Connecting with our Community: Philip Bershad of Phillip Jeffries
Studio Designer is revisiting our Connecting with our Community webinar series that showcased the experience and practical advice of notable design industry leaders. On a weekly basis, Studio Designer CEO Keith Granet engaged in illuminating and fascinