Join us for an inspiring conversation with Rhobin DelaCruz, who shares his journey from the corporate world to launching his own successful business. Rhobin’s story is one many listeners will relate to, as he turned his passion and motivation into a thriving enterprise. However, he eventually realized a significant shift was needed.

In this episode, I talk to Rhobin about his early days of finding clients on Craigslist, expanding his service offerings, hiring a CFO, and his recent complete brand overhaul. Rhobin discusses the pivotal realization that sparked these changes, the implementation process, and the addition of procurement services. He also shares why surrounding himself with smarter people has been crucial to his success.

Rhobin’s energy and wisdom are truly inspiring, and his advice is packed with valuable insights for any entrepreneur. Don’t miss out on this episode—listen now to gain motivation and practical tips for your own business journey!

 

 

Episode Highlights
  • Business Transformation: Rhobin discusses his realization that he needed to improve business processes, leading him to hire a CFO and work with business coaches.
  • The Importance of Procurement: Rhobin emphasizes the significance of procurement in achieving financial success in the design industry.
  • Rebranding Journey: Rhobin details his decision to completely rebrand his business, including hiring a copywriter and launching a new website.
  • Mindset Shifts: Rhobin discusses the importance of acknowledging what you don’t know, being open to failure, and continually learning to grow your business.
Episode Resources

Read the Full Transcript ⬇️

 

Rebecca Hay: Hey hey hey, it’s Rebecca, and you’re listening to Resilient by Design. Today, I have a great guest for you, Rhobin DelaCruz of Rhobin DelaCruz Designs in New York City. Wow, he shares it all. We dive into 16 years of running a design firm, somewhat haphazardly, without process, without understanding the financials, somehow still getting by and doing great work but feeling like something had to change.

He talks about how he finally decided to make changes in his business and went through the process of working with business coaches, hiring a CFO, and other qualified professionals to help him. He shares his experience going through a rebrand, which recently happened. I almost met him at High Point; he was in Designer’s Room, and I got to know him a little bit. I was so excited to bring him onto the podcast to hear his story, and I really think it’s going to inspire you.

So if you are a designer who’s maybe been doing this for a little while, feeling stuck and frustrated, I think you’re really going to enjoy this episode with Rhobin. Let me tell you a little bit more about Rhobin and his design firm. With clients like GQ, TED, and MTV, Rhobin DelaCruz is a seasoned design talent with a reputation for creating inviting contemporary spaces marked by edgy sophistication.

Originally hailing from the vibrant landscapes of Southern California and now flourishing in the dynamic cityscapes of New York, Rhobin brings a unique blend of West Coast ease and East Coast sophistication to every project. This bi-coastal influence, along with a rich tapestry of cultural insights from his global travels and his diverse friends and clients, infuses Rhobin’s designs with a distinctive joie de vivre that transcends trends. Driven by boldness, curiosity, creativity, determination, and individuality, they embrace their inner badass in all that they do and encourage their clients to do the same in their spaces. Enjoy this conversation with Rhobin. Here we go. Rhobin, welcome to Resilient by Design. I’m excited to have you here.

Rhobin DelaCruz: Thank you so much, Rebecca. Thank you for inviting me.

Rebecca Hay: So exciting. And before we dive in, I’m really excited to chat with you about all the things—growing a design business, you know, the 14 years it took to get to where you are today, and all of the things. I’ve really been watching you on socials, and you’ve been inside my community. I’m excited to dive in and hear firsthand and share with the world everything that’s going on for you and what you’ve learned. Before we do that, though, can you maybe just briefly introduce yourself to the listeners today?

Rhobin DelaCruz: My name is Rhobin DelaCruz. I am the owner of Rhobin DelaCruz Designs based in New York City. My company does residential, commercial, and vacation rental design—anywhere anyone will have us.

Rebecca Hay: Amazing. All of it. And how many people do you have in your company?

Rhobin DelaCruz: Right now, it’s just me because of the rebrand. Before, I used to have employees, but I decided all of this stuff made me go to ground zero to rebuild the business so I can scale efficiently and properly.

Rebecca Hay: Oh, I’m so excited to talk to you about this. This is like my jam. You know what? I’m sorry, I’m lying.

Rhobin DelaCruz: So I have a CFO, a studio manager, an executive assistant, and a social media manager. So I kind of have a team. I gotta give them credit, I’m sorry.

