Moving a service based business with Blue Bee Designs founder and mil spouse Brittany

[00:00:00] Alison: Today on the show, we're talking to Brittany and Brittany is, I say, a late in life mill spouse. And what I mean by that is that Brittany had a career and a home and everything in Jacksonville, where you were stationed previously. And then she married into the military and just completed, not just, a little while ago, earlier in the spring, completed your first PCS.

[00:00:24] Alison: And of course, in true military fashion, from Florida to Washington State. Right? Like, you gotta get, you gotta get that real experience. We're not just gonna , send you a state away. No, no. We're going to take you almost as far geographically in the United States as you possibly can go. So Brittany is going to tell us how that went.

[00:00:43] Alison: How did it go? What did you think? I hope that it went well, but you know, it usually there's some hiccups in there, which is just kind of par for the course. We've, you know, all heard the horror story. So I'm excited. We're going to chat about that and then we're going to talk about your business because you have an interior design business that you had established in Jacksonville and we'll kind of, we'll go into this a little bit, but I feel like in a business like that or in a service based business, you really dive in, have to entrench yourself in that community and to, you know, to, to really build a strong business.

[00:01:16] Alison: And so then to have to move that, Is really hard when you've got that customer based business. That's that's a really tough one. So we're gonna get into the ins and outs of what that was like for you and how it's going for you now. So welcome to the show, Brittany. It's so great to have you here.

[00:01:31] Britany: Thanks so much, Alison.

[00:01:32] Britany: I'm excited. I feel like everyone's got assumptions and opinions on military nukes and reestablishing and everybody's stories different. So 

[00:01:41] Yeah, of course, of course. Sure. It is. That's that's very, very true. Okay. So then let's just dive right in so your military life has kind of been short so far you're kind of new to the military lifestyle so what has that what did, what does that look like for you so far like how how long were you guys together before you had to leave jacksonville and what has it been as you've kind of come into the military lifestyle what does that been like for you

[00:02:07] Britany: so we met, , in 2019 and got married in the middle of a pandemic and you know, we really didn't have that, that community, that military community during 2020.

[00:02:23] Britany: Thankfully, we were in Florida, so we had a lot more freedom than some other people did. But that community was, was not really there until like our last year and a half in JAX. And my husband's been in when we met just shy, you know, half of his career as a, as a goal for 20. And he, he was really, you know, in a great position.

[00:02:50] Britany: He had an instructor. Role. He had kind of back to back shore duties. You know, I thought, Oh, what does everybody complain about? This is great. We have weekends together. And you know, as time went on and he switched squadrons, he had more TD wise and things like that. But again, short trips, not a six month deployment.

[00:03:11] Britany: So last fall was actually our first full six month deployment. In the middle of that packing up our house. I moved home with my parents and my sister and where my family is in Melbourne, and he headed off on deployment. The Navy came and packed up our house. Everything went into non temporary storage.

[00:03:34] Britany: Which just kind of incites fear because you hear about the mold and the damage and all of this. Honestly for our first PCS, we were blessed with great movers on both ends. You know, very minimal, minimal issues. So I feel like for the first move, the biggest move geographically in the U S we could have had, we really were very blessed.

[00:03:58] Britany: Does it make the transition 

[00:03:59] Alison: easier? No. Yeah, for sure. You know, I 

[00:04:04] Britany: arrived out here in Washington before my husband got back from deployment. Did the whole set up the house you know, get everything kind of back to normal. And then he just gets to Walt's home. 

[00:04:18] Alison: Isn't that fun? Yeah. We're not doing that again.

[00:04:22] Alison: We're doing that again. I feel ya. 

[00:04:24] Alison: I've done that before a couple of times actually. Yeah, I feel, yeah. Goodness, me. I feel like he's hardly ever here when the household goods, I feel like, I feel like I was always ended up doing that by myself. Does that work

[00:04:37] Britany: Yeah. I'm sure that's part of the plan.

[00:04:39] Britany: Right. I 

[00:04:40] Alison: know. Exactly. Isn't that convenient? I don't know. 

[00:04:46] Britany: Yeah. So yeah, so having a business in Jackson, and I've lived in Jacksonville for 12 years. So very much. A long time before we even met. So that was home to me. I was established. I had a community. I had friends. When I started my business, my you know, people in my network were the first ones to hire me.

[00:05:08] Britany: So really, I didn't have to, I hate to say it, I didn't have to network myself to death in Jacksonville. And then I use that time when he was on deployment, knowing that we were coming here to Washington, I really use that time to kind of jump into networking groups Facebook community groups that are out here that are what I like to call, you know, we, we'd have the same ideal client basically, but we don't cross, you know, nobody's stealing clients.

[00:05:40] Britany: So say, you know, I paired up with a couple of male spouse realtors. Travel agents, people who have the same clientele that I do I just started networking like four months before we got here, started my SEO you know, bumped, we bumped it to Washington three months prior I have a great male spouse who does all my SEO and my website stuff.

[00:06:06] Britany: She's fantastic. So just yeah, just tried to get ahead of the ball as much as we could knowing that we were here for a limited, hopefully limited time. 

[00:06:16] Alison: Yeah. So let's back up for just a second, because I'm curious to hear. To hear how that six month deployment was for you. What, what was your experience like? You just, you just went right into the fire, which a lot of us do, you know, I did the same thing. When my husband left on deployment before I graduated from college. So I moved from South Carolina where I went to college to San Diego by myself. He wasn't there. I lived in a hotel for a week, found the apartment, received the household goods, set it all up. And then like, you know, four months later he comes home from deployment. Right. So I've been there. I think, I think a lot of us have, so. Yeah, that whole. That whole child by fire but you know that's just par for the course for us right but on top of being your first deployment that's a lot right and i love that you went to your family and melbourne because when you know we were stationed in canaveral we actually lived in melbourne so i know. It is.

