Business of Home Podcast

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.

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 designer Clodagh. A self-taught designer who transitioned from fashion to interiors, the Ireland native is best known for her spiritual practices, minimalist style and some 20 product licenses, including partnerships with RH, Visual Comfort and Ann Sacks. In this week’s episode, Clodagh reveals the one trait that has made her most successful, the way she handles rude clients and how she finds zen—even in the back of a New York taxi cab. This episode is sponsored by Fuigo.

Making good design democratic has been at the core of modern furniture company Blu Dot since its founding in 1997. Co-founders John Christakos, Maurice Blanks and Charlie Lazor set out to create an American furniture company in an era when venture capital, attainable modern design and an assertive brand voice didn’t exist in the home industry. Twenty years later, Blu Dot’s forging efforts haven’t gone unnoticed. This year, the company celebrated its recognition as the Cooper Hewitt National Design Award winner for Product Design, as well the debut of a memoir chronicling the Minneapolis company’s pioneering journey. This episode is sponsored by Fuigo.

Jonathan Adler went from a potter teaching night classes to a retail mogul running seventeen retail locations, a wholesale and e-commerce business, and an ever-growing list of partnerships including a recent one with Amazon. “I went from being a dude [with] mud and a potter’s wheel to a dude with the world at my fingertips,” says Adler, who shares the defining moments of his career, the challenges that came with each, and what's next on his creative horizon. This episode is sponsored by Fuigo.