Lindsey Young walked back into 216 Coworking in downtown Cartersville for her second sit-down with host Logan Lewis, and within minutes the two were arguing about Batman actors, debating whether Home Alone counts as a Christmas movie, and threatening to launch a joint movie podcast. But underneath the chaos sat a genuinely sharp conversation about what it takes to build a design business on your own terms. Lindsey is the owner of Inception Interiors, a proud Georgia native, a mom of three boys, and someone who has built her career around a simple idea: good design shouldn't be reserved for people with luxury budgets. It should be approachable, functional, and within reach for everyday families.
From Trading Spaces to Founder
Lindsey traces her love of design back to her grandmother's living room. "Every week when Trading Spaces would launch a new episode, we'd curl up on her little oversized chair and just sit together and watch it," she said. "I loved seeing the before and afters and just the ability to just transform a space." As a kid she was already rearranging her own bedroom furniture and rolling paint onto the walls. But like a lot of creative kids, she got "jaded" in school, assumed she couldn't make real money doing design, and detoured into a marketing career instead. It took the isolation of the pandemic, and having two babies during it, to push her back toward the thing she actually loved. "It was really finding my footing and trying to find out what was best for us," she said of the leap. "It was a big risk. But you have to bet on yourself."
Glass Balls and Rubber Balls
The conversation's most memorable thread was one Lindsey has written about publicly: not all the balls we're juggling as business owners and parents are made of glass. "Some are rubber, some can drop, you can pick them up later," she explained. "The glass ones, those are your family, your health, your faith, your marriage, your kids, those are the important things you cannot afford to drop." She was candid that it took hitting a wall in January to actually live by that. "I was in this horrible mindset and just dealing with that overwhelm, and it just became too much. I contemplated even continuing," she admitted. Reprioritizing meant being upfront that clients come second to her family. "If your clients don't understand that, they're not the right clients," she said. "I'm first and foremost a mom, and they know that about me."
Approachable, Attainable, Affordable
Lindsey calls them her "A's," and they're the whole thesis of Inception Interiors. Rather than chasing luxury-only clientele, she works primarily with middle-income families who "work their butts off and want to come home and enjoy their home too." That shows up in how she prices projects: flat fees instead of hourly billing, no markup on trade discounts, and a phased approach so clients can tackle one room, save up, then move to the next. "Paint goes a long way. It's so underrated," she said, pointing out you don't need new cabinets when a fresh coat will transform a kitchen. She's also not a one-and-done designer — every shopping list comes with multiple options at different price points, so clients keep a sense of control over their own homes.
Breaking the Beige
Lindsey pushed back hard on the sameness she sees creeping into homes through social media and AI-generated inspiration boards. "Social media, AI, it's all kind of beigewashed the homes," she said. "We've somewhere along the way lost the ability to think for ourselves and just find pieces." Her job, as she sees it, is to give clients permission to want color and personality instead of playing it safe. "Society has told them to go beige," she said, "and it's just trying to make them step out of their comfort zones." She also drew a clear line between designing for how a family actually lives and staging a home to sell it — two very different jobs, and something she teaches in workshops for real estate communities across Georgia. "Your homes are meant to be where memories and messes are made," she said. "It's not meant to be picture perfect."
The Inception Collective
The biggest news of the episode: Lindsey is turning her years of contractor, painter, and real estate connections into a formal platform called the Inception Collective. "It's like a match, it's like Tinder for the design world," she said. "You can get matchmade with the right person for the job, and you can trust that they are going to do a good job because I've already vetted them." The hub will connect homeowners, real estate agents, and tradespeople across every stage of a home project, and Lindsey is explicit that it won't be limited to her own clients or even to Georgia. "I see this going nationwide," she said. "I see people being able to put in their zip code from all over the country and getting paired with that great team." A wait list and soft launch are planned for later this year.
Listen to the Full Conversation
Beyond the business talk, Lindsey opened up about co-parenting, missing her son's trip to Cooperstown for a baseball tournament, why most of her friends are women, and why she thinks men need more room to talk about their feelings. It's a wide-ranging, funny, and surprisingly honest hour with one of Cartersville's most in-demand designers. Catch the full episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or YouTube, and if you're looking for design help of your own, Lindsey's offering Your Morning Drive listeners a free consultation call — just mention the podcast.
Listen to Episode #489
Catch the full conversation with Lindsey Young on Your Morning Drive, wherever you listen.
