The Story of The Dove Agency
At The Dove Agency, we understand that designers today are faced with juggling the mounting demands of back-office operations while also growing their firms, executing designs, and working closely with clients. To alleviate the pressures pulling them in so many different directions, The Dove Agency was founded to equip interior design clients with the resources to manage these responsibilities—from item management, project operations, and account reconciliations to strategic business consulting, marketing solutions, social media management, copywriting, and public relations, and so much more. The result: designers are free to do what they do best—design—while our team oversees these back-office procedures to achieve efficiency and profitability for each design firm.
Our History
Co-founders and partners at The Dove Agency, Beth Bender and Kenda Lister have been close friends since their children were in elementary school together. Their relationship is living proof that it’s possible to mix business and pleasure!
After spending 20 years managing her own interior design firm, Beth understood the pressures and responsibilities required to manage the details of design work while also overseeing her own bookkeeping and marketing plans. She enlisted the help of her long-time friend and financial wizard, Kenda, to assist her with some of her back-office tasks and daily operations.
The change was instant—Beth’s business profitability escalated and she had more time to focus on design, her true passion. Both women knew that other design professionals experienced the same tensions to balance the elements of creativity and design with the tasks required to run a business. Together, they began to identify the various ways interior designers could benefit from similar support systems.
In 2017, Beth retired from her interior design firm, and she and Kenda formed The Dove Agency to offer these same solutions and expertise to professionals across the interior design industry in a boutique-style setting.
Beth Bender, Principal & Co-Founder
Specializing in new client relations and strategic partner acquisitions for The Dove Agency, Beth has developed a team equipped to expertly provide strategic planning, consulting, and targeted marketing solutions to the interior design industry. She works closely with clients, advising and training them to maximize their time, resources, and profitability.
A graduate of Vanderbilt University with a degree in human and organizational development, Beth brings more than 20 years of experience in the design industry to The Dove Agency.
Kenda Lister, Principal & Co-Founder
Kenda oversees business operations for The Dove Agency clients. She and her team specialize in Design Docs integration. Kenda admires the innovation and creativity her clients possess and enjoys applying streamlined administrative processes to propel their firms’ growth and profitability.
After earning her BBA in accounting from Texas A&M University, Kenda began her career in audit and tax at PricewaterhouseCoopers. She has successfully managed back-office operations for interior design firms since 2015.
Our Mission
We understand the importance of strategic growth patterns that are necessary for interior design firms to excel, and we also realize the vital contribution that well-planned marketing makes for maintained brand identity and reach within the industry.
Our team gives interior designers the freedom to focus on the multi-faceted creative and construction processes by handling all your back-office responsibilities. We understand how to succinctly handle design-specific demands and our team brings decades of industry experience to everything we do, from public relations strategy to organized billing methods.
Our superior standard of service is unmatched. At the Dove Agency, everything we offer is fresh, innovative, strategic, and relevant.
You design—and we’ll do the rest!