Deborah Warren
Owner
Deboarah Fitz Interiors
Deborah Warren
Deborah Fitz Interiors
I first met Deborah through a lovely mutual friend back in 2018, when I joined a local networking group that she had set up for small business owners. It is still running to this day and has been a wonderful souce of encouragement and support, particularly during the chaos of the Covid pandemic.
Deborah, thanks so much for agreeing to come on and share your business journey. You’ve been running your interiors business for a long time now and will have a lot of exerpiences and wisdom that will be incredibly beneficial to anyone starting out, or indeed already up and running.
Can you start by sharing with us how exactly you began your career as an interior designer?
So, I literally fell into interior design. My dream had always been to become a fashion designer but after leaving college I was told my personality was too shy to survive the fashion world. I then went to work for Laura Ashley as an intermediate gap and then had an industrial accident where I fell through a trap door!
Whilst off recovering I studied a degree in interior design and then slowly began to take on clients. Twenty-five years later, I am still loving my job and the flexibility of working for myself has allowed me to work around bringing up my children.
Wow! that was a good use of your time and really worked out well for you! I hope the fall wasn’t too damaging?
The accident has left me with ongoing back and neck issues, so working for myself has been useful as I can try and work within my limitations when I have a flare-up.
What keeps you inspired or energised?
The thing that keeps me energised is communicating with like-minded women. I love the energy and support they give and I always feel inspired after we have met. I love a good chat over a coffee and this really helps as working on your own can get lonely and it is great to be able to bounce ideas around.
When women support each other, incredible things happen.
Any particular event or area that you are particularly proud of?
I am most proud of the fact that I am still here doing a job I love and clearly people think I am ok at it to be in business 25 years later.
I really try to listen and design for my client, rather than push my own taste. My aim is with both guidance on the design side and a brilliant team of contractors that we take the stress out of any project whilst creating your dream room/ house. I thrive on having a good team of contractors as this is such an important part of my work and good communication with clients,
It’s been an incredibly hard year for everyone in almost every business! Can you share how you’ve had made changes in how you work and what challenges you’ve faced or what solutions you’ve found?
It was a very scary time and there were times when I thought I may lose everything, but you just have to adapt, stay positive and keep going, making sure I kept my name out there on social media and kept interacting with people.
During lockdown, I offered zoom calls and still offer these to anyone who prefers this way of working. I was doing more design boards rather than face to face meetings, so it was about adapting to keep things moving as I was not eligible for any funding from the government, despite having paid taxes my whole working life.
Luckily many people have been wanting to improve their homes during this period, so I feel I am blessed to be busy now.
If you would like to find out more, visit and follow Deborah on her website and social media
Website:
www.deborahfitzinteriors.co.uk
