If you’ve ever watched The Golden Girls and noticed the iconic banana leaf wallpaper, then you know the company of our next guest. Jayzen is excited to welcome Katy Polsby, CEO of CW Stockwell to the show this week. Now in it’s fourth generation, the company was founded in 1905 by Clifton Stockwell. While CW Stockwell is currently known most for Martinique®, their iconic banana leaf design, for the better part of the 20th century the brand was known for quite an extensive collection of dynamic, colorful, often insouciant patterns within fabric and wallcoverings. Taking the reins in recent years, Katy is reinvigorating the brand and setting the stage for the next century of amazing design.
One of the key tenets of the Lead With Your Brand!™ system is understanding that your brand is as much about what you choose not to do, as it is about what you choose to do. Developing a strong brand filter is key to any great brand, yours included. It is about knowing when a strength may go too far and become a roadblock or having the ability to sense when something is off-brand for you and a different approach is needed.
Guest Bio
Katy PolsbyCEO, CW Stockwell
“Katy Polsby, CW Stockwell’s CEO and owner, is resetting the trajectory of the company” - AD Pro
Entrepreneur and home decor industry veteran Katy Polsby has had an extensive career leading merchandising and product development strategies for major decor and lifestyle brands including Serena & Lily, Warby Parker, and West Elm, part of the Williams Sonoma, Inc. family of brands. This background serves as the perfect foundation for her to lead historic design brand CW Stockwell into its next chapter as CEO.
Polsby grew up in Pasadena, California around the corner from CW Stockwell's third-generation owner, Remy Chatain Jr., and upon his passing in 2013 the Polsby family made a decision to steward the brand into the 21st century. In 2019, Polsby re-launched the heritage textile brand with a new collection of hand-printed fabrics and wallpapers, all drawn from and inspired by the extensive archives amassed over the last 116 years since the company's inception.
After studying Spanish, Portuguese and Art History at Georgetown University, Polsby realized her brain was better-suited for the simultaneous left- and right-side activity of merchandising and product development. When not leading iconic design brands into the modern era, Polsby enjoys decorating her 1904 Victorian home in San Francisco, and taking her beloved dog Gertie for long walks.Links
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Learn more about CW Stockwell at https://cwstockwell.com
And connect with them on social media at:
https://www.instagram.com/cwstockwell
https://www.facebook.com/cwstockwell
https://www.pinterest.com/cw_stockwell