Victoria Hagan on Turning Taste Into a Design Business

Interior designer Victoria Hagan speaks with Ian Schwartman on Built Different about building a career and company around taste, creativity, and client trust. The discussion traces her early awareness of design, her path through rejection and mentorship, and her decision to carry her own name and vision forward after a pivotal loss. It also examines how she prices ideas, sets professional boundaries, and expands beyond interiors without letting trends define her identity.

■ Creative origins and early influences
- Childhood observations about surroundings and developing a design point of view
- College rejections, Washington College, and a professor who guided her toward Parsons
- Early mentorship under Simone Feldman and lessons in confidence and flexibility

■ Building and leading a design business
- Continuing the practice after her mentor’s death and establishing the Victoria Hagan brand
- Defining what work to accept and decline, and why non-negotiables strengthen a business
- Balancing creative problem-solving with the operational side of a company

■ Client relationships and the design process
- Listening closely, observing body language, and editing client ideas into clear priorities
- Helping clients discover how they want to live rather than imposing a fixed style
- Charging for thinking and problem-solving, not only for tangible products

■ Expanding beyond interiors
- Creating a fabric and furniture collection with The Shade Store
- Designing accessible pieces that reduce the risk of client error
- Encouraging designers to find and scale their personal voice

■ Privacy, learning, and industry perspective
- Maintaining discretion with high-profile clients and learning from how they manage their lives and businesses
- Staying open, observant, and attentive to inner judgment
- A closing reflection on creativity, resilience, and the role of luck in a career

The conversation is suited to interior designers, creatives, and entrepreneurs interested in turning artistic judgment into a durable brand. Viewers can gain perspective on navigating early setbacks, mentorship, pricing ideas, client trust, and expansion into product lines. It does not provide a step-by-step financial formula or technical design tutorial; instead, it offers experience-based reflections to consider alongside one’s own creative practice.