I never get tired of hearing people's "stories"...

In fact, every time someone signs up for my home staging certification program, I interview them to get a picture of what their background is and what their hopes and goals are for their business.   I am always so inspired and humbled by the responses I get!  Here are just a few that I've gotten in the last month:

"I've been rearranging rooms since I was a child, so I can't wait to finally follow my dream of design and make money at it!"

"My mother was my design inspiration and when she passed away last year, I knew I had to pursue this"

"My goal is to create a staging empire!"

"I got bored of being retired and wanted to do something I loved and that would make my children proud"

"I'm a real estate agent who has always LOVED design, so my goal is to dial in my own listings, as well as help other agents stage theirs"

"I have had an Interior Design business for over ten years and wanted to incorporate home staging as an additional service"

"I hate my full time job and feel stuck...my goal is to work hard, learn like crazy and do staging and design full time!"

At the RESA Convention last month, Tori Toth was kind enough to take some of my HSR grads aside and interview them to get their stories...you will love what they have to say!

Over the next few months, I'm excited to share some more homestager stories along with their before-and-after photos.   You will be in "awe" of their transformations!

We had so much fun in Las Vegas last month at the RESA Convention last month!   We had amazing speakers (Sabrina Soto), the coolest group of vendors (Ashley Furniture, Cort, Surya, Paragon), the largest attendance of home stagers of any Convention and the most competitive awards grouping I've ever seen!  Our industry is hot and when we get together...amazing things happen. 

Here are just a few of the many highlights from that event...

We filled the bar with over 50 HSR peeps, so I had to take a selfie:)

Who doesn't love a good happy hour?  Before the Convention began, I treated all my HSR Members, Grads and Staging Mentors to free drinks at the Center Bar in the casino and it was a great way for stagers to meet, network and connect before the big event.

I got to thank my amazing members for inspiring me every day!

For the third time I've been privileged to win the "RESA Most Innovative Product and Service of the Year Award"!  I was blown away since the competition this year was fierce and there were so many great finalists.

I'm very proud of this training because I believe Color Consultations are becoming more essential and I'm excited to help stagers and designers create a market for this service (much like I did when staging was brand new).

I also spoke on the subject of choosing "Ideal Color Schemes" and am doing a FREE live webinar on color, so sign-up by clicking on the image below if you LOVE color.

Just a few of the many HSR staging winners!

Victoria (www.VictoriaStaging.com), Audra Slinkey, Emily and Yvette (www.orchidinteriorsllc.com), Arti (www.studiortdesign.com), Cynthia (www.transitionshomestagingtulsa.com), Monica (www.preferredstaging.com), and Laurie (www.roomswithimpact.com)

In every category there were many HSR Grad award winning finalists!  The body of work was better than I've ever seen in the history of staging awards!  Over the next few months, I'm going to be sharing these incredible photos on this blog and on the NAR staging blog. 

Seeing is believing, and when you see these incredibly talented stagers work their magic...it will give you goosebumps!

HSR Alumni Kristine (www.elitestagingandredesign.com) and Birgit (www.birgitanich.com)

Orlando won the Kathy Neilson Award for everything he does for the staging industry!

I shared a bit about Orlando (www.thehomestagingguy.com) in a prior blog post about "How to Get a Staging Job", because he is also one of my wonderful staging mentors, is State President of RESA for Florida and regularly jumps into my live, training webinars in the HSR Members Area to motivate and comment...I love this guy!

Don't you love a good story?  Sabrina Soto was an incredible speaker and we had an hour long "chat" question and answer session that inspired, illuminated and motivated all of us.  She's as down to earth as you would think, very kind, genuine and had some excellent insights on trends in the industry.  She even gave us a little "HGTV gossip":).

Hurray, I even got to take a picture with her!

Look at this good looking group of HSR Grads & Staging Mentors!

My staging and design certification training is online, so while I get to talk and email HSR members daily...I don't get to see them in person (unless they come to a San Diego RESA event).  The RESA Convention allowed us to pre-party, celebrate the industry and get to know each other better.

 The Staging Industry is FILLED with the most AMAZING group of people!

I was so blessed to have both my sisters fly out and support me at the convention!

My REAL Sisters got to meet my "Staging Sisters"... How cool is that?!

Corrine, Suzanne and Me

So...save up your pennies and make sure to attend next years, RESA Convention with me if you are a home stager! 

If you're not a home stager but thinking about it, then watch my free video about the industry, "Is Staging for You?"

5 Ways to Market and Boost Your Design Business

This is an hour and half presentation on how to market the design side of your business through the staging side first.  I've talked about this throughout the training and I will say it again, " great staging leads to move-in design every time when positioned well!"  Most my veteran stagers who focused on occupied staging mostly as a niche, now purely do design work through referrals.

Here's the Five Ways to Marketing Your Design Business:

I'm always referring to my Pinterest Board because it allows me to share links to my favorite places much more easily, so make sure to click on the button below and follow me!

If you're an Expert E-Designer Member, then add a design board image from the HSR Templates (that fits with your client's style and conversation you had about the home) to the follow-up email along with the importance of PLANNING a remodel ahead of time to SAVE THEM MONEY.