[00:07:10] Britany: It was, yeah, it was, honestly, it was just a total God thing that it worked out for me to be in Melbourne during deployment. I would have been fine in Jacksonville either way. We decided I was not moving to Washington in November when it's like the dead of winter, nobody does.

[00:07:30] Britany: anything social. So I had been told by friends who have been out here, just wait, just wait till the spring, maybe in the spring. So that was kind of an easy decision for us, but yeah, having my family, my friends, I grew up in Melbourne. I still have really good friends that live there. You know, just getting to do all of the holidays with family.

[00:07:51] Britany: It really helped kind of to pass the time quickly over deployment. And You know, like every couple we have, you know, great times on deployment. And then we have times where it's like miscommunicating left and right. So, you know, but I think overall I think deployment wasn't terrible. I did not go visit.

[00:08:14] Britany: He was, he was in Iceland and I've been like, no fool goes to Iceland in the middle of winter. 

[00:08:21] Alison: Oh, it'll be so hard. I really want to go there so bad, but you're right. I don't know if that's the right time to go right

[00:08:28] Alison: Yeah. I'm a Floridian. I have 

[00:08:31] Britany: new clothing for that.

[00:08:32] Britany: I have no desire for that. I said, love, yes. See you in six 

[00:08:36] Alison: months. 

[00:08:37] Yeah. Yeah. I think. I think that that's huge. And I think that that was really smart, um, on your part, because I feel like a lot of military spouses. Going through deployment when you're not geographically close to your family is really tough. And so if you are at a duty station, , Where you don't have that community and you, you don't have that structure for yourself, your friends and everything. It's so hard. And having the opportunity to be in a community that you already have friends and you're able to be with your family there for the holidays. I think that. Honestly probably set you up as best as you possibly could to get through a deployment right and and it doesn't always work out that way but what a blessing when it does right and especially for your first one you know yeah okay so so then i'm curious so he was coming home from deployment and then immediately getting transferred to washington

[00:09:31] Britany: He actually, he met his new squadron, his Washington squadron out on deployment. So he packed in like on deployment basically. 

[00:09:42] Oh, wow. I've never heard of that before. That's okay. So that's new. All right. so then then he

[00:09:50] Britany: So he He flew in on the plane to Washington, to the base here, and I picked him up from the base.

[00:09:55] Britany: That was where we first saw each 

[00:09:56] Alison: Oh, wow. So he left on deployment from Jacksonville and then came home from the deployment in Washington, like changing duty stations in the middle. Holy Crow. Holy Crow. Okay. Well, that's fine. You guys really didn't do anything easy the first time. Okay. I mean, obviously you don't have a choice, right? , . So then talking about your move, I'm really happy that you're , Stuff that went into long-term storage . That it was good for you, right? The movers were good for you arriving and getting everything set up and everything went pretty smoothly for you. And that is amazing. And yet, you know, there's, there's all the horror stories because that's what people talk about. 

[00:10:36] Alison: Right. But there's a lot of moves. Like we've moved eight times in total. And I would say probably three quarters of our moves were fine. Right. Like there's a little bit here or there. That was, you know, kind of annoying, but for the most part. Okay. Right. We had a couple that. We're like holy grow. This is a nightmare, but I know, I mean, I think the more you do move, it's just inevitably going to happen. And so I'm really glad that your first experience was a good one. So. Okay. So then you get to, and I really think that this is good, especially for like newer military spouses to think through, because I don't know that a lot of people would think about, okay, this is what's happening. We're moving from Florida, we're going to Washington and you're going to be deployed. 

[00:11:20] Alison: And so all of the logistics of arranging all of that stuff, that's a lot. Right. And then, you know, do you stay, where do you go? Would you, you know, where's he going to be coming home? Like. Yeah. How does all the timing, how does all that stuff work? And I think. Really thinking about where you're going and the situation that you're going into and saying like, okay, Hey, so you know, is November. If I have a choice, right? Cause you don't always have a choice, but so November moving to Washington state in November, not the time. Right. Not a good time, but if, and why she didn't say. You know, if you've not been stationed there before, um, we were stationed there. Private prior to our duty station here in Denver for three years, it is gorgeous. It's called the evergreen state. It is absolutely beautiful, but it rains there a lot, which is why it's the evergreen state. Right? So it does rain a lot. And, but I'm telling you, you can not beat the summers and the Pacific Northwest. 

[00:12:20] Alison: It is absolutely gorgeous. There's no humidity. The sun is shining. The mountains are glorious. Like it is just on real. But you still get that rainy season. So avoiding being in and especially coming from, you know, from sunny Florida, because actually we did the same thing. We went from Cape Canaveral to banger Washington, and it was in the summertime, which I think was really good because leaving the, the blast furnace that is Florida to go to the beautiful, no humidity of a Washington state, I think is, you know, that's a hard transition to do. 

