We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Steve Wilcox a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Alright, Steve thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Have you ever had an amazing boss, mentor or leader leading you? Can you us a story or anecdote that helps illustrate why this person was such a great leader and the impact they had on you or their team?
I have worked with a wide variety of people during my career, but the best boss I had was Marketing Vice President named Bruce. Believe me; I have had a majority of bad bosses. I won’t dwell on them; rather what made Bruce a great boss.
He was a teacher….and I listened. I was a young designer and he taught me so much about the furniture business that really had nothing to do with design. But in the end, it had everything to do with bringing products to market successfully. I learned from him, that as a designer, I had to sell things…and sell them a number of times before they would ever see the light of day. First, I had to sell the concept to the management team, then to the manufacturing team, then to the sales team, then to the dealer network, and finally, to the end consumer. Knowing these facts makes a creative designer really consider what they are bringing to the table. It taught me to know what I was doing and why.
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
I was inspired by my family’s retail pharmacy business and initially completed a degree in Business Management and worked for several years in various retail management jobs. I found these unfulfilling and decided to return to school to study something more specialized. A friend suggested I look into the Kendall College of Art and Design Furniture Design Program. It was an immediate match and I enthusiastically enrolled in Kendall’s program. As a student, I completed co-op classes at the John Widdicomb (High End Reproductions) company in Grand Rapids, MI and was hired by Widdicomb full-time upon my graduation in 1990.
My career path has been varied and has added to my overall understanding of different categories of furnishings products. Following my time at John Widdicomb, I did a stint with BIFMA, the contract / office furnishings trade organization as its Standards Manager, then as a Designer and New Product Development executive for Hekman furniture, and as Design and New Product Manager for Value City Furniture / American Signature in Columbus Ohio.
In 2005 I established Furnishings Design, Inc., a design and marketing consultancy that provides trend consulting, concepting, design, product development, and marketing services to a number of furnishings related industries. I work with clients in kitchen and bath cabinetry, residential furnishing, lighting, home accessories, medical products, contract furnishings, hospitality furnishings, youth and nursery furnishings, storage products, and in other product categories that are related to home fashion. Again, all of these categories have a wide variety of price points, product styles, and materials with which the designer needs to become familiar with.
I was an early adopter of 3D modeling and photo-realistic rendering with a particular interest in very decorative applications of the technology. I have also taught furniture design as a member of the adjunct faculty of the Kendall College Furniture Design Program, teaching students regarding the topics of industry trends and professional practices for the designer. I consider myself fortunate for having been able to work with such a wide variety of manufacturers, retailers, marketers, buyers, suppliers, and creative people in the industry.
I am currently president of the International Society of Furniture Designers. ISFD champions excellence in design with its Pinnacle Awards for design excellence and also promotes the creative professionals and students who help design successful products for the furnishings industry.
My approach to design and product development is based on optimism, collaboration, creativity, innovation, focus on the end consumer’s lifestyles, focus on the client’s brand image, and the features and benefits necessary to make furnishings products meaningful to all those involved in the process.
Alright – let’s talk about marketing or sales – do you have any fun stories about a risk you’ve taken or something else exciting on the sales and marketing side?
I was working for a furniture manufacturer that was very well known for its historic period style of furniture. The designs were very formal, had a very glossy high sheen finish, and were very stately. However, the market was changing and a more casual design aesthetic was starting to take hold. As design director, I suggested we create a collection that had a much less formal approach. This required some physical and finish distressing, and basically created a furniture collection with a blue jeans approach rather than a formal business suit sort of vibe. Well, I was very fortunate that the collection was a big success as initially no one in the company (except for my supportive boss) wanted anything to do with it. Now, years later, we have companies like Pottery Barn where that concept of casual living is the basis for the brand and consumer” lifestyle”. It was rewarding having success in creating more business for my employer, helping to keep my co-workers employed, and bringing those sort of products to the market.
Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?
Sure, in my experience, this happens about every 10 years in a 40 year career. I am now in my “4th quarter” so to speak and recently had to pivot following the pandemic. Basically, I have to reinvent my customer base to some degree all the time. Covid did that, just a bit more dramatically with some new clients. I tell people as a freelance person, I am always getting hired for fired by someone. (However, I do have some good long-term clients.) My advice for any change is to look for it….know something is coming up behind you and prepare for it as best you can. Embrace the change and look at it as an opportunity. Have enough funds in your war-chest to survive slow times, and always be networking, helping, reaching out, and self-promoting your brand and services. Be easy to work with, keep an eye on business as a creative, it’s not really all about us as individuals.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.furnishingsdesigner.com
- Instagram: furnishishingdesigninc
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/fdistudio/
Image Credits
Copyright: Furnishings Design Inc.