Business Of Home

Wendy Goodman is the poet laureate of Manhattan’s design world. As the longtime design editor of New York magazine, for decades she’s chronicled the lives and homes of the city’s most interesting people, alongside its most exciting artists and makers. On this episode of the Business of Home podcast, Goodman spoke with host Dennis Scully about her culture-rich childhood, working for Anna Wintour early on in both their careers, and why sometimes the best job is the one you’re most afraid of. This episode was recorded in front of a live audience at Design Within Reach’s new Upper West Side studio. Sponsored by Design Within Reach.

For over thirty years, interior designer Kit Kemp has been at the forefront of the boutique hospitality revolution, bringing color, craft and vibrant design to hotels and restaurants on both sides of the Atlantic. As co-owner and creative director of Firmdale Hotels, Kemp is behind London’s Ham Yard, Covent Garden and Haymarket hotels, as well as the Crosby Street and the Whitby in New York. She has also created fragrances, furniture and fabric and authored several books, most recently Design Thread. In this episode of the Business of Home podcast, Kemp tells host Dennis Scully about her love of artisans and antiques, the key to a compelling hotel, and why designers shouldn’t always listen to their accountants. This episode is sponsored by Design Within Reach.

Not many designers can count Frank Lloyd Wright, Eero Saarinen and Marilyn Monroe as clients, but Jack Lenor Larsen is no ordinary designer. A legend of the textile business, Larsen started his own studio in New York in 1952. His vivid early work convinced a once-skeptical Florence Knoll, who commissioned Larsen to create fabric for her furniture. From then on, Larsen’s business  and reputation grew and grew. Drawing on extensive travels around the globe, he introduced ikat and batik to the American public, designed upholstery for Pan Am, authored over a dozen books and championed traditional craft wherever he went. Today, his work is studied in textbooks and displayed in museums around the world. At 92, Larsen has a lifetime's worth of stories—in this episode of the Business of Home podcast, he shares a few of them. This episode is sponsored by The Shade Store.

After 20 years in finance, Sean Juneja decided to risk his stable career to found Décor Aid, a start-up that offers clients an entry point into the world of professional interior design. Born out of a lifelong passion for design and his belief that there was a gap in the market for smaller budget projects, Décor Aid has facilitated more than 3,000 jobs in New York alone since its founding in 2014. In this episode of the Business of Home podcast, Juneja discusses his platform’s astounding growth, why he turned down venture capital and how he views the competition. This episode is sponsored by The Shade Store.

Bernie de Le Cuona’s fabric company had humble beginnings—in the early 1990s, she launched the business out of her own home after learning to weave in India. Since then, her namesake company has grown by leaps and bounds, with flagship showrooms in New York and London and a network of distributors worldwide. De Le Cuona has come a long way, but she hasn't stopped moving forward. The founder and CEO is constantly tweaking her business model, looking for ways to stay on top of a constantly shifting industry. She sat down to chat with host Dennis Scully about why some of her so-called "unpopular ideas" may be just what the industry needs. This episode is sponsored by The Shade Store.

By the time he was 32, Christophe Caillaud had abandoned a promising career in mergers and acquisitions to become the managing director of Jean Paul Gaultier. After nine years at the fashion house, he was tapped by French interior designer Christian Liaigre to become the president of his namesake brand. In this week’s edition of the Business of Home podcast, Caillaud sat down with host Dennis Scully to talk about the difficulties of succession, why he watches RH closely, and how he plans to compete in an industry increasingly driven by e-commerce. This episode is sponsored by The Shade Store.

Now famous to millions as the resident design expert on Netflix hit Queer Eye, Bobby Berk left home at a young age, eventually ending up in New York with only a suitcase and a few months rent money to his name. In the city, he climbed his way through the ranks of retail, working at RH and Portico before opening his own store in 2007. A decade later, Berk was invited to audition for a reboot of the aughts Bravo hit—the rest is history. Berk shares tales from his early days, discusses his new furniture line and lifestyle site, and explains why Queer Eye isn't a makeover show. This episode is sponsored by The Shade Store.

In 1978, Jamie Drake graduated from Parsons and fell right into two plum gigs designing apartments in 800 Fifth Avenue—the same building where newlyweds Donald and Ivana Trump were just settling in. Since then, things have only gotten better for Drake, who has won every industry award under the sun, participated in every showhouse and created homes for more than a few billionaires. In this week’s episode of the Business of Home podcast, he explains why legacy doesn’t matter, why China is the next big market for designers, and how he landed Michael Bloomberg as a client. This episode is sponsored by Universal Furniture.

Since opening his first multi-line showroom more than 40 years ago, David Sutherland has had a front-row seat to industry shifts and emerging opportunities. The Dallas-based entrepreneur is a pioneer of the outdoor furniture category, and along with wife Ann, launched performance fabric maker Perennials. The industry veteran shares his take on selling direct to consumers, partnering with Restoration Hardware and the state of the multi-line showroom. This episode is sponsored by Universal Furniture.

In less than a decade, Ryden and Lanette Rizzo have turned a humble woodworking studio into a $10 million business. Allied Maker, which launched in 2012 out of Ryden’s parents’ Long Island garage, has pierced the crowded lighting category, doubling its annual sales every year since 2016. The husband-and-wife co-founders reveal how they did it, the set-back moments endured along the way, and how they’re preparing for the next phase of growth. This episode is sponsored by Universal Furniture.

