How a Broke Mom Built a Multi-Million Design Empire

The construction industry in particular is actually really thankless and really not glamorous. No one ever gets it right the first time every time. You know, there are a lot of mistakes and things you have to fix and, you know, communication problems. And so it just feels like I hate to make it like sound like a downer, but it's just work. It's just like putting in the time and being disciplined and working hard and like you can't play the victim. Suzanne Porter is a refined visionary entrepreneur, designer and the founder of Retreat & Co. in Suzanne Porter Design. Drawing from her background in real estate, luxury home design and construction, she creates timeless, thoughtfully curated spaces that blend elevated aesthetics with meaningful everyday living. You have to have vision too to be like, this is a really hideous house. And but, you know, anything can anything is possible. Like you can fix anything, you know, and so just having that great determination and also the vision to be like, I can fix it. I can make it great. It spans the globe like a super high is called Internet Elvis. Today, Apple is going to reinvent the bar. It's not over until I win. The Living Your Legacy podcast for those who live to leave a legacy. That's extraordinary. The impossible. Oh, that is sensational. Jordan. Open. Chicago with the lead. You said Paul is the fastest man on the planet. You can live your dream. Welcome back to another powerful episode of Women in Power for Insight Success. I am Ray Gutierrez. Joining me today is the founder of Retreat & Co. Suzanne Porter. Welcome. Thank you. Suzanne, you just finished filming your episode for Women in Power. What did you learn about yourself? Gosh, that was a lot of talking, first of all, but it was really fun. I mean, it was cool kind of to go back through the journey and start from the beginning and share it and like a cool and fresh way. It was fun. So let's talk about the beginning of that journey. Where does Suzanne Porter start? Oh, yeah. Suzanne Porter. So I am the youngest of three siblings. I have two older brothers. They're much older. I grew up in a really traditional household in San Antonio, Texas. And yeah, I had a great upbringing, great childhood. I didn't have any drama really growing up. The main thing was just like an internal battle with them myself of like, am I a feminine girly girl or am I a tomboy? Because I kind of like play both sides of that. Right on. And so I kind of struggled with that a little bit. But as I've gotten older, I've realized maybe I'm a little bit more independent than I ever thought. Right on. When you mentioned tomboy, was it the artistry of dressing up more as a boy or playing boy sports? How do you define tomboy? Yeah. I mean, it's like a very fine line, I would say. Like I definitely, like I went through a phase where I wouldn't wear pants. I would just wear dresses. So like tomboy is relative. But I would say like I loved riding horses. I loved playing softball, basketball. Like I didn't mind getting dirty or doing hard things. Like if somebody tells me I can't do something, I just mix to want to do it more. You know, which tends to be kind of a more male, I would say like a male trait. So yeah, I just kind of, I'm a fighter, I guess. So you were born in San Antonio. So that's a lot of the Texas fires. Oh, for sure. Yeah, I'm a Texas girl. Yeah, I lived in Austin for three years. Not the same. Not the rest. Not the same. Not the same. Austin is its own deal. Like it is its own thing. It's like barely Texas. Yeah, I'm like missing Texas. Yeah, it's barely Texas. But it was an interesting transition because I was in the Bay for 10 years. I went to Austin and I was like, OK, I can see what's happening. Totally. And everyone was migrating into Miami or Austin. Now everyone's in Miami. So yeah. Everyone's leaving now. Yeah, right on. Bastrop was much cooler than Austin. I love Bastrop. I love Bastrop. The Hill Country. Yeah, yeah. That was like a lot of folks left Austin. Like this is what Austin used to be like. Bastrop. I'd always go way west and hang out in Bastrop. Yeah, Bastrop's beautiful. Yeah. So that's San Antonio grit, merged, mixed in with having two older brothers. What's that like? Were they always like handing you a controller and playing Street Fighter and kicking your ass? How does this work? Oh, no. I mean, so they all had a bunch of buddies over all the time. And they would tease me relentlessly. I don't know if I can even say this on a podcast. But they would tell me that they were going to make fajitas out of my horse. Or they'd be like, we're going to make buttercup fajitas. Ha, ha, ha. And I would just cry and be like, no, don't hurt my baby. They would just tease me. Just give me a hard time. But at the end of the day, my older brothers were just very protective of me. Like they teased me, but they protected me really well. And so that's part of the dichotomy of like, OK, I'm hanging out with the boys, but I'm also like super protected because I'm the only girl. So it was like, there was definitely