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Today I'm speaking with Candace Kaye , the

0:03

spoke textile designer and go-to

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creator that brands like Nike , Microsoft

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, Mamon Cafe and Bacardi colon

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when they need an unforgettable interior

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.

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It was a lot of mental work and

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personal growth that I had to go

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through and continue to go through , as a woman

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, as a person , as a being , human being

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. That has supported the growth

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of my business .

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In a world where famous faces are often

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photographed in front of her work , this

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episode delves deeper into balancing

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artistic integrity with high-profile

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brand expectations , the art

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of networking and tapping into creative

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abundance , and prioritizing

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self-care rituals and inner growth

0:43

or success . Let's

0:45

dive in . Candace

0:48

is great to have you . We have so

0:50

much to talk about . I am very

0:53

curious to kind of get all of your insights

0:55

on . You know , your design

0:57

meets entrepreneurship and

0:59

being able to have the foresight to see

1:01

something that wasn't there . There

1:04

was a prime need in the market . So we have a lot

1:06

to talk about today . So thank you for joining

1:08

us , Thank you for having me . Let's

1:11

go to the backstory and let's

1:13

just talk a little bit on the inception

1:15

. How did you really recognize there

1:18

was a need for your work

1:20

, as it relates to what

1:22

you've gone and built today ?

1:24

It started because I would

1:26

walk into restaurants when I was living

1:28

in New York and I was in

1:30

textile . I worked at Holland and Sherry at the time

1:32

and every single

1:35

like wallpaper in a restaurant was like

1:37

mmm . And then at work

1:39

I would see the beautiful handmade

1:41

rugs for interiors and that would be

1:43

in our residential spaces

1:45

and I'm like why is this not happening

1:48

here ? And at the time there

1:50

wasn't a lot of options

1:52

for commercial grade

1:55

prints . They

1:57

weren't cute and it

2:00

started as what if I did

2:03

a one-of-a-kind print

2:06

and then just repeated it ? So

2:08

like the concept of like one-of-a-kind for each

2:10

restaurant wasn't really a

2:12

thing then when I first started .

2:14

Were people receptive right away or

2:16

did you ? Were you hit by a lot of no's ?

2:19

Well , new York was a hard place to

2:21

start and one of the things that I

2:23

was I learned really early on when I would

2:25

talk about what I was doing and I was young , I was

2:27

like 23 , 24 and I

2:29

was like I'm gonna transform textile and this is

2:31

what I'm gonna do . And I was

2:34

at the sew house with

2:36

a friend and there was a guy , this

2:39

guy and he , he just looked to me and he was

2:41

like in this town , you can't tell

2:43

people what you're gonna do unless you have something

2:45

to show for it , and I'll never

2:47

, ever forget that conversation . From

2:50

there I would go home

2:52

and like make my own wallpaper . I started doing

2:54

my own prints , painting

2:57

and doing and creating , and I would make up

2:59

launches and like launch a collection that

3:01

nobody bought , all in the while

3:03

of working full-time . So

3:05

by the time that , when the client start

3:07

coming , I had

3:11

practice , but then not even realizing

3:13

that I was practicing .

3:15

Right , like what was the process of gathering clients

3:17

.

3:18

My first client was a cafe called my

3:20

mom in New York and

3:22

me and Alisa would sit and I would tell her what

3:25

I wanted to do in the industry and I think that

3:27

inspired her to be like

3:29

wait a second , there's something here . And

3:31

then I didn't know that she was gonna start

3:33

a cafe . So six months later she

3:35

was like Candace , what you've been talking

3:37

about and what you've been like sharing with me

3:40

, let's do four custom prints , we'll

3:42

put them on the cups , we'll make them the brand

3:44

and let's just see if this works

3:46

. And it blew up and it was

3:49

just one of the coolest moments of my still

3:51

in my career of watching like people

3:54

in Soho with a mama cup

3:56

, you be in a subway and you see you like that's

3:58

my print and because

4:01

it was so recognizable , the

4:03

people that really wanted it organically

4:06

just came to me . That was

4:08

the beginning .

4:09

It was very word of mouth that uniqueness

4:11

in the restaurant space and you

4:13

know Instagram and having a lot more

4:15

sort of social media around

4:18

your brand experience . What year

4:20

was this , by the way ?

4:21

So this was 2014 , so it was like

4:23

the rise , the mecca

4:26

of social media , and that

4:28

was also part of it . I think

4:30

, regardless of what I was building

4:32

, I would also watch how everyone interacted

4:35

with the prints and what they were doing

4:37

, and they were taking pictures . And that's

4:40

when New York Fashion Week had all the influencers

4:42

come in and everyone rolled through my mom

4:44

, and so it was this beautiful

4:47

union of like how socially

4:49

people were operating with with social media

4:51

, how people were interacting with the

4:53

prints , how people were finally taking

4:56

pictures and they were tagging where they were going

4:58

. So not

5:00

only am I doing one-of-a-kind prints for

5:02

restaurants , but this is

5:04

going to be the mark when people take pictures

5:06

, you're going to know exactly where they are , you're

5:09

going to know what location they're in

5:11

. I think what ?

5:13

you're really talking about is a blend of strategic

5:15

thinking meets creativity . You

5:17

know , when you think about sort of the next moves

5:20

in building against

5:22

high-profile brands , collaboration

5:25

, bigger interiors , was

5:28

that the next chapter in the journey for you ?

5:30

I left New York . It was so expensive

5:33

and the city was so fast-paced . But

5:35

maybe also part of me wanted out of that

5:37

for a bit . You know it was a long . It was

5:39

a lot of years of like hustle and

5:42

I wanted to really create

5:44

and have the time to do so . But I

5:47

had to leave my full-time job

5:49

, my apartment , my visa , everything to

5:51

start a business in Toronto and

5:53

I lived with my mom . I couldn't worry

5:56

about the money because

5:59

I wanted to make sure that the clients

6:01

that I was , I were finding , were

6:04

perfect for what I was building and

6:07

not just take on clients because I needed to make rent .

6:09

Those tips are really important . There

6:11

is a big rise right now

6:14

in sort of the side hustle and people

6:16

really wanting to get

6:18

into entrepreneurship on the side

6:20

and dabble into it , but I think what you're

6:22

really saying is like giving

6:24

yourself that time , giving yourself that financial security allowed

6:28

for you to curate the right clients at

6:30

the right time and go slower . As

6:33

you've been working with these , you

6:35

know major brands who

6:37

all have their own opinions of what their spaces

6:39

should look like , what their brand

6:41

experience should be . How

6:44

do you go about sort of managing

6:46

expectations ?

6:48

Everyone has an opinion , everyone

6:51

has a style , and

6:53

there had to be this

6:55

like yes , I'm an artist and I love

6:57

what I do and I take so much pride

7:00

in what I do , but it wasn't

7:02

about me , this is not about my art , this

7:04

is about the restaurant and my client and

7:06

what they want , and if

7:09

they came back to me with corrections , it's like you

7:11

cannot take it personal . There

7:13

have been moments where we put up wallpaper

7:15

and they didn't like it and we had to take it down and start again

7:17

. Wow .

7:20

At the very end of the project right .

7:22

Yeah , and it's just you . I've

7:25

developed this endurance of like , it's

7:28

okay , I always deliver . We're going to figure

7:30

this out together , and my clients have

7:32

incredible taste . Like people that operate

7:34

at that type of capacity

7:37

know exactly what they want when

7:39

you show them and they're

7:41

already doing incredible things . Their

7:43

taste is already there and

7:46

oftentimes I've been wrong where I thought it was

7:48

something , and then I'd be like , oh my

7:50

gosh , no , you're right , that's that . I was wrong

7:52

, that's the print that we should do , and so

7:54

we we've developed this beautiful

7:56

collaborative relationship

7:59

where we trust each other .

8:01

What you're talking about is really important as it relates

8:03

to giving and receiving feedback and

8:06

how foundational trust is like

8:08

trusting yourself , trusting the person you're working

8:10

with . Oftentimes , when

8:12

there isn't trust , I think that's where we get

8:14

defensive Also . I think that's just beautiful

8:18

insight that you shared . I'm imagining

8:20

that people are kind of listening to the story , thinking

8:22

, well , how did you get these

8:24

clients ? Is there any early

8:27

lessons in that for

8:29

anyone who's seeking to

8:31

build a network of high profile

8:34

clients ?

