10 Things: Heather Kilmer-Cruzate

Hi Everyone. We're back with another 10 things.  You've heard from me (Jess Davis), Jess Burne, Elizabeth Boland, and Sharon Michaels.  Heather is the newest member of our team.  She oversees Nest Studio’s social media efforts as well as helping Jess with her design projects and other marketing efforts.  Heather grew up on her family’s apple and peach orchard in the Eastern Panhandle of West Virginia where she developed a love for animals and the outdoors.  After completing her professional degree in architecture, Heather worked as a designer for Jeanne Gang in Chicago and a project architect for Diana Balmori in New York.  She left her career as an architect 5 years ago to stay home full time with her son and Basenji pup, Jingle. Thrilled to join the group of impressive women and moms who work at Nest Studio last January, Heather loves researching Design Crush Blog Posts and inspirational images for the @neststudiohardware Instragram feed

Here is a list of 10 things that make Heather’s life richer and simpler.

Coconut oil:  From culinary uses to a cooling moisturizing regime, I would be hard pressed to find something Coconut Oil can't improve.

The sound of my son laughing ... I just melt.

Oliver People's sunglasses: everything looks better through persimmon colored lenses.

This American Life:  Ira Glass is one of the best modern day storytellers.

Fresh mint, basil and thyme from my summer herb garden. 

My mischievous basenji pup:  she's the best listener, never tells my secrets and keeps me toasty at night ... what more could I want?

Sorel insulated and waterproof slimpack riding tall duck boot:  this boot has kept my feet warm and dry for years.

Rodan + Fields Eyelash Boost: I've not so secretly been envying my sons lusciously long eyelashes for years.  This eyelash boost serum actually produces results.

Yuka, my hair stylist:  from weddings to babies to moving to the burbs, this is one of my longest relationships. 

Pink Lady Apples:  my mom started growing pink ladies in her orchard a few decades ago.  Their crunchy goodness reminds me of home.

Thanks Heather! Stay tuned for more 10 things as our team grows!

10 Things I can't live without: Sharon Michaels

Hi Everyone. So you've read about the 10 things I (Jess Davis) can't live without and we've heard from Jessica Burne and Elizabeth Boland.  Next up is Sharon Michaels who is in charge of orders and customer service - our account manager so to speak. Sharon comes to love and appreciate luxury hardware by way of musical theatre and advertising. Although the closest Sharon has been to hardware in the past was a prop on a set or stage, she landed the lucky role of Account Management at Nest Studio, right after her 5 year role of CEO (aka "SAHM") with her husband; two awesome boys, and French bulldog, Elvis. With her background in theater and production, she happily brings her creative energy, organizational and problem-solving skills to the team.  Still, she often threatens to bring show tunes to the daily pick list for music at the office. Take it away Sharon:

So… Here are my 10 top things for what it's worth. I could have given you 20, but I won’t be greedy.  These are tough times.


Caramels- I think these candies are my absolute favorite.  I have consistently loved them since I was 6 years old.  I remember trying them for the first time at my Aunt's house where she always had a candy bowl out. Butterscotch is a close runner up, but caramels are my go to at any party.

Hamilton Soundtrack - Just because I’m no longer performing, doesn’t mean that the musical theatre geek in me has died.  I am constantly listening to musical theatre on repeat until I can perfect the role (even if only performed in my kitchen).  Hamilton has been on repeat for a while now, even my kids are obsessed. Some people play pop music loudly from their car. Me? It’s Hamilton.

Almost Bare-Bobbi Brown perfume - This my latest and greatest favorite, thanks to a dear friend of mine’s suggestion.  I have always been attracted to “clean, soapy smelling” perfumes.  In the past, I have fallen in love with Benandre, Banana Republic’s W,  Demeter's Pure Soap.

Ricky’s Bungee - These ties are the best for thick curly hair.  Countless times, i’ve had hair ties break on me or they get tangled in my hair and rip my hair apart.  These wrap around my hair and does not leave the indent in my hair.

Curling iron - I need an iron that gets real hot. I no longer have the time to cater to my hair demands. I used to joke that my hair was in training, when I spent hours on my hair. Now, I’ve resorted to a good curling iron to curl the end of my hair that is sticking straight out because I need a haircut.