[00:12:54] Alison: So kind of easing yourself into a slow slide, right? Because coming from Florida, you know, again where it's sunny and hot all the time, you need to kind of. You need to kind of ease yourself into that, right. Okay. Alright. Awesome. So I love that. . So talking about your business, , 

[00:13:10] Alison: Which we kind of talked about just a little bit already. So you're in Florida and you were very fortunate that you just, you knew you tapped into the community that you had and your business was just kind of organically growing and now we're moving to another state. Right? So how can I, and you, you mentioned that you, you changed your SEO and SEO is search engine optimization. 

[00:13:32] Alison: If you don't know what that is, it's just making yourself. It's like keywords that you can put in and to content that you put online so that when people type in searches in Google, it will find your stuff, but also, you know, changing, geo tags. And so, you know that now your stuff is being shown that it's in, you know, where you're moving to as opposed to where you are, is another thing. 

[00:13:52] Alison: So then you were saying you're, you're networking into groups as well. And I think that all of those are really great tips for our military. , you know, other military spouses. That are in the same situation where they're moving a service-based business so if you can tell us a little bit you said you mentioned that you had a mil spouse that does all of your website and seo stuff for you

[00:14:15] Britany: Yes. I do. Okay. 

[00:14:17] And how did you get connected

[00:14:19] Through, I think it was the Creative Entrepreneurs Group that Moni Jefferson runs through AMC, the Association for Creative 

[00:14:28] Alison: Entrepreneurs. Okay. . 

[00:14:31] Britany: Good. Great. Great friendships. Great connections. Great business referrals. Yeah, it's just, it's a unique community, but yeah, definitely.

[00:14:41] Britany: You know, I'm a planner, so by nature I looked ahead to see, you know, we're here for a limited time. I don't have six months to a year to establish myself. I pretty much need to hit the ground running. So that was, that was the driving factor behind all of those decisions.

[00:15:01] Alison: So when you were in florida you had a work kind of a work from home situation so w what, what did that look like so if someone hires an interior designer like what what does that whole relationship look like i i've never worked with an interior designer before so i don't even know like what what does that business look like

[00:15:21] Britany: So so where I work from, you know, and honestly, thankfully after the pandemic, people were very used to remote working to zoom meeting. So that kind of set me up for success because I started my business in October of 2020. So, so that kind of was already a component that people were used to but really working with an interior designer includes, you know, I mean, you're letting somebody into your space, you're letting them see how you live and, and it has to be honest because I have to be able to design a space that is functional, that is thoughtful for the way that each client and their family lives but also it's, You know, beautiful, a space that, you know, brings you joy when you come into it.

[00:16:07] Britany: So in Florida, you know, I have clients in Orlando, Pensacola, Tampa you know, and I know that certain parts, certain phases during each client project can be done virtually. Other phases need to be done in person. So, so my job already entailed a little bit of hybrid services. And then I started branching out and actually working with clients in South Carolina and Texas and Colorado and Missouri, and it was just kind of a word of mouth, like through Facebook group referrals and again, military spouse, entrepreneur groups but I, I started to develop a.

[00:16:54] Britany: A virtual process so that I could work with somebody completely virtual. And my, my drive for that was knowing that no matter where the Navy sends us, I have the ability to either travel and work hybridly or take on clients completely virtual. No, it, it takes a special client to be able to honestly follow the instructions and the, the very minute requests.

[00:17:24] Britany: You know, and it limits the type of projects that we can do having virtual, but it also keeps it in a different budget. I would never take on a new build or a full renovation client. Completely virtually, obviously, we would have to say, okay, well, we need to structure in, you know, a scheduled site visits throughout the process.

[00:17:45] Britany: But yeah, so so being able to create that virtual. You know, workflow for the client and for myself and I try to have as many human touch points as possible. I never just email over a concept or email a design delivery. We hop on a call, I walk them through it, they get a box of wallpaper samples and fabric samples, and they get things they can touch and feel.

[00:18:10] Britany: So really you know, nailing that virtual process was going to be key for my success for the remainder of my husband's 

[00:18:18] Alison: career. 

[00:18:19] Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. That's smart. That's, that's really smart to do. So then, so then like the, the nuts and bolts, like what does that look like for you? So like, um, like what kind of platforms are you spending time on? Are you. Trying to drive traffic to a website are you really on social media you know like w what are the what kind of are the ins and outs and the nuts and bolts of that

[00:18:42] Britany: Yeah. So first and foremost, we all get way too many messages in way too many spots, way too many apps. So my first thing is to funnel people to my contact form on my website that auto populates into my client portal system, which I use Honeybook.

[00:19:00] Britany: I use it for invoicing, file management, client communication. It's my one stop shop. So really streamlining, you know, and you have to be the director. Of all of the pieces, because otherwise clients get confused. They ask questions. So, so if I don't come out the gate as the one in control, basically and I mean that in a very nice way, but you sure direct that they're, they're kind of all over the place.

[00:19:26] Britany: Social media is huge for me. I'm in a lot of different Facebook groups for, you know, people who like different design styles and a lot of it is like crowdsourcing design. So I don't. Really tend to do much with that, but when somebody chimes in, Hey, I'm looking for a designer. I don't mind working with them virtually.

[00:19:49] Britany: You know, I threw my name in the hat at that point. I've gotten actually quite a few jobs that way. And then this past year, so I've been in business. It'll be three years this October. 2023, I've been so blessed about 90 percent of my business has been word of mouth referrals or repeat clients.

[00:20:08] Alison: That's amazing. So 

[00:20:10] Britany: that, that right there, you can't, you know, and that goes back to creating an experience for your clients that, that is worthy of referring you know, so 

[00:20:22] Alison: yeah.