8:35

That wasn't my intention at the beginning

8:37

of my career . I

8:40

had no money , so

8:42

I was like I want to do commercial

8:44

, that makes sense

8:47

. I want to change . I see a hole in the market

8:49

Okay , that makes sense . We're going to use social

8:51

media , but also I

8:53

get to use these photos as my marketing

8:55

tools . So , because that was

8:57

the true intention at the beginning , where

8:59

I was like I want to transform commercial

9:01

, because it was so niche , that

9:03

organically brought me people

9:06

through word of mouth that wanted

9:08

the same thing and truly saw the

9:10

value in what I was building

9:12

. So these high profile

9:14

clients that have they not only have

9:16

one restaurant , they have multiple , and

9:18

they also understand the value of

9:20

social media and they also understand the

9:22

value of marketing and I

9:25

truly am so invested

9:27

in their brands .

9:29

And when you think about sort of leveraging that network

9:31

, how do you think about

9:33

kind of playing the short game versus

9:35

the long game as it relates to relationship

9:38

building within your

9:40

network ?

9:40

Just say it was only about the money . If

9:43

that's what I'm after , people can feel

9:45

that you know , like there

9:47

, there are so many things that I've done

9:50

, just like

9:52

hey , candice , we need this done tomorrow . Any

9:54

chance you can get that done yet , no problem . Whatever

9:56

you need , hey , candice , we need this ship

9:58

. Before payment . If

10:00

it's a smaller wall , just say no

10:02

problem , you know it

10:05

was . It was years and years and years of

10:07

understanding the system . Lee and

10:09

we're going to help each other and

10:11

if you need anything , no

10:13

matter what , I got your back . If

10:16

you have a client base that you want to keep

10:18

, you need to show that client that

10:20

, no matter what , you're going to be there , and

10:24

my clients know they're getting a level of detail

10:26

from me .

10:27

Candace , share with me some of the brand

10:29

collections that you've done .

10:31

I've collabed and still am with CB2 . We

10:33

did a full rug line and then

10:35

we did drapery and pillows

10:37

and we did a full tablewear

10:40

line . Together . I work with Nike

10:42

. I did a really cool

10:44

installation with Bacardi , and

10:46

then I'm working

10:48

with a lot of interior designers now to create

10:51

collections that I can also sell by the panel

10:53

. So if you don't want bespoke , or maybe

10:56

you don't really need it , you can go on my website

10:58

and you can at least feel like you're getting

11:00

that level of attention through the panels and

11:02

stuff that I sell online

11:05

. Yeah , the collaborations are fun

11:07

.

11:08

What did the collaboration bring to you from a personal

11:10

growth perspective ?

11:11

Every single surface is a different application

11:14

and different technique and

11:17

a different skill set and every

11:20

single collaboration that I took on was

11:22

a new challenge . So when I did plates , I was designing

11:25

that at a very small scale and then

11:28

doing layout , and what that would look

11:30

like on a table is a very different

11:32

process as doing wallpaper

11:34

for large interior

11:37

spaces that was sold

11:39

for residential Like . Is anyone

11:41

going to buy this ? Because the color choices that

11:43

you use in

11:45

the commercial spaces are different . So the

11:48

whole process is

11:50

a different mindset

11:52

, skill set , clientele and

11:55

that's just been so fun to explore

11:57

because it keeps me on my toes

12:00

and challenged and

12:02

just constantly learning . Do

12:04

you have any sort of like ?

12:06

daily tips , like do you reflect every night ? Like

12:08

how do you kind of keep on top of the iteration

12:11

and self learning when you're

12:13

taking on so many new things ?

12:15

It's just making sure that , yeah

12:17

, your your mind's right , your

12:19

ego's , in check . Are you really

12:21

doing what you're doing because you love it ? Are you doing

12:24

it because you like the praise

12:26

of it ? And I have

12:28

to check myself all the time . Is this what

12:30

I want ? Does this client make sense ?

