WEBVTT
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We do workspace design, free installation like. It was amazing
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if you hear it, cert like that was our TV
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campaign and in a forty eight hour period, everybody's working
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remote and the world's coming to an end. And thank
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god we were based here in Texas so that we
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were able to continue to operate and keep our doors
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open and we're able to ship. So in a forty
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eight hour period, we pivoted our ads from hey, where
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your office of the future partner to where your work
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from Home partner. We recut all the ads and everybody's
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like standing at their desk at home in the TV commercials,
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and we did our first ever discount on the website,
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and so that became the thing that saved the business.
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Welcome to Gone to Texas, the official podcast of the
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Texas Economic Development Connection. On every episode, we shared the
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stories of business owners and CEOs we have relocated or
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expanded their business into Texas. Our goal is to use
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these stories as a guide to help others who are
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ready to hang a sign on the door that says
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gone to Texas and now please welcome your host. The
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managing partner and Chief inspiration Officer for Day One Experts,
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Super Dave Quinn.
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Welcome back to Gone to Texas podcast, Power to Day
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one Experts, where we share real stories of business growth, relocation,
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and entrepreneurship here in the lone star stay, I'm your host,
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Super Dave Quinn.
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In today's episode is sponsored by our friends at the
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Fairview Economic Development Corporation. The team focused on helping growing
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companies find the space, support, and partnerships they need to
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succeed right here in the Metroplex. It's where community meets opportunity.
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Our guest today is Jason McCann, co founder and CEO
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of Variant, a global work space innovation company headquartered right
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here in North Texas, serving organizations across ninety eight percent
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of the Fortune five hundred. But this isn't a story
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about office furniture. It's a story about how one entrepreneur
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saw the way people were working and decided it didn't
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have to stay that way, all right, Jason, Welcome to
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the show.
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Hey, so glad to be here, Super Day.
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I can't tell you how excited I'm trying not to
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fend way out on being having this interview. There's somebody,
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I mean, I love to travel the state and talk
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to people. I've followed your journey for a while now.
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I guess I played golf with Adam your sales go
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a long time ago before COVID and kind of got
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to know very through that and then have just watched
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what you do. And I love your reader avid reader,
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and I see that a lot. I'm also an avid reader,
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so I appreciate you pushing that out there. So I'm
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super excited to be Here's what I'm trying to say
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and trying to get through this interview and not totally
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like geek out on.
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So glad you're here today. It's a beautiful day. You're
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in Texas, so we love it. Yeah, and your space.
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One of the things we talked about is Pam let
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me up here, was how welcome it was from the
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second you walk in, and that's obviously done by a
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design and it was a nice.
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Feeling walking in here. So yeah, we take all those
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little hospitality of amenity details, you know from my background
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in the nightclub industry and going to school in Houston.
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But you put music outside, you put music in the
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lobby and music in the restrooms. But that creates energy
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and then you get the people part right, and then
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you get the design right, But all those elements just
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build and that creates the energy of space along with
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the people and it works. Well, that's we'll talk a
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little bit about that, because we're not just talking about
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furniture and get into that.
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So for folks who don't know or may not know
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the name Arry, I can't imagine they wouldn't. But what
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let's start at the beginning sort of how do we
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get here today? What's that little journey?
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Like a very yeah. I was president of another company
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based here in the Capel area called Jemmy. So we
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make those inflatables that you see on people's yards for
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Halloween and Christmas. And for those that saw the jeep
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commercial at the Super Bowl, it's that singing fish, big
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mouth billy bass fish. So I had the pleasure of
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being president there and my business partner's chairman of both companies,
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and he was having back pain right and standing at
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a cardboard box. And I'd walk into his office and
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Dan's about ten years older than me and healthier than me,
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but older, and he said, oh, I'm just having back pain.
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And my doctor told me to stand up more and
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I'd feel better. And so he was standing up more
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and that turned into an idea and a discussion, he said,
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I need to buy a standing desk, and Rosemary, our assistant,
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was trying to find one and couldn't. And so all
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of a sudden, Dan's pretty good at product ideas, and
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he's like, hey, I got an idea for a product.
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So he grabbed our industrial designer and sat around his
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desk and then we stood up and he's like, I've
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got an idea, but could slide out of the box
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and go on top of my desk. We could have
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an item here, And so we built the prototype and
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started really building a business here right here in Dallas,
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right yeah, And so it was fun just to you know,
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connect the dots and say okay. So as the joke was,
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we were flying around trying it. We're getting our prototype made,
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and Dan and I were passing a Wall Street journal
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back and forth, and doctor Levi from the Mail Clinic
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it said sitting is the new smoking, and we're like,
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it's a sign from God. We're onto something really big.
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Here gets good signs. And we got the prototype in
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and we tested it well. Dan felt better standing and
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I liked it, and then we showed it to our
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employees inside the building and they liked it. And there's
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something about everybody liking it around you, especially your employees.
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So we said, we got to show it outside these
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four walls and show it to a real company. And
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because we're right here in the heart of DFW, it
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was a great opportunity for us to go around and
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literally I'd put the prototype in my tahoe and drive
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and meet other executives. And we happened to know somebody
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that got us in the door at Verizon and they're
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a huge call center there, and we drove in Pedro
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the president was kind enough to meet with us, and
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we walked in have our Wall Street Journal and sitting
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is a new smoking and showed the standing desk and
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because I have no idea what the hell you guys
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are talking about, like sitting is a new smoking standing,
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But let me get my ergonomists and my head of
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people into the meeting this yeah, And I was like,
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I don't even know what agonomist is the time, but
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that's the carpal tunnel person and the back pain person,
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and you know, it tells you how to sit right
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at your desk and sand and the number one reason
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people missed work at BRISE and was actually back pain.