[00:20:22] Alison: Yeah. Yeah. Okay. So, so it sounds like you're kind of, cause you know, you're on Instagram because that's where I connected with you. So you're on Instagram, you've got Facebook, but I think that that's really smart. So if people reach out to you in either of those places, the first thing that you do is direct them to your website and they can get onto that form. 

[00:20:41] Alison: And the app puts it into our, uh, Puts it into HoneyBook and you know, again, and, and you. If you're building a business because I like to get into, you know, all these little ins and outs, because I think. And I've talked about since I started this show that career continuity for military spouses is really challenging. And I think that there are just, you know, endless iterations of, you know, I'm gonna do this, I'm gonna try this. We're going to try this. We're going to do this. And, and pivot, pivot, pivot, pivot, pivot. 

[00:21:10] Alison: And so I think if you, you know, if you're in a similar situation, you have a home-based business. This is what I do. I think that hearing those things of why this is what I tried, this is what's worked. This is the app that I use. This is the program that I use, the software that. He used. I think that those little things are really helpful for a lot of other people. You have all those social media channels, you know, I'm on Facebook, I'm on Instagram. I'm. You know i'm spending time on all these different places but if someone connects with me and is interested in anything that i do they immediately get sent to that client forum which you know kind of keeps everybody nice and neat and i just i think that that's really smart to kind of just streamline that part of the business so then are you guys only in in washington is this just a short tour you're you're not there for four years what's the

[00:21:54] Alison: Well, 

[00:21:55] Britany: it, I mean, I guess it's a full tour, but when I stayed in Florida for the first six months of it, that really kind of cut into, you know, the available time here granted, you know, for my mental health, for the wellbeing of our family, that was what was important you know, and, and on the end tail of it, you know, You know, if we get sent back to the East coast and it's, it's possible, I will go ahead and probably move early because that's where my support system is.

[00:22:26] Britany: That's where all of my clients are. So at that point we just, you know, you know how we are. We, we. Have plans A through Z and then we gotta come up with another one. 

[00:22:39] Alison: Uh, you sit back and wait for them to tell us where we're going, what's happening. And then you go and change your plan. 500 more times. I know. Oh, my gosh. That's we were talking about this before we hit record. Like we're waiting for the slate to drop like any day and find out where we're going. Like, you know, we don't know where we're going next summer. Are we going, are we staying? Where are we going? You know, like, And it's just that weird. Limbo phase that I freaking hate. Cause there's like, You know, should I be looking at houses in Washington? Should I be looking at houses in Virginia? Are we saying here? Oh my. You know, it's like, and it's. What's panicking me on and I'm trying not to. And I, you know, I think that this is good information for other male spouses, too. And then I, you know, I think that in the phase that we're in, it's like, you know, 

[00:23:30] Alison: in the community that we're in, it's pretty small. So you really have a pretty good idea of an and then again, the, you know, the more senior you get, the more limited your choices are. So we really have one of three places that we're going to go. So it's like, you know, Do you start researching, right. , like where, where do we want to live? Like if you've got kids, what do the schools look like and all of that stuff. And, but you've gotta be really careful with where that light is. Right? Because you can get super. You know into the weeds in that mode it's like you're you know i'm looking at zillow but like in nine months when we're going to be moving into a house those houses aren't going to be available so what's the point really it's so hard though

[00:24:10] Britany: And to that effect in my line of work, you know, we didn't find out until the end of January and we didn't sign a contract for a rental until March, but like having that house. Like, I had photos from the owner, I had the layout, girl, when I moved in, I knew exactly where all of my furniture was going, where my art was going, you know?

[00:24:35] Alison: That's how we do it! Yes, I know, yes.

[00:24:39] Britany: You know, and I will say like I'm a control freak to, to a certain degree for some of us, that amount of control gives us a little bit of sanity because there's so much that we don't have control over that. If I at least know what the walls and the layout of the house look like.

[00:24:56] Britany: It gives me a, you know, it knocks me down a level. I 

[00:25:00] Alison: agree. I, 

[00:25:01] uh, and I do the same thing. So. Okay. So again, 

[00:25:06] so we've PCs eight times and I'm like a ninja when we get into a new place, like I know where this is going and where this and the house is going to go. And like, there are no boxes. The pictures are on the walls. The curtains are hung and everything is a way within like three to four days. Like I don't mess around. 

[00:25:23] Right. And cause, um, I'm going to say, and I think, I think that that's really insightful. I think that it's the control part of it, right? Like there's so. So much that we have zero control over. And that's one thing that I can't control. Right. Is. The speed of which my house is put together. And, and I'm, I'm with you, you know, I'm looking at the photos, like the, you know, the house that we moved into, the house that, we had a Washington state, we rented it. Sight unseen. Right? Which so many people do, but I was okay with it. Cause it was a newer house. It was like, okay. Yeah, I feel like we're, I get, at least walk into is a disaster because that has happened. We. We're not. Oh my gosh. So, uh, we were moving. From Florida back to San Diego. And this was before we had kids. And for some reason I couldn't go on house hunting. I don't know why I couldn't go. But, um, so Michael went by himself to San Diego to look at the house and he's like, yeah, it's fine. I didn't see it. I had only seen the pictures. And then we pull up to the house and I was like, oh, Have you done? You're never allowed to do that again. Eddie's and ed, it was like, I just got like dropped off there. He was leaving on deployment, like, oh, like three or four days later. So I was like, oh my gosh, this is awful. You're never allowed to pick, I pick a house again. Anyway. So that house that we had in Washington, that we had sight unseen. I was looking at those photos. I was like, we had a floor plan. And so, you know, this is where the couch is going to go. And this is where this is going to go. Like, I'm, I'm right there with you. I had it planned out. So then, you know, when you get there, you're like, okay, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom. 

