What does it take to build a thriving luxury real estate business in Austin from scratch, with no connections, no clients, and no playbook? For Erin Scialabba, it started with a catering shift at the South Congress Hotel and a gut feeling she was meant to do something more creative with her life.

Laura sits down with Austin luxury realtor Erin Scialabba to talk about her journey from finance and data analytics in New York City to becoming one of Austin's most trusted real estate agents. Erin shares how her authentic home tour videos helped her break into the Austin luxury real estate market, why radical transparency has cost her listings and saved her clients hundreds of thousands of dollars, and what buying a home in Austin really looks like right now.

She also gets honest about building a small business without a roadmap, hiring her first team, and why protecting creative downtime is not a luxury but a business strategy.

Topics Discussed

• Leaving a New York finance career to start over in Austin with no connections
• How a catering job at the South Congress Hotel opened the door to luxury real estate
• Building an audience through authentic Austin home tour videos
• Why she turns down listings rather than oversell a property
• How she saved a client half a million dollars through radical transparency
• What buyers and sellers need to know about the Austin housing market right now
• Hiring an operations manager and learning to delegate for the first time
• Why stand-up comedy and a pandemic walk on the greenbelt changed everything
• Building systems, setting boundaries, and scaling a real estate business without burning out

Resources and LinksLearn More About Erin : https://www.erinsellsatx.com/Follow Erin on Instagram: @ErinSellsATXShop Living Oak: https://livingoakhome.comLearn More About Laura and Living Oak Interior Design: https://www.livingoak.com/about

What happens when a furniture marketing exec gets hired for Extreme Makeover: Home Edition and spends the next eight years designing over 120 homes from the ground up? For Kim Lewis, it launched her extraordinary career in interior design. Laura sits down with Kim Lewis, founder of Kim Lewis Designs, to trace her journey from Four Hands marketing to lead designer on one of television's most beloved home renovation shows, to building a thriving seven team design firm in Austin.

Kim opens up about losing her mother at 10, the divorce that brought her back to Texas, and how meeting her husband Joey, who first DM'd her looking for bar stools, helped her finally finish the memoir she's been writing for years. She shares what it really means to build a business that feels like family, how she parents with intention and presence, and why the years your kids actually need you are a shorter season than you think.

Topics Discussed

• How a chance meeting at High Point led to nearly eight years on Extreme Makeover: Home Edition
• Designing Jewel's home as her very first private client
• Building Kim Lewis Designs into a seven-team firm with 20 active projects at a time
• Losing her mother at 10 and how grief shaped her independence and empathy
• Parenting with intention and the questions she asks her kids instead of "how was your day?"
• Writing a memoir about death, divorce, and forgiveness and why she's finally ready to finish it
• Finding a partner who complements and encourages your walk

Resources and Links

Kim Lewis Design: https://www.kimlewisdesigns.com/

Follow Kim on Instagram: ‪@kimlewisdesign

Shop Living Oak: https://livingoakhome.com

Learn More About Laura and Living Oak Interior Design: https://www.livingoak.com/about

Laura sits down with Jane Ko, the powerhouse creator behind A Taste of Koko and the force driving Howdy Homes, Austin's newest collection of design forward residences. From building one of Austin's most beloved lifestyle platforms to stepping into interior design and real estate development, Jane shares the decade plus journey of consistency, reinvention, and trusting her instincts.She opens up about the pivot from corporate life to full time content creation, the evolution of social media from curated photos to raw authenticity, and what it really looks like to run a business while navigating new motherhood. Jane and Laura also dig into the vision behind Howdy Homes, the power of knowing when to take a leap, and why being a woman in business is actually an extraordinary advantage.Topics Discussed- How Jane built A Taste of Koko over 15 years, from a college blog to more than 200,000 follower Austin institution- The moment she was forced to choose between her blog and her 9-to-5, and why she chose herself- How Covid reshaped content creation and what creators had to unlearn about perfection- Launching Sunday House in Fredericksburg and how it sparked the idea for Howdy Homes- The origin story of Howdy Homes and what makes their South Austin properties different- Navigating postpartum, brand deadlines, and no paid maternity leave as a self employed creator- Her approach to short sprints in business, motherhood, and everything in between- Day to day rituals that keep her grounded, from nighttime baths to morning date teaResources and LinksA Taste of Koko: https://www.atasteofkoko.com/Follow Jane Ko on Instagram: @ATasteOfKoko Howdy Homes: https://www.howdyhomes.co/Shop Living Oak: https://livingoakhome.comLearn More About Laura and Living Oak Interior Design: https://www.livingoak.com/about