Intro: 

Hey friend, welcome back. So episode 200 ran a little bit longer than we had planned, but honestly, that feels fitting for this celebration. And so welcome to episode 200 bonus content just for you.

Sid: 

I'm your host, Sid Meadows, and I'm glad that you're joining me today for the Trend Report, your inside look at the people, products, and ideas shaping the future of workplace design. So there were two parts of the conversation, episode 200, that were honestly simply too good to leave behind. First, Chris, Leah, Sean, and Kristen shared what the Trend Report has meant to them, along with a little bit of their insights about their favorite episode or episodes. Then we turned the table and I gave each of them a chance to ask me any question they wanted, and they did not disappoint. So this is a special episode 200 bonus conversation. And let's jump into what Chris, Leah, Sean, and Kristen and hear their thoughts about the Trend Report and a little bit about their favorite episodes. As

Why The Show Matters To Guests

Sid: 

I mentioned kind of in the opening of the show, this uh the trend report is possible because of all of you and everybody that listens. And it's a journey for me that good golly, I never thought that I would like be here at this point. There's a couple of times I thought I was going to throw in the towel. I even announced that I was going to end the show a couple of years ago. So glad that that didn't actually happen. And it's meant so much to me, and everybody listening has meant so much to me. So I'd like to hear from you guys. Share something about the show or your favorite episode, like what keeps you coming back, whatever you'd like to share about the show. I loved the idea of sharing. Someone of you brought up the idea of sharing. It was Kristen who brought up the idea of sharing your favorite episode. But Kristen, we'll start with

Memorable Episodes And Human Stories

Sid: 

you.

Kristen:

Gosh, there are so many. Um, some that stick out in my mind are people that I know or that I was already aware of, whether you know I know them personally or just kind of in passing. But Kay Sargent is always entertaining and informative. I really enjoyed Ed Eisaman. Yep. I know of him, I don't know him well, but just from the rep perspective, we don't get that very often. And I think, you know, he had a lot of good things to say. One from way back that I had to mention is Evan with Trinity.

Sid: 

Oh my gosh.

Kristen:

That episode was so personal, and he talked about, and I think, did you interview him before his dad passed away? It was something about the the passing of his dad and you know, the passing on of the company to the kids. That was such a personal episode. That one really stands out in my mind.

Sid: 

Thank you, Kristen. That will always be one of my favorites because of what you just said, right? For me, it's really hard to pick a single favorite one because there's so many really good ones. But what you're referring to was I met Evan in 2021 when we were doing the spring breakout roadshow with Office Insights, and and we were all trying to figure out how to get product in front of people. And we did this little roadshow, and we met up in Charlotte, and I met Evan and we just started talking. He started telling me about how his dad started the business. He's an immigrant from Cuba. And when his dad was like five years old, his family literally was on the last plane coming out of Cuba before the country was shut down. And and then I'm like, okay, we have to, yeah, you have to come on the show to talk about this. And he said, I think you should interview my dad and me together. And so we had a pre-call to discuss it. And it's one of those moments that I didn't record the pre-call. And then before we could actually get the episode recorded, um, Evan's father passed away. He was battling cancer, he passed away. It was not expected, but it was unexpected so quickly that he had passed away. And he had gotten sick, and so we canceled the recording, and then we're going to reschedule. And then a couple months later, I got a message from Evan leading me to that. His father had passed away, and I was like, oh my gosh. So as time passed, I said to him, I think one of the best things that we can do together to honor the legacy of your father and what he has done for our industry is for you and I to talk about it. And so that's what we did. It will always be one of my most famous, real, human-focused episodes. I think it's in the 80s, somewhere in the 80s. We'll drop a link in the show notes if you might like to go listen to it. So yeah, really special.

Kristen:

Can I mention one more?

Sid: 

Yeah.

Kristen:

Adrian Lyall, I had known him from Claris. And one thing I love about Adrian, if you follow him, he's not selling furniture. He's giving advice about how to be a better speaker and how to get through to people. And he's a great example of just sharing knowledge just because he wants to help people. And it makes me want to buy whatever he's selling just because he's such a dynamic communicator.

