In almost all situations, the more personalized the piece, the more you will have to pay, and the waiting time for made-to-order is months, but it doesn’t have to be that way. Today’s guest is Christiane Lemieux, Founder and CEO of The Inside, an online furniture store that provides custom made, on-demand furniture that remains exclusive by utilizing technology. Christiane is a creative tech entrepreneur, and today we talk to her about what this means while exploring her journey launching Dwell Studio, The Inside, and what is in store for the world from her new company, Lemieux Et Cie. Christiane gets into the business models of her different companies, how she bridged technology with creativity at different stages of her career, and her strategy and vision for the launch of Lemieux Et Cie. She weighs in on the innovations the technology-powered, furniture on-demand model at The Inside brings to the world of made-to-order e-commerce. Christiane shares about how she is taking her products a tier higher with Lemiuex Et Cie, and why she plans to launch her new business in the IRL retail world. Christiane also details some of her experiences building a best in class, remote-first tech team as she transitioned from her position at Wayfair into a then-fledgling The Inside. For a great conversation about innovation that blends design and technology, make sure you tune in for this interview with Christiane Lemieux.
TIME-STAMPED SHOW NOTES:
[00:21] Before we jump into today’s interview, please rate, review, and subscribe to the Leveling Up Podcast!
[01:09] Christiane’s journey from starting Dwell Studio and how she became a creative tech entrepreneur.
[02:10] Selling Dwell Studio to Wayfair, working there, and the tech that went into starting The Inside. 
[03:08] Made on demand furniture that remains exclusive by utilizing technology: How The Inside works.
[03:35] Not needing a warehouse and having no waste: Advantages of The Inside’s business model.
[04:19] Products at The Inside, and their pricing which starts from as low as $20.
[04:40] Why the custom order model at The Inside produces stickier customers. 
[06:04] How COVID is affecting digitally-first companies and businesses selling homeware.
[07:35] The higher-end offerings by Christiane’s new company Lemieux Et Cie.
[09:17] Getting people back on the streets and why Lemieux Et Cie is not enabling e-commerce instantly.
[09:58] How The Inside landed its first customers using the usual D2C advertising playbook.
[10:44] Challenges growing The Inside; escalated marketing costs for second wave D2C companies.
[11:57] Retail competitors and the launch plan for Lemieux Et Cie once they enable e-commerce.
[13:55] The difference between a creative entrepreneur and a tech one and what blending them means.
[14:57] How Christiane leveled up at Wayfair and by hiring her own engineers for The Inside.
[15:55] Building a brilliant, remote tech team from scratch by using Toptal.
[17:11] A valuable tool Christiane uses and recommends for tweaking your stack rank.
 
Resources From The Interview:
 
Christiane Lemieux on LinkedIn
Lemieux Et Cie
The Inside
Dwell Studio
Wayfair
West Elm
The Architectural Digest
Anthropologie
Warby Parker
Hudson’s Bay
Toptal
Slack
Peloton
Trello
 
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