Catherine Connolly made the move from tech to textiles in 2007, when longtime Merida owner Dr. Hiram M. Samel asked her to join the Fall River, Massachusetts-based company as CEO. Six months within her new role, the stock market crashed and lost nearly half of the company’s revenue channels overnight. Connolly shares how she saved the company by restructuring its distribution model from retail to trade-only, as well as why she believes the internet is a great thing for the elevation of design—and why designers will be among its biggest benefactors. This episode is sponsored by Universal Furniture.

Bringing down the home industry’s barrier to entry has been the mission at The Inside since its launch in 2017. Doing so has meant meeting the expectations of the modern consumer, says co-founder and COO Britt Bunn. It’s a challenge few industry brands have dared to accept, considering the risks associated with offering personalization, free shipping and shortened lead times. Having recently closed $2.6 million in funding for The Inside, Bunn shares her thoughts on acquiring new customers and what’s next for the brand.

If there’s anyone who fits the model of a great mentor, it’s British interior designer Nina Campbell. Shaped by her apprenticeship at renowned firm Colefax & Fowler, Campbell has gone on to create a nearly five-decade career in design, establishing a star-studded client list that includes Rod Stewart, Ringo Starr and the Duke and Duchess of York. In this live podcast recording, the designer shares insights from her inspiring career, as well as her take on how the industry and the profession have evolved. This episode is sponsored by DCOTA.

When magazine veteran Joanna Saltz pitched the idea of a new home brand to Hearst executives, she had no idea she’d be spearheading a gut renovation of HouseBeautiful.com—a change that ruffled the feathers of many industry professionals. The editorial director, who’s since taken over House Beautiful’s print edition as well, addresses the audience feedback, reveals her strategy for the brand, and shares her thoughts on what media has to do to remain relevant. This episode is sponsored by DCOTA.

Launched by illustrator Anna Bond and musician turned businessman Nathan Bond in 2009, Rifle Paper Co. has evolved from stationery maker to full-fledged lifestyle brand, gracing everything from Keds footwear to L’Occitane skincare, and, most recently, rugs and pillows by Loloi. Nine years in, the company has grown to 200 employees, 6,000 points of distribution globally and an annual revenue of $25 million. The husband-and-wife co-founders share the mistakes made and lessons learned along the way, and new brand president Trish Whalen adds how the company is planning for its next phase of growth. This episode is sponsored by DCOTA.

When Anna and Gregg Brockway launched vintage and antique furniture e-marketplace Chairish, people told them consumers would never buy furniture online. Six years and roughly $30 million in funding later, the platform and its higher-end sister site, DECASO, receive more than 2,000 new items listed daily from a community of 10,000 sellers. With its recent acquisition of Dering Hall, Chairish Inc. is now one of the largest digital platforms for high-end home furnishing products with nearly half a million items across the three platforms. The Brockways share how the company that began at their dining room table has grown, what the Dering Hall acquisition means for its future, and what’s to come in the digitization of design. This episode is sponsored by DCOTA.

Acclaimed jewelry designer Ippolita Rostagno grew up in the Oltrarno neighborhood of Florence, a place where artisans have practiced their trades for centuries. When they began disappearing, she decided to do something about it. The result was Artemest, an e-commerce platform for Italian handcrafted home decor. Since the company’s founding in 2015, it has grown 100 percent year over year, now featuring over 500 makers selling their wares. In this episode of the Business of Home podcast, Rostagno discusses how she navigated the comically inefficient Italian bureaucracy, won over old-school Italian artists and artisans, and mastered problem solving with her hands.

In 1994, Annie Selke began fine linens company Pine Cone Hill with an industrial sewing machine at her dining room table. Today, the company—which has since added rug maker Dash & Albert and an outlet store—has 221 employees, 50 of whom are based in India. With a perks package that includes weekly community-building events and financial bonuses for anniversary milestones, it’s no surprise that Annie Selke’s eponymous company is built largely on long-time employees and internal referrals. Selke discusses how she builds staff loyalty, the challenges of evaluating demand and why she’ll never sell product through Amazon.

As Bunny Williams Home celebrates its 10-year anniversary, founder and renowned interior designer Bunny Williams is in search of new ways to remain relevant—from both design and retail perspectives. While that may mean bolstering the digital brand and focusing on online sales, Williams’s general design philosophies remain similar to those she learned at Parish-Hadley, the legendary New York firm where she spent 22 years prior to launching her own studio. The AD100 Hall of Fame designer shares the challenges of finding and retaining talent, why the modern lifestyle is disruptive to the trade and the announcement of a new book, Affairs with Other Houses. This episode is sponsored by Business of Design.

Rumor has it there’s a curse against the third-generation business owner—one fed by outdated systems and a lack of product innovation. Yet the tale doesn’t hold true for George Matouk, who’s grown the textile company launched by his grandfather in 1929 to an annual revenue of more than $35 million. Managing new retail channels and category extensions has proven just as challenging as enduring nearly a century of economic and political shifts. I sat down with George to learn how Matouk coped—and came out stronger on the other side.