Lucy Feagins, Founder & Editor of The Design Files

Lucy Feagins and The Design Files’ Journey with Kearney Group.

From Passion Project to Household Name.

Back in 2008, Lucy Feagins never imagined that her passion project would grow into Australia’s go-to destination for design inspiration.

“I started The Design Files as a side project,” says Lucy. “It was just me at home at my dining table.”

Today, The Design Files is a nine person team creating exceptional original content that attracts over 800,000 monthly visitors and boasts a community of 550,000 dedicated Instagram followers.

Hitting ceilings and making plans.

Amidst Lucy’s considerable professional success, however, she found herself facing the daunting challenge of managing her growing business and finances for her busy household without a clear plan.

“I don’t come from a finance background or business background,” Lucy says. “I had reached a bit of a ceiling in what I could achieve on my own.”

Enter: Kearney Group.

“Kearney Group came into my world at exactly the right time,” says Lucy.

Where Work-Life and Life-Life Collide.

When Lucy and her husband Gordy first came to Kearney Group, they had big dreams for their family; namely, finishing a renovation on their home in Fitzroy, buying a beach house one day, and being able to travel regularly.

As any business owner will tell you though, these personal dreams were indelibly intertwined with the needs and goals of The Design Files.

So it was our truly integrated approach to financial advice that really spoke to them and prompted Lucy to bring across The Design Files’ business finances as well.

“I actually went through Kearney Group’s Ko-Lab Program,” Lucy explains. “You work with their incredible business advisors to really hone in on what it is that you’re trying to achieve in your business. But then also how that relates back to your household and your personal goals,” she adds. 

“Those things are so integrated and it just felt like they were speaking my language.”

Beach Shack Dreams.

“One of our big goals was to buy a holiday house,” says Lucy. “I thought it was at least five years away, if not more.”

So our team got crunching the numbers, figuring out what was possible and what had to be done to bring that dream into focus.

Lucy tells us: “Within eight or nine months of starting working with Kearney Group, we bought a beach shack.” 

“We now have this beautiful place that we’re slowly working on and renovating, building these memories with my daughter,” she says. “It’s a pinch-me moment. I still can’t believe we’ve done it.”

Lucy and The Design Files Get Integrated.

Like so many business owners, Lucy just “gets it” when we talk about Integrated Advice.

She knows the time, financial and emotional overlaps that occur when you’re running a business and building your family.

Instantly, she understood the power Integrated Advice gives you to transform both your business and personal finances simultaneously.

“All this integrated advice in one place means that it takes the pressure off me because I’m not just sort of keeping up with my bookkeeping and my accounting. I’m actually setting strategy in place and moving forward. As a solo business owner, that is just invaluable.”