172 – Hunter Kaiser + Randy Fiser

(Click the picture for more info!) Hunter Kaiser + Randy Fiser Today in The Lounge, Nick interviews, Hunter Kaiser, owner of the interdisciplinary design firm, H K+C, followed by a chat with Randy Fisher, CEO of ASID. Learn about Hunter’s nonlinear journey to creating his own firm and his tips for growing and maintaining his business. Then stay tuned for updates on Randy and Nick’s collaboration at KBIS in January. The Early Years Hunter Kaiser enjoys a Saturday brunch, the local farmers market, and visits to the lake. As a child, he found himself often moving around. Then in high school, his parents built a home in New Hampshire and hired an interior designer. This was his first face to face exposure to interior design. Although he was interested in in the process, he wasn’t interested in pursuing design. Instead, he spent his first year in college taking science and math courses as a pre-med major. This all changed by his sophomore year when he transferred to Indiana University where he ultimately received his degree in Interior Design. After college Hunter worked at Grisworld, Heckle and Kelly, an architecture firm which has now been purchased by Nelson, and focused on corporate interiors in the financial sector. After working for GHK for 5 years, Hunter transitioned to a job in sales at Henrickson, an Allsteel dealer in Chicago, his hometown for the past 17 years. Upon leaving Henricken, Hunter spent an additional 5 years in furniture sales as an Architecture and Sales rep for Herman Miller. Then in 2011, with one client in the book, Hunter left Herman Miller to start his own company. Although his path was somewhat nonlinear, Hunter credits his experience in furniture sales as the key to get him to where he is today. His career journey ultimately taught him how to run a business. At Henricksen, Hunter had the opportunity to be an entrepreneur but with the support of the company to back him up. Alternatively, at Herman Miller he learned how to cultivate relationships and how to quickly read an audience. He still utilizes these skills in the day to day operations of running his business. Starting The Firm When Hunter left Herman Miller in 2011, he walked straight into a design meeting for his new business. With a lean staff of 2, his company works both nationally and globally with clients in Australia, Paris and across the United States. Their main focus is restaurants, retail and residential, using a holistic design approach, graphics, branding, and client experience. In the beginning, the firm started out doing wedding events and designing store windows for clients. Working on weddings enabled his company to focus on lifestyle and experience. Hunter had control of everything from the look and feel to the floral arrangements. As the company expanded into retail and restaurants, they continue to maintain this holistic approach, curating the customer experience and focusing on the details. (Click me!) Maintaining Growth Hunter attributes their continued growth to the layers of deep relationships they have built over the years. Reputation has been vital, as their design community is small. Not only is personal reputation important, but also the reputation of others within the design network. When a project is located in a city where the staff has never been, Hunter relies on his national network of designers to inquire about local contractors or installers, vendors and receiving warehouses for large deliveries. The strength of their reputation and consul provides him with trusted local contacts to successfully execute the project demands. He also credits speaking in front of people, networking, and social media to maintain a continual client base. Due to their continued growth and focus on a holistic design approach Hunter has rebranded his company from Hunter Kiser, LLC  to HK+C. In looking back at the last 5 yrs of business,