Key points
- Nate Berkus launches Nate Berkus Associates at 24 after leaving Leslie Hindman Auctioneers, where he earned $780 every two weeks.
- Berkus's book Foundations, out November 18, is a roughly $50 thank-you note to followers, organized by area of the home.
- Berkus says AI will never replace client relationships, real designers are safe, and Instagram editors should be nervous.
Nate Berkus treats television as distribution for a design career
Nate Berkus turned a childhood obsession with objects into a design firm at 24, then used television as distribution for a business a practice alone could not support. Twelve years on Oprah brought endorsement and licensing deals, and he describes the work itself as sociology, dreaming a bigger dream for clients than they can dream alone. Losing his partner in the 2004 tsunami deepened how he connects with those clients, and he argues AI cannot replace a relationship built across three or four homes.
Takeaways
- TV was always a means to an end. Berkus spent twelve years on The Oprah Winfrey Show and says he would have been stupid not to learn from it, but the point was the endorsement and licensing deals that followed. He did not enjoy hosting a daytime talk show.
- He lost money for his first two years. Berkus left Leslie Hindman Auctioneers, where he made $780 every two weeks, to launch his own firm at 24. Clients balked at handing the budget for an 8,000 square foot home to someone that young, so he pitched one room at a time.
- The 2004 tsunami reshaped his connection to people. Berkus survived the tsunami in Sri Lanka, where locals rose up to protect foreigners and travellers, and his partner Fernando disappeared. A grief counsellor told him grief is cyclical rather than linear, and his fear was that he would be weird forever.
- AI cannot replace client relationships. Berkus first panicked at the thought of AI-generated versions of his and Jeremiah Brent's interiors and finds the effect on consulting scary. He argues a renovation involves 68,000 decisions, so real designers are safe while Instagram editors should be nervous.
- A hard no cannot be sold against. Berkus and Jeremiah Brent fought during their first show together on TLC, and Brent demanded equal respect. Their ground rule now is that neither sells against a hard no, and they keep going until they find a yes.
- Foundations is a thank-you note, priced low. Foundations, out November 18, thanks anyone who bought a bath mat or watched a makeover. It is a roughly $50 book rather than a $150 monograph, organised by area of the home with styling tips and aerial photographs.
Quick-fire picks
- France in the 1950s is the design era he would choose to live in.
- His favourite hotels are the Aman in Luang Prabang and Posta Vecchia outside Rome.
- New York is his favourite city.
- YouTube is the future of television.
- Dairy Queen remains his favourite restaurant worldwide, and in Cusco he heads for markets where locals shop.