From Childhood Friends to Empowered Women

In this heartfelt conversation, Rachel Fitzpatrick and Liz Betack (founder of LBD Design) reconnect to talk about friendship, empowerment, and the journey of self-discovery that comes with coming home.

Together they explore how lifelong friendships shape who we become, why community and connection matter more than ever, and what it means to reclaim identity through design, spirituality, and self-care.

From The Devil Wears Prada-style hustle of the design world to the grounded beauty of small-town life, Rachel and Liz reflect on career pivots, ethics in business, and how creativity and transformation can truly change lives.

“Coming home felt like coming back to me.”

If you’ve ever stood at a crossroads between ambition and authenticity, this episode will remind you that the two can coexist beautifully.

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Transcript

SPEAKER_02: 0:00

Hey, friend! Welcome back to the Fitzin' Project, where I'm your host, Rachel Fitzpatrick, and boy oh boy, am I so excited about the show that is coming out today on this episode. Set with my very, very, very good friend, Liz BTAC, and she is the CEO, creator, mastermind of Liz BTAC designs. Her story is just one for the record books. I absolutely adore her. I've known her for so long since we were like in kindergarten. And you will get to see first row of how we are just like two peas in a pod. And I really hope that you love her and enjoy this conversation as much as I know that I did, because oh my gosh, I could just like put her in my pocket and carry her around everywhere I go. I just I love her so much. But anyway, on top of that, I want you to notice the pants that I've got going on in this video. And that is from Lotus and Luna. So if you're interested in some really comfy loungewear that's got really cool designs, I've got a link, an affiliate link, in the show notes right there. And you can use code FITSIN to go check out your own apparel that you might like that feels really good and is supporting a good cause. Check out the show notes. Also, if you're interested, my mentorship, Kathy Heller OMG. She's literally the reason for the season and why I am doing what I'm doing and why I'm loving the life that I'm loving to have. And it's really just the best thing that I think I've ever invested in myself to be to be part of this mentorship, this group of wise women that I get to hang out with every single week, multiple times a week. Like it doesn't get any better than this, y'all. So the affiliate links to her as well are in the show notes. She's got a few different offerings going on, and check them out. You know, click around, go to the links that I'm providing and see what you find, see what resonates. And yeah, uh, yeah, you're you can't go wrong either way.

SPEAKER_01: 2:10

But anyway, back to this show, back to this episode. Yes, Liz B Tech, everybody.

SPEAKER_02: 2:16

Hello, welcome back to the Fitzin Project. I'm your host, Rachel Fitzpatrick, and I'm here with one of my besties literally since like day one. Liz BTEC. Thank you for having me.

SPEAKER_00: 2:30

Cheers, cheers, cheers to lifelong friendships. Absolutely. Yeah. And unexpected stories. Who gotta thought? No. Back in back in Stanford, Kentucky. One, two, back in the house you grew up in, and we used to have sleepovers here. We did. Um, I like learned how to ride a bike on the street, this street. Did you really? Yeah, I couldn't ride. I was embarrassed. I didn't want to tell you I couldn't ride a bike. So I'm gonna try to keep up. But I grew up on a farm. Yes. Great.

SPEAKER_02: 2:57

I remember, oh my god. We're natural, natural. As with everything also in life, you are so talented. And she runs her own Lisby Tech Design Designer Company, interior designer company. Yes, yes, yeah. Gosh, I follow her on Instagram. I follow her in life. Um, trailed and went to your wedding. I've been like you were my very first best friend.

SPEAKER_00: 3:24

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02: 3:25

And we had Lisa Frank Trapper Keepers.

SPEAKER_00: 3:29

I have to tell you something too. When you asked me if I want to come talk on your podcast, and I was like, I want to get Rachel a little gift, I couldn't make it happen. But I tried to find the Lisa Frank um ballet ballerina bat packs. I wanted to get one for you. Like on, you know, where do they sell stuff? Yeah. I mean, everywhere, but yeah.

SPEAKER_02: 3:49

I mean, but now those are like vintage, you know?

SPEAKER_00: 3:52

Yes. I was expecting it would be a little pricey. But I could I couldn't do it. I'm so sorry.

SPEAKER_02: 3:56

But the thought was there. Lisa Frank, man, and her dolphins and the rainbows and the unicorns. I was obsessed for a while with all of that. Actually, probably sparks everything that's in this room.

SPEAKER_00: 4:09

Trapper keeper, the pencil box, the matching lunch box, backpack. Yeah. I think we need to bring it back. I think so too. We've got to give her a call.

