If you know Megan, then you know she has an eye for detail and a passion and drive for helping clients get the most out of their property investments with her full range of interior design services for both residential and commercial properties.
Spotlight on Business Magazine caught up, which is not easy to do especially on a dirt track, with this energetic and adventurist from Newfoundland to learn more about the person behind Trim Design Interiors.
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Spotlight on Business: Tell us a little about yourself, your hobbies, what you like to do in your spare time when you are not helping clients get the most out of their property investments?
MC: I am 42 years old and married to a surfer dude for the last decade. We have 3 awesomely wild kids and 3
rescue dogs.
As a child, my brothers and I were lucky enough to travel the world with our parents. Our dad was in the Canadian military and our parents were always up for an adventure!
When I’m not busy with my family and not dressing houses up to hit the real estate market I’m trying to take part in my life’s passion; I am an animal activist doing my part to end animal exploitation. I am a member of the St. John’s Animal Save, a volunteer with www.challenge22.com, and a board member for Boarding For Rescues & Animal Welfare – an amazing animal rescue group in South Texas that rescues and rehomes hundreds of homeless dogs and cats a year.
My dream job is a professional AMA motocross racer, so in my spare time I go to the motocross track and work on that. I know I’ll have to stick to my day job, but a girl can dream and keep practicing, right (Megan says with a laugh)?
Tells us about your professional experience before you were bitten by the entrepreneurial bug.
MC: I completed the 3-year Business Management Accounting Program at College of the North Atlantic. From there I lucked into a job with a company that I will always consider myself fortunate to have worked for. I was a Business Analyst with Provincial Aerospace (PAL) for 6 years until my family moved to Texas.
What was the driving force that made you want to become an entrepreneur and start your own business?
MC: It was during our stay in Texas that I put pen to paper and started to plan my business. It seemed to be light-
years away since I was far from home with 2 kids under 2. As soon as we moved back home to Newfoundland, everything started to fall into place. I wanted to do what I love as a job. The thought of making that happen was so exciting to me. The timing was finally right.
What was the inspiration behind Trim Design? How do you keep up to date with the latest trends industry plus know what is going to be a classic look or piece?
MC: I have always loved decorating, furnishing homes, deciding on paint colours, etc. Myself, my husband Jason Callahan, and my mother Ann Ring came up with a plan of attack. Each with our own distinct roles in the business, Trim Design quickly became what it is today.
On the design side, we wanted to help people bring their ideas to fruition. The goal is to make the final product one a homeowner will love every time they walk into the room. Everybody knows what they like but putting it together and making everything flow can be a more difficult task. That is where Trim Design comes in. On the staging side, I wanted to give each home the added touch that creates a welcoming and inspirational experience for buyers, showcases the home, and shows off its full potential. The fact that I could help people in these areas as my job was a dream come true.
While it is important to stay on trend, every job is different and needs its own unique touch. When we figure out what look, style, and character will best represent each home we execute the plan and wait to see the sold sign.
You offer more than just staging services can you tell us a little more about the different services that you offer?
MC: We offer real estate staging – vacant house. It can be difficult to see the full potential of an empty space. No matter how nice a house may be, without depth and emotion, a house may not have that ‘dream home’ feeling to buyers. We will perform the full staging of the house to maximize the interest from potential buyers. We will supply all furniture, wall art and accent pieces. The result will maximize the space, showcase the layout, and highlight the selling features.
We also offer virtual staging. We take photos and measurements of your vacant home and using our virtual staging program, we ‘stage’ the selected rooms with virtual furniture and accents.
For those that would like to do it themselves we offer staging consultation or DIY tutorial. A staging consultation
consists of a thorough tour of the home, complete with an in-depth discussion to point out areas to accentuate what will make the home most appealing to potential buyers. I leave the homeowner with a detailed to-do list to complete before real estate photos as this is a perfect way to kickstart a DIY home staging project. Suggestions will include household improvements, furniture rearrangement + removal, colour schemes, and curb appeal.
For those that have recently purchased a home or looking to do some work on their current home we offer home consultation – kind of a fresh start. After a new home is purchased or when you’re looking for a refresh of your current home, it is time to mix things up! We offer a home consultation to get you on your way! This service consists of an in-home discussion with the homeowners to understand their lifestyle, likes and dislikes. We will then outline a design plan, focusing on key areas and features, colour schemes, and furniture selection and (re)arrangement.
Do you have a typical client? If so, tell us about them? If there was something that your clients have in common, what would it be?
MC: On the staging side, the majority of my clients are realtors. We work as a team to get each home sold for the
homeowner. The realtors I work with are nothing short of amazing. There are 3 Keller Williams’ agents that I work with daily: Nicole Darbaz, Josh Stokes, and Michelle Stokes. They have a certain entrepreneurial spark about them that continuously inspires me to grow and succeed as a business owner. My realtor clients are driven, they care deeply about their clients (homeowners), and they don’t need sleep. A winning combination of traits!
Tell us about some of the projects that you have worked on.
MC: Some of my favorite projects are the tough ones! From time to time, we’ll have a homeowner who needs the extra push to get through the staging list for their occupied home. Those ones take a lot of realtor-stager team effort. The home usually has amazing potential, but there is a large to-do list in order to get it to reach that potential. This list does not consist of high dollar renos. It does generally mean a lot of hands-on work; decluttering, moving furniture, painting, etc. In many cases, the homeowner doesn’t initially see the benefit of the changes and feels the house is perfect the way it is. Oftentimes, homeowners don’t have the time to put in or the space to store excess items. With the right realtor-stager team effort, and a lot of TLC, we’ll always get the picture-perfect real estate listing and then the sold sign! Those projects are close to my heart and I burst with pride when it all works out. No greater sign of success than when a homeowner can move on to the next chapter of their life.
What motivated you as an entrepreneur and small business owner?
MC: My motivation was design. I have always had a love of interior design. My education took me down a different path, but when the timing was right, I was drawn to the industry. There is no greater satisfaction than a client being excited about my work in their space. That alone drives me to grow my business and reach more people. I love that my ideas and my work help people. To me, if my work is a part of their success, my job is important.
Where do you see yourself and your business 5 years from today?
MC: Over the last few years, we have been growing our inventory and client base. We will continue with that and always search for new and improved ways to better serve our existing and future clients. When COVID-19 struck, we were forced to shift to a more virtual and remote approach to design and home staging. Although this was based on a business necessity at the time, it created an opportunity to expand our business outside our current demographic. We intend to grow this aspect of the business over the coming years. Lots of fun in our future!
It is easy to see that Megan lives life to the fullest but is also a dedicated professional who is driven to perform whether that is to help agents and home sellers get that sold sign on their lawn or to be the first one to get the checkered flag on the dirt track. Either way we see a bright future for Megan and Trim Design Interiors.
by Lee Ann Atwater