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A Well-Designed Business® | Interior Design  Business Podcast

164: Susan Wintersteen- Savvy Giving by Design

A Well-Designed Business® | Interior Design Business Podcast

LuAnn Nigara

Arts, Design, Business

4.9810 Ratings

🗓️ 12 April 2017

⏱️ 64 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

If you think your life is busy, get ready to meet Susan Winterstein, of Savvy Interiors, in San Diego, California. As well as running an Interior Design Firm, she also has Inside Savvy, a Retail Store and Savvy Giving By Design, a non-profit organization. Susan also has a husband and five daughters. Listen in today, to an awesome conversation with a remarkable woman.   On today's show, the focus is on her non-profit, Savvy Giving By Design. LuAnn is truly overwhelmed with what Susan is doing. She points out that even though there are other designers who are involved with different ways of helping out and giving back, Susan has turned her business into a full on Non- profit Organisation of her own, with an extremely organized platform. Listen in to find out more.   Today, Susan talks to LuAnn about:   What drew her to turn her business into a Non-profit Organisation and how she started out with it. Why she keeps her Facebook Group small and intimate and runs it the way that she does. How she went about finding another child for her project, after the first one and the whole process that followed that. How she got started as an official Non-profit Organisation. Her goal of tapping into bigger and better vendor relationships. How hard it is to get corporate attention onto her projects. Putting out the Funder Needs - why this is critical when you're in your social media community and the success that Susan has had with it. Although they rely on donations, there are certain things which have to be paid for- like painters. If the child that Susan is creating a space for has siblings, she does their rooms as well. What goes into the decision of who the next child will be to receive her tremendous gift. That she's willing to assist other designers to do as she does with Savvy Giving By Design, even if they're located in other states. The grounding effect that working with people who would not normally use the services of a designer, has on designers. How she would love to see designers helping designers to do something to pay it forward. Links: The main website for Susan's Non-profit: www.savvygivingbydesign.org Susan's website: http://www.savvyinteriors.com Susan's Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/SavvyGivingbyDesign/ Susan on social media: Youtube Instagram: @Savvy Giving By Design

Transcript

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0:00.0

Have you heard about the exciting new exhibit by the Black Artists and Designers Guild,

0:05.6

which was commissioned by the Cooper Hewitt Smithsonian Design Museum in New York City?

0:11.1

Big news, right?

0:12.6

The Cooper Hewitt's exhibition is called Making Home, Smithsonian Design Triennial.

0:18.2

Now, the batch designers exhibit is titled the Underground Library,

0:23.8

inspired by the Underground Railroad. The Underground Railroad is the clandestine network

0:28.6

established in the early 19th century through which many enslaved African Americans

0:33.6

traveled in search of freedom. This library installation represents a 21st century sanctuary surrounded by art, objects,

0:43.5

artifacts, and books of black legacy.

0:46.9

In reimagining and repurposing the Andrew Carnegie Personal Library,

0:52.7

badge invites you to examine the power of home libraries

0:56.1

and the significance of literacy, remembering that African Americans were denied the right to read

1:02.3

under slavery. I'm honored to share that Window Works in Livingston was asked by badge to create

1:08.7

the flat panels for the windows. We used a custom design fabric

1:12.5

by badge members, and the fabric was fabricated by Stacey Garcia's team at Libatex. So please make a

1:20.0

point to visit this inspired space the next time you are in New York City. The exhibition runs

1:25.5

from November 24 all the way through August 10th, 2025.

1:31.1

So you have plenty of time to get this on your calendar.

1:34.0

We will put links in the show notes.

1:44.1

Welcome to a well-designed business with your host, Luann Nigara.

1:48.5

Luan has a lifetime of experience building a multi-million dollar business with her husband and cousin,

1:53.5

and she knows the challenges you face in your interior design business.

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