Tanya Memme is joined by celebrity designer Jennifer Farrell to explore effective branding strategies in the world of home design. With over 20 years of experience, Jennifer shares her journey from being a young interior designer to becoming a renowned TV host and brand expert. Learn how Jennifer has successfully built her brand through diversification and social media, and gain insights into the importance of authentic branding in today’s competitive landscape. Whether you’re an aspiring designer or an established professional, this episode offers valuable advice on how to elevate your brand in the design industry.

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Home Design Branding Strategies With Jennifer Farrell

Welcome back to another episode of the show. This one is extra special because I have a friend of mine, Jennifer Farrell, with me. Jennifer and I have known each other for twenty years. She is a celebrity designer and a celebrity TV host as well. We started off in the business many years ago. We were on the same channel, A&E. We were back-to-back in their superpower block that they had. Shows were rocking and rolling.

The Design Hour of Power. You were hosting Sell This House. I was hosting Find & Design. We were babies, clearly, because that was many years ago. I knew you even before then. We were doing other shows before that. It has been twenty years.

Jennifer’s Journey In The Design Industry

I’m so happy that you’re here. You are on fire. As you’ve gone through the years, your career skyrocketed. I’m so excited for you.

Thank you.

Tell me what’s going on. I want to know everything.

There’s a lot going on. Every day, I get more excited. I feel like I’ve been on a rocket ship these last few years, and it keeps exponentially going up. I’m so blessed. I’m so lucky. I have the most amazing friends. I have the most wonderful husband. I have the most beautiful family. The staff and the team that I work with are all so supportive. I have amazing brand partners. I have nothing to complain about, so anytime I complain, I’m like, “You better shut up because your life is great.”

You’ve always been like that. I love how when I ask you that question, you go right to family and friends. That tells you what kind of person you are right there. You always talk about your friends and family before your career. You have product lines in your name.

I do have product lines. I have my own interior design firm, which is Jennifer Farrell Designs. That business has been around for 23 years. I have all my product designs and product collections. I have a beautiful brand partnership with Global Views.

Tell me about that.

It has been the greatest gift for me. Global Views is the gold standard of luxury interior furniture and decor design. I have a twenty-category collection with them. It’s everything from lighting, upholstered goods, case goods, accent furniture, rugs, art, and decor. It’s a Jennifer Farrell universe. They have been the best partners for me. They’ve let me run wild with my designs.

You are very involved. It’s not like they’re just attaching your name. You are involved.

These are my designs that they 100% expect me to walk the talk. This is not like, “Here’s my photograph and my signature. Go send me some money.” This is, “Do you want that finish on the table? Why don’t you show us exactly how that finish is going to be made?” I’m like, “Okay.” They have really put my years of design acumen to the challenge because you have to deliver.

Every single day, I’m working with them on our manufacturing. They have 60 factories around the world. I’m on a 24-hour clock. I’ll get an email at 3:00 in the morning saying, “We need the specs for this detail.” It’s an all-day, everyday adventure, and it really is an adventure. They have been such beautiful partners. The crazier the design pieces I come up with, the more they’re like, “Let’s do that.” It has been a wonderful partnership. I will have a capsule collection launching with Global Views at Fall High Point, which is in October 2024 in North Carolina. We will unveil a small collection that will then be the lead into the large collection that rolls out in 2025.

That’s so exciting. We met many years ago. Tell me a little bit about how this all started for you. There are a lot of designers out there who would do anything to learn what you’ve learned to get to where you are.

We were pre-social media.

It’s a big difference.

It’s a big deal because we came before YouTube.

You’re right.

You couldn’t create your own YouTube channel because that didn’t exist at the time. I was in the right place, right time, and with the right skillset because this goes all the way back to 2003, which was my first show. It was a show called Merge. I happened to be the right person with the right skillset, where I had interior design experience. I opened my company two years earlier, so I was a young, fresh interior designer.

My background is in film and television, so I had all the right skills at the right time. It was right when the home makeover television universe was exploding. Merge was such a great experience for me. Lisa Rinna was on the show. She was the host and I was the designer. I still know people from that show 21 years later. That’s how I started, and then I’ve been doing shows ever since.

What are the shows that you’re hosting, so everybody knows?

