Nicole Roe on The Mompreneur Model with Dori DeCarlo

0:00 She is sure, she is true, she is straw is straw, She is true, is true, she is praise, pray, she is she is you. Hello, everyone, welcome to today's Word of Mom Radio. Here on the Word of Mom Media Network. I'm your host, Dori Di Carlo, and you know we are here week after week, show after show, breaking those myths that mompreneurs and business women, especially those of us building our businesses from home, that we're just dabbling in between bake sales and getting our nails done. We're not. We are smart, we are savvy, and we are sharing the wisdom of women in business and in life. And I'm looking forward to bringing today's guests into our Mompreneur model show. Nicole Road, taste maker and authentic lifestyle creator, is the founder and creative force behind our Nixon Interiors, a boutique design firm known for blending bold, elevated esthetics with real life function as. With over fifteen years of experience in construction and design, Nicole holds a degree in building construction from Georgia Tech and has an extensive working knowledge of all aspects of the construction process. Her technical expertise combined with an eye for expressive design allows her to bring each client's personal brand to life in their homes, whether it's one of many or there forever space. The Cohal's clients are busy professionals who value exceptional design and

1:34 trust her to deliver spaces that are both impressive and intentionally Craftednicle launched the Coal Road Design before evolving the brand to our Nixon Interiors, expanding from a home office into her own warehouse and receiving house. This operational independence allows her team to manage every aspect of a design project with precision and care. Whether clients are drawn to me minimal, modern, layered, traditional, or something entirely unexpected, Nicole embraces the fluidity of style and helps them find their unique expression. Her ability to merge structure with soul means no two projects ever look alike, while each feels undeniably personal and polished. She's originally from Orange County, California, and her upbringing was rooted in creativity and a deep appreciation for home and lifestyle. After her family relocated to Bakersfield, California, she eventually made her way to Atlanta for college, where she met her husband, Jeff. Today, they live in Central Florida with their four energetic boys from five to eleven.

2:43 You are still in the thick of it, and she calls her family paralal creatives, constantly fueled by outdoor adventures like camping, mountain biking, and lakeside living. Their lifestyle informs her belief that a home should support how you live, not just how it looks. I could keep going and going, but I would much rather bring the coal in. So, with all that being said, Nicole, welcome to Word of Mom Radio. Hey Dory, thanks for having me. Yes, that was a lot, you know, and it's kind of fun to listen back and go, wow, I did start at home, didn't I, you know, and it's amazing how fast it all goes. So I would love for you to take us on your journey that has led you to where you are now.

3:31 Yes, story, I've always been someone that was like deeply affected by my surroundings. The colors of the room, you know, the lighting, just the way a room felt. And even as a child, I was that kid who was moving my bed around, painting the walls, you know. Fast forward to college and switching dorms in your first apartments, like it was always a really big deal to me. I always painted. I always used whatever budget I have had to make the space feel better and feel like me. And it was a huge priority. And I never really knew what I was doing or why I was doing it until I discovered what interior design actually was. Like, this is a career and this is something that people go to school for years for. There's firms, you know, across the world that do interior design. And it's not just picking you know, beautiful pillows for people's sofas. It's really about shaping how people live and feel. In college, I had enrolled as an engineer, industrial engineer, just like my dad, being firstborn daughter, you know, going to Georgia Tech.

4:45 You know, he was an entrepreneur as well. But I quickly realized that I was not an engineer. Yes, you can be creative and be an engineer, but it really wasn't the lifestyle the direction I wanted to go. I discovered the College of Architecture. They had a building construction program, which sounded great. I love projects that have you know that beginning, a middle and then an end result, and a lot of careers don't have that. You know, you either get to be in the beginning. You get to be in the end, but a lot of times people don't get to see something completed, and to me, that was really important and construction. At that point, I got a great internship where I got to work with architects and then designers, intier designers that were so smart and so creative and loved what they did. But at this point, you know, I'm a few years into my degree, looked into transferring to duel and role and too out of state tuitions, you know, in two thousand and eight, it didn't make sense. I knew there was other ways to really learn, and that's what I did. Anytime I was on a project that had designers or architects, I really asked all the questions. But then I graduated in two thousand and nine, and that was really when the economy was not great to graduate with a degree in construction.

6:11 My now husband and I had been dating for a few years. He was headed to Central Florida where we are now, to work for his family business, and I really wanted to stay in Atlanta. I just loved the buildings, and I love the architecture. I loved the life, but I didn't have a job, so I did as many people do, followed my then boyfriend now husband down to central Florida, interviewed with anyone that would read my resume, and was eventually hired by a team of construction companies, not to be the project manager that I was hoping for, but to run their business development and marketing, which was great looking back being twenty three, twenty four, twenty five because it immersed me into a new community. I got to go to networking events, I got to meet trades, I got to meet all these people that if I was doing something else, I wouldn't have had the opportunity to do. And because of that, you know, when I started having my children, I stepped away from that, you know, fifty sixty hour work week and really needed to reevaluate what I was going to do. I give credit to stay at home moms. They live the life they want to, but I realized, especially after my second was born, I couldn't do it. I needed to be creative. I needed to be interacting with others, and that was where Nicole wrote design started.

