Jared helps me create structure, systems, brainstorm, research, as well as be an emotional checker and overall advisor to all my business quandaries.
He's super insightful, caring, and is an invaluable resource for my team and I. He's invested in me and my business like an owner would be.
There are so many things we are still sharpening and our growth has everything to do with the work Jared and I do on a weekly basis. Jared is a mirror for me. He's created stability for myself. He challenges me to be introspective and show up in a stronger mental space so I can show up for my team.
Tiek Design Group designs homes inside-and-out in classic historical styles that are aesthetically cohesive and immersive. The team's aesthetic reflects the approachable and genuine character of Steve and his team.
Over the course of working with Jared, Tiek Design Group has doubled its top-line revenue run rate, built a pipeline of work equal to one year of revenue, improved operational efficiency by 33%, and achieved a 6X increase in operating profit.
This growth is anchored in two noble purposes. Steve's noble purpose is centered on personal joy and growth to build others, and building an enduring impact for clients. The noble purpose of the team is centered on enabling meaningful, enduring memories for their clients.
When Steve and I first began working together in 2022, he had a small team of five. Steve had already established himself as an architectural visionary with a strong reputation and brand.
He was interested in building emotional resilience as he began to feel stretched too thin. Things felt too out of control and it was difficult to prioritize between conflicting demands. The design work was exceptional, but the team was relatively inexperienced and Steve was finding it difficult to improve quality and output without burning the team out. Some clients wanted more direct involvement from Steve, which added pressure on his availability to lead the team.
Steve and team were also feeling underappreciated by clients. What resonated with prospective clients about the team's portfolio ended up confusing them later. To create their signature immersive style, Steve and his team design both interiors and exterior. It was demoralizing when interior designers didn't collaborate and clients were confused about why they were being double-charged for work they thought their interior designer was doing. This was difficult for Steve becuase he is a self-described people pleaser.
Steve summed up his experience this way:
“It’s very hard. It’s very lonely at the top as a business owner when it’s just me… I really needed someone who could help me put some of those pieces together and understand what I’m going through—not just from a tactical standpoint, but emotionally too.”
From our first conversations I saw deep potential in Steve. Clients and team members are drawn to his vision, honesty, heart, and drive. Every strength comes with it's shadow side, and the qualities that make Steve so effective also can push him toward overload.
That passion that Steve has bubbles up. He wants to be at the finish line already. It's one of his superpowers, and also something that, unchecked, can burn him out.
We started with business ownership mentoring & coaching and a business performance evaluation. This gave us a clear picture of how the firm actually made money, where effort was really being spent, the bottlenecks in the team and processes, and how Steve’s personal purpose fit, or didn’t fit, with the way the firm was operating.
We got clear about Steve’s personal noble purpose and the firm’s noble purpose. This involved getting to the bottom of what drives Steve, the impact he wants the firm to have on clients’ lives, and what it means to design “timeless spaces that enable lasting memories” in practice.
This clarity became the north star for difficult decisions: pricing, hiring, client fit, workload, and what Steve says “yes” and “no” to at work and at home.
With purpose clarified, we developed an organizational structure that could sustain growth over time.
Steve appreciated the organizational scaffolding:
“We focused quite a bit on what it looks like to create a team environment that can flourish. Being able to create, organizationally, the structure, the positions, the pay bands, the process—that allowed us to understand who we need to find and what kind of talent we should be looking for.”
This included:
On the financial side, we worked on Steve’s growth mindset around pricing, and then standardizing and operationalizing the pricing strategy.
Steve has seen a difference:
“He’s been able to help me have that growth mindset on, ‘We can charge this amount. Let’s create a schedule on when we’re going to charge this.’ I think that’s been huge. We’ve seen the success of that.”
We aligned fees with value by:
We also addressed the client confusion around interiors by:
As Steve put it:
“Jared is invested in my business like an owner would be. He’s spent a lot of time talking to me, understanding the market, and understanding why we’re doing what we’re doing.”
The goal was not just to clean up processes, but to design a client journey that reflects the firm's noble purpose from first inquiry to move-in.
At the heart of all the strategy and structure is enhancing Steve’s capacity as a leader.
“Jared has created stability for myself… challenging me to be introspective, to create routine, to create a way in which I can show up for my team. Working on being in a better, stronger mental space to show up and do the hard thing of running a business every day.”
We focused on:
Tiek Design Group is now a higher-performing team with room to grow.
Financially and operationally, the firm has:
Client value and perception have shifted as well:
Leadership is energized by the next chapter. The focus now is on:
Steve’s noble purpose and the firm’s noble purpose are not simply an idea. They act as practical compass for: