Future-Proofing Your Firm: Insights from NKBA Research and Leading Designers

Too many talented designers build their businesses in isolation—without contracts, pricing strategies, or support. In this honest and empowering session, two experienced professionals share the real story behind going from burnt out and overwhelmed to building successful, values-based design firms.

Through personal storytelling and real-world strategies, the presenters will reveal the practices that helped them move past imposter syndrome and into confident leadership. Attendees will learn the five most important lessons they wish they had known earlier, from setting up repeatable processes to establishing profitable pricing and healthy client boundaries. The session closes with an interactive exercise using an “Imposter Syndrome Bingo Card,” designed to help attendees identify internal roadblocks and replace them with affirming beliefs and actionable steps. 

Money conversations shouldn’t be awkward, and getting paid shouldn’t be harder than doing the actual work. Yet in many firms, chasing invoices, absorbing unpaid hours, and having retroactive fee discussions are still commonplace. This workshop takes attendees inside a high-performing interior architecture studio to reveal a proactive payment system that supports steady cash flow, prevents scope creep, and fosters client trust.

Participants will walk away with client-ready billing tools, time-logging strategies to boost profitability, professional communication scripts, and the confidence to lead projects with clear boundaries. Whether you're billing hourly, flat fee, or hybrid, this workshop equips you to stop chasing checks and start steering projects with clarity and control. 

Continuous professional learning and development have become key in our fast-paced society. Join Professors Sarah Cravy and Anjana Joshi from Cañada College, winners of this year’s NKBA Excellence in Education Award, to craft a continuing education plan that will keep your design firm or showroom team at the peak of their abilities.

Discover which foundational skills your staff should learn in a formal educational setting, and how to help them build on those skills in the workplace. Apply the principles of adult learning to craft a thoughtful plan for talent development instead of an ad-hoc approach. Be inspired by real-life case studies showcasing successful career-long learning programs in design firms and showrooms. Attendees will leave with a fresh outlook on professional learning and actionable plans for keeping up with today’s market skills.