Rebecca Hay: And so you have multiple people helping you, or you wear all those hats?

Rhobin DelaCruz: No, I have multiple people helping me, which I approved in the last six months.

Rebecca Hay: Wow, okay.

Rhobin DelaCruz: It’s been a while since I’ve had employees, and it’s been a register of… yeah, sorry.

Rebecca Hay: No, I think what I think is actually really interesting is the shift that you’ve made, where you say that you started from scratch again. Can we talk about that? What do you mean when you say that?

Rhobin DelaCruz: I have been in the interior design game for 16 years. I am self-taught. When I started, I had an advertising and marketing background. I used to work for Viacom, and I did ad sales. I realized that this wasn’t for me. One of my friends just kind of whispered in my ear, “Have you ever thought about going into interior design?” And it was one of those moments and thoughts that I never would have thought of, but it just rang a bell. So I ended up leaving the corporate world and starting this business from the ground up. I was fortunate because all the people that I’ve known from Viacom were super supportive, so that’s where my first clients came from, and it was a very learn-as-you-go process.

Rebecca Hay: Awesome. So you’re like so many other designers that I interview on the podcast, where this is not your first career.

Rhobin DelaCruz: Absolutely not.

Rebecca Hay: Realizing you had a passion, you didn’t want to do what you were doing, and so you’re like, “Let’s do this thing, even though I have no idea what I’m doing.”

Rhobin DelaCruz: Exactly. You know, I committed. I said, “I’m going to do this, whatever that means.” So fast forward 16 years later, I’m still around.

Rebecca Hay: So what did that look like in those first years? Let’s say that first decade. What was your business like? What were some of your struggles, successes?

Rhobin DelaCruz: So I’m going to age myself. Not only did I get my clients from MTV, but I also was looking for clients on Craigslist. And the way that I kind of learned how… I know, I see your face.

Rebecca Hay: Hey, listen, I’m dating myself too. I remember Craigslist. I used it all the time for everything.

Rhobin DelaCruz: Everything—roommates, jobs…

Rebecca Hay: That’s how I found all my roommates in Vancouver.

Rhobin DelaCruz: So my first clients—the way that I felt like I needed to learn design was I was hands-on. Meaning, I did the painting, I learned how to wallpaper, I learned how to install floors. So not only was I learning design, I was learning the practicality of the work, so I fully understood it. And I had a very fake-it-till-you-make-it attitude. I always said yes, even though I didn’t always have the answer. I don’t know if you remember this company—it was called Homepolish.

Rebecca Hay: It sort of rings a bell. What did they do?

Rhobin DelaCruz: They used to be… they were kind of like a talent agent, where they were giving interior designers up-and-coming projects so they could expand their portfolios. The company is now defunct, but I’m giving them credit because they gave me the ability and exposure to not only high-end residential, but that’s where my first commercial projects came from. And I always said I knew what I was doing. So I built this experience of trial and error for the first decade, and I eventually did residential, commercial, and then segued into vacation rental design when Airbnb started going crazy.

Rebecca Hay: Wow, okay. So you were doing a little bit of everything. Did you have any employees in those early years or assistants?

Rhobin DelaCruz: I did. I had a right-hand woman who has now left to start her own business. I had several design assistants and interior designers under me.

Rebecca Hay: Okay, so you were pretty busy, running a design firm. What happened? Like, you said there was a shift—things changed. When did you realize that a change needed to happen?

Rhobin DelaCruz: A few years ago, I started becoming disenchanted with the design world. And when you’re in it, you don’t really realize how… it comes to a time where like, okay, I’m kind of struggling. I’ve been doing this for over a decade. To other people, I am very successful because of the clients that I have and just my portfolio that I’ve built. But a couple of years ago, I kind of realized, like, if I am going to continue doing this, it’s time to be honest with myself. And that was recognizing that I am wonderful at design and project management, client relationships, all of that. But in order for me to be successful in the way that I see other designers, I had to admit there are aspects that I am not good at, and that was operations, finance, processes—things that weren’t my natural forte. So that was when, two years ago, I decided to make a shift and really dive in. What are the things that I can do if I’m going to continue doing this to make change? And then I heard about business coaching, and that’s when everything was the beginning of all the new changes.