Rita Hazan Root Concealer - So it’s no secret that I am turning grey and my roots are showing a lot quicker than I would like them to. It’s hard enough to get to my colorist. This hair spray saves me.  It helps hide the grey as a quick fix until you can get the color done.  It washes out and leaves no residue.

Ouidad Climate Control - Do we see a pattern here… This is the best hair product and I can probably live on this alone.  It’s so thin and watery.  I douse my hair with it and it dries so nicely, taking the frizz out of my hair.

My Day Wives - Everybody needs them.  It’s that friend of yours that you assume you will see them at least once a day, whether it’s at the diner or the playground. It’s that friend that you know you can count on to pick up your kid from school if you are stuck at Michaels picking up crafts for a birthday party that you’re planning. It’s unconditional love. I couldn’t live without these ladies- G.F, S.G-You know who you are! 

Cedar Ridge Coffee - I sorta function in the morning, but not without coffee. Like clockwork, I drop the kids off at school and my car automatically drives to the Cedar Ridge Cafe in Maplewood.  Not just a great cup of coffee, but good food, a friendly staff, a great community and a good hug from the owner to start the day before I go to work. Flawless!

Sushi - I think I could eat sushi every day. When I was pregnant, I made the choice to stay away from raw fish and I used to have dreams that I was eating sushi.  That was one of the first meals I had after delivering both of my boys.

2017 Business Resolutions by the Numbers

Time seems to be going faster and faster these days with little ones and definitive markers as they grow, become more independent and achieve new milestones.  It seems like just a few months ago that we moved into our house and I was writing my business resolutions post for 2016.  But here we are and it's actually a year later.

Let's see how we did in 2016.  My goals for the year were to launch two new lines of hardware, focus on marketing and PR, up my social media presence, and increase my sales by 50%.  Well, I think I actually came close to hitting all of those goals.  I launched one new line - the Reveal Series this year. I came close to launching two. The new stepped series took a little longer to develop and will be coming out in about a month!  I did focus a lot on marketing and PR as well. I hired a publicist and really got out there - meeting folks at trade shows, getting to know designers and even winning an industry award. I learned a lot about my product and myself in the process and have a much clearer vision of my company as a result.  I still have a ways to go on social media (doesn't everyone), but I created a Nest Studio Instagram account in March and to-date (not even a year later) have over 1800 followers.  As far as growth, I actually grew the company 59% this year and exceeded my 50% growth goal. Yeehaw!  I also achieved some other milestones that I didn't event set as goals. I hired my third employee making us a team of four moms, and I joined the Accelerator group at EO (Entrepreneur's Organization) which I have already learned so much from

My business resolutions for 2017 are much more numbers oriented and defined (perhaps due to my EO group).  Here they are:

Increase my revenue by 59%.  This may appear to be random number, but a 59% growth rate puts us at 10x our revenue in just 5 years. That is huge. And I hit that number last year so I don't see why it can't happen this year.  Increasing revenue means increasing sales - duh. And I have to do that by adding showrooms, making my existing showroom orders larger and more frequent, increasing my product offering, and growing awareness of my brand and products among our target market.  Hence the rest of the resolutions below.

Get to 10K Instagram followers by the end of the year.  This means 200 followers per week.  I realize that for some people 10K is not a huge number when it comes to Instagram followers but with the ability of Instagram to really target who I am reaching I feel like that it is both a significant number of people who will then know my product and also a doable number by the end of the year.

Sign on 12 new showrooms.  This means one new showroom per month. We have realized that interior designers are really our bread and butter and while more designers are sourcing and buying online, it's still hard to replace the showroom experience where you can see a lot of products in one place and in person.  Showrooms make up a large percentage of our sales (albeit the margins are lower) and there are certainly gaps in the markets that we have covered. We would like to fill in those gaps and see our product shown more widely around the country and internationally.

Launch 5 new lines.  As I mentioned the deco-inspired Step Series is coming out in a month.  Next up is our super-versatile Mod Series (which I can't wait to use in my own kitchen).  I'm also super excited to launch a ceramic hardware series in collaboration with Jonathan Castro Designs. After that our Angled Series (which will pair nicely with our Facets and Classic), and our Organic Series.  We also have a couple of other items we are working on which may or may not happen this year: another one-off piece similar to our Ram's Head pull but this time a peacock, and collaborations with a wood artist and jewelry designer.  Lots of things going - which is good given how long prototyping and production takes.