like attention. I would say protection, protection, but also like a mystique, a mystery to you. You're the girl. So you owned horses. You rode horses. I got to ask, I think you're my third guest that actually had horses as opposed to other animals. Oh, that's interesting. What's it like owning a horse? Did you speak to the horse? To like, what's the connection like? They're like dogs. Well, I'm sure they're much bigger dogs. They're bigger dogs, but they're dogs. They're just, yeah. Oh my gosh, they're great. Like the people who are, I mean, I read something actually recently that was like, most people who were like, oh, I'm afraid of horses because one bit me or I fell off one time or something like that. Like people who love horses have gotten bit and fallen off multiple times. That does not deter us. Like we're actually insane. Horse people are weird. But like you have to have grit to be around horses because they are unpredictable and you are going to fall off. That's like part of it. You have to just be OK with failing a little bit. And I do think that really like shape to I was growing up. My dad is like a basically John Wayne. He is that person. He's still living. He's like 83. And he still wears his cowboy hat and his boots. What a blessing. Yeah, he's awesome. And he would just be like, no, girl, you're getting back on. If the horse did something, he would just be like, that's amazing. Shom, who's boss? I grew up in Miami and I'd watch TV shows about your life. And yeah, yes. Yes, it's like a cartoon. You're real. Yes, exactly. I am. Yes. So how does let's transition? How do we get into construction? How do we go into this reality of you hard hat covered in yellow and not covered in yellow? I guess you're just wearing your vest. I don't know how this works. How do you transition to that? That's HGTV for you. That's HGTV. Sorry. I'm getting my vest incorrect here. No, you're good. You're good. How did you how did you land in here? Like boss mode, like here you are. It's so growing up, I did always. My mom had an interior designer in San Antonio and her name was Letty Lou, which is iconic. And she would she did all the houses in our neighborhood. And every time she would come over and talk to my mom, I literally did follow them around. I always thought that was cool. I remember like walking through houses when I was a kid with my mom. I think my mom kind of liked real estate. She always stayed at home. But she, you know, I think probably part of her wished she had, you know, leaned into this. So she would take me through houses and we would talk about fabrics. And when I went to college, we made it a big deal to decorate my apartment. And all that was just fun to me. You know, I think I always thought it'd be really cool if somebody paid me to do this. But I never thought that I would actually get paid to do this, you know, what really led me to this was real estate. I didn't have a great plan after college. I'd gone to college to meet a cute boy who would take care of me. And, you know, he the boy I met was, you know, poor and cute. And so I had to figure it out. And was he in the band? He's really cute. I'm sure he is. He is. He's yes. And he could play guitar. Nice. So I mean, like I had to. Yeah, of course. I was like forced to marry him because he was hot and he got to play the guitar. Of course, that's all you need. Yeah. So OK. So anyway, so right after college, I was like, what am I going to do with my life? I actually have to get a job, a real job. And through a friend, I had somebody referred me to a real estate position. And then as I started walking through ugly houses, I was like, I could help these houses. I know what to do. Like I could fix that. That's just like paint and lighting. It's easy. Sure. Like a band aid. That's like our studios. Yeah, exactly. Yeah, just slap some stuff on it. And yeah, call it good. It's fine. And so it then it just kind of evolved from there. Yeah. When did the I got to ask when did the the real estate snobbery kicking where it's like you built your own taste where it's like, I don't buy these. I don't sell these kind of homes. Oh, yeah. When did that happen? Was it like day one or hour one? Like when did you develop your taste? I feel like I've always kind of had high standards, but you know, finances dictate what's possible, right? And so when you're first starting out, I mean, kind of our goal has always been like what's find the ugliest house in the best neighborhood type thing. Sure. So you have to have vision to be like, this is a really hideous house. And but, you know, anything can anything is possible. Like you can fix anything, you know, and so just having that grit and determination and also the vision to be like, I can fix it. I can make it great. Yeah. So when you walk into a house and the vision smacks in the face, what do you see and what does it look like or what does it sound like? Like a visit, like when it's ugly and I'm sad. Yes, that feeling. It's like, oh, like what's your what's your meat? I literally feel sad. Really? When something is like not pretty, I feel a little bit sad