7:39 I love it. Women start with why. Whatever their why is, either they see something that's not being done or they have to find a way to make what they want to do work for them. So what was it like? You know, we talk about the work life balance, and I joke all the time that is such an illusion because juggling. So how have you manage juggling four boys and growing from Nicole or Design to now our Nixon interiors. I think knowing that they know what I do, they get to see it firsthand. They come by the office now that we have our actual office, they get to see the finished product. They're friends with some of my client's children. So what I do is tangible. I'm not just sitting at a computer all day. But I've given myself the flexibility and the permission to be able to pick them up from school a few days a week, to be super present when I want to be super present, whether it's a sporting event or they have a function at school. I make that decision that yes, I will be there at nine point thirty for that hour. I won't be on my phone and I'll be there. But the hard part is less hard on the children and more hard as the mom. Knowing that you can't be a full time stay at home mom and run a company.

9:04 It can intersect ut moments, but you can't do both. And that has been I would say almost the most challenging part. It is because the mom guilt thing starts to happen, and you are absolutely right, it is harder on you than the kids. I had three, and all three were involved in sports, and I was a single mom and running a business and everything else, and I would run myself ragged trying to get to all of their games. And they sat down with me and said, Mom, it's okay to pick one of us for a day. Because both all three of my kids were on double teams. Sometimes they had four games in one day each, so I would go on a Saturday Sunday they'd have eight to twelve games. So I had to come to the point that I knew that they knew I wanted to be there stuff, but sometimes you can't. And it is it's the mom guilt. How did you manage? Because again, now you have all of these outdoor activities and adventures with your kids, and I'm looking at your hat on the hat where my back on my car has all my camping gear in it. Because at any time I can hit the road and have everything including my pop up bathroom and shower.

10:26 That's right in my car. So I totally love that you are kind of melding that into your business. So how do you do all in it? Well? I think one common denominator for the hobbies are that you can't be on your phone for any of them. You're in the wilderness, you have no cell reception. You're mountain biking, you cannot answer a phone call. Mountain biking or rock climbing or paddleboarding, or any of these other activities that the children love to do and we can do as adults with them, you can't be taking calls. And I remember it was a couple of years ago we were mountain biking and there was a dad pulled over on the side of the trail on the phone and his son was so ticked at him, and I remember my heart broke for both. Like the dad was taking it was a Friday, was taking time to be with the sun, but also had to take a call.

11:22 And I've realized because of that and others, you have to be one hundred percent at what you're doing. So one hundred percent, you know, with the kids, or one hundred percent at work. Trying to do the fifty to fifty just leaves everyone frustrated. Absolutely. We talked about it so often during COVID. We did so many shows on just transitioning because for those work at home mom I personally feel that that is COVID really validated. All the mom for doors building their businesses from home. Were people, like I said, in the beginning, and they think we're dabbling and they don't really the discipline it takes to run a business from home. But when everyone was there and how do you do it?

12:07 We gave tips, you know, sitting an alarm or putting a different colored light in and when that red light is on it means stop that mommy has to work. But the second at light goes off, you are one hundred percent with your kids and stuff. So I love that you know, you see that and how important it is because yeah, when you try to do the fifty to fifty, everybody loses. Yes, Yes, we've had a big conversation about transitions. One of the best parts of pulling my business from my house, beyond getting everything out of my house, has been my office is about twenty two minutes from home. It's also just about twelve minutes from the kids' school. But both of those distances give me enough time to reset, make a phone call if I need to listen to a podcast.

13:00 And there's even times my husband and I have talked about this where we take an extra lap around the block when we get home because we need a couple more minutes. Because as soon as you come down that gravel driveway, they are ready for everything. You know, dinner, getting ready for sports, the logistics of life. You don't have a few more minutes once you walk in. You need to be ready for that as your door opens. On that note, we're going to take a quick break and say thank you to our supporters. But I really want you to think of what Nicole said, because it's really true. Once you walk in the door, that little bit of time is done. So that extra lack or two around the block not a bad idea. We'll be back here in just a moment. On Word of Mom Radio.

13:42 She is brave, she is bold, She is you, and we want to tell your story. Are you ready to share your journey with us on Word of Mom Radio? Go to wordommradio dot com and register as a guest. We want to tell your story because when you win, we all win. In twenty seventeen, Unsilenced Voices was formed to help survivors of domestic abuse and gender based violence worldwide. The organization currently serves Siri Leone, Rwanda, Ghana, and the USA. In twenty twenty two, Unsilenced Voices gifted over thirty three thousand dollars to survivors in the USA and in sier Leone, there are over twenty six young girls who have been rescued from sex trafficking and domestic abuse and now going through vocational training school in order to better their lives.

