The Creative Alchemist

Eric: All right, everybody. So, uh, uh, we’re back for another episode of, this is my South Bay. I hope that everyone is doing well with their, uh, a home, uh, situation. I hope, uh, coroner virus is not affecting you too much. And I wanted to, uh, introduce a couple of people that I met online, uh, through their podcast.  I first is Laurie Miller and Ted Santos.. Hi guys.

Ted:  Hey, we’re good. We’re good.

Eric: We’re surviving in Los Angeles. And where are you? Uh, where are you residing?

Lori: Yeah, I’m out of long Island, New York.

Ted: Well, they say that I’m in the country across the river. They call it New Jersey, Jersey. I’m a Jersey boy.

Eric: Good, good. How’s everything over there with the coronavirus situation?

Ted: Uh, well, New York is number one in leading, uh, cases in New Jersey is, uh, leading right behind it. Number two. So we’ve, I’d say we’ve leveled off and it, the sentiments or that we, I, I don’t, I can’t say will ever return to normal, but we are, the, the panic has waned.  I’ll say it.

Eric: Same here in LA. It seems like people are adjusting and hopefully, um, you know, we can turn the corner and frankly, no one knows what’s going to happen. So we’re just kind of, you know, we’re in it all together. So, um, I wanted to, if you could, first of all, tell me a little bit about your podcast.

Lori: Alright. So I guess I’ll lead. Um, this is Laurie. Uh, I was initially mental health therapist and I was running the psych units and I decided I had this great brainstorm in the middle of a recession that I was gonna start a business. What better time and with no knowledge. And, uh, I launched my interior design business, LG Santeria design.  Several years later, I was still kind of baffled by the business process and the entrepreneurial thing, and I didn’t know what marketing meant, and I thought that this would be a really good place to start. So I ended up taking a few different classes. Damon John, um, I took one of his eye and then I found this landmark.  And lo and behold, I met Ted, my cohost at landmark, and head turned out to be a nominal business consultant. So with a lot of coaching and a lot of education and a lot of process, I now, um, I want to say almost eight years later, 10 years later, uh, Ted is still kind of my mentor. And a very good friend. And I said to him, I think we need to start a podcast because there’s other people like me, um, a lot in the interior design industry, but also amongst my friends, social workers who kind of want to start their own practices.  I just thought it would be a great thing to do. Um, cause people are coming to me with information. How do I start my business? What do I do? How do I get out there? And, uh, so Ted and I started this podcast, and we call it the creative alchemists. And I’ll let Ted tell you a little bit about that story.  I am definitely the creative part of the alchemist’s still muddling through, you know, some of the challenges in the computer and it was awesome to have you on our show because the backend and SEO and keywords. Useful. And in my conversation with you, Eric, you know, when I asked, you know, you had said that it was helpful, you know, you found us through those tags.  So clearly I’m learning something absolutely.

Eric: So on that platform that I found you, if you put relevant tags, because I went to other, uh, companies where they’re, they’re doing podcasts, but it was completely off. So I think that there’s a certain number of tags that you can use anyway on, on those platforms or else, you know, bulk upload keywords on there.

Lori:  And so we have the PA, the, you know, the creative alchemists podcast, and I’ll turn it over to Ted for a little bit more.

Ted:  Sure. So Eric, first, thank you for inviting Laurie and I onto your show. It’s our honor.

Eric:  Thank you.

Yes. And as Lori said, you were, you were excellent, uh, as a guest on our show. So it was our pleasure.  We’ve had quite a few guests. This is the first time we’ve had this sort of symbiotic. And so, uh. It’s a pleasure to, to now sit on the other side of the screen.

Eric: So I enjoyed the process. I enjoyed the Q and A’s. Uh, you know, you have both of you have hungry minds, so it’s, uh, you know, right in line with what a lot of people are wondering a lot of times.

Ted: Right. Great. Perfect. So as for me, as Gloria said, we’ve known one another several years and Laurie was actually a client of mine and my business. Is that you and I had a conversation. I am in the business of producing miracles, and some people saying, well, you know, what is that? You know that, that the miracles is sort of the alchemist side of creative.  So for me, I created a company called turnaround investment partners. And producing miracles is, is really that CEO’s hired me when they’re looking to create some sort of quantum leap and revenue growth, and they’re just not sure how to do it with their existing resources. So they hire me to help them create it.  Sometimes disruptive strategies. So it may be a strategy that allows them to penetrate an untapped market because they didn’t know how to get to it. Uh, it may disrupt the organization, or it may actually be like disruptive technology, right? The iPod was to the, uh, to the Walkman. So in working with CEOs and other executives, it’s to create a, uh, it growth platform, uh, that grows exponentially.  The problem with the company is that culture will normally kill Mars scale projects, not large scale initiatives because it stretches people out of their proverbial comfort zone. So they figured out a way to kill it. So my job also becomes to transform corporate culture so that now the culture, we’ll support the growth that the executives.

Eric:I think a change is a difficult in life.  It’s one of the most traumatic things for human beings has changed.