Rebecca Hay: So that’s when you realized, “Okay, this is a business.” It took a little while to figure that out, right? Because as creatives, I know for many of us, like that was my story, just a bit of a different story, but at the same time, it was that concept of, “Oh, this is a business, and I have no freaking clue how to run a business. I’m so good at the creative.” And the people-ing, right? And it’s like, I need help. And that’s when I started hiring business coaches. I’ve taken so many courses and business coaches, and every single one of them has helped bring that knowledge to me.

Rhobin DelaCruz: It’s been amazing because, honestly, when I started 16 years ago, it wasn’t as open of a community as it is now. And I only recently heard about all these different business coaches out there. And I was just like, “Oh, actual real change can happen.” So I did a lot of research and figured out the first one that I wanted to work with, and it was a real eye-opening game changer. I was like, “Whoa, I can actually make a change.”

Rebecca Hay: Yeah, amazing. So then what happened? Like, what are the things that you chose to change? You mentioned earlier, like maybe your team is the types of projects. We’ll talk about the rebrand in a second; I definitely want to talk about that, but what came out of that initial business coaching and realizing, “Oh shoot, there are people who can help me figure this out”? What were those initial changes that you wanted to make?

Rhobin DelaCruz: When I decided to do this, I didn’t have any more employees under me. So I was just like, okay, going back to basics, what am I going to do, and what am I not good at? And it was important for me to find a business coach that would give me the foundation of processes because I knew that was a skill set that I was completely lacking. So understanding processes, being able to look ahead with financials and not being intimidated—that was my initial grounding force of what I wanted to focus on.

Rebecca Hay: I love that. It’s a mindset too, right? A lot of us get stuck with the financials because we are afraid of it, or we feel like we’re not good at it, or we don’t want to do it because it’s boring—whatever it might be.

Rhobin DelaCruz: Yes, like, I knew I was avoiding it, but I didn’t know how much of a big, stuck mindset I was in. And it was just really being educated that you can learn this stuff. That’s like hearing this from podcasts and hearing other people’s stories, I’ll be like, “Oh, I think I can learn this.” So that’s kind of like the main turning point.

Rebecca Hay: So what did you change? Like, I’m super curious because I did just interview another designer who talked about… now, she came from her previous career with accounting; she was a CPA, so very different. And she talked about, like, you know, she got really strategic with her business when she was starting it, and that she had two separate bank accounts. One account was for her design fees, one was for the profit. Did you make any changes like that to how you ran the money? She also mentioned that she started to resell products; she wasn’t doing that before. Were there any sort of concrete changes you made to helping you understand your financials? Even as little as “I sit down once a week and I look at it”? Like, what were a couple of those things that you changed?

Rhobin DelaCruz: I hired a CFO. I know that I’m never going to be good at the financial stuff, but I can understand it, and someone can teach me, and I can work with someone on a monthly basis to go over my numbers—what’s going in and what’s going out. So that’s one of the things that I’ve incorporated. Also, I’ve never done procurement, so I needed to know how that works as well. It’s easier when someone’s telling you exactly what’s happening versus me trying to break down numbers and what accounting stuff, which is not really my skill.

Rebecca Hay: So did you offer procurement before?

Rhobin DelaCruz: I did not. The part of that learning process is that I have always been able to sustain myself, live, and be happy, but I’ve never been able to break that income bracket that I see other designers have. And when I realized that procurement is a significant thing in order to be super successful in interior design, that was part of what the business coaches were teaching. I was like, “Oh, it was an aha moment of what it is, how not to be intimidated, how to operate it, all the different parts.” It was basically an entire year and a half of crash course college on how to operate and run an interior design business.

Rebecca Hay: I love that. It’s so interesting. The universe works in mysterious ways. Rhobin, I literally interviewed two other designers this morning, and both of them talked about this specific thing. Like, the universe is telling me I need to amplify this message. When I spoke with Andrea of Andrea Krill Interiors, the one who was the accountant, she said that was one of the big things that helped her move from a side hustle to a full-time business—starting to resell product. She realized from what she learned from podcasts, from taking my course, from other industry leaders, that if she wasn’t doing that, it would be very hard for her to scale and to replace the income that she was used to coming from the corporate world. I’m saying this because it’s such an important message: If you’re listening today, please start doing this—buy it and resell it to your client.

