Business of Home Podcast
Episodes
The Inside's Britt Bunn on meeting modern consumer expectations
25 Feb 2019
Contributed by Lukas
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 expec...
Nina Campbell on how the interior design profession has changed
11 Feb 2019
Contributed by Lukas
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 fir...
Joanna Saltz explains her vision for the new House Beautiful
04 Feb 2019
Contributed by Lukas
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...
Inside Rifle Paper Co.’s next big phase of growth—into home
28 Jan 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Launched by illustrator Anna Bond and musician turned businessman Nathan Bond in 2009, Rifle Paper Co. has evolved from stationery maker to full-fledg...
How Anna and Gregg Brockway became digital leaders in home
21 Jan 2019
Contributed by Lukas
When Anna and Gregg Brockway launched vintage and antique furniture e-marketplace Chairish, people told them consumers would never buy furniture onlin...
Ippolita Rostagno wants to save Italian craft with American-style entrepreneurship
14 Jan 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Acclaimed jewelry designer Ippolita Rostagno grew up in the Oltrarno neighborhood of Florence, a place where artisans have practiced their trades for ...
Why Annie Selke values company culture above all else
07 Jan 2019
Contributed by Lukas
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 ...
Bunny Williams on navigating change
17 Dec 2018
Contributed by Lukas
As Bunny Williams Home celebrates its 10-year anniversary, founder and renowned interior designer Bunny Williams is in search of new ways to remain re...
How the Matouk family business evolved for the next generation
10 Dec 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Rumor has it there’s a curse against the third-generation business owner—one fed by outdated systems and a lack of product innovation.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 tal...
The surprising trait that's made Clodagh most successful
03 Dec 2018
Contributed by Lukas
When you don’t know the rules, it’s easier to break them. At least that’s the thinking of my guest this week, internationally renowned interior ...
Why Blu Dot wants to make good design democratic
26 Nov 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Making good design democratic has been at the core of modern furniture company Blu Dot since its founding in 1997. Co-founders John Christakos, Mauric...
Jonathan Adler “keeps it 100” about the struggles of running a creative business
19 Nov 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Jonathan Adler went from a potter teaching night classes to a retail mogul running seventeen retail locations, a wholesale and e-commerce business, ...
Ethan Allen’s Farooq Kathwari on how to remain relevant
12 Nov 2018
Contributed by Lukas
One of the few vertically integrated furniture companies remaining in the industry, Ethan Allen has waded the challenges of a manufacturer and retaile...
Meet Sandow's Robot-Powered Designer Tool Ready to Disrupt the Home Industry
01 Oct 2018
Contributed by Lukas
It's an industry disruptor that’s been years in the making. Sample library Material Bank is one part digital platform, built to save designers time ...
How Brad Ford Cultivated a Community of Modern Makers
24 Sep 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Growing up in small town Arkansas, Brad Ford did not think of interior design as a career path until after college. He moved to New York on the recomm...
BDDW’s Tyler Hays is the Uncle of the Maker Movement
17 Sep 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Whether it’s digging clay for his tile collection, harvesting barley for his brewery, painting and weaving textiles for his clothing line, milling h...
Why the Home Industry's Retail Strategy Isn't Working
10 Sep 2018
Contributed by Lukas
There are few, if any, retailers in the home category that haven’t been under the journalistic microscope of Warren Shoulberg. In this episode, the ...
Industry West’s Secret to Scaling—Without the Help of VCs
27 Aug 2018
Contributed by Lukas
When it comes to furniture companies, commercial design favorite Industry West is an anomaly. Since its launch in 2009, the Jacksonville, Florida-base...
How Nicole Gibbons Went From Blogger to VC Darling
17 Aug 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Detroit-born interior designer Nicole Gibbons has been chasing her business goals—be it a PR exec, design studio, or television series—long before...
Inside Parachute Home’s Community-Focused Expansion Plans
10 Aug 2018
Contributed by Lukas
The term ‘retail store’ isn’t in Ariel Kaye’s vocabulary. The founder and CEO of Parachute Home prefers to use “community centers” when re...
From Bankruptcy to IPO, How Shawn Nelson Built the Country's Fastest-Growing Furniture Retailer
03 Aug 2018
Contributed by Lukas
It’s a coming-of-age business tale that reads more tech startup than furniture manufacturer. More than two decades ago, Lovesac began as a zealous i...
How Ralph Pucci Became the Master of Visual Merchandising
27 Jul 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Whether it’s preserving his iconic mannequin label or curating his next gallery exhibition, Ralph Pucci leads by one rule: “If everyone’s going ...
Why Schumacher Is a 128-Year-Old Startup
20 Jul 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Driven by KPIs and constant product launches, Schumacher operates more like a 128-year-old startup than a legacy brand. That’s no coincidence, expla...
How Data Helped 1stdibs Dominate the Luxury Market
29 Jun 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Before becoming CEO of 1stdibs, David Rosenblatt spent more than a decade heading up an internet company that, in 2008, sold to Google for $3.2 billio...
China is the Next Frontier for Interior Design
22 Jun 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Campion Platt believes China is the land of opportunity for interior designers and furniture manufacturers—but only for the next 10 years. In an ex...
How Interior Define Couples Customer Experience With Company Culture
08 Jun 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Rob Royer launched Interior Define online in 2014, offering direct-to-consumer, customizable sofas at a middle-market price point. Veteran insight and...
From the Archives: Bunny Williams and Oscar de la Renta
01 Jun 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Fashion in the 1960s was not unlike the interior design scene is today. When Oscar de la Renta moved to the big apple from Paris, most clothing l...
Hem Wants to be the High-End IKEA
25 May 2018
Contributed by Lukas
IKEA is the only furniture brand that is truly global, notes Petrus Palmér, founder of modern furniture brand Hem. The designer-turned-entrepreneur s...
The Story of Sweeten
18 May 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Architect-turned entrepreneur Jean Brownhill has raised more than $8 million in venture capital to grow Sweeten, a general contractor match-making s...
Becoming Holly Hunt
11 May 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Holly Hunt made headlines four years ago when she sold her eponymous company to Knoll for $95 million. But it’s never been about the money for the...
How Maxwell Ryan Won With Millennials
04 May 2018
Contributed by Lukas
It's fitting that Maxwell Ryan was a teacher for seven years prior to founding Apartment Therapy. He’s now teaching readers—20 million of them—...
A New Era for Trade Showrooms
27 Apr 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Crans Baldwin reflects on 30 years running to-the-trade companies such as Donghia and Dedar. Now, after starting his own consulting outfit, he is on t...
Why Direct-to-Consumer is the Future of Furniture
20 Apr 2018
Contributed by Lukas
With stints at McKinsey, Google and Birchbox, Maiden Home founder Nidhi Kapur has applied her digital brand-building skills to upholstery—sofas and ...
A Modern Turnaround Tale
13 Apr 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Modern design is at John Edelman’s core: Andy Warhol did the graphics for his parents’ leather company; he cultivated a renowned Milo Baughman col...
Behold, To the Trade 2.0
06 Apr 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Maury Riad’s connection to the trade goes back decades—from running Fortuny, the storied Italian fabric brand his family owns, to Fuigo, the desig...
How Consort Plans to Scale the Boutique Design Experience
29 Mar 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Designer Mat Sanders jokes that his design business launched with a ceramic middle finger. Scratch beneath the surface of his playful sensibility—...
Why ‘Fast Custom’ is the Next Wave
23 Mar 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Home furnishings brand maven Christiane Lemieux chats about her fast furniture endeavor, The Inside, and the other companies she founded along the way...
How Homepolish is Redesigning Interior Design
16 Mar 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Homepolish co-founder Noa Santos champions interior designers and creates transparency in an infamously opaque industry. Santos shares how Homepolish ...
The Rise and Rebirth of Domino
09 Mar 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Beth Brenner, chief revenue officer of Domino Media Group, shares her firsthand experience of the founding of Domino magazine, diving deep into its cu...