SPEAKER_02: 4:16

Lisa! Goodness. Well, I'm super, super happy to have you. Obviously, I'm like joyed in this. Not the caffeine talking like this, but for real though, like I've watched you so much, and I'm like, she is a boss. I used to okay. I say boss bitch because I think I thought that was like the best term possible to call like the Stellas that got their groove back, and the women they come up and out, and they're like, So I went to a corporate Christmas luncheon this past December. And the VP, she's like telling us about going out to lunch with these girls and these women in the country club, and they're all like, you know, they don't work, and but they've got a ton of money. And she's like, I don't know, I'm a working mom, and blah blah blah. I'm like, you're a boss bitch, and I'm completely sober. And I'm like yelling this from the back of the room. She's like, I'm like, you got this, you're a boss bitch twice. Why don't you the BP of my company? And I'm like, oh my god, kill me now. You know, from that moment on, I just kind of shrunk back a little bit and I'm like, Rachel. And you could have said boss babe, you could have said, you know, anything. Sure. Yeah. I mean, listen, um, why does bitch have to be a negative term? It's not a negative term. In my mind, I'm like, it's empowered me. Yeah, she was like, Did you just call me a bitch twice? She didn't say that, but uh, the look on everyone else's face, I'm like, I did that. Yeah, I did. That was I did say that. But like, not in that way. So if you're listening to this, now you know. And I was sober. I was like, This is the best thing. I could have done. I couldn't stop it though. But anyway, yeah, you're a boss bitch. And I love it. You love it. So when I was um starting my yoga coming back into Stanford, I obviously knew you were moved back, and you were one of the reasons I felt extremely comfortable to move back as an adult. And I was so scared to move back. Because this is a small town, yes, and they do a lot of talking. And sometimes it's not nice. Sometimes it's not nice, sometimes it's not nice, and people make shit up like all the time about whoever they want to talk about. So it was fearful, and I was scary. Yeah, I was scared to move back. But uh talking with you, talking with Megan, I'll never forget that where I was in that conversation. You may not even remember, but I was no, I do remember. And I was like, You're gonna move back? Okay, if Liz can move back with her whole family, I can too. And we can come into Stanford and we can at least I'll have somebody who gets me, you know? Oh yeah. So we're like different.

SPEAKER_00: 7:01

Yes. Well, and if I can say we've gone away, and I feel like leaving home, wherever your home is, leaving home, see the world, go live in a big city, whatever. If I can ever give anyone unwarranted advice, so like you didn't ask me, but here's my advice for the day. I'm asking you. Go away. Yeah, go away, learn about the world, learn about people who look different than you, sound different, eat different things, believe different things, learn about the world, and then come back to where you're from and make it a better place.

SPEAKER_02: 7:35

Oh, I've got tingles in my heart space.

SPEAKER_00: 7:40

Um I was scared to move home too. We moved here. Um, we might maybe we'll get to this later. What have I done in my life since we were five? But we moved here from Philadelphia and it was in the middle of a pandemic. It was 2020. Um, my mental health was not great. They had two toddlers at home. We were basically quarantined, locked into our house. We couldn't go to the park. It was literally taped off with caution tape. It was a scary place. And I know the world was a scary place then, but they took it very seriously where we lived. And my husband, Brad, said, Let's get you home and go, like, go, let's go visit your parents. So I packed up my Lysol and my wipes and that like wiped down a whole hotel room on the way down here and the phone, like everything. And I was way overboard, but I didn't know. We all did the best we could, right? And we moved, we came down here and he had a lunch meeting that turned into a job offer that I was not anticipating at all. And he said, Liz, they gave me a job offer to move to Stanford. And and on it, I'm gonna be honest with you, my stomach dropped. And I was like, I don't, I don't want to move. Um, we went to the same high school, we shared similar experiences of yes, a small town. Also, I think maybe generationally, I feel like we were kind of brought up to be competition against each other. When now we're like, well, that was wrong the whole time. We should have just been like, we have enough things against us in the world that we all need to be cheering for each other to be on the same team. And I don't feel like when we were all like in high school, I don't think we knew that. No one said that that was okay.

SPEAKER_02: 9:16

Yeah, first of all. And the ones that did say it was okay weren't the ones in our school systems. They, I don't remember that being a topic of kindness or helping people out. It was literally like who can be the best at sports, the smartest, who's popular. Yeah, I mean, goodness, everything was a vote. Who got to be where? And it was such a it was a democracy, but it was like unchosen democracy. Yeah. Um speaking off the top of memory.

SPEAKER_00: 9:49

In summary, I was nervous to move home. Yeah. Um, I had London, uh, New York City before that, Philadelphia before that. I was also nervous because of my career path as a designer. I thought, what am I gonna do at home? I had been working on gigantic international projects in New York City and then also really large commercial jobs in Philadelphia. And I really was just like, well, I guess that's it. You know, I guess maybe that's it for my career. I don't know what I'm gonna do. And but yeah, but no, hey, it happened. It happened and it's thriving.

SPEAKER_02: 10:24

It happened. I'm busy and I love that so much. So I just interviewed a woman just yesterday who I can't wait to put her out too. And she speaks about just surrendering and letting it come to you. And I feel like that's how you had to approach the situation. And like, you know, Brad got this job. We're in the middle of COVID, thinking about moving back to this not so scary, scary community. Boom, you two toddlers, like, how do you even survive? And then you're expected to like go.

SPEAKER_00: 11:03

Right. And not to mention, or I guess to mention, 2020. I'm home. I'm not working at the time. I had sleep was little, little, so I was still home from her being born, and I had um quit my job before she was born, so I could stay home with them. And our nanny quit, also, so how to quit. And I really lost my identity. It is such an immense blessing to be called a mom. But at that point, I felt like that's all I was, and I felt so drained and I like lost myself, and I didn't know who I was anymore. Wow, it was like it took moving home to find myself again. I know. Okay, where did that come from? Yeah, um, but I don't, I mean, like I moved back to a place where I was scared, but I feel comfortable.

