Have you ever felt like there were just not enough hours in the day to grow your side hustle? Do you have a day job and a dream job? How do you balance it all? In ep.2 of the podcast, Lay Young pediatric nurse and owner or Projex answers those questions and more!
The Branded by Bernel Podcast is brought to you by Bernel Westbrook, lead designer and founder of Branded by Bernel, a design studio dedicated to building strong brands and Showit websites for creative entrepreneurs.
Make sure you’ve hit that follow or subscribe button on your favorite podcast player to get notified each week as we air new episodes!
Subscribe on Your Favorite Podcast Player
Apple Podcast App | Spotify | Amazon | Google Podcast
Leslie Young is the visionary behind Projex, an interior design studio for consulting services, decorative accents, furniture restoration, and more! She graduated with a Bachelors of Science in Nursing from North Carolina A&T State University; and as a pediatric nurse, she has learned her desire to serve others goes well beyond the stethoscope. Her aim is to bridge the gap between a client’s dream home and their current living space showing that an ideal aesthetic is attainable for anyone’s home!
Actionable steps you can apply today to move your business forward:
1. Find something you love
2. Hone a target audience
3. Establish a brand
Thanks for tuning into today’s episode of The Branded By Bernel Podcast. I want to know — what was your biggest takeaway? Send me a message on the ‘gram to join the conversation.
Links Mentioned:
Connect with Lay Young
Connect with Bernel
Review the Transcript:
Bernel
Hey, hi. Welcome to the Branded by Bernel podcast. I’m your host Bernel. You may know me as the branding and web designer who obsesses over the details. So you don’t have to, we all desire to be great at what we do. Although once we get there, no one seems to talk about the messy middle. This motivated me to set the table and invite industry peers over to share stories about living and working in the creative world. So grab the OJ and champagne, pull up a chair, join the creative community and be prepared to build a brand you fall in love with.
Bernel
This is the Branded by Bernel podcast. So I am super excited. You guys, this is my very first guest interview podcast episode. And I am like, super, super, super excited about who you guys are going to get to meet today. So I was really thinking a couple of months ago, when I was starting my podcast who did not want to interview first. So I have all these different businesses I work with a lot of businesses as a web designer, also have a lot of really close friends who own businesses. So I was watching an episode of Oprah and she was talking about Gail and then it hit me. My Gail is Lay Young. Lay Young is the owner of projects, which is a North Carolina based interior design business. And she’s also my bestie. So without further ado, I want you guys to meet her. Thank you so much for being on the show today, Lay.
Lay Young
Oh, thank you Bernel for having me. I’m so happy to be here.
Bernel
Yes. So tell the people at home how projects got started. It’s such a cool story, you guys.
Lay Young
Okay, so, as a kid, I mean, I really always wanted to be an interior designer. My first love would be, I mean, interior design, decorating houses and all that fun stuff. As a kid, I would make cardboard boxes, cardboard box houses, and they would have like bottle caps would be chairs, and I would make beds out of like, stickers that I would find. And I put them all over the house. And in elementary school, they actually displayed it in the library. And so like for months, they would display my, my little interior design box houses in the library. And my room was always changing. So like we went from princesses, to ballerinas to the Cheetah Girls to black and white to mirrored. And I just knew I loved it. I love changing a space because of how it made me feel. You know, you change your environment and makes you feel good.
Bernel
Nobody changed their bedroom more than lay.
Lay Young
It was definitely every design your bedroom, and everybody. Or I feel like you can optimize space better if you’re like put this over here, if you move your bed on this corner, and
Bernel
we’re talking about optimizing space when we were six.
Lay Young
That was me that would be but interior design is a lost art. As a lot of the arts. It’s not necessarily supported, always funded. So I knew that for practical reasons, I probably should choose a career with a little bit more security. Like during a recession, people are not going to pay a certain amount of money to have somebody come into their home. And when they feel like they can do it on their own. And in a world of DIY, do it yourself, you got this. Sometimes asking for help in that way is neglected. So the medical field always fascinated me. I was the kid who went to the doctor asking for shots because I thought they were cool. I know I’m weird. Then I have a love for people. So I decided to pursue nursing. I come from
Bernel
nursing you guys.