12:32

The spaces that at least what I'm

12:34

seeing on social media , like those spaces , celebrities

12:37

photograph themselves in front of those spaces

12:39

. Your work is quite

12:41

prominent out there in the world , so I

12:44

was wondering how you do kind of make

12:46

sure you stay grounded in you know what

12:48

you are doing , versus getting caught up in

12:51

what you said you know . I have to check my ego

12:53

.

12:54

Yeah , because it's not about me . You

12:56

know , this is about them . This

12:58

is about , like setting

13:00

a client up properly

13:03

so that when a celebrity does walk through their

13:05

door , that picture is perfect

13:08

. I set that up for

13:10

their success and just , and

13:13

I just benefit from the fact that , like JLo's

13:15

at my restaurants that I worked on . You

13:17

know , that's cool , it's still cool

13:19

. I obviously like

13:21

I saw

13:23

a share recently at Vegas

13:26

opening and I was like this is crazy

13:28

, I love this . But yeah

13:31

, you , just it's the perks of it , if

13:33

that makes sense .

13:34

Where do you get your inspiration for

13:36

these ideas ?

13:38

A lot of silence , and I think that's why I love

13:40

LA , because it allows me to get into

13:42

nature and just like just zone

13:45

out . Travel is so

13:47

important to me . Travel is the

13:50

idea of being on a plane and landing

13:52

somewhere that I've never been before and just

13:54

kind of shocking the system and being completely

13:57

present allows me to turn

13:59

off , and

14:01

it's really important for me to see different

14:03

things . All the time I'll

14:07

find inspiration from a little flyer somewhere

14:09

or a conversation with someone

14:11

that I just met in some restaurant , and

14:13

they'll mention something . I'm like oh , I never thought about

14:15

it that way , understanding

14:18

that there's no lack

14:21

of creativity , and

14:23

it took me a long time to learn that , and I

14:25

think that's a big thing for creatives . People

14:27

would tell me like , how are you going to do bespoke ? It's

14:29

never going to work . I got somebody knows

14:32

the beginning , because no one understood it . How

14:34

are you going to create different designs for every

14:37

single client over and over and over again ? How

14:39

are you going to make money ? This is not profitable , it's not

14:41

scalable . It was their

14:43

misunderstanding of how abundant

14:45

we are as people , naturally , and

14:48

when you tap into your creative abundance

14:51

, there's no lack . It doesn't make it , it's

14:53

impossible . So the eight

14:55

, and it's trusting yourself that the ideas

14:58

will always come . And yes , there's so many

15:00

moments where I'm nothing's

15:02

coming and I'm like I suck , like this is like

15:05

I should just quit , you know . But

15:07

it always happens . You always get the

15:09

idea and it's just . I

15:11

trust myself in that space so

15:13

fully I have to .

15:15

Is there something you do on a daily , like everyone's always

15:18

, you know , asking about what are the daily ? What's

15:20

your morning routine ? Like what ? What

15:22

are the daily practices ? Anything

15:25

that you kind of have to , kind of must do

15:27

for yourself in order to make sure

15:29

that your creativity is abundant

15:31

and flowing .

15:33

I think the biggest thing is making

15:35

sure that my

15:38

mind is at peace at least

15:40

one part of the day . So

15:42

in the morning I go for walks . I have a like

15:44

my coffee mug and I just go for a walk in the

15:46

neighborhood . I'm just put

15:49

my earphones on and by myself . Alone

15:51

Time is so important . I wouldn't say I have routines

15:54

, because it's impossible with my work , but

15:56

I do have rituals , so it's alone

15:58

time . Go for walks , go on a

16:00

hike , I work out , I

16:02

need to be active and I also

16:04

go to movies alone , often

16:07

like the theater , and

16:09

then I go for dinners alone .

16:10

When you look back at who you were six or seven

16:13

years ago to today , what are the some of

16:15

the biggest areas

16:17

that you have seen your own personal growth ?