It’s Million Dollar House Hunters.

I’m sure a lot of you have seen that.

A couple of people have seen that show. It’s wildly popular, which makes me very happy. I host Million Dollar House Hunters and then Most Amazing Homes. Most Amazing Homes is probably the show that I get stopped for the most because it has such a global audience. When you get to walk into these $50 million or $100 million houses, who doesn’t want to watch that? I want to watch that.

When I get to tour these homes with such amazing real estate agents and see things that I get to step back as a TV host for a minute and then look through my design eyes, it’s fun. I get to do double duty there. I am always amazed at the work of other architects and designers. Every day, I see something where I’m like, “I never would’ve thought of that.” After 23 years as a designer, you’d think you would’ve thought of everything. Yet, every day, I see something that someone else does and I’m like, “I’m so inspired.”

That’s great because then you can bring that into your own design.

I have a lot of friends who are top-tier, A-list, world-renowned designers, and they inspire me so much. I’m always so proud of them when I see things that they create in their furniture collections or their product collections. When I see interiors that they do, I look and I think, “I never would’ve thought of that. That’s such an interesting and innovative product or design.” It’s wonderful to be surrounded by great friends. You would think we’re competitors. We’re not at all. We’re uplifters and supporters of each other. I’m inspired every day.

I love that. What would you say is one of the biggest challenges in what you do?

Balancing Design, TV, And Brand Partnerships

From the TV side? There are a few sides. Honestly, my business model is a triangular one, which I talk about a lot. One side of my business is the design side, which includes a classic interior design firm and product design. Another side of my business is the public figure side, which includes my television shows and product endorsements. These are the corners of my triangle that then support the apex, which is my brand partnerships. That’s my show homes, my licensed collections, and my product collections. My brand partnerships come together with those two sides. Probably the hardest part is making sure that I devote the right amount of time to each of those segments and commit to the brand partners. They always say, “How are you going to be able to support us in the way that we need?”

You’re so busy.

I know. I don’t sleep much. I work six and a half days a week. This is where it goes back to family and friends. If I didn’t have such an incredibly supportive family and supportive friends, I couldn’t spend as much time as I do working, which I love, and be happy about it.

You always make time for me, so I’m shocked that you said six and a half days.

Pretty much. I work about six and a half days a week.

That’s amazing.

I take time off every once in a while. I didn’t take too much time off, but I realized that my husband and I haven’t been on a vacation in five years, so we are rectifying that shortly. I do work a lot, but I love what I do, so it never feels like work. Probably the biggest challenge is time management and making sure that I am fully committed to each part of my triangle.

I love it. As a designer, though, what’s something that you can tell other designers? It’s their dream to even have a fraction of what you have. What would you say is some good advice for up-and-coming designers? How does it work for them?

The benefit for the up-and-coming is the advantage of social media. You can brand yourself in a way that couldn’t be done many years ago. You can establish your own brand. I talk a lot about branding because branding is more important than it has ever been before. You can’t just be a designer, a television host, or a real estate agent. You need to be branded.

That means you need to have an identifier that says, “Here’s who I am. Here’s what I’m about. Here’s the lane that I want to lead in,” and then you focus on that. You focus on marketing that. Social media gives such a great opportunity to do that. I don’t need to run through how to use social media. There are all sorts of great classes on maximizing that. It’s about making your brand established for what it is you want to be known for and then staying true to that. You’re being very transparent in your pursuits.

When you say being known as a designer, would it be about what type of design? How do you distinguish that?

It’s not about what type of design you want to do, but how your business is going to operate and what the relationship is going to be like between you and your client. If I wanted to start branding myself as a new designer, I would start by asking myself, “What is the design imprint that I want to leave behind? What is it that I want to create? How do I want that relationship between my ideas and my client to be a participatory or non-participatory adventure? What’s the experience going to be like? What do I want my clients to think about me in five words or less?”

Home Design Branding: Social media gives you the opportunity to establish your brand like never before. Use it to your advantage!

This is for entrepreneurs, not just designers. This is for brand builders.

This goes across the board. That’s why I talk about my triangular model because I do believe that having three points of diversification in your business is a way to strengthen that triangle. Those three points can support each other.