Rhobin DelaCruz: Absolutely. If there’s anything, procurement is how you become super successful and change your income bracket as an interior designer—from a hobbyist to a successful business.

Rebecca Hay: Yeah, and then the only other way would be to charge design fees that are very, very expensive. You would have to be charging design fees… and I know some very successful designers that do this, and they don’t share their discount, but their design fees would make you fall off your chair, right? You have to make up for it somehow because how else can you sustain a CFO? Like, dude, you’ve got some pretty high fancy roles in your company. I’m like, maybe I need a CFO. This is great.

Rhobin DelaCruz: I’ve learned a lot in the last two years—surround yourself with smarter people so that way you can be a CEO.

Rebecca Hay: I love it. I love that. Yeah, I feel like that’s a message that’s out there in the world; we just have to hear it at the right time.

Rhobin DelaCruz: Exactly, absolutely. I was so afraid to admit that I didn’t understand financials for a long time, and I would never tell people. It’s like, well, I can pay my credit card bills, and I can go on vacation, but it was something that I just never wanted to share with other entrepreneurs. But when you recognize that and you can be honest with yourself, then it completely changes the game.

Rebecca Hay: Yeah, it’s interesting. When I was at High Point where you were—we were both at the same High Point market—we just missed each other.

And then somebody else said, “Oh, I saw Rhobin, and he was asking where you were.” I was like, ah, I got there too late. But I saw Bunny Williams talk. One thing she said—I loved her talk and her coffee table book; it was amazing. But one thing that resonated with me that she said—and this is even her, back in the eighties when she started her business or started in the design world—she said, “Interior design is an immensely complicated business model, and we don’t give it enough credit, especially when you bring in procurement.” And so for anyone listening who is like, “Oh, so you just flip a switch, and all of a sudden you’re good at numbers, and you understand the business,” it’s not that simple. And it is okay if you feel intimidated; it is okay if you feel overwhelmed because it is not as straightforward and basic as a lot of other service-based businesses. There are so many layers. And so I just want to say that because I know there are people listening today who are feeling like you were feeling, how I was feeling, and are feeling like, “Oh, it’s nice to hear somebody get through.” Because you don’t just hire a business coach and fix the way you are. You don’t just hire a CFO. You do have to slowly start to understand the nuances. And this is a very complicated business that we’re in.

Rhobin DelaCruz: Oh, absolutely, absolutely. It’s like so many different layers—it’s the best way to describe it.

Rebecca Hay: What it sounds like I’m hearing from you, Rhobin, is that the moment you realized you needed to change—the moment where you realized, nope, this isn’t good enough, I want to do better—I recognize that this is an area where I need help, so I’m going to find the help in a coach, in a CFO, and you slowly start to take that. Now, okay, can we just talk about the CFO though? I keep… this is like CFO… is that expensive? Is it fractional? Like, talk to me about this.

Rhobin DelaCruz: So I want everyone to know a CFO is attainable. I have a fractional CFO. I hired her on before I was ready to have her on, but I knew that I needed to start building relationships, and I wanted to set myself up for success when all of the changes were coming, which is all happening at this moment. So she’s slowly integrating me into the work, and I was really transparent with her. I was like, “Look, I want to hire you to build a relationship, but I don’t have many clients right now. So what I am not good at, I need your expertise, and I need you to walk me through when all the changes start coming.”

Rebecca Hay: I mean, it sounds like a very smart, strategic move on your part. What’s the difference between a CFO and an accountant?

Rhobin DelaCruz: My experience with an accountant was that he did my taxes every single year and did my bookkeeping, but he was an accountant specifically for everyone. My CFO, she has bookkeeping, she has accounting experience, she’s a CPA, but she works specifically with interior designers. So she taught me numbers that are going in, numbers that are going out. I don’t do this, but she wanted to make sure that I had the skill sets of understanding the bookkeeping at the end of the month. What she’s able to do in addition to that is she’s helping me figure out projections for the year—how many clients do I need? How much can I pay employees? When can an employee get a raise? When is an employee not selling enough hours or furniture to hold their weight? Like, all of these things that I never knew. It’s like billable hours for an employee—she’s teaching me all of this stuff that I never knew that I needed to know. So that is the significant difference.

Rebecca Hay: Wow, I love that.

Rhobin DelaCruz: It was intense in a very positive way. These were all the questions that I never knew that I needed to ask.