and like my stomach hurts a little. Wow. It really is. And I know that's like sounds so. House whispery. Yeah, it sounds, it sounds, I don't know what it makes you sound like, but not great, but it's just more Austin versus Antonia. Yeah, exactly. Like what does that mean? But I feel like like it doesn't, it doesn't always cost more for it to be beautiful. And so like you're going to choose a pink color, you're going to choose flooring. It might as well be beautiful and thoughtful. Like just think about it, you know, I feel like a lot of people are just like, I like that, I like that, I like that and none of it goes together. There's no concept. There's no cohesion. And it really, it does really bother me. I want it to be. I want everything to be beautiful. What is beauty for you? Is it simplicity, elegance? Is it gaudy, gold, Trumpy? Like what is it? Not gaudy gold. I am more like, I like simplicity for sure. I like textures, like layered on textures. I like things that feel really effortless, like you're not trying too hard or nothing too glammy, just, you know, comfortable, but like also unique is a really high value. So like I like to see things that I haven't seen before. Like, oh, that's tired. I've seen that a million times. Yeah, yeah, for sure. I'm all about eye lines. I mean, when you walk into a room as you open the door, where else? What are you looking at? And where to stand? Yeah, like if you walk through our studios, every time you open the door, I by design, I want you to see what do you feel like I'm controlling you. The moment you walk through it, you feel the environment. So that we design Lord and I even Rudy Rudy literally painted the walls and put all this together. He designed all this. I'd be more than happy to share the tour of all the studios. And we're like, no, this is Rudy. The technical mumbo jumbo and all the tapes and cameras. Oh, you can't help that. That was me. That's me. It's probably not me. We're very proud of the technological terror that him and I have constructed here and quite the team with Lord and the rest of the studios. So I'm very aware of what I enjoy when I kind of design a room or an experience. Yeah. What are your go-tos? Or yeah, so I like to pick like a couple of like strategic moments to make a big statement. So typically I'm pretty simple, except for like these huge moments. So like in a home, you really often it's like the fireplace in the vent hood, especially like in an open concept home, those things kind of mirror each other. And so I try to kind of, I don't want them to match. That would be gross. We want it to like go together, but not match. So like, you know, you want to repeat like, like shapes and colors and textures and just continue to repeat that pattern. And then when you bring furnishings in, that brings in the textures and the, you know, the dynamics and stuff. But really, I like to just choose a few strategic places to really make an impact so that because if it's there's an impact everywhere, you lose it too much. Yeah. It's like when a movie is too noisy. Yeah. If you need that, it doesn't make the silence as dramatic. Right. Exactly. Like negative space is important. For sure. For sure. What like, gosh, there's so many ways we can take this conversation. What one is is too much of something a bad thing. Like I can imagine you've worked on small homes and then you've worked on massive homes with too many rooms. Is too many rooms a bad thing or a good thing? I don't, they doesn't bother me. I think it just has to be done well. Right. It has to be thoughtfully done. Like what I have a pet peeve of like seeing like a coastal style home in a pasture. Sure. You know what I mean? Like it if it it needs to work in its environment. So like not to sound too like woo woo, but it's like, you know what I mean? Like a coastal home doesn't belong in a pasture. Like a farmhouse doesn't belong on the beach. Like, sure. No. Like it needs to be cohesive from from its location all the way through every room. So I just want every room to talk to each other. It doesn't mean they need to match or they need to be alike, but they just need to like relate to each other, like be friends. It's very cool that you mentioned that because I had a friend from Michigan which is how Lord and I met. He lived on the beach, but he designed it to look like his old farmhouse. So it was really interesting. He always called it the farmhouse on the beach. So that triggered that memory when you said that. I mean, more power to him. I just would not recommend that. I would always be like, no, it has to feel like it belongs here. You know? What do you think about these very bougie Miami hotels or these experiences? Or like when you walk in, can you kind of identify the BS in the room? Or would be like, oh, this is quite cool. Sometimes. Well, and I've only been in a few places here. So but there there have been some that we've walked in and it's like very like theming like it feels really like a little cheesy Miami. And then there's some. What was the name of the restaurant last night? Or Satay. Oh, right on. Have you been