SPEAKER_02: 11:52

Yeah, I don't know. I did the same, it was like parallel, but then kind of coming into this, you know? And I feel like it's what a lot of people in the self-awareness community, whether it be Deepak Chopra or Kathy Heller or you name it, it's always about walking yourself home. And whether it be like physical, us moving, that is the first step, right? And then also like taken into this identity. Let's talk about that identity shift. With my own identity shift, it was like I also didn't know who I was. I was in the middle of this tumultuous relationship in a home that I just moved into in a neighborhood that was less desirable than where I felt I needed to be. Not that it was a bad neighborhood, it was a perfect neighborhood. But it wasn't what I imagined for myself, it wasn't the identity I carried for myself. So, but I chose it anyway because out of whatever reason I chose it. And not sitting with the f the actual reason, just moving with the motion. And then I realized I didn't even know who I was, but I was pregnant, didn't even know what I was doing, who am I with, what is happening. The all of this is just like pouring into me. And I'm at home in Stanford 80% of the time because that's where I'm comfortable. Why am I not living here? And that's why I moved. And then, you know, having that courage and getting to talk to you at that time and being in this like aura of shifting into what I knew myself to be without having a name. So coming home to me felt like coming back to me. Ooh. So that's what that coming um felt like coming back to myself. Yeah. And I got space, I had space to grow. And man, has 2020 to today, like that five years, right, just totally feel like a rocket. That's what I feel like. Like, I feel like I've been on a rocket.

SPEAKER_00: 14:03

Not like I can't stop now. Well, when you leave home, a lot of people, you when you go to college, you sort of find yourself, you decide who you are. You know, you grew up, oh, you know, your parents made you go to church growing up. This is when you decide who you are. What is your personal journey? What is your personal faith? That's when you get to decide, okay, I'm gonna be who I'm gonna be. And I do think it takes courage to go back home and be that person. But also, while it's scary, there's also something comforting in it. Like it's still always home.

SPEAKER_02: 14:34

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00: 14:35

Um, but like coming back kind of a different person, I guess.

SPEAKER_02: 14:39

Yeah. Or like you're coming back with things like, man, what book is it in? I don't remember. But the guy left and left, and he left his home and whatever. He was going out to find himself and find himself, find himself, and went to the monastery, did the monk thing and needed to find himself, find himself, and then finally he felt like he had found himself because he sat in some meditations for like days on end and hours on hours and years on years, whatever. Comes home, and his mother was like, You never had to leave to know who you are. But the cool thing is, is he came back with these gifts to be able to provide the community as you were speaking. And like what a gift you have been able to bring back. I mean, have you been into Marini in Danville, Kentucky? Because that was designed by your brilliant staff, and it's so great. I love going in there. It is one of my favorite places to go on a Friday for lunch. Just it's not even the service, it's the ambiance that I'm like obsessed with.

SPEAKER_00: 15:39

I um I have to say, actually, thank you. I have to say the the work I've done. So I mentioned I've done international hospitality work, I've done high-end residential work, uh, healthcare designed, kind of all over the world and all over the country. And before I moved back here, actually, I was in New York City, Brad and I reconnected. We were old friends in college. So of course I'm I've moved for a guy, the guy.

SPEAKER_02: 16:10

He's perfect and beautiful just as much as she is. Like they are, yes. He's out of my league. I don't know what he's doing. Uh, thank you both, very great. We need them all out a lot. They're amazing. Brad's amazing. You're amazing.

SPEAKER_00: 16:24

Thank you. Well, you know, I've we weeded through a lot of bad weeds first, right?

SPEAKER_02: 16:30

Don't we?

SPEAKER_00: 16:31

Make sure you appreciate the best one, but it's why we get to grow our garden.

SPEAKER_02: 16:35

We gotta take out all the bullshit. And it's like, grow your garden.

SPEAKER_00: 16:41

You gotta weed the garden. Weed it out. Um, so I'm in New York City, I'm working for this giant in the hospitality world designing hotels in Indonesia, New York City, and China and South Africa. And this is like the peak, right? This is like as good as it's gonna get because I mean, in terms of you're doing a creative job that apparently I really need recognition for. That it was like the epitome of all of that stuff. And then uh Brad had actually soon before that, or recently before that, had passed his bar exam, become an attorney, and he would have had to have retaken the test and moved in New York City. And so collectively we decided it would be best for our future for us if I moved to Philly. So even then, I was like, well, what am I gonna do? I already work at the best place and do the best things. Like, who am I gonna work for? And so, and then I worked for a little boutique firm there. Um, but then moving to Kentucky, I'm like, well, now really what am I gonna do? Like, if I want to, you know, some goals of mine that are a little um, I don't know, showy goals. Like, I feel like sometimes I need something tangible to show for like what have I done? It's you're not showy.

SPEAKER_02: 17:57

That's literally your career. That is like that is what you do. You create pretty things that are like beautiful. You need to showcase. So yeah, it's like being an artist.