Lay Young
I come from a family of nurses had provided a good schedule some flexibility, job security, good money. So I started nursing school, and to say the lease, it was horrendous. Nursing School was crazy. I loved clinicals I loved what I was learning but everything that could have possibly hit hit during nursing school things my personal life affected my professional life. So I needed an escape. And I needed a stress reliever. And so I actually started painting mason jars and selling them on offer up and I would sell them as like sets of glasses like craft storage, bathroom accessories, makeup, accessories on their vanity, and so nursing school struggles would hit and then when they were at their peak, I saw a need for a possible backup and then projects was born.
Bernel
It’s interesting that nursing the field of nursing was your security job. Yeah As the need for backup plan arose, and it took you back to your original passion. So that’s awesome anytime in life that you can kind of circle back to the thing that brings you peace. So I love that.
Lay Young
It really does keep you sane. Like I went through school. And something would go wrong. I would turn to projects, painting furniture, doing cool things with mirrors, and then I post them on Instagram. And just really, as a DIY, look what I did guys, and then somebody would say, hey, that’s cool. Can I have one? Or can you make me one, and they would send me pictures of something they liked on Pinterest or something like that. And they would send me things. And it might be something I’ve never made before. And I was like, Well, I’ve never done it, but I’ll try. So more and more interests arose. More and more people would ask me to experiment, I will play around with things I would post more. And fast forward a year later, I started working nights at the hospital. And everything else kind of went on hold. It was a huge adjustment to my new career. But then I was still here in there help people design their homes. Then the pandemic hit. And during quarantine, I hit such a low mentally a space where it’s like, I need something I need my escape. And then of course, we went right back to projects. So I started making decorative designer books. I had orders coming in. The funny thing about it was I actually ordered a set of decorative books online. And when they came, I was like, I can do this, and I can do it better. So I did and I have sold over 150 decorative books.
Bernel
Wow. That’s amazing. Oh my goodness, that is so so awesome. One of the things you mentioned, though, was working nights. And so in our heads for everybody who’s not a nurse or married to a nurse. Nurses only work three days a week. Key word I said only right? Um, well, my best friend became a nurse. And I realized that that only three nights a week is basically like more than five days. Because when working at night, and please correct me if I’m wrong, like working seven to seven, especially a 12 hour shift. How much do you get done the next morning?
Lay Young
Nothing—texting me the next day even. You may not hear back from me because I’m recovering.
Bernel
Right? So if if you’re working seven to seven one night, and then you’re recovering the next day, and then you work seven to seven the next night and you’re recovering the next day. How much free time does that give you?
Lay Young
Hardly any. i It’s not too much time. So I feel like when time is so valuable, you have to fill it with things that fulfill you. So my free time has to be filled with things that fulfill me things that are valuable. And one of those things became projects.
Bernel
Yes, I love that. Filling your time with things that really fill your cup. Because as a nurse as someone in a job that’s so people oriented I joke a lot to my close friends that I’m in the business of peopling meaning that I have to interact and communicate and smile with people on a regular basis. And no doubt you do too. And so that can be exhausting, like that is pouring from your cup that is emptying your cup. But by starting projects, you found something that could refill that for you. And so that is awesome. So a lot of the people that come to me, especially looking for websites are people that have a nine to five, they have a full time job, but they’re telling me burnout, I have this burning passion. I have this spark for something that I really want to do in my life. So what words of wisdom would you give that person who’s just starting out? Because now you have a very successful book, decorating business? Amongst a ton of other things, but what advice would you give when they’re first starting? What advice would you have given yourself, let’s say this time last year,
Lay Young
I would probably say, make time for it. Because you know, sometimes you get off work, you’re like I’m exhausted, I can’t do anything. I don’t feel well, whatever the case may be. There’s a lot more time in the day than we really think. So the important thing is time management and planning. As you know, I have to pencil everything in. So I have a planner that never leaves me to plan things out. It doesn’t have to be a physical planner. I’m old school. I still got a book that I literally pulled up my birds, but maybe a digital planner, Google calendars. Awesome. I found timber really great apps to that I just haven’t made that transition yet. But plans that you know what, okay, so I get off at six today, that’s fine, I’m gonna go home, I’m going to read, I’m going to cook dinner, from eight to nine, I’m going to dedicate to my business period, just an hour. And you’ll find yourself probably working until 1011 at night after that, just because it’s something that fills your cup. And that’s very important. It’s something that you enjoy. And so of course, we’ll touch on later that that’s a fundamental part of building your business is finding something that you love, you can’t go into business into something you’re not passionate about.
