the bossbabe podcast - 28. Finding Purpose and Fulfillment in Work, Home, and Self with Farah Merhi

Episode Date: August 7, 2019

In this incredible episode, co-Founder Danielle Canty is joined by Farah Merhi, the Founder and CEO of Inspire Me! Home Decor. Farah runs a highly successful company with over 5.6 million followers on Instagram. She sells an exclusive line on QVC and her home collections can be found on Wayfair and on her own online shop. Together Danielle and Farah dive into a super candid chat where they go deep into finding a sense of purpose and a career path that fulfills you, what self-development really looks like, and why it’s vital (and so powerful) to have a support system around you as an entrepreneur. Farah shares her insights into how to be a success at whatever you do, how she went from confusion to clarity in her journey, and how to maintain a true work-life balance. You will absolutely love this interview with Farah if you’re looking to live a fulfilled life that’s aligned with your passion and intrinsic values. This episode is brought to you by The Société. Join the community and learn how to start and scale your business at http://bit.ly/2GM2Xk8

To be a success in what you do, you have to have drive, you have to have passion, but you have to bring in something that's unique and different to the table. Drive is very important, and this is why passion is important and love for what you do is important because that's what's going to take you and get you through these hard times. When you're stepping into the entrepreneur world is you need to believe in you before anybody else. Welcome to the Boss Babe podcast, a place where we share with you the real behind the scenes of building successful businesses, achieving peak performance, and learning how to balance it all. I'm Danielle, co-CEO of Boss Babe and your host for this week's episode where I'm joined by Farah Mehrhey, the founder and CEO of Inspire Me Home Decor. Farah runs a super successful

company with over 5.6 million followers on Instagram. She sells an exclusive line on QVC and her home collections can be found on Wayfair and on her own online shop. Not only is Farah super lovely but she really is a truly inspiring woman and it was an absolute honor to dive into a really candid chat where we discussed so many topics from trying things and changing direction, mummy guilt as Farah has fought to balance entrepreneur life with being a mum of three, how to turn a house into a home as that is definitely one of Farah's genius zones and we also spoke about how to create a productive work environment. So the Boss Babe quote for this episode or Boss Babe question really I should say is is what if everything you're going through is

setting you up for everything you've asked for because you're here in this interview and you'll hear from father's story that we both agree that failure is a perception when you learn from mistakes we can really argue it's no longer a failure at all and so for any of you who are going through the entrepreneurial journey right now and are experiencing the highs and the lows, I really want to tell you about the society because the society is our community for female entrepreneurs wanting to start or scale a business. It's the place for boss babes to connect, build and grow and we are so excited that we are opening the doors again for a very short period of time. So are you looking for a community of like-minded women or are you feeling like there is so much to do and learn about building your business that you don't even know where to start and would you like a step-by-step

plan and framework to walk you through it to help you every step of the way? If you find yourself saying yes to any of these then come and join Natalie and I and your future business besties in the society today. Honestly, guys, it's the most amazing, supportive, motivating place to build your business online. Every single month, we release a brand new success kit, which is taught by an expert in their field. We've got things like LinkedIn, Pinterest, Facebook ads, finances, branding guides, partnership guides and so much more covered and if you don't even know what you want to do your business in, you just know that you want to start a business, then we've got that covered too because we have a whole section dedicated to helping you find your

purpose. And if that wasn't enough, we've also got trainings on how to go live on video, trainings on how to sell, literally most things you've ever wanted to know or need to know to help you start and scale your business. And all of this is just $34. Natalie and I do mentoring calls in there, there's an exclusive Facebook group that we hang out in, lots going on so that you feel so, so supported. So if like lots of people, you're thinking this is a complete no brainer for $34 a month, you have access to all these resources and you want to join, don't miss out while the doors are open and you can find out more information at thesociety.co. That's T-H-E-S-O-C-I-E-T-E dot co before the doors close

and you can sign up today. A boss babe is unapologetically ambitious and paves the way for herself and other women to rise, keep going, and fighting on. She is on a mission to be her best self in all areas.