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And those dots started to connect and they asked the
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magical words of how much are they? And that sort
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of got us into the world of VERI desk at
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the time and started our journey into health and wellness
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in the workspace.
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Let's talk a little bit of that, because it is
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not just a desk. A lot of people like, I'm
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an old school I remember very desk and kind of shit,
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but you're so much beyond that. Now, talk a little
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bit about the what it is exactly. It's a workplace environment.
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It's a holistic thing that you all bring into the market. Yeah,
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you know, you sit here and you listen to your
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fan base and they start to guide you along the journey.
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And we happen to be very blessed back then and
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became the fastest growing company in DFW and we're selling
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lots and lots of veradesks out there. And what people
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start to do is by listening to it, Oh, do
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you have an anti fatigue met do you have monitor
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arms that attached? Do you have a full desk that
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can do it? And at the time you're like, not yet,
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right those words of the every entrepreneur starts to say,
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and so we started to create these products. I didn't
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know anything about the anti fatigue mat industry. But the
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same company Jemmy makes the pumpkins that you buy to
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Michael's craft store, those are the same factories that make
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the soles of running shoes. That's how anti fatigue mats
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are made. So we started designing our own mats. We
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started thinking about monitor arms and how could you attach
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them to the desk from the top versus crawling on
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your knees. There's terrible experience. And then we did what
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Steve Jobs did to the MP three player by it
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when he created the iPod. We took other people's electric
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desks and realized they took forty five minutes to an
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hour or two hours to assemble. It's like going to Ikea.
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It's like the worst Saturday of your life trying to
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build that furniture. And we said, could we build an
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electric desk that you and I could build in five minutes?
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And we got patents on that and we reimagined the
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electric desk. So suddenly, by monetizing these pain points that
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we identified in the marketplace, created an incredible business. And
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as our journey grew and our product line expanded into
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really thinking about workspaces that elevate people and cultures. What
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we recognize is the brand vera desk was limiting, right,
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and so we worked with a company called Landor and
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they helped take Federal Express for those of you that
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remember that, to FedEx, and they went through a process
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with us and said, if you think about it, your
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brand is much bigger. And when we tested that word very,
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it could mean flexibility, change, could be a tech firm.
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It gave us permission and runway for the brand to
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grow even bigger. And that's we decided to go for
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it and drop the word desk and become very. So
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that's that's kind of how the dots dot.
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That's kind of very.
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I mean you very desk. You put a lot of
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money in investment in that name and that brand. I mean,
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I know it seems like, oh, you just dropped the desk,
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but that can be like it's not that easier. Right now,
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we had driven over a billion dollars in sales in
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our business, and I had over one hundred and fifty
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families employees, but really families, as I think about it,
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that were counting on us to make those right decisions,
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and we hadn't taken outside money. This is all us
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self funding, bootstrap the whole thing, reinvesting into the business.
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And this is all during twenty eighteen twenty nineteen in
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the build up, and what we recognized is that office
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furniture is sold through a dealer model, and we said,
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we're more like Tesla. We selled direct to all these businesses,
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and we now had over four million users of our
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products all over the globe, and we said, let's go
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for it, like, could we build a brand that could
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live beyond my lifetime?
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Are we ready? And so we went for it and
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invested tens of millions of dollars TV campaigns. We're going
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to be on Bloomberg and CNBC and Fox and CNN
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and all of it, and say we're going to go
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for it in a big way. And we went for it,
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and we went all in. I opened up showrooms all
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across the country, hired over one hundred people, and we
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went for it. And this is all up until January
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of twenty twenty and so we literally leaned into it,
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went for it, and COVID hit and God had another
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plan and it was like the biggest test again for
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our business to go through, and I kind of took
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like a beautiful sailboat and selled it right into a
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hurricane and it was very, very challenging to navigate that.
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I can't So on one hand, was it I mean,
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all of a sudden people are having to work from
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home and needing that at home.
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But at the same.
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Your people can't do what you do because they're at home.
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T Yeah, And we're in the workspace business and where
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our TV ads are saying, hey, we can design an
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office and deliver it to you in less than two weeks.
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We're in stock we do workspace design, free installation like
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it was amazing if you hear it like that was
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our TV campaign And in a forty eight hour period,
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everybody's working remote and the world's coming to an end.
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And thank god we were based here in Texas so
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that we were able to continue to operate and keep
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our doors open and we're able to ship. So in
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a forty eight hour period, we pivoted our ads from hey,
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wh're your office of the future partner to where your
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work from home partner. We recut all the ads and
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everybody's like standing at their desk at home in the
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in the TV commercials, and we did our first ever
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discount on the website, and so that became the thing
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that saved the business is our e commerce and web
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orders shot up because everybody was at home and now
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they're working home on they crunched over on the kitchen
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table or whatever and they realized, oh, I need something.
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So that became a catalyst that allowed us to survive
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and navigate. You know, while we were ultimately able to thrive,
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the other thing we did was because we were here,
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we were able to reopen our offices. Our furniture was
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designed to move. We always thought of workspaces that kind
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of EBB and flow like businesses, and your workspace should
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be like a canvas, and so it should change over time.
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And so we reached out to our teams in Asia
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who were about twelve weeks ahead of us on the
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COVID curve and said, what are y'all doing? And they
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said two meters distance banks, designs, face mass thermal scanners,
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and literally we changed our offices. Shared those stories, and
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that's how we helped other businesses, primarily in Texas and
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then across the globe reopen with our workspace products.
