Holiday Pros | Mastering The Business of Christmas for Interior Designers, Lighting Professionals, and Holiday Decor Business Owners
By Lindsay Sutherland
Categories: Business, Entrepreneurship, Careers
Think Christmas decorating is a December hustle? Think again. Holiday Pros: Master The Business of Christmas is the podcast for professional holiday decorators and designers who are ready to build a real, year-round business — not just a seasonal side gig. Hosted by Heather Lundervold, founder of Christmas Design Institute and a 25-year luxury holiday design veteran, and Lindsay Sutherland, business systems strategist and co-founder of Biz in a Box Solutions, this show pulls back the curtain on what it actually takes to run a profitable, scalable holiday decorating business. Every episode, Heather and Lindsay bring you real talk — no fluff, no gatekeeping. Whether you're thinking about starting your first decorating business or you're a seasoned pro ready to scale, you'll get the strategies, systems, and honest conversations that move the needle. Topics include: pricing and deposits, building and managing your team, client acquisition, contracts, CRMs, networking, inventory, off-season planning, and so much more. This isn't just a podcast. It's your year-round business mentor — showing up every week so you're ready when December arrives.
27 episodes indexed on PodSearch.
Recent episodes
- Ep 27 The Untoppable Topper: Solving the Tilting Tree-Topper Problem
Every decorator knows the pain: you climb down the ladder, step back, and the angel tilts. Then the client calls after you've left. This week, Lindsay Sutherland and Holiday Heather welcome Jenn Shieldkret of Holiday Design Studio, co-inventor of the Untoppable Topper – a stabilizer that holds…
- Ep 26 Upselling Without Being Salesy
Your client asked you to decorate one tree. Walk away with the whole house – without feeling salesy. Holiday Heather breaks down exactly how she turns a standard booking into a bigger project, and Lindsay Sutherland adds the sales tactics that help close it.In this episode:Why you always ask for…
- Ep 25 The Must-Have Mindset to Win in the Christmas Business
Think it's too late to start a Christmas business this year? Think again. Holiday Heather and Lindsay Sutherland explain why the season you're in right now is the best time to set up next year – and why panic is the fastest way to stall your business.In this episode:Why Christmas decorating is a…
- Ep 23 Fall Decorating: Tips to Bring Autumn Home (Wherever You Live)
No fall leaves where you live? No problem. Holiday Heather, a Minnesota girl now living in Arizona, shares how she recreates the cozy feel of autumn at home – plus the budget-savvy tricks she has picked up over years of decorating.In this episode:When to wait for sales, and when to grab it before…
- Ep 24: Spooktacular Home – Halloween Decor That Wows
Halloween doesn't have to mean blood and guts, and it doesn't have to cost a fortune. Holiday Heather and Lindsay Sutherland show you how to make your home spooktacular, whether you want a few stylish touches or a full-blown party experience.You'll learn how to:Pick your theme and audience first…
- Ep 22: The Power of Ribbon — How It Makes or Breaks a Luxury Tree
What separates a shopping-mall tree from a luxury tree? Often, it's one thing: ribbon.This week Lindsay Sutherland and Holiday Heather Lundervold step away from the business side for a design conversation. Heather explains why ribbon is part of every tree she designs, and why the kind of ribbon…
- Ep. 21 Your Marketing Funnel — How Clients Actually Find a Holiday Decorator
Need clients this season? Start with what pays fastest. Then build what pays forever.Lindsay Sutherland and Holiday Heather Lundervold lay out every way clients find a holiday decorator — from quick wins you can set up this week to the long-game strategies that fill your calendar for years.In this…
- Ep 20 — Is It Too Late to Make Money This Season?