there? I think I'm familiar. That hotel. It's like not trying too hard at all. But it is luxury and it is beautiful. Like they did it correctly, in my opinion. How would you say that? Is it the Vista, the furniture? It's just it's like lots of texture. Texture. There's it's still a nod to like the beach. There's like a lot of outdoor area. There's pools and areas like that, but it's not so literal. Like it has to be, you know, blue and neon pink. You know what I mean? Yeah, yeah, for sure. Like it doesn't have to. Like it can kind of speak for itself. Like the location, that's where the environment and the location comes into play because that speaks for itself. And then you can put this beautiful hotel there and it feels like, oh, it belongs here. It's still Miami, but it's not like literally Miami. No, I'm saying. Oh, for sure. I know exactly what you're saying. It's like Texas real estate. We don't want to put Texas stars on stuff. Do you know what I'm saying? Like we don't have to put a Texas star on our. Yeah, I'm a very. You know, and like I'm OK with like an occasional like head, you know, like a deer head. If we if we have to, if we're in a lodge, sure, but we don't need to like cover it with stuffed dead animals just because we live in Texas. I was just going to say, it's so funny that Texas has this like look. When you say Texas, you already see the long horns you already see. Like you already see the visual. Miami is sometimes going to be quite the opposite, because when you think of Miami, you think of Scarface, you think of Will Smith, you think of all these stereotypes, but that's the beautiful thing about Miami. Like I always I'm shaking Rudy and anyone that works in marketing. Like 2026 is truly the year of Miami. And it's not because of the soccer team or any other stuff. It's because video games. I come from the world of gaming. Really? The next grant that thought of Vice City takes place in Miami. No, I didn't know that. It's a cultural phenomenon of the game. Oh, cool. That's going to change things. So that's exciting. Well, the reason why I'm only bringing this up is do you do you? Miami is such a visual place. It comes goes from tacky to bougie to European. What is your favorite city? That is when it comes to the art, the frequency. My favorite city is New York. Oh, I can't. Yeah. I love it. I like I could stay there all the time. I mean, I know a lot of people feel really overwhelmed by it. And they're like, I could visit, but I, I, you know, I can't stay long. Like I I'm trying to go several times a year. Like I love it. I never get tired of it. I love the energy. I love that there's always something different and beautiful and unique to look at. And I mean, there's like ugly, gross stuff there, obviously. But it's like there's something beautiful in it because it like belongs there. It feels authentic, you know? Oh, yeah. I go there. I try to go there as often as I can during the holidays. And I do the the walk through the snow by myself at two in the morning through Times Square. It's like, you can just hear that. I know Times Square is where you don't go to Times Square if you live in New York. I know that. But it's just like, it's nice to hear the LED screens and everything. Just the silence of the busiest intersection in the world is dead at three in the morning. Really cool. Yeah. And it's just. It's so beautiful. It's so cool. I love New York. Before I met Rudy, I almost sold everything that belonged to me in Miami and just wanted to move to New York. Now, wait. I was going to I just wanted to live in a tiny closet. Like I've got more than enough of my work. But I just live in a tiny closet and just like hug 30, 30 rock and just well, do you need to do that and just wait until someone it hires me as an intern at SNL. I feel like I feel like you should do that. No offense to Rudy, but come on. What are you doing? Maybe maybe we'll see. I may have to take Lauren with me. OK, that's OK. But yeah, no, that's that was part of my bucket list. I definitely want to do the New York thing because I know what that's like. Yeah, everyone's like the Miami thing. I don't know. There's the New York. Yeah, yeah, the New York thing is like after I did. Yeah, after I did the California thing for 10 years, 15 years, like, oh, cool. Yeah, but then there's New York. The New York is so different from anywhere else. Like anywhere else is still like at the end of the day, it's it's just a city. And it's like, you know, Houston, Dallas, Miami, LA. Like it's it's just a city, but like New York is like its own thing. Yeah, yeah. New York is film, movies, heroes, villains, everything, more villains. And like it's, you know, like Brooklyn and all of the all the work that's been done there to like revive that community is so cool. Like we've stayed in Brooklyn some we've also stayed in town. Like I just love I love all the boroughs. It's so fun. Oh, dude. Oh, sorry, Rudy, if I put in my tweak, notice. Right now, I know where I know where to find me. Sorry, I didn't mean to do that. No, it's OK. Women in power in New York. Yeah, yeah. Insight, success, New