It's just believing in yourself. Confidently stepping outside her comfort zone to create her own version of success. Hi Farah and welcome to the Boss Babe podcast. I am so excited about having you on the show today because your story is really inspiring and although we chat now and you are super successful and have this huge audience and your products and you've been featured on QVC and Salon Wayfair. I know that it's not always been a simple journey for you. And I know that you've been down many paths before finding what truly lit you up. So I'd love for you to tell us a little bit more about your journey to inspire me. Thank you so much for having me, Danielle, on your podcast. I am such a huge fan of Boss Babe.

And so it's such an honor to be here and to be on a platform that really promotes entrepreneurship for women because it's so hard sometimes to have that support system. And it's a huge plus when there's a platform that women like me can turn to for inspiration. And sometimes that push that we need to just confirm that what we're doing

is the right thing. So thank you for doing that for us. I would love to share with you my journey and how I started in hopes that I could inspire other women, because I do know that a lot of women are probably in my shoes. I hear it every day from a lot of women that reach out to me, especially on social media. And when I started, I didn't really have that one person pushing me. So I hope I can be that for anyone that's listening to this podcast today. When I started Inspire Me Home Decor, I was in a place of confusion. I didn't know what I wanted to do with myself and I felt lost in this world. Although I was married or still am married to my amazing husband. At the time I had two kids. I have three now.

I was very fulfilled in my marriage life, in my family life. So it felt, I felt guilty and it felt unfair that I would even have that thought of feeling unfulfilled. But really what it came down to was my career path. I was not feeling fulfilled in the career path and what I wanted to do with my life. You know, just my sense of purpose in this world. The career path that I was not feeling fulfilled in the career path and what I wanted to do with my life. You know, just my sense of purpose in this world. The career path that I had chosen for myself was to go to law school. I had enrolled in school to get my political science degree, and I was three semesters short of graduating and then starting to apply for law school when I realized that I was just going through the motions and I was doing what I thought

I wanted to do, but not what I knew I wanted to do. There was no passion and love for this career path. It was just, that's what I want to do. So I decided at the time that it was time for me to take a step back and really figure myself out. I needed to give myself a little bit of time to understand what it is that drives me. What is it that makes me happy? I needed to give myself a little bit of time to understand what it is that drives me. What is it that makes me happy? I wanted to wake up every morning feeling excited and looking forward to my day career-wise. I dabbled into a few businesses here and there. I call it my self-discovery phase. That phase really taught me a lot about myself as we were remodeling my husband and I we decided we wanted to remodel my main floor at my home that's when I had my aha moment and I

realized that this is my passion interior design and home decor because it took me back to when I was a child growing up in my family's home and And it reminded me of growing up around my mom who truly had a passion for interior design, but never went to school for it. You know, we'd buy a house and she'd make it into a gorgeous, beautiful, warm, inviting, cozy home for her family. And it's a feeling that really resonated with me, but I didn't realize how much until I owned my own home and I started remodeling my home. And that was my aha moment. That's when I realized this is what I want to do for the rest of my life.

It's got to be around interior design. It's got to be around home decor. And that's when I launched Inspire Me Home Decor on Instagram to document my home decor or my remodel, sorry, and my makeover journey in my home, but to also share images that really inspired me with others in hopes that it would inspire them too. But my angle was a little different than what I was seeing out there on social media. What I was already seeing out there was a lot of the modern aesthetic and a lot of the traditional aesthetic. And what I was presenting was a different angle where I was telling people home decor can be glamorous and it can be elegant, but it can still be very cozy and warm and inviting. Glamorous doesn't have to mean untouchable. And that was something that I think resonated with people because they weren't really getting

that from anyone else. So that is key here to be a success in what you do. You have to have drive, you have to have passion, but you have to bring in something that's unique and different to the table. Oh my goodness. There's so many takeaways in this. Now we always promise the listeners, we'll really like double down into things and ask more questions. And I just want to take you back a couple of steps because something you said to me, I feel like a lot of listeners will relate to. And you talked about dabbling into other few businesses and that phase taught you a lot. I always say you should honor the struggle because I think when people are starting their entrepreneurial journey or even starting their