Sid:

And he's a really good guy. So all right, Chris,

Learning Mindset And Legacy Episodes

Sid: 

let's come to you. Do you have a special moment memory episode you like to share?

Chris:

Uh, there's a couple, if I could. So episode 80 is the first one, and I think that's just you giving advice on digital marketing and in some form or some way. For me, that was it was big. There were other episodes. There's episode 106 that involves LinkedIn and the strategies there. So for and then it's product learning, and it's Kanoa in episode 135. And I recently learned that that gentleman passed on, but it was just new ways, new things, new ideas, new products, and taking it all in and just going back to my feeling that you can never quit learning or learn enough.

Sid: 

That's it right there. Never stop learning, never stop learning, never stop growing. And I appreciate that. I think the first thing you mentioned was the digital sales strategies. That was a two-part uh from a presentation I had done with Indeal way back. This is 200. That was so 120 episodes ago, right? Which is great. But yeah, let's uh Lance Amato, who was the founder of Kanoa, one of the founders of Kanoa, he was on the show. I had gotten to know Lance a couple of times and had him on the show talk about that really cool product. And I knew that he was battling pancreatic cancer, but it was really, really quick. And I remember being in New York and I was having breakfast with Matt Levine, who's an independent rep, Levine Furniture contract furniture group out of New York, and I said, Hey man, how's Lance doing? And it just hit me in the gut. He said, Sid Lance passed away last week, and I just like so that episode will never come down. That YouTube video will never come down because I want his children who are very young to be able to see their dad talking about something that he really loved. And so that will always stay up. I've I've reached out to his wife not successfully yet. I wanted to give her the raw video footage of that episode so that she could have it and their kids could see their dad anytime they wanted to, because it's just a special thing as a podcaster to be able to capture somebody in a video format, and especially when that person passes away. And now those kids can have that video for the rest of their life to get to know who their dad was in just a small bit of it from a 45-minute conversation with me, right? So pretty special. Yeah. All right, Sean.

Curiosity As A Career Advantage

Shawn: 7:35

Hey, first, thanks for the the podcast because I think the the whole why I listened to it, I forget exactly. I think it's been two or three years, but especially in my role now in a manufacturer and then in a regional role, it's just you interact with so many different different personalities and roles itself in so many markets. So just the amount of breadth and people you have on, like I've found this has been one of the most valuable called industry, obviously, podcasts, but just things in general that I find. So it's been huge, and favorite podcasts, favorite episodes, I should say. There's a there's a lot, and you know, all the ones that people have said of have rained truth as well. Adrian, I like just taking away from product, it kind of goes into you know a lot of the things we've already talked about as well. One that stands out though on the same related-ish topic is Doug Shapiro. I don't know him. We've connected briefly. It's kind of friendly competition. We're in the same lane, but I think that's part of that co-opetition. I'll use that word now. The I think you've had him on more than once and twice, two or three times. Twice, yeah. What I feel I get out of those episodes, or what I hear, is we're very aligned, albeit he's his he's much more skilled and experienced. But it always comes down to being curious and asking really good questions, which I really value. So I I love those episodes and I love where his mind's at, and and you guys vibe off each other really well. So I that would be my answer. That's great.

Sid: 

I love having Doug on the show, it's always fun. And he uh his reflections are really and his questions are great. He has some I think I asked good questions. Doug has some really good questions. So not that I'm gonna plug Love What You Do podcasts, but if you're looking to hear more of Doug, go listen to Love What You Do podcast with my friend, my good friend Doug Shapiro. So thank you for saying that. Okay, Leah.

Neurodiversity And Sharper Questions

Leah:

I was gonna say Adrian's all of his are really great, and I love going back to those even just later on. I loved Kelly Collins on neurodiversity. That was something that was just kind of it was eye-opening to see, you know, another person's perspective on that. And then there's been so many, you know, we've got a CEU at OFS about it, and just learning all the things about that has just been so helpful to me and you know how we do all those. But then I also love some of them that Rex Miller has done with you. He's another one of yours that's been on so many times.

Sid: 

And I love anything that he's on.