Bernel
Yes, that is so true. Oh, my goodness, people look at the Profit First, when really, it should be passionate and people driven. Because when you have the passion and the people, the profit will come. Also, I just wanted to say warn your friends and family if you’re going to be penciling them into a planner. First time I saw lay bring out her planner and write spin time with burnout in it. It really like broke my heart. I was like, oh my goodness, like I have to be penciled into a plan. I understand that that is a sanity piece for her. But just just tell the people you love that you’re gonna write them down in pencil because they might get erased.
Lay Young
I think and let me make sure it is clear, it means you’re valued, it means I have planned to make time for you. If you didn’t make the planner, that’s what I’d be worried. If I didn’t tell you and that means I wasn’t going to make time. So it’s a fundamental part of planning the things that are valuable to you keeping them there.
Bernel
Yes. Okay. Good. Save. Right, go save. Yes. All right. Well, I did have another question that has really been weighing on my mind. What is about optimizing your workspace? To bring joy? What would you tell people? If they’re looking to decorate their space? Or like, where should they start?
Lay Young
Even? Great question. So for one, you absolutely need to establish a style. And a collective is a style that’s a bunch of styles mixed together.
Unknown Speaker
And that’s totally fine. A lot of people have
Lay Young
trouble finding what they’re like, they like Uber like traditional oh, what I love Monster, ooh, mid century is my thing. They can all marry beautifully. But you have to establish what you like. And that’s kind of my job, I can come in and show you what you like, based on some questions and some prying. And we’ll look at pictures. And we’ll do quizzes and things like that to figure out where your style actually goes. So I would say the first step would be establishing your style.
Bernel
That is really good. Yeah, I don’t, I don’t know. Because Pinterest tells us we can have everything right. Like we can just take a piece of everything and put it all in a room. Yes. But I love that establishing your style. And then just really like focusing on that. I think that that is incredible. So I have to ask you a little bit about your roadblocks, because no doubt this has been a journey, starting a business as a nurse, and not even just starting a business. But really finding your brand and finding your passion to serve others. What would you say are some roadblocks that you experienced? And then how did you overcome those.
Lay Young
So I’d have to say time, as we talked about before, the reason I learned I had to pencil things in was because I would not get things done if I didn’t. So I would definitely say managing time was extremely important, something I had to learn. You can’t go outside and spray paint in 30 degree weather in the middle of the night. That’s something I learned. You have to be prepared for the unexpected. Something’s not going to arrive on time something is going to arrive broken. Things are going to happen where things are not going to go according to your plan. And you have to be okay with that. And that was definitely something that I had to get used to another thing a roadblock for me personally, and this might be very specific to my business. But you find that when you are doing a service for somebody, you have to remind yourself that it’s for them, it’s not for you. So I become so involved in my projects that at times someone I have no problem them telling me they don’t like something I actually love that that helps me grow. But they’ll choose something and it turns out wonderful. And then I go over their house a week later and it’s nothing like we put it We had this beautiful plane and it was great. It was wonderful. And then it’s like, oh yeah, but then I decided to put this here. And it’s like, Oh, no. The Fung Shui I’ve had to learn and I’ve really, I’ve gotten so much better about is reminding people that their home their sanctuary, and after my job is done, they make it their home.
