would you take on another designers project after they split from the client?

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Welcome to an awkward but common moment in studio life. A client ends things with their first designer, then asks you to step in. The gossip itch is real, but the strategy is simple. Keep communications neutral, ask for proof of termination and clarity on IP, and decide if this is a rescue or a full reset. Draw a firm takeover line for liability, reset boundaries with one decision maker and one channel, and price for the extra risk, re-documentation, and speed they now want. If the vibe is off, walk. If you stay, you lead with ethics, clean paperwork, and clear expectations so the project stabilises fast. Sometimes that is all the client needed, not a “better” designer, just a steadier process.

Portfolio rights get tricky when you tweak rather than transform. Minor edits do not equal ownership. If you share, credit the original designer and position your role as development, not authorship. Never engage while an active contract is in place, and save a dated paper trail in case questions surface later. Meet trades early, triple-check everything, and keep your language factual. This episode is not legal or financial advice. It is a practical guide for staying calm, fair, and profitable when you inherit a half-done job. If you want help pricing a takeover or resetting scope, book a 90-minute strategy session or send a DM with your sticking point and I will map your next three moves.

Key takeaways
 Lead with ethics and neutral language
 Ask for termination proof and IP status before saying yes
 Decide rescue or reset, then set a takeover date for liability
 Price for risk, re-documentation, and speed, not for pity
 One decision maker, one channel, weekly status, no side chats with trades
 Minor tweaks do not grant portfolio rights, credit fairly or skip the share
 No active-contract poaching, keep a clean paper trail

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Transcript

0:29

Welcome to Designing Success from Study to Studio. I'm your host Rhiannon Lee, founder of the Oleander and Finch Design Studio. I've lived the transformation from study to studio and then stripped it bare and wrote down the framework so you don't have to overthink it. In this podcast, you could expect real talk with industry friends, community connection, and actionable tips to help you conquer whatever's holding you back. Now, let's get designing your own success. On today's episode of Designing Success, I thought that I would go through with you something that has come up for me in my business maybe three times, and that actually I have been private coaching clients and the questions come up twice in the last month. So it's not something I've heard on any other podcast, and it's not something that I've ever discussed on any of my podcasts. So it can be a bit sticky, but it also can be quite common. So I thought today what we'll do is talk about what happens when your client comes to you and says, we've engaged a designer, but we didn't like what she did, or We didn't like what he brought to the table. So we are looking to engage a second designer on the same project. Now what normally happens is instantly my shackles go up or like I feel uncomfortable. I know in the times where it's happened to me, one time in particular, this lady just started going to town on this other designer. Now, this is a designer that I know, that I know is listening. I, of course, would never put any names. Towards this, but I felt incredibly uncomfortable, mainly because I've seen her work and I know her, like I, I know her through Instagram. I dunno her well, but you know, WeChat and the dms occasionally. And I know her work and there's nothing wrong with her deliverables, with her style, with what she does. She's an incredibly pleasant person from what I can see and my dealings with her. And so it made me really uncomfortable to hear this person sort of going, you know, she never gets. Back to us. We didn't like her, like what she does. We like your mood, but like it just, it was awful. Actually, when I reflect on it, I felt really uncomfortable and I was glad that that was a discovery call because I was able to ask leading questions and then shut it down a little bit so it's not always a red flag of. Client has worked with the designer previously and it hasn't gone for whatever reason in the direction that they wanted. It's not always the client's fault. It's not always a red flag. Sometimes it is the designer. Sometimes it's just that we're humans and we don't all love each other, like we don't all get along sometimes. For whatever reason, we take a job, we think it's a good fit and we're actually not a good fit for that job. So we probably shouldn't have taken it in the first place. Or also, sometimes it's just not my place to, no, like it's not my place to question what happened the client obviously can hire whomever they want and as many designers on the project as they want to. It's a free market. Ethics do come into play, but at the end of the day, if they've. Reached out to you and they've chosen to work with you. You don't really owe anything to that previous designer. But then there are some tricky ethics spots when it comes to professionalism and like if I know that designer, should I tell them and find out their side of the story?'cause I'm pretty sure it was. A client led problem and not a designer led problem. And I kind of wanna know the red flags ahead of time. Like, is this person indecisive? Are they, you know, is there any red flags? Anyway, it can feel really tricky, right? See how this entire intro kind of feels like some school yard gossip and nonsense. And it's not really something that my brand or personality is attracted to in any way, shape, or form. When that does happen, it can be sticky. The