AN INTERIOR DESIGN BUSINESS MENTOR IS USING CONTENT FROM MY BLOG ON HER PODCAST, WEBSITE, AND IN HER MARKETING without my permission, PRESENTING IT AS HER OWN.
**Scroll down to see the infringement in full effect.
Recently, I came across a few Pinterest pins with titles almost identical to blog posts we’ve written. After clicking through, I found the content being used on another website and podcast as if it were their own, without permission from my company.
A large majority of what my team and I do each week is create content that helps interior designers at all stages of business. We’ve been creating content since 2020 so it’s not “new” to have our content copied, but what I’m sharing with you is the most blatant disregard for our ideas, original thoughts, work, intellectual property, and copyrighted material.
After sharing this post, it gained attention and was reshared by other interior design business coaches, consultants, and designers. I received hundreds of comments and private messages, with many people noting they suspected who might be involved based on their own experiences—and their guesses aligned with what I had found.
It’s deeply concerning to see someone potentially misrepresenting content as their own. From the feedback I’ve received, many people are troubled by this, not only those who are familiar with her work but also other industry professionals who pride themselves on originality and high standards, and are concerned about the impact this will have on the industry’s reputation - not just the interior design industry but the coaching and mentoring industry as well.
This practice of stealing someone else’s work is NOT something people stand for or want to be associated with.
My original work reflects a foundation of knowledge, experience, and expertise—in my case, my background in running two successful businesses and also working one-on-one with interior design business owners since 2017. The blog content we create is meant to support and educate but is not a substitute for in-depth expertise in coaching or consulting.
Naturally, I went down the rabbit hole. When I discovered that my work was being shared on someone else’s website and podcast as their own content and ideas, without permission from my company to do so, I looked further to understand the extent. Seeing my own copyrighted content and original material used without permission was difficult, especially knowing it’s more than just words—it’s my livelihood and affects my family.
One specific instance I’ll share below involves a survey we conducted in 2023, where interior designers in our community provided invaluable insights that we compiled and shared (with permission) in a blog post. I noticed this same blog post being read in a podcast episode, right down to the quotes provided to us by our clients and interior designers in our community.
I was especially disturbed to hear from designers who recognized their own quotes in the podcast, which had been shared on the podcast without their knowledge or permission.
Turn the volume up as you listen. The podcast is seen on the left of the screen. My blog post is seen on the right. I highlight the text as she reads it on her podcast.
Here are three more examples where specific blog posts from my website are read aloud almost verbatim on her podcast.
In one instance, she says, “Let me look at my notes,” and appears to stumble as she reads, seemingly needing to adjust the wording to sound like her own. It’s surreal to hear my work being used this way, especially without my permission or any acknowledgment of the original source.
These aren’t isolated cases—there are several instances across her podcast where this same pattern is repeated. It’s disheartening to witness, especially knowing the time and effort my team and I invest in creating original content for the interior design community.
Here are just two examples of articles from my blog that have been copied and pasted directly onto her website. Unfortunately, there are several more instances of this as well.
She does not have permission to use my content, and I’m sharing this to highlight the importance of respecting original work and intellectual property in our industry.
This isn’t the first time someone has used my intellectual property or copyrighted materials without permission, and it’s certainly not the first time others have seemed to profit from my copyrighted work.
In fact, two former 1:1 clients are currently engaging in similar practices.
One former client is now selling materials we specifically created for her during our 1:1 work as part of her own group coaching program.
Another has taken the exact service we did for her and the materials we created for her—systems setup and implementation—and is offering them to other designers, using the same materials we crafted from scratch and, in some cases, even the same emails we sent during her onboarding, delivery, and offboarding. She’s essentially now created a systems implementation company and is duplicating our client experience and selling our deliverables for her own new business.
It’s incredibly hard to see this happen and makes me want to hide and cry. This business and the content I create are things I pour my heart and soul into because I truly want to empower designers to make more money and gain confidence. It’s a terrible feeling when the ideas, philosophies, and hard work I put out are repurposed by others without permission.
In finding the silver lining, I am completely blown away by the support I’ve received over on Instagram. I am humbled by the kindness of the people in my audience, and the solidarity. It is giving me life when this all feels too big to handle.
We have reached out to the business coach/mentor and have requested that she take down all my materials from her website and podcast.
Here’s the thing —> I am only one voice in the industry. There are many others who may be affected. If you’re creating content, it may be worth checking that your work isn’t being used without permission as well. While I understand we’re in a similar industry and naturally address related subjects, these similarities I’ve found extend beyond standard industry discourse.
The deeper I go, the more I find.
Moving forward, in addition to removing my content, we plan to ask her to provide a public acknowledgment of what has happened and refund any clients she may have booked as a result of this content. In other cases like this, a financial accounting would be standard, but in this situation, given the messages from designers, I would prefer that any refund go directly to the designers who purchased from her based on my content.
My request is simple. I would like her to:
Stop this behavior immediately,
Remove all my materials from her website, blog, podcast, Pinterest, YouTube, Instagram, paid programs, and any other channels where they are being used without permission,
Publicly acknowledge what has been done, and
Refund any of clients or businesses who have paid her based on my original content and work.
Katie