Chicago's Young Entrepreneurs - Occupi Design

This week's Young Entrepreneur is talented at a variety of visual and performing arts. 32-year-old Meghan Brown is not only an artist and visual designer, she is an accomplished dancer and can be found teaching middle school children to swing dance or instructing at the Joffrey Ballet in Chicago. Meghan has about a decade of expereince in interior staging, redeisgn and remodeling and can assist you with planning a new look for your home through her design company, Occupi Design.

Occupi Design

312.890.3806

http://www.occupidesign.com/

Designer - Meghan Brown

meghan@occupidesign.com

Start Date of Company - November 2008

Why did you decide to open your business?

I saw a need for smart and affordable staging and interior design for a broad range of budgets. Especially in a tight economy, people need to feature their homes to have a competitive edge when selling.

Also, just because it's a recession does not mean that people stop caring about what their homes look like. If anything, there is more interest on the home and interior spaces, because we are staying in more, or working really hard long hours and want that environment to be as wonderful as it can be.

To achieve that, some clients are rethinking larger projects with a tighter budgets. Basic redesign, or furniture placement and space planning, is a wonderfully affordable way to give new life to a space!

What have you achieved with your company thus far?

I work with a great group out of the Coldwell Banker Lincoln Park Plaza office. They call me in make their client's properties sell faster and for better returns. And I have worked with many wonderful individual homeowners.

Recently, Occupi Design completed a kitchen remodel in River North that transformed an already fabulous high-rise condo by opening up the kitchen to capture the views and to make it the social anchor of the home. The client loves to entertain, and now the space is a natural fit!

What has been difficult about running a business? What disappointments have you experienced since becoming a business owner?

It's business, it's not personal. If you don't get the job or something falls through with the budget; sometimes there is nothing you can do about it - despite your hard work and professionalism. There are always going to be factors beyond your control.

What advice do you have for aspiring young entrepreneurs?

Stick with it! And educate your clients and colleagues about why your business is the perfect fit for their needs. As business owners we are thrilled about what we do, that's why we do it, and the details and our expertise seem obvious to us.

Remember to communicate just how valuable your particular service is and how much time you have spent training, practicing and honing your skills. Let them know, and they will understand why you charge what you do or why the project will take the time it takes. Once you do, your business does more of the job of selling itself.

And you can learn from everything and everyone. Keep your senses open to making new discoveries and new connections. Often the least expected connections hold some of the greatest ideas and developments.