Bernel
Yes. Oh, my goodness, no, that is not just your business, you are not alone. Um, wow, most of our listeners do not decorate homes, a lot of people are in the wedding industry, they are in the design industry. And so we’re all artists, we understand I literally have had a similar experience where I design this website, and I’m so excited, and I pour everything into designing it. And then I go a week later, and they’re like, guess what pronoun, we change all of our pictures. None of them match our branding, but we love them. Oh, but it doesn’t look aesthetically pleasing. But I build online homes for people’s businesses and you come in and you, you know, you decorate their physical home. So no matter what industry you’re in, no matter what phase of business you are in, if you’re listening to this, and you also put your heart and soul in your business, just know that sometime people are going to change it. And that’s all right. But a huge lesson there. Or one of the things that I’ve learned over the years is explaining to people why you put things where you did, or explaining to them the method that you used. Because a lot of times when people understand that there is a, you know, there’s a method to this madness, they tend to leave it alone, if you tell them that. This is why I put this here, this is how it’s helping work towards your overall vision. Yes, so I love that. Now, one of the things that has always stood out to me about you is you love helping people. And you would literally give somebody like the last Oreo in the pack. And if you know her, you’re not as important. When starting a business, one of my concerns for you was how would you charge for that? That’s because you love giving things to people. So tell us about the transition from hobby to business, because those are two very different things. And if you’re listening at home, and you have a hobby, and you don’t get paid for it, and you do it out the kindness of your heart, that is amazing. Okay, I have hobbies. I love doing stuff for my friends and family. But there is a huge difference between my hobbies and my business. So would you like to tell people how you found that defining line?
Lay Young
Absolutely. So you do find and we’ll expand on this later as well, your target audience. So once you find your target audience, and you know, the population that you serve, there are special things towards that population. A little bit about my target audience is I focus on providing an aesthetic that is achievable for anyone. So I really enjoy finding people with tight budgets, and being able to give them something they never would have imagined within their budget. However, if I drive for hours to go get a beer, and I go pick it up for this project, I can’t sell it for $10. And that’s that’s something that was a struggle for me because I’m like, oh, okay, it’s no problem. Yes. Because I love that’s my bread and butter. I love it. And I find that it fills me up so much that it just the money doesn’t matter. It doesn’t Well, it does when you have to put gas in your car. It does when you’ve driven to another state to pick up one item for a space. And even though it was that was that important to you, it definitely has an effect on your pockets. So I had to learn quickly that you do have to charge not only for the items that you sell, but for your time for your labor. And those things are valuable, they have a price tag, oftentimes their price less. So you need to be you need to be compensated for it. So that’s important. So one thing that I do offer shameless plug is payment plans that offer payment plans so that your aesthetic is still attainable, and you have a period of time to pay for it.
Bernel
Yes, yes. Sorry, not sorry for the shameless plug. I 100% believe in payment plans if you’ve ever worked with me, you know that payment plans are my bread and butter because I feel like you know you can have everything you want. You know you can have anything you want. You may have be able to have everything. So I love that about payment plans. So you alluded to identifying your target client. And I think that that’s huge. No matter what kind of business you have, you have to know what you’re aiming for. Not having a target client is literally like throwing a basketball without a hoop, or a ring, even, like, you’re just aiming at this board. And you don’t even have any way to measure the success behind it. Like you don’t know if the goal was even attained. So how did you identify your target client?
Lay Young
Well, I started honestly, with the people that showed interest in my work. And literally, as I said, it didn’t start business wise as me selling things, it started to more of just kind of like, look what I did, you know, look, I did this for myself. And then people would ask, and I was at the time just like, throwing out prices, like just going, oh, yeah, I can do this for such and such price, or whatever the case may be. And then I found that some people reach out to me and say, Hey, I’ve got a tight budget, or I have this much to spin, what can you do. And so I have found that I was able to hone down my target audience or my target client from there, of people who valued design, people who value spaces value their home, and it doesn’t have to be beautiful, I’m pretty when I come in, that’s my job, but value their home and the sanctuary that they need to have or that they should have. And then I can go from there.
