Reflecting on the last 4 years & talking about the lessons growing a business has taught me

Everyone says it but I’ll say it anyways 😉 It’s crazy how time flies … particularly, when you’re having fun!

Today, my business, my company, my baby is turning 4 years old. Never would I have ever expected how incredible the last years would turn out. How many special things it would lead me to. How many lessons I would learn, and how much I would grow- both personally, and professionally.

I want to mark the occasion by sharing more about my journey: How it all started, some of the ups-and-downs I had along the way, and some of my biggest learnings. But let’s start at the beginning, when interiorbygini was brought to life…

The first post …

January 7th, 2021 was the day I posted the first ever photo on @interiorbygini. A photo of my empty apartment in Vienna- no furniture, no character, nothing personal. Just a bland, empty apartment with the stunning herringbone flooring, double doors, and heigh ceilings. If you’d told me I’d have over 260k followers across my social media channels 4 years later, I would have surely laughed.

Anyways, the apartment was not in the best condition, even though the photos I posted might’ve not shown that. The floor was suuuuper worn down, just as the doors, the walls, the kitchen, and bathroom we got with the apartment. The doors were dirty, had deep scratches, missing paint, sometimes even smaller missing parts. The floor was heavily scratched, with some wooden parts actually missing too. And don’t even get me started on the kitchen… Additionally, the whole apartment had crooked walls, floors, doors, EVERYTHING! (Which is normal in traditional, old buildings, I know! Not complaining at all, just stating some facts ;)) which made it quite difficult to place furniture, artworks, and other items.

Nonetheless, I fell in love with the apartment straight away. The light, the floor plan, the historic character: so much potential I saw!

Why I founded my Instagram account

When I started my Instagram account @interiorbygini, I didn’t plan it to be the start of my business. The idea of launching an Instagram account, showing the process of furnishing, and slowly upgrading my apartment, partly came from a New Year’s resolution and the ongoing pandemic with multiple lockdowns.

I moved to Vienna right after the first lockdown of the pandemic, which made it super difficult for family and friends to visit. Many of them asked about the apartment, how my new life looked like, how my apartment is, and how the furnishing process is going. Additionally, I think the pandemic left everyone with more time than expected, so spending more time on social media and posting (valuable) content, as well as connecting with like-minded people was something that seemed like a fun idea to me.

However, 2020 was also a difficult Christmas time for my family, so my sister and I decided to make a New Year’s resolution and focus on something for 1 year. Just giving it a try. I mean, what could happen?

From hobby to business

I have to admit that posting interior content is much easier than posting yourself. I feel like the social “shame” that comes with posting on social media, particularly when you don’t have many followers, is not as high, simply because people don’t know who you are straight away. I kept posting anonymous, not showing my face or sharing my real name for quite some time, and only my closest people knew about it. (Disclaimer: Yes, I think it’s a shame that so much embarrassment is linked to posting on social media! It’s such a great, creative way to express yourself, and generally no one should judge others).

The more I posted, the more my content evolved. I taught myself how to take proper interior photos, became very creative with social media trends (particularly when Instagram reels came to life), learned how to edit photos, and how to style spaces effectively.

The more quality content I posted that resonated with my target audience, the more my account grew. And as my account got bigger, the more brands became aware of it. Shortly after reaching 10k followers, I already had the first proper collaboration requests flying into my inbox. I literally couldn’t believe it! (and still can’t, actually!)

I made it official by founding a company around my Instagram account, allowing me to really work and earn money with it. Furthermore, I expanded my company to allow me working as an interior designer for other projects, as I received more and more requests for that too. In 2022, I had the opportunity to quit my job that had paid my bills up until then, finally taking the leap into being self-employed only. The best decision ever!

The rest is history

Kind of, yes 😉 I dove deep into social media and interior design, looking for the best way possible to combine these two fields. I studied everything I could about social media businesses, how brand partnerships work, how payments look like, as well as how algorithms and different social media platforms work. I also looked into the legal aspects of social media and how one can profit from their account. My knowledge and account success story lead to companies booking me for social media workshops, which I still offer today.

However, the main part of my job was working together with brands and interior design clients across the globe. I shot product campaigns in my own 4 walls, posted content for brands, was booked for interviews, as a brand ambassador, for advertisement, and much more, while also making myself a name in the world of interior designers.