You don’t think that it gets confusing as far as a brand? I’m with you here. I hear what you’re saying, and I’m on board with it. You don’t think that you’re diluting it in any way by having three different points?

Every successful person I talk to in the home industry, whether it’s from the design-build side or the real estate and sales side, says, “My business has at least three parts, and those parts strengthen each other.” I have a really great design friend, Christopher Todd. He talks about that as well. He says, “I have these different parts of my interior design business. One entire section is that I do Christmas decorating. I do it because I love it.” Talk about branding. He’s like, “I do it because I love it. I do it because I know how to create something that’s special and magical. I’ve got a system in place so that every person who celebrates Christmas wants to have decorations.”

He has figured out a part of that business that then supports the other sides. When he decorates their home for Christmas, they say, “We would like you to design our entire home. You do such beautiful work. We would like you to design our next home and our friends’ homes.” He has talked about that. I thought that was such a smart example of having diversification where the different points of your business support each other.

Even as a young designer, I would look at what are the three aspects that can be standalone successful for you, but then also can help each other. It’s saying, “The designer I want to be is one who is known for being fashion-forward, edgy, and funky. I want to be working with clients as they’re buying their first home. I want to then have a service where I return every year to give a refresh.” I’m spinning this off the top of my head.

It’s about having three points of understanding who you are as a brand, what you want your clients to know about you in five words or less, and then using that as your model because then, those three parts can strengthen each other. There will be times when you’re leaning on decorating for Christmas a lot more than you are on building new homes.

Even in my own life, sometimes, I’m bouncing back and forth between focusing on the TV more, focusing on the brand partnerships more, or focusing on the design more. Sometimes, that’s all in one day. Having that strength of the triangle and having that kind of diversification under the same triangle is how you keep the roof over your head.

It’s interesting because I’m working with clients too. I’m helping people who are 45 and up that feel left behind by social media and have no idea where to even start. I talk to them about this thing called the zone of authenticity where things that are authentically what you’re passionate about and good at, you bring into your branding.

It doesn’t necessarily always have to relate, although it can, exactly to your branding. Let’s say you’re a real estate agent and you love riding horses. Bring it into your branding. There’s always a way to tie it in. There are always ways. What do you think of that concept, distinguishing yourself from all the other real estate agents out there and all the other designers out there by bringing in things that you’re passionate about and good at?

Advice For Aspiring Designers

You hit it on the head because that’s not just something that’s for your brand, but it’s also for your heart. That’s why I say I work six and a half days a week, because I’m having fun. I love what I do. If I’m designing a couch, I’m having a great time. If I’m on a TV show, I’m having a great time. With that kind of authenticity and following your heart about what you are passionate about, you become the real estate agent to the equine universe. I know agents who do that exact thing. They have one thing they’re passionate about, and they focus on that in their business. That’s a great methodology.

You talk a lot about branding. You do a lot of public speaking too. You grace a lot of stages. When you talk about branding, what do you say to people who are so afraid to step on camera to start creating their brand and hide behind photos? They don’t want to do video.

I understand not everyone is as loud as you and I are. We are not shy people. That doesn’t mean that you have to be terrified of a camera. We all have this magic thing called the iPhone or the smartphone. You can start by talking into your phone. Get a little stand and do a selfie video. If you don’t like it, you do it again. You get comfortable doing it over and over again. We’re so lucky that you can take away the fear of somebody else watching you because you can do it by yourself.

We didn’t have that.

There were crews standing around everywhere and cameramen. Everyone knew exactly what you were doing and saying.

We had to learn by making mistakes right there on set in front of everybody, and we did. I did when I first started.

We all did.

We were practicing in front of the world.

I remember my first time on a teleprompter and trying to not have the bug-eyed look where you’re staring at the words and trying to read them naturally. I could feel sweat running down as this entire universe of people stood around watching and spending a lot of money to see if I knew what the heck I was doing. Now, we don’t have to do that. You can do everything on your phone all by yourself.

You can have a teleprompter on your phone. You can download an app. It’s easy.

Practice makes perfect. The key is to be yourself. Another key is don’t talk too fast, which I’m horrible about doing. You need to make sure that you slow your speech down enough that it doesn’t sound like you’re talking really fast and they can’t understand what you’re saying. Those are my tips.

