When asked about Influential Women in the Industry, I think anyone who has been in the commercial interiors industry for any length of time, especially if they have an interior design background, the answers are going to be Florence Knoll and Ray Eames. They were pioneers known for modernizing interior design for offices and workplaces that continues to influence the industry decades later.
Florence (1917-2019) was an American architect, interior designer, furniture designer, and entrepreneur who has been credited with revolutionizing office design and bringing modernist design to office interiors.
Ray Eames (1912-1988) was an American artist and designer who worked in a variety of media. In creative partnership with her husband, Charles Eames, and The Eames Office, she was responsible for groundbreaking contributions in the fields of architecture, graphic design, textile design, film, and furniture.
Women who are currently revolutionizing the office furnishings industry and how we work today are deserved industry icons such as Maxine Mann, President of Worldwide Markets for Teknion. Andi Owen, President and CEO of MillerKnoll. Sara Armbruster, President & CEO of Steelcase. My friend Kris Yates was President of Allsteel and, until just recently, Kristie Juster was CEO of Kimball. Kass Bradley retired from being President and CEO of Knoll a number of years ago but made such a lasting impression on me as one the most classy and influential women I have had the honor of knowing. Of course, when you consider some of the largest A&D firms, you will find many female executive leaders, and there are certainly many powerful women who are leading some of the largest dealerships in the country. For example, Susan Jackson-Lee, who was Senior Vice President of Sales, Marketing, and Business Development for Maryland Office Interiors (MOI) and is now Vice President of Diversity Partnerships, has been such an example to me for many, many years. She is simply an amazing human being in every way. A newer relationship that I’m a bit mesmerized by is Cheryl Durst, Executive Vice President and CEO of IIDA. If you have not had the pleasure of following Chery, I recommend that you google her videos and podcasts. This will be well worth your time, I can enthusiastically promise.
According to a recent article published in Forbes regarding women in leadership, they reported, “Women have a unique way of building and nurturing strong relationships. Female leaders tend to prioritize establishing caring connections, mentoring and developing others, and exhibiting genuine concern for the community. In today's business environment, these qualities are essential and can be seen as a superpower.” Our team is often confidentially asked to fill positions of leadership with women, as there is a generalization that they are better listeners, more organized, more detail-oriented, better multi-taskers, and better at building trusted long-term relationships. I do wish to go on the record of saying that many of the successful leaders who have many of these qualities are men. What common characteristics do these remarkable and influential women share? Although they are each highly unique, what they have in common is having achieved outstanding accomplishments. There are some common traits that they all possess.
- Exceptional communicators, innovators, and visionary leaders
- Ability to influence and motivate others
- Strengthen and inspire each other and united in purpose
- Focus on authentic relationship building
- Demonstrated resilience and perseverance, which I like to refer to as “grit”
- Impeccable Integrity, reputation and accountability
- Exhibits a high level of emotional intelligence and self-awareness
- Possess humility, empathy, authenticity & adaptability
- Acts decisively and intentionally
- Garners Credibility
- Constant and Consistent
- Strong advocates and examples for diversity and inclusion
It is reported that today, women make up approximately 46.6% of the American workforce. Even though the workforce is nearly evenly split between genders, women are dramatically underrepresented in senior leadership positions. “Only one in four C-suite leaders is a woman, and only one in 20 is a woman of color”. I would venture to say that the statistics in the commercial office furniture and interiors industry would report a higher percentage of women in the industry.
So, watch out men, we are here to stay!
