03/08/2026
The recent discourse and decisions around the Hanifa brand have me thinking about all the times designer friends and even myself have encounter a project that just didnāt go or end well. Itās a thing rarely covered in the design press and I imagine that this has come to be true for a few reasons.
The guilt you feel as an entrepreneur thinking of all the things you could have done differently.
The shame of not measuring up to an industry standard, your standard, or even your peers. Because fake it til you make it becomes this prison of perfection entrepreneurs rarely discuss. We work, especially Black entrepreneurs, work really hard to have it all figured out.
When you build something thereās this āIām a bad personā feeling when things fall short. But in reality most of the time weāre just human. So I imagine most stay quiet for the two reasons above most but thereās also the
I donāt want to give the next clients any ideas on getting over. Because we very much do live in a deep scammer entitled era and sometimes silence feels safe. Or I donāt want to appear unprofessional in responding.
I really appreciate Hanifa for not allowing the ebs and flow of business silence her. It took real courage.
Now imagine the strife of Black Interiors designers offering a service thatās very much new to most of our target demographic. Imagine introducing the world of wholesale, furniture, actual luxury, mark ups, flat rates, drop shipping, freight, trade only, white glove, full service v. Virtual⦠in a microwave era.
Weāve made drastic changes to the ways we charge and do business this year with everything above considered. And so far I hate it. Yup! I hate explaining it, I hate implementing it, but doing the same thing and expecting different results is crazy so here we are doing our part to be better.
Adjust those contracts, hold the line on those business boundaries, put your foot down, accommodate within the parameters of your process, give yourself grace, give the uneducated clients the resources they need to be successful, and find a peer to confide in cause trust me youāre not alone.