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Welcome to The Trend Report, your inside look at the people, products, and ideas shaping the future of workplace design. This podcast takes you behind the scenes of the office furniture industry and the broader interior design community. Hosted by industry veteran Sid Meadows, each episode dives deep into the conversations, trends, and strategies shaping the future of our industry.
From insightful interviews with industry innovators, brand builders, design leaders, CEOs, and changemakers to real-world discussions on workplace trends, sales strategies, and furniture design, The Trend Report delivers the knowledge and inspiration you need to stay ahead. Whether it’s exploring how workplace design impacts the future of work, uncovering innovations in commercial furniture, or understanding the connection between real estate and design, this is your inside look at the ever-changing world of contract interiors.
If you’re an architect, interior designer, manufacturer, dealer, or simply passionate about the office furniture and design industry, this podcast is your trusted guide to what’s now and what’s next.
To learn more, please visit https://www.sidmeadows.com/podcast
176 Episodes
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Send a text Welcome back to the new Trend Report segment called Hot Takes. Join Sid along with Amanda Schneider as they challenge the idea that our industry sells products and argue for outcomes, ease, and risk reduction as the real value. Along the way they share leadership advice, unlearning in the age of AI, a dress code debate, and the books shaping our thinking. • process innovation over product features • leadership that reduces friction and stress • why customers buy ease, certainty, ...
Send a text Senior Interior Designer, Krystal Lucero, and Sid explore how to earn trust and build durable relationships between product sellers and the design community. From fast, accurate support to visible thought leadership and inclusive mentorship, the conversation maps a clear path to relevance for sellers and designers. • integrating work and life for sustainable energy • coaching lessons that sharpen patience and leadership • the power of mentors and long-game relationships • IIDA, r...
Send a text Sid explores why gratitude is a performance multiplier and how simple daily habits can raise trust, engagement, and results without adding more work. Learn four practical practices to balance high standards with real humanity and change how teams show up. He shares: • the research-backed link between gratitude, engagement, and burnout • why gratitude as a driver of psychological safety and performance • the myth that gratitude lowers standards • four practices: start your day, st...
Send a text Hunter Jensen of Barefoot Solutions, and Sid unpack why AI is moving so fast and the important basics leaders skip during implementation and use: data quality, governance, and a focused strategy that targets real ROI. Hunter shares practical use cases across support, HR, and sales, plus how to deploy secure, private LLMs with RAG for reliable answers from your own data. • Three Cs of data: clean, current, complete • Difference between generative AI and legacy machine learni...
Send a text Join Doug Shapiro and Sid as they tackle the biggest sales and showroom challenges in the contract interiors industry — from outdated cold calling and bid-driven selling to training that fails to stick. Learn how leading teams are shifting to targeted outreach, story-led sales training, and micro-learning tools that support today’s mobile, fast-moving workforce. They explore application-based showrooms that simulate real workplace environments, smarter approaches to RFPs and prici...
Send a text We kick off season seven with Bryce Stuckenschneider, CEO of Loftwall, to explore how privacy-first design, flexible architecture, and AI-forward practices can reshape the workplace while keeping people at the center. We also unveil DesignStage, a new on-demand CEU platform built to fix the broken continuing education system. • doubling down on privacy as a product, not just partitions • why speed, flexibility and human support win dealer loyalty • lessons from Orgate...
Send a text Welcome to Season 7 of The Trend Report. This opens with a clear plan and a sharper purpose: weekly episodes that blend deep interviews, fast Hot Takes, and 10‑minute professional wins. We invite listeners to help shape topics, join a new Insider Community, and lean into candid conversations that move workplace design forward. Head over to sidmeadows.com/podcast to learn more about SpeakPipe. Want to learn more about the Insider Community? Go to sidmeadows.com/community and...
Send a text We're doing things a bit differently today. In an effort to show you practical uses for AI, I've put all of the transcripts from Season 6 in and AI platform called Notebook LM. It then created what it calls "The Deep Dive", a podcast episode with AI voice actors who have a conversation wrapping up this season. I'm interested to know what you thought about the Notebook LM recording. Did you like it? Did you come up with any ideas while listening to the conversation that you could ...
Send a text We explore how design moves beyond aesthetics into systems, platforms, and policies, and how iF Design advances that mission through a global award, a new academy, and a rising sustainability standard. Lisa shares practical examples, from packaging tweaks to AI workflows, that turn intent into measurable impact. Lisa chats about: • Her values-led career path linking business and design • How living abroad shaped her curiosity and critical thinking • Design as problem-solving acro...
