From burned out in tech to 6 paying interior design clients in 3 months

How Grace turned a long-standing side passion into a real business direction, created the foundations of her offer, and started seeing herself as someone who could actually do this.

Where she started

When Grace started working with me 1:1, she was burned out at work and close to quitting her job. She knew her passion was in interior design. She had already been “doing interior design on the side” for a few years, through a certificate programme and projects for friends and family, but she didn’t know what it could look like as a real career path or business.

She was also navigating a lot of life uncertainty: moving countries, dealing with visa and admin challenges, and questioning whether she needed to find another “shiny” job at another “shiny” tech company, or whether she could finally give herself permission to build something of her own.

“I was burned out at work about to quit my job. I knew that my passion was in interior design and that I wanted to make a career pivot but I didn’t know what that could look like or how to get started.”

It started with one of my LinkedIn posts, asking whether you’d just landed in your dream city and everything felt great apart from your work. That was exactly how Grace was feeling, so she booked a free intro call. Just saying out loud that she wanted to explore a career in interior design more seriously got her feeling excited and motivated.

She had taste, creative instinct and early proof from projects she’d already worked on. What she didn’t have yet was the structure around it. What exactly am I offering? Who is this for? How do I talk about this professionally? How do I price it? Can I really do this?

What we worked on

Over three months of 1:1 coaching, we focused on turning Grace’s interior design interest into something concrete, visible and sellable:

• clarifying the direction she wanted to move in
• creating a design-focused resume, a portfolio and a website
• developing business cards and a visual identity
• shaping her initial pricing structure and how to package her services
• actively pitching her work
• networking with interior designers and potential collaborators
• navigating confidence dips and self-doubt

Grace later shared that she wouldn’t have achieved all this working on her own. The work she did created the assets, decisions and actions that made the business feel real.

What changed in 3 months

By the end of the three months, Grace had moved from uncertainty into evidence. She had worked with 6 paying clients and generated around €9,000 from her interior design work. She had the materials she needed to talk about her work professionally, and she was actively pitching her services instead of waiting for opportunities to appear. She had also met with 5 interior designers to build her network in the creative industry.

A home she worked on in Ireland led to a photoshoot for Ireland’s Homes Interiors & Living magazine, and an invitation to speak on the magazine’s podcast about the project.

This was no longer an abstract career pivot. There were clients, revenue, a portfolio, visibility and momentum.

The deeper shift: self-trust

In our final session, when I reflected everything Grace had done back to her, she said it felt “insane” to hear it all listed out. Earlier in the process she’d thought: “I can’t build something. I just need to find another job.” By the end, that had become: “Why wouldn’t I just do this on my own? It’s happening. I am doing it.”

“I have become more self assured and confident. My perception of myself has changed specifically around how I can overcome challenges, network and accomplish a lot if I set my mind to it.”

The practical pieces matter: the offer, the pricing, the website, the portfolio, the clients. But the deeper question is often whether you trust yourself enough to keep going. For Grace, the answer became yes.

What Grace is building next

Grace’s business now has a name, Grace Home. In the coming months she’s refining her offer and payment structure, improving her processes, growing her network and developing her design skills further. She’s launching her updated branding in January 2027 and building towards a steady pipeline of clients.

The business is still evolving, but the foundation is there. And Grace is no longer waiting for permission to begin.

In Grace’s words

“I had been ‘doing interior design on the side’ for a few years before working with Val but joining Val’s program finally gave me the confidence to start my own business. Val has an incredible way of coaching and helping to navigate complex challenges by bringing clarity and structure. I’m so proud of what I have accomplished in the 3 months of working with Val — I couldn’t have done it all without her.”