Exploring Life & Business with Amy TerMarsch of Amy Elizabeth Designs

Today we’d like to introduce you to Amy TerMarsch.  

Hi Amy, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
Being an interior designer is my second career, yet I knew I was supposed to do this from the time I was a young girl. I would move furniture around my room and hang art and space plan my tiny room growing up. I loved design. My dad owned his own business and always told me I was good with numbers and needed to go into business instead of art because he said art would not make money.

I graduated from high school and went to college for business. After going to college, a couple of years, I landed a job working in a kitchen and bath company as an office manager and bookkeeper.I stopped going to college because, honestly, I loved my job and they paid me well. I remember thinking, this is the best of both worlds, I am using the business end of what I learned in college up until that point, plus I was getting to work in an industry I dreamt of being in. Fast forward a few years, I got married and had kids. I stayed home with them until they all began school. We had 3 kids in 3.5 years, so them starting school came fast. With that, I wanted to go back to work, but the thought of going back to an office as a bookkeeper or manager. I knew I wanted more. With that in mind, I went back to college to finish my degree, but this time it wasn’t going to be business. I went back to school for Interior Design. I stayed home all day with my kids, my husband would come home from work, and I would leave for school. I would come home from class and would do homework until 1 or 2 am in the morning and get up at 6 am with my early riser kids and do it all over again! 

The same month I graduated, a friend on Facebook saw I had my degree in design and reached out to me saying their friend was building a house and needed an interior designer. I quickly said, no I don’t want to own my own business since I saw my dad, aunt, uncle, and husband all own companies and knew it was hard. I really had no interest in starting my own business. I wanted to just work for someone else. After much pleading from this friend, I finally said ok I’ll do just this one house, but then I am going to work for someone else. This couple’s builder began to send me more leads to which I kept saying; I really don’t want to own my own business but clearly that didn’t work.

11 years later, here I am, running an amazing interior design firm. I am humbled by how much I have been trusted with. My company started out slow and small. My processes were almost nonexistent because nobody really teaches you how to run your own business when you go to college for design. I used what I had learned from being raised by a business owner, but it was a tool and dye shop and not design. Very different worlds. 

Around year 5 of my business, I had a disgruntled client threaten to sue me over a fixable solution. I was terrified. I wanted to shut down my business and quit. I told my husband that I had never really wanted to run my own business anyways. He refused to let me quit. He kept saying quitting wasn’t in me, so I pressed on. At that same time, I was told about this national interior design conference that had speakers talking about how to run a business; my husband encouraged me to go because he thought it would be a great idea if I went to be encouraged by other designs to not quit. He was right! At that event, I sat and listened to many speakers talk on processes, contracts, and all the back-end parts of running a design business. It was incredible. It revolutionized the way I did business. I am so thankful for that disgruntled employee now. She made me realize how much processes in business were vital to run a profitable company. Because of that scare, I have this amazing company that has solid processes for every part of the business. 

Two years ago, I moved my company out of my home office into a 2300 square foot office space. We have two employees and a full book of clients. It’s been an amazing journey! I love to look back and see how every part of my story was woven together perfectly and prepared me for each new season! 

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back, would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Definitely not a smooth road. Running your own business is hard. It’s uphill most of the time. It’s filled with uncertainties, difficult decisions, and much risk-taking. It’s unpredictable even when you are trying your best to plan things out. 

My biggest struggle was learning to be charge my worth. There’s that quote that says something like this “You aren’t paying me for the work I did in an hour; you’re paying for me for the last 10 years I learned so I could do that job in an hour” (or something like that). 

The jist of it was this, I finally (after years of struggling, wondering if I had the right to charge correctly for my services) I gave myself permission to stand in my own space, not compare myself to other designers, not keep striving to make sure my work was good enough but rather just accept I was good enough to charge for all these years of blood, sweat, and tears. I was worth it because I had invested endless nights staying up until all hours working on projects and processes and paperwork to build this business from scratch. I have learned to just stand in this space and own it. I own the struggles and the victories and now own my worth as a CEO, principal designer, and female-run business owner.

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your business?
I founded Amy Elizabeth Designs in 2012. I run a full-service design studio creating up-scale spaces. My collaborative approach brings together leading trades with exceptional design to craft timeless spaces. With every project, my team and I get to know a client’s personality, wants, and needs to ensure that every space reflects who our clients are. My team and I have an eye for luxury and functional design which has made my firm a trusted design voice for residential and commercial clients across the Midwest and throughout the country. 

When working with my team and I, clients will never have to wonder what happens next. Our streamlined design process will keep clients updated at all times and helps them feel confident that their investment is being properly managed and allocated. 

My firm is an award-winning studio, recently recognized by the Detroit Design Awards. I have been featured in Better Homes and Gardens, Furniture Lighting and Décor, Hour Detroit, and Detroit Home. I am also a national speaker and business coach sharing what I have learned along the way with others to help their businesses grow now, too. 

What quality or characteristic do you feel is most important to your success?
Relationships, communication, and process are the backbone of our brand. I love people and connecting with clients. Trust is everything when it comes to working with people. If you think of it, I am in one of their most personal spaces, their homes. Clients need to feel like I hear them, I am an advocate for them, and can help solve any design problem they have. We work with some of the best contractors in Michigan, and I love to bring them to the table and connecting them with homeowners and businesses, too, so we can create amazing spaces. 

Relationships and trust are built through consistent communication. There isn’t a problem we can’t solve when we are open and honest enough to talk all things out, and when you are in a home for 6+ months, sometimes there are definitely situations that come up, so building that relationship and trust at the beginning is vital to the success of the project! 

Contact Info:

• Website: www.amyelizabethdesigns.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/amy_elizabeth_designs/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/amyedesigns
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/amy-termarsch-33040a86/
• Other: Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/termarsch/

Image Credits
Joe Tiano
Shawn Hamer
Clas Act
Fox Painting
Ultra Floors
A.M. Tile & Marble
LAElectric