14:40 We need your help. Donations are critical in order for us to continue our work. We also need volunteers to help with research and development. Please visit Unsilenced Voices dot org for more information. And we're back here on Lord of mom Rade. You know we are talking with Nicole Row, who is the absolute fabulous force behind our Nixon interiors and so true I love it's the extra turn around the block. So I have to ask in your design work, all of these outdoor things that you do with your kids, does that kind of spark some of your creativity and even creativity in them?

15:23 I would think? So we all joke that our most creative ideas come in the shower. It is you know, because your brain is at rest, your brain is at peace, You're not overthinking all the things. And I believe nature and being outdoors and just allowing yourself to either get that dopamine hit or the relaxation of the deep breaths allows you to be more creative when you're desired, because it takes you back to why we're creative. You know, why we're doing all this hard work is not to get burnt out, is not to have sleepless nights. It's to be able to enjoy life. It's funny. I'm an avid driver. I literally put a couple of thousand miles a month on my car easily. Sometimes I'll do seven or eight thousand miles in a month. Getting behind the wheel of a car is what relaxes me. How do you balance chaos with structure and everything in what you were doing?

16:19 Because when you come into somebody's house to design, there have to be times that you walk in and just wonder what were they even thinking because of the chaos in their hole? How do you filter through that nicole? Well, so many of our clients are busy working professionals, whether it's you know, the husband and wife or a single mom, they tend to have a lot on their plates. They have children, they have pets, they have busy careers and as we both know, so often you're you know, up at five am, you're leaving the house at seven thirty. Most people aren't getting home till six, seven, eight o'clock at night. So however you left the home is how it is when you come home. And that is very hard, but that is the opportunity to really dive in with the client to figure out how they live, how is their lifestyle, what are the realities of their life, and how can we design a space that helps them, that improves that, that makes their daily functions easier, because most homes are not set up for that person. You know, they were set up whoever built the home or whatever kitchen designer or home designer thought looked nice. But if you know your kids are in multi sports, or you like to go camping, or the dogs like to eat and need to be on a leash, design the house for that as well as honestly the level of finishes, like make them easy for your lifestyle and make them hard working. You don't have to worry that the kid is spilt something on the counter at seven am, and

17:51 it's going to sit there until you get home because you didn't notice. That can be really, really hard. It is, And again it is that whole balance. It's setting things up. I'm into systems and I'm an everything away person, So when I am working, I have everything at my fingertips. But at the end of the day, everything locks down. It goes into the exact same spot where I got it. And it was so funny my kids back in the day, when my kids were younger and are off my office, they had their own shelves and here were their things, but they would occasionally go on to mind grab something and not put it back, and they get home and it's kind I just spent fifteen minutes finding something I should have just been able to reach up and grab. If you use it, please just put it back. How do you help people with that?

18:44 Just that sometimes the organizing of Again, you've got kids in sports and this is the dog stuff, and here's your outdoor things, indoor things. How do you help them work to create kind of systems for themselves or do you do that? It's really by like walking through their daily routine, like do you use your garage door do you use your front door? So if everybody's coming through the front door like we do, having you know, a mudroom off your garage, no one's ever going to make it all the way over there. They need something by the front door. And recently we had a client, great client, super busy, you know, multiple dogs and children, and we created a hidden mudroom by the front door because that was the door they used.

19:26 We did an additional drop zone in the kid's hallway for the other items, and we moved their laundry room across the house by the primary because nothing was ever getting to where it needed to go. How the house was originally set up and they had piles everywhere and it wasn't their fault. There just wasn't anywhere to put it. So really figuring out, okay, so when the kids come home, their back quacks are going to get hung up here behind a closed door. Because we had figured out that the kids aren't going to keep that organized. It needed to be behind a closed door. But we ventilated the doors because as teenage boys, some of their stuff isn't the freshest smelling, and you put it behind a closed door, you leave it for three days, it might you know, need some febrize. So really thinking through are the kids actually going to open a drawer and put shoes in or should they just be able to kick their shoes in.

20:18 There's so many little ways to really dive into how that family is, but it takes honesty from the couple from the kid, and that sometimes takes a few meetings for them to get comfortable. But by the end of it, we always joke that we literally know what's in you know, their junk drawer, their bedside table, and you know every hall closet because it's intentional. It's put there for a reason. What do you want to say to that mom out there that is working trying to build her business, that dealing with everything and building it around your lifestyle. That having a well designed home for your life is not selfish. So many women say, oh, I wish I could do that, But you know, we have kids, private school, we have they need to go to Disney, you know, there's sports, there's all these other things they're spending money on and not small sums of money. Especially when they do have the finances to do some changes to their home to make their life better. They don't realize that the impact in the investment literally changes their life. To them, it feels very surface level, like oh, new paint, pretty pillows, X, Y and Z, but it really is life changing once they can get over the I hired an interior designer.