16:19

The biggest thing in business

16:21

was confidence . Money

16:23

is scary as not to pernure too . You don't

16:25

know when it's going to come and where it's going to be , and

16:27

it's just learning how to calm

16:29

those nerves . It's going to

16:31

be okay , but you have to

16:33

work your ass off . You got to

16:35

be so patient . But patient doesn't mean do nothing . Patient

16:38

means do everything that you possibly can and

16:40

be patient all at one time . That

16:44

was a big lesson for me , and whenever I get caught

16:46

up in my head it's remembering that Just calm

16:48

, you're gonna be okay . I

16:51

have confidence now when I'm building , so that

16:53

helps obviously a lot . When

16:55

I started , I was just an overthinker

16:57

and I would go in these spirals , and

17:00

that's definitely stopped

17:02

. And then there's a personal side

17:04

. As an entrepreneur , you know you're alone

17:06

a lot . That's a big reality

17:08

. You're alone by yourself

17:11

, no one gets it , no one's helping you , no

17:14

one's going to save you . You know

17:16

, and it was a lot of mental

17:18

work and personal growth

17:20

that I had to go through and continue

17:22

to go through as a woman , as a person , as a being

17:24

, human being that has supported

17:27

the growth of my business . So the more

17:29

mature that I've become and

17:31

emotionally mature , emotionally aware

17:33

and

17:35

that support of the business in such a way

17:37

that has allowed me to not only communicate

17:39

better with people

17:42

, have more empathy or

17:44

even just be more intuitive

17:47

and be able to feel what my clients needs

17:49

are , and

17:51

also make sure that I take care of myself .

17:54

Was there anything that came up in those early days

17:56

that just really put it front and center for

17:58

you or like , oh , this is the lesson .

18:00

The biggest lesson that I learned during those

18:02

beginning days was ego and

18:06

understanding that there's a gap between

18:09

what you are now and who

18:11

you are now and how you create and

18:13

what will happen

18:15

eventually . But there's an in

18:17

between space in the creation process

18:20

that you're gonna really have to learn

18:22

how to sit in and not

18:24

allow the ego to get ahead of you . So

18:26

it's when I get a project I'll

18:28

be better , when I , when I move back

18:30

to New York , I'll be happier . When I live

18:32

here , I'll be happier . Like that's all

18:35

your ego making up these stories

18:37

about what's gonna make you

18:39

right now , present moment , better . So

18:42

I had to learn gratitude and

18:44

I had to become so

18:47

thankful for , like , the

18:49

pencil that I drew with , because

18:52

it just felt so caved in and I

18:54

felt so alone and isolated

18:56

. And also , too , it was paired

18:58

with . Is this even gonna work ? Like

19:00

what am I even doing ? Like who ? Who's

19:03

gonna buy this ? Is this , like you

19:05

know , yes , I had my mom and I planted behind

19:07

me , but you know you need some more clients to make

19:09

some money . And how is it translated in

19:11

the business ? I just was able

19:13

to be so focused in

19:16

my intention and when

19:18

I was building it in my mission that

19:20

I didn't let all the other noise get to me

19:22

and it still dies , like with people

19:24

and friends and you're dating and that's

19:27

gonna affect you . You

19:30

have to learn how to not listen

19:32

to the noise because it

19:34

will just , it will take up your mind space

19:37

.

19:37

When I need that space to be creative , I

19:40

just think these are invaluable lessons and I think in

19:42

today's world right now , obviously

19:45

, with digital and

19:47

social media being ever prominent , but

19:49

I also think , like there's a lot of young people

19:51

who are aspiring to be entrepreneurs

19:54

today Like this is a big trend and a big

19:56

shift . So this has just been

19:58

a fantastic conversation . Thank you so

20:00

much for joining us here today , and I

20:03

think so many people are going to really learn

20:05

and benefit from your journey

20:07

and your story . So thank you

20:09

so much .

20:10

Thank you so much for having me .

20:13

Thank you for joining us . Don't forget to follow

20:15

us on Instagram and LinkedIn , where

20:17

we transform the wisdom from our podcast

20:19

into practical tips , tools and takeaways

20:21

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us at gritgracepodcast

20:25

. See you next week .