Send a text We sit down with Heartwork founder Karen John to explore how travel, Italian design culture, and a love of craft shaped a U.S. manufacturing brand that treats storage as a culture-building tool. We chat about: • curiosity, travel, and multidisciplinary Italian design • why Heartwork chose storage and makes it in the U.S. • color strategy with Laura Guido-Clark and moving past gray • quality, customization at scale, and installation simplicity • enterprise clients, culture through...
Send a text Adrian Leal returns to discuss practical steps for starting or improving your content strategy and focusing on authenticity and impact rather than perfection. Resources: Episode 163 - Content + Thought Leadership with Adrian Leal - https://www.sidmeadows.com/episode163 Jay Shetty Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/jayshetty/?hl=en LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/shettyjay/ TikTok - https://www.tiktok.com/@jayshetty?lang=en Vinh Giang Instagram - https://www.instagram.co...
Send a text Professional development is your responsibility, not your employer's. People who take ownership of their personal growth receive salary increases 2.5 times higher than those who don't actively invest in themselves. • Professional growth requires personal investment - no one is more invested in your career than you • Mastery is never "one and done" - continuous improvement requires ongoing learning and application • Beware of "overconsumption" where you take in too much informatio...
Send a text Public sector sales represent a third of the furniture industry's market at approximately $4-6 billion annually, offering recession-proof opportunities with transparent purchasing processes and accessible information for strategic selling approaches. • Federal government alone spends about $1.4-1.5 billion annually on furniture • Public sector provides stability during economic downturns and recessions • Government purchases involve public information that allows strategic prepar...
Send a text Join Sid as he and Adrian Leal explore how creating authentic content and establishing thought leadership can transform sales success in the office furniture industry. They discuss how content creation builds lasting professional relationships and personal credibility. • Building relationships matters more than product knowledge in our commoditized industry • Take the product away from the sale to focus on authentic human connections • How digital "social proof" influences ...
Send a text Kari Anderson, of the Techbox Creative, joins Sid to dive into the complex world of technology in the office furniture industry, exploring challenges, solutions, and future trends that impact every aspect of the business. • Technology should make our work easier, but disconnected systems in the industry force duplicated efforts • Over 3,000 manufacturers use different software that doesn't "talk" to each other throughout the design-to-install process • The "Data Collective" initi...
Send a text We are exploring the power of everyday innovation in business, looking at how small, thoughtful touches can transform customer experiences and create lasting value. Innovation creates new value by transforming ideas, methods, or products into impactful solutionsThe Magic Castle Hotel's "Popsicle Hotline" demonstrates how a simple idea can become a memorable signature experienceChick-fil-A's drive-thru innovations with tablets and dual lanes solved pandemic challenges while enhanci...
Send a text Walter Craven created Kabin during lockdown to solve his desperate need for personal space, transforming a cardboard prototype into a revolutionary office product that gives users control over their environment. Kabin is not an acoustic pod but an experience-focused space where users face outward in a throne-like positionThe unique faceted design serves acoustic purposes for both users inside and colleagues outsideWalter's journey from Boston to San Francisco to London was driven ...
Send a text Get ready for a different kind of episode. Rex Miller takes the mic and interviews Sid and three other industry veterans who have united to create The Collaborative Network. This is a game-changing initiative providing structured support programs for small furniture manufacturers. Listen as Rex asks the tough but relevant questions about how this group plans to address the unique challenges of over 3,400 small manufacturers who previously lacked dedicated resources for growth and ...
Send a text Natalie Hartkopf, CEO of Hightower, shares her journey in the furniture industry and how this family-founded business evolved from importing European designs to creating their own award-winning Hightower Studio products while becoming a certified B Corporation. • Natalie started with Hightower around 2003, beginning in Seattle before moving to New York • They shifted from purely importing European designs to manufacturing upholstered pieces in North Carolina • Won Best of NeoCon ...
Send a text Ever wondered how to tap into specialized vertical markets that offer substantial growth opportunities? Sara Marberry, a healthcare and senior living design knowledge expert, shares explore the untapped potential these sectors hold for furniture dealers and manufacturers. Listen as she shares her story as well as: Healthcare environments contain diverse spaces including clinical areas, administrative offices, and lobbiesTelehealth is creating demand for acoustically private pods a...
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