[00:26:57] Like, this is where that's gonna go. And, and. How other people do it, but like, like my office area, it's the same. It's the same stuff is on the shelves. It's in the same order. It looks exactly the same. It's just a different house, right? Like, it's just, it's the same as it was in Washington. It's just in Colorado now, but everything still looks the same. 

[00:27:15] So. You know, as I'm putting stuff where everything just goes back into the spot where it was in the other house. And so, you know, Anyways. Okay. So then with the, with the business, Uh and for you are you still mainly working with east coast clients

[00:27:31] Alison: You 

[00:27:31] Britany: know, it's crazy. We got here and I will say for the sanity of business owners and a mill spouse and a move, no matter if you're moving up the, up the street or across the country. Take time off of work. Take one thing off your plate.

[00:27:47] Britany: Because if there's one thing that is great about being a business owner in the military, is that you, you can hit pause on your business. I'm a huge proponent of mental health and managing expectations and lessening anxiety when you can. And so I started putting out on social media in, I think, probably two months prior.

[00:28:13] Britany: Hey, we will be closed. I will not be answering emails. I will not be starting new projects. I will not be working on your project. For these dates. You know, so carve out that like that holy space for yourself, really. So with that, I took off the entire month of April. I met my husband here in Washington.

[00:28:35] Britany: We didn't have a car here. We had one delivered. But then we hopped on a plane and flew back to Florida to pick up our dog from my parents house and drive all the way across the country together. Okay. So, so there's your like. You know, happy vacation. 

[00:28:53] Alison: Yeah. Welcome to reintegration. Let's road trip across the country together with our dogs.

[00:28:57] Alison: Yes. 

[00:29:00] Britany: This sounds fantastic, but it was, it was great. It really was, but you know, but again, take that pressure off. I didn't work any of that time. And so when we finally got back to Washington, I felt like, okay, now I can kind of hit the ground running. And as far as growing my business. really, I started marketing myself here, SEO and whatnot was, you know, just kind of hit or miss.

[00:29:26] Britany: I got my first inquiry. About a month ago from somebody local and she had just Googled interior designers in Anacortes, Washington. And I can happily say I'm the only one here. 

[00:29:42] Alison: There you go. There's a market. Yeah. I love it. 

[00:29:45] Britany: And I will say, you know, you know, living here, people want to be outside. They want to spend their money on camping equipment and RVs and boats and their interiors have really kind of fall into the wayside.

[00:29:58] Britany: However, talking to a few people who've lived here for a long time, it looks as though the pandemic caused people to kind of, again, as we did with lots of people, look, look around your surroundings. Do you like where you live? Could things be better? There is a slow notch. I've connected with a designer down in Snohomish.

[00:30:21] Britany: So about an hour South of here. And she kind of gave me that, that little insight, but. Yeah. So I went from that to now having three local clients within a month while still simultaneously wrapping up projects and starting new projects in Tampa, in Orlando, in Pensacola 

[00:30:42] Alison: You know, so 

[00:30:44] Britany: managing it all.

[00:30:45] Britany: I know that in January I will fly to Florida, I will go in and have, you know, meetings on site meetings with those existing clients. And then I will be back in April to do professional photography as those projects have finished. You know, so it just, it takes a little bit of planning. And I know that when my husband's deployed, I have more flexibility so I can travel, I can.

[00:31:12] Britany: Spend long periods of time. You know, if I were to get a new build client in Florida, I could start off and get all of those, those big beginning milestones done in person. Yeah. So yeah, that's, that's just kind of how we, you know, we tentatively plan and then 

[00:31:28] Alison: we just see how it happens. Right. Yeah. 

[00:31:31] So the job that he's got there in washington it will be more deployments

[00:31:37] Alison: Yes. Yeah. Yeah. 

[00:31:38] Okay. So then it sounds like, are you guys like, like in your mind, are you. Thinking keeping your business, like really in that Southeast kind of area. Anticipating going back there

[00:31:51] Britany: So he's he's in Naval Aviation. He's on the P 8 so P 8s are only Washington and Jacksonville So we do know as far as that goes That we're pretty limited You know, there's always the option of D.

[00:32:06] Britany: C. as you guys know as well. But, but yeah, I think knowing to our retirement plan, you know, in eight years, we want to end up in the Carolinas. And so being able to keep, you know, kind of the word of mouth, what's drivable if we live back in that area you know, having that kind of end goal and knowing that I'll be able to put down roots.

[00:32:30] Britany: Yeah. Maybe have a storefront. Yeah. Yeah. So, so that's, that's the goal would be to kind of keep everything in the southeast. 

[00:32:41] So what would you say your biggest challenge has been through for your business like what well actually let's do both so what has been the biggest challenge for you like like from the job like hey we found out we're moving through now what has been the hardest part for you

[00:33:01] Britany: For the business, I think it was just. Kind of the, you know, it's the fear of the unknown. Am I going to continue to have clients if I am not physically present in Florida out of sight, out of mind, you know, that was a big fear of mine coming out here, knowing that interior design.

[00:33:22] Britany: Isn't really. Something that people care about out here, you know, it's a very regional thing, you know, in the south, we host, we decorate, we spend a lot of time in our homes because the outdoors is miserable you know, it's a very different mentality. So I think, you know, will my, will my design transfer.