Leah: 10:05

Yeah, he's on multiple podcasts with other people, and I just I love all of his episodes. He's got so much insight, and he's he's another one of those that is very articulate with how he brings questions to the field, and it's very envious of how he does that.

Sid: 

Yeah, Rex is great. He's I think he holds the award as the most uh the most frequent guest on the show. He holds that award, so but it's always fun to have him on there because yeah, his his questions are and his answers are everything, it's and it's so insightful. But here's the thing Rex is 71 years old and he works like he's 40. I'm like, dude, you're just like so impressive. I was with him at the airport after Neocon Design Day Neocon, Chicago Design Week is what we're gonna call it, and easier for me. And uh I'm why we're in the Admiral's Club waiting on our flight, and I'm watching him work. Let's just say I felt inadequate. I was enjoying a glass of champagne and relaxing, and Rex is banging out this and doing this and switching to this. And I'm like, oh man, you're making me look bad, making me feel bad, take it easy. But Rex, I appreciate you and everything you do. So

Why Stories And Relationships Win

Sid: 

all right. Thank you all for saying that. I will say, again, it's hard for me to pick a favorite episode. There are favorite moments, I think, in almost every episode, but the ones that I love the most are the ones that tell a story. The ones that really tell a story about a person, about a product, about a business, about something somebody's trying to do, because I'm all about let's try things. If they don't work, let's pivot and try something else again, right? And so I love the stories that come out of it. And and the second thing that I really love about is the relationships I've been able to build with all the guests. It's just that's a bonus. That's something I didn't know would happen. And it just a bonus, and I really, really appreciate the ability to build relationships with the people that come and that that come onto the show. So because it is kind of a big ask. Hearing what the show has meant to each of them was incredibly special and a reminder that you never fully know how a conversation might connect with someone. And I really appreciate them sharing their insights and their ideas about the show. And honestly, I'll tell you, that was their idea to do that and to bring that into the conversation.

Rapid Fire Questions Begin

Sid: 

But we're gonna shift gears now and maybe have a little bit of fun. So at the end of the recording, I gave each of them the opportunity to ask me any question that they wanted. I had no idea what was coming. And uh, there was no question that was off limits. So let's see what they ask me. So I'm gonna give you one more opportunity for something, okay? We'll do this rapid fire, my southern accent coming out. Did you hear that? Rapid fire. Oh my gosh. Let's do this rapid fire. Ask me any question you want to ask me. This is not something that we talked about before. So ask me any question you want to ask me. Kristen, you know me pretty well. What's my coffee order? A uh grande latte with oat milk. Day in, day out. What is wrong with you people in the oat milk thing? I have every time I'm ordering coffee and I'm talking to this one particular friend on the phone, she's like, that is disgusting. And I said, You should try it. All right, Sean, ask me any question you want to

Change The Industry: Look Past Big Brands

Sid: 

ask me, man.

Shawn:

If there's one thing you would change about this industry right now, what would it be?

Sid: 

So I heard actually, funny enough, Doug Shapiro asked that question to uh someone the other day on his podcast. And I thought about this. That actually is a question also on the hot takes wheel that came up one of the first hot takes. Like there's one thing that you could would change. And I don't know that I have a really good answer for this yet, because I'm still kind of thinking about it, but I think the one thing that I would change is I'm gonna say the barriers that exist. Uh no, I'm not gonna say that. Here's what I'm gonna say. And I'm gonna be talking to people like Chris and actually people like Leah, uh, meaning independent reps and uh dealers. Take your blinders off and look beyond your align brand. There are so many amazing companies out there that make really beautiful product. And the thing that I would say that I would change is I would try to shift the belief that just because they're small means they're not worthy. A lot of people have that belief that, oh, well, they're just a small little company based in North Carolina. I'm not gonna sell. They can't do this and they can't do that. That's not true. So take your blinders off and look beyond your major brand. Major brands are important to our industry in a lot of different ways. But just take your blinders off and look beyond the major brands and look at all the amazing products and the amazing people that exist in our industry because there's some really cool stuff out there. So that's how I'd answer that. I don't. Leah?

