I get approximately 5 calls a week from aspiring home stagers interested in job shadowing me for a day.
These potential home staging interns don’t fully understand what they’re asking, from the business owner’s viewpoint.
I have yet to agree to let anyone shadow me.
If you’re trying to find a successful home stager to shadow before you start your own business, you’re not making the best use of your time.
In this article I’ll explain why.
There are many reasons home stagers are reluctant to agree to job shadowing.
First of all, they would have to screen job shadowing candidates beforehand because that person would be a direct reflection on their own home staging business reputation.
This means they would have to meet the candidate ahead of time for a pre-screen.
Then they’d have to try to coordinate times to meet at the client’s staging consultation, and for a home staging day if the project calls for it.
This is very time consuming for a small business owner who would be gaining little out of this job shadowing arrangement.
Also, the fact that someone in their market wants their help in entering that same market isn’t very attractive.
Why would they want to give a behind-the-scenes look to their future home staging competition of how they operate their staging business?
I’m sure if you’re looking to shadow someone, there’s no malicious intent there.
You’re probably suffering from a lack of confidence more than anything. Thinking it would be a lot less scary if you could follow someone around and see what it’s really like being a home stager.
What most people don’t realize that what you do when you get to a client’s house is the easiest part of operating a home staging business.
What you do once you’re there has everything to do with the natural talent you already possess.
The more challenging part of running a successful home staging business is figuring out how to get clients and how to get paid for your time. Not how to decorate.
Nobody you job shadow is going to teach you the inside workings of how they really run their business and make money.
That’s why I created the Staging Diva Home Staging Business Training Program, to teach you the nuts and bolts of starting a home staging business.
It’s valuable information and nobody is going to give it away to you for free.
A better way to see if you have the talent to be a home stager
Remember, if you’re considering starting a home staging business, you must already have the talent.
Since I’m betting nobody is going to want you to job shadow them, a better way to gain confidence that you will be able to do this is to go around to open houses on the weekends.
You don’t have to say anything when you’re there. You don’t even necessarily need to introduce yourself.
Just walk through and pretend you’re in a client’s house for a home staging consultation. Imagine what you would be recommending for different rooms.
The more houses you go into, the more comfortable you’ll become.
Go around to other cities to get a feel for real estate prices and different types of properties.
Every house you go into, you’ll learn something new.
You’ll encounter all kinds of “don’ts” that you can figure out how to correct.
You will never encounter a house that is completely perfect. That will help you realize that there’s always something to be done.
If you’re feeling very nervous about your first home staging consultation, consider ordering Course 3 of the Staging Diva Program.
It’s the one where you learn how to conduct yourself at consultations including what to wear and what to bring. It takes the mystery out of home staging consultations.
Home stagers, did you spend time touring open houses before you started your home staging business?
Did you use it as a tool to ease your anxiety? Did you spend time shadowing other stagers or do you allow others to shadow you on the job?
Please share your experiences by leaving a comment below.
Absolutely right Debra! Your Staging Diva course addresses this very issue very well. My advice is, feel the fear and do it anyway…. jump in with both feet!
I agree with Debra – for aspiring stagers, job shadowing is not a great use of time. We have aspiring stagers contacting us weekly for opportunities to job shadow and we probably won’t ever say yes until we have made a decision to hire someone. We have had too many instances of newbie stagers stealing information, stats .. and even pictures off our website and passing the information off as their own! This has given me a rather cynical view of aspiring stagers and made me feel that in general, I can’t trust them or their motives. If I can’t trust them then you can be sure I won’t be inviting them into my client’s homes.
When we started our business, we did so with clients and realtors already demanding our services. We have toured open houses and done the mental checklists of what we would recommend the home owner change but we usually found that if the realtor conducting the open house found out we were stagers, they usually became defensive without us saying a word about the home. Our true education has come not only from the Staging Diva courses, but from actual hands on staging time. We learned on the go, flying by the seat of our pants until we had an actual “way” of doing business. That’s what Debra’s course gave us more than anything – a business structure that allowed us to focus, plan and market effectively.
Debra, I couldn’t agree with you more about your comment that why would you groom your competition? I not only get requests for shadowing but requests to be hired. Many aspiring stagers think we all have these large companies and we hire stagers (I guess that show on HGTV called The Stagers doesn’t help). When I respond that we are all in business for ourselves and that we only pull in helpers who do the more unpleasant tasks of schlepping, ironing, cleaning up etc., they are surprised. And I never thought of it that way, but you are right – by shadowing you on an actual job, they only see the more pleasant side of the business – not the actual tasks involved in running a business such as sales, marketing, bookkeeping, etc. And they should at least invest in a training course, whether it’s yours or someone else’s, to see if this is a business they want to be in (and it is a business) and that they are suited for.