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That's one of the things I love about your products,
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your you know, I don't know if you call them cubicles,
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but it is all meant to be very versatile. It's
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not the same old This is the you design it once,
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and that's the way it is forever. Your space seems
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to always be sort of easy to morph and change
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and adapt.
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Yeah. I always grew up building and operating and running
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small and medium businesses, you know, And so you always
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think about a business never has this perfect you know,
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ten percent compounded annual growth rate keger is what they
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call it, you know, oh my goodness, year over year,
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where like it is literally highs and lows, and the
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highs are amazing and the lows are like, oh my god,
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are we ever going to make it? Yeah? And so
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you have these moments of this is this ebbs and flows?
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Well that's how workspace is it kind of ebbs and
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flows and the space changes. And so could we have
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walls that move and the marker boards are on casters?
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Could we have power that drops down from the ceiling.
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If we hire ten people, where would they sit? And
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then I just always put myself in the customer's shoes
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and say, well, if I'm running a company. I'm recruiting
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and retaining talent. I want a cool space. I want
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it affordable, I want it easy. I also want to
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flex and then if my team members need to work
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from home, I need the same stuff that they have there.
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So they take their laptop home and they've got the
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monitors set up for the days at they're home. So
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I kind of look at it like we're just solving
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a pain point out there that we see. But yeah,
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the whole thing is designed. We think the future of
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work is all on flexibility and change.
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Let's take a step back.
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We talked.
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You said something I thought was pretty important. What we're
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obviously designed to do here on the Goune to Texas
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show is talk about being in Texas and what that's
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allowed you to do. Talk a little bit about that
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here at the Metroplex. How important is it to be
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in in this type of environment when you're a growing company. Yeah,
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you think about the access to capital of it for
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those companies that are out there trying to raise money.
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You know, Texas is a great place and tim bankers right,
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and they're all coming here. You can feel it in
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from a from a real estate perspective, there's plenty of
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very affordable office space or meeting space or co working space,
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depending on what phase of the business that it's in.
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The other thing, you think about the networks that you
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can be involved in every single vertical but a very entrepreneurial,
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you know, bootstrap type mindset and that culture of innovation
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and get it done. That GSD get stuff done mindset
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of Texans is great. So for me as I think
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about it, we were able to take an idea and
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we had to call it a side hustle. You know, Dan,
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I run another company, but we're just like, let's just
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see does this thing have legs? Literally figuratively like what
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is this thing? And to show it to other great
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companies like the Container Store was one of our first customers.
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Great place to work, cool, they make cool product, like
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to literally be able to walk in, talk to them,
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show them our product, show them o get feedback. But
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that's how we did it, one business at a time.
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But it all started right here inside of DFW. Then
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what we realized is we were doing ads back in
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the day and twenty three in Skymall magazine on American airlines,
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on you know, Southwest Airlines. Because there again these are
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the top airports in the country, all these business travelers.
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So suddenly we were getting voicemails from Australia. I might
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look at her a Barry Dusk and I had never
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even been to Australia the time.
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Yeah, what's going on? But you don't realize the global
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influence that you have being here in DFW, and so
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that got us. We connected with our lawyers here in
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town and then they were like, hey, we can set
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up an entity there. We worked with online to find
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third party logistics partners that had a global presence, and
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suddenly we were shipping goods to Australia. We turned on
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the Google ads and then our employees. One of them
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volunteered at night to take phone calls from Australia, and
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the joke was she would say, yeah, how do y'all
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what's going like? It was almost kind of funny. Yeah,
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they were like, yeah, we're talking to Texans. It was
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just this crazy moment at first, but it worked, and
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all of a sudden we were doing millions and millions
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of dollars in Australia and I got invited to speak
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at Parliament and some other stuff down there. But you
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don't realize It starts with one fan at a time,
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and there's millions of people here, but great businesses. They
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want to support you and get you. Allows you to
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test learn and then you can go global, you can
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go countrywide, statewide, whatever. But it doesn't have to just
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be all local. But you can incubate here. It's incredible, so.
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Each you know, that's one of the hardest things I have.
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My hardest thing in my job is convincing people who
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are not from here.
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That that exists. They're just that they're at the city level.
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There's people that want to, you know, economic veompers that
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want to help you exceed, but even just people like
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when you come and they're seeing your work and you're
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trying to build something, it's like they want to help
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you succeed too, and but they they're not used to
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that type of environment where it's a much more you know,
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I don't know, cutthroat environment or something, or they're having
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to do it on their own. It's that community that
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they feel once they arrive that they have a hard
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time believing at first, but then once they're here, they're like,
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now we get it.
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Yeah, we we own we own two office buildings here
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in toil. We used to have three. We just sold
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one because Caterpillar moved their headquarters here to town and
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bought one of our buildings. But we and we basically
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have great companies and a lot of them are from
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out of state that are looking to lease. And what
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they're talking about is we want to recruit great talent.
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So they're building teams. They want to find customers that
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they can test new products with. They love the affordable
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housing and they're talking about, Hey, our team members are
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coming from these other state and they're like, oh my god,
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this is The schools are fantastic and the universities are
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great because not you know, my kids are all in
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that in the university age, but whether it's elementary schools,
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middle schools, high schools, colleges, like all of it is.
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You've got so much access to talent here for families
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and all those things. So I think it checks a
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lot of boxes when they're talking about building the companies
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and cultures of their dreams.
