Today we’d like to introduce you to Rae’Van Parson.
Rae’Van, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
I started my business with a deep-rooted passion for design. From playing Sims as a child and primarily focusing on designing the homes for each Sims family to helping my mom choose fabrics for her new curtains, pillows, and blankets, to designing logos and presentations for friends, I’ve always loved the captivating power of design.
In high school, I discovered my love for graphic design, developing a knack for web design, coding, and digital art.
In college, attending the University of Oklahoma to major in Interior Design and SMU for my master’s in design & Innovation, my eyes were opened to a multitude of design processes.
After working in corporate for a few years and operating as a freelance designer for several entrepreneurs, I decided to strike when the iron was hot and start my company, Sang-Froid Design House.
We all face challenges, but looking back, would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
It has NOT been a smooth road! But I have felt incredibly blessed by the bumps just as much as the smooth patches.
Here are 4 aspects that have made my road in business bumpy – but still afforded me a palette filled with great lessons learned:
1 – Lack of Work Discipline: When you run a business that comes from a place of passion or from a gift/talent that you have, it can often create moments where you feel like you can’t cut off.
Often times I have found that when I needed to legitimately rest, I kept wanting to work more. I’ve learned that while sometimes you will have to work later than most days, having a disciplined work schedule will help you scale and prepare for the next day properly.
Bottom line, learn to CUT OFF! After all, making money and growing your business is not equivalent to never sleeping or giving up on the things that make you who you are. Your business should not be your identity.
2 – Self-Doubt: Sometimes, even now, I experience imposter syndrome: “This isn’t really going to be a success” or “no one needs another designer, just stop.” When having these thoughts, I often felt completely paralyzed. I’ve learned to tell myself every single day that those thoughts are bald-faced lies.
If you know what you love doing can make you successful in time, you cannot let yourself get in the way of that. The greatest victories are first welcomed by the darkest thoughts of failure. When you exile those dark thoughts, focus on your destined victory.
4 – Lack of Reflection: When I first started my business it felt like I was working in a vacuum. Responding to proposals, issuing proposals, executing work, closing out on work, etc., etc. But I realized, I wasn’t taking the time to reflect on completed client work enough to understand how to move forward in the future. What worked? What failed? What new templates or processes do I need to adopt to avoid certain encounters with future clients? Furthermore, I wasn’t spending enough time meditating on how to instill more innovation within my practice.
I cannot stress enough how important it is to reflect on what you’re doing whether that means journaling about it, creating process diagrams, or all of the above. We avoid making future mistakes not just from muscle memory of it, but from actually labeling the mistake or outlining the discovery, with pen and paper.
5 – Systems: I saw very quickly that I did not have enough key systems in place in order for me to automate parts of my business. Without automation, especially being a designer, a lot of the mundane tasks that are essential can begin to consume your creative time. The cornerstone of every successful business is how efficient and effective your systems are. What are your key performance indicators? What are your marketing channels? What is your go-to process for communicating with other contractors, partners, and clients?
While I was blessed with adopting some of these systems from my experiences working for incredible corporate firms and other entrepreneurs, I still learned the importance of designing my own to benefit the structure of my business.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next, you can tell us a bit more about your business?
Sang-Froid Design House is multi-disciplinary. This means we are design professionals who create across multiple design tenets. We value being with our clients throughout all facets of design, whether it be defining a brand strategy to fulfillment, creating a timeless residential or commercial interior design experience, and/or brainstorming on print & digital graphic design concepts for a non-profit.
Our services include:
– Residential & Commercial Interior Design
– Graphic Design (Print & Digital)
– Brand Strategy
– Human-Centered Design (Research & Data Insights)
Quite like the design life cycle of starting a restaurant (for example), we find joy in helping provide qualitative & quantitative research for your restaurant experience, designing a masterplan for the restaurant’s interior design, consulting with you on the menu design, defining a website design/user experience & so much more.
The great thing about working with us is that we are able to be with you throughout your entire design journey. The longer we work with you, the more we understand your needs, your preferred communication cadence, and the vision you have for the outcome of the project. We are a nimble design team who values cultivating meaningful relationships with our clients and contractors and celebrates bringing a design outcome to fruition in collaboration with our clients.
Let’s talk about our city – what do you love? What do you not love?
What I like the most about the city:
– I like the beautifully curated artwork throughout the city
– I love the Perot Museum of Nature & Science!
– I love how NorthPark Mall was designed. I highly recommend taking an art walk to soak in the collections and the overall architecture there.
What I lease like about the city:
– I wish there were more opportunities to experience unique food trucks throughout the city
Contact Info:
- Website: sangfroiddesignhouse.com
- Instagram: @sangfroiddesignhouse & @symoneparson
Image Credits
@staybryght
@evansaperature