career or business, people just think, okay, you know, I want it done yesterday. And I think just really honoring that journey is really important. So how did you allow yourself to dabble? Did you start other businesses and they failed? Or was it just kind of like you did a little bit and you're like, not really committing to it? Like, what did that phase look like for you? So it was actually a mix of two. I agree with you 100%. I say honor the process. And I don't personally consider a business failure as a failure as much as I like to see it as a learning experience. What worked in that business that I should take away with me and what didn't work that

I need to leave behind to better myself in the new business and the new venture that I'm about to step into. My first business venture didn't work at all. You know, it was just something that I was dabbling into. But what I learned about myself is the fact that I really wanted to do this, that I was determined to figure myself out. And so I went into my next business, which was actually a huge success. But about eight months into the business is when I realized that this really wasn't it, pretty much. It was not what my calling was and it was just not what made me truly happy, but it was a great business model. So I sold the business to somebody who was very interested in

it and I made money out of it. And what I did is I took away that business model and what worked from it. And it was a learning experience for me. It was part of my growth. And so after I launched Inspire Me and when it turned into a brand, a lot of what I learned from my journey and getting to where I am today, I took with me and I now implement in my day to day. But what I would say to those who, you know, start a business and think maybe a week later or a month later, oh my gosh, I've put my blood, sweat and tears into this. Why am I not seeing results?

Why am I still falling on my face? I can attest to this. It is not easy. It is so hard, but it's worth it. One, you're working for yourself. Two, you're doing something that makes you happy. And three, at the end of the day, the wins is always going to make up for all of the falls

and all of the disappointments and all of the failures that you're experiencing. You know, going back to what I was saying earlier, it's all about perspective. Are you seeing falling and not succeeding in a certain way as a failure? Are you learning from it and improving on it? Drive is very important. And this is why passion is important and love for what you do is important because that's what's going to

take you and get you through these hard times. Let's take a quick pause to talk about my new favorite all-in-one platform, Kajabi. You know I've been singing their praises lately because they have helped our business run so much smoother and with way less complexity which I love. Not to mention our team couldn't be happier because now everything is in one place so it makes collecting data, creating pages, collecting payment, all the things so much simpler. One of our mottos at Boss Babe is simplify to amplify and Kajabi has really helped us do that this year. So of course I needed to share it here with you. It's the perfect time of year to do a bit of spring cleaning in your business, you know, get rid of the complexity and instead really focus on getting organized and making things

as smooth as possible. I definitely recommend Kajabi to all of my clients and students. So if you're listening and haven't checked out Kajabi yet, now is the perfect time to do so because they are offering Boss Babe listeners a 30-day free trial. Go to kajabi.com slash Boss Babe to claim your 30-day free trial. That's kajabi.com slash Boss Babe. I couldn't agree more. And I think when you're so passionate about something, it isn't really, I don't know if you feel the same, but quite often don't really feel it is work. Like my husband will sometimes say like, oh, stop working. I'm like, I'm not working. I want to do this. You know, I'm really enjoying it. And I think when you have that passion for anything, and I do really agree with you and what you're saying around, it is hard to be an entrepreneur

because I think it's hard in some ways because you care so much about it. Like it's not even about the money at times. It's about the mission and the purpose and the difference that you're making. And this almost like the birthing of this baby that you want to take out to the world. And yeah, I mean, it's crazy because it's almost like you're growing this infant and it's going into its toddler phase and it's going into a walking phase, becoming a teenager. So it's like you're literally growing this infant and making it into a success that I know you can make it into. And, you know, to be honest with you, Danielle, I really think that we need to appreciate the blood, sweat and tears that we put into

any business, because how else would you appreciate all of the wins and all of the success that's going to come along? That's the only way you're going to appreciate it, because you of all people will know how much you've had to sacrifice and how much you've had to put and invest into this business to help it grow. And you're going to cherish it that much more. Yeah, I really agree with that. I think that that's what highs and lows are there for, so that we can feel the good times. We won't recognize the good times unless we've experienced the bad times. And otherwise life would just be a bit mediocre, right? So I think it's really important. Yeah. I mean, look, at the end of the day, I get a lot of people saying, you know, you're so lucky that, you know, you did this business that is so successful now.