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Hotti Friends. This episode of Gone to Texas podcast is
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00:17:44.920 --> 00:17:48.000
brought to you by the Fairview Economic Development Corporation. We're
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00:17:48.039 --> 00:17:51.480
business owners find more than just a location, They find
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a community tucked into the heart of Collin County. Fairview
386
00:17:55.039 --> 00:17:57.839
is the North Texas community offering small and mid sized
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00:17:57.920 --> 00:18:01.279
businesses the space to grow, access to thrive, and the
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00:18:01.400 --> 00:18:06.319
quality of life to keep your team inspired. Whether you're expanding, relocating,
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00:18:06.400 --> 00:18:09.559
or starting fresh, Fairview has what you need. Shovel ready, site,
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00:18:09.640 --> 00:18:12.519
smart incentives, and a forward thinking town that still feels
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00:18:12.559 --> 00:18:15.640
like home. Want to hear more from the folks already
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00:18:15.640 --> 00:18:18.960
making it work here. Tune into getting neighborly our local
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podcasts celebrating the people, places, and purpose driven businesses that
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make Fairview special. Because here in Fairview, Texas, you're not
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00:18:26.480 --> 00:18:29.799
just a business, You're a neighbor. Learn more at Fairview
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00:18:29.839 --> 00:18:35.519
Texas adc dot com Fairview Texas where community meets opportunity. Yeah,
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I think that's the people that we're talking to, that
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small and medium sized entrepreneur. You know, it's not just
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a business decision to them, right, They're leaving their home
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and oftentimes their spouse's home, which is even harder, and
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they're picking up and moving their lives and it's you know,
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sometimes I think we get trapped in the thought of
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it's just a business problem. Now, man, it's a family,
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it's a it's a human problem.
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And I think.
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That's something that is the challenge of us to remember
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is that you know, people are looking for a human experience,
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not just where can I grow a business for business sake,
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but because they have family associated with that. And I
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love what you talked about your employees. It's not your
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head count, it's it's families, the number of families, because
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it's not just one person, right, it's that person and
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everybody that depends on that person. I love that about that. Yeah, well,
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you get so excited. I think when you see you
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hear about them investing in a five twenty nine, or
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you know, you see them buy their first home or
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have their first kids, and you're a piece of that
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with these team members that you're the talent that you
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get to work with every day. And I think that's
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a very as a CEO, that's very rewarding. But you're right,
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it's a family decision, you know, And so I think
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when people get in here and they feel it and
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if it feels right, then this is a great fertile
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area to grow. That's what I also love about Texas
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is there's a place for everyone here. If you don't
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like this particular area that's okay, move thirty minutes and
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it will be something that you do.
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Right.
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So what are some of the biggest challenges I'm you know,
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when you talk about scelling a business and operating globally,
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what were some of those biggest challenges that you had
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early on that a person coming into Texas. You know
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you still have to do business stuff. It's a great environment,
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but what are some of the challenges you had to
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work on when you were growing very well?
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You think about it initially, it's your brand. You know,
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what are you promoting out there? And so to figure
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out whether through the local chambers you know that you
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can get business connected with because they suddenly can introduce
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you to so many doors. These econo, these cities are
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out there and have resources and tools to get your
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brand awareness up, because I think that's what we're all
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trying to do. We're trying to fight for that brand
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awareness piece of and attention. The online search engines also
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provide some of that, but that sort of in person
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thing is very well received here and all the events
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that people can network pro business that they're going out
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and promote. So I think for us, we're just one
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We're just trying to get awareness too as you start
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to work with cities to scale your business. So you know,
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for us, it was office space and I'm oh my god,
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we're we're going to lease and all that. The good
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news is there is plenty of it. It's just figuring
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out what's the right market for you to be And
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I think for all of us, we start doing those
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heat maps, and the beauty of this state is everythings
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or the city areas got all these easy access points.
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So recruiting talent is key that we're all in that
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sort of recruiting talent piece. And so I think just
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finding those areas at work for the talent pool that
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you're getting, we've got. You know, the fintech world is
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looking at certain zones of DFW, the scale ais of
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the world that are doing AI and that are looking
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at certain markets. You've got call centers in back office,
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but all the team members and the people are here,
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the technicians, the skilled Texians like, all of it is
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all over the metroplex and so it's just figure out
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where do you put your headquarters and do those things.
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And the beauty of whether it's coworking operators like there's
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plenty of options while you incubate your business and figure
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things out, and then you can start to put those
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roots down accelerate your growth.
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I know that's I just recently talked to a manufacturer
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and that was they're moving in and they were looking
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for a certain set of talent right like, and and
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you know, it was obvious that the talent they needed
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really they were talking about Dallas at first. But based
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on their talent, I was like, Ah, these it seems
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like those folks were Fort Worth folks. And it's kind
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of funny. If you're from the Metroprooks, you kind of
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know the difference there, but coming from outside, they wouldn't
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00:22:25.559 --> 00:22:27.720
have known that had they not connected or or talked
483
00:22:27.759 --> 00:22:30.359
to the local economic developers and and sort of understood that.
484
00:22:30.480 --> 00:22:33.400
So you've got so many great communities too out there,
485
00:22:33.400 --> 00:22:36.559
and they're they're whether they're building data centers or they're
486
00:22:36.759 --> 00:22:39.440
because that's a huge thing. You've got factories and production
487
00:22:39.599 --> 00:22:43.160
now building production. You've got all these different facets of
488
00:22:43.200 --> 00:22:46.880
the economy that are all growing in office and so
489
00:22:46.920 --> 00:22:49.960
there's areas all throughout, you know, and you've got prosper
490
00:22:50.079 --> 00:22:52.599
and fair of you all these great cities all throughout
491
00:22:52.640 --> 00:22:55.839
in South and Red Oak and like everywhere that's got
492
00:22:56.359 --> 00:22:59.960
opportunities for great businesses to grow, and they're all invest
493
00:23:00.039 --> 00:23:01.839
sting a lot in growing those communities.