York. Let's do it. What are we going to learn about your episode? Like what will you literally got out of the studio? You made a right and then another right and then a right. And you sat here. What what how do you feel fresh off the episode of filming? I feel really I feel it's interesting because I have some friends here with me that are helping me and they're both like, you know, I didn't know the whole story. Like, you know, it's interesting. It's like like there's so much of like a slow burn and a daily grind to get to this place. And it's like, you know, you don't even like looking back on it. Like you can't even like pinpoint like these huge moments. It really is just like the daily grind and walking through the next like taking the next step, walking through the next open door, you know, taking the next opportunity. And so it's it's just been cool to like relive all of that and be like, oh, this is how this happened. It's wild. Well, I was just going to ask something I like to ask you feel a little different. Well, coming from New York, I'm sure you're like, no, everything's awesome. But I'm like after all these cameras and sitting there for close, I'm sure 92 hours, 90 minutes, two hours, do you feel a little different? Like, wow, I've achieved those things. I truly deserve to be who I am. Yeah, I think so. I think so. I mean, yeah, I do. I feel proud that, you know, that I was able to get to this place and be here with you guys. And I think that's real. I mean, it's just cool. It's just a cool opportunity, you know, and a step I wanted to take. But yeah, I mean, it's, you know, in my industry, it really is. It's just a daily grind. It's just like making a decision decisions every day. I mean, in between takes, I was literally like texting clients back about decisions, small decisions they're making about their homes. And so while the glamour and all of this is really fun, like the reality of the job is still like putting your head down and working. I actually want to pull a couple of questions from from your interview. OK, it says here you grew, retreat and co from zero to a multimillion dollar business in less than five years. Can you share a story about a moment when you realize your company was exceeding maybe a big contract or a client review? When did you know, Holy Moly? You know, when we were talking about this earlier, I was saying like, and I hate to be repetitive, but it's like there there really hasn't been this like moment of like, wow, I've made it because the construction industry in particular is actually really thankless and really not glamorous. You know, other shows or like maybe HGTV or something will make it seem like it's something that it's not. Sure. And, you know, other builders and designers know this, you know, where I see like memes and little things go on Instagram where I'm like, oh, I'm not alone. Everybody's having the same problems, you know, constructions really messy and it's, you know, we never know. Whenever gets it right the first time every time, you know, there are a lot of mistakes and things you have to fix and, you know, communication problems. And so it just feels like I hate to make it like sound like a downer, but it's just work. It's just like putting in the time and being disciplined and working hard. And like you can't play the victim. You can't be like, everybody's mean, you know, like you have to just you have to do the work and want it bad enough, like for the reward, you know, at the end. That's I love the fact that it's it's it's a it's a dirty job and it's not because there's dirt everywhere like that. That's out of the visual that I saw. I am curious to ask your older brothers, what what jobs do they do? Cosmetics, I'm sorry. I just thought that would be very funny. They were in cosmetics and hair. That would be hilarious. And you're the constructions. My so my oldest brother is a typical first born. He's ex-military. Yeah, he's like a total badass. Like he he knows everything like I need a phone a friend. Like I'm going to call him. He knows everything. But he works in security, high level security. And then my middle brother, Christian, is the most fun person in the world. Literally, like the most fun. And he actually works a little bit in construction. He started out in construction and college and then ended up starting his own company like in tech and then has gone back to construction, doing outdoor spaces like in another market. Awesome. So yeah. Cool. Yeah. What's your what's your common client, like what's a common thread you see among clients or folks that reach out to you? So I think people reach out to us mostly because we value design over just construction. Like most most builders in our market, just our local market, are very much about like what's going to sell. Like what's you know, how little can I spend so I can make the biggest margin? You know, or you know, I'm going to build 30 houses a year, you know, out of these five, four plans and we are much more like focused on design. We say like design drives the build, not the other way around. And so we start with