SPEAKER_00: 18:08

Okay. Well, um, yeah, I I feel like a a a goal of many slash all designers is like, you want your name published one day on a beautiful project that you've done. Um, and I thought, well, there goes all of that, you know, architectural digest, that already happened. Worked on that project, someone else's name was on it because it was not my firm. It was, you know, hospitality design magazine, not my name did not show up, was not my firm. And so I thought, you know, the chance to get have my name on one of my projects. So anyway, so we're here in Kentucky, and we actually came to interview right here downtown down the street with or interview/slash meet all of the leadership where my husband uh took his job. And I'm still not sure about moving here. What am I gonna do? Who am I gonna be friends with? I was really worried about that. Um, Rachel. And right before we had dinner, uh, one of the uh leaders uh got up and spoke and she said, We're so excited to have Brad coming, and we really feel like this is gonna be so great for us. But also, we hope that his wife Liz, who grew up here, um, we hope that Brad will as our package deal because we really need an interior designer to work on our bank branches, our hospitality brand. And so I thought, are you serious right now? This is the first it had been mentioned to me. And so um that is awesome. I became my first client was actually adults that I grew up admiring that were friends with my parents that revitalized our town are now asking me, can I come and help them, you know, with their mission? And so they were my first client. I did a few jobs with them, and then actually I um got so busy with my other projects that that's really what took off. And I'm not even doing work with them anymore. Everything else kind of took off and got busy from there, but that was a huge surprise to me. Uh I realized that I cannot make plans anymore. So I think you you said something earlier about kind of go with the flow, kind of receive things a bit as they come. I just try to always like peek through that open door because there are so many opportunities out there waiting for us that we just don't even know about yet. Like your name is being spoken in a room right now that you have no idea about. And I hope mine is too Liz B Tac Design Studio. Um, but it's just it's a wild to think what opportunities might still be out there. Oh, yeah. For you and I and everybody else. Absolutely. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02: 20:41

I love that you are so open to receive that as well. It's not even just like there's opportunities that are going to come knock on your door, but it's you have to be open to even see it and receive it because they're not always so plain and and in plain sight either. Sometimes they are. I think sometimes they're in plain sight and you can grab onto it. But sometimes they're like you have to peek around the whole ground corner and see like the whole thing. So I think that's amazing. And of course, of course, they're gonna ask you to come and do their bank branches and everything else to help them along. They'd be silly not to.

SPEAKER_00: 21:22

That's amazing. So yeah, so um once that happened, I started to get excited about moving back home. And I thought, okay, wow, look at this. Like, yes, this is actually a place where I can use my relationships and my connections with people to further my career because in a big city, you're pretty anonymous, which I thought I liked. And I know, especially like my husband really values privacy. I'm an open book, really. But it was nice when we were first married that it was just us. But then I think I really I realized that I needed my community and I really missed people, and so yeah, that's definitely that's my favorite thing about being home is this new community that I've made and how I've been able to find find and spend time with women who are like-minded and that we just were all here to cheer for each other. So that's made a huge difference.

SPEAKER_02: 22:20

Yeah, absolutely. I love that too. I really do about Stanford, about living here, is you know, we've got some small shops that are pretty much like my favorite places to go. I love four generations and Jenny Austin. Precious the best, and she's so good for this town in um creating community events and ca sustaining like actual connection. Jenny is gonna be the mayor one day. I'm putting that into the universe. If you're not Jenny, let me just be your PRF. You have our vote.

SPEAKER_00: 22:53

Yeah, my vote. I can't vote in Lincoln County, but I'll vote for her.

SPEAKER_02: 22:57

So I was just voting as well. No, which is amazing. And I think there's so much to be said about small town. Because my mom, she was like, when my first wanted to move back, she was like, There's no one that's going to cheer for you like the people who you who grew up loving you, and that's just the facts. Yeah. She's like, You are so loved by this community. She's like, every time I go to Walmart, somebody's asking about you. Every time I turn around, somebody's asking about you, whether it be at the bank or at the store or just walking around, they're always asking about how we are. I'm like interesting. Our names are being said, and we don't even know it. So that also was like a plus to come back into this like loving vibe. Yeah, and it is such a loving vibe that I think took for granted and perhaps like almost like um shunned a little bit for me. I shunned it uh for a long time after I left high school because I was like, I am not going back to that stink test. Yes, I will not do it. No, and then like, gosh, there's nothing but like nourished love here. But anyway, I could I could speak about Stanford all the time. I would run for mayor, but Dalton's doing a great job.

SPEAKER_00: 24:19

Oh my goodness, I love Dalton. You know something else about um about like moving home and being so loved here in the way that we were kind of almost like jaded about home. Um, well, I don't want to speak for you on that, but like I didn't want to come back. No, I did not want to come back. It was not in my portion. When I would come home to visit, I would go to Walmart in the next town over. Nope. So that I didn't have to run into people. Oh, I wasn't that bad. Not because I thought I was better than anyone by any means, but it was just like I was really hurt here in high school. And like you mentioned like bullying and gossip and all the things. We move home, you don't want to be bullied and um talk to well, don't hang out with those people. Just don't seriously, just be with surround yourself with a community that loves you and supports you.

SPEAKER_02: 25:09

And believe me, you will not even give another thought about no, and I think that's really great to say that because when I was with Celeste and we talked, she mentioned almost the exact same thing. And I feel that in my bones, and I love that your perspective is like you can just edit that out.

SPEAKER_00: 25:27

Yeah, don't hang out with those people, they hurt you, don't don't give them your energy, which was harder to do when you're in high school and you're on the cheerleading squad with them and you're inclined, you sit next to them. Um I do feel like it kind of takes some courage to be like, oh, you're not a good person for me. Actually, I don't feel courageous doing that now, but I don't think I think I would have thought, oh, I just have to be nice to everyone. And now it's just like, well, I'm not gonna be unkind, but I really I don't need to spend time with somebody who is gonna be nasty. Right. So yeah, surround yourself with love and that's what you're gonna feel. Enough said.

SPEAKER_02: 26:06

We will stop this now. Uh I love having those moments in my podcast. I'm like, well, I should carry on. We're gonna carry on. We got some more to talk about because I would love to also get into like how did you decide you were gonna start your own firm? Like, was it that you wanted the name on on the publishing? What was your drive? That's an interesting question.

