The Business of Beautiful Spaces

Laura Thornton hosts The Business of Beautiful Spaces with a clear mission: helping interior designers treat their practice as a real business, not just a creative outlet. With 158 weekly episodes, the show covers client management, boundary-setting, pricing structures, profitability analysis, and the organizational systems that keep a design firm running smoothly. Laura mixes solo episodes — where she shares frameworks from her own experience — with guest interviews featuring designers at various stages of growth. Recent topics have included integrating AI tools into the design workflow, protecting your calendar from scope creep, and building a marketing strategy that attracts the right clients without constant social media hustle. The production is straightforward and focused, with episodes ranging from quick 15-minute actionable segments to longer 55-minute conversations. Laura also runs The Profit Academy for Interior Designers, a mentorship and course program, which informs the podcast's emphasis on concrete, immediately useful advice over abstract inspiration. The community-focused ethos comes through clearly — the show emphasizes collaboration among designers rather than competition. With a 4.9-star rating from 31 reviews, listeners describe it as the podcast that finally helped them get their business operations in order. It works best for designers who have the creative skills but need help with the operational and financial side.