Authenticity. It’s a word that gets tossed around a lot in marketing circles—and with good reason: No creative business can succeed for long just faking it.

Today in The Lounge, host Nick May sits down with interior designer Kati Curtis, founder of NYC-based Kati Curtis Design, to talk about what it takes to build a design brand worthy of genuine media recognition, industry respect, and repeat client business. “Find your own voice—as soon as you can,” advises the designer. “The sooner you can find your own voice, and scream that voice, the sooner you’re going to attract the right firm, the right clients, the right husband…everything.”

Raised in Maine and North Carolina (“I like to say I’m half Yankee/half Southern belle”), Kati launched her design firm in Manhattan in 2005, after 12 years of working with international architecture and engineering firms. A graduate of Savannah College of Art and Design, she is a Certified Interior Designer (CID), LEED accredited professional, and an active member of the Leaders of Design Council, the Design Leadership Network, and the Decorators Club. In addition to leading a successful family business (her husband, Simon, assumed the role of company COO in 2017), Kati teaches at the New York School of Interior Design and is a sought-after speaker, known throughout the design community for her passionate commitment to handcraft and global cultural preservation.

On this episode of The Chaise Lounge, Kati shares her story with Nick—in her own voice.

To  learn more about Kati, follow her on Instagram @designerkati or visit katicurtisdesign.com.