[00:33:42] Britany: Well, my style transfer out here. Does it translate? It does translate you know, I can design in any vein, but I think just the, the unknown, you know, will anybody out there hire me for the year and a half to three years that we're here? Yeah, you know, 

[00:33:59] Alison: Yeah, there you go. I agree. I think that that's probably for correct for most of us is that, you know, what's going to happen, you know, are your, are your kids going to be in a good school? If you've got kids, are you. Going to like the neighbors where you're living or are you going to, you know, if you're switching careers or are you gonna be able to find a job if , 

[00:34:19] Alison: If you're looking for something else, if you, you know, if you weren't able to transfer from where you were, I think. A lot of that is, is not knowing what's going to happen. You know, what's it going to be like, and, and I feel like that's the biggest driver of stress for most of us is just, you know, is the unknown. And that's like a whole. All lifestyle. It's just uncertainty all the time, you know? And. I really loved that you prioritize taking time off and really made those very clear boundaries of, you know, Hey, I've got a move coming up and my husband's coming home from deployment and, just taking time. For that, for that period of time and giving yourself, you know, that the time to set up your new house and to, you know, kind of get your bearings and have that reintegration period with your spouse, which is sometimes challenging. And you know, all of those things can be hard if you're also still trying to work and do all of the other things in that same time. , 

[00:35:19] Alison: What are some things that were helpful to you in that vein of just you know adjusting to living there like what are some of the self-care things that have been helpful for you

[00:35:27] I think the biggest. The biggest things have to be give yourself grace. I have never moved. I've never done any move that big. I really struggled, honestly, the first probably two to three months of finding even my groove back here.

[00:35:44] Britany: What is my routine look like? My husband's days are a lot longer on this tour because of his position at work. So I have 13 hours a day. By myself to fill. Now I'm a workaholic. I could work from sunup till sundown. But those first couple months, I just found myself kind of lost, even in my own routine. So I say first, give yourself grace.

[00:36:09] Britany: You know, it's okay to wander around the house. And not feel motivated to work, you just went through a huge life change you know, and then, and then get yourself into a routine for me, my routine out here looks different because I work with East Coast clients. I try to be at my computer the beginning of the day because I am three hours behind but then also, like I said, getting outside.

[00:36:35] Britany: I would go to the gym and jacks, but I could do that anytime here. I try to get out for a walk in the morning, get the blood flowing, get motivated, get some steps in before I sit at a desk for many hours. You know, and I, I've found a little, there's a local boutique that's owned by a male spouse and pretty much all male spouses work there.

[00:36:58] Britany: So I just will wander in there. Yesterday I wandered in and. Joined like a girl's golf group you know, so you just have to kind of like plug in you know, we're, we're big on plugging in to the community where we being a small business owner, I tend to seek out the small businesses in town.

[00:37:20] Britany: I want to get to know the owners. I want to get a pulse on the town. Those people get you, you know, and those people. We'll be there to help you. And you know, it's a cross promotional thing. It's a sanity keeper. So yeah, give yourself grace and then create a routine. And it's okay if your routine looks different than, than it used to.

[00:37:45] Britany: You know, I, I used to go to target like every day because we had one at the exit of our neighborhood. Right. Right. That was my, like, go to the gym, go to target, then go home and do some work. We live 45 minutes from a target and it's not even a good one. Okay. So my routine here looks extremely different, but knowing that my husband, you know, may not get home till seven o'clock, seven 30, I'm okay with starting my day a little bit later or shifting things around.

[00:38:17] Britany: So just be flexible in your own mind.

[00:38:20] Yeah, I love that. And I think that you giving yourself grace too, when you get to a new spot, like. You know, Getting your home, you know, set up and then sometimes you, sometimes you just don't want to, you just, you, you just want to there's. There's so much to do. And, you know, it's like, oh, I should probably go and network. I should probably go. You see if I can find a group or something, but I also kind of really just want to sit on the couch in my pajamas and watch HGTV. You know, you have to give yourself space for those things. And I think that we're really bad about doing that because, you know, we, he got to go, go, go and yeah, I have crazy expectations. Of what my house should look like and how fast it should be done. And you know what I mean? And honestly, You know, My being set up. As quickly as it is. That's also a sanity thing for me too, because it's like, you know, then I know where everything is and I can, you know, and then, and then everybody can feel like, okay, we're here. Our stuff's here. Like. The dogs are okay. Yeah, This is our couch this is where we're going to be now like poor is she's she's 12 and this way she's done five pcss so she's a true military dog penny she's only done one and she's a hot freaking mess holy cow so it's going to be interesting where we go again but so how did how did your dog do with moving

[00:39:44] Britany: She got put on Prozac after being here for two months. 

[00:39:48] Alison: Oh, sweet. Oh, that was a little bit of a rough adjustment. Right? Oh, what kind of dog is she? She's 

[00:39:55] Britany: a Yellow Lab. Oh, nice. So, yeah, she was just super stressed.

[00:40:00] Britany: She was getting sick. She was losing her hair. And I just took was like, Hey, like, we just drove cross country. She's lived in the same... You know, not the same place, but you know, like apartments in town, this was a huge change for her. And he was like, yeah, here's some Prozac. Let's do that for a few months.

[00:40:18] Alison: Oh sweet thing is she doing better

[00:40:22] Alison: She is. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. 

[00:40:24] Britany: Give yourself grace. Look at how it affects your animals. I know you're going to 

[00:40:28] Alison: be a little, right. 

