It helps to think of interior design like fashion and putting items together to create the most impact
Celia Sawyer is a British entrepreneur, interior designer, and television personality. She was born in 1967 in London and grew up in a working-class family. Despite not having a formal education in design, Celia started her career in the property industry, working as a property developer and interior designer.
In 2006, she founded her own interior design company, Celia Sawyer Interior Architecture and Design, which has since become one of the UK’s leading interior design firms, catering to high-net-worth individuals and celebrities. Her work has been featured in various design magazines, and she has won several awards for her interior design projects.
Celia is also a television personality, having appeared on several interior design shows, including BBC’s Your Home in Their Hands, Four Rooms, and Channel 4’s Four Rooms, where she served as an expert panelist.
In addition to her design work and television appearances, Celia is actively involved in various charity organizations, including the Elton John AIDS Foundation and the NSPCC. She has also written a book titled “Celia Sawyer’s Guide to Property and Design,” which provides advice on property investment and interior design.
Overall, Celia Sawyer is a successful entrepreneur and interior designer who has made a name for herself in the industry and is known for her luxurious and glamorous design style.
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Celia Sawyer is businesswoman, interior designer and a dealer both through her own companies and on the Channel 4 programme Four Rooms. Host to 3 million viewers on the BBC One show Your Home In Their Hands
Welcome Celia thank you for the opportunity to Interview you for the GallantCEO audience. We are extremely grateful.
You’re undoubtedly a formidable business woman nowadays, but what was life/business like for you before you became successful?
I started off working as a dental nurse, until I realized that I really wanted to have my own business.
I didn’t really know what I wanted to do but always had a creative flair and so I decided to start my own photography company, getting photographers work in advertising agencies.
I had 2 other jobs to make ends meet, one as a receptionist at a Chiropractor’s clinic and another cleaning houses with the hope that one day the photography agency would do well enough that I could just concentrate on that.
I spent 6 months seeing agencies, filled my diary so full as I thought it made sense to see as many people in a day as possible.
It was at the stage of 6 months without one phone call, that I considered giving up. I was renting a room in a house, and had a separate phone line set up (before unlimited mobile phones) and kept picking the phone up to see if it was still working! A turn of fate, it rang one day and it was Saatchi and Saatchi on the phone with a really big advertising campaign.
That really was the start of a successful business for me, and gave me the insight to know that persistence is key and that I could do anything if I persevered!
You were a columnist for the Mail Online Hello! Magazine and The Huffington Post, has this helped you get to where you are now?
I still write for the Mail online which is great, I generally write about luxury property, or give tips on interior design It is great to work with them as it is a very popular online newspaper, and of course the PR does help along the way. I often get sent products which are for the home, and I enjoy advertising them for the companies who send them. This is great for their business too as a lot of these who send items, are start ups.
Do you have any daily habits that you think have contributed to your success?
Getting up really early, going for a run before the day starts for most people, as this clears my head and helps me to think positively, I can also get a lot of work finished before the phone starts ringing, which means I can manage the time efficiently!
What top 3 things do you believe have been most important to helping you get to where you are today?
Persistence, and not giving up. knowing your outcome, I once went to an Anthony Robbins talk and this made so much sense to me, to know what you want out of a situation before you tackle it, it really changes your behavior in how you deal with things. It could just be a phone call but if you know your outcome, you will speak very differently than If you don’t .
The belief that you can do anything if you want it enough, if you work hard enough, nothing is impossible.
How do you push through when things get tough?
I look for solutions as oppose to being negative. I also like to talk to other business men and women I know and respect to get a real gauge on something if things get tough. I may not take their advice but often it helps you to make up your mind on how best to tackle something.
How important do you think networking is for business and do you have any tips?
I find that events that offer networking can be a bit of a waste of time. I have been to a few where the room is full of strangers, and each time it seems that everyone is trying to “get work” as oppose to offering any! If you network with the right people over a long period of time it seems to be more effective as a lot of business is based on trust, which takes time, not just meeting someone for a few hours.
Who do you consider to be an exceptional business person & why?
Richard Branson, he is versatile and doesn’t let failure stop him reinventing himself. It will be interesting to see how he copes with this awful situation at the moment.
What is your definition of success?
Being happy with what you have done at that moment in time.
It is very easy to always want more, but success is also about enjoying the moment and what you have achieved so far.
What’s next for Celia Sawyer in the future?
I am developing an “interiors” App at the moment which I am aiming to be ready in August, which is exciting. I am also designing the interior of a yacht, which is something new for me, working with an Award winning exterior yacht designer, so I am enjoying both of these journeys, I am talking about more shows on TV, which I enjoy as it is is great fun and makes a change from my day job ! I should have been already designing some houses in Barbados, but this will now happen when we are eventually allowed to travel again, so I hope not too far away.
Well Celia that concludes our interview today. I want to wish you from all of us here at GallantCEO.com a future of continued wealth, health and happiness.
You can reach Celia via her website at celiasawyer.com
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