494
00:23:01.920 --> 00:23:03.920
That's what I also try to remind folks is that
495
00:23:03.960 --> 00:23:07.680
we have a lot of communities pouring money back into
496
00:23:09.000 --> 00:23:11.720
that infrastructure of helping a business group right there, They've
497
00:23:11.720 --> 00:23:16.920
got dedicated funds. What they're trying to do is solve
498
00:23:16.960 --> 00:23:19.720
a business problem. So once they know what your challenge is,
499
00:23:20.160 --> 00:23:22.039
then they go about trying to figure that out and
500
00:23:22.440 --> 00:23:25.680
it changes for every community. Every community has a different
501
00:23:26.039 --> 00:23:29.440
sort of golblem they're good at solving and so that
502
00:23:29.599 --> 00:23:31.680
is something that I think the Metroplex offers is that
503
00:23:31.720 --> 00:23:37.079
sort of variety of economy development resources. So for communities working,
504
00:23:37.440 --> 00:23:39.599
let's talk a little bit about communities that are doing that,
505
00:23:40.039 --> 00:23:42.480
Like fair of you, they're working to attract retain companies
506
00:23:43.960 --> 00:23:49.000
in the professional services, technology, you know, corporate sectors. What
507
00:23:49.039 --> 00:23:52.839
should they understand about growing companies and what they actually need?
508
00:23:52.880 --> 00:23:55.640
What what would a city need to know to really
509
00:23:55.680 --> 00:23:57.480
help you in that early stage if they have known
510
00:23:57.599 --> 00:23:59.599
or how could they have better helped you.
511
00:23:59.720 --> 00:24:02.640
I think we're all on this path the growth and revenue, right,51200:24:02.680 --> 00:24:04.480
so if we can if we can find ways to51300:24:04.559 --> 00:24:06.720
grow or like okay, so we're looking for sort of51400:24:06.799 --> 00:24:09.559
market support there and just any type of awareness for51500:24:09.640 --> 00:24:12.119
our brands and the services that we're bringing to market.51600:24:12.720 --> 00:24:15.400
On the talent side, it's like, hey, does this market51700:24:15.440 --> 00:24:18.400
have access to talent? Because the data is out there,51800:24:18.440 --> 00:24:20.839
people typically don't want to commute more than twenty five51900:24:20.880 --> 00:24:24.119
minutes to work, and so that sort of zone and52000:24:24.160 --> 00:24:26.480
that heat map as cities are thinking about, Hey, this52100:24:26.519 --> 00:24:29.359
is the people that are here, what's the education base,52200:24:29.440 --> 00:24:31.640
what's the goals of this particular community, what are those52300:24:31.640 --> 00:24:34.839
things you're saying that particular market knows the types of52400:24:35.279 --> 00:24:38.480
talent that's in that market. These are the right businesses that,52500:24:38.519 --> 00:24:41.440
if they're attracted to and can be planted in this market,52600:24:41.559 --> 00:24:44.519
will be very, very successful. I think each city is52700:24:44.519 --> 00:24:47.160
trying to go through that process right now, all across Texas,52800:24:47.200 --> 00:24:51.160
and because they're all trying to recruit and retain great families,52900:24:51.200 --> 00:24:54.720
great entrepreneurs, great capital partners that are all coming in.53000:24:55.079 --> 00:24:57.119
All of it is right here in this area. It's53100:24:57.160 --> 00:25:00.160
just figuring out which one is right for your business.53200:25:01.480 --> 00:25:05.200
So let's talk a little bit about the workspace as53300:25:05.200 --> 00:25:07.720
we look into the future of what is something very53400:25:07.759 --> 00:25:11.160
sort of working on. What as you imagine the work53500:25:11.279 --> 00:25:13.960
environment in the next five years. You know, we talk53600:25:14.000 --> 00:25:15.640
a lot about are people going to come back to53700:25:15.640 --> 00:25:16.960
work in the office? Are they not as going to53800:25:16.960 --> 00:25:18.960
be a hybrid? But what are you looking at from53900:25:18.960 --> 00:25:21.759
a workplace design and an environment standpoint? What are you54000:25:21.799 --> 00:25:24.119
guys looking at on sort of looking ahead?54100:25:25.039 --> 00:25:28.279
Yeah, I think every leader is figuring out a different way.54200:25:28.319 --> 00:25:30.200
You've got companies out there that have said, hey, we're54300:25:30.200 --> 00:25:32.240
building a firm and we're going to have a talent54400:25:32.279 --> 00:25:33.839
all over the world, and we're going to be based54500:25:33.880 --> 00:25:36.799
here and our talent is going to be located everywhere.54600:25:37.079 --> 00:25:40.599
That's one extreme model. Others like Jamie Diamond and JP Morgan,54700:25:40.599 --> 00:25:42.640
who's coming to doubt you know, they're in the office54800:25:42.680 --> 00:25:45.720
five days a week, and that's every company and culture54900:25:45.799 --> 00:25:48.480
is different. What we see most companies doing is three55000:25:48.480 --> 00:25:50.319
to four days a week in the office. What they55100:25:50.400 --> 00:25:54.440
recognize is that in person human connection, there's something very55200:25:54.480 --> 00:25:58.000
magical that happens there. Also, whether it's the research that55300:25:58.079 --> 00:26:01.519
Jonathan Height and these others have done, the addictive nature55400:26:01.599 --> 00:26:03.759
of social media and all the negative things that have55500:26:03.799 --> 00:26:07.440