I love that everything you’re saying is exactly what I’m teaching my students. It’s true. Everything you are saying is true. That’s what it is. I know that you do a lot of public speaking. What are some of the topics that people love hearing you speak about? What are the things that you feel people need to hear you talk about?

I do a lot of speaking on trends that are in design. I am in a very fortunate position of leadership in the design world where I’m on the Middleby Advisory Council for Middleby Residential, which is a huge appliance conglomerate. I help to direct and guide the future of the appliance world. I am on the International Surface Event Advisory Council. I help to create what the surface world is going to be experiencing, and then, I get to tell everyone what those trends are going to be. In a way, it is a self-fulfilling prophecy. I’m making products that fit right in with what I’m saying is coming.

Are you allowed to give us any secrets?

There aren’t a lot of secrets out there that I’m not sharing. In fact, I will be on tour with the NTCA, which is the National Tile Contractors Association. I’m doing a tour at Louisville Tile Showrooms talking about tile trends and installation techniques that every industry needs to know. I’m bringing together, with the help of the NTCA, a conversation. It’s a free CEU. You get a free CEU followed by a lovely cocktail hour. We’re going to be talking about what those trends are. I share those trends. I’m talking through six hot trends that are emerging.

My partner in this, Mark Heinlein, will be coming from the NTCA perspective of talking about, “We have all these beautiful trends. Designers want this to happen. How do we make this a reality?” We have a lot of disconnect in this industry between the specifier, designer, and architect, and the contractor, fabricator, and installer. What can we dream about versus what is reality? My goal is to bridge that communication gap so that we all are in the same room having that conversation.

What are some of the trends coming out?

In the tile world, we’re seeing a lot of deep dimensionality. We’re seeing a lot of faux materials. The tile looks like things that can’t go in water, things like wood, rattan, jute, and wallpaper.

Is it fake wood or is it real wood?

It’s not real wood. We have tiles that can really emulate any surface. That means if you want a shower made of wood, you can have a shower that looks like it’s made of wood, but it’s tile. If you want a shower made of wallpaper, you can do that because we have tile that looks like wallpaper. Those are some really big trends. When I say deep dimensionality, I mean these hugely dimensional tiles.

They’re 3D.

They’re super 3D. Those are some of the trends. In 2023, 2024, and 2025, there is a curve in tactile desire. It emerged post-COVID, or from COVID. Everyone wanted to touch things because they couldn’t be touched for a while. We were all locked in a closet and bubble suits. There’s this desire for things that are touchy, soft, and curvy, that have a lot of texture and a lot of curves. It’s these soft elements. That clean, streamlined, hard modernism is gone.

It’s more warmth.

Lots of warm colors. Lots of terracottas and peaches. There’s this movement in warmth. There’s a very strong movement in vertical surfaces, particularly in the kitchen and bath world, of fluted surfaces. We’re seeing columns that have either convex or concave fluting on them. We’re seeing a lot of curved islands that have fluting. We’re seeing walls with a lot of fluting.

We’re getting into this massively curved dimensional world, whether it’s in furnishings, lighting in the overscaled, modern organics, things that are amorphic, amoebic, and asymmetrical. Asymmetry is very popular, particularly in modern lighting. Those are some of the trends that I talk about. I also talk a lot about the business side of the world. I talk in the real estate world as well as in the design world.

Let’s talk about that. I know that the real estate world is going through a little bit.

It’s been an adventure.

Advice For Real Estate Agents

What are some of the best pieces of advice that you can give real estate agents? A lot of things are changing in their world.

Real estate has not been easy in the last few years. Home prices are going up, which is great, but that’s in LA or LA County and it’s because we have such low inventory. That’s not indicative of saying, “The market is now on fire,” because it isn’t, but it will be again. We always have to remember that real estate is cyclical.

It’s true. It’s going to come back.

People always need a house. Everyone’s always got to live somewhere. I say often that there’s never a bad time to buy, only a bad time to sell. You have to have patience sometimes in real estate. These last few years have been a time of patience because it has been an unpredictable and very flatlined market. That is changing.

With the commissions, that’s all changing. That’s restructuring.