And yes, I do consider myself blessed and lucky, but please know that this wasn't something that grew overnight. I've been working on this since back in 2012. I've sacrificed so much to get to where I am. I've lost time with my kids. I've lost time with my parents and my family, but it was for a greater good. My family know that they're my number one priority. My kids know they're my number one priority as well as my husband. But they see what I'm doing and they see that I'm working towards, you know, a passion and something I truly love.

And my goals are big. And so they support me. I have that support, which I can't do all this without all of their support system and them backing me up. But I'm also acting as a role model for my kids to show them that with passion and drive, anything can happen and you need to go for it. Don't let

anybody hold you back. Don't let anybody say you can't do it. Just believe in yourself and you can do it. But again, it's not overnight. It's a learning experience. It's a lot of sleepless nights. It's a lot of stress. It's a lot of, oh my God, am I doing the right thing? I don't think I can do this anymore. There's going to be self-doubt for sure. It's kind of like a friend holding your hand, telling you, you can do this. And I always say, try to surround yourself with people that believe in you as much as you believe in yourself, because these are going to be the people that are going to say, what are you doing? Get off that floor and keep working towards that dream. That's my husband for me, by the way. I was going to ask actually, who is your support network? Like, who do you get that from? Obviously

your husband, anyone else who's been like a real support for you as you've been building this? Because like you say, it's not easy building a business. The sad part of it all is not everybody understands what you're doing. I've heard comments like, well, you know, your husband works. And why do you need to go and work? Why don't you stay at home with your kids? Not to say that my kids don't fulfill my life. They are my everything.

I've always been the kind of person where I need something for me. I need to do something for myself. And I want to be that example for my daughters to let them understand that nothing should hold you back and you should do what makes you happy. So I have a very tight knit family. My parents are a huge support system. They are a where, you know, I've crawled into a fetal position and laying on the floor saying, oh my God, what am I doing? And, you know, and second guessing myself. He's the one who's giving me that kick in the butt and saying, get off the floor. Look at what you've done so far.

Believe in yourself. I believe in you. And really getting me to really see everything that I've done and really pushing me to keep going. My parents, same thing, you know, on those days where I come in, I'm exhausted. I'm just second guessing myself like, oh my gosh, you know, my kids, they need me. They look at me and they say, your kids are fine. Your kids are going to school. They have their friends. They have a full life. They are healthy. They see you and you're their role model. Yeah, mommy guilt is always going to be there, but I need to be easy on myself and I need to take it

a little easier on myself that way. I think it's really amazing that we're having this conversation because actually I think this is something that a lot of entrepreneurs really fight with, particularly in the early stages when you might be starting your business and maybe you're not getting the financial rewards. And then you're finding that you're having to justify it to friends or family okay yeah I'm not coming out tonight because I want to work on my business or do you know what I'm really sorry but I want to get up early because I want to work on my business and I think there is a really fine balance and I think it's sometimes we're blessed with people who really get it and then some of us might be more challenged around like the support systems that we have do you have any advice for those people who don't necessarily find that they have that

support system naturally? Because I think that obviously from what you're saying, you have this amazing support system with your husband and your parents and your children, which is just incredible. And I feel like I have it with my husband and my family too, but obviously they've always supported me. But when I said I wanted to start this new business and I wanted to work all these hours and I wanted to have a complete career change in a complete different direction, it was a little bit like, really? Why? You know, same with you on your journey when you were kind of at college,

et cetera, and you did this kind of like U-turn, like how do you feel that you've helped people support you? You know, when I first decided to take a step back and drop out of, you know, my career choice originally, it was not easy at first because not because they weren't supporting me, my parents and my husband per se, but it was almost like, what are you doing? I mean, think about it. I've invested so much time, so much money into my career path. Like it was literally like an overnight thing where I'm just like, I am done. It wasn't an overnight thing for me, because it's something that I've always, you know, it was always in the back of my mind, but it was an overnight thing for them because it was something that I just dropped on them out of nowhere. It's great when you have other people believing in you, but what's most important and what's crucial when you're stepping into the entrepreneur world is you need to believe in you before anybody else. Other people believing in you is great.