happened to children and to society, and the isolation that's55600:26:07.440 --> 00:26:10.400
happened from people being on a screen at home all day,55700:26:11.000 --> 00:26:14.079
the health that happens, and the benefits of people being together,55800:26:14.160 --> 00:26:17.599
the community involvement, the five k runs on Saturday, getting55900:26:17.680 --> 00:26:21.000
down to the Senior Center. All those human connections add56000:26:21.039 --> 00:26:24.000
to business and community. And so I think as we56100:26:24.039 --> 00:26:25.759
think about the office of the future is how do56200:26:25.799 --> 00:26:28.200
you provide areas to concentrate when you just need to56300:26:28.200 --> 00:26:32.160
focus on something, collaborate when it's at time, to communicate56400:26:32.200 --> 00:26:33.839
when you're just trying to get things out. How do56500:26:33.880 --> 00:26:36.920
you enhance culture? How do you also think about the56600:26:36.960 --> 00:26:40.400
workspace almost like a school, because the areas where you're56700:26:40.400 --> 00:26:43.240
going to meet other people that might speak an other language,56800:26:43.279 --> 00:26:46.359
eat different food than you, make more money, make less money,56900:26:46.400 --> 00:26:48.640
like than you, that are different than you, is probably57000:26:48.680 --> 00:26:52.119
at school or at your workspace. If it's only if57100:26:52.160 --> 00:26:54.000
you only sit in your community, if you only know57200:26:54.039 --> 00:26:56.240
this one neighborhood, if you only know this one house,57300:26:56.720 --> 00:26:59.160
that's not the real world. And so to get out57400:26:59.160 --> 00:27:01.880
into the world to have areas like them. So we57500:27:01.880 --> 00:27:05.319
think the workspace providing that is very, very important the57600:27:05.359 --> 00:27:07.240
workspace of the future and what you're seeing all these57700:27:07.279 --> 00:27:09.839
great developments around here. It's a lot of walkability, it's57800:27:09.880 --> 00:27:12.279
access to the We have beautiful weather most of the year,57900:27:12.279 --> 00:27:14.920
and so it's like you get all this great access,58000:27:15.000 --> 00:27:17.759
you got great healthy restaurants. You got some audio ones too,58100:27:18.759 --> 00:27:21.920
But you've got all that because it provides collision points58200:27:21.920 --> 00:27:23.400
for you and I to bump into each other, to58300:27:23.440 --> 00:27:25.160
meet other people and to see other things. And so58400:27:25.200 --> 00:27:27.240
I think that's what you're seeing is going to continue58500:27:27.240 --> 00:27:30.079
to happen, and office space will continue to ebb and flow.58600:27:30.160 --> 00:27:32.880
People may have the ability to afford Hey I've got58700:27:32.880 --> 00:27:35.319
a dedicated space at home, and then I've got a58800:27:35.359 --> 00:27:37.880
dedicated space at an office, and then those things are58900:27:37.880 --> 00:27:40.039
different function but I think it's just going to continue59000:27:40.440 --> 00:27:42.440
to change over time. So those are some of the59100:27:42.480 --> 00:27:43.799
things we're seeing nice.59200:27:43.640 --> 00:27:47.519
And any cool innovations that you kind of have come59300:27:47.559 --> 00:27:48.920
in or that you're working towards.59400:27:48.640 --> 00:27:51.000
That or we're pushing you know, we've probably got four59500:27:51.079 --> 00:27:53.720
hundred products that we're in the market today. We launched59600:27:53.720 --> 00:27:55.960
one hundred new products last year. We got another hundred59700:27:55.960 --> 00:27:59.039
products that will launch here in twenty twenty six. It's59800:27:59.079 --> 00:28:01.799
all based upon fet feedback. And so again as people59900:28:01.839 --> 00:28:03.720
are coming back and said, hey, we need to collaboration,60000:28:03.759 --> 00:28:05.440
but you and I are at a standing you know,60100:28:05.559 --> 00:28:09.519
we're meeting table right now, like you can sit, stand, perch, whatever.60200:28:10.200 --> 00:28:13.240
But all that's going to continue to happen. We jokingly said,60300:28:13.240 --> 00:28:15.000
we kind of we got all these requests when people60400:28:15.079 --> 00:28:16.799
come back to an office for a cube, and we60500:28:16.839 --> 00:28:19.720
didn't make cubes at the time, but we said okay,60600:28:19.720 --> 00:28:22.200
and so we've reinvented the office cube and said, okay,60700:28:22.279 --> 00:28:24.400
we can make products and you and I can assemble60800:28:24.440 --> 00:28:26.480
our cubes in minutes because it's like seven parts. You60900:28:26.559 --> 00:28:29.680
just pop it together. Because it's going to change over time,61000:28:29.759 --> 00:28:32.400
and so work from homes not going away. So we61100:28:32.480 --> 00:28:34.480
got new products there that we're launching. But it's been61200:28:34.519 --> 00:28:37.720
fun for us to just listen to the fans, to61300:28:37.839 --> 00:28:41.359
lean into the pain points that they're experiencing, recognize that61400:28:41.480 --> 00:28:43.960
humans are designed to be together, and then how do61500:28:44.000 --> 00:28:46.279
we facilitate that? And so I think we're we're really61600:28:46.279 --> 00:28:48.799
close on the continue You never solve the riddle, but61700:28:48.880 --> 00:28:51.519
you keep innovating and keep trying. I love that.61800:28:52.079 --> 00:28:55.119
