Business of Home Podcast

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.