Rebecca Hay: Yeah, I think that’s really important—these are the questions you didn’t know you needed to ask. How can you know what you’re missing when you don’t know when you don’t come from that world? Obviously, listen to this podcast—that’s one way. We will save you as best we can.

Rhobin DelaCruz: We hope, we hope. Even if it’s just one person.

Rebecca Hay: Totally, and that’s how it works, right? Like, you get help from someone, and then we all pass it along, and we help. I want to talk about the importance of systems and processes because you mentioned that was something—and you know that that’s something that’s near and dear to my heart because that was instrumental in the change in my business. What have you learned about systems and processes and what their role is in a design firm?

Rhobin DelaCruz: The last year and a half, I was fortunate not to be forced to take on many clients. I just had my repeat clients, so it allowed me to really understand all the things that I was learning and actually implement them. Within the last couple of months, I started actually executing them. And what I learned is I put all these things in place, and you know, I’m still learning and still doing, but I did the foundational work for when I have a discovery call—these are the questions that I need to ask. What do I do after the discovery call, if the client qualifies? These are the documents that I need to send them in order for them to be informed of the process. It was very different from how I used to run my own business. I kind of like… “Oh, okay, let’s fly by the seat of my pants. I’m going to do this now.” But…

Rebecca Hay: Yeah, make it up on the spot.

Rhobin DelaCruz: Yeah, exactly. The difference is, with the system and processes, it has organized my mind and given me a structure to follow that I never would have been able to think of on my own nor document so that I can teach another employee and scale it. When I used to have employees, we would just learn together. It’s like, okay, it’s time to do this now; it’s time to do that now, you know? And it would become systematic in a sense, but being able to accept the fact that I can write these down and that I can give them to a senior designer, and they can use this platform to teach the rest of the team so I can do CEO stuff—that was super important in my book. I should not, as the business leader, be in the nitty-gritty of the design work. I should be top-level execution, building the business, right?

Rebecca Hay: I think it’s sometimes a hard thing for us to let go, and I don’t know if you struggle with this sort of mental shift, right? Like, there’s this belief sometimes, like, “No, the client’s expecting me to be the one to do it,” or, “I don’t really trust that they’re going to do a good job, so let me just oversee it in the most micromanaging way,” right?

Rhobin DelaCruz: Absolutely. It was one of the things that I needed to shift in my mind: I can step away from this. And the whole reason that you’re building a team—a team that you trust—is so that you can relinquish some of these responsibilities and trust that it’s going to get done.

Rebecca Hay: Yeah, and part of that is, and I’ve learned this, I’m sure you’ve had this in your firm, people are going to make mistakes, and you just have to accept that’s part of doing business and just hope that you can correct the behavior so it doesn’t happen again.

Rhobin DelaCruz: Exactly. And let’s start with the people being—I’m going to make mistakes.

Rebecca Hay: That’s true. We don’t make mistakes.

Rhobin DelaCruz: I’m learning so that my future staff does not have to make the mistakes.

Rebecca Hay: Yeah, it’s so true. It’s like, let’s learn from the mistakes we do make but know that you can only communicate so much information to somebody working for you. There’s always going to be a margin of error, and that’s just part of being human, right?

Rhobin DelaCruz: Yeah, as long as you’re aware of the potential mistakes that can happen, you at least have the tools to correct them.

Rebecca Hay: Yeah, this is a really interesting idea of systems and processes so you can scale and grow, which sounds like is something that you are looking to do. Am I right?

Rhobin DelaCruz: Absolutely.

Rebecca Hay: I want to talk about the branding. I guess now’s a good time to talk about that. Can we talk about this idea of, like, you come from marketing, so you probably already have a really good foundation when it comes to brand and all of the knowledge. What precipitated the branding? Because you did a rebrand, did you not?

Rhobin DelaCruz: I did a complete overhaul, yes. So part of accepting that I needed to make some changes and the fact that I needed to surround myself with smarter people—committing to doing things correctly, and in my mind that meant my processes, that also meant relaunching the website, also creating a new look, like a real branded look—that also meant hiring a copywriter and putting all these things together that I know I’m not good at. And knowing that as expensive as it is, it’s going to pay off in the end. So yeah, it’s been quite a journey, and the rebrand happened a month and a half ago. It’s super exciting. And I’m saying this because it’s kind of like the gift that keeps on giving, and it’s letting me know that I’m in the right place at the right time. Within five weeks of the rebrand, I’ve been asked to do two podcasts, and as of a week and a half ago, I had to publish this. What I’m going to do with the publishing is… am I ready for all that? The universe is giving it to me, so I’m taking it all in.

