Welcome to My Blog

The Future of the Independent Rep Model

the trend report Apr 06, 2026

The independent rep model has always been relationship driven. But today, it’s something more. It’s capital intensive. It’s operationally complex. And it’s evolving faster than ever before. From showrooms to staffing, from succession planning to increasing manufacturer expectations, reps are being asked to do more than ever.

Listen to Episode 180

In this episode of The Trend Report, I sat down with Ed Eisaman, Principal of Eisaman Contract, to talk about what it really takes to stay relevant, competitive, and valuable in today’s environment.

Ed represents a third-generation rep firm with showrooms in Pittsburgh, Buffalo, and Manhattan. With decades of experience and a clear point of view on where the industry is headed, he’s not just talking about the future of the rep model. He’s actively building it. And his perspective might challenge how many of us think about the role of independent reps and the level of investment required to succeed.

The independent rep has always played a c...

From AI Hype to Real Workflow Execution

the trend report Mar 30, 2026

There’s no shortage of conversation right now about AI.

Everywhere you turn, something is labeled “AI-powered.” New tools. New platforms. New promises about productivity and efficiency.

But if we’re honest, most businesses in our industry are still dealing with the same challenges. Too many emails. Too many manual steps. Too many places where data has to be re-entered. Too many opportunities for something small to go wrong that creates a much bigger problem later.

Listen to Episode 179.

In this episode of The Trend Report, I sat down with Matt Danyliw and Leo Vargas from Avanto to explore what innovation looks like when it’s applied to real workflows, not just talked about in theory.

And what stood out immediately is that their perspective is different. They’re not focused on building better tools. They’re focused on getting work done. Matt shared that Avanto operates at the intersection of workplace, technology, and data. But what matters most is what happens ne

...

The Courage to Put Customers First

the trend report Mar 23, 2026

Courage is one of those words we talk about a lot in business.

It shows up in mission statements. It shows up in leadership books. It shows up in conversations about innovation and growth. But when it comes time to actually use it, real courage usually looks a lot less comfortable than we expect.

In this 10 to Win episode, I found myself reflecting on that idea through an unlikely source. A baseball team called the Savannah Bananas. If you haven’t heard of them, they’re not your typical baseball team. In fact, you could argue they’re not even trying to play traditional baseball at all. And that’s exactly the point.

Listen to Episode 178.

Their story, led by founder Jesse Cole and captured in his book Fans First, isn’t really about sports. It’s about leadership. It’s about business. And more importantly, it’s about what happens when you decide to build something entirely around the customer experience.

Jesse Cole didn’t take over a thriving organization. He stepped into a failing b...

Design in Context and the Next Era of Workplace Design

the trend report Mar 16, 2026

Sustainability, design, and the future of work are often discussed as if they are separate conversations. In reality, they are deeply connected. That was one of the clearest takeaways from my conversation with Todd Bracher, Creative Director at Humanscale, whose perspective challenged me to think differently about what design really is and what our industry should be paying attention to next.

The Trend Report: Episode 177

Todd believes good design has very little to do with chasing a new shape for the sake of novelty. In his view, design is not about making something simply look appealing. It is about understanding how something works, why it exists, how it is made, and what responsibilities come with putting it into the world. That perspective is shaped by more than two decades of work across industrial design, furniture, and what he calls contextual design.

Todd shared that his early years in Denmark and later in Milan had a profound impact on how he thinks. In Europe, he argues, ...

Selling "Easy" and the Future of Work

the trend report Mar 09, 2026

Every once in a while, it’s good to throw out the script.

That’s the spirit behind our Hot Takes episodes. No prep. No polished slides. Just a wheel of questions and real-time reactions. And when your co-host is Amanda Schneider, you know you’re not going to get surface-level answers.

The Trend Report: Episode 176

Amanda is the Founder and President of ThinkLab, the research division of Sandow Design Group. She spends her days immersed in data, behavior shifts, generational change, and the evolving relationship between physical and digital space. She also recently delivered a TED Talk that has now surpassed half a million views and is preparing to launch her book, Work for What’s Next.

So when the wheel landed on the question, “What do we really sell?” I knew we were about to get something good.

Amanda believes most of our industry gets this wrong. She argues that we think we are selling product. Chairs. Flooring. Lighting. Systems. But in her view, that framing

...

What Designers Really Want (And the Quiet Way to Win)

the trend report Mar 02, 2026

Building meaningful relationships with the A+D community has never been more important, and in many ways, never more complex. Designers are navigating hybrid teams, compressed timelines, and constant digital noise. Access looks different than it used to. Attention is fragmented. And trust has to be earned, not assumed.

