What if your biggest career break came from standing at a cash register and asking a stranger with eight assistants to teach you what they do?

Mikel Welch is a designer, TV personality, and design expert on the Drew Barrymore Show who built his career on pure instinct, relentless faith, and the willingness to work for free. He moved to New York with $500, a miniature schnauzer, and a borrowed couch—then took overnight shifts at the Container Store while posting free design services on Craigslist just to build a portfolio.

Mikel talks about growing up in Detroit building Lego cities as a kid, the 40-minute Crate & Barrel detour that changed his life, and how he learned the business by redesigning green rooms for Michelle Obama and Halle Berry with furniture he'd return the next day.

Mikel opens up about imposter syndrome, not being classically trained, and learning that his gift for envisioning spaces isn't something you can teach—it's just in him. He shares the lesson that changed everything: it can't just be about the money. If you're only chasing a paycheck, it'll never work. It has to be about what you give back.

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