Rebecca Hay: I love it. And I’m one of those two podcasts. I’m honored to be the first one. Is this the first time you really invested in the brand and the website? Had you invested in the past, or did you more like bootstrap it?

Rhobin DelaCruz: Absolutely bootstrap.

Rebecca Hay: So it was expensive. Which part of it do you think, of the whole rebranding process, has been the most impactful for you?

Rhobin DelaCruz: So I did the rebrand first, the rebrand and the website. That whole experience was very educational, and that entire process of what it looks like and actually deep diving with my guys—that was visually impactful. It gave me the vision of the future and who I can draw as clients. But I also understood the importance of copywriting and speaking to people and getting them on their level. So there was no way that I wasn’t going to do both, but truthfully, the impact goes hand in hand with one another. I am not a writer, so I knew I would never be able to do that. But I just kept hearing through different podcasts the importance of copywriting, and I already understood the importance of branding and visuals, so I had to do them together.

Rebecca Hay: Yeah, it’s the messaging, right? And I think sometimes, especially as creatives, we get caught up in the visual and the look of things. And I’ve been guilty of that, especially in the early years. I thought that branding was just fonts and colors, really. It’s actually so much more than that. It’s understanding your ethos as a brand—who are you? Who do you serve? What makes you unique? What are your differentiators? How do you communicate that using the copy on your website to make it sound as interesting? We had a copywriter come to Designer’s Room and do a copy audit of different people’s website pages. So amazing. I took a million notes, and she didn’t, you know, from when she was reviewing someone else’s website. And you could really see the power of if you just tweak the wording here, or if you reframe it to be about the client, or if you do this. And I was like, I had like a million notes of how I wanted to change my own website. And it’s so true. You want to grab people and pull them in with more than just the visual. But I think sometimes, as designers, because we are so visual, we overlook the copy. Is that… would you say that’s fair?

Rhobin DelaCruz: Absolutely. And I’m going to use this as an example, just to bring this full circle. When I started doing research on business coaching, it was the copy that drew me in. It’s like, “Oh, this is exactly what I need. I’m going to sign up with this person versus that person. They’re speaking to me.”

Rebecca Hay: And it resonates with you at a different time. Like, I’ve worked with multiple business coaches, and each one, at the time, resonated with what I needed then. And then a year or two later, that wasn’t the person I needed anymore. I needed somebody else who was speaking to the more spiritual side of me because I was leaning into that, or speaking into more of the money mindset and the financials. And I think it’s understanding where your clients are at. So when you’re writing that copy, you really are meeting them—I know people say this all the time—but you’re meeting them where they’re at. You’re speaking to their pain points, and they’re like, “Yes, I need Rhobin. He is reading my mind.” And a copywriter is very skilled at that.

Rhobin DelaCruz: Yeah, it was a very eye-opening process.

Rebecca Hay: That’s amazing. So how has it changed? How has your business changed? I know it’s not been that long, and you mentioned the podcast, publicist. What about from a client perspective or within your own design community in your city? What’s changed for you since you did the rebrand?

Rhobin DelaCruz: Okay, so I think one of the other things that has been a significant change in how I do things was being really open to meeting other designers and actually learning that world, which comes with understanding procurement. So my first market was in the fall, and after 16 years, that was my first market. I tell that to people, and they’re blown out of their seats. Like, this wasn’t my world. I was very intimidated by it. So my first market was fall, and that was me understanding what this world is like and just learning, learning, learning. And then my second market was this past spring, which you and I were both at. And I had a different intention because I knew that my rebrand was about to happen, and I could see the vision of where I want my business to go and what I’m capable of. I knew that I needed to meet heavy hitters. Whatever that means, I don’t know, but I needed to start putting my name and my face in front of people, and that is where it has changed exponentially because I just started meeting really genuine people—people that would teach me the way that they do things—from one connection to another and just being open and receptive to growing and connecting. That was a significant change, and I’m still kind of reeling in it because the people that I’m connected with now… I’m just feeling super grateful, but it never would have happened… like you, it never would have happened unless I had that mindset of just being open to meeting with people. And I know it’s very intimidating for other people who are not as extroverted as I am.