[00:40:31] Alison: Oh my gosh, a hundred percent. Okay. So you kind of mentioned it a little bit already, but what are the things that you've done to, cause you said that plugging into communities is really important for you. So one of the things that you said is that you like to go to small businesses and get to know those people. 

[00:40:50] Alison: Is there anything else that you have found helpful when you're trying to build that community? Cause. That's you know that's another thing that a lot of military spouses struggle with when they move to a new area is finding that community

[00:41:02] Britany: I will say it took me probably the full five months that we were here. I've made. I've made four friends in the last week, you know, it takes time. I join the like women in business would be chapter go to their networking events. They only do one a month. But you know, it's, it's an event, put yourself out there.

[00:41:25] Britany: I always like to connect with male spouse realtors. I find that they understand the challenges of finding new clients. They're also really, really good at, depending how long they've been at your current base, they're really good at knowing the ins and outs of the community. And they're a very network based profession as well.

[00:41:47] Britany: So that cross. You know, cross networking usually happens really easily. , I posted in our, like. Spouses group here on the Facebook page, you know, hey, I'm looking for friends who play mahjong and bunko and who want to have dinner parties Who wants to be my friend? I would have never done those things in florida.

[00:42:07] Britany: I didn't have to you know Necessity for the whole blim where you're planted And you know, you just have to put yourself out there. 

[00:42:17] Well, I appreciate your time. And I thought, yeah, I'm glad that your move was smooth for you. And it sounds like your business is doing well. And it really hasn't skipped a beat too much. You're cruising with clients that you have back in Florida, and then you've got some business there and Anacortes as well, which I think is awesome. , so it's, I mean, it sounds like you've had a really smooth transition out there so far as business goes, which is nice to hear, because again, you tend to hear the horror stories, which, which happens, you know, when there's an and again, moving a client-based business is very, very challenging. And there's a lot of people that are going to struggle and I've talked to a lot of people that have struggled moving a client based business. It's, it's really hard to get that started back up again. But you know, sometimes it works out really well, so. Okay. So just closing here, tell us a little bit about your aesthetic because I follow you. 

[00:43:14] , On instagram and there's a lot of like i feel like it's very like traditional kind of old world kind of vibe that i get so kind of give us all the places that we can connect with you if people want to see what your style is like what your business looks like and how would you describe your style

[00:43:33] Britany: So I guess I would say I'm in the fresh traditional vein. Okay. Okay. I love antique furniture. You know, antique and vintage decor, whether it's, you know, frames or bowls or blue and white. you know, vases. But, but it has to be fresh and the fresh comes in whether it's wall color or wallpaper or fun fabrics.

[00:44:03] Britany: And then you've got to layer in a little bit of personality. So say, you know, like for us, my husband loves to golf. So we have, I have very nice, beautiful, colorful paintings of golf courses, but they're a little more abstract. And so they work throughout our home. So yeah, fresh, traditional, always throw in something a little whimsical, whether it's a really fun, you know, kitschy needlepoint pillow with a little catchy saying on it.

[00:44:33] Britany: A collection of something that means something to you. So yeah, my whole goal is for my, my clients to tell the story of, of who they are, where they've been, what they love. You know, it's, it's the southerner in me. We're big, we're big on history. We're big on heirlooms. I'm, I'm not the designer who comes in and says, throw everything away.

[00:44:57] Britany: We're starting from scratch. It's all going to be new. Yeah, that's not me. 

[00:45:03] Alison: Yeah. So I'm curious, and that, and this is kind of, because, so you're in a rental right now and so it's not your home and you can't. Paint the walls par probably. I mean, I mean, I guess you can. But how does that work how are you making that house your home you know with the restrictions because a lot of us live in rentals or live in military housing and you're a little bit limited how did that work for you

[00:45:30] Britany: So, shameless plug here, but I am actually starting the One Room Challenge. This month, so that'll be a great chance for people to see because my focus there is I'm remake, I'm redoing our master bedroom, but the military mindset is focused on what can I take with us?

[00:45:50] Britany: So where I put my money and time into making house a home is custom upholstery, custom bedding, art, rugs, things that I can take with me from home to home that aren't dependent on the layout. So I think, you know, antique pieces, they're great, they're versatile. You can use a secretary in an office and a guest room and a foyer.

[00:46:15] Britany: So yeah, so really just, you know, I guess my big thing is like put up peel and stick wallpaper. It's come a long way. It comes off really easily now. Paint, if you want to paint, if your landlords are okay with painting. Curtains Wayfair and Amazon are my best friend for curtains. I love a custom drape, but that is not practical right now.

[00:46:39] Britany: I already have bins full of curtains that won't work at this house. You know, but the Navy moves you for free, so go ahead and just keep them all and, you know, you'll probably use them in three or four houses from now. But yeah, I'm big on pictures on the wall, pillows, upholstery, rugs, things that I can take with me.

[00:46:58] Alison: I gotcha. Yeah. So what is the one room challenge? I'm not familiar with that. What is that? What is it? 

[00:47:04] Britany: Yeah. So the one room challenge started maybe eight or nine years ago and it was just started by a blogger who wanted to have basically accountability and a timeline on finishing a project in her house.

[00:47:17] Britany: Okay. And so it is an eight week and every week you post a blog update and you can go to one room challenge. com and you can follow everybody who's linked their blogs there. They feature 20 designers and then everyone else can be just a guest participant. You don't have to do. Anything special. But yeah, it's a way for you to start a project, finish a project.

