Business of Home Podcast

Editorial coverage of design wasn’t always meant for the masses—that is, until reporters like Suzanne Slesin started writing about it. Beginning in the late 1970’s, Slesin helped usher in a new era at publications like New York Magazine and the New York Times home section, where she wrote some of the first service pieces and examined the greater cultural impact of interiors. From the top seat at p...

A little more than a decade ago, the world of digital printing was a different place, dominated by manufacturers and largely devoid of artists and designers. In 2007, Mariam Naficy set out to change that, founding Minted as a stationery company that would use emerging tech to promote the work of independent artists and designers. Nearly 15 years later, the company continues to stay ahead of the cu...

John Danzer , the founder of exterior furniture brand Munder Skiles, has always approached his work with an academic rigor—he spent years researching and lecturing on the history of garden furniture before making a single piece. Now, he produces a full collection, and does his own outdoor design work for clients on the side. On this episode of the podcast, Danzer speaks with host Dennis Scully abo...

Tom Kligerman is a co-founder of the award-winning architectural firm Ike Kligerman Barkley. His work, often on shingle style homes, has been featured in countless publications—including a 26 year run on Architectural Digest ’s AD100 list. On this episode of show, he speaks with host Dennis Scully about the pros and cons of being known for a particular design style, how he experiments with client...

Jay and Schuylar Sweet are the father and son duo at the helm of Boyd Lighting. Their story begins a century ago when Jay’s grandfather founded the business after witnessing one of the earliest commercial lighting expositions. Boyd began as a custom lighting business working with architects in the SF Bay Area. The company has evolved as Jay suggested moving into a product line operation. And now S...

Timur Yumusaklar joined F. Schumacher and Co. in 2015, when the company still consisted of its heritage fabric and rug brands. He quickly set to work bringing the 131-year-old business up to date, developing the designer membership community Freddie, acquiring Los Angeles–based paint brand Backdrop and transforming the company’s newspaper into the glossy Frederic . In this episode of the podcast,...

Though David Kleinberg came from humble beginnings in suburban Long Island, an early interest in interiors and a chance encounter with decorators Robert Denning and Vincent Fourcade soon sent him on a journey alongside the most influential names in the New York interior design world. Kleinberg went on to work for renowned designers Albert Hadley and Sister Parish, spending 16 years at the pair’s f...

When Paige Cleveland, Brook Perdigon and Alexis Hartman began meeting for coffee in the early days of the pandemic, they didn’t realize that their casual conversations would evolve into a new model for navigating the industry. The trio of textile designers are putting their ideas to the test with the California Collective—a unique partnership in which they pool business expertise and resources to...

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...

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 experien...

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...

www.businessofhome.com A 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...

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 aesthe...

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 o...

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 epis...

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...

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...

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...

Gary Wheeler is the CEO of the American Society of Interior Designers, or, as it’s more commonly known, the ASID. A professional membership organization for both commercial and residential designers, the ASID is almost 100 years old, but Wheeler has been in the top spot for less than 12 months. With a global pandemic to contend with, and racial inequality at the forefront, he’s had a busy start to...

Born in a small town in Japan to a family of doctors, artist and textile designer Kazumi Yoshida was always something of a free spirit. He made his way to London as a young man, then New York, where he met Robin Roberts, the extravagant, larger-than-life founder of Clarence House. The two were a match made in heaven, and Kazumi’s creations saw the company reach new heights. Edgy, artistic, colorfu...

Founded in 1946 in the suburbs of Chicago by Meganne Wecker ’s grandfather, Skyline Furniture has always been a family business. It’s also always stood a little bit apart from the crowd for a willingness to try new things. Wecker joined at an opportune time, just as e-commerce was beginning to take off—ever since, she’s pushed Skyline to master the nuances of making furniture to sell online.   On...

Russell Towner , the president of Lee Indstries, is a lifer in the furniture business, with almost three decades spent at companies like Henredon, Baker and Theodor Alexander. Now he’s at the helm of one of North Carolina’s most venerable brands at a peculiar time. A COVID-inspired boom in home spending has filled Lee’s order book, but the pandemic—and a shock foam shortage—has made it harder than...

During COVID lockdowns last year, Jake Arnold, a rising young interior designer based out of Los Angeles, teamed up with Leo Seigal, an entrepreneur. Together they built an ingeniously simple platform, The Expert, that connects clients with top designers for hour-long video consultations. So far their creation has been a hit, and designers, including Amber Lewis, Leanne Ford and Martyn Lawrence Bu...

Started out of a pushcart in the early 1900s, today fabric brand Maharam is a giant of the industry, sending out over 2 million samples a year. It hasn’t all been steady growth—the company underwent a major reinvention in the 1990s that saw employee turnover surge and profits drop. But it paid off, and Maharam was acquired in 2013 by Herman Miller for 156 million dollars.  In this episode of the s...

Ben Soleimani ’s story is a dramatic one—the son of a prosperous rug dealer in Iran, his family escaped the country in the thick of the revolution that transformed the middle east. Soleimani eventually found himself in Los Angeles and wasted no time getting into business, first as a teenager, establishing his family’s operations in California, then branching into contemporary design and partnering...