reason I wanted to bring this topic today is there's actually like layers and layers and layers of considerations from, how to fairly credit the project if you have it photographed, or how to share portfolio use or, this, this. This podcast episode obviously has no legal advice. It's just my opinion. It, it's quite tough if you just do a light reselection. You can't really claim the work, and yeah, there's so much consideration. So part of what I was talking to the designers that I was coaching, I think ultimately if you come from a place of ethics and kindness and you really don't wanna do anything dodgy, you don't wanna pick up work that someone else has done and then claim it as your own. If you are guided by your gut in that way, if you make sure that you're always going, well, hang on a second. Is this how I would like to be treated if this. Designer picked up a project of mine that's completed and took it over, how would I wanna be treated? And I feel like if you come from that direction and you stay very true to that, you generally can't go wrong. However, there are some legal issues that can come to play. Like you don't know what contract was signed between the previous designer and the client. What they've agreed to or not agreed to because you don't work for that other design firm. So today I'm gonna walk you through sort of 10, 15 considerations and things that I think you need to think more seriously about. And this could be a great podcast episode if this has never happened to you because it's about proactivity and not reactivity. So it means that you're actually like, oh yeah, I listened to that podcast before it happened. And then someone reached out just, a week later and said, oh look we've just broken up with our designer. We're looking for another one. We didn't like this, that, and the other. And now you kind of have the questions in mind that you should be thinking about when you are deciding whether you wanna pick up where the old designer left off. So the first thing you wanna ascertain, do you owe the previous designer a heads up? This could get really tricky, right? Because all of your. Being wants to reach out to this previous designer and go, do you know they're badmouthing you around town? And they actually said to me that you did this, that and the other, and like getting into it. And my professional advice is stay out of it. Do not get into it. The relationship and the signed contract is between the client and the previous designer. And all communications should stay so. There's no invitation for you to reach out to that other designer. And I know that there is an argument for professionalism and like, isn't it better if I just went, Hey babe, just quietly like this is happening. I would be so embarrassed by that. I feel like if someone came to me and said, these people that, you know, you worked with Shire and Johnny the other day, and um, they've actually come to me to redo everything. They weren't happy. You don't know if they communicated correctly with the previous designer that they were unhappy. You could be just like. Completely shocking her and then really embarrassing her. Right? And you don't owe the previous designer a heads up because you don't have any contract or any relationship or engagement with that other designer. The, you know, you wanna keep everything factual. No opinions. We are avoiding defamation. Don't ever write them an email. You don't know what. Contracts, as I say, have been signed between the client and the designer. So there are all sorts of legal clauses that you could be getting involved in, like interrupting the process or I don't know. I just feel very strongly that, it is a free market. They can go out and engage as many designers as they want on their project as long as you only communicate with the client, you haven't really stepped on any toes anywhere. But yeah, I think when we start inviting conversations with the previous designer heads up or otherwise, I feel like this gets messy really quickly. Number two, what proof do you ask for before you say yes? So, you know, do you wanna see a client email confirming termination? Do you wanna see a confirmation of IP ownership or licenses for all drawings, specs, images, uh, status of payments orders, like what's going on? It depends where the project's at, when they have parted ways, I suppose. Um, you know, sometimes. In one instance, someone's come to me and they've engaged a designer to do an preliminary ff and e, and then the project's been delayed five years, and then they've come to me and their style's completely changed. So in that case, I didn't feel I needed to reach out to that designer. They may not even be practicing interior design and. I feel strongly that I can call this project my own because we reselected everything. Like there isn't a single tile tapware, like there's nothing that remained from their initial FF and e to the client's new style. So for me it was just like, it's like saying we've had architectural plans drawn up and then, you know, they sat in a drawer for 10 years and then we decided to go ahead with the project. We had it all redrawn. I do think asking for proof of the termination or the confirmation of termination or sort of even email trail list, like what happened in this relationship is really important. It's probably going to expose anything, if anything was a bit back and forth, a bit nasty or anything. If you ask for that email confirmation and you start to look in behind the scenes, you'll probably have a very strong opinion about whether or not. The problem was on the client designer or both sides before you actually say yes. So I would strongly recommend saying to them, I understand that you're not working with this person anymore, but there are some legal ramifications. I need to protect myself. May I see the confirmation of IP ownership or, um, the