Ted:  Right. Right. If I can interrupt, I think that’s where Ted and I, um. You know, really are cohesive in that because with my counseling around, we foster, you know, I fostered change and I help people go through that. And with Ted’s entrepreneurial background, he also helps them to really jump into the change wholeheartedly.

So that really makes a difference. Yeah.

Ted: So you could say both Laurie and I have a background in, uh, in mindset. Um, even before I, I do what I do now. I’ve run a number of companies as cheap as an executive, as a chief operating officer. So I have a lot of experience in operations and marketing. So, uh, one day I met with Laureate group of her friends and they all asked, what did I do?  And I said, I was an Alchemist. And they all left and they thought it was a joke. So I said, no, no. I said, an Alchemist can take lead and transform it into gold, but you have to understand the process of having a flame that’s hot enough and there’s this white substance, and when you burn off all the led properties, what’s left is the essence of the metal, which is cool.  And that’s what I do when I’m transforming culture. Like every corporation has gold that they don’t know how to mine. And so when you burn off some of the blind spots and, and, uh, mental barriers and presuppositions that people have about what’s possible and impossible, what’s left is people’s. Uh, new skills, new competencies, untapped intellectual capital, and people are able, able to do things they thought they couldn’t do before.

Eric: So I like that. I like birdie. Sorry, go ahead. Sorry. Go ahead.

Ted: So Lori said, well, I’m a creative and you’re already Alchemist. We’re going to be creative Alchemist. That’s how we arrived at our podcast. And so the podcast has, has revolved around, as Lori was saying, you know, small to midsize companies that I’ve worked with a lot of small and mid sized businesses in doing exactly what I said.  So we. We have guests that have knowledge like yours that support the growth and provide tools to people who listen to our show. Good.

Eric: And if someone wants to find you, how would they reach out to you? Do you have a website or a phone number? Sure.

Ted: So, uh, for me personally, um, you can reach me. I’m on all the social media is Ted Santos, LinkedIn, Instagram.  My website is turnaround the ip.com and IP is like intellectual property, um, where you can email me at T Santos at turnaround, the ip.com, and I love to have a conversation about alchemy and transforming you and your, your entire organization.

Eric: Sure, sure. So, uh, uh, what’s your, you said, uh, just to kind of, uh, bring into focus your target market.  Is there a certain vertical? Is there a size of a company? Give us a, give us an idea.

Ted: Sure. Uh, so I, I’ve primarily focused on middle market companies. Uh, they could be as small as 30 million and as large as 500 million. Uh, you know, I’ve done some other work with companies larger than that. I used to literally have the CEO, CEO round tables.  With companies that have written those between 100 million and 2 billion. And I always invited former CEOs of fortune 500, I mean, like former CEOs of chase bank, Xerox Dunham, Bradstreet, uh, New York stock exchange. So I, I do a lot of work with different size. Like I also work with smaller companies and they have kind of different challenges and that’s how, you know, recording.

I knew one another for a while and we had been talking and having lunch and she said, I want to hire you so. Uh, I work with smaller companies also, so, okay.

Eric: Fair enough. Uh, and Laurie, uh, tell us how you got into your, uh, uh, your interior design business.

Lori: So I, well, growing up I always wanted to do like architecture.  I had a family of builders, contractors. I’m very active in the union. So I kind of grew up in the field, but at that time I was told, you know, women don’t become architects and artists don’t make money. So I instead, you know, I went into social work, which is another field that doesn’t make money, by the way.  You know, I was buying my first house and I, we sold it within, I don’t know, we put it on the market. It was sold in a week, and this woman who bought it started, she furniture, started arriving on my front lawn. It was the same furniture I had in the house. And I’m like, why didn’t you buy what we had? She’s like, well I like what you had and I thought you were going to keep it.  So the second house, um, it took about a year to find wallpaper and, um, after I was done, they offered me a job in the wallpaper store. So I started part time selling and my boss was like, you’re really good at this and you love it and you’re great with people so you should do this full time. So I didn’t think about it and I was like, okay.  So I went back to school, cause knowledge is power. I started my, and I worked for everybody else, and then it was the recession. Everybody went out of business. So I started my own company, and that’s kinda how I got there.

Eric: And then if you were to say your specialty, would you say it’s residential, commercial?  Is there certain look that you, uh, that you specialize in? What’s your niche?

Lori: So, um, you know, for me, residential and commercial are really not any different. It’s just the materials that you use. So you really, you know, so I have, I made it my business to have the knowledge of fire codes, safety codes, et cetera, so I can work on commercial.  So we’re pretty much split 50, 50. And in terms of a style, um, I, I mean, I definitely have a certain whimsical and elegant look. Um, but what I’ve managed to do is use my counseling and really get into the minds of my clients, walk them through the process, really understand what it is that they like and what their personality is like.  And then I give them pretty much their look with form and function, um, as the applied principles. So it’s, it’s interesting process. Um, and I love it. I love working with my clients. You know, we have a great rapport. Um, you know, and you’re intimate with people. You’re, you know, what’s in your nightstand, how do you sleep on the left side of the right side of the bed.  So you really have to have a good rapport with your clients cause you’re in their home.

