April Force Pardoe: A Force Within the Interior Design Industry
On this episode of The Lounge, Nick chats with April Force Pardoe of April Force Pardoe Interiors. She shares her experience of starting her own business, how she translates graphic design to interiors, and her support system within the industry.
Getting to know April Force Pardoe
April is calling into The Chaise Lounge from Elkridge, Maryland and is a long time listener of the podcast. April has been running her business for nine years. A few of her favorite things include House Beautiful magazine, a Mac over a PC, and a Cape Cod vacation. She also enjoys a gin and tonic and a good Netflix binge.
How did April get into design?
April received her Master of Arts in Publication Design with a focus in graphic arts and design. She has always been creative and good with color. April started working in event planning where she gained experience in logistics and coordinating using 3D structural layouts.
Eventually, the event planning schedule was too much with young children, and April decided to get into interior design and start her own business.
April has not had any formal education in interior design but is always looking for webinars and seminars. It took her about six months to launch her business. Her intuition, graphic design, and logistics experience have served her well, even down to the fine details.
How does April find clients?
April has only advertised once (in a mom’s club newsletter), and she got one client from it. She also took a design class on how to approach the design of a room. April asked a friend to be her guinea pig and her friend has been an advocate ever since.
April also has a touch base program internally where she schedules phone calls, mailings, and cards to stay top of mind with current and past customers. She also writes a newsletter and blog, manages her social media accounts, and creates video content.
What’s April’s business like today?
In the past, accounting has been April’s least favorite part of the business, but now she has a person to help with that. April mentions that having the right people to help is wonderful. She likes being able to take a vacation and unplug. April is still learning to delegate more and the art of doing it well. On the other hand, April geeks out on the data behind her business. On a quarterly basis, April reviews her business and time spent on certain tasks and strategies on how to become more profitable.
April attends High Point in the spring and networks with a group of designer friends every other month. This is a great and supportive group that shares resources, contractors, challenges, and more.
April has been consistently busy for the most part but has experienced a slow spring. She decided not to get down or worried, but rather reached out to past customers, visited them, and even sought out speaking engagements. April recommends to keep putting yourself out there no matter what.
Learn more at April’s website, Instagram, Facebook, or email.
- Wrap Up
If you would like to hear more episodes, please visit us on iTunes or on our website at TheChaiseLoungePodcast.com. Lastly, find The Chaise Lounge on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter or post a review on iTunes, you may even hear your review read live on our next podcast. With that said keep dreaming big, and keep designing a great design business