termination and or will you be able to get a disclaimer or sign off? Contract for ownership of license of all drawings of, handover of those sorts of things. Because if they straight away like, no, no, no, no. Like we can kind of, I guess, as I say, expose some problems if they are there before you are part of this whole situation. Okay. The next one has to do with the IP stuff. So how do you credit work if you only tweak and not transform the design? So imagining things are all. Done in SketchUp or whatever. You come in and you change some of the finishes, but the actual design was by the previous designer, right? You didn't do that. You just came in and went I think this would look better with in this Polytech finish, et cetera. So for me personally, if I was to do that and I wanted to share some of those images, I would 100% share the credit line. I would be saying Design by x design development by Oleander and Finch. So I would sort of be saying the, the or the design was not mine. I did not spend time. Pulling this together for this homeowner. So I'm not gonna claim it, but I am gonna say that I developed or iterated that design. Therefore I could share it in the circumstance where I was doing that. I'd almost certainly probably reach out to the original designer and say, are you comfortable with this? I don't have to share this. I've got many other projects. I hope that you are comfortable because I have tried to be fair where I can be, you know, I, I have said this is your design. I don't think you have any claim to this in your portfolio if you've only made minor edits. When I just think about things and, and I'm always led by ethics, I just, if it were the other way around and you just changed the tapware and a couple of hard like handles and then tried to pop it in your portfolio, I would be pissed. So I always just think of it like that. Like if I wouldn't like it done to me, I'm not gonna do it to another designer. I would also heavily suggest if you're out there listening to this, that you put that rule in your service agreement. If this, if the original design is. You know, amended, tweaked, or developed in any way by a future design firm. The original design must be credited to my to my business. So, unless X amount, you know, sometimes people say 70% or more has to be changed before you can take it over again. Not legal advice, just think it's something to be. Mindful of, and maybe it's something that you haven't explored before, but you think, that could protect me if I do a fair bit of design and someone just comes in and, and changes a tile up and thinks they can put it in their portfolio, like that's not on. All right, next one. Where does liability sit after takeover? So warranty and defects for items that you did not specify. For example, this requires a whole additional disclaimer before you say, yes, you have to amend your service agreement to consider pre-existing selections and pre-existing work. There are site risks, obviously. You just want everything in a condition report. You almost want there to be a really firm line in the sand from what belongs to the original scope of work and what belongs to the new scoped work and what you will and won't take responsibility for. And I think that's really important. We sometimes forget, but if you can set that up before you say yes, by just saying, I want, I really wanna work out in terms of liability. Where is the point of takeover? And anything from that date forward that's been decided, I'm willing to take on board. And anything after that date, I'm willing to call that part of my agreement, but anything before is not. The next thing I think you really should consider is whether this is a rescue job or a full reset. So are we doing a fresh brief, a remeasure, a re-scope? Are we, you know, effectively, are we starting from scratch? Are we just going in and going that was a mistake. We shouldn't have done that. I've now engaged you, I prefer your design style. I'm, you know, I really get along well with you and we're just gonna start from the very start. So a full reset. I say this one because you wanna treat assumptions at your own risk, like. Treat assumptions like alarm bells, like make assumptions at your own risk. I think the one of the biggest problems when you take on work that someone's already worked on is you start just like falling into, oh yeah, I'm sure she did this, or, yeah, yeah, you don't know any of that. You didn't work with this person. So, you know, assume at your own risk. I definitely think if you can avoid it, avoid it, get, you know, triple check everything, because you almost have to work harder because you weren't involved in the initial decision making. This is a good place to keep your eye on people who, you know, want a bit of a Pinterest copy and paste, or haven't really understood the design process and wanted, you know, menus and options. Like just maybe sometimes the disconnect between the original designer and the client is that they don't really understand what to expect with interior design. And then you're just gonna go and provide them the exact same professionalism, the same process, the same sort of, I designed this for you. And then be like, we don't want you to do that. We just told you we wanted this Ali couch and we want these things. And that's fulfillment. It's not design. So get really clear here, like, what is it? Is it a rescue job or a full reset? And if it's a rescue job, what am I actually scoped in to Reselect? And I think that you need to be very honest in this part of the conversation with the client. Like, I'm, I don't do this very often. I'm a little bit uncomfortable about it, but I am open to hearing what you need from me. Other trades will do this. Like this is not something that you won't see. Like people will have an electrician come in and hang the pendant and then for whatever reason they wanna moved. 