SPEAKER_00: 26:30

Well, I studied business management in college.

SPEAKER_02: 26:32

Okay.

SPEAKER_00: 26:33

I was on a pre-med track first. And um I forgot about that. Yeah. It was not easy. And I think part of I think part of why I wanted to push so hard with that was that I felt like people thought I couldn't do it. I felt like people thought I was too blind and too, you know, too this to study hard and be smart and do it um, I don't know, the right way and just like put in the time and put in the hard work. And I think I felt like I needed to prove it to everyone else that I could do it. And I got into my um my core classes for science, and what am I to take a whole year of biology in eight weeks? It was of the two degrees I have the hardest course in my life. It was so hard. And I woke up at five o'clock in the morning to study. I stayed up all night to study, and um, I think I got an A minus in the class. And I was like, if I have to work this hard to get an A minus the next eight years, I don't know if I want to do this. But I felt comfortable making that decision because I thought, well, now I know I can do it. So once I proved it to myself that I was smart enough, I could work hard enough, I can do the work, I could do this if I wanted to. I just don't want to. So um I continued with my business degree, graduated, and as I was in my last semester of business school, I started to really become interested in fashion and design, interior design. And I started taking design classes when I was still working on my business degree. And um through getting more familiar with that, I just fell in love and felt so passionate about it. Um, I always kind of thought I might start my own business. And then I worked for firms that were um run by women. When I spoke about in New York City, in the highest compliment of a way, felt like I was living the movie The Double Earse Prada. My boss was so chic, so fashionable, just like amazing. And here I am in like my J. Crude outlet jacket. And like I just like I don't know. I kind of I felt like I didn't quite belong at first. And then I really I worked really hard and I put in the time and I did the ground work like a lot, like she does in the movie, like Ann Hathaway does. And then eventually um I felt like I belonged there. And so I did that. I worked for other firms. The thing is, I saw not with this firm, but I saw small business owners and women compromising their ethics and their beliefs to to run a successful business. And I was afraid that I would have to do that too, to run my own business. And so it really turned me off to having my own firm. And at that point, I kind of decided, like, okay, I'll just, I'll just work for someone because I just, if that's what I have to do to be successful, I'm not gonna do it.

SPEAKER_02: 29:36

Yeah, what a roadmap.

SPEAKER_00: 29:38

Yeah. Well, it was really disheartening. And this happened with someone who I thought was gonna be a mentor of mine. It was just like amazing. And then I just saw sides that that made me really uncomfortable. So I decided, no, I'm not gonna do my own thing. But then I was pushed back into it. Like when we had that dinner that night, I had I didn't have my own business at that time. I was just stay at home mom at toddlers. And And that was my opportunity of wow, the projects came to me before I even had my business. And so I really took that as an open door that I needed to walk through. Oh my God. Um and I do. I I I stay true to myself. I try to be transparent and totally honest. And I make mistakes and I try to overfix them. And um I realized that I can still be me and run a successful business. And I was really scared that that wasn't gonna be possible.

SPEAKER_02: 30:29

I think that's what makes your business so lovable because you're just such a lovely person. Like, am I right? Like, can you even like you can see this, right? You know, like you're just so Liz, and you're like, you do make mistakes, but you're so great in like taking it and owning it, and then you make something beautiful from it. And I think that is what is so cool because you can design a room in uh Five Ways to Sunday. Your design of a room is what is so special because you have this like unique gift that people love. I mean, one of my favorite things that I've seen only on social media, not in real life. Okay, there's two. There's the uh whistle shop. What was that called? Oh, the whistle stop, and that looked phenomenal. Like, I want to go there.

SPEAKER_00: 31:20

That was fun. Well, and they actually that's in Ottawa, Tennessee, where I went to school the first time for business, and the owners built the size of the lot was um unique, and they built a flat iron style building, so it's a triangular footfront of the building, and their big thing there, which the nostalgia um it is on the train track. So the nostalgia of the train tracks and like the way that people used to travel and the Orient Express and all this was all where we drew inspiration from. But then other than the decor, the really fun thing is they have these gigantic milkshakes that are like it's like a milkshake with cake on like a piece of cake and like a popsicle sticking out of it and like all the I mean with the it's so fun. Theme them.

SPEAKER_01: 32:06

That's my birthday.

SPEAKER_00: 32:07

Yeah, you gotta go. They theme them, like they're so over the top, and just like an experience. The milkshake is an experience on it, sounds um, so yeah, that was a really cool one. They did a beautiful job. Um, it was a really well done um execution of the design. It's beautiful.

SPEAKER_02: 32:23

And actually, I'm gonna put the link to her reel, one of her reels on Instagram. I'll put it in the show notes so you can go see it specifically. There you go. And then the other one was the Dolly Parton cabins. Oh my god. I am obsessed with that area. Like if I like I want to go camp in each and single one of those cabins. And it's not camping at, it's clamping. It's clamping.

