Furniture Today Leadership Conference: Bringing the Designer’s Perspective to the Table

6 days ago

4 min read

Why Interior Designers Belong in Broader Industry Conversations

Smiling man in black suit speaks at podium labeled “Furniture Today Leadership 2025” with purple lighting.

We’re excited to share that Jessica Duce of JDuce Design will be speaking at the Furniture Today Leadership Conference. She’ll join fellow industry leaders for the “Bottom Line Boost” panel, a conversation about how interior design services can help furniture retailers increase average ticket values, strengthen customer relationships, and create a more differentiated shopping experience.

Jessica’s participation reflects an important idea: interior designers have a meaningful role to play in the larger furniture industry conversation.

Designers influence what clients buy, where they shop, how they make decisions, and which brands become part of their homes. They understand the questions customers ask, the obstacles that can prevent a purchase, and the details that turn a transaction into a positive experience.

That perspective can be valuable to retailers, manufacturers, and other industry professionals. When designers engage with the broader industry, they’re not simply learning from the conversation. They’re helping shape it.

The Value of Stepping Outside the Design Community

It’s easy to spend most of your time inside the design community. That community is essential, but it’s only one part of the larger industry ecosystem.

Events like Leadership Conference bring together retailers, manufacturers, executives, designers, and other professionals who influence how furniture is sold, specified, and experienced. Hearing those perspectives can reveal opportunities that may not be obvious from inside your own business.

You may learn how a retailer approaches customer experience, what brands are prioritizing, or where the market is creating new opportunities for designers. Those insights can influence everything from the vendors you recommend to the services you offer.

Stepping outside your usual circle also helps you see how your work connects to the larger customer journey. A designer’s contribution doesn’t begin and end with selecting products. It can affect how a customer enters a showroom, builds confidence in a purchase, and experiences the final result.

A large audience sits at round tables in a conference hall, attentively watching a presentation on stage.

Building Stronger Partnerships Across the Industry

The best partnerships rarely begin with a sales pitch. They begin with a conversation.

Industry events create space to meet the people behind the brands and businesses designers work with every day. A quick conversation can lead to a showroom visit, a product education session, a referral, or a more meaningful working relationship.

Those relationships make it easier to ask better questions, solve problems, and advocate for clients. When designers know the people behind a brand, they have a stronger path to useful information and better support when a project gets complicated.

The benefit goes both ways. Retailers and manufacturers gain a better understanding of how designers work, what their clients need, and where design expertise can improve the customer experience.

That kind of mutual understanding is the foundation for stronger partnerships.

A woman stands at a podium labeled “Leadership 2025” on a stage with chairs and a blurred background.

Understanding the Business Behind the Products

Designers naturally focus on the product itself: how it looks, how it functions, and whether it fits the project. Broader industry conversations, however, offer a chance to understand the business behind that product.

How is a retailer trying to serve its customers?
What makes a showroom experience memorable?
What challenges are brands facing?
Where does design expertise fit into the customer journey?

That context can make designers stronger business partners. It can also help them communicate their own value more clearly.

When designers understand how their services can build customer confidence, improve the shopping experience, and support larger purchases, they can have more productive conversations with potential partners.

They can also identify opportunities to contribute earlier in the process—not just after a customer has made a decision, but while that decision is still taking shape.

Discover How Your Design Services Create Business Value at the Furniture Today Leadership Conference

The “Bottom Line Boost” panel will focus on a question many designers and retailers are already asking: how can design services contribute to business growth? The answer will look different for every company. It could involve in-store consultations, custom design packages, trade partnerships, product education, or a stronger connection between the showroom and the designer’s client experience.

For retailers, design services can make the buying process feel more personal and approachable. For customers, they can provide clarity and confidence when making a significant purchase. For designers, they can create new ways to demonstrate their expertise and expand their role as trusted advisors.

Designers who engage with these conversations may leave with ideas for new services, new partnerships, or better ways to communicate what they already offer. They don’t have to copy someone else’s business model. They simply need to pay attention to what could work for their own business and their clients.

An older man in a suit presents a product to a small group of people in a modern store setting.

Bringing New Ideas Back to Your Business

A conference doesn’t have to produce one immediate, dramatic result to be worthwhile.

Sometimes the most useful takeaway is a small shift: a better question to ask a vendor, a new way to present your services, or a clearer understanding of where your business fits within the larger industry.

The value often becomes visible after the event, when a conversation turns into a follow-up meeting or an idea changes how you approach a client, brand, or project.

The most effective professionals stay open to those small shifts. They listen for patterns, notice unmet needs, and look for ways to turn new information into better experiences for their clients.

A formal table setting with salad plates, menus, water glasses, and desserts on a white tablecloth.

Designers Belong at the Table

Attending industry events sends an important message: designers belong in these conversations.

Designers aren’t simply the final step between a product and a client. They help shape purchasing decisions, influence customer loyalty, and create the experiences that make products meaningful.

Their perspective belongs alongside those of retailers, manufacturers, and industry leaders.

That’s why Jessica’s participation in the “Bottom Line Boost” panel matters. She’ll be bringing the designer’s point of view to a conversation about retail growth, customer relationships, and the future of the furniture industry.

Her perspective can help demonstrate what many designers already know: design is not just an aesthetic service. It can be a business advantage, a customer experience tool, and a meaningful part of the path from product discovery to purchase.

We’re proud to see Jessica representing the design community at the Furniture Today Leadership Conference, and we hope more designers will take the opportunity to be part of conversations like this.

If you’re looking for practical ideas to grow your business, strengthen your industry relationships, and create more value for your clients, register for the conference. To join a community of designers committed to elevating their professional impact and business success, become a VRD member today at www.joinvrd.com.