60 centimeters to the right and they didn't like him and da, and I, and I got someone else in and I bitched and moaned about that other local electrician. Like it just happens. So let's try to keep, as objective as possible, keep as professional as possible and don't make it like, oh my God, I can't believe they said nasty things about her. Or she must have been a terrible designer. Just stay out of it. It's between the homeowner and the designer, but try to get as much information as you can. Which can lead to my next sort of consideration, which is how do you price a mid-project takeover? Because it's quite difficult, right? In some respects, people think, oh, your proposal will be cheaper because some of the work's being done. But on the flip side, it's been done in a way that you have to. Like obviously you have to find out where all this. Where all the sources are from and all the information of what's happened. You have to get on board, you have to review the project in a way that's much more complicated than being there from the beginning.'cause you've got a lot of, he said she said going on or she said, she said, and he said, he said, um, there's so much going on, there's risk loading. Like I would wanna see additional fees. There's risk loading, there's rush loading, there's re documentation fees, there's you know, you getting your mind around things. It's almost. Look, I would almost change my payment method here and have like a large upfront first payment and then weekly billing until stabilized. I think yeah, you, you look at your management of this project differently. Whether you even put contingencies here for like stop go milestones. It's like if we get to there and like, why don't we do almost like a probation period, if we get to this point and we are both still happy to go forward, like that's a really great way to deal with. This kind of client where you're like, I don't want you stuck in another big contract'cause maybe I'm not the right designer for you. I hear what you said. I wanna make you happy, but like, let's check in at the four week mark maybe. So these are things that you can just consider. You can come back to this episode book market if you think that this is something you've heard before. I'd be really curious. I'd love for you to come over and visit me at Oleander and under Finch on Instagram and just tell me in the dms, does this happen to you? Has it happened to you, and how did you deal with it? I'm just telling you what I would talk about when I'm coaching, the different things to consider and the different ways to approach it. But my way is not the highway, like it's not always great. I think sometimes people will come back and they're like. I spoke to one person once and she said it's a red flag for me. It's an immediate note. I do not pick up other designer's work, and that's just a boundary of hers and I really respect it. I think, um, we're talking a lot about this client X designer relationship because it matters and when people show up to you yeah. It depends how they present it. Sometimes it's very respectfully a mutual decision and sometimes, yeah. When they come to you and they're just bagging them out, it's so uncomfortable and it really gives you the ick. So that brings us to what red flags tell you to walk. So unpaid invoices to the first designer, wave the red flags, uh, request to copy the ip, like as in the client saying to you, I'll just do that. Do everything the same. It's just that we'll get you to order it for us or you'll get, we'll get you to, um, see the project. Through. That's a big red flag to me. Triangulation and gossip. If they're nasty, if, you know, in the example that I just gave you, like if they come to you and they're like, this person is this and she's that, and, oh, I can't believe we even paid her. She was so rude. Like, I yuck, ick. Out, I'm done. I do not want, my business is part of that because I network with these people. This is still my industry. This is still my profession, and I don't wanna be involved in any kind of nastiness or gossip when I don't have to be. I've got other clients, like a discovery call is a two way. Am I excited about the project and do I wanna take it on as much as it is? Can I help you? And if you've come to me with all of this, I'm immediately saying, no. I'd rather take on a different project that doesn't have such complication. And then really watch out on your timelines because people who have broken up with a previous designer have had this little gap in progress, and they often are like, we want it all by next week. Or they'll come to you and say, oh look, we just spent so much money on the first design. We are really tight on the budget. Like not your problem. Not your circus, not your monkeys, not your problem. I get really frustrated by that because I feel like you came to me, it's a bit of a rescue mission, but I'm having to work twice as hard to get it done. And respectfully, no. Like I don't really think that's fair to ask me to do that when I could just take on another job where, as I say, there are no negative feelings. Like you're actually, you're actually gonna be emotionally stabilizing this project, which is a huge responsibility that you didn't ask for. Okay, so in that initial discovery call, here's some things that I really wanna know. If you've come to me and said that we've used another designer and we didn't enjoy the process and we're, we're looking elsewhere, what broke down and when tell me the story and listen for your adjectives, you know. If it rhymes with which, and it starts with B, you're probably like not appropriate. Like I am this person's peer and colleague effectively. So you wanna be really listening to the story and the way they retell it. Asking questions like, okay, so what's paid? What's ordered? What's delivered? Where are we at in the