Today we’d like to introduce you to Lifestylist® Suzanne Felber.
Suzanne, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
I never thought that I would be in the business that I am – my main focus growing up was horses, and even went to an equestrian school for college. During high school, I worked in a wonderful German bakery near Buffalo, NY, and at a farm-based day camp Summers. I went on a scholarship to the equestrian center so that entailed a lot of hard work – cleaning stalls, saddles, grooming horses for affluent clients of the school but the opportunity to ride and learn from a member of the British Equestrian team made it all worthwhile and an opportunity of a lifetime.
After marrying into a building company family and having children, I spent more time on our family business – Traditions Custom Homes that built homes in Plano, Texas and had a remodeling company that specialized in passive solar energy – we were way ahead of our time. We were a small company on a shoestring budget so I did our marketing, advertising, and model homes. I realized at that point that model homes were my passion so I quit my own company and went to work in the warehouse of a national model home merchandising company and worked my way up through the ranks.
From there, I was hired by the Hyatt Corporation to work on their senior living concept – Classic Residence by Hyatt. We opened up one of the first true lifestyle-driven communities for active seniors off of Walnut Hill Lane, and I also worked part-time at Hermés in Highland Park Village. Both of these incredible companies gave me access to some of the best minds and talents in lifestyle living and were a wonderful opportunity to learn and work with people I otherwise never would have had the opportunity to meet. Through all of this, I realized that I may have more horse sense than book sense, but I was ready to start my own business.
One of my first clients was Grand Homes, and Steve Brooks was a great mentor for me. He was tough but always pushed me to do my best. Through him, I was introduced to the marketing team at Home Depot, and one of their top marketing people convinced me to rethink the name of my company and my focus, and The Lifestylist® Brands was born. She also told me in the early 90’s to trademark that term, which was excellent advice and I did.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc. – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
Anything but smooth, but if you stay safe and don’t put yourself and your business out there for new opportunities and growth possibilities you’ll never grow.
When I was working for Grand Homes, my company was very well known in the new home building industry. We were very active giving back to the local community and Builders Associations and won a lot of awards and recognition for our homes locally and nationally. We went through large growth spurts, and I ended up with offices in three cities and lots of employees so I could work more on the marketing and sales part of our business. As a result, I pretty much let my employees take over the business and it felt like I was working for them and their salaries, not for me. I ended up letting go of all of my employees and streamlining my business so that I only took on work that I personally can do. That gave me the opportunity to love what I do again, be hands-on with the jobs and my customers, and in the long run, make more and have more time for myself than I ever did before.
An important thing that I did about three years ago was to focus my business. There are a lot of things I enjoy doing, and to be honest that I’m good at, but if I was going to stay true to not having employees, I needed to focus and to let people know exactly what The Lifestylist Brands is all about. So, I came up with the tag line “Great Wine, Dine, and Design” and I’ve stayed true to that. The wine culture is something I’ve always been interested in, so I started volunteering with an incredible local organization – TEXSOM. I started out carrying and sorting cases of wines at their competitions, and my favorite part – cleaning the spit buckets. But by working hard as a volunteer and doing any job they asked me to do they have been very generous with sharing their wealth of knowledge and resources in the wine culture, and meeting and the opportunity to meet and chat with the top wine experts in the world has been a priceless education and opportunity. If there is something you want to do or learn, don’t be afraid to knock on some doors and to offer your sweat equity into learning something.
My son has always been a tech-focused guy from the time that he got his first Commodore 64 computer, and that was something that we both shared an interest in and he to this day keeps me up on what’s new and coming. As a result, I started my first website and blog – thecasa.com in the 1990’s and continue writing and using that as a marketing resource ever since. One of my biggest challenges is finding the time to make a living and doing all of the writing I would like to do. I don’t make an income off of my writing – I prefer to keep it pure editorial – but as a result of that I’m not as consistent as I would like to be.
The wonderful thinking about social media and the online society that we now have is that it’s more of a level playing field than it has ever been for marketing. With a great writer, photographer, and graphics person you can look as professional as any huge company. Just be sure to listen to your own voice and stay true to that.
We’d love to hear more about The Lifestylist® Brands.
The Lifestylist® Brands is truly all about great wine, dine and design. We are truly a lifestyle brand where we like to say our work starts and ends in the kitchen. We are known for our model homes and staging but have also evolved into a consumer-focused brand that helps educate consumers about wines, kitchen design and eating well through our blogs, websites, and nationally published articles.
I decided about 15 years ago to learn more about factory-built housing and quickly realized that this is the housing of the future, and the solution for the affordable housing crisis. I started a non-profit group, American Housing Advocates to spread the good news about manufactured housing, and now focus my design efforts on showing how beautiful and functional this overlooked form of housing is. I use photography by a talented photographer that my company has teamed up with – Lisa Stewart Photography – to show and share the beauty and value that this form of housing offers.
When I was active in the National Association of Homebuilders, I met Zach Elkin volunteering for National Membership Day. I was always so impressed with his listening skills, and how he made everyone feel important, including me. When he went to work for one of the top luxury appliance companies he asked if I would be on their design council which has been a source of incredible knowledge and lifelong friendships with the best in the design industries. He went on to help LG Appliances turn their luxury brand into the one that everyone is talking about, and Signature Kitchen Suites decided to open their Experience and Design Center in Napa, CA. As always a brilliant move on Zach’s part. The company uses “True to Food” to brand themselves, and trademarked the term “Technicurean®” to identify his customers. Not only am I proud to be on the design council for SKS Appliances, but I also was given the incredible opportunity to do the curating of art and accessories in the Experience and Design Center, and to stage their booth at the International Builders Show and Kitchen and Bath Show.
All of these opportunities come under my Wine Dine and Design focus, and I’m looking forward to growing in these areas in the future.
What I am the proudest of though is how I’ve been able to use my brand to give back. I believe in giving back to the areas that have been so good to me, so I am a past board member of the Dallas Chapter of Les Dames d’Escoffier and past president of The Shared Housing Center – Dallas. Shared Housing was created to provide and facilitate affordable housing options in Dallas County, and to offer housing alternatives and supportive services that foster human independence, empowerment, and self-worth while serving a multi-cultural, multi-generational population. Since their inception, they have offered housing and program services to critically at-risk populations including older adults, single parents with young children, and individuals with special needs that are seeking to elevate themselves from homelessness, and near homeless situations, to lifestyles of relative self-sufficiency. It has been an honor to see the families that we have helped thrive in their new homes and to find partners to donate the elements they need to be successful in their new lives.
I also decided to challenge myself and make the best use of my time when I am on the road traveling and have opened up a few vintage vignettes at Lula B’s in Oak Cliff. It’s the perfect way to learn about what people are looking for and to find some great bargains that I can share in the process while I introduce people to our Lifestylist Brands. I’ve always been a huge history buff so finding treasures off the beaten path has been a lot of fun. We started with home goods, but have now men’s and women’s vintage clothing as well.
Do you recommend any apps, books or podcasts that have been helpful to you?
I have become active with a few Facebook/online groups that are for professional growth in the fields that I am focused on. Designhounds and the Modenus Group have been excellent for design growth and knowledge, and I love Denise Vivaldo’s “Women Beyond a Certain Age” podcast. She is THE top food styler in the industry as well as a woman who is very gracious about sharing her knowledge and time and funny as heck!
Seth Godin is my favorite business writer – I’ll read and learn from anything he publishes.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.lifestylist.com
- Email: info@lifestylist.com
- Instagram: lifestylist
- Facebook: lifestylist
- Twitter: lifestylist
Image Credit:
Lisa Stewart – Lisa Stewart Photography
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