Business of Home Podcast

Lee Mayer began by trying to get other people to start her company. It was 2013 and she needed a quick, affordable design service to help with a new home in Denver—a reluctant entrepreneur, it took a push from Mayer’s sister to get her to found the company herself. Six years later, Havenly has outlasted many of its competitors in the world of online design, and Mayer continues to innovate the mode...

Interior designer Ryan Korban began his career creating stores for fashion brands like Aquazurra and Balenciaga. After moving into the residential world, the young designer's star rose rapidly—he now boasts a roster of celebrity clients and a growing sideline working with real estate developers. On the latest episode of the Business of Home Podcast, Korban chatted with host Dennis Scully in front...

After nearly a decade of building a community of 40 million that buys, sells and shares fashion online, Poshmark co-founder Tracy Sun is moving the company into the home. On the latest episode of the Business of Home podcast, Sun chats with host Dennis Scully about why the power is in consumers' hands now, the overlap between fashion and interior design, and what being customer centric actually me...

Dave Dawson started The Urban Electric Company as a small retail business in 2002—it’s since grown into a powerhouse of modern American craftsmanship, employing over 200 to make a wide array of custom lighting fixtures, all in a former navy yard in Charleston, South Carolina.​ In this episode of the Business of Home podcast, Dawson chats with host Dennis Scully a​bout the challenges of manufacturi...

After a picturesque childhood in England and a brief career as a drummer, Christopher Peacock chanced into the cabinetry business and he hasn't looked back since. The company he founded in 1992 has been through some twists and turns, but today it's stronger than ever, with nine showrooms and a booming commercial sideline. On this episode of the Business of Home podcast, Peacock shares the incredib...

Tony Ingrao's clients—a mix of celebrities, financiers and captains of industry—often make headline news, but he himself is more likely found just outside the limelight. "I'm chill," he tells Dennis Scully, with a laugh. Chill yes, boring no. In this week’s episode of the Business of Home podcast, the designer shares a rare in-depth look at an epic career—discussing his fashion-world chi...

After a brief post-college career in the startup world, Chad Stark joined the family business as a young man, eager to modernize Stark Carpet’s operations for a fast-changing market. He’s since risen to senior vice president of the 80-year-old company, and has continuously pushed for innovation in an industry that’s often reluctant to change. On the latest episode of the Business of Home podcast,...

In the early aughts, brothers Philip and Jeffrey Bershad took over the family wallcovering business from their father and have since grown it to employ one hundred and sixty people with operations all over the world. In this episode of the Business of Home podcast, they spoke with host Dennis Scully about their work hard/play hard company culture, the advantages of focusing on a niche, and why som...

It’s a commonly cited statistic: Moving is more stressful than divorce. And—chasing freedom and flexibility—millennials are moving a whole lot. Jay Reno, founder and CEO of Feather, is hoping to make it easier on them with a service that offers furniture on a subscription, pay-as-you-go basis. In the latest episode of the Business of Home podcast, Reno spoke with host Dennis Scully about how the A...

After fleeing Cuba with his family as a child, Vicente Wolf had anything but a traditional path to building a 45-year run as a designer. On the latest episode of the Business of Home podcast, Wolf reflects on his unconventional journey, the role of design media in his career, and why he’s not retiring any time soon. This episode is sponsored by High Point Market.

In 1995, Angie Hicks lent her name to her new company, a service that crowdsourced reviews of local businesses. “It seemed like one of those inconsequential decisions you make when you’re 22,” says Hicks. It turned out to be anything but inconsequential, as her company, Angie’s List, would become a household name and a major player in the home services industry. In this episode of the Business of...

Twenty years ago, Michael Cohen left a career in corporate finance to join the family business, a somewhat old-school seller of high-end tassels and trims. Cohen, along with his brothers Hymie and Joseph, has turned Samuel & Sons into a thriving, tech-forward business that’s come to define passementerie for the American market. In this episode of the Business of Home podcast, he chats with hos...

Nassau-based interior designer Amanda Lindroth has a knack for evoking the breezy elegance of island life, wherever she goes—including Guangzhou, China. A few years ago, she and her CEO, Austin Painter, embarked on a road trip to various factories in Asia to produce her debut line of accessories and decor. Since then, she’s been busy, fine-tuning her collection and growing her brand. In the latest...