21:41 We're renovating and redesigning our home. It's kind of hard for some people. It is, And you know, I think it's developing new habits because when you haven't had a place for things and now all of a sudden, you do. It's getting yourself into the routine. Oh wait a minute, this is where this goes. Now. I don't know about you, but I am definitely a creature of habit. So when something isn't where I normally put it, my world goes. Just my car keys, I don't know about you. That's my kryptonite. As my car keys. I had to get a thing that I can hook them onto whatever I have, because they wind up. I'm serious, they have wound up in places. It's like did they get legs and just walk over on their own?

22:28 It's amazing. So I have to ask, as we're kind of closing things out, do you ever have just that one place that you walked into that just took everything, or has have you really been able to just come in and easily do things? I think sometimes it takes a few revisions. Sometimes clients don't know what they like or what they don't like till they see what they don't like. They can give Pinterest images, they can tell me what their you know, goals are. We design a space, they look at it and they're like, actually, this isn't what I want, because now I know I want this, And that's where I feel like we do the best work because they really had time to think about it. Closets are a great example of this. We do a lot of primary closets because, as you know, so often people are just hanging up clothes they never wear, they never see, they haven't looked in their closet since probably they moved in and put everything there. We literally make them go through like how many long dresses do you have? How many pairs of jeens?

23:35 How do you want to hang up your t shirts? And that can take a few revisions because people will then purge their closet or like you said, you and I are hat people like they realize they actually have twenty hats that they need accessible, or you up north, they have, you know, multiple seasons of clothes. They don't want multiple seasons hanging up at once. So what is the solution? Where can we put that secondary closet in the home. But I think allowing yourself to be comfortable as the designer and the homeowner for the revision and knowing that that's okay is really a good kind of second step. As we wrap up, what would you like to leave our listeners with, Nicole and how may they reach out to you?

24:19 Yes, I think it goes back to the permission to have a well designed space, a permission to surround your life with function. Allow your space to have these functional things you need, but also let them be beautiful. Let yourself display your collections like your friends and family see that your family lives there. Have the art, have the books, have the little you know, trinkets from your travels, and really enjoy your home. I love that, and I love my cousins listening. That's okay for people to think that people live in your house. My cousin has this state where anytime she is, somebody coming over her to look like nobody's ever lived there.

25:02 You know, everybody's just got there at once. But to me, your This is your home and it should reflect you, and it should walk in and just be glad you're home. Have those creature comforts. What's the sense of having Grandma's china in a box in the attic. If you're going to keep it, show it, put it somewhere that people can see it. So I love that you help people find that and find that way to do it. So how can they find you, Nicole? Yes, So we are located in central Florida. We do distance projects and virtual consultations across the country. Our website is our as in the letter Nixon ni cksn Interiors and you can also find us at the same handle on Instagram. We are on LinkedIn, We're on YouTube, I think we're on Twitter and TikTok and you know all the places as our next and interiors. And then you can also find me at the dot Nicole Row for a little more behind the scenes. But yeah, send a DM reach out via our website. We'd love to set up a consultation.

26:07 All of Nicole's links are going to be live on Word of Mom Radio. Take a look. And I love that you do virtual consultations around the country because you have a great eye and I really like what you share, so I hope people reach out. And I thank you so much for taking the time to share your journey with us. Nicole awesome, thank you. My pleasure, and for all of you tuning in, thanks so much for being here. We're going to close out with our fabulous theme song from Smith's Sisters and the Sunday Drivers. So till next time, This is Dory Di Carlo saying, go out and create a marvelous you. Bye for now. She is sure, she is sure, she is strang she is straw, she is true, is true, she is praise, pray is she is you, is you, she is you, she is sure, she is sure, she is strong, is strong, she is true, is true. She is brave, she is bold, she she is you, she is she is She is sure of herself. Yes, she takes care of his powerful and strong. Yes, she knows who she is has integrity, woman, strong and true. You know her by name. See this woman is you. She is sure, she is strong, he is strong, she is true, is true, she is brave, she is bold, she is she is you, she is she is she is sure, she is strong, is strong,

27:40 she is true, is true, she is brave, she is bold, she is she is you, she is she is She adds value and hope has proved to be brave. See it's never too late, never time to behave Reaching for dreams doesn't matter. The age believes in herself from her cage. She is sure, she is sure, she is strong, is strong, she is true, is true, she is brave, is brave, she is bold, she is you, she is she, she is sure, she is she is strong, she is strong, she is true, is true. She is brave, is brave, she is she is she is you.