Get into published in 3 shelter magazines.  This is the PR side of our business. Sadly, 2016 didn't see much in the way of publications (despite the publicist), but I'm hopeful that with new editorial contacts, and lots of new launches we will get some great press coverage in 2017.

That's about it.  I have some other projects I'm working on (like applying for and hopefully winning the Tory Burch Foundation Grant).  What do you have in the works business wise for 2017?  It's going to be an exciting year!

10 Things I can't live without - Elizabeth Boland

Hi Everyone. So you've read about the 10 things I (Jess Davis) can't live without and most recently Jessica Burne shared her top 10 list. Well today we are learning more about another member of the Nest Studio team: Elizabeth Boland. Along with being my former next-door neighbor, Elizabeth is the quality and shipping/receiving maven at Nest Studio. While that couldn’t be farther from her degree in journalism and past professional life in publishing and consulting, it feeds her penchant for attention to detail, love of learning new things and delight in being involved with an industry that is new and fascinating to her. Another bonus is after hanging around with the folks at Nest Studio, it’s inspired her to actually paint, decorate and generally spiff up her own home. Elizabeth keeps the wheels turning on our incoming and outgoing inventory, heading up our quality control and making sure things are packaged as best as possible and shipped out in a timely way.  Take it away Elizabeth:

After really thinking about what I really couldn’t live without it kind of turned into a list of “things that have made my life so much better.”

Coffee - The top of the list is a large, quality, morning cup of coffee with a little bit of sugar and a little bit of milk. I’m the only coffee drinker in my house so I have an old Melitta single-cup drip maker that has gone on week-long vacations to destinations around the country. Why worry about what kind of coffee pot is at the rental or if the quality of the brew in the lobby is good?

Google Calendar - Second only to coffee is the use of Google Calendar. I used to kick-it with a paper date book to make sure I kept my life and eventually my family of five in some semblance of order. It’s probably the Virgo in me that now has family members color-coded and reminders being pinged to text and e-mail’s. It’s not a flawless system but I’ve only forgotten a child once during a random, half-day at school in almost 20 years!

Black Sharpie - I keep one in my handbag at all times and it is amazing to realize how many times it has come in handy. Labeling random items, hiding scuff marks on black high heels, handing it to a teacher in a clutch moment. They frequently get given away so I love getting a pack of them every year in my Christmas stocking!

Burt’s Bees Tinted Lip Balm - Another constant has been Burt’s Bees Tinted Lip Balm. With a tube or two always within my reach, it’s the quickest way to make sure there is some sort of color on my lips while moisturizing in a more natural way.

Honda Odyssey - I hesitate to admit that my Honda Odyssey mini-van is also something I have come to rely on and love. We just bought our second after putting over 250,000 miles on the first Odyssey, mostly from vacations up and down the East coast and as far West as the Mississippi River. My van has carried building supplies, mattresses, furniture, people, yard waste, more people, sports equipment, suitcases, vacation accoutrement and most recently everything to equip a freshman college dorm!

VRBO - With five people in our family and the travel industry geared mostly for four, I was also an early adopter of VRBO. Our first entree was a gamble as we traveled 1,300 miles away with three young children but we were hooked when our economical rental turned out to be a beautiful house with a pool.  Since then, we have stayed in everything from camping cabins to palatial homes all over the continental US and Hawaii and only had one clunker along the way.

Haagen Dazs Ice Cream - One food item I really love is Haagen Dazs ice cream. I have lived within walking distance to one of their shops for almost 20 years and now it’s like the old sitcom about the bar “Cheers” (where everyone knows your name) when we walk in. I try whatever new flavors come along but my old favorites usually win out.

Nerium Night Cream - A fabulous discovery I made a couple years ago was Nerium Night Cream. I was highly skeptical about all those miracle products that promised to make my face look smoother and younger. After a friend discovered Nerium and I saw dramatic improvement in real time, I was convinced. Those multi-step skin systems get old fast. This one-step, after you clean your face for the evening product really works!