Ceramics are having a moment, and East Fork is at the center of it. Founded by husband-and-wife team Connie and Alex Matisse along with their friend John Vigeland, the North Carolina–based company has grown from a small rural pottery into a thriving manufacturer, shipping thousands of pieces around the world—including a coveted mug they literally can’t keep in stock. On the latest episode of the B...

Philip Erdoes is a study in contradictions. Though the founder of The New Traditionalists and ducduc spends his days occupied by the particulars of making high-end furniture, he came to the business via a career in law and an MBA from Harvard Business School. Erdoes isn’t afraid to speak his mind, whether he’s discussing copycat brands or hot-button political topics. In the latest episode of the B...

What began as a small upholstery company in a rural corner of North Carolina has grown into a furniture empire. Celebrating their 30th year in business, Mitchell Gold and Bob Williams now oversee a million square feet of manufacturing space, almost a thousand employees, and over thirty retail locations. In this episode of the Business of Home podcast, the partners chat with host Dennis Scully abou...

Peter Sallick doesn’t have a lot of free time. A restless innovator, savvy dealmaker and the wearer of many hats, being the CEO of Waterworks is only one of Sallick’s many roles. He also co-founded online marketplace Dering Hall and created one of the industry’s premier professional groups, the Design Leadership Network. In this episode of the Business of Home podcast, Sallick shares how Waterwork...

Wendy Goodman is the poet laureate of Manhattan’s design world. As the longtime design editor of New York magazine, for decades she’s chronicled the lives and homes of the city’s most interesting people, alongside its most exciting artists and makers. On this episode of the Business of Home podcast, Goodman spoke with host Dennis Scully about her culture-rich childhood, working for Anna Wintour ea...

For over thirty years, interior designer Kit Kemp has been at the forefront of the boutique hospitality revolution, bringing color, craft and vibrant design to hotels and restaurants on both sides of the Atlantic. As co-owner and creative director of Firmdale Hotels, Kemp is behind London’s Ham Yard, Covent Garden and Haymarket hotels, as well as the Crosby Street and the Whitby in New York. She h...

Not many designers can count Frank Lloyd Wright, Eero Saarinen and Marilyn Monroe as clients, but Jack Lenor Larsen is no ordinary designer. A legend of the textile business, Larsen started his own studio in New York in 1952. His vivid early work convinced a once-skeptical Florence Knoll, who commissioned Larsen to create fabric for her furniture. From then on, Larsen’s business  and reputation gr...

After 20 years in finance, Sean Juneja decided to risk his stable career to found Décor Aid, a start-up that offers clients an entry point into the world of professional interior design. Born out of a lifelong passion for design and his belief that there was a gap in the market for smaller budget projects, Décor Aid has facilitated more than 3,000 jobs in New York alone since its founding in 2014....

Bernie de Le Cuona’s fabric company had humble beginnings—in the early 1990s, she launched the business out of her own home after learning to weave in India. Since then, her namesake company has grown by leaps and bounds, with flagship showrooms in New York and London and a network of distributors worldwide. De Le Cuona has come a long way, but she hasn't stopped moving forward. The founder and CE...

By the time he was 32, Christophe Caillaud had abandoned a promising career in mergers and acquisitions to become the managing director of Jean Paul Gaultier. After nine years at the fashion house, he was tapped by French interior designer Christian Liaigre to become the president of his namesake brand. In this week’s edition of the Business of Home podcast, Caillaud sat down with host Dennis Scul...

Now famous to millions as the resident design expert on Netflix hit Queer Eye, Bobby Berk left home at a young age, eventually ending up in New York with only a suitcase and a few months rent money to his name. In the city, he climbed his way through the ranks of retail, working at RH and Portico before opening his own store in 2007. A decade later, Berk was invited to audition for a reboot of the...

In 1978, Jamie Drake graduated from Parsons and fell right into two plum gigs designing apartments in 800 Fifth Avenue—the same building where newlyweds Donald and Ivana Trump were just settling in. Since then, things have only gotten better for Drake, who has won every industry award under the sun, participated in every showhouse and created homes for more than a few billionaires. In this week’s...