procurement? Because this is where they'll immediately go, oh, we've got the spec sheet. Like, can you just order it through your account? And that's. Dodgy, like you're making income of somebody else's work who decides and signs. So I would be saying like, going forward in this iteration of the project, when I'm inside of this project, who is the nominated decision maker? I'm only working with one person because I've arrived on the scene and it's a mess. There's so much going on. I need a nominated. De or designated communicator. That's just my role. I don't know if that's something common in the design design industry, but I know when these things have gone awry, the way that, that this sound, this hypothetical situation is I'm gonna wanna keep as many, like as many people out of the pie as possible. I'm just gonna wanna have me the trades, the, like the homeowner being one person. And, and now I'll often say to them, you guys can back and forth at all you like, but then there's the nominated person who comes with the decision to meet and whom I communicate with so that we avoid messy, lengthy color coded back and forth. His opinion. Her opinion, their opinion, the neighbor's opinion. It's already the hot mess express and I just don't want it. And then I wanna clarify on that call in the first meeting, what does success look like now from here? cause I understand there's been issues, but they're not. Representative of anything I've been involved in, I need, beyond the style outcomes, what is the actual, like, what does success look like? What do you want out of this? What can I help you achieve? We're always now looking forward, not backwards. Now I've heard enough of the story and, and I truly mean that. I do not wanna be at every site visit being like, well, Sarah said it's like, Nope, not interested. I probably sound really harsh on this. Particular episode, but I think you have to be with this sort of circumstance. They have to let you guide it with all of the professionalism and ethics and fairness that you possibly can without being walked all over. Otherwise, honestly, there's no, you have no business being here and no money is worth it. It's just, yeah, they've come to you with a mess. You wanna help make it clean. Okay, so how do we reset communication and boundaries fast? So just as I said, one decision maker, one channel. So what is that channel? We communicate inside a project studio. And that's it. Or I send you a weekly. Project update and you have 48 hours to come back to me with any questions and I will answer them based on that. You know, you, you wanna strip it really back because generally what's happened when there's been a breakdown in the relationship is it's been very messy communication. So the best thing you can do is say there's one decision maker, one channel. This is how I want to communicate. And you can say to them, it's because I am managing your project back on track. It's not because this is how I normally run my business. It's because I can see there's been some breakdowns. And so the easiest way is for me to give you a project status update every week and for you to, comment, send notes, notifications, et cetera, through our client portal, which is Project Studio for me, hosted by Style source book. And, um, anything that you put in there, I'll obviously respond to you. So you're giving them sort of a little bit more of more boundaries and then no direct messages to trades without you in the loop. So this is the next level that can be to say, I really want to avoid you having accidents with cross pollination of documentation. Like the previous designers, my designers, the trades picked up the wrong I don't know, they've scanned the wrong QR code and they're in the wrong elevation. Or there's been a measurement change, or there's been a finish change or whatnot. So no direct messages to trades. Now I'm gonna be all over it for you and with you. And again, this has gotta be reflected in the recalculation of pricing, a mid-project takeover. Now that's probably not the same if it's a reset, but this is more about like if you're just getting in there and picking up where they left off. So that brings me to suppliers and builders that are already in flight. Like things are already happening, right? So who's placing the purchase orders? Who's holding the margins? Who owns the relationships? Was anything discussed? You know what was discussed? You need a trade meeting immediately. So when you. Even like you have an initial kind of kickoff meeting and then be like, I need a trade meeting straight away. To be like, I understand that you've probably communicated some things with the previous designer. Please know that you need to treat me as I am completely unaware of anything, so don't ever assume that I'm across something. My mobile number is yours to use. Like text me, call me, do whatever, whatever, however you like to communicate with your trades, but sort of saying like, triple check is gonna be the key here because I've not been involved. And I think just reconfirming lead times and expectations. Like was there something you are waiting on the designer to do? Is there, I haven't worked with you before. You know what, how do you do this? Do you wanna order the flooring? I'm very happy for you to do it. Do you just want me to send you the full, you know it just getting on the same page and just also reiterating over and over. This a new team, like I don't know anything that you've previously spoken about and assuming the project could be a year in, you know, there's a lot of conversations that have been had that you have not been privy to. Okay. So another consideration is there is definitely an ethical line on poaching. We do not wanna be poaching projects. We never wanna solicit during an active contract. That's why I said before at the very first conversation, like, can you