[00:47:43] Alison: That's their right we tend to start lots of little projects but then don't really finish anything and then you start something else and then you have all this half finished business all

[00:47:53] Alison: over the place 

[00:47:54] Britany: yeah, so, so that's, that's the one room challenge, which I think is honestly great for military. So I really want to push that in the military community.

[00:48:03] Britany: It's, it's something you can, you pick the room, you pick what you do to it. And it's just the sharing is the accountability and you're surrounded by creative people, which is always invigorating. 

[00:48:14] Alison: Yeah, that's true. Because a lot of it's like, honestly, If I'm on social media, that's the stuff I'm looking at. And, you know, What's funny lately as I've, um, seen a lot of people doing DIY stuff. And so I'm like, okay. DIY cleaning and like, you know, all the time now I'm seeing like all of this, like tons of cleaning stuff, and this is the best tool for cleaning the floor. And I don't know how it's happened, but now. Just not that I'm like, oh, I need to get this new toy to help me clean my shower, you know, but it is cool to watch people. I think that's one of the, one of the really good things about social media. There's a lot of drawbacks, but I think that that is one of the cool parts, right? Is that you can kind of look at what people are doing and get inspired and get ideas for things that you might not have thought of in your own space. 

[00:49:00] Alison: So I think the. What the problem is for me is that i see all this cool stuff and i'm like ooh that would be awesome to do here oh that would be really cool and then it's like hmm but i don't really have the skillset to do that right and do we have a budget to pay someone to do that right she kind of get into that spot

[00:49:17] Britany: Yeah.

[00:49:18] Britany: And I will say I am not the DIY designer. I very much stay in my lane. My zone of genius is coming up with the concept and the idea. And then. I have all of the trades to execute the 

[00:49:33] Alison: conclusion. Yeah.

[00:49:34] Alison: Let the professionals do the physical park yeah i got ya.

[00:49:38] Alison: But I work with clients 

[00:49:40] Britany: all the time who just need maybe come, you know, consultation here or there.

[00:49:45] Britany: They just want professional eyes on what they've picked out. You know, so I do work with clients who are the DIY type and they just want a professional to say, okay, check the scale on that, check the, you know, Sizing the layout, things like that. So, you know, just a lot of times people think an interior designer and a decorator are super expensive and out of reach and really, and I've yet to really break into the military, you know, client community.

[00:50:14] Britany: Because I think that stigma is very prevalent out there, but yeah, we will work within your budget and we'll, you know, offer services within what you can do where you 

[00:50:27] Alison: are. 

[00:50:28] Britany: . I offer one hour virtual consultations. I offer a one hour in person consultations. You know, and, and like you said, a lot of times. It's just, I've always used this piece in my house in this manner. And so that's what your brain thinks, but that outside set of eyes you know, can really give you a different perspective.

[00:50:47] Britany: Yeah. 

[00:50:48] Alison: Yeah i love that okay cool so then if people want to get in touch with you and you know see what you have to offer what services you have and things like that what are all of your you know, social media website all that stuff

[00:51:02] Britany: Yeah, so so we are Blue Bee Designs, and that is the French spelling of blue, so it's B L E E U.

[00:51:09] Britany: You know, the business idea came to me in France, so I couldn't deny the the French beginnings. So it's B L E E U. And then my nickname is Bee, B E E, like the bumblebee. So it's Blue Bee Designs on Instagram. It's got a little underscore, Blue Bee Designs underscore. And then we're on Facebook, just at Blue Bee Designs.

[00:51:31] Britany: I don't do TikTok, I don't do threads, I don't do anything else. That's enough, right? It's simple and my blog is where I'm going to, and our website is bluebeedesigns. me me. Okay. So, so, come check us out, you know, like I said, the end of September, we're going to start that One Room Challenge. And my blog has lots of great freebies and, and resources for people who want to do things themselves.

[00:51:59] Alison: I love it. Okay. Well, we'll make sure to link all of those in the show notes too. So people are like, hold on. What was that thing again? I know. I don't remember. How do you spell it? And French. 

[00:52:12] Alison: I think it's cute though. I love that name. I think it's super cute. And I love following you on Instagram cause you just, you post some of the most beautiful stuff and you know, honestly, even if it's not your aesthetic, because I've definitely seen a lot of, you know, um, traditional and antique and that kind of stuff and, and, you know, even if it, it's just, it's still beautiful to look at though. 

[00:52:31] Alison: Even if it might not be your particular style, it's still cool to look at, you know, the different layers and things like that. , 

[00:52:38] Alison: Okay, Brittany, I really, really appreciate your time.

[00:52:41] Britany: It was so fun just chatting with you. I know. Can take away some little nuggets you know, of wisdom. 

[00:52:48] Alison: Yeah, I hope so. Well, I think it's, you know, and it's, that's why having conversations like this is just, you never know what might connect with someone and, you know, And a lot of times, even just hearing that someone has had a similar situation to you or, you know, is been through a similar circumstance, it's just kinda like, okay. Okay. So I'm not weird. I'm not the only one. Okay. This is a thing. Right. And then it's just, you know, all of the challenges that we face, right. 

[00:53:15] Alison: Because it's not an easy lifestyle, the military. Lifestyle's not an easy one And, and it's just you know other things that other people have found that are helpful to them i think are always helpful to share too so All right. awesome well i really appreciate your time and hopefully we'll chat again with you soon 

[00:53:33] Britany: Sounds wonderful. Have a great day. Go make it beautiful