Josh Wiener grew up dreaming of becoming a famous actor – little did he know that one day he would work with Julia Roberts in a new apartment. After his early years on the Upper West Side, Wiener ended up at Vassar studying psychology and acting. To help pay for college, he worked as a painter and plasterer, enlisting the help of friends and classmates. After graduation, he still saw acting in his future until his therapist encouraged him to take the plunge into hiring. “What is construction? It’s a kind of dark cloud, kind of rainy and then clears. And, oh, it’s done – it’s a beautiful day,” he told host Dennis Scully on the latest episode of The Home Podcast Business. “Construction is like that. It’s a whirlwind, it rains and then the flowers appear. So I called it SilverLining.”
This therapist ended up being an integral part of the firm’s beginnings. “He helped me in all the initial steps, such as [learning to] hire someone, make estimates and ‘put down the brush’. And I thought, ‘I can’t drop the brush – how am I going to make money if I drop the brush or the hammer?’ And he said, ‘Well, try it. Go out and try to sell. It was difficult to go from putting down the brush to managing the entire company,” he says.
But that’s exactly what he did. He hired an employee, then got out the Yellow Pages and started calling architects in alphabetical order, asking if they needed a carpenter or painter. Taking it up a notch, he hired the voice actor from the Mercedes-Benz ads to make cold calls. They paid off, and Wiener began landing job after job—37 years later, he’s grown his team to 250 people, with offices in Los Angeles and New York and clients ranging from Kate Winslet to a list of hedge fund billionaires.
A lot has changed in these decades. One thing he’s not worried about: AI stealing his job. “Designers will never be unemployed, because someone has to tell them what they want,” he says. “If you can’t articulate what you want, which most customers can’t, AI will never replace your job.” He found that the industry revolves around human connections between clients, designers and contractors, and while computers can help inform this process, they cannot take control. “You can’t relate to a computer, right? Unless you’re a psychopath,” he adds.
Elsewhere in the episode, Wiener discusses the rise of NDAs, the importance of being open and honest about deadlines, why construction costs keep rising, and what separates a great designer from a good designer.
Crucial insight: Wiener emphasizes the value of finding great artisan collaborators – both from an aesthetic and economic standpoint. “If you find a great mirror guy, you will sell more mirrors than ever before. If you find a great leather installer, you will end up selling more leather installations. It’s because their craftsmanship inspires you to sell them.”
Key quote: “[Contracting] It’s very difficult to sell. When you sell a $50 million construction project, remember that it is probably one of the most expensive things that person has ever done. [And] you are not testing a Rolls-Royce; you’re not saying, ‘Put the pedal down and see how it goes around the corners.’ You’re saying, ‘Trust me: next year is going to go great.’ It’s the hardest thing to sell total trust. I’m selling them something totally ethereal. I will make this dream come true.”
This episode is sponsored by Four Hands. Listen to the program below. If you like what you hear, subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.
BOH executive editor Fred Nicolaus and host Dennis Scully discuss the biggest news in the design industry, including the fate of Banana Republic’s private label, picks from the Kips Bay Decorator Show House and what Instagram’s newest update could mean for designers . Later, artist and designer Justina Blakeney of Jungalow discusses a new phase in her career.
This episode is sponsored by Loloi and Annie Selke. Listen to the program below. If you like what you hear, subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.