Thanks to my international social media audience, I was able to quickly fulfill interior design projects in multiple countries and cities, including Madrid, Menorca, Lake Como, Munich, Hamburg, Lake Tegernsee, Vienna, London, New York, and many more. From private to commercial clients, from modern to rustic designs, everything was part of my journey. In 2024, my last project Project Greenwood was awarded with the Best of Interior Award 2024, which was one of the most important parts of my career so far. Why? Because it “certified” the quality of my interior designs. Having clients love my works is one thing, but having a very professional jury of architects, designers, and others from the industry award your project, is a whole new level. Still a pinch-me moment every single time and I can’t wait for the next projects to come!

I also got to be part of very special events, got to travel the world for brands, saw myself on TV for advertisements, designed commercial spaces such as shops, visited very special private homes, experienced brands in the most unique ways, and got to expand my business by founding an online course for my design loving community.

What about today?

Today, I mainly work as an interior designer across the globe. If you are looking for help or you have a project in mind, feel free to reach out on my website: interiorbygini.com!

Otherwise, I still also closely work together with my longterm partner brands, for whom I shoot product campaigns or function as a brand ambassador.

I have also expanded my business and launched the interiorbygini masterclass – styling edition in 2024, which is an online course for everyone who wants to know how to style their own home without actually having to hire an interior designer. In this online course, anyone can learn my tips and tricks, and step-by-step stylings, divided into 12 lectures focusing on a specific topic each. I truly believe interior design should be accessible to anyone (of course, it’s still a luxury component!), as it can be implemented super easily and efficiently if you know how! So that is also something I am focusing on today, trying to give my students the best experience possible.

Ups and downs

I know the above sounds pretty smooth, as if everything just aligned perfectly and worked out fine. And overall, I can only agree that I feel extremely lucky and grateful for this journey and opportunity I received. A positive mindset definitely makes “downs” way less meaningful. However, as always, also my path has had its ups and downs. Founding a business, taking the leap into being self-employed, working with clients, experiencing so many “firsts” and “out-of-my-comfort-zone” moments, is hard. Having a business comes with growth, extreme happiness, success, energetic moments, deep focus, development, gratefulness, freedom, but also with grief, self-doubt, exhaustion, loss, hard decisions, and much more. It really can be a rollercoaster of emotions! Sometimes even changing within minutes.

I wanted to mention this aspect of growing a business because it’s a part of it. Not because I’m looking for sympathy or for complaining. I wouldn’t want to change a thing about being self employed! But just be aware… it’s a journey of ups and downs 😉

My learnings

Now let’s get to the very interesting part … my learnings from the last 4 years. I’ll be brutally honest with you, hoping it might help a single person out there! Whether you are thinking about founding your own company or if you are already along the ride and might be able to resonate with it, let’s see what some of the most important parts looked like in the last years:

• Work-Life-Balance IS important. In the first 3 years I worked non-stop on my business. I felt like I wasn’t allowed to take a break, that this is what’s expected when being self employed. I felt as if I never did enough, and had an unhealthy work relationship, often working months without a single day off. I didn’t want to go on a vacation as I always felt that I had to keep my work running. That’s something I have proudly changed! I have a company phone that I turn off during the weekends or on public holidays, really trying to embrace time off. Same goes for vacations. I know it’s overwhelming and fun when you’re founding your business (and I truly think that excitement and dedication is super important in order to succeed), however, in order to maintain your business in a sustainable way, you also need some time to refresh and recharge. Remember: creative people need time to sit and do nothing. (I believe anyone, actually!)

• Consistency is key. Another one of those sentences that everyone keeps saying but is true once again. Growing your business/social media takes time. Stay at it, believe in it, and be consistent. Show up for your business! I posted super regularly, worked on my content, studied my audience (by reading comments, looking at profiles, chatting with them), tried creative things, and slowly saw the magic happen.

• You grow at your own pace. Something that seems soooo hard at some points. I really had to teach myself more patience and a more positive mindset towards this. I recommend not to look at others/other companies and rather just focus on your own. Everyone grows differently, and the growth of others doesn’t mean you won’t grow or that you won’t be successful. Growth often doesn’t happen linearly, it often happens exponentially! I like to remind myself that just as everything … growth too comes and goes in waves.