Rebecca Hay: Yeah.

Rhobin DelaCruz: But the one thing you’ve got to remember—everybody at Market is super cool. Whether they’re introverted or extroverted, everyone wants to be around the community, and that was one of the most beautiful things that I learned from Market.

Rebecca Hay: I love that, Rhobin. I love that you just shared that because I often forget this, and I have to remind myself when you are going to any type of event, give yourself a goal, give yourself an intention. And like, you’re outgoing. I’m actually not as outgoing naturally; I’m more of an extroverted introvert. My inclination is just to talk to the people I know and then maybe go home, have a good time for an hour and leave. And I find Market very overwhelming because I need quiet time to recover. There is no escape, and so I find it very draining, actually. And so I actually have to tweak how I do Market as someone who needs that introverted time to recover. I’ve already thought about… I’m like, maybe I need to get an Airbnb, and like halfway through the day, I leave, and I just have quiet time, then come back. But we’re all so different. But going to Market with an intention… because if not, you end up… this could be true of any event, you could be just going to an event in your city, but you end up wandering around, maybe you talk to someone, maybe you don’t, then maybe you leave, and you wonder if it was worth spending the money, especially in business. If you were doing something with a business purpose, show up with intention. And I love that you had that intention for Market. It was like, I’m going to meet the heavy hitters, I’m going to make connections in this industry. And you freaking did it. And like, even if you only made one connection, it would be worth it, right?

Rhobin DelaCruz: Yes, absolutely. Even just one. You never know where it’s going to take you. You’ve got to learn to be uncomfortable because it opens up opportunities.

Rebecca Hay: Yeah, push yourself out of that comfort zone and be open to the… I was just chatting with another designer who was saying it can be uncomfortable to talk about… this was a designer who was new, just launched her business, and she was saying, “I still don’t feel like saying, ‘Oh, I’m an interior designer, I have a design firm.’” But she said she pushed herself beyond that, and she was at a hotel bar, and when the person asked what she did, she gave the usual spiel, and then she caught herself and said, “Oh, actually, I also just launched my own interior design firm, I’m an interior designer.” And that person was like, “Oh my gosh, I’m looking to hire a designer.” And she ended up hiring her. If you can’t show up and share who you are and what you’re doing, what you’re after, what your intention is, it’s going to be really hard to see those opportunities and to seize those opportunities.

Rhobin DelaCruz: Yes, absolutely.

Rebecca Hay: Yeah. So what would you recommend to a designer right now who’s listening, who’s feeling a little stuck, or maybe they’ve just started? What’s your advice to someone? Because it sounds like you’ve done a lot of different things to get to where you are today, which is amazing. What would maybe be the first thing that you would recommend someone do?

Rhobin DelaCruz: When I think about the things that I’ve done and the lessons that I’ve learned and anything that I want to impart to anyone, I honestly believe it’s okay to say you don’t know what you don’t know. Had I had that mindset earlier on, my business model and my business would have been very different. It probably wouldn’t have taken me 14 years to make these shifts. So that’s the number one thing. And that’s one of the number one things: It’s okay to say you don’t know what you don’t know. Be ready to fail because failing is where all the strong lessons come from. It’s okay to fail. It’s how you get back up and continue on.

Rebecca Hay: Love that. Is that your nugget? Because, boom, mic drop.

Rhobin DelaCruz: That is my nugget. I feel those are the most powerful things that I have told myself in order for me to succeed. Of all the things that I’ve done and this whole rebrand, I was like, “Ooh, I’m proud of you. You said you couldn’t do something, and you figured it out, and you admitted it.”