In this episode of The Trend Report, I had the pleasure of sitting down with Krystal Lucero, Senior Interior Designer at Edwards + Mulhausen Interior Design. Krystal brings a thoughtful, human-centered perspective to design and leadership, and she understands firsthand what it takes to build relationships that actually last.

The Trend Report: Episode 175

Krystal believes partnership is the real objective, not just access. She argues that designers do not need more drop-ins or more product pitches. They need reliable collaborators. When she is deep in a specification and reaches out with a few quick questions, what matters most is responsiveness and accuracy. If you...

The Most Underrated Tool in Leadership

the trend report Feb 23, 2026

A fresh start does not always require a new plan, a new hire, or a bold strategy. Sometimes the biggest shift happens when we change how we show up.

In this 10 to Win episode of The Trend Report, I challenged our community to rethink something that often gets labeled as soft or optional in leadership. Gratitude.

The Trend Report: Episode 174

Research from Harvard Business School and the Wharton School makes this clear. Leaders who consistently express gratitude see higher employee engagement, stronger trust, and lower burnout across their teams. One widely cited Wharton study found that teams who felt genuinely appreciated were up to 50 percent more productive than those who did not. That statistic reframes gratitude entirely. It is not just a feel good gesture. It is a performance multiplier.

This matters because leadership is not positional. It is personal. Regardless of title, everyone leads in some capacity. And gratitude may be one of the most underutilized tools we have to le...

Before You Scale AI, Fix This First

the trend report Feb 16, 2026

AI is everywhere right now.

It is in headlines, in boardrooms, in sales meetings, and in the quiet corners of someone’s browser while they draft an email. Some leaders are racing toward it. Others are hesitating. Most are somewhere in the middle, trying to figure out how to use it responsibly without getting left behind.

That tension is exactly why my latest conversation with Hunter Jensen matters.

The Trend Report: Episode 173

Hunter is the CEO of Barefoot Solutions and founder of Barefoot Labs, where he now focuses on building secure AI tools for businesses. He has spent more than twenty years staying on the front edge of technology shifts. From web to mobile to IoT to blockchain, he has seen waves come and go. What makes AI different, in his view, is not the hype. It is the speed and the scale of impact.

He traces today’s acceleration back to a breakthrough called the transformer model, which fundamentally changed how machine learning systems are trained. What once would have t...

Cold Calls, Chair Boxes, and Better Questions

the trend report Feb 09, 2026

Some of the most useful conversations in our industry don’t come from carefully scripted panels or polished presentations. They come from honest quick reactions. From questions asked without knowing exactly where the answer will land. From moments where people stop performing and start thinking out loud.

That’s the spirit behind Hot Takes, and it’s exactly what made Episode 172 with Doug Shapiro such a sharp and timely conversation.

Doug, who serves as Vice President of Sales at JSI, joined me for a fast moving, unscripted discussion about how we sell, how we train, and what really matters in a business that has become increasingly complex. The format is simple for these new episodes. We spin a wheel filled with industry questions and whichever one it lands on is the one we react honestly to.

The Trend Report: Episode 172

One of the first questions we tackled was whether cold calling is dead. Doug’s response landed quickly and stayed with me. He questioned whether cold calling was ...

The Workplace Crystal Ball Is Cloudy, but the Direction Is Clear

the trend report Feb 02, 2026

Curiosity is one of the most important ingredients in workplace design right now. But curiosity by itself does not solve the real problem most teams face: the workplace is still expected to work, even as the rules keep changing.

In this conversation with Bryce Stuckenschneider, CEO of Loftwall, that tension comes through clearly. Bryce believes curiosity has to be operationalized. It has to become speed, flexibility, and follow-through. Otherwise, it stays theoretical. He described Loftwall as a team where curiosity is “woven into everybody,” and that shows up in what they are willing to build, how quickly they move, and how seriously they take the human side of service. The goal is not to be busy. The goal is to be useful.

The Trend Report: Episode 171

One of the strongest throughlines in the episode is that rethinking the workplace starts with rethinking what people actually need to work well. Bryce’s view is simple and sharp. Teams need flexibility, and they need it without frict...

1 2 3 4

50% Complete

The Future of the Independent Rep Model

From AI Hype to Real Workflow Execution

The Courage to Put Customers First

Design in Context and the Next Era of Workplace Design

Selling "Easy" and the Future of Work

What Designers Really Want (And the Quiet Way to Win)

The Most Underrated Tool in Leadership

Before You Scale AI, Fix This First

Cold Calls, Chair Boxes, and Better Questions

The Workplace Crystal Ball Is Cloudy, but the Direction Is Clear

Stay connected with news and updates!

Join Our Mailing List