• Authenticity, loyalty, organically. Your audience, your clients, your community is a massive part of your business. Treat them like that! Very early on I decided to only work/promote brands which I truly love myself and where I know my followers/clients will benefit from too. I never take on a collaboration or brand partnership just because of the money, but because I actually see value in it. Just as my followers are loyal to me, I am loyal to them, trying my very best to give them the best possible content and recommendations as possible. Lastly, I very much believe in organic growth. I have never paid a single cent for ads on social media and grew fully (and proudly) organically. (Not saying that this is the right way or that I will never do it, but for now this has been something that worked very well for me and where I saved lots of money!)

• Your circle gets smaller the more successful you become. Something that’s sad when growing your business, that I’ve been warned about from others before, and can now validate. People will get jealous, people will talk about you, people will try to tear you down, people will not believe in you, and people will come crawling to your doorstep trying to be friends with you. I have become much more aware of my surrounding and have also become more suspicious of actions. Just something I noticed 🙂

• Do as much tasks as you can until you can afford to outsource them. When starting out with a business, every cent counts. In order to save money, I did EVERYTHING I could on my own. My first website was made by myself, my emails, my postings, my taxes, everything. Once the load was too big and I physically couldn’t handle the amount of work anymore, I started outsourcing things. I hired a proper tax consultant, I hired lawyers for any law related questions, hired professional web developers, and a film team, as well as support throughout my projects. For me, it’s super important to continue having the full overview of my business, which is why I haven’t fully outsourced any task. I want to be involved but want to prioritize the things I enjoy doing and the things I’m good at doing. Same goes for the platforms you are on! I started with Instagram, fully focusing on the content I shared there. Once I got into the game, I focused on other platforms such as TikTok and Pinterest. Today, I have 3 websites, and am visible on 4 social media platforms (Instagram, Pinterest, TikTok, Facebook).

• Taxes, social security, etc. is expensive. Speaking for the country of my company (Austria), you are properly “ranked” after approx. 2-3 business years, where you’ll get a huge additional payment for the last years, as well as you’ll receive your tax advance payments. I highly recommend that you have quite a bit of money on the side to ensure that you can pay that! I know a lot of smaller business who struggled a lot or even couldn’t pay the amount, so I highly recommend you have that in mind, particularly when your company is growing well.

• You don’t need to go viral. I think I was one of the many accounts that didn’t regularly go viral with reels (in my niche). I saw SO many accounts grow rapidly by posting reels that went viral very often. In fact, I only went viral once with a few reels, which was at the beginning of 2024. You don’t have to go viral to be successful and to grow! Consistent growth can actually be even better than a single rapid growth, because your followers seem more active (from my experience and from what I’ve heard and seen).

• Don’t be afraid to ask! You’ve founded a business, which is something to admire alone! Don’t hide, be proud of yourself. Advocate for yourself and your business, show it, share it, and make sure you are compensated fairly for your work. Particularly when starting out with my business, I found it difficult to set my prices, as well as to negotiate and communicate my worth with brands/clients. I recommend that you “develop” your own price calculator, where you can transparently calculate your prices. This makes everything so much easier! Take on a few smaller deals to get started and adjust your prices accordingly.

• Work on your branding & develop a business plan. It took a lot of time but I was very precise and careful when developing my branding early on. I wanted a logo that would serve me a long time, and I still love it! I worked out email signatures, invoice templates, quotation offer templates, presentation templates. If you do it correctly once, you’ll save much time on the long run. Once your business is growing and you want to scale it better, start making a business plan too. Set goals, define where you want to go with your business. This helped me so much by positioning my company and prioritizing different tasks and the many ideas I had.

• Just keep swimming. One of my favorite quotes that couldn’t be more true when it comes to growing a business. You’ll experience the highest of highs, and the lowest of lows. But if you just keep swimming, you’ll navigate through anything.

This surely isn’t enough to cover all of the aspects that go into founding a business, but I guess it’s enough to give you a little insight into what my last 4 years looked like. Beyond proud, beyond grateful, beyond happy. Cheers to the next 4 years & thanks for all of you wonderful people who’ve accompanied me all along. Love you