Well, Debra, as you know, I took my home staging training with you in 2006. I never asked anyone to be their staging shadow for a day… I wouldn’t want to! Staging is all about talent and knowledge. If you know what design psychology and buyer psychology is all about, then you can do the staging and don’t need to shadow anyone, even you 🙂
What you do need is the business aspect of running a home staging business: finding qualified and comptetent help, marketing your business, paperwork, paperwork and more paperwork, getting new business, getting yourself out there and presenting yourself professionally when you do. I didn’t need to be a shadow for a day for that. What I did need is the knowledge to run my own business and that’s what your home staging course gave me. I never hesitate to recommend the Staging Diva program!
Hi Debra, As the others, I agree. I think the reason we get these requests is that many people are very nervous about launching out on their own and learning by trial and (occasional) error. I know for sure I felt that way in the beginning.
There is no cure for this angst other than taking a good training program and then follow the Nike rule – Just Do it. Scary, yes. Rewarding – extremely!!
Debra,
Great advice for someone looking to start their Staging business. There is no way to learn the “hard” part of the business following someone around. I went to many open houses, took two of your courses and a college business course. There is so much more to our job than meets the eye! The actual doing is the easy part. I think getting clients and getting more clients is 85% of the job and that is not something most stagers would want to teach the competition for free:)
Thank you for talking to me today Debra. I’m ready to jump into this, and taking a day to job shadow, when I could spend it getting my business started is a better use of my time. I appreciate your candor, and your obvious interest in my success. I love that you answer your phone, on a Friday afternoon!
Hey Beth, It was a pleasure meeting you by phone today and I look forward to continuing to support you in starting and growing your home staging business. Glad you found this article I mentioned in our conversation too!
Debra, I didn’t job shadow anyone, but I did go to open houses in the early stages of my business (not anymore – don’t have the time).
I too get calls from aspiring stagers looking to job shadow and turn them down for the reasons you give. However, there is one circumstance where I would have someone “job shadow”. And the reason I put this in quotes is that if I need some extra hands for a vacant staging, this is where I would accept their request to “job shadow”, and if they are from a geographic area that I don’t serve.
I fully explain that they will be doing nothing more than schlepping and carrying bins, ironing bedding and window treatments, cleaning furniture and vacuuming. Usually they are so excited, they don’t care what they will be doing. I also think it will help them dispel the myth that staging is lots of fun. They will get to see it’s a lot of physical work, and things can and will go wrong on the staging day, etc. (of course in the end the satisfaction and pride in the job you’ve done wipes this away – much like going through labor to have a baby). But they get to observe the execution of a vacant staging, with an opportunity to ask some questions along the way.
Thanks for sharing that point of view Donna! I totally agree having someone along to do the things you describe in a vacant home is very helpful.
I’ve always paid for that service rather than considering it “shadowing” or “apprenticing.” But you make a great point! Many aspiring stagers would be happy for the opportunity even if they weren’t getting paid for their labor because of the “behind the scenes” view it would give them of what being a stager is really like.
Hi Debra,
Another thing that is not taught in a job shadow is sales. I would never bring a shadower to my appts. All the past 40 plus girls who I did bring to shadow( for free) were hauling furniture and doing the sweaty back breaking Labour. This was the only thing I was willing to share. Out of all of them I kept 2 ladies in 11 years and have trained them, and we are a well oiled machine now. But that being said it was still like finding a needle in a haystack because honestly most people who think they are future stagers aren’t. They have zero business sense and no talent, and cannot sell. That is why so many fail. This business is hard on every level. Even after 11 years and serious growth, I am still trying to learn more. I keep up and stay level headed with choices, so I grow. But most newbies are too excited about the fun and the pillows and art and end up missing the fact that they are CEO’s now, so they fail.
I wouldn’t share strategy with anyone but my team and first comes years of relationship and trust and contract and non compete agreements! Sales are an essential part in fact 90% of staging is sales. So shadowing is pointless really.
Thanks for sharing your experiences Jill, will be most helpful to my readers. And I agree with you, it’s one thing to get all excited about “the fun and the pillows and art and end up missing the fact that they are CEO’s now, so they fail.” That’s why I don’t teach about color wheels (which you can Google and learn about for free) and how to fluff pillows, and instead focus on the business model in the Staging Diva Program.
And that’s why your program rocks in comparison to others! Just saying. ..I took them all, even trained one well known one…and it was yours that really set me on track. Thank you! !!
Thanks so much for adding that detail Jill 🙂 Much appreciated!
Hey Jill, I just realized your photo isn’t showing next to your comments. Here’s a quick How To story I wrote on how to fix that:
https://stagingdiva.com/homestagingbusiness/does-your-home-staging-business-image-follow-you/
I really feel so discouraged to pursue this as a career after reading this article and comments.
I’m not sure why you should find this discouraging at all Mazuryk. I’ve actually given you a clear path to follow if you want to have a career as a home stager and explained why job shadowing would largely be a waste of your time.
Have you taken my self confidence-boosting suggestion of visiting homes on the real estate market and pretending in your own head that they were your client and seeing ideas come to you for how you’d improve the listing?