SIXINCH: Unique, Tubular, and Iconic

Life is an experience. If you approach any situation at surface level, you are missing out on the bigger picture. Every day you go through multiple experiences without even thinking. You might say, “these people are rude, I’m never going back” or “wow this place smells amazing” – every second of life is an experience. Understanding that idology, you must market your brand as an experience. Sure, a Law Office isn’t the same as an Arcade, but the core approach doesn’t change. A law office should offer comfortable chairs, beverages and possibly play calming music because more times than not, the topics discussed are not pleasant. Whereas an arcade is bright, full of excitement and challenging people every second. Understanding the core experience your customer is after and then helping them achieve it is key. We thrive on the psychology of a built environment, and we’re bolstering our portfolio to match the needs of the consumer.

Try to not be so serious. Sure, you have to know your numbers, but outside of that, you have to remember that we are all humans, living on this planet, doing what we do. We all have things we enjoy, we all have friends and families, we all want a solid balance and to feel some kind of satisfaction with our daily routine. I’d say the biggest thing is to find that work/life balance. From a leader standpoint, it’s allowing your employees to find theirs and remembering that their balance might not look like yours – and that is ok. It took COVID for me to truly understand that, but it’s something I totally respect now and going forward.

I believe the industry is still heavily controlled by giants and thus, smaller, up and coming brands get handcuffed. With that said, designers are finding ways to integrate smaller brands into specs, but the issue these smaller brands have is time. The time it takes to sell enough products to cover all of your overhead while continuing to grow and add new products to the portfolio is challenging. The Golliaths get 90% of the spec, so the remaining 10% is left for the other brands to battle for specification. Industry growth and evolution will come from the ability for smaller brands to “sell enough product” to begin to help mold the industry for years to come.

It’s wonderful and one of our biggest differentiators in the industry. We pride ourselves on our ability to work with specifiers and create a solution that fits their vision. We work with multiple materials and have a 200,000 sq.ft. upholstery facility to help achieve their goals. Whether it’s COM materials on a concave lounge chair, solid surface tops, custom upholstered cushions for a reading nook or waterproof outdoor FlexPlus™ products, our sales and customer service team are rock stars when it comes to assisting our customers – It’s who we are and built into the culture at SIXINCH USA.

Stop overthinking. Stop considering what “others might want” and do what makes the most sense for the brand. We’ve had to push and ask for forgiveness at times, but sometimes that’s the only option if you put your brand first and other people’s opinions second. Know what your brand stands for, who your brand needs to be, and don’t beat around the bush. You lose spirit when your brand isn’t the brand it’s meant to be.

Ha! Well depending on the application I have different favorites, but overall, I’d say my favorite product in our portfolio is Sole. Alongside Populous, we created a chair based on a sneaker. I love shoes so this was a really fun project and the end product turned out amazing!

Hire the right people. The brand you experience is the SIXINCH team’s collective vision. We work hard on planning and executing, but the overall brand essence comes from the team knowing who we are and what we want to be. We all bring a little something different to the table, but our ability to take all of those ideas and formulate our approach is what makes us great.

Due to COVID, a lot of people haven’t had the opportunity to see our revamped portfolio. I’d advise them to check out our collection of cafe seatings, plus, the three products we created with Populous – Sole, Tubular and Elements. Two mid-scale lounge options and an amazing modular system inspired by the periodic table!