SPEAKER_00: 32:47

You know, it's beautiful, so much fun. So, yes, to speak to our listeners and watchers, uh talking about a project that I worked on uh called Camp Swan and Camp Swan Lake and Lodge. It's actually for sale right now. It's only$2.3 million. Only if you've got you know, pocket change. All right, I need to call somebody. So my client and her husband bought the summer camp. And um, if I have all the details correct now, it's been years actually. The camp was built in the 40s, it operated as a children's summer camp toll, the 90s. And then I just think uh someone else bought it, and it was just a lot of money to upkeep this property, this huge property with all these cabins and different facilities. Um so things got overgrown, they fell down, they just and they were more rustic anyway. Um, and so my client and her husband bought this whole property, bought this camp, and they actually saw my work at the whistle stop um because they live in Chattanooga. Perfect. And they hired me to come in, and we um there's 10 cabins, and each cabin um has its own very unique theme. Um typically my personal style is like a little more refined, so not so fun, but more timeless. In as but in a place like this, that's Airbnb's, I feel like you want that experience to be different every time you go back and you want a reason to go back. And so that's exactly the kind of space where you would use like maximalistic design because you're there for a weekend, it's an experience, you're glamping, and you want to come back again and try the next one. So there's one cabin that's themed for Dolly Parton. And um, there was uh there's this artist who did murals and portraits of Dolly. Her name's Olivia Record. Check her out too. She's phenomenal. She really added this whole like personal custom touch to all the cabins. And um it looks like such a vibe. Yeah, like it is such a vibe.

SPEAKER_02: 34:43

I would totally just probably fall in love if I could get out there. I'm I keep saying, as a matter of fact, I sent this whole entire campsite to my friends. I'm like, we've gotta go. And they're like, yes. And then it fell off the radar, but now it's back on the radar.

SPEAKER_00: 34:56

So I'll be you can rent the whole camp out at the whole camp out and um and stay in each, every single one of the cabin. Maybe that's my bachelorette party. Who knows? Oh, okay.

SPEAKER_02: 35:07

I mean, it's close.

SPEAKER_00: 35:08

I'll be there.

SPEAKER_02: 35:09

It's close. We'll have our own special designer right there. You know, show us around. Absolutely.

SPEAKER_00: 35:14

I would love to give a personal tour.

SPEAKER_02: 35:16

Oh my gosh, those are the best designs that I've seen. Well, you've done beautiful work all over the place, but like those two speak in my mind every single time I think of you. I'm like, of course.

SPEAKER_00: 35:27

Those were fun. Those were fun. Well, and I talked earlier about um being able to work on prestigious projects and um leaving New York and thinking, well, you know, I guess that would, you know, I peaked. Right. And that was it. Like, those are the coolest things I'll ever do in my life. And um I really dabbled all over the industry in different project types, which one of my uh most treasured mentors sat me down and talked to me one time, and he was asking our class, he was a professor, and he asked, What do you, what kind of design do you want to be an expert at? And so we went around the room, everybody said what they wanted. And I said, Well, I'm gonna be good at everything. And he was like, No, that's not the answer. No, wrong. He was like, You want to be an expert at one thing. You don't want to be good at everything. You want to be an expert on one thing. Pick your one thing, you're gonna be an expert at. So I picked hospitality design, hotel, hotels, restaurants, and that's what I worked in. But then, um, as my career progressed, the last hospitality firm I actually worked in, uh, I was not feeling challenged. And it was like, well, I already knew it. Yeah, I knew I felt like I kind of tapped out the resources that I could use there. I don't know for lack of better wording on that. I was also pregnant and needed to work somewhere that was bigger so that I could have better benefits. Yeah. That's a drawback of working for a small boutique firm. Pretty much everything else is amazing about it. But the benefits were were hard. First baby. So I moved to a firm that did healthcare design. I was like, healthcare design, why would I do that? But um actually it was a challenge and I learned so much. It just didn't make sense though. It didn't really like why am I doing this? Why is my career doing this when Peter told me I need to be focusing on one thing and be an expert at one thing? I tried Pete. But fast forward, fast forward, fast forward to moving to Kentucky. Last year I had the opportunity to work on um what I realized now was the most impactful project of my entire career. And that all of my experiences up until this point all came together because I was so down on myself of like, oh, here I did. I like I did it, and now I'm not, you know, I didn't specialize in anything. And I just like I've done a little bit of everything, and I'm just a little good at everything. Um, but not an expert at everything, or one thing. So anyway, we're here in Kentucky, and um everyone in town now knows of this story and of this amazing family and woman. But Cindy Mullins is um, she's actually uh she was a nurse at my dad's clinic, and she's she comes back to work too. She's back in the um office, but she um had all of her limbs amputated. She had a septic infection to ended in order to save her life. The drugs they administered starved her limbs of blood flow, and she lost all of her limbs. So when I heard about her story, I tried to reach out to her. I saw her husband, I said, listen, I want to help you. Uh, I know all about design for ADA and healthcare. And I know when she gets back home with her new body and her new lifestyle, her home is not built to accommodate what she needs. So let me come over. I'll at least like help show you guys some, you know, where can we put in some grab bars? Where can we put in, by the way, she can't really use a grab because she can't grab. So I wanted to just look at ways that we could help make her house more accessible. And not long after I spoke with them, I got a phone call from um a man in Florida who said, Hey, I just heard the story of this lady, Cindy Mullins. We want to build her a house. We just want to build her a new house. And I want to, you know, to collect volunteers to design, build all the things. Oh, and also we want to build the house in 10 days. Okay, bye. And I was like, Cool, I'm in. Let's do it.

SPEAKER_02: 39:41

So um so wait, he randomly contacted you. Was this wasn't even on did he contact the family first to you?