That's a huge plus. It's a bonus. But the crucial part is you need to believe in yourself so that others can believe in you. And so when they saw how determined I was. And when they saw how much I truly wanted to do this. And go through this. That's when the support came through. And that's when they're like okay well you know what we're here. We're behind you. Go for it. If it makes you happy.

But I will tell you if they didn't support me at all. I would still do it. Because I believed in myself. And I believed in my journey. And I believe in what I'm doing. And I believe in where I want to go. And how far I want to go. But I will say this, this wasn't a journey without loss of friends. Going into entrepreneurship, you might unfortunately get into situations where you're like, oh, I'm alone or, oh, I thought you were a close friend or a close family member that,

you know, would support me through this. And now all of a sudden they're not there anymore. But that's OK. You're doing this for you. This is for your own future and for your own happiness. So sometimes you just need to just get over it and just keep plowing through. Sometimes what I do is there's some apps that you can get that you can record like words of affirmation on. And then it automatically puts it to music and plays it back to you so when I find my own I'm really like a boss babe positive mood I'll like record some like awesome affirmations tell myself how awesome I am and then on those days because let's face it

we all have them where you do have those moments like oh my goodness can I do this and you might need a little bit of coverage when you've always got your own back because you've always got that voice and it's really powerful. And we do a lot of affirmations in the society, our membership, we have like these screensavers that we do the same, just some really strong words of encouragement because you have to have your own back

and you have to support yourself. It is a hard journey. And so we always make these contingency plans in the days we're not necessarily feeling it. Absolutely. And you know what I say here too is I've gotten a lot of women who've reached out to me and said, how do you stay motivated? Because it is hard, especially when you're juggling so much. And sometimes it's a balancing act of trying to figure everything out. How can you balance it all? How can you juggle it all every day?

So it can feel overwhelming. What I say is don't lose sight of your goals and why you started this. That is going to be crucial here because in the day-to-day and in the busy life that we go into day in and day out, sometimes we can easily lose sight of our goals, our ambitions, and just why we started it all. So what I do for myself is I've actually have it printed out and I have it

framed in my office, why I started my business, what my long-term goals are, what my short-term goals are, and affirmations that are printed out that I look at every time I feel, you know, a little doubtful or every time I feel like, hmm, what am I doing here? Or I feel like I've lost sight of what my goals are because it is overwhelming. And, you know, there are going to be days where you're feeling defeated. Those are the days you need to go back to those moments where they're reminders of how strong you are, how capable you are and why you're doing this. That's amazing. And I just want to take you back to a sentence you said earlier. You said your mother bought a house and she made it a home.

And I just want to ask a question for a lot of moms out there. Like, how do you make that home for your children? But how do you explain to them the days when you aren't there? Well, how do you like allow them to see your ambition and to follow your dreams and feel like they're part of that? So I have a 13 year old who's just turning 14 and I have an 11 year old. So they're both girls, 11 year old. And then my son who's four is still a little younger. And it's hard sometimes to explain to them that I can't be there all the time and that

