Growing a Design Practice: Office, Team, and Craft with Tabi Mund

The Design Sherpa Returns

Tabi Mund calls herself a Design Sherpa. She helps clients figure out what they already know they want, then finds a way to make it real. In Part 1, the conversation covered her design philosophy and the 7,000-square-foot custom residence she’s collaborating on with Arcfluence. This time, Tabi opens up about building a team, growing a practice, and staying authentic in the process.

Vintage, Handmade, Vetted

Tabi’s approach starts with authenticity. She talks about sustainability, history, and craftsmanship not as trends to capitalize on, but as values that produce better spaces. Vintage sourcing, handmade pieces, international collecting trips. These aren’t aesthetic choices. They’re how she works.

”Being able to talk to people about sustainability, about history, about authenticity, helping people think about not only layering things that will help them now, but thinking about when you pass it on,” Tabi explains. She draws a parallel to the arts and crafts movements that emerged during previous technology surges. We’re seeing something similar now. A renewed interest in things that are handmade and intentional.

She runs her studio the same way. If she’s recommending a piece, she’s seen it, touched it, vetted it. “The experience is different when it’s in front of you and you can actually hold it,” she says. Her bigger vision includes international sourcing trips to find pieces with real provenance and layer them into client projects.

How the Partnership Works

The Arcfluence and Swoon House Studio partnership is multiple projects deep now, with a new one forming in Cincinnati. Walking into the Westerville house mid-construction, seeing the woodwork and the cabinetry, Tabi lit up: “I’m just like, oh my gosh, this is lovely. That was such a fascinating project."

"It’s such a joy and a gift to work with clients that have such a vision for where they want it to go,” she says. “He’s a creative. He can see it. So trying to pull out from his head what’s in there and help realize it. That’s the fun part.”

As a studio, Tabi takes pride in how collaborative her approach is. “If you look at our projects, they’re buried in a lot of authenticity. It’s not like we try to override people’s opinions. I just like to be in the loop.”

Building a Team the Right Way

Tabi is candid about what the last few years have looked like behind the scenes. Her business outgrew her, and she didn’t see it coming. No business school, no playbook. But she didn’t scramble. She took a class. She brought in a fractional CFO. She hired administrative help. “And I’m just like, oh my goodness, this is a game-changer."

"I realized that it was just a puzzle, and I love puzzles, which is one reason I love design work,” she says. “It got to be less intimidating and I could sort of identify my goals better.” The people she’s bringing in aren’t temporary hires. “We want them to be a part of the family. That’s the culture I want. We want to groom them, potentially to junior partner.”

She describes her growth with a metaphor that sticks: “If a fish is not touching all the walls, it’s going to die. The business is going to die. It has to grow and you have to make room for it.” She’s willing to be uncomfortable, to bring in people who are better at things than she is. That’s how a freelance business becomes a practice.

Setting the Tone From the Front Door

When the conversation turns to Arcfluence’s new office, Tabi zeroes in on the client experience: “That feeling that someone gets when they enter your space. If they feel relaxed, if they feel calm, if they’re excited about the things that they see. That’s how you build that relationship before a single word is spoken.”

Her input on the space is practical and specific. Overhead fluorescents are out. Indirect lighting, floor lamps, candles, even as temporary solutions, set a completely different tone. A material library alcove on the main wall. A conference table that doubles as a collaborative workspace. Every choice in service of making the client experience feel intentional.

Both firms are headed the same direction. Deeper into custom high-end residential, with spaces and teams that match the ambition of the work. As Tabi puts it, “Columbus is a wonderful place to be for small business. The timing is awesome.”

Find Swoon House Studio at @swoonhousestudio on Instagram, or reach Tabi directly at tabi@swoonhousestudio.com.