SPEAKER_00: 39:50

I think that her, I think Cindy's husband, DJ, mentioned to him that I had expressed interest in helping them. Oh, okay. This kind of gigantic dream was way beyond anything that I was thinking for them, but I immediately was like, yes, I'm in, I'm doing it. I love that. Right? It was wild. So we were able to custom hundreds of custom design decisions made to accommodate not only ADA, which means Americans with disabilities, which right, it doesn't even scratch the surface of when someone has a disability, it really doesn't even scratch the surface of what they could potentially need. But with Cindy, we were able to make every decision in the whole house based on her own specialized needs. And so I thankfully had more than 10 days to design. I think I spent about four months on the project and volunteered like most other of the 300 people on the job. We've all volunteered, designed this whole house for them. And it really like it's it's changed her life. She has gotten some of her independence back, which has been huge. And it was just really cool to be able to take all this random knowledge that at one point didn't make any sense to me. Why is my career doing this? Why is it but I wouldn't have been able to do that job had I not had all of the combined experiences that I had and then and moved back home. Speechless. Like you can't fit in that.

SPEAKER_02: 41:19

You're so great at all of these little things, and now you're extraordinary in this. I mean, in this such a beautiful way. Like this is so remarkable. Like you just took everything and all of your breadcrumbs and made a whole loaf of bread. Like it was just so that is so cool. And I got to see you do that. Like, you know, yeah, you were here, you will do this, you will do that. I mean, she was literally like the captain of the house, and everything went in its order, but she knew it was seamless, it felt seamless. May not have felt it that way for you, but it felt seamless for the one day that I'll say we'll just say it was seamless. And I was like, this is so cool, this is so amazing. Everything was amazing, and you had that like touch on all of it, but it was from all of these other massive things and small things that were just put in place, like your puzzle pieces, to make this gorgeous mosaic, is what it feels like.

SPEAKER_00: 42:26

Like I that I like that. I was thinking like you never like each of these chapters, you know, you never know how the book is gonna wrap up at the end. But that was a lot, that was much more beautiful way of saying it.

SPEAKER_02: 42:39

It's a masterpiece, you know. Um was that your most meaningful project? I mean, oh, hands down, yeah.

SPEAKER_00: 42:46

Yeah, I mean, um, one of the really cool things about design is the ability to impact people and how they live and how they experience a space, whether it's their home or a hotel room or a restaurant or a cancer center. And um, interiors has such a an impact on all of your senses, your psychology. And so being a person like Cindy who has her life and the life of her husband, her two little boys, and her her mom who lives with them, everyone's life dramatically changed when that happened. And so, not only giving her some of her identity back and her independence, but also giving her whole family something to be excited about and look forward to when their whole world had been turned upside down. I can't imagine. Well, I hesitate to even speak it because I don't know what phone call I'm gonna get next about what other wild thing I'm gonna get into. But I can't imagine being able to feel like someone could impact a person as fully as this whole entire team did with her and family. But I'm up into it, so what a godsend.

SPEAKER_02: 43:55

I mean, that was just like you can't get that's divine timing. That is a godsend that is full on. You are you know you're on the right path when blah, blah, blah. All of this just aligns so much, and it is gorgeous. Like it was such a gorgeous outcome, and it was such a celebration. Oh, it is so cool. Our community. Like our community got so involved with this effort, yeah. Because, like my mom said, no one is gonna love you as much uh as your community does when you need it the most, like every single time. Yeah, they come in through and through, and it's just so phenomenal to see like the heart in Lincoln County is just like it's huge. It's huge. I'd live here 10 times over again and again because it just doesn't they show up every time. That is so cool.

SPEAKER_00: 44:57

Yeah, it was really special. Maybe you should link that too. Uh Carrie Sanders from NBC. Um, he was a correspondent on the Today Show and he was in Afghanistan, and he had retired in the past few years. But if you hear his voice, it it's like a very familiar news voice. He's amazing. He came up and filmed kind of a documentary video on it, and they actually featured her story on the nightly news with Lester Holt. Yes, that was really cool. So I was hoping actually her story would get more recognition, which she has a lot, but I just feel like she, Cindy Mullins, such an incredible person and strong in the way that she is so positive through everything she's been through. I want everyone in the whole world to hear her story. Um, they don't need to hear about her house, they need to hear about her because that's you think you're down and and you know you've been dealt some like bad cards. Um, when you see a story like this and the inspiration that she is to other people, it really makes you so grateful for where you are in your life.

SPEAKER_02: 46:07

For sure. And she's just like, I think before this even happened, she was the most gratitude, God-loving, community-loving person anyway. Like she was so kind to where even if this hadn't have happened, she would have still been just this light on. Yeah. But I feel like this is such a brightness now, like even so even more so, it's just like ingrained into the whole community to brighten up. Like the aura has spread. I mean, it's it's a tremendous story.

SPEAKER_00: 46:41

I'm sure. What I really wanted to say on that is I feel like um in order to be in the business of yourself, you need to be in the business of others. You have to, yes, you have to believe in yourself. But I feel like when you really feel good about what you're doing is when it's about other people, not when it's about yourself. So I feel like I would I would like turn it around to say the to be in the business of other people. And somehow that I feel supports the business of yourself.

SPEAKER_02: 47:15

So the opposite of depression isn't happiness, it's service, right? Wow. So if you can go out and you uh help others, you fill up your cup. And that is being in the business of yourself, and I think that is how you can get into this like alignment. You know, with me, it's teaching yoga, it's meditation, it's providing a service for you doing interior, it's making experiences, it's impacting people in all of their senses, as you just said. For anybody, it could be anything, but it's also like how to ground down what kind of tactics do you use to ground down into yourself so that you can then fill up and pour into others. And I think that's what the business of yourself truly means to be. So, like when you are feeling flighty or you're feeling out of control, yeah, what is your main thing that you do? Whereas mine is yoga, other people run. I've got I've just released Carissa Dumfey today, and she was like, I go, I go out to the woods. I need nature, I need weights, I need something. What is yours? Excuse me.