I'm traveling or I'm at work in the office with my team members plowing through and then coming home by dinner time. But really, ultimately, you know, we have a very open ended conversation in my home where we all sit down. And if there's any times where they're feeling like they need to talk to me, I always welcome it and say, if you have any questions, come to me. If you're feeling like I'm not there, come and talk to me so we could see what we could do. But I've made it very clear to them that my priority is always them. But they get to see day in and day out the rewards of all of that hard work. For example, being on QVC with my home decor collection, watching me on TV, they get to see

what I do day in and day out as I design these collections and then finally going on QVC and promoting it. And then they're selling out while I'm on air. There's your reward right there. They get to see, you know, what I'm doing. And then also I always say your home is your sanctuary. And it's for me personally, it's where my inner peace starts. It's, it gets me motivated when it's clean and when it's organized, it gets me motivated to get out and really, you know, be productive that day. So I try to instill that in them. Make your beds every day, clean around you. A clean house promotes, you know, a healthy lifestyle. It makes you feel at peace. Being able to say, let's clean up this family room that literally is covered with all of my designs. My home is

sprinkled with the results of all of my hard work and how I started and where I am today. It's insane. And they get to see that. They get to live in it. They get to experience it every day with me. Well, my opinion is you'll be absolutely incredible inspiration for your children. And I'm just, or any woman out there with children, I just think it's truly inspiring. And I just think what incredible role models you all are. And I think anyone trying to go out of their comfort zone and create something is just truly incredible. You know, honestly, you're doing it for them. And that's, that's the main thing. And I always say that to them, you know, I say, I'm doing all this for you. And in whatever form that comes through in the future, I don't know whether they're going to

join the company, whether they're going to be a part of this. I don't know. I would never force them. But in whatever way it is, all this hard work is for my happiness, but it's for them as well. And so I'm hoping that they're going to see that and I'm hoping that they're going to appreciate it at some point in life. And I do see it in them. I really do. You know, when my 14 year old comes to me, like she follows me on social media and she gets to see, you know, sometimes when I'm featured on TV or I'm featured in magazines, she'll come up to me and say, Mama, I'm very proud of you. I'm proud of what you've done. You know, my journey and my struggles is something that I don't hide from them, something that

I share with them, because if they ever find themselves in that situation when they're older, I want them to have the tools to figure it out for themselves and do something about it the way I did. Life happens for you, not to you. We do have so much control over our destinies. And I think when you can show that to children and say, look, you can change things. That's like truly incredible. And like what a life lesson to show them too. So talking of children and home and businesses, let's talk about what the difference is between like a house and a home and how it can really set you up for good mindset and performance with regards to business. Like what's your take on this?

Absolutely. In my book, there's a huge difference between a house and a home. For me, a house means a structure that, you know, has windows and doors and walls, and you just willy-nilly throw stuff in there. And a home is when you infuse and you sprinkle your own taste and style and personality in that home. You put love in it through the furniture you pick, through your color palette you choose, through different pieces in there that really creates that home, that sanctuary that you can enjoy and build memories with. And I think it's crucial to make your house your home because quite honestly, when my house is not clean and organized, when my house is not well designed, I feel like I'm anxious and I feel like I'm stressed out and I can't focus on the task at hand.

When on those days my home is clean and organized and everything is in its place, once I've completely and fully designed my home to really reflect what I love, my style, my color palette, and really my personality, it's become a sanctuary. Every day after a long day, I know, you know, no matter how I'm feeling when I'm stressed out or there's a lot going on in the back of my head, I know that my home is waiting for me, my sanctuary, my oasis waiting for me. And when I walk through those doors, I can truly just sigh a sigh of relief. I can breathe. And now I'm in there with my kids cooking, lighting up candles, enjoying fresh flowers all around the house, you know, sitting back on our cozy sofa with our cozy throw blankets,

just building memories with my kids, playing board games, watching a movie, and then finally diving into my bed. I make my bed every morning, by the way, I think that's very essential to a productive day. And then just ending the day on a positive note. Everybody is on a different budget, etc. But it is really important. I think that everyone should be blessed enough to have a sanctuary, right? A place that they call home and it's where they can retreat to. And you mentioned a couple of things like candles and flowers and use the word cozy. Is that like things that are really good for us to do? Is like have candles in the house or fresh flowers? Like what is the impact of that? Going back to you mentioning