Dream Interview: Shackleton On Leadership

Leah:

Who would be the one person, dead or alive, that you could interview that you would just absolutely love to interview?

Sid: 

That's a really, really great question. And my first natural response to that question is uh Ernest Shackleton. I've talked about Ernest Shackleton on the show before. He is a European explorer and tried multiple times and unsuccessfully to cross the uh Arctic Circle and finally lost his life on St. George's Island, which is somewhere near Antarctica. Boat crash, blah, blah, blah. But here's why I wanted what I would want to interview him. Um I feel like I'm learning and embracing learning every day, right? And I'm reading a lot, and I'm always trying to grow and improve my skills. And what I like about Shackleton is his leadership. And I think there's so much to learn from him. Dr. Nancy Cohen, who's a professor at Harvard University, wrote a book that includes Shackleton as like three leaders or from world leaders that you could learn a lot from that are all past. And um, every time Shackleton went on an expedition, three different times, he did this expedition to try to cross Antarctica. He lost people every time. Of course, the last time was tragic for all of them. But every time he said, I'm going back, who wants to go? Everybody that went with him before signed up to go with him again. That is a sign of an amazing leader, and there's a lot more to it. But I would absolutely 100% do uh Ernest Shacklet on. 100%.

Leah:

I had no idea who that was, so thank you for inviting me.

Sid: 

In London, there's an Ernest Shackleton store that sells clothing, outerwear clothing. It was really interesting. We passed by and I'm like, oh my gosh, I have to go into this store. There's pictures of him on the wall. But just put in Ernest Shackleton in YouTube. If we can find it, we'll put it in the links. Where uh this there's a video that tells a little bit about his life story. So that's really cool. Ye ah, really cool.

Leah:

Yeah.

Episode 300 And Uncurated Truth

Sid: 

All right, Chris.

Chris:

All right. Well, first congratulations on 200 episodes. That's amazing. Thank you. So your 300th episode, what would be a bold and forward-thinking topic andor person you're talking with in that episode?

Sid: 

Oh, this is

Leah:

and I think it's gonna be earnest. I don't think it's gonna be earnest.

Sid: 

No, it's not, but um when I was about to say if we make it to 300, when we make it to 300. I'll tell you who I would love to interview, and the reason I've never actually attempted to interview, I don't have a bucket list guest, right? Like somebody that's like a lot of people are like, I want to interview this celebrity and I want to interview that. But I would have, I would have loved to interview past tense, Andy Owen, the C the former CEO of Miller Knoll. And I would have loved to have asked her all these questions about their lack of consolidating those brands together, the lack of eliminating product lines, and why did you lose $51 million in a quarter? I mean, I would have liked to have really had that hard conversation with her. She's no longer in our industry, right? Here's the problem that I have with those really big personalities in our industry. It can't be what this is. This is just a conversation, and the show is built around just having a real conversation. And those level of people need all the questions before the show happens. Then their marketing people are gonna have to review the show. They're gonna say, You can't say this, you can't say this, you're gonna edit this out. So it becomes a curated interview, and that's not me. That's not the trend report, is not a curated interview. So I don't know that real answer to that question, but what I would say is I would love to, if you are, and I'm saying this to anybody listening, if you're pushing a rock uphill and you're doing something different that our industry really needs, I want to talk to you. I want to talk to you about what you're doing. I want to celebrate you. I want to learn more about what you're doing. I want to share it with our community because our industry needs innovation. Our industry needs disruption in a lot of different places, and that's going to come from the people that appear to be pushing a rock up a hill.

Thanks, Celebration, And Sign-Off

Outro: 

What a fun way to wrap up the celebration of 200 episodes. Chris, Leah, Sean, and Kristen, thank you for the questions, the laughter, and most importantly, for being such loyal supporters of me and the trend report. And to each and every one of you listening, thank you for being part of this journey. Episode 200 may be behind us, but there are still plenty of great conversations ahead. Thanks for being here today and listening into the Trend Report, your inside look at the people, products, and ideas shaping the future of workplace design. Go out there and make today great. And we will see you in the next episode. Take care, everyone.