Bernel
That is really good. You let your clientele find you. And that’s, that’s what helps you to, and then you listen to them. And that really helps you connect with them. And so that’s huge. I love that so much. And I see the passion that you have for your business. For instance, let me tell you guys a story. So Lagos, the visit, for all of you who do not know, we live, you know, not too far apart, about an hour and a half. And so she comes to visit, and we’re having this amazing, like girls weekend. And she says, Hey, there’s this place that I saw on the internet, it’s a consignment store. And they look like they have some awesome furniture. Let’s go check it out. So I’m thinking to myself, Okay, I need some furniture, right? Like, this is going to be super chill, we’re probably gonna go for like five minutes, and then we’re gonna come home and finish our margaritas right? When we pull up to this place, and they have so much stuff, so much stuff. Long story short, two hours later, as we’re closing out and packing our cars, I hear the guy who owns it say, all right, ma’am, you have 17 lamps all the way around and was like 17 He must have said seven, y’all he must have said seven. Putting myself in the car. And so he’s like, Yep, that’s right. 17 And she’s over there. 2468. Okay, 17 Sounds good. I look at her. And I was like, What did you just do? And she says, Oh, I bought 17 lamps, as it was like, I just bought a caramel macchiato. Like, it was the most normal thing ever to her. And I just stood there. And I said, Leigh, why did you buy 17 lamps. And she said, because they’re amazing, like, they’re beautiful broulee My clients will love these. This is for so and so’s home. And this is for so and so’s home. And I can repurpose this one. And if you take the shade from this one and paint that one and turn it upside down, and you know spin around five times, it will look like X, Y and Z. And in that moment, I realized this is why she owns projects, and I do not own project. She can see the beauty and everything and she can see what her clients need, even if everybody else around her Can you see your clients need. So I thought that was a cool story. And I knew in that moment that you’ve you really started something special there.
Lay Young
Well, we have to tell them how I sold you when I said that I could increase my profit margin three times what I spent for it.
Bernel
She did tell me that everybody who knows me knows that I think in terms of the bottom line, so many times the profit margin. The very happy Brunel, I said let me lay the seeds now we can fit five more stinky. So sold, I was already sold. So when looking for an interior designer to partner with, or a small business to bide to purchase decor pieces for your home. Look for somebody who really loves what they do and look for somebody who is going to help you make your home your sanctuary who is not trying to just sell you things but who’s really trying to create space for you. So that was My shameless plug to go look up my best friend on the internet. So I would be remiss to in this interview without asking you, what was your biggest surprise of last year? 2020 was a doozy for everyone. Um, so tell me what was your biggest surprise. And then what’s the biggest thing that you learned last year.
Lay Young
So I don’t know COVID-19 As a nurse in the hospital, that definitely was a shock. And that was something that that hit pretty hard. But what I found and what helped me the most was, was my business was finding the foundation of my business. So I am proud to be a pediatric nurse. I love my babies. I love what I do. Currently, I work seven to seven, two nights a week at the hospital. And then I work two eight hour days as a clinical supervisor for a homecare agency. And it’s extremely rewarding. But now my career finds my passion. So I get to still do what I love as a side hustle. And even though right now, it’s not my sole source of income, I still do it enough to love it. And on my days off, I’m painting. I’m working in my new studio space. So a little bit about that, as my projects started taking over the house, and use more space to work. So I invested in a custom built she shed. My dad literally built it from the ground up, it is a 10 by 20 barn style with windows and a deck. It’s insulated has heating and cooling, hardwood floors to loss. It’s pretty legit.
Bernel
Dream House.
Unknown Speaker
Yeah, it’s
Lay Young
a tiny house with with plumbing, they joke around saying I could move out there. But it is my workshop. So in one section, I have shelving, where there’s pieces that are staged in inventory that if COVID was not around, they it could be shopped eventually that’s coming. And then I have a desk space in the mirror where I will consult consultations. And then there’s a staged seating area. And then there are two lofts. One of them is the storage loft. And the other is just a Hangout downtime space that I felt like I needed for me. During the pandemic, I still live with my family. And so although that has been wonderful, a wonderful opportunity to save money, and we all get along great. We need our own space. So that was really nice to have a space that I could dedicate to my business and it’d be an investment. So one day post COVID, I hope to host events, paint and sips all kinds of classes and consultations and things like that. And I think that it was the idea to have that space, it became a need during COVID. So that was actually a good thing that came out of this pandemic and being stuck at home and isolated finding the opportunity to expand my business that way. Wonderful landing designer, friend of mine designed my logo after she pressured me to know I needed a logo, I needed a brand
Bernel
new fresh pressure, you guys just caused peer pressure.