So when you think about the future of the metroplex61900:28:55.960 --> 00:29:00.960
and from a place of innovation, sat you a most62000:29:01.079 --> 00:29:03.240
about what you're seeing right now in the metropolis.62100:29:03.519 --> 00:29:06.279
Yeah, so I think you're You're seeing a lot of62200:29:06.319 --> 00:29:08.640
new brands continue to launch here, and so you've got62300:29:08.720 --> 00:29:11.920
great restaurant operators like front Burners continue to pump out62400:29:12.000 --> 00:29:15.680
concepts and try new things. You've got innovation happening in62500:29:15.799 --> 00:29:18.839
the real estate side, both on how people are living62600:29:18.920 --> 00:29:22.680
from a housing standpoint or the multi family components. But62700:29:22.759 --> 00:29:26.279
the live work play thing is happening all throughout DFW62800:29:26.400 --> 00:29:28.039
with these great design I mean, you've got some of62900:29:28.079 --> 00:29:30.119
the best real estate developers in the world here and63000:29:30.160 --> 00:29:31.880
I just try to draft them and learn from them.63100:29:31.920 --> 00:29:35.039
They're so amazing, world class knowledge all right with Lucy63200:29:35.079 --> 00:29:38.519
Billingsley and call it all them are doing and John Goll,63300:29:38.599 --> 00:29:41.200
I mean, they're they're incredible what they're building out there.63400:29:41.200 --> 00:29:45.079
And so those investments continue to happen. The entertainment, the sports,63500:29:45.119 --> 00:29:48.400
all those things continue. All of that elevates the universities.63600:29:48.799 --> 00:29:51.519
I'm very involved with the University of Houston and watching63700:29:51.519 --> 00:29:53.480
they're about to hit their centennial and see all the63800:29:53.519 --> 00:29:57.079
developments are going on there for the schools, but all63900:29:57.119 --> 00:30:01.039
the great universities across the state all are continuing to64000:30:01.039 --> 00:30:04.319
find ways. I think everybody is also leaning into AI64100:30:04.440 --> 00:30:07.160
and technology and not running from it, and so you're64200:30:07.160 --> 00:30:10.359
seeing great companies recognize that those disruptions are going to64300:30:10.440 --> 00:30:13.759
continue to happen, the way that drones are being tested64400:30:13.799 --> 00:30:16.759
and the driverless cars in Arlington and some of that stuff,64500:30:16.799 --> 00:30:19.839
but all the in the future of robotics, with with64600:30:19.880 --> 00:30:22.160
one of the with robot labs in one of our buildings,64700:30:22.240 --> 00:30:25.279
with the way Elot is doing it with It's incredible64800:30:25.319 --> 00:30:28.119
to see the future and it's all right here, right64900:30:28.559 --> 00:30:30.599
And so to know that that's we're kind of living65000:30:30.640 --> 00:30:32.680
in the middle of what the future is and we're65100:30:32.680 --> 00:30:35.440
a part of it, I think as entrepreneurs is very65200:30:35.519 --> 00:30:36.680
very exciting. Yeah.65300:30:36.720 --> 00:30:39.680
I love that answer, thank you, because it feels like this.65400:30:40.160 --> 00:30:42.960
I feel like we're a little spoiled and we forget65500:30:43.160 --> 00:30:46.000
how good it is until you travel. When I travel65600:30:46.039 --> 00:30:48.960
and see other places that don't have the energy that65700:30:49.039 --> 00:30:51.880
we have here, and you're reminded that, man, we really65800:30:51.920 --> 00:30:52.960
do have something special.65900:30:53.279 --> 00:30:55.319
Yeah, and we're about to touch off in this I mean,66000:30:55.319 --> 00:30:58.039
look at the space stuff that's happening down along right66100:30:58.240 --> 00:31:01.000
our border area between santat On in Austin with what66200:31:01.160 --> 00:31:04.839
SpaceX and Blue Origin or and it's so early still66300:31:04.880 --> 00:31:07.599
like we're in like phase one of what they're bringing66400:31:07.640 --> 00:31:09.839
to life, and so all of that is happening right66500:31:09.839 --> 00:31:11.319
here in Texas. It's incredible.66600:31:12.240 --> 00:31:14.480
All right, So this has been great, Thank you so much.66700:31:14.480 --> 00:31:17.799
Before we before I let you go, I want to66800:31:18.240 --> 00:31:20.720
you know, you spend all week doing this. What do66900:31:20.759 --> 00:31:23.480
you do to relax and have fun? What's something that67000:31:24.240 --> 00:31:25.400
you know at the end of the week you're like,67100:31:25.440 --> 00:31:27.039
I'm done, I need to go do something. How do67200:31:27.079 --> 00:31:28.839
you unwand what's your reach out I do?67300:31:28.960 --> 00:31:31.400
I do kind of agree with Bezos when he said67400:31:31.400 --> 00:31:33.680
it's almost like work life harmony. You know, there's not67500:31:33.799 --> 00:31:36.599
really balanced the way entrepreneurs operate. And so you know,67600:31:36.680 --> 00:31:38.960
I think for for me person, I love to paint,67700:31:39.039 --> 00:31:41.119
and so I get in there and attack some canvases67800:31:41.240 --> 00:31:44.319
and then my kids called it splatter paint at the time,67900:31:44.319 --> 00:31:46.839
but kind of that Jackson Pollock and whatever style. But68000:31:46.880 --> 00:31:50.200
it's fun to bring canvases to life and then I68100:31:50.240 --> 00:31:52.839
hopefully can donate them or sell them to raise some68200:31:52.839 --> 00:31:56.119