Dansko Footwear - As much as I still love to get into a pair of rockin’ high heels (currently a fave pair of suede platform heels) slipping into a pair of Dansko clogs or sandals feels like going home to me. I played it boring with basic black early on but now love to wear some of the great prints and iridescent colors. Pairing them with a fun pair of socks peeking out for the cool weather and then catching a glimpse of the combo during the day can remind me to enjoy little pleasures.

Trish McEvoy Dramatic Lash Mascara - Last but not least is Trish McEvoy Dramatic Lash Mascara in black. After many years of trying different mascaras both high and low end, I kind of fell in love after the first use. All I’m ever looking for is a mascara to go on quick, smooth and easy, stay put for however long I need it to and then come off as easily as it went on. This magic tube does it all!

That's a wrap folks! Stay tuned for our newest team member, Sharon's top 10!

New Years Business Resolutions 2016

Every year sometime close to the new year I write two posts. One is a personal resolutions post and one is a business resolution post. I like doing this exercise because it makes me focus on what my goals really are and it forces me to check in to see if I have achieved them.  So let's see where we are now that a year has passed. Last years goals included doubling my 2014 sales figures, focusing on marketing, launching two new lines of hardware and getting a major licensing deal.  Pretty ambitious.  I didn't quite hit the 2x mark but I definitely was able to increase my sales.  As far as marketing goes, I think I did a pretty good job here. Along with doing postcards, working on my social media presence and sending out press kits, I was able to get into Elle Decor, Consumers Reports, and on the front of HGTV magazine.  It was a great year from a PR standpoint.   Sadly, I didn't launch two new lines as hoped, but I am confident that in 2016 I will do so.  And I didn't start any licensing deals but maybe that should be a more long term goal as I expand my line.  One thing I have learned is to make my goals a bit more realistic!  So here goes for 2016:

- Launch two new lines of hardware. I have the Reveal Series prototyped and ready to go, so this should be out shortly. I can't wait to introduce it to everyone, plus the price point is a little more palatable.  There are a couple others in the works as well that I am confident should be in production by years end. The thing I have learned is that launching new product is a long road. Prototyping takes forever and designing and testing never end up being a priority over the day-to-day either for me or for the manufacturers I work with. In other words once I'm ready to finally get something under way, it takes a while for the rest of the cogs to start turning as well. Definitely important to keep up the momentum and to have several lines in the works just to see what sticks.

- Focus on marketing and PR.  This year I want to send out more press kits and get more press mentions both in traditional print publications as well as online.  I also have one big thing that I am doing and that will be to bring on a publicist / agent.  I am working with Gretchen Aubuchon at Fashion + Decor who is an old friend and serious mover and shaker in the industry. Unlike someone who just does PR, Gretchen is more like an agent. She will be out there trying to push Nest Studio and Jessica Davis as a brand. I can handle the press releases myself, but hopefully with the help of Gretchen's team, I will get more press mentions, speaking engagements, showhouse partnerships and overall brand exposure to help grow Nest Studio.

- Up my Social Media Presence. I've been working on this more this past year, but in 2016 I am trying to actually come up with a social media strategy and figure out the best way to showcase both my hardware line and my personal aesthetic via Instagram, Facebook and Pinterest.  Some people may ask why I'm not doing the others (Twitter, Vine, Snapchat etc). After talking to a number of social media experts (such as my husband), it seems best to really focus on the core social media that drives my industry and to do all of those well versus do them all in a mediocre way. I'm still learning but I'm already increasing my followers and making meaningful connections that are very exciting.

- Increase my sales by 50%.  I realize that doubling sales was a bit of a reach last year.  That said, I think with the help of increased marketing, social media, and by launching more lines and therefore having more product to offer, a 50% increase is both more realistic and a good attainable goal.

Well, that's it.  I really should print out this post and put it up on the wall to check in from time to time.  Stay tuned for my personal goals for 2016. What sort of business ideas and goals do you have slated for the new year?

Apartment Therapy Book

Apologies for the blog silence. It's been very busy over at the Nest recently.  Between work and other big developments (more on that later - but a few hints on facebook), it's been hard to find time to blog.  Not to mention that when you take a hiatus it's easy to sort of forget how to blog in the first place.  That said, if you follow me on any other social media, you may have noticed that the Apartment Therapy Book: Complete and Happy Home by Maxwell Ryan just came out and features our house!  Super exciting.  They came back and shot our house in the spring of 2014 for the book after it was featured on an AT House Tour.  I was pregnant with Lucy and crazy kids stuff had not yet overrun our house.  Here are some photos from my instagram feed (although there are a bunch more photos of our house in the book).