Eric: So when you’re designing, you can kind of get dialed into the look that they’re looking, that they’re expecting. Yeah. How do you do that?

Lori: I asked them to collect pictures. Um, I actually go through the clothes that they wear, colors, you know, um, are they casual or are they more formal? Are they more businesslike or are they, you know, a little more playful. And I, you know, what colors, what colors look best on them? Um, you know, and everybody in the family I interview, I mean, it’s like a really good, thorough interview.

Quite a bit of questions. Are you right handed, left handed? You know, do you play? Do you do sports? Do you, you know, one client had an amazing tequila collection, so we actually did this hunching pistols. So we did this really beautiful crystal wallpaper on the back of shelving with. You know, lights that change color blue to red in a poker room and it accented and highlighted their tequila collection.  So kind of these things that make it theirs and not mine.

Eric: Yeah. Back in the day when I used to design jewelry, um, the difficult clients sometimes were the ones that had no idea what they wanted. They would walk in and I would just put different types of jewelry on the showcase and kind of walk away and it would start trying on rings, you know, engagement rings or whatever.  There’s a look that people go for without even knowing. So as, as the consultant, you can kind of realize, okay, they’re going for a modern look or a vintage look, or, you know, et cetera. So, um, it’s interesting in your case, because I’m, I was building out something that’s just tiny on the finger. You’re decorating a room or a house or what have you.  That’s a, you know, each room has its own character and, uh, functionality and so on.

Lori: Exactly.

Eric: So if you were to, uh, you’re in the long Island New York area. Yes. So if somebody needed your services from Nebraska, for example, or Seattle or whatever, is that something that you can do, the intro designer a decorator can do, or is that it’s more personal where they need to be onsite.

Lori: I’m so glad you asked. We have a client in Manhattan. And he has several homes all over, and one of the homes is in Tanzania, so we were able to design his home in Tanzania. We did it virtually, and he’s now, um, he just bought a place in Dubai. So, of course, I told him I have to go to Dubai.  We are setting the floor plans and the building plans from the builder, and we’re going to work virtually for most of it, especially now that we can’t travel anywhere. So we do, we go everywhere. I have designed in North Carolina. Um, so yeah. I mean, I would love to go and see the space, but it’s not always possible.

Eric: How do you do that? Do you, do you do it like this on zoom or do they send you pictures when they want to take a look?

Lori: Okay. So, um, zoom is perfect for, especially for the initial consultation because I want to see how they’re living now and if there’s any special pieces that they want to keep, um, cause I’m not the kind of design and does it all has to go.  So that’s not my thing. Um, but yeah, so then we’ll do virtually and then, um, I’ll ask them to send me some pictures and if they’re capable, it’s great to have a floor plan. You know, or some sort of measurement from wall-to-wall so we can do, you know, make sure everything fits and works. We send them the specifications and if they’re comfortable, they, you know, they’ll just measure, make sure everything is working and they’ll, you know, we’ll specify it and they can purchase it from where they are, or we can have sent or shipped from the manufacturer.

Eric: Okay. Tough. Yeah. Uh, is there anything else you want to say about your company? Yeah. And, uh, finish it off with, uh, how people can find you.

Lori: Sure. So, yep. Absolutely. So I think we’ve been in business for all of 20 years. Um, and it’s been fun. We’ve been in show houses and published and we just in the recent, uh, traditional home magazine, so that was pretty exciting.  If people want to reach out to me, uh, it’s LGC interiors on most of the social media sites cause we’re in pretty much all of them. Pinterest, Instagram, Facebook, you name it, we’ve got it. Um, and long Island designer with Judy’s. Is the website. And that’s really the easiest because there’s a contact form, there’s, you know, monthly newsletters that you subscribe to.  We have tips. We have all kinds of things on there. Okay. So long Island designer is the easiest. Okay. Yep. And there’s a contact form, so. Perfect. Alright.

Eric: Thank you, Ted. Is there anything else you want to say? Or if you could give your contact info one more time?

Ted: Sure. But once again on social media, I, you can email me at T like Ted Santos at turnaround, the IP that com IP is like intellectual property.  And our show is every Thursday at 7:00 PM Eastern time. So if you are a business owner or considering to be a business owner or, or trying to decide, you definitely want to. Uh, listen to our show because we talk about some really important issues around, uh, around business and the, with the Corona virus and changing our environment and, or, or our. we had never imagined, uh, we address a lot of those issues. So if you’re looking for answers, were a great resource.

Eric: Okay. And I’ll put that on the link on the YouTube link once I upload this video.

Lori: okay, yep. And it’s the creative Alchemist.

Eric: Alright. Thanks guys. Thank you for, uh, uh, for. Agreeing to do this.  Lots of luck and we’ll be in touch. Thank you. Bye bye.