Celebrity Interior Designer Nate Berkus: Hiring, Hard Clients, and Knowing What You’re Bad At

Celebrity Interior Designer Nate Berkus: Hiring, Hard Clients, and Knowing What You’re Bad At

June 30, 2026 · 38 min · Season 6 · Episode 36

About this episode

Nate Berkus discusses his journey in interior design, the challenges of hiring and managing clients, and the importance of recognizing one's weaknesses for business growth.

At 24, Nate Berkus launched an interior design firm with no business plan and a whole lot of nerve. Thirty years later? Offices in three cities, 50 employees, and a spot among the most recognizable names in design. The celebrity designer joins host Gene Marks on Paychex THRIVE to get real about hiring, handling difficult clients, and why admitting what you're bad at is where real business growth starts. Plus, the advice from his father that changed everything. Simplify your business operations. Learn how Paychex can handle your HR and payroll so you can focus on what counts: https://bit.ly/3VtM6bs Have a topic idea? Share it at https://payx.me/thrivetopics Topics include:00:00 – Episode preview and guest introduction01:21 – Nate’s path into design05:27 – Running a 50-person firm across three cities09:42 – Which projects Nate still gets personally involved in11:57 – Why his firm still grounds him after fame16:10 – Dealing with difficult clients and when to say no19:33 – Handling problems: accountability and ownership23:05 – Nate’s hiring wake-up call25:01 – How Nate keeps great employees 28:10 – Starting a business at 2432:41 – Walking through doors & staying in the room36:27…

People in this episode

Host: Gene Marks

Guest: Nate Berkus

Topics covered

Keywords

Sponsors

Paychex

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Paychex, Inc.

More episodes of THRIVE, a Paychex Business Podcast

Explore listener stats, chart rankings, contacts and more on the THRIVE, a Paychex Business Podcast podcast page.