Expert Advice for Creative Entrepreneurs

Gail Doby is co-founder of Gail Doby Coaching & Consulting, a firm that has helped interior designers, architects, and other design-industry thought leaders increase their profitability by up to 512 percent. As the firm’s Chief Visionary Officer, Doby does more than help her clients wrangle decimals on a budget sheet. After nearly 20 years of experience running her own Denver-based design firm (plus a BSBA in Finance and Banking), she’s obsessed with sharing innovative ways to overcome the business roadblocks, challenges, and detours creative entrepreneurs face when trying to do it on their own. (She also works as a strategist, brand builder, interviewer, marketer, operations manager, human resource advisor, and sometimes therapist.) No matter which hat she is wearing, her goal is simple—to empower design-industry clients to differentiate themselves, drive measurable results, achieve business projections, and create personal satisfaction through game-changing strategies and business practices.

Her ultimate achievement? Helping hardworking designers work smart. “Running a business can feel lonely and full of challenges,” explains Doby. “Many designers are great at design, but have little business training, and working for others can, in some cases, be a lesson in what not to do.”

 “Some designers we know fell into running a business by default,” she continues. “They became unexpected entrepreneurs as they moved from working for others to working for themselves. Suddenly they were deep into the design work but completely unprepared to run a company. Really talented designers falter—not for lack of design talent or intelligence—but because they do not have the tools, guidance, or support to create a healthy business.”

With her unique background that combines design and business acumen, Doby is a frequent and in-demand speaker for design industry events. Known for her warm, inclusive, and conversational style, her presentations include keynotes and panels at (but not limited to) High Point Market, Chicago Merchandise Mart, Las Vegas Market, Dallas Market Center, Dwell on Design L.A., the Interior Design Society, and ASID events around the country.

Through the years, Gail Doby Coaching & Consulting has served thousands of designers across 76 countries with their intensive classes and programs. “What we’re most excited about is the sense of community,” says Doby. “But even more stunning than the warm, sharing friendships forged are the contributions members make, both in their own communities and globally. Our programs are designed to transform lives and businesses so you can be successful in the way you define it.”