Short answer: no. Long answer: listen in.It's the question Lindsay Sutherland and Holiday Heather Lundervold hear more than any other this time of year. Whether you're a new designer or a lighting installer eyeing commercial work, the season isn't closed — but you have to move.In this episode:Why…
- Ep 19: Training Your Team to Your Standard — Without Babysitting Every Job
Nothing's happening… then everything's happening. Suddenly you have jobs, and you need a team you can trust in clients' homes without you.Lindsay Sutherland and Holiday Heather Lundervold dig into how to train a holiday design team so they represent your brand, hit your quality bar and finish on…
- Ep 18 — Where to Find Seasonal Helpers — What To Look For
You landed the jobs. Now who's going to help you install them?You can't keep a full team on payroll year-round in a seasonal business. So where do you find skilled holiday designers when you need them — and how do you know they're any good?Holiday Heather Lundervold shares the hiring problem that…
- Ep. 17 Scaling Your Holiday Design Business: People, Process, Profit
You can't scale alone. But hire the wrong people, and you'll pay for it all season.Lindsay Sutherland and Holiday Heather Lundervold dig into the question every growing Christmas business hits: when is it time to bring in help — and how do you do it without getting burned?Heather shares 26 years…
- Ep. 16 Juggling Multiple Installs Without Losing Your Mind
Five installs feels easy. Fifty feels like a freight train.One referral turns into a whole neighborhood. One restaurant turns into the whole chain. Suddenly your phone, your notebook and your memory are the only things running your business — and they're about to break.Lindsay Sutherland and…
- Ep 15: The Fortune's in the Follow-Up — Automating Without Losing the Magic
You did the consult. You loved the space. They said, "Let me think about it." Then… nothing. Sound familiar?Fresh back from Christmas Expo in Dallas, Lindsay Sutherland and Holiday Heather Lundervold dig into one of the biggest profit leaks in any Christmas business: follow-up. Because a lead who…
- Ep. 14 Live from Dallas at the Christmas Expo - The Value of Tradeshows for your Christmas Business
We're coming to you live from the Christmas Expo in Dallas, Texas — and yes, we're finally in the same room! In this episode, Lindsay and Heather are sharing what it's really like to be inside one of the most unique trade shows in the world, where the networking feels like a family reunion, the…
- Tools You Need to Run a Christmas Business: From Simple to Scaled
Every Christmas business starts somewhere — and for most owners, that's a cellphone, a notepad, and maybe a ladder. In this episode, host Lindsay Sutherland and co-host Heather Lundervold, founder of the Christmas Design Institute, break down exactly what tools you need to run a Christmas…
- Pick Your Price Point: The Smart Way to Structure Your Holiday Design Business
Not all Christmas clients are created equal — and that's actually a very good thing.In this episode, Heather and Lindsay break down one of the most practical topics for anyone building a holiday design business: the difference between budget clients and luxury clients, and how to decide which lane…
- The Done-For-You-Christmas Business
The decorating is the fun part. The invoicing, the taxes, the "wait, did I even get paid for that?" — that's the part that burns people out.This week, Lindsay Sutherland and Holiday Heather Lundervold break down exactly how to get paid without the headache: the three job types every decorator…
- Pricing Your Services: The Things Nobody Tells You
Last week we covered the basics of pricing your holiday decorating services. This week, Lindsay and Heather go deeper — into all the things most new decorators forget to charge for, and exactly how those overlooked costs quietly eat your profit margin alive.In this episode of the Holiday Pros…
- How to Price Your Decorating Services: The Full Breakdown
Pricing your holiday decorating services is one of the most common questions new designers ask — and one of the most expensive mistakes they make when they get it wrong.In Episode 9 of the Holiday Pros Podcast, Lindsay Sutherland and Heather Lundervold pull back the curtain on exactly how to price…
- Social Media for Holiday Decorators: What to Post & When
If social media feels overwhelming, inconsistent, or just plain out of place when you're posting about Christmas in June — this episode is for you.In Episode 8 of the Holiday Pros Podcast, Lindsay Sutherland and Heather Lundervold break down exactly what holiday decorators and Christmas business…
- Ep. 7 Certified for the Season: Do Credentials Matter in the Christmas Industry?
Did you know there is no college curriculum, no degree program, and no formal training anywhere in the world for holiday design? Not even a single course inside a four-year interior design degree. Until now, this has been an entirely self-taught industry — and this week, Heather and Lindsay dig…
- Ep. 6 How to Position Yourself as an Expert Without a Portfolio
Every designer faces it. That moment when a potential client asks, "Can I see your work?" — and you have... nothing.It's one of the most common fears holding new holiday designers back, and in this episode Heather and Lindsay tackle it head-on with practical, confidence-building strategies you can…
- Ep 5 Your Brand, Your Bow: How to Stand Out in the Christmas Design Space
Here's a plot twist: one of the most successful holiday design businesses in the country has no website, no logo, and no printed materials — and it's been running for over 26 years.So what actually makes a luxury Christmas brand? In this episode, Heather and Lindsay dig into one of the most…
- Ep 4 Who's on Your Nice List? Building the Right Connections in the Off-Season
What if the most important work in your Christmas business happens when Christmas is the last thing on anyone's mind?In this episode, Heather and Lindsay dig into one of the most common questions new holiday designers and decorators ask: where do I find clients? The answer might surprise you —…
- Ep 3 How To Plan For and Find Your Team » Overcoming Challenges In Your Christmas Business
Scaling a holiday decorating business is one of the biggest challenges designers face — and in this episode, co-host Heather Lundervold gets refreshingly honest about the growing pains she's navigated over 26 years in the luxury Christmas decorating industry, both interior and exterior.Heather…
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