SPEAKER_00: 48:30

Only now if you couch. I think when I'm feeling a little uh misaligned, yeah, and not quite myself, which I did for years, I really did feel like that. Um lacking is my spiritual time. Like, you know, life gets so busy, or I'll sit, I'll even still do it. Um, I'll sit with a good book, a good devotional that I'm really excited to read, and I'll sit in my bed and what will I do? It'll sit on my lap and I'll be on my phone. Scrolling design and stuff, really. But I noticed that when things just feel misaligned, that that is one huge thing. That um and the interesting thing is when I take the time to connect with my spirituality, and that could mean, you know, different things to different people. I'm a Christian, uh, um I'm a Christian who loves everyone else. I feel like we're a little bit right now confused about what Christianity should mean. Um, but to me, it means loving everyone else and treating them how how Christ would treat them and how uh he would love them. But I noticed that in my busyness, if I take the time to spiritually nurture myself, I still have time for everything else. And so yeah, I worry like, oh, I'm so busy, I don't have time to do it. But there's all there's there's still time for everything else. Um, if I put that first. Other things, like I started taking care of myself physically much better and have a beautiful community of women that I work out with, and we do bar and Pilates and yoga. Um plank on main. Shout out. I'll get there too. Yeah. I mean, if we're looking for a supportive community of women, that would definitely be a great place to start. But yeah, pour pouring into yourself spiritually, physically, emotionally, and being like self-aware, I think those are all things that fill you up so that you can be your best for other people. Yeah. Like I'm a better mom when I take care of myself, I'm a better wife when I take care of myself because I feel happier and I'm ready, um, I'm ready to serve other people when I'm filled up.

SPEAKER_02: 50:41

So you just mentioned the Trinity, like mind, body, and spirit. Yeah. And and that's your way, and that is perfect. And I love that because it's not the same for everybody. But if somebody needs a way, this is definitely one. And I love that you can open that for somebody who would maybe listening now or in the future, whatever. But there are a multitude of ways. But the thing is, and what the Buddha actually says, uh pick one seat. Pick one seat and then go in it and be all in it. Go all in on your one seat because when you are and and it could be physically, it could be like sitting in one cell in one spot, because you know, Buddhist meditation, monks, all things, one spot. Or it could be one seat. Pick your route, your Christianity, your whatever that is for you, and then go with it so that you can then learn and thrive and move through life and how it fits for you to fill you up to serve the humanity, like to bring in the humanity, which I love that. So you can uh look at life in so many different lenses and perspectives, yeah. Uh and I love that yours is exactly perfect for you, and that's amazing, you know? So, and that's how I think what drives success really is you've gotten your one, you've picked your one seat, you're the Christianity way, right? If I were to define mine, I would say it's Christianity without it being a particular religion. So it's not like uh I'm not Baptist or Buddha, Buddhist, what whatever. I'm not any of those things. I'm just me who believes in a Christ-like form.

SPEAKER_00: 52:32

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02: 52:33

You know, and that is love, and that is pure of loving others and serving other people, yeah.

SPEAKER_00: 52:40

Kindness. So, yeah. So share it, girl.

SPEAKER_02: 52:43

Share your love, share it with other people. It's easy to do when she's right beside me. But get me at 8 a.m. and I'm trying to get out the door with my child and you don't have his shoes on. I'm like, oh my god, how can I be more like you? Because right now I'm losing my mind. It comes and goes. And then it goes back. And you know what?

SPEAKER_00: 52:59

I think whatever someone's faith is and their mantra and their habits and what they do, I think so much of it comes down to how you treat other people. Because nobody really cares what you believe or what you do. Not at all. If you're not kind to them, they care about how you treat them. Yeah. They care about how you make them feel.

SPEAKER_02: 53:22

Yeah. I mean, at the end of the day, I hardly ever remember names. And it's I don't know if it's because I've told myself don't remember names ever, but it's an energy for me. And if you make if I feel good around people, I'll remember feeling good around them. I don't remember the particulars or what it was or what the exact quotes are. As a matter of fact, I say things backwards nine out of ten times. That's just me being me, you know. But it's also like I understand like how I feel though. And how you make people feel. Yeah. Which is yeah.

SPEAKER_00: 54:00

If you always feel good, hang out with this girl. Hang out with us together.

SPEAKER_02: 54:05

Oh well, thank you for hanging out with me today. Oh my gosh. Look at this beautiful, beautiful design. You have a market, right? Online. How do people find you? How do they find what you got going on?

SPEAKER_00: 54:17

Well, I'm in the middle of a that looks really good on you. I mean, I'm in the middle of sort of a brand identity refresh, but I do have some work on my website. It's lbdstudio.net. Lbd like little black dress or like Liz B Tac Design. And then on social media, Instagram, Facebook, Liz BTac Design Studio. Yeah, you can see what I've done, what I'm doing, what's next. I try to keep it real there and um positive. I feel like we could use a little more of that everywhere we look. To join her community. If you're in my community and you're listening, join Rachel's community. Fitzen. You're just gonna get the best of both worlds. My gosh.

SPEAKER_02: 54:57

Thank you so much, Liz. I love you.