Press coverage does a lot for a designer. It puts their projects in front of the right readers and gives them credibility they can't buy. What it can't do is let people hear them talk.
Lisa Hensby's best asset is Lisa. Clients hire her because of how she thinks about a home, and because they like her. A magazine spread shows the finished room. It doesn't show the warmth, the opinions or the way she talks someone through a decision they've been stuck on for months.
So when Lisa came to us with the idea for a podcast, it answered the question we'd been asking about her brand. Not "what else can we get her into?" but "where can people spend half an hour with her?" The result is Heart & Home with Lisa Hensby, on YouTube, Spotify and Apple Podcasts.
Finding the format
Interiors podcasts tend to fall into two camps: industry people talking to industry people, or general chat with a home angle bolted on. We wanted something a homeowner would actually choose to watch.
The format we settled on is simple. Each episode, Lisa sits down with a well-known guest and talks about their home: what wasn't working, what they wanted it to feel like, and the decisions that made the difference. Guests so far include Stephanie Waring, Sally Dynevor and Anya Lawrence.
A few rules shaped every episode:
- The home is the story, not the celebrity. The guest gets people to press play. The house is what keeps them watching.
- Every episode leaves you with something to do. A styling trick, a sourcing tip, one decision you could make this weekend.
- Lisa stays Lisa. No script, no presenter voice. The running order gives her a structure; the conversation is hers.
We worked out the running order and wrote the questions that hold each episode together. Lisa booked the guests and designed the set herself, which matters: the set is a room she'd put her name to.
Episodes now go out every other Friday.
Style Notes: the bit you keep
The problem with any home conversation is the moment afterwards. You've just watched someone describe the perfect bedroom paint or the lamp that made the room, and you have no idea where to find it.
So every episode has its own Style Notes: a downloadable guide we write and design alongside it. Each one walks through the guest's home room by room, with what Lisa changed, why it works, and how to get the look yourself.
Style Notes do three jobs at once:
- They make the episode useful long after it ends.
- They give the press something to run. A journalist can lift a room, a before-and-after or a sourcing tip without having to watch the whole episode.
- They build Lisa's mailing list, because people sign up to get them.
For the first episodes we've kept them free and open while we test how people find them. The sign-up comes once we know it's working.
Who did what
A podcast is a team effort, and we'd rather be clear about our part than claim the lot.
- Interiors InsideOut: helped shape the format, wrote the questions and running order, wrote the sponsorship pack, wrote and produced the Style Notes, and managed it from filming to going live.
- Lisa Hensby: came up with the idea, booked the guests, hosted every episode and designed the set.
- Nova Studios: filmed and edited the episodes.
The sponsorship pack was part of the plan from the start. A podcast takes time and money to make well, and the right partner can carry some of that in return for being part of something their customers already want to watch.
What we learned
- Decide where the master copy lives. We made YouTube the main feed, with Spotify and Apple following. Picking one early saved a lot of confusion over which version was final.
- The extras take as long as the episode. Style Notes, end cards and social clips all need the same care as the episode itself. Plan the time for them, or they get rushed.
- Leave room to test. We launched Style Notes free on purpose, so we could see what people actually do with them before deciding how to use them to grow the list.
- Treat every episode as a press story. A well-known guest talking about their own home is exactly what home editors want. The episode is the content; the story is what gets it coverage.
Where it goes next
Season one is out now, with new episodes every other Friday. We'll share the numbers once the season has landed.
For us, Heart & Home is proof of something we've always believed: a brand with a real person at its centre doesn't need more noise, it needs more ways for people to get to know them. Sometimes that's a magazine feature. Sometimes it's half an hour on a sofa with Lisa.
If you've got a story that needs more room than a press release, start a conversation.