show proof of termination of that contract? Like, I'm not going to work for you while you're in an active contract with another designer. No way, knowhow. You wanna only accept the work when you've cited termination and you've been like, they've terminated that old project and you've been approached by the client, and you wanna document the timeline, if it ever comes up, you wanna be able to say you know, I had this call at this date. They showed me this. Documentation on this date. Save it all. Ugh. I know it sounds like extra work and it sounds like why should, it's not My fault is I'm not involved, but in a way you are involved'cause it could come back up to bite you at the end. So it's not gonna happen right now while you're doing the thing. It's gonna be later when there's IP questions or something's gone that they're gonna wanna go, oh yeah, but you took this client or something. You don't know. You dunno. You're guessing so much in this instance. So more documentation and proof is, more is more. I spoke at the top of the episode around professional courtesy and whether or not we owe this other designer like a little heads up or whatnot. If you've seen the termination and they're definitely not working with each other, there's probably no harm in sending an email. Saying, we've been engaged on the Jones Street Project from X date. I am aware that you have previously worked with these clients. I, I'm also aware of your business. I know we work in the same local area. I just don't want. You to see anything and think that something weird has happened, that client approached us from X date. We wish you well. Like we love your work. We, it's honestly, just so that you know that if you see our sign out the front or you see anything like that, yes, we are helping them. We're actually helping them with a bit of a complete refresh or a bit of a, a design direction. So. Give them that maybe professional courtesy and also that comfort to say, you know, they actually really do like it spatially or whatnot. They've changed direction in a few selections. We are not doing a lot of work for them. I feel like if I received that, that would be much nicer than a DM that was like, babe, I just spoke to your client from Surrey Hills and she was moaning about your team. She said, you're so lazy that you don't hand anything in that. You were really unreceptive like, that's horrible, right? So let's just try not to do that. I think that there's also some considerations around insurance and compliance checks when it comes to midstream takeovers. Like if, if the project is in place again, these are things that you should look into your own obligations, your own le this is not legal advice. It's not, you know, there's some sort of disclaimer around financial, legal, whatever. And I know people are like, we get it. You're not telling us. But honestly, I just do things. That I think, you know, if I don't know the answers, I go and find the answers and I triple check things with the likes of legals and insurance. But, um, we don't really know what's being communicated from a compliance perspective from the previous designer. So if you are involved in that sort of part of design, I would definitely be trying to just double check everything before I got started. And then the last one is such a big one, right? So it's portfolio rights and IP and PR post the completion of the job. So I think if you are wanting to use the end result, so maybe this is a project you wanna get photographed and you obviously we need sign off. We need usage rights from the photographer and from the client. But you also almost need to consider whether you need to reach out and get that. Signed or permission from the original designer, so this will come down to how much of the design was changed or not changed. It's very tricky. You can't really say anything. The last person that I spoke to, he had been approached and they had worked with another designer and he was like, what do I do? And I just said, look, are you wanting to use the photos After the fact? He's like, probably not. And I was like, then you. Can do less. Like you obviously just make sure that you remember where this lead came from originally, that they had already engaged a designer, and that you're not shouting out about it being your work post the fact. But I think if you're not planning on sharing it in any way whatsoever, then this becomes a lot more simple. You know, you don't need to get any particular. Usage rights or photography. If you do a full reset, if they come to you and they just engage a new designer on the project and you do a full new design by Felicia, like, you do not even have to think about this other person. Like, whatever. It doesn't mean anything. If in the case where they, they want a full reselection and the design, you know, perhaps a kitchen design was done by a kitchen cabinet maker and the. And the other DI designer chose all of the specifications and then they wanna change all those specifications. You obviously don't need to include or credit the other designer on the cabinet maker's drawings. So it is very circumstantial or bespoke, if you will, to whatever the actual situation is. But I highlight it because I think you need to think about PR after the job. So I would hate for you to go in, do a refresh, fall in love with it, you know, wanna spend thousands of dollars, have professional photography come through, standing in front of it, loving yourself sick, pitching it off to Bell or Vogue or something, and then having it accepted. And then all of a sudden you're like, actually, I've just remembered two years ago they broke up with another designer and she designed a lot. Like, you're gonna get in a lot of trouble. If the redesign is partial, the best way to avoid that trouble is just to show only what's yours like in a vignette or like closer up or share the