Episode #26: Rescue, Restore and Redecorate: The Entrepreneurial Journey of Amy Howard
Hi everyone! Today I am super excited to share my conversation with my friend, Amy Howard, who is from Memphis, Tennessee. Amy has an uplifting and humbling story! She tells us all about how she took a risk and started her very own company in the early 1990s called Amy Howard Collection—a company where she and her husband, Gene, designed and manufactured beautiful, high-end furniture.
They started out small but worked tremendously hard and eventually gained a huge following. They found themselves selling high-end furniture to people all over the world, including celebrities! Amy was also kind enough to tell us about her setbacks, such as in 2008 when her target audience suddenly changed—people were no longer buying luxury furniture and manufacturers were copying her furniture line at a much cheaper rate, but Amy didn’t give up.
She got creative, pivoted and started the Amy Howard at Home paint line in 2011, which is a distinguished class of high-end artisan quality paint products and training. People can simply buy her paint line and rescue, restore and redecorate their furniture on their very own. Then in 2015, she partnered with ACE Hardware, where her paint line was sold in stores all over the world. Her “One Step Paint” was recently featured on the Today Show! She has also published two books and I LOVED them both! I hope you enjoy my conversation with Amy as much as I did!
Books:
“Rescue, Restore, Redecorate: Amy Howard’s Guide to Refinishing Furniture and Accessories” by Amy Howard
“A Maker’s Guide: A Letter and Roadmap to Creative Entrepreneurs” by Amy Howard
“Good to Great” by Jim Collins
Website: