Business of Home Podcast

Latest Episodes:

1stDibs just went public. CEO David Rosenblatt says it's only the beginning Jul 12, 2021

Show notes

1stDibs has come a long way from its origins as an online marketplace for antique dealers—the platform now offers everything from jewelry to art to contemporary design. In recent years, the company also shifted business models to a direct e-commerce approach. That change may have ruffled a few feathers, but it set the stage for 1stDibs to go public, another big step in scaling up. On this episode of the podcast, 1stDibs CEO David Rosenblatt speaks with host Dennis Scully about the new visibility that came with last month’s IPO, why the industry’s future is online—and what that means for designers and the way they charge.

This episode is sponsored by The House of Rohl and the Future of Home conference.

LINKS
1stdibs
1stdibs files to go public
Dennis Scully
Business of Home

Holly Hunt's new president is sticking with the trade Jul 05, 2021

Show notes

Marc Szafran is the president of Holly Hunt. Szafran took on the role in a strange moment—just weeks before the pandemic turned the world on its head. Now, as life returns to normal, he’s steering the iconic company through a busy time, with a massive new showroom in LA, and a big push on e-commerce in the works. On this episode of the show, Szafran tells host Dennis Scully about his past experience running business operations for Thom Filicia and Michael S. Smith, why Holly Hunt won’t be exploring retail, and what it’s like to take over for a legend of the industry.

This episode is sponsored by House of Rohl and Future of Home

LINKS
Holly Hunt
Dennis Scully
Business of Home

Jiun Ho is Mr. Overachiever Jun 28, 2021

Show notes

Jiun Ho's life story has been an incredible journey—one that took him all the way from Kuala Lumpur to Ames Iowa. Today he oversees a thriving interior design business in San Francisco, as well as a line of furniture, lighting and textiles carried in top showrooms around the world—including a few of his own. On this episode of the podcast he speaks with host Dennis Scully about how he learned to stop listening to the market and trust his own vision, what’s got to change about multiline showrooms, and how he earned the nickname “Mr. Overachiever.”

This episode is sponsored by Atlanta Market and House of Rohl.

LINKS
Jiun Ho
Jiun Ho: Experience (Pointed Leaf Press)
Dennis Scully
Business of Home

Will our obsession with outdoor living outlast the pandemic? Janice Parker thinks so Jun 21, 2021

Show notes

www.businessofhome.comA veteran of the trade and a master of her craft, Janice Parker has crafted exquisite landscapes for countless high-profile residential projects and won dozens of awards for her work. If you flip open a glossy design magazine and see beautiful rolling lawns, charming stone paths and a colorful garden, there’s a good chance she had something to do with it. On this episode of the podcast, Parker speaks with host Dennis Scully about the red hot market for exotic trees, how climate change is directly affecting her work, and whether our pandemic-inspired obsession with outdoor living will last.

This episode is sponsored by Atlanta Market and The House of Rohl

LINKS
Janice Parker
Dennis Scully
Business of Home

The leaders of the Black Interior Designers Network: "Real change takes real work" Jun 14, 2021

Show notes

Founded in 2011, the Black Interior Designers Network provides support, mentorship and advocacy for black designers in the industry. In this episode of the podcast host Dennis Scully speaks to BIDN president Keia McSwain, an interior designer based out of Denver, Colorado; and BIDN chief development officer Kia Weatherspoon, whose Washington, D.C. firm Determined by Design brings a high-end aesthetic to affordable housing projects.

They discuss what has and hasn’t changed since the racial reckoning of last summer, bringing beautiful design to every income bracket, and pushing for progress in an industry that’s slow to change.

This episode was sponsored by Atlanta Market and The House of Rohl.

LINKS
BIDN
Keia McSwain
Kia Weatherspoon
The Iconic Home
Dennis Scully
Business of Home

The internet makes it easy for designers to get shopped. SideDoor is working on that Jun 07, 2021

Show notes

A unique challenge of the digital age: As more and more product is sold online, it’s easier and easier for designers' clients to shop around, cutting them out of the equation. Entrepreneurs Lynsey Humphrey and Chad Smith want to fight back against that with an online platform called Sidedoor. In the process, they're looking to help old school trade brands compete in a new era.

In this episode of the podcast, Humphrey and Smith speak to host Dennis Scully about the enormous task of gathering data, why they don’t do returns, and the stark choices facing the design industry as the world goes online.

This episode is sponsored by Atlanta Market and Rohl

LINKS
Sidedoor
Dennis Scully
Business of Home

There's never a dull moment with Justina Blakeney May 24, 2021

Show notes

Justina Blakeney is a designer, author, artist, and creator of Jungalow—a lifestyle brand that celebrates bright colors, lively patterns, and indoor greenery in abundance. Jungalow’s success has catapulted Justina to design-world fame, leading to licensing partnerships with everyone from Loloi Rugs and Fabricut to Target and Anthropologie—not to mention a handful of bestselling books. In this episode of the podcast she chats with host Dennis Scully about harnessing the incredible power of social media, the difference between being an artist and a designer, and how a winding career path took her to just the right place.

This episode is sponsored by Crypton and Room & Board.

LINKS
Justina Blakeney
Jungalow
Dennis Scully
Business of Home

Can Poltrona Frau make it big in America? May 17, 2021

Show notes

A hundred-year-old company with plenty of heritage under its belt, Poltrona Frau took English furniture and gave it an Italian twist. Now the company is a European institution, known for its fine leatherwork—and for supplying interiors to Italy’s iconic sports car makers like Ferrari and Maserati. Over here in the states, Poltrona Frau is a little less well-known, but CEO Nicola Coropulis wants to change that.

On this episode of the podcast he tells host Dennis Scully about how his company is tapping into a growing appetite for interior design in China, the mistake it made when it first came to America, and what it’s like to look at the market with Italian glasses on.

This episode is sponsored by Crypton and Room & Board

LINKS
Poltrona Frau
The Vanity Fair chair
Dennis Scully
Business of Home

Robin Petravic of Heath Ceramics wants to build a business that can last 200 years May 10, 2021

Show notes

Originally founded in the San Francisco Bay Area in 1948 by potter Edith Heath, over the course of fifty years Heath became an iconic dinnerware and tile brand. By the late nineties, Heath had fallen on hard times—but in 2003 the married couple of Robin Petravic and Cathy Bailey purchased the company and turned its fortunes around.

In this episode of the podcast, Dennis Scully speaks to Petravic about the goal of building an organization that can last 200 years, how the power of storytelling saved the company, and why, in the midst of a pandemic slowdown, Heath gave employees a raise.

This episode is sponsored by Room & Board and Crypton

LINKS
Heath's ESOP program
Heath's pursuit of Zero-waste manufacturing
Business of Home

The education of a designer, with Suzanne Tucker May 03, 2021

Show notes

Suzanne Tucker earned her stripes working first for Peter Hood in London, then for iconic California designer Michael Taylor. Now she leads Tucker & Marks, one of the west coast’s most prestigious firms. On this episode of the podcast, she tells Dennis Scully some incredible tales from her storied career, shares the secret to working well with architects, and explained how clients have (and haven’t) changed over the years.

This episode is sponsored by Room & Board and Crypton.

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