March 16, 2022

On this week’s From the Tap KBB Podcast, I spoke with Missouri-based designer and winner of HGTV’s “Design Star” Jennifer Bertrand about cause marketing, or in other words, how to use your design talent to do good things.

When Bertrand’s son Winston was going through multiple surgeries, her family became very familiar with the Ronald McDonald house. The CEO cold called her one day to ask if she would be interested in painting a mural for the facility and promised a paying gig at a later date. This paying gig came through a year later when the designer was part of a 21,000-sq.-ft. new-build project.

When choosing the organizations for which you’d like to donate your time, Bertrand suggests going with those causes you really believe in and that mean something to you. And when deciding how much time you have to offer, you can do as much or as little – whatever works with your schedule.

To help offset her busy schedule, Bertrand says she needs a team to pull off these projects and often asks for a handful of employees or volunteers to help her pull it off. She also has them work in different shifts, so everyone is not burnt out at the same time.

The designer has worked on projects for the Chicago Bears, where she created five playhouses for their educational foundation that reflect the different phases of a child’s growth. Currently, she is using her design talent for a NICU family unit at Northwestern Hospital in Chicago.

Bertrand shared her tips for other designers who would like to get involved in cause marketing and enjoys working with those organizations that could use a little extra help. Find out what’s in store for Bertrand by watching the full video above or listening to the podcast on Spotify, Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, Pandora and other outlets.