BECOMING A BUSINESS PEOPLE WANT TO GROW WITH
As my business grows, I’ve been thinking a lot about hiring, support, sustainability, and what it actually takes to build an enduring team. And honestly, one of the most humbling parts of building a team is realizing how much growth is also requires from me as the business owner. I think a lot of us imagine hiring as the moment things finally become easier. More help, less pressure, more breathing room.
What I’m learning is that growing my team often reveals the parts of the business that still need more structure, clarity, and maturity too. Not in a discouraging way, just in a very real way.
No one will care about your business the way you do
This is normal. I’m emotionally invested in every detail because it’s my name, my reputation, my clients, and years of my life wrapped into this business. That doesn’t mean someone is a bad employee if they don’t operate with the same intensity that I do.
I want to be the type of leader that invests my time in creating clarity and trust, instead of expecting everyone to think exactly like the owner.
Hiring initially creates more responsibility, not less
I wasn’t surprised by this, but you might be. When you’re overwhelmed, it’s easy to fantasize about hiring as immediate relief. But bringing someone into your business also means: training, communication, delegation, feedback, documentation, and being a manager. There’s a temporary season where growing a team can actually feel heavier before it starts feeling supportive.
A lot of my business still lives in my head
This has probably been the biggest realization for me. I started to build out SOPs (standard operating procedures) based on what I need the most help with. The goal is to have a database of policies and procedures for future employees to access. What it’s shown me is that so many things I do every day feel “obvious” because I’ve repeated them for years.
For example, how I communicate with clients, how I organize projects, how a presentation is prepared, my method of strategic planning and problem solving, how I prioritize tasks (still mostly in my head). None of these things are obvious to another person unless I slow down enough to actually define it. I worked in my corporate career long enough to know that good systems are what allow other people to succeed on a team.
Hiring quickly reveals weak spots in the business
These are usually not dramatic problems. It’s things like unclear expectations for professional dress attire, inconsistent workflows, shifting priorities, poor delegation, too many communication channels, or tasks that only make sense because I personally knew the context with the client.
Adding one more person to the business has a way of making invisible friction suddenly very visible. It’s probably useful in the long term, but it seems counter-intuitive that hiring help will create more problems.
Growing a team means you have to grow too
I think this is the real point underneath all of it. Building a sustainable business requires becoming: more organized, more communicative, better at delegation, clearer with expectations, and more comfortable letting go of perfection. The last one hits me hard.
Not because I’ve been doing things “wrong,” but because leading people is a completely different skill set than simply being good at design. I still don’t believe that there’s a perfect formula for hiring, but I do think paying attention to recurring pain points helps. I need to actively consider the tasks I repeat constantly, the things that drain the most energy, parts of the business only I can do, and the places where projects consistently slow down.
Sometimes the answer is going to be hiring. Sometimes it’s going to be a better system. And sometimes the answer is better boundaries. And probably all 3, eventually.
Either way, I’m now entrenched in the philosophy that the most important part of building a team is building the kind of business, and being the type of business owner, that a team can successfully grow alongside.
Fizzles & Sizzles
Rebecca's Fizzle
After a busy Spring, I didn’t schedule any Summer trips and I’m regretting my lack of planning. I’m trying to get something on the books before we’re deep into Fall hustle mode!
Rebecca's Sizzle
Between the San Francisco show house and Design Field Retreat in Charleston my cup is so full! I learned so much and already implementing ideas.
Shaun's Fizzle
I look forward to the Pasadena Showcase House every year since it became a tradition among local designer friends. And I’m always sad it’s an entire year until I do it again.
Shaun's Sizzle
I’ve been doing EMDR therapy, and it’s helping me untangle old patterns that have quietly shaped how I work, relate, and make decisions—it’s been one of the most impactful things I’ve done in years.
