Designing Your Career (and Your Life) with Interior Designer & Mentor Rebecca Ward

Host Liz Alexander welcomes Rebecca Ward, a California-based certified interior designer with over 20 years in the industry, founder and principal of an award-winning design firm, and host of the Design Curious Podcast. Rebecca shares how she entered interior design through a direct college path at CSU Sacramento, including an internship that led to early firm work, and how the 2007–2009 recession shaped her career—moving through model home design, architectural drafting, and ultimately launching her own business while leveraging CAD skills and part-time drafting work. The conversation explores misconceptions about interior design as a “real” career, the value of mentorship, and common challenges for career shifters, including insecurity about not having formal training, when to call yourself a designer, and how to identify transferable skills. Rebecca emphasizes the importance of a growth mindset, coaching and mastermind-style learning, and the reality that design work includes sales, business operations, and delegation. She explains why she started her mentorship program and the Design Curious Podcast to answer recurring career questions at scale, and how she balances design work with mentoring and podcasting with support from her employee. Rebecca also previews her new eight-week Launcher Business Bootcamp focused on accountability, core values, business setup, and design systems, and shares where to find her services and resources at rwarddesign.com and on social platforms. Liz closes with a “House Hot Take” encouraging listeners to celebrate renovation milestones—approvals, fundraising wins, installs, and room reveals—not just the final reveal, to maintain momentum during long projects.

📌 Connect with

📸 @rwarddesign

🌐 rwarddesign.com

📌 Connect with Liz:

📸 ⁠⁠Instagram: @pdrinteriors⁠

🌐 ⁠Website: PDR Interiors⁠⁠

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Sorority Chat is your go-to podcast for all things Greek life! Liz Alexander hosts this show for sorority leaders, house directors, alumni, and anyone who loves sisterhood and the traditions that make Greek life unique. From leadership insights to house renovations and recruitment tips, Sorority Chat brings you real conversations, thoughtful insights, and fun stories.

Episode Highlights:00:00 Designing Your Life: Using Creative Skills for Balance & Autonomy00:41 Welcome to Sorority Chat + Meet Interior Designer Rebecca Ward

02:22 Behind the Scenes: Home Studio, Guitars & the Acoustic Duo

03:00 Rebecca’s Origin Story: Childhood Creativity, Floor Plans & Finding the Major

05:19 From Intern to Model Homes: Early Career Lessons in a Booming Market

07:07 Recession Reality: Layoffs, CAD Skills & Betting on Her Own Business

09:25 Mentoring Career Shifters: Confidence, Training & the ‘Real Career’ Debate

13:49 Design Is Intuitive… But It’s Also Sales: The Business Side No One Expects

15:27 Growth Mindset & Coaching: The Biggest Lessons School Didn’t Teach

18:09 Mentors Are Still Learning: Growth Mindset & Being a Chapter Ahead

19:13 Mentor vs. Coach: Sharing What Works (and Learning From Mentees)

20:13 Starting Out in Interior Design: First Steps, Working for Others vs. Going Solo

22:58 Why She Started the Design Curious Podcast (and the Mentorship Program)

25:31 Balancing Design Work, Mentorship, and Podcasting Through Delegation

28:04 Common Mentee Questions: ‘Am I a Designer?’ + Transferable Skills & Mindset

29:33 Take the Leap: Permission to Pivot and Explore Design Career Paths

30:31 What’s Next: Launcher Business Bootcamp, Speaking, Panels & Retreat Ideas

32:49 Where to Find Rebecca: Website, Podcast, Social Links + Wrap-Up

34:07 Liz’s House Hot Take: Celebrate Milestones, Not Just the Finish Line35:05 Final Outro: Follow, Review, Subscribe & Credits