20 Years Navigating a Design Firm: From the Paper Portfolio Era to the Instagram Age with Lisa Staton

Season 6 of The Interior Collective is brought to you by Materio.An operating system built specifically for design projects—from start to finish. That’s what Materio is.From concept to handoff, client billing to procurement—it’s one connected workflow. Try it for free.It’s intuitive. It’s fast. The Interior Collective listeners get 50% off their first month. Just head to getmaterio.com to claim the offer.Subscribe now at patreon.com/theinteriorcollective Welcome back to The Interior Collective. I’m your host, Anastasia Casey, and today’s guest is someone I’ve admired for years—Lisa Staton of Lisa Staton Interior Design. Based in Seattle with deep roots in the East Coast, Lisa brings a timeless sensibility to every space she touches. But what makes this conversation so special is Lisa’s perspective after two decades of running her own design firm. We’re digging into what it means to evolve as a designer—through economic highs and lows, through shifts in client expectations, and through the massive transformation of our industry from physical portfolios to the Instagram age. Lisa’s insight is both refreshingly grounded and incredibly relevant, especially as so many of us are recalibrating what this “new normal” looks like after the Covid boom. We talk about staying creatively inspired in a world of algorithms, the art of sourcing outside the digital mainstream, and how to build a design career that actually lasts. Whether you’re just starting out or 15 years in, Lisa’s perspective is a masterclass in longevity and intentionality. Let’s get into it.