Her Story
About BAILEY
Bailey Barclay is an interior designer and business owner with about six years of experience in the field. She owns her own interior design company, Rankin Design, based in Nashville. Her career began with a pandemic-era shift from the music industry. She gained on-the-ground training at Showplace, a short-term rental design company that no longer exists, where she was largely self-taught in areas like architectural drafting software. She also taught a music class at Belmont University until about two years ago. She holds undergraduate and graduate degrees in music, specifically voice, from Belmont University. Her professional journey reflects a pivot driven by family considerations and a passion for design.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with BAILEY
01What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?
My husband once told me that nothing happens at home. Like, when you're sitting at home, nothing happens. So, even if it's just getting out to meet someone for coffee or whatever. Taking being comfortable with the risk or the discomfort of the fact that that coffee meeting might not lead to anything, but doing it anyways is important, and for me, I've kind of boiled that down to, like. I don't know where the steps will take me, but I'm going to keep taking steps forward, and then. Maybe it's a lateral move, or it's a step backward, or whatever, but as long as you're taking steps, you're gonna move. And I feel like a lot of businesses are successful just because someone was willing to keep going. And just keep taking the next step. Like, so, don't let fear, or insecurities, or financial worries keep you from taking more steps. Just keep stepping, and you don't know what good could be what good could happen from there.
02What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
Try to outwork people. I know that sounds that can really lead to burnout, but just look maybe I should rephrase this to sound better. It's if it's hard, and it sounds like, oh gosh, that's gonna be so challenging, go do that, because somebody else is looking at that same opportunity. And saying, oh my gosh, that sounds so difficult, I'm not gonna do it. If you're the so if you so just the fact that you decided to go do it might mean that you win the race, because you don't know who's gonna back out of the race, and so, yeah, if it sounds scary, if it sounds like it's hard, it probably isn't as hard as you think it is, but that is what will keep you down, is just not wanting to go do the difficult, scary thing. It's such a hack. Just go do it, because somebody else will be more scared than you are.
03What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
The opportunities, I mean could be endless. You just never know whose house you're gonna end up in. So that's certainly exciting. I think the challenges are with a lot of my friends who are in this industry, it is tough to bring in leads, like, from a business perspective. Until you've really made a name for yourself, and you've got a ton of followers, and your referral work is, you know, on a wait list. It takes a lot of trust to hire someone to make your home beautiful, and so it's a difficult sales generation, process. You know, from a business perspective.
04What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
Efficiency. I am, to a fault, just all about what is most efficient. I think, you know, as a young mom, you only have so few hours in the day, it seems. So, whether it's making sure that, like, we're cooking a dinner that will last us a couple nights with leftovers, or we or I'm making sure that, like. Business-wise, the order of operations is the most efficient ever. I mean, my brain is very focused on efficiency.
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