credit. Just like I said before, like design by and then design development by. So I hope that's helped. If you have had this situation before, I know you probably really resonated with that ick feeling when you first get the phone call and someone's like, oh, we, you know, we've done this. And sometimes you get those phone, like, I get those phone calls a lot where people are like, we've worked with four designers and we can't find it. It's like, oh, well I ain't gonna be the fifth. Like, I'm not interested in that. Um, but not everything that happens, as I say, is a red flag for clients. Sometimes it, it just does, it's out of. Their hands and it is a free market. I think you need to lead with ethics, clean paperwork, always. If your work is just some light tweaks, you don't have any rights to that design. Um, I think, the sharing of the credit's really important, but also skip the portfolio claims. If you've just done a couple of reelections or you just change. Paint colors or something, and I just don't think you have any claim to it. And then hopefully today's episode has really helped you think about some of the considerations like getting written, termination proof, and actually, sitting down and recouping and thinking about the cost because yeah, I definitely hear from them. We've already outlined X amount, so we're expecting you to be affordable, but we're really not gonna do that because. As you can hear from today's episode, it's way more work for me to pick up where they left off than it is for me just to have my own clients, making sure to keep all communication neutral and never, ever have any commentary on the previous designer, verbal or otherwise. Do not get in to a bitching session. Do not even mildly. The amount of times they hear people say, oh, we hear that a lot about that company or whatever. Like, just don't punch down. Be better. Just be better. Like, I have a platform, I'm gonna use it and just say, come on guys, we are better than this. As an industry, you have no idea what went on, what pressures that other designers under what? Requests what conversations were had. So really it brings nothing, it serves nobody for you just to pile on straight away, I think the most important thing that you can do. So I can hear that you're quite frustrated with where the project's at so far. Now let's go through some of my questions to see if I am able to come in and refresh, or reset or rescue. I have taken on rescue jobs where this exact process has really saved profit. It's saved my sanity, it's saved the project, it's made things you know, held a lot more boundaries, made things more professional, made communications really clean. Um, and the client's been really happy at the end of the day. And, you know, generally it doesn't mean that I'm a better designer than the. Previous designer or anything like that. It just means ultimately they got what they wanted, which is fantastic. And they did it in a way, for whatever reason it just got them there in the end. But I definitely charged correctly for it. And you do find that if you get things back on track, you do get a bit of a brand advocate. Like that person will often really sing your praises from Google reviews all the way to like, just literally telling everyone they know. So if you need help pricing a midstream project or a resetting scope or anything like that, don't forget, I have 90 minute strategy session, so I do coaching That can obviously teach you a proposal process or it can go through a particular, you know, I've had crisis calls where something's going on and I've coached someone through breaking up with clients just by using a 90 minutes. Strategy session or learning one thing on AI or coming to me and going, oh my gosh, I've got this, you know, really tricky one. Have you seen this before? And we just get through it, get over into the other side, get a plan together. These are really great for that. And, uh, you can find out more information about that in the show notes or just reach out to me. Absolutely. Any time I am getting ready for my holiday. I can't believe it's like two months and we are leaving. So I have very minimal private coaching. Places left for the end of until February, 2026. Actually, there's only two places left. So if it has been on your mind that you want your own customized trolley board and a staff room of AI assistance, and you want me to help you to restructure your processes, your systems, understand how to harness AI in your business and just save, literally, I feel like everyone that comes through, it's like, okay, well what are you gonna do with 15 hours a week?'cause I'm gonna guarantee that I can save that for you if you use these tools. Anyway, two spots left. Reach out if you want one. And otherwise, I hope you've enjoyed today. It was a bit of a wild card topic and I just felt like it's come up enough times. And every situation is so different that maybe just an overarching, here's some thoughts and here's a bit of a guide on what to do if this happens to you, would be helpful. All right, I will speak to you guys next Thursday. Bye for now. That wraps up another episode of Designing Success from Study to Studio. Thanks for lending me your ears. Remember, progress over perfection is the key. If you've found value in today's episode, go ahead and hit subscribe or share it with a friend. Your feedback means so much to me and it helps me improve, but it also helps this podcast reach more emerging and evolving designer. Just like you for your daily dose of design business tips, and to get a closer look at what goes on behind the scenes, follow at Oleander and Finch on Instagram. You'll find tons of resources available at www.oleanderandfinch.com to support you on your journey. Remember, this is your path, your vision, your future, and your business. Now let's get out there and start designing your success.