We recently connected with Tanja Hinder and have shared our conversation below.

Tanja, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. One of the things we most admire about small businesses is their ability to diverge from the corporate/industry standard. Is there something that you or your brand do that differs from the industry standard? We’d love to hear about it as well as any stories you might have that illustrate how or why this difference matters.

I believe that job descriptions are overrated. It’s like creating a mold and trying to fit a human into it. That’s such a limited way to look at people and cap their potential. Particularly considering we are working in a creative world, to me that seems contradictory. I mean, a job description should be an outline of some of the minimum requirements a company needs to operate within that position but the rest is all backwards. The best people I found for our company created their own jobs. I met them and saw something in them – potential, drive, vision, compassion – and so on and so forth. I usually let them work for us, find out what drives them in life, what they are good at and where they see their future, then we talk about the career and how we can create a space within Marrimor that allows all of their potential to thrive. Mostly these people stick around for a long time.

I do like pushing people out of their comfort zone and seeing how they perform. It shows me very quickly if people are willing to grow and learn and how they behave when being in the unknown. It’s a huge indicator of character. Kind of like… don’t get married until you’ve been through some bad times with your partner.

Overall, these are all very smart and self-guided individuals. Not perfect by all means, nobody is, but they all have one thing in common, they care about their work and their work family. It’s a much more holistic way of going through your life than just looking at your time at work as a 9-5. We don’t work that way, yet we have healthy boundaries and a good work/life balance.
We also talk a lot about failure, how to work through it and how to overcome difficult challenges. Everyone who works with us can be vulnerable.

Maintaining and protecting this work environment is extremely important to me! I interview lots of people and I hear the bad stories they’ll tell me about their workplace and yes, combining profit with creative people has its challenges but it’s doable. It just takes work and communication. My staff tells me often that what we do is not normal, as in it’s not standard. I see it as a compliment.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

At first, it all seemed as if I landed here by accident, but I did at some point realize that everything is a stepping stone to the next thing I want to become. I was always independent and driven. I was also a rebel while being an empath. My brain is completely split 50/50. 50% left and 50% right brain. I’m equally as creative as I am logical and those two sides tend to be in conflict often but they also allow me to do what I do today.

When I was young I didn’t know at all what I wanted to do with my life. My dad used to say, I don’t know what to do with you, you are kind of good at everything but not very good at one thing. I grew up in perfect Switzerland; I like the outdoors and animals, was always very sporty and competitive, and I loved to party! Maybe a bit too much at times [laughs]. I dabbled in marketing and event management, built and rode mountain bikes, and had many shitty jobs in between. I just couldn’t figure out where I fit in, just to later find out that I have to create my owne  place where I belong. 

However, my work ethic was always strong coming from a family with high standards. This really made a difference after I moved to Vancouver, Canada in my early twenties, being out of my comfort zone and determined to “make it” here.

I landed in design by fluke. I was a nanny (which I hated) and my wealthy boss at the time hired a designer who one day looked at my desperate face and offered me a job as a project manager. Long story short, I ended up working there while studying design and building my own business on the side. I had A LOT of business ideas, some better than others, and yes, I was a lumberjack once – don’t ask [laughs]. But if you give me an axe or a chain saw, I’ll show you how it’s done. Some of the businesses failed and some were stepping stones to greater goals. Looking back, all of them were important to do what I’m doing today. In 2008, I started our interior design firm and over the years, we’ve added an objects branch to it! I always loved creating “things”. Tangible things that bring people joy, are made of good quality materials and with good craftsmanship.

Within our Interiors branch, we are fortunate to create unique spaces for our clients. We are not your typical West Coast firm, with me being European and my right hand, creative director and work wife, Lauren Bugliarisi, being from the East Coast. Our designs are layered, warm and tailored to our client’s styles.

The Objects side operates much more globally and it’s a younger business. Officially we launched our inaugural product, the Toof (a side table and pouf combination) during Covid and we are now launching an area rug collection this year. The goal is to create one product per year going forward.

We are not shy of using color and texture and we love pushing boundaries –  including our own. Once you get used to living in the unknown and uncomfortable you get pretty good at pushing yourself to new places. As scary as these moments are, they are also thrilling and exciting! I try to look at everything as an opportunity rather than a road block.

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

I was taught early in my life and by living in a society where status symbols are important, that what I do defines who I am. I lived with this “burden” for the larger part of my life and truthfully it was a huge driver for my success and career. However, it’s not sustainable. There was a time where I would work 17-hour days almost daily and over extremely long periods, didn’t have a vacation for over four years and truly never stopped. I was getting close to a burn out while my business was taking flight. It took quite a bit of work on myself to unlearn certain childhood benchmarks and set new ones for myself. Lifestyles and values that actually matter to me rather than just copying and pasting it from the past. My husband played a big part in this. He opened my eyes and he was the first person to tell me that even if you’d strip me of all my success and things, that he would still love me the same way. To him, what I do and who I am are completely separate.
Today, I feel free from this lifestyle of unnecessary hustle. I actually work less hours, get to enjoy my life and family and feel happier than ever, and the work still gets done.

We’d love to hear about how you met your business partner.

Contact Info:

• Website: marrimor.com & marrimorinteriors.com
• Instagram: Marrimorobjects & marrimorinteriors
• Linkedin: Marrimor Objects