Watch the premiere on YouTube March 13th at 9:00 AM PST. The episode will be available on all podcast platforms shortly after.
Guest: Sarah Lewis, Founder of Sarah Noel Interiors
Host: Felicia Pulley, Creative Director of RESA
“Inventory changes everything about how you run a staging business.”
– Sarah Lewis
“I ran my staging company for years without inventory before deciding to change the model..” — Sarah Lewis
For many staging companies, the original business model works well in the early years. Occupied staging allows owners to build relationships, generate income, and establish credibility without the overhead of inventory and warehouse space.
But over time, growth introduces new questions. What services are clients asking for? What opportunities are being missed? Sarah shares the moment she realized her business had reached a point where the original model no longer supported where she wanted the company to go next. That realization led to a strategic shift in how she approached services, inventory, and long-term growth.
“It’s your business. It’s your finances. You have to understand them.” — Sarah Lewis
One of the most powerful parts of Sarah’s journey came when she began taking a deeper role in understanding her company’s financials. Rather than relying entirely on outside professionals, she made the decision to become more engaged with her numbers and how they reflected the health of her business.
This shift changed how she made decisions. Instead of operating on instinct alone, she gained clarity around profitability, expenses, and the true cost of growth. For many staging business owners, developing financial literacy becomes the turning point that transforms how they lead and plan for the future.
“You have to get comfortable making big decisions as a business owner.” — Sarah Lewis
As staging companies evolve, the decisions required to sustain growth become more complex. Expanding services, investing in inventory, hiring team members, or changing operational systems all require confidence and strategic thinking.
Sarah talks candidly about the realities of running a staging company through different stages of growth. From early scrappy years to more structured operations, she reflects on how every phase requires owners to reassess their assumptions and make decisions that support where the business is headed next.
00:00 Intro
01:05 How Sarah Lewis Got Started in the Home Staging Industry
03:10 Building a Home Staging Business From the Ground Up
05:30 Running a Staging Business Without Inventory
08:20 When a Staging Business Outgrows Its Original Model
11:40 Why Stagers Need to Understand Their Business Finances
14:10 Learning to Read Profit and Loss Reports as a Staging Business Owner
17:05 Finding the Right Bookkeeper for a Small Business
20:15 How Financial Clarity Improves Business Decisions
23:00 Occupied Staging vs Vacant Staging Business Models
26:40 Deciding When to Invest in Staging Inventory
30:15 How Warehouse Space Changes a Staging Business
33:45 Making Strategic Decisions as a Staging Business Owner
37:10 Lessons From Growing a Home Staging Company
41:20 Advice for Stagers Trying to Grow Their Business
44:30 Final Thoughts From Sarah Lewis
46:00 Outro
This episode of The Staging Insider features Sarah Lewis, a home staging business owner based in Colorado, sharing the evolution of her company and the pivotal moments that shaped how she runs it today. Sarah walks through her early years in the staging industry, including the decision to build a business model that relied primarily on occupied staging without maintaining a large inventory of furniture.
For several years, this model worked well. It allowed her to build relationships with agents, establish credibility in her market, and operate without the overhead and logistics that come with maintaining warehouse inventory. However, as her business matured and new opportunities began to appear, Sarah realized the original model no longer aligned with where she wanted the company to go.
A central theme of the conversation is recognizing when a business has outgrown its original structure. Sarah explains how the decision to shift her model required stepping back and evaluating the long term direction of the company. Expanding services, considering inventory, and reassessing operational systems forced her to look at the business from a more strategic perspective.
Another major part of Sarah’s story centers on financial clarity. Like many creative entrepreneurs, she initially relied heavily on outside professionals to manage the financial side of the company. Over time, she realized that true leadership required a deeper understanding of her numbers. Sarah discusses the process of learning how to read financial reports, working through multiple bookkeeping relationships, and ultimately gaining the confidence to use financial data as a tool for decision making.
Felicia and Sarah also explore the operational realities behind staging businesses at different stages of growth. The conversation touches on the differences between occupied staging and inventory based staging, the role warehouse space can play as a company expands, and how operational complexity increases as services evolve.
Throughout the discussion, Sarah reflects candidly on the responsibility that comes with owning and leading a staging company. Growth often requires making decisions that feel uncomfortable at first, whether that means changing systems, adjusting services, or investing in new infrastructure. Her story highlights how each phase of business development brings new challenges, but also new opportunities to build a stronger and more sustainable company.
Sarah Lewis is the founder of Sarah Noel Interiors, a Colorado based staging and interior design firm known for creating distinctive, market ready spaces that help properties stand out.
Her path into the industry began early. Growing up in a family that frequently renovated and moved homes, Sarah developed a natural understanding of what elements enhance a space and what helps a home sell. That early exposure shaped her approach to staging and design.
After earning a degree in marketing, Sarah launched Sarah Noel Interiors in 2012 with a focus on creating welcoming, sophisticated environments that go beyond traditional staging formulas. Over time, the firm developed a signature style known for its thoughtful use of color, texture, and scale.
Today, Sarah Noel Interiors works on both staging and full service interior design projects, including second homes and luxury residences across the United States. With more than $2 billion in properties served, Sarah has built a reputation for combining strong visual marketing with a client experience rooted in professionalism, creativity, and collaboration.
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Hosted by Felicia Pulley, Creative Director of the Real Estate Staging Association®, The Staging Insider takes you behind the scenes with today’s most influential stagers. From creative strategies to business realities, every episode dives into what it really takes to thrive in the staging industry.