After 49 episodes of The Business of Home Podcast, 2024 is coming to an end. This year, experts from all over the industry chatted with host Dennis Scully about topics ranging from fine-tuning the size of their firm to the ongoing impact of technology and AI. Here, we’ve collected nine insights from 52 weeks of illuminating conversations.
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Keeping It In-House
Hickory Chair president Federico Contigiani came on the podcast this November, discussing everything from the home industry’s relationship to fashion to the furniture maker’s unique manufacturing process. It’s one of the only companies that manufactures upholstery and case goods under the same roof, allowing it to have flexibility in customization and a unique control of the supply chain. “Manufacturing case goods is very challenging. It’s a very expensive process,” says Contigiani. “Today, there are companies that manufacture fantastic products overseas—Vietnam, Philippines, you name it. [But] we still have control of what we make. We can still customize what we make. We can still reach the level of detail that otherwise we wouldn’t be able to provide to our customers.”
Nontoxic Foundations
In an open and raw conversation, Brooklyn-based designer Susana Simonpietri of Chango discussed how after years of her own negative work experiences, she strived to create a positive workplace environment where employees feel comfortable, safe and supported—and free to speak their minds. “That then leads to these wonderful ideas creatively blossoming because everybody in the room has a place to be able to come and speak up and say, ‘What about this?’ or ‘What about this other thing?’” she explains. “It’s been a discovery for me, and I didn’t have any mentors in my life that did this. I never saw a good example. I was taking a risk, but what was the alternative? I would have been so unhappy.”
Slow and Steady Wins the Race
Ruggable may be a household brand name now, but the journey to the top was not easy. Founder Jeneva Bell sat down with Dennis Scully to discuss her entrepreneurial journey from her first idea of a machine-washable rug: After two years of prototyping, then failed licensing deals, buying out her business partner, and brief stints on HSN and in Lowe’s, an investment from a venture capitalist firm changed everything. “What really made the difference for me was that I finally had to let go of [focusing on] being successful,” she says. “I had to stop and say: ‘Do you love what you do? Are you happy with what you’re doing?’ And I would always come back and tell myself, ‘Yes, I love this.’ All these problems I had to solve, I found fun. And so all of a sudden, I felt grateful that the lights were still on, that I was able to survive.”
Different Paths to Success
Designer Nicole Hollis discussed how there are many different paths to success in the industry, but she advises young designers to start by working under other people to learn what works best for them. “A lot of designers come out of school and say, ‘I’m going to start my own company,’ and they just don’t have the experience that they should have,” she explains. “I found that a lot of people discovered that they are not principal material; they’re a really good number two. They love getting the work done. They love managing the projects and the people, but are not comfortable presenting ideas to a client or being the face of a firm. It’s really [about] knowing that about yourself.” Hollis also opened up about her dyslexia and how some may see neurodiversity as a hindrance, but to her, it’s a superpower.
From Heartbreak to Hope and Happiness
Blackberry Farm proprietor Mary Celeste Beall talked about how after her husband suddenly passed away at the age of 39, she honored his vision by building up his family’s design and lifestyle business into an empire that now encompasses resorts, a spa, a farm and design projects across the country. She admits that even though all of their business decisions may not seem financially logical, they always come from a place of passion—a tension the team has mastered over the years. “There’s got to be a balance of how you’re making decisions and how you can afford things, but also maybe you splurge on something that makes you happy or brings you joy, or is something you’re newly passionate about, and then you save in another way,” she says. “That’s how we operate Blackberry—we splurge on things because we are taking a risk, or we know it’s right in our gut, and hopefully it pays off.”
Biases, Exposed
Ethiopian furniture maker Jomo Tariku came on the podcast this summer to talk about his career that took him from data visualization to designing furniture pieces that have found permanent homes at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, and National Museum of African American History and Culture. In 2020, used his background in data science on a project that highlighted the lack of diversity in the industry by examining how often top furniture companies collaborate with Black designers. Spoiler alert: Less than a third of a percent of the thousands of branded collections by the 150 companies surveyed were with Black designers. “I want people to understand there’s a large Black creative community doing fantastic work,” he says. “Think outside the box. Do other things. Look for other designers, and don’t remember us only when Black History Month comes around and you make your ‘50 designers you should know about’—[with] no in-depth look into any of them—and run away for the rest of the year.”
AI Isn’t Everything
Luxury contractor Josh Wiener offered an inside look into the world of high-end contracting and how he got his firm to the point where he counts Julia Roberts, Kate Winslet and a roster of hedge fund billionaires as clients. “What is construction? It’s kind of a dark cloud, and it’s kind of rainy, and then it clears up. And, oh! It’s done—it’s a beautiful day,” he told host Dennis Scully. “That’s how construction is. It’s a whirlwind, and it rains, and then the flowers come out. So I named [my firm] SilverLining.” Wiener has been growing his firm for the past 37 years, but one thing he’s not worried about: AI stealing his job. “Designers are never going to be out of work, because someone has to tell it what it wants,” he says. “If you can’t articulate what you want, which most clients can’t, AI is never going to replace your job.” He has found that the industry is all about human connections among clients, designers and contractors, and while computers can help inform that process, it can’t take over. “You can’t get a relationship with a computer, right? Unless you’re a psycho,” he adds.
“Nerds Don’t Get Clients”
Gil Schafer is the architect that designers are all dying to work with, which makes sense as architecture runs in his blood—his great-great-grandfather was an architect, as was his grandfather; his father studied art history and his stepmother was a decorator. Although his family never pressured him to join the industry, he nevertheless found himself there and launched his own firm, which survived the 2008 recession and continues to thrive. A piece of advice he took from his grandfather was that architects need to be well-rounded and personable to get work—wisdom he summarizes with a laugh: “Nerds don’t get clients.” In his grandfather’s day, that meant meeting people on the golf course. The hustle is a little different for Schafer, but the message still rings true, and the natural introvert has learned how to put himself out there, bit by bit.
International Inspiration
In the 1970s, a young Veere Grenney set out on a quest that took him from his native New Zealand to the Australian outback, throughout Asia and Morocco, and finally to West London, where he immersed himself in the antiques industry of Portobello Road. It was there that he learned he had an eye for design, and his travels helped shape his philosophical approach. “Eclecticism is so much easier when you are not constrained by the rigors of social thinking; in other words, when you are a stranger in a different place and a new land,” says Grenney. “You see it differently, and therefore you often use something that others may regard as modest, [but] you use it in a way that’s actually very, very beautiful, because you’re not saddled with the same responsibilities as people that have been brought up in and live true to a place.”