budget, Danielle, I honestly don't think you need to have a big budget to create that sanctuary or make a house a home. There's so many things out there that you can buy that are affordable. It's all a matter of what you choose to bring in. You know, it's all about the details. That's the main thing. Always focus on the details. When we think about cozy, you know, warm throw blankets that add texture and coziness in a family room or in your bedroom, you know, a nice bedding set that makes you happy and want to just dive into your bed at the end of the day, sprinkling candles around your home so that, you know, after a long, stressful day, you can light up your candles and just enjoy some Zen time and then fresh flowers. So it's all about the small things. It's all about the

details. It's not about like what furniture you buy, or it's not about big things. It's about the small things that you bring in, the vignettes that you design, the vignettes that you create sprinkled around the house that really make a house a home and really creates that sanctuary and that feel of an oasis. And that makes you feel special when you're in there. A sense of inner peace starts from your home, starts in your home before you start your day. Waking up and being able to just make your bed, getting dressed, making sure your house is, you know, kind of tidy and all set to go and walking out that door gives you a sense of accomplishments and it puts you on the right mindset and on the right foot to just really

tackle the day and come back and just relax in this space. There was a study done as well that showed making your bed increases productivity throughout the day because you've already accomplished an activity. So you're already in the mindset of accomplishing things, which I, I think like when we're entrepreneurs or we're ambitious women, and we're always trying to go to that next level, it is these little things that actually might seem like completely irrelevant, but actually like when you add them all together, I always have the glass of water by my bed because I always want to wake up in the morning and have this glass of water because I know that it helps with the feelings of tiredness because then you're hydrating and I always make my bed and having those routines and those little simple things

makes my bedroom feel like a home. These are like my little things and I like incense burning at night because it just relaxes me and soothes me like before I go to bed. Routine. All about the routine. It's what makes you feel good. You know, again, your home should spark a sense of happiness and joy, and it should give you a sense of inner peace. And how do you do that through the routines, through lighting up that candle, through, you know, unmaking your bed and getting in there and just diving in there, whether it's like cleaning, whether it's tidying, whatever it is that makes you happy, you should do it because that's always strive for at the end of the day, right? Just doing

little things here and there that just makes us feel at peace inside. So I want to ask you about working from home. So a lot of our listeners will be working at home in some kind of capacity. Have you got any tips to this, whether they have like a home office or sometimes people don't have a home office and they're kind of like scooped up in a corner of the living room or, you know, on the sofa. How can people create a working environment that kind of doesn't take over their whole house? That's a good question, actually. I worked from home, by the way, before we opened up the Inspire Me Home Decor headquarters. And, you know, it was very essential for me to have my own space. If you have a room that you can dedicate, whether it's an extra bedroom in your home, it was supposed to be a guest bedroom, but really you don't have a lot of guests coming

in, maybe transforming that into a study or an office space. Or if you, you know, you're living in an apartment or your space is limited, that's okay. I think you can still create that space, whether it be on your kitchenette dining table or maybe even an empty wall. If you have an empty wall, bringing in an office desk and then creating that office space that is for you, no matter where it is, just make it you by styling it and making it special, maybe bringing in some organizational tools to keep you organized, whether a big room or a small space. I don't think it matters. I think all you

need is a desk and a chair. You need maybe a pretty artwork that you can put against the wall and then maybe some fresh flowers and you're good to go. The amount of space you have is going to correlate to how productive you are. As long as you feel like you have that space you can call your own and staying organized and making it look pretty so you can be productive. Do you have any tips around keeping office spaces or areas organized? Oh yeah. I'm a huge believer in organizational tools. Like for example, containers where you can organize your pens and your pencils, organizational tools that also where you can, you know, keep your paperwork organized. Drawers is huge. I mean, yeah, we need a desk,

but make sure that it has a lot of drawers so you can store things away. Look at apps where you can keep yourself organized. Maybe it's calendar apps or apps that will give you reminders and keep you organized in terms of meetings and what needs to be done. If you're like me, my assistant's always like, she has an app where she

has a to-do list that's ready to go, but I like to write things down. I don't know why. I'm a very traditional person that way where I just like to write things down. So I have this really cute notebook that's for my to-do list that keeps me on track. So, you know, all of these things, small things here and there will keep you productive in the office space. Basically, I have this thing where obviously I'm multitasking most of the time. So I have to have a piece of paper by my computer because things will pop into my head that I can't deal with right now, but I need to write it down. And so come like the end of the week, I have these pieces of random notes and sometimes even look at them like, what was that one? Oh, I remember I did that. I took that off and put it in the bin.