Lay Young
So branded Viber now designed my logo. And that got me so excited that I started my an Instagram page solely dedicated to projects. And that that honestly got me It motivated me it made me excited that if I have this brand, I want it to make it look good. Have this business needs to look good, because I want to represent the work that I put out.
Bernel
Yes, for branding and representation. I love it. Branding is not just pretty you guys. It’s also a motivating factor, it also introduces your work to the world. So I love that I’m glad that I had a very small piece in your business and your motivation because you had a huge piece in mind. So thank you for your continued support. So if you’re listening at home, this is my absolute favorite part of the show, grab your journals, grab a quick pen, because les is going to leave you with three actionable steps that you can take. So grab your pen, are you ready? Because this is the information you don’t want to miss out. If you have enjoyed this show these three steps is what’s gonna help you take it to the next level.
Lay Young
So number one is you need to find something that you love. I am a firm believer and that work should not feel like work sometimes it will but not always. And you should not dread to get up every day and do what makes you money. Because at the end of the day, your money will not buy happiness. So you need to find something you love. If you love a lot of things, try them. Try them all. Let’s say that you have a passion for weddings. And it’s like, oh, but what part of weddings are so many aspects of them, okay? Try table decor, try making cakes. If you can’t bake, don’t do that for long term. Washington design if that’s what you’re interested in, so brides can look beautiful on their day makeup hair. And that’s just an example. But it’s no shame, to invest your time in exploring and finding what you love what you’re good at where your niche is. And don’t think that just because you tried makeup, and you can’t do your pretty eyeliner, does not mean that you can’t make a beautiful wedding dress. So if your aim is to start a business, that would be my first step finding something you love. Second, we touched on this earlier, hone your target audience. So let’s say you want budget brides or you want budget less brides, or let’s say, for example, in my case, people with tiny houses, or people with mansions or people with studio apartments, you have to hone your target audience because it helps you focus more in your branding, for where you want to go. Let’s say you really want to target people in your community, then what kind of people live in your community who’s in your neighborhood who’s in your niche area, you have to learn those things so that you can hone down that audience, your business is not for everybody. And that’s just the bottom line. It’s not going to be for everybody. So you have to find that target audience just so you know where you’re going. So you can put the basketball in the hoop. And then lastly, and this is where Brunello comes in, you have to establish a brand. You have to even if you’re like, oh, but I’m not ready for a website. Yeah, I don’t even know what to do with the website yet. But I’m not telling you to go out and get a website, establish a brand. What do you what does your business look like? Your brand is how you present yourselves to your target audience. So you have to present yourself in a way that represents your business well, and if you don’t know what your brand is, maybe you should take a few steps back and establish that before you move forward, that is going to be pivotal in your growth as a business owner.
Bernel
Oh, my goodness, so much valuable content, like so much valuable content. Hope you guys took note of that. If you miss that they will all of her wonderful tips actually will be in the show notes. I will make sure that everybody can read those. Now, the question, Where can we find you like if you want to talk more with Les? Of course you do. Because she’s awesome. But if you want to talk more with her, where can people find you?
Lay Young
So you can find me at projects dot interiors, that is on Instagram. You can also find me looking for Lesley young on Facebook. My email address is projects with an x p r o j e x period by leigh@gmail.com se p r l je x dot y la y@gmail.com. And you can send me a message we can chat if you’re interested in interior design consulting services. I’m available for those virtually at this time, and hopefully in the future we can meet and we can get the projects rolling.
Bernel
Sounds good. Well, now you guys know what to do. Go follow her on Instagram. There you will find all of her custom books. They’re awesome. She also offers $1,000 rooms, which is a cool service. So I’m not going to tell you more about that you have to go look it up and see what it is for yourself. And then you can also book your virtual consultations there. So thank you so much, Leigh for being on the show today. I really appreciate it.
Lay Young
Oh, it has been such a pleasure time with me as always valuable. Love it.
Bernel
Wow, that went by really fast. As always, thank you so much for showing up in my little corner of the internet. I would love to hear your thoughts on the show. So please, please subscribe, leave a review and share what you learned with friends. Some of the best things in life are freebies. So don’t forget to head over to brandedbybernel.com to check out our free branding goodies, the show notes and more educational resources.
© 2018- 2020 BRANDED BY BERNEL, LLC