To-The-Trade Episode Summary
In this episode of To-The-Trade, host Laurie Laizure sits down with Montreal-based designer Romina Tina Fontana, founder of Fontana & Company, to discuss how her deep background in marketing and graphic design shapes her approach to running her interiors studio today. It is a conversation that blends branding, editorial photography, client education, collaboration, and some very practical risk management for design pros.
Romina explains that before focusing on interiors, she spent nearly twenty years in advertising and graphic design, working both on the client side for a large multinational company and at top agencies like Taxi and Concrete in Toronto. Those roles involved serving creative teams internally and major brands externally, and also exposed her to beautifully designed office environments that blurred the lines between branding and interior design. At a pivotal point in her life, she realized she wanted to build her own brand and help people more directly. Since she had already redesigned homes for several friends, she hired an interiors photographer to document her own “bachelorette pad” and a few other projects. During that shoot, the photographer shared behind-the-scenes stories on Instagram, HGTV editors reached out, and Romina’s Victorian apartment was featured, effectively launching her interior design career.
Her marketing background is evident throughout her firm. Romina has been deliberate about branding from the start, mainly using yellows and greens in her palette and incorporating a custom illustration of a project facade with her schnauzer, created by illustrator Virginia Johnson. She also collaborated with a former colleague to develop brand guidelines and a wordmark, and she consistently maintains a client-facing process document outlining 10 clear stages of a project. This process guide is reflected in her services agreement, so clients encounter consistent terminology and flow from the first conversation to signing.
A significant part of the episode emphasizes photography as a key marketing tool, not an afterthought. Drawing on her experience in advertising, Romina feels comfortable on set and is dedicated to photographing nearly every project. She even postpones specific shoots until the season showcases the home at its best—like waiting for greenery and flowers around a lake house in Quebec. She allocates funds for photography as a non-negotiable, works with trusted photographers in Toronto, Montreal, and beyond, and frequently hires professional stylists. One notable example is a historic Rosedale home in Toronto that she and a former business partner styled with Me and Mo, two stylists with Canadian House & Home experience, and photographed with Alex Lukey. The stylists’ modern florals and editorial perspective made the day smooth and enjoyable, including the clients in the images, and the project was published, showing that strategic investment in photography can yield significant ROI. Her advice to new designers is to always budget for photos, consider hiring a younger interiors photographer if needed, but definitely invest in an experienced stylist for the first few shoots to learn how to create vertical vignettes suitable for magazines and covers.
Romina and Laurie also explore collaboration and community. Romina discusses her long-standing habit of using the hashtag “love your trades” and genuinely treating her trades as expert partners. She invites contractor and electrician feedback, resists micromanaging, and presents projects as a team effort. That collaborative spirit also extends to her peers. She recounts a trip to London hosted by Christopher Farr Cloth, where twenty-five designers from North America spent several days together. After the formal events, they gathered in the hotel library for “therapy sessions” about billing, photo shoot budgets, and custom work, and they have continued the conversation in a WhatsApp group, sharing resources and meeting again in New York. It’s a reminder that even very established designers need a community to speak candidly about the business of interior design.
On the operations side, Romina is firm that her ten-phase process and fee schedule are non-negotiable. She explains that the few times she has allowed a convincing client to skip or modify a phase, there has almost always been an issue, even if the project didn’t completely go off track. Those experiences have strengthened her resolve to follow her process and refine it after each project. Recently, she even added a distinct “specification” phase to show clients how much technical research goes into choosing faucets, lighting, and other details, well beyond simply clicking “add to cart” online.
Client education is key to how she discusses money. Instead of starting with a fixed minimum, Romina prefers to have one or two initial phone or Zoom calls, followed by a complimentary on-site visit that she describes as a first date. During those early talks, she asks clients to decide how much they want to invest and provides percentage ranges. For example, if they decide to spend a certain amount overall, she will outline approximately what portion goes to design fees, what part to trades, and what portion must be set aside for decor and styling. This method works for both clients who have used designers before and those who haven’t, supporting everything from complete home renovations to phased main floor projects, with the option to address basements, top floors, or exteriors later. As Laurie notes, even the wealthiest clients experience financial fatigue at some point, so phasing often proves to be the most innovative way to preserve relationships and maintain referrals while still delivering beautiful work.
Toward the end of the episode, the discussion shifts to communication rhythms and risk management. Romina conducts internal status meetings on Mondays and Fridays, and she likes to send Friday updates to clients, sometimes as brief audio notes from the car, sharing what happened during the week and what’s coming next. This simple habit reassures clients as they head into the weekend and prevents them from imagining stories about a lack of progress. Laurie mentions a favorite maxim she has heard: that the answer to confusion is always no, and they both agree that clear process documents and consistent updates are the solution.
Finally, they discuss insurance. For extensive renovations and new builds, Romina keeps a binder on site with up-to-date insurance documents for herself and all trades, which she considers an essential sign of respect for the client’s home and for the professionals she hires. Laurie expands on the topic by discussing the rise of virtual assistants working in design firms. She suggests that many VAs should consider carrying their own liability insurance and even forming an LLC, especially when dealing with procurement or other high-risk tasks that could lead to costly mistakes. It serves as a practical reminder that, beyond design talent, the trade requires strong operations, client management, and risk awareness.
00:00 – Romina’s path from marketing and graphic design into interior design
02:00 – The HGTV feature that launched her career and why photography matters so much
10:30 – Building a strong brand, process documents, and Romina’s ten-phase workflow
18:00 – “Love your trades,” collaboration on site and finding designer community
22:00 – London trip, late-night “therapy sessions” and ongoing WhatsApp support group
26:30 – Talking budgets, investment ranges, and phasing projects to avoid client fatigue
33:30 – Adding a specification phase and educating clients on behind-the-scenes work
37:00 – Weekly client communication rhythms and simple Friday update habits
41:30 – Insurance, on-site binders, and protecting both clients and trades
42:30 – VA liability, why even virtual support should think about coverage and structure