I just think those little rituals that we have the most satisfying piece of it all for me is when I can put a line to cross out something off my tiktok I think there is going to be so many listeners who are probably giggling and relate to this right now because definitely we've had this conversation in society a lot. So Farah, how can the listeners find out more about you? How can they follow you? How can they read up about you? Let me know where they can find more. So I am on Instagram. You can find me under my brand page, which is inspire me home decor or my personal page, which is Farrah J. Murhy, where you'll get to see more like behind the scenes and my day to day life, but also my own personal home, our website, inspire me home decor.com. Or I have a book coming out, which I'm

truly excited about in October. And we'll be doing a meet and greet and book tour coming up soon. So I'm so excited about that. I am so excited about the book. Tell me a little bit more about it. What kind of book is it going to be? I've always wanted to write a design book because for so many years, I've gotten so many frequently asked questions by a lot of my followers or my readers on my blog that I've wanted to answer them all in one space. And it really is there. The goal for the book is for it to be a guide for the homeowner or for the reader. We're facilitating and making it very easy to learn about how to design your space and making it your own and how

to not only furnish, but also create little vignettes and really finish off the details that make or break a room. There's a little bit of humor in there. It's not a tedious read, which I've always been turned off about when it comes to design books. It's about making it fun. It's about making it exciting. And it's about making it easy.

But when you're not reading the book, it's also a beautifully designed cover that can be used as a coffee table book, which was really important for me because I love styling my coffee tables with coffee table books. Whoever buys the book decides, okay, well, I want to remodel my kitchen, for example. And, you know, I'm a little confused and don't know how to go about this process. They can easily pick up the book and hopefully it will guide them through the process. Or for example, I would love to spruce up my bedroom

and don't know where to begin. They can again, easily refer to the book and it would guide them and give them a to-do list to really transform that space and give it a refresh or a makeover that they would love and enjoy in that space. That's ultimately what the book is all about. Amazing.

I can't wait for that to come out in October. And definitely, is it going to be available to pre-order? It's already been available to pre-order and it's been so exciting to see how many people pre-ordered. It was number one bestseller on Amazon for a full week. It was number one bestseller in movers and shakers on Amazon.

So my followers on Instagram, I call them my Insta family. They really came through for me. And so it was so exciting. And it was a moment where, you know, we were talking about this a little earlier, Danielle, where it's like, you know, that moment where you're like, oh my God, everything I've worked for is like, it's come to fruition. And just seeing the excitement of the pre-orders and the excitement of my Insta fam and going there and pulling through for me and showing me their love and their support was really out of this world. Oh, that's amazing. And honestly, any of our listeners who are not already following you, I definitely encourage you guys to. Farah's Instagram account is so beautiful and there

are just so many amazing pieces. And I love the little routines that you do where you show about how you unmake your bed and things like that. It's just really, really amazing. I love it. So thank you so much, Farah. It's been an absolute pleasure having you on as a guest and we look forward to seeing you soon. Thank you so much. It was such an honor. If you enjoyed this episode, we would love it if you subscribed and left us a review. Let us know what you enjoyed what your main takeaways were and who you'd like to see appear on the show as a special thanks we'll send you a copy of our boss babe 25 now this is an awesome resource it's the 25

essential things that you need for personal and professional growth we've included everything from must-have products to books to rituals. This guide literally covers it all and I know you're going to love it. So if you want your copy, simply leave us a review and then send a screenshot of your review to podcast at bossbabe.com. We love bringing you experts and interviews from other successful business owners so they can talk about their experiences and share information tips and what has worked for them however remember that the opinions or advice of our guests and as the hosts should not be taken as personal actionable advice and is given as general information and education only please always remember to consult

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