The world of home staging is getting bigger by the day, so I thought there was no better time than now, to get to know a few of the faces behind Australia’s staging scene. Today, marks our first article in what will become a monthly series of highlighting an Aussie stager, so meet our first lovely lady, Imogen Brown.
In what Imogen admits was “terrible timing,” she began her business, Home Staging Brisbane, during the horrible January floods of 2011. It took her six long months to get her first job, but now some four years later, her diary is booked out two weeks in advance. “Although I had my moments of doubt I knew home staging was what I wanted to do,” explains Imogen. “I think I’m successful now because I refused to give up and just kept slowly moving my business forward.”
Originally working in both advertising and business coaching, it wasn’t until Imogen lost her job and her Mother unexpectedly passed away, that she realised what she wanted to do. “Losing my job and my Mum made me realise that I wanted to build something for me. I love working for myself, I’ve always loved interiors and real estate and I wanted something that was flexible enough so I could be around for my kids. Plus I wanted something more creative and less desk-bound. Home staging is perfect for me!”
With no formal interior design qualifications — but rather a love of real estate, interiors and people — Imogen is quick to tell any wannabe home stagers that whilst styling skills are paramount, they’re not everything. “Although your styling skills are important it’s your business skills and people skills that will lead to your success. Under business skills I would include how you market your business, how you schedule your time, respond to enquiries, set your price, design your contract, run a consultation and lots more. Under people skills I would include how to ‘get’ where a client is at very quickly and respond to them accordingly. People move for lots of different reasons, not all of them happy, so empathy and rapport are extremely important.”
To find out more about Imogen visit her website and blog.
— Imogen Brown owns Home Staging Brisbane, a home staging company based in Brisbane. She works with clients who just want a consult to clients needing a full upgrade and stage. She loves working on period properties, particularly Queenslanders, and aims for a comfortable, not overly staged look when styling. She loves helping her clients sell quickly, for the best possible price and with the least amount of stress.