Rebecca Hay: That is a lesson right there, Rhobin—also giving yourself kudos, right? Like, we’re so our own worst critics, and we’re so quick to move on from a win or to downplay what we’ve done. Like, what you said right there to me is everything—like, give yourself a pat on the back. Shit, look how far I’ve come. You know, it’s funny. Yesterday, I had this thought as I was laying, falling asleep, and I don’t know why I thought about it. And I was like, I feel like for myself, because I’m terrible at recognizing or remembering even my wins. Yesterday, an episode just came out of the Wingnut Social podcast that I was the guest host of, which, guys, if you’re listening, go check it out. I guest-hosted for Darla Powell, two episodes, and I’ll actually get my producer to link those in the show notes here. I was thinking about it, and I was like, and I’d listened to a podcast… it wasn’t a podcast, it was this book I’m listening to actually, it’s called Who Not How, great book, Dan Sullivan and Benjamin Hardy, Who Not How, and they talk about every 90 days, looking back and cataloging your wins because as entrepreneurs, we really tend to breeze past them. We’re always going to the next, and then we don’t actually feel momentum. We don’t feel like we’re making progress when we are. And I thought about that as I was listening to it last night in bed, and I thought, I think I need like a wins jar on my desk because then it’s like when I get a win, like boom, like, “That was pretty cool. I got invited to be a guest host of a really prominent podcast.” Like, I’m going to write that on a piece of paper. I’m going to put it in a jar. So at the end of the year, I’m going to pull it out. I’m going to feel… I’m going to have a party for myself.

Rhobin DelaCruz: I love it.

Rebecca Hay: Yeah, you’ve got to appreciate when you’re taking the steps to get where you’re going because it’s all progress, and it kind of happens little by little sometimes, and we don’t even notice it.

Rhobin DelaCruz: Yeah, that’s correct.

Rebecca Hay: So you’ve shared your nugget. Before we wrap up our time together, where are you taking… you keep talking about a vision, I’m super curious, where’s Rhobin DelaCruz Designs going?

Rhobin DelaCruz: So I’m going to scale. The big vision is I am eventually going to have a team that does residential and vacation rentals, and then I’ll have a separate team that does commercial design.

Rebecca Hay: Woo, that’s big.

Rhobin DelaCruz: I’m putting it out there, universe. I’m putting it out there.

Rebecca Hay: Yes, so you can come back on my podcast. We’re going to check in with you. I’ll be your accountability person.

Rhobin DelaCruz: Thank you, I’ll take it. I’ll take it. It’s coming from you.

Rebecca Hay: Yeah, it’ll be like May 2025. You’re like, “Oh shoot, I better speed up the whatever, this, that, and the other because Rebecca’s going to have me back.” No, it’s not going to happen in a year, but maybe it will. I love that. Thank you for sharing that. That was very… I didn’t tell you I was going to be asking that question, so I appreciate you sharing and being vulnerable with us. It’s been so nice to have you on the podcast. I’m excited to follow your journey and see what comes your way because the universe is just bringing opportunities left, right, and center, and you are ready for them.

Rhobin DelaCruz: Thank you, thank you so much, Rebecca. This was awesome.

Rebecca Hay: And now, before we go, can you let everyone listening know where they can find and follow you?

Rhobin DelaCruz: Rhobindellacruz.com. Rhobin is spelled R-H-O-B-I-N. Also, Rhobindellacruzdesigns on Instagram.

Rebecca Hay: Amazing. Thank you so much.

Rhobin DelaCruz: Thank you.

Rebecca Hay: I hope you guys enjoyed that episode as much as I did. Rhobin, thank you for bringing your energy to that conversation, your wisdom, your insight. It’s wonderful to hear from a designer who’s been doing this a little bit longer. You know, quite often we forget that sometimes we start to run a business, and we get excited, and then we kind of get set in our ways, and then things chug along, and before we know it, we look back and we think, “Whoa, I’ve been doing this for a while. Maybe there’s a better way.” I think your generosity, Rhobin, with your wisdom but also with your vulnerability in sharing what you went through and how you decided to make a change and where your blind spots were before in your business really speaks a lot to your personality and your integrity. I’m excited to follow your journey, this rebrand, and see where it takes you. And guys, if you were inspired by Rhobin’s episode, I know it would mean a lot to him if you could send him a DM on Instagram. So go give him a follow on Instagram, Rhobin DelaCruz, and that’s Rhobin is spelled differently, so listen closely. It’s R-H-O-B-I-N DelaCruz Designs. So go check them out, Rhobin DelaCruz Designs on Instagram. Send him a DM; let him know you heard this episode. If it was inspiring to you, I know it would mean a lot to him. And of course, go hop on over to iTunes and give us a review. If you can review our podcast and give us five stars, that means more people will tune in, and we can expand our reach, and our ability to inspire and improve designers’ lives. All right. I hope you enjoyed that episode with Rhobin, and I’ll see you soon.