design and start with the selections and then build around that concept versus like, OK, we're going to build this house. How do you, you know, what color you want your cabinets? You know, no, we start from the very beginning, like with the architect, the plans, all the finishes from the beginning. So that's really people have to value design and aesthetics. How early on are you on site before you even break ground? Like when does the planning start? Oh, we start like if they have their own lot or a piece of land or something, we're meeting out there with the architect, creating where the house is going to sit, which direction, the site plan, all of it. Yeah. So it really starts really early and it can be a long process. You know, people are impatient, you know, they're like, I want this yesterday and it just takes time. So there is some patience involved for sure. Right on. What inspired the name of the company? OK, so retreat is actually the name of my parents ranch. It's been in our family for generations. It's in the Texas history books. Cool. OK, there's like a like a historical marker at the front. And it's called the grosses retreat. Jared Gross was like, you know, a landowner back in the day. And so grosses retreat was actually the Republic of Texas for two days. And that's where our land is. And so retreat is kind of a plan words, obviously, like you can retreat like to or, you know, your retreat is like your, you know, your happy place or, you know, your place of solitude. And so we liked that idea for, you know, home company. So and then the little logo has the abstract blue bonnet on it. Cool. And that's the Texas state flower. So, you know, we're Texas people. Yeah, right on. So what's what's next for you now? You're going to walk out that door and get a Miami tan. What's next for you? Right. So I think what we want to see is just to scale this business much bigger than just a local market. Sure. I would love to be able to, you know, partner with, you know, a lot of, you know, furniture lines or, you know, big stores or something, create design, you know, design furniture or something really cool like that. I want to create a client of what am I trying to say? I want to create a product that's called like a curated custom. So we want to like where I come in and I create these homes that are already selected, but it's not like typical selections. They're like really thoughtful and cohesive and nothing is the same. No, no two houses are alike. And we create like whole developments, you know, with these curated custom homes so that they would all be designed by me and that maybe the client can come in and be like, oh, I love this. Just the way it is. Cool. You know, is there like a signature that you kind of leave on the house or some sort of brand before we walk away? I mean, we don't. Maybe I should. You probably should hide somewhere in the house. Like, no, this is this is something I do. Suzanne Porter. It's like, we, you know, we have a few things that are like our standards that aren't like another builder standard. Like we take like our countertop splashes all the way up, like in the kitchen or and usually I do some kind of shelf, like a custom little touch there. My vint heads are always really custom and special. So that's like just a place where I like to design, flex and do something different every time we do like we don't do quarter round or on a baseboard. So I mean, just like little things that we call like that's a retreat and co standard. We have a room that we like to add in all of our floor plans called the dirty kitchen. And so like in these open concept floor plans, you've got your kitchen that's open to the living room. So if you're entertaining, all your stuff is out and it makes your house feel dirty. So we have like a secondary kitchen that we hide that like kind of is with the pantry to sure. A lot of times we'll have like the microwave back there, an extra dishwasher, an extra sink and then you can do some of your prep back there and hide it. And that's kind of something that we like to put ourselves on because it's not in every house. Right on. Yeah, that's definitely not an every house. That's we have a mini version of that in my office. Or it's like this is kind of like the break room, but it's also small kitchen. Yes, yes, yes, yes. Exactly. Kind of like that. Yeah, yeah, right on. Well, gosh, Suzanne, I feel like we can talk about this for quite a while. Including your I was going to say, you want to swing by my house? It's completely a barrier needs your touch. I'm not joking. I think we'll go to. Yeah, I'll come by your house and we'll plan our New York trip. There you go. Suzanne Porter, it was such I like that I can't call you Suzanne. It's Suzanne Porter. Oh, yeah, that's why I like the whole name. Suze. Such a great, great conversation. I hope you enjoyed your filming of the episode. I was sure as I hope you enjoyed the filming of your podcast. Oh, yeah, it was really fun. Thanks for having me. Thanks again, Suzanne Porter, and thus concludes a woman in power podcast. With inside success, I am Ray Gutierrez.