money for nonprofit organizations. That's probably my side hustle that68300:31:56.200 --> 00:31:59.599
I enjoy from a creative outlet standpoint. And of course68400:31:59.599 --> 00:32:02.160
I'm trying to get my golf game bags. I'm pounding68500:32:02.200 --> 00:32:04.119
balls right now and at one of those screens, those68600:32:04.160 --> 00:32:07.279
digital screens at golf tracks, seeing if I can figure this.68700:32:08.119 --> 00:32:10.119
Got just a little thing, if you just twik get68800:32:10.160 --> 00:32:11.880
just do it, just a little bit of tweaky. I've68900:32:11.880 --> 00:32:13.880
got to figure it out. I'm going to solve that riddle.69000:32:13.880 --> 00:32:14.440
But those are my.69100:32:14.440 --> 00:32:16.960
Fun things, all right, Very good, Well, thank you so much.69200:32:17.519 --> 00:32:20.759
For the business owners leaders, Folks who want to buy69300:32:20.799 --> 00:32:23.119
are looking at that. Where should they go to connect69400:32:23.160 --> 00:32:26.119
and where can they find your Yeah, it's on the69500:32:26.119 --> 00:32:30.119
website at vari dot com. At vary dot com is69600:32:30.160 --> 00:32:32.599
the easiest way, and then you can drop on there.69700:32:32.920 --> 00:32:35.160
The nice thing is, since we're ten minutes from the airport,69800:32:35.200 --> 00:32:37.400
we host tours all the time. People fly in and69900:32:37.440 --> 00:32:39.799
they do an in person tour but also virtual tours.70000:32:39.839 --> 00:32:41.599
So the same way you and I are having a70100:32:41.640 --> 00:32:46.400
podcast today, we're literally doing live tours every day for clients.70200:32:46.480 --> 00:32:48.400
We'll do kind of free work space. As I'm we'll70300:32:48.400 --> 00:32:51.039
listen to their pain points and we'll show them. Because70400:32:51.039 --> 00:32:53.799
we've probably installed over six thousand offices in the last70500:32:53.799 --> 00:32:56.599
few years across the country, so we're learning really fast70600:32:57.039 --> 00:32:59.400
what the future of work is. So we host tours70700:32:59.400 --> 00:33:01.000
and let people. I mean, if people just want to70800:33:01.039 --> 00:33:02.000
come buy a desk, they.70900:33:01.960 --> 00:33:03.799
Can just go on the website. We ship out thousands71000:33:03.799 --> 00:33:06.160
of desks every day to people that are working, so71100:33:06.359 --> 00:33:06.880
no worries.71200:33:07.039 --> 00:33:09.640
Well, I do want to say back in twenty twenty,71300:33:10.200 --> 00:33:13.839
you' all ran a little thing. You were like asking71400:33:13.880 --> 00:33:17.440
people to show you their workspace, and I did that. Actually,71500:33:17.519 --> 00:33:19.680
I'm still working off the standing desk you guys sign71600:33:19.720 --> 00:33:22.119
that's awesome and literally it took five minutes to split71700:33:22.119 --> 00:33:24.559
it out of the box, put it up, and much71800:33:24.599 --> 00:33:26.319
of my life Instagram because I'm working out of our71900:33:26.359 --> 00:33:29.319
guest room and it's so nice. It sits right there.72000:33:29.440 --> 00:33:31.599
She doesn't love it because it's the guest room. She72100:33:31.640 --> 00:33:34.160
had decorated it perfect for guests, and then COVID hit72200:33:34.160 --> 00:33:36.079
and I had to have a place to work out72300:33:36.160 --> 00:33:38.599
at most people, but I still work off that desk72400:33:38.640 --> 00:33:41.920
and I will never forget. Thank you so much for that, Yo,72500:33:42.000 --> 00:33:44.000
that was a neat thing that you guys did, and72600:33:44.000 --> 00:33:46.119
it was a blessing to me at the time needed72700:33:46.160 --> 00:33:48.200
it early on, you know, with my company, and so72800:33:48.240 --> 00:33:49.759
I really appreciate that. So I want to say thank72900:33:49.759 --> 00:33:52.680
you in Berson my pledge just as exciting. Well, friends,73000:33:52.720 --> 00:33:54.559
thanks again for joining us here on the Gone to73100:33:54.599 --> 00:33:57.680
Texas podcast and give me a favor. Please like, share73200:33:57.720 --> 00:33:59.880
and subscribe to more business owners so they can just73300:34:00.000 --> 00:34:02.720
dis cover what's possible here in the Lone Star State.73400:34:03.079 --> 00:34:05.400
If you're tired of red tape, high cost and feeling73500:34:05.440 --> 00:34:07.960
stuck where you are, this is your invitation to come73600:34:08.000 --> 00:34:12.440
to Texas. The Texas Economic Development Connection exists to help73700:34:12.480 --> 00:34:15.159
you skip the run around and connect directly with the73800:34:15.239 --> 00:34:20.880
people and places ready to help your business grow. Visit73900:34:21.000 --> 00:34:25.280
texasedconnection dot com to schedule your free call. I'm host74000:34:25.320 --> 00:34:27.679
Super Dave Quinn. Buy for now and until next time,74100:34:27.880 --> 00:34:32.239
make it a great day.74200:34:33.039 --> 00:34:36.079
Thank you for tuning into this episode of Gone to Texas,74300:34:36.360 --> 00:34:40.360
the official podcast if The Texas Economic Development Connection, followed74400:34:40.400 --> 00:34:44.360
by Day One, experts a collection of the country's best74500:34:44.360 --> 00:34:49.159
known economic development professionals offering on demand services to communities74600:34:49.239 --> 00:34:50.239
across the nation.
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