm going to spin the wheel, the Wheel of Games, and we will see which game you're going to play.

Glyna: Ooh, I can't stand it.

Kelsi: This or That. That's easy, This or That.

Glyna: That's probably the easiest one of the whole... You don't really have to think too hard. I'm going to give you two things and you just going to answer which one you prefer. Okay, Jacob, hey Jacob. He's like, "Here we go, this is the best part."

Sarah: We had Jacob sweating on that one.

Glyna: Anyone have 60 seconds? Because that's all we're going to make her do, is 60 seconds of it. Sarah has it for you. So here we go. Ponytails or pigtails?

Mary Beasley: Ponytails.

Glyna: Book or kindle?

Mary Beasley: Book.

Glyna: Horror movies or Romcoms?

Mary Beasley: Romcoms, definitely.

Glyna: Mountains or ocean.

Mary Beasley: Mm, ocean.

Glyna: Here's an interior design, Stripes or Polka dots?

Mary Beasley: Oh, definitely stripes.

Glyna: Okay. Flannel or floral?

Mary Beasley: Hmm. Can I pick them both at the same time?

Glyna: Sure.

Mary Beasley: Put them together. In pillows!

Glyna: Back massage or foot massage?

Mary Beasley: Back massage.

Glyna: Diamonds or cash?

Mary Beasley: Cash.

Glyna: Snowboarding or surfing?

Mary Beasley: Hmm. I'm going to go with snowboarding.

Glyna: Okay. And that's it. You did it. That was not hard at all, was it?

Sarah: She said, "Did I win?" Yes, you won!

Glyna: She's like, after going through all of that, I should get something. Well, I can't believe the time has gone by so quickly, Mary, but again, we really, really appreciate you coming on. And you've just been a fabulous guest. And I know everybody has so much information now about what you do and they'll go out there and just spread the love all around and tell everybody about Let's Be Frank Designs.

Mary Beasley: I hope so. Thank you all again. I enjoyed it very much. This was so fun!

Glyna: You are so welcome. All right. I want to thank everybody for joining us today and don't forget to come back around on Tuesday mornings for Marketing Mix and then join us next Friday at eight o'clock. We will have a business communication coach, which everyone that owns a business can use this lady. Her name is Debra Boswell. So we really look forward to that. So until then, we'll see you all next time. Bye!