We went to the book signing party and Maxwell was such a gracious host. I also got to meet Christiane Lemieux of Dwell Studio and Wayfair which was a big moment for me. She is such an inspiration from a business standpoint. I feel like she is like the Jenna Lyons of the interior design product world.

Anyways, I'm buying the book as everyone's Christmas present this year.  Go out and get yourself a copy if you haven't already. There are some amazing spaces featured. I feel very humbled to be included.

More news on the house front coming up!

-Jess

DESIGN BLUEPRINT: Collaborative Style

The best working environments are stylish of course (like this one we recently talked about), but personally I love collaborative work spaces.

If done right, they usually mean big open spaces with lots of light like this space above, designed by Studio McGee. The large white surface area will win me over every time, while clustered lighting is fun at home and at work.

Get this look....

Pendant light via YLighting

Framed Art via Minted

White Chair via All Modern

Sideboard via Crate & Barrel 

Area Rub via Loom

Table Lamp via Lamps Plus

White Desk via BluDot

 

- Cori

NEW YEARS BUSINESS RESOLUTIONS 2015

Did you guys see my post about my personal new years resolutions for 2015?

Last year I also posted about my new years resolutions for my business.  I figured I'd revisit these and set some goals for this year as well. There were some overarching resolutions like delegate, get organized and focus. I think in general I've done a good job on these things. Having someone here helping me has helped immensely. I've been able to focus on building my business while letting her deal with the day to day shipping, invoice making and admin.  And she's also really helped out on getting things organized in our back-of-house, putting systems in place for inventory management and client communication.  In turn I've been able to work on sourcing, creating new designs and doing a few projects.  From a focus standpoint, I turned down some design work and really thought hard about the projects I did accept. And because I like my clients now,I've been really enjoying the design work that I am doing.  Admittedly, some of my more specific goals regarding the hardware line didn't pan out and have been pushed to this year, but in general 2014 was a good one.  Now that the having of babies is behind me, I think I'll have more time in 2015 to really work on my goals. Here they are:

- Double our 2014 sales figures. This was a goal I had last year as well and I came really darn close.  Now that we've honed in more on pricing and margins, I think this is doable, especially because of my second goal below.

- Focus on marketing.  This year we are really focusing on our marketing efforts. After a fairly long hiatus we are putting new energy back into email campaigns. Don't worry, we don't plan to spam you every day but the idea is to create focused emails maybe monthly so we stay on designers' radars.  We already sent one email out about our Before and After promo and we got a huge uptick in site visits (granted, in the design world, that doesn't translate to immediate sales but hopefully it does down the line).  We are also working on our press collateral so that we can introduce the classic series and any new products to some key magazine editors out there and get featured in some higher profile publications like Elle Decor or House Beautiful.  We have some fun logo boxes in the making, are planning some new photography and are updating our press kits.  We also plan to scope out some trade shows and think about partnering with some other vendors on a booth in the future.  All very exciting and fun.

- Introduce two new lines.  This was a goal last year but sadly it fell by the wayside as I grappled with putting out fires with our production facilities. Now that those are out of the way, I'm really excited to show you some new product.  Remember the stepped series from my instagram? Well that should be out this year and be on the lookout for some other more abstract and mixed material introductions.

 - Partner with a large retailer to develop a line of licensed hardware. Yes, this was a goal for last year. I figure I'll keep it as a new years resolution every year until it actually happens.  Perhaps this year West Elm will pay me some attention. Of course actually approaching them is probably the best way to make this happen. Any tips on how to do so and who to contact?

That's about it.  Not too complicated (therefore more attainable).

Do you have any specific goals for your business and career in 2015?

Graphic by Cori Magee

URBAN FARMHOUSE: The Guest Bath

Happy Holidays Everyone! I hope you had a nice Christmas and have something fun (and not too anti-climactic) planned for new years.

I've now shown you the kitchen, master bath and kids' bath for the Urban Farmhouse project. Now on to the guest bath.  We didn't want to spend a ton in here but we wanted to keep that modern rustic feel and also fit as much as we could into the small space.

