Voices 10

“Having purchased the company of my dreams, Heller in May 2022, I now serve as CEO and President to steer the future of these iconic furnishings brand to even greater heights. In April 2025, Heller developed the first regenerative plastic furniture leveraging Worry Free Plastics technology. Simultaneously, I sit on the Chilewich Board of Directors, (serving once again with my long- time friend and collaborator, John McPhee) as well as continue as the Executive Chairman of  Crypton Fabrics.

I served on the Board of Trustees for DIFFA, and currently serve on the Board of Design Leadership Network and am currently the President of Be Original Americas. Spending 14 years at Edelman Leather, including six as President & CEO, my leadership approach was defined by my family principles of authenticity and “doing well by doing good”. Along with John McPhee, we re-envisioned the company, and soon established my family’s namesake brand into a global trademark by expanding into four luxury lifestyle categories— Private Aviation, Hospitality, Corporate Interiors, and Residential Interior —before helping facilitate our sale to Knoll, Inc in 2007.

In 2010, I purchased Design Within Reach with McPhee, and revitalized the once-troubled retailer into the world leader in authentic modern design by eliminating knockoffs, repairing vendor relationships, re-training sales teams, adding Trade and Contract divisions, expanding Product Development, and opening new DWR Studios. In 2014, Herman Miller, Inc. purchased the renewed DWR and I stayed on as CEO of both DWR and Herman Miller Consumer Group before departing in 2019.

In May 2022, I was honored with an honorary doctorate from the New York School of Interior Design and in 2023, received the Larry Kravet Design Industry Leadership Award from the New York School of Interior Design.”