There’s going to be a huge change that will be a slow move, even though there has been a change in how buyer commissions can and can’t be structured. In a way, that’s always been true. As a seller, you can set your own relationship with your agents. That’s always been true. They opened the door a little bit more to have that be more of a conversation. My advice for real estate agents is to double down on the triangular model.

Branding, step into it more.

Also, have different parts of your business. The ones I’ve talked to who are the top agents say that pretty clearly. They say, “If my luxury business is not going well, suddenly, I’m on the commercial side. If the commercial side isn’t going well, then I’m in my multifamily side.” They’ve got diversification that keeps the triangle strong.

That’s within selling properties and buying properties. Also, you can write a book. You can start a podcast and start promoting it. It’s a slow start, but every business is a slow start. It is. Take the things that you’re passionate about and start building. I’m going to talk to my students about that. I’ll be like, “You have to read this episode of the show and get it from Jennifer Farrell herself.”

It’s true. I love that idea because when this one isn’t working as much, you can always put your energy into this one to start building that, so you’re not freaking out like, “Where am I going to get my next paycheck from?” I love that advice. What would you say is one of the things about you that has gotten you to where you are? I know you said you were in the right place at the right time, but who are you as a person? There are a lot of people who were in the right place at the right time that still haven’t had the trajectory that you’ve had.

The Three T’s: Timing, Talent, Tenacity

I’ve been talking about the three Ts for probably 25 years. Those are Timing, Talent, and Tenacity. If you don’t have all three, nothing’s going to happen. You have to have all three. You’ve got to be in the right place at the right time. Things time themselves out the way they’re going to, so you’ve got to have the timing. You have to have the talent. You have to be able to back up what you’re saying.

For tenacity, anyone will tell you I am tenacious. I’m like a pit bull sometimes on things. Another thing I love to say is when you say, “No,” I know you’ll say yes because I am tenacious. I will not take the no. I will look for a way to guide you to the yes. We will both win in that guidance. The thing that is probably most unique about me is that I have what I call gracious firmness. I have a gracious firmness that I take my tenacity and try to graciously and firmly move us all forward toward a goal that is not just good for me but good for everybody.

Home Design Branding: Gracious firmness is my approach—firm but kind, pushing us all toward a goal that’s good for everyone.

That’s amazing. It took me a few more years than you to learn that. I’m stepping into my gracious tenacity in the past couple of years, but it does make a difference. People love working with you because of your vibe and your essence. A lot of it is that too. You’re positive.

I’m a positive person. That’s true.

You’re not a victim. Everything that you put out there on social media to build your brand is so beautiful and positive. It really depicts who you are.

With social media, it should be an edited version of your true self because no one wants to see you on the toilet. Let’s not get that real, but it should be your authentic self. I am authentically a positive person. I believe in that. It’s a glass-half-full because if there’s water in the glass, it’s half-full.

Home Design Branding: I am authentically a positive person. I believe in that—it’s glass half full, because if there’s water in the glass, it’s half full.

 You’re right. I love it. Where can we learn even more about you for those that want to, which is hopefully everybody reading this? You’re a sun in everybody’s lives that you walk into. You’re a bright light. I love it.

Please follow me on social media. I am @JenniferFarrellDesigns on Instagram and Facebook. My website is JenniferFarrellDesigns.com. I hope I will see you there.

Upcoming Projects

One last question, where are you off to next? What’s next?

I’m going to the south of France. That vacation I’ve been promising, it’s only taken me five years. I’m off there. The second I come back, I will be on tour. You’ll have to go to social media to find out all the different stops. I will be on tour speaking with the NTCA at different Louisville Tile showrooms.

Anyone can come and see you?

Absolutely. It’s a free CEU. We have some fun sips and snacks afterward, a little cocktail hour. I will be doing that. I have some very fun announcements in store for fall 2024. Plus, I’ll be at High Point launching my new collection, Jennifer Farrell for Global Views.

Make sure you check it out. You’re awesome. Thank you for coming.

It’s great to be here.

Important Links

• Jennifer Farrell
• Instagram – Jennifer Farrell
• Facebook – Jennifer Farrell
• Jennifer Farrell Designs
• LinkedIn – Jennifer Farrell

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