Option 1 utilizes the barn board on the walls again (when I presented this I hadn't had the discussion with my clients about using it in more key focal spots), a cool retro light, oil rubbed bronze hardware and a rustic vanity. I also love the black penny rounds. Their traditional but the black gives them a modern edge.

Option 2 is definitely more traditional with its chrome edged mirror, black beadboard wainscot, hex floor tile and grey vanity.

The final option that we ended up going with is sort of a hybrid. It's mostly Option 1 sans wall paneling and with the cool red light fixture from Option 2. We also opted to use the same vanity style as Option 1 but instead of doing a store bought vanity, create something similar but custom so that we can maximize counter space and do an undermount sink.

Next up is the powder room which is one of my favorite spaces thus far. Can't wait to share it with you!

MEET THE TEAM: The Other Jessica Davis

Back at the beginning of the year (well, actually, a couple months into the year) I posted about my business new years resolutions. The primary resolution I had was to delegate. With a baby on the way and an expanding business I knew there was no way for me to continue going it alone while keeping my head above water.  At the time of writing the post I had just hired a contract employee to help me with fulfillment, systems, admin and all the other stuff that I don't have time to do.  Funnily her name is also Jessica Davis.  Jessica Burne Davis that is.  Being that I am Jessica Ahnert Davis, we now have Jessica A and Jessica B.  Luckily she agreed to go by her maiden name Jessica Burne to avoid confusion at work :)

Now that we are nearing the end of 2014 and Jessica is officially part of the Nest Studio Team, I though I'd take this opportunity to introduce you to her. And here she is!

I'm sure she is mortified that I posted a large picture of her face here - although I think she looks pretty incredible.  For those of you who may have placed orders for our hardware or called with questions, Jessica Burne is most likely the person you communicated with.  As I mentioned back in my business resolutions post, Jessica is ridiculously overqualified for the job.  She worked for many years at JP Morgan as a consultant and then helped start their Private Bank Art Advisory Group. Jessica describes herself as an "art market sponge" and while working on that side of the business took every opportunity to visit client's homes and see their amazing art collections.  That said, Jessica says that the only downside to her job at JP Morgan was that "after admiring museum-quality works up close, my own taste level has exceed my budget infinitely.  My walls are decorated with family pictures and art from the kids because I cannot get myself to buy, what I call, CHART (cheap art)."  Jessica is also a self-proclaimed Microsoft Excel Geek.  According to her, there is nothing like a good spreadsheet to keep things organized. She uses Excel to manage everything from birthday RSVP's to dinner party food lists to garden plans.    

Here is a photo of Jessica and her beautiful family, along with some other fun stats

Currently hails from: Livingston, NJ 

Grew up: in London and along the East Coast of the US, moving often for her father's job

Attended: Lehigh University

Married to: Andrew Brian Davis (funnily, Jess A's husband Scott's middle name is also Bryan!)

Kids: Madeline 9 and Gabrielle 6

Loves: Family time; warm weather; beaches - lake and ocean equally; a good book; learning a new hobby (currently yoga and photography)

Guilty pleasures: Drinking a glass of wine during kids' bath time, listening to explicit version rap songs while exercising, buying too many shoes for her very difficult to find size 11 narrow feet

Hopes / dreams: To raise her daughters to be confident, successful, and empowered women; watching her major house renovation become a reality; helping Nest Studio grow into a hardware design powerhouse :)  

I hope you enjoyed meeting the other Jessica Davis (as our kids fondly call us both). As our business grows we hope to introduce you to more additions to the Nest Studio family!

Raleigh Denim

I discovered Raleigh Denim through Tom Fishburn's "Mission Statement" blog post that Scott forwarded me. Founded by a young couple with no experience in denim manufacturing, Raleigh Denim has really managed to ride the wave of artisinal high end jeans. They have a really inspiring story of a locally made and sourced product that they've managed to develop into a thriving business. Now if only I could convince myself that $275 for a pair of jeans is worth it because it will help a business and they will last forever.

Raleigh Denim: Handcrafted in North Carolina | UNC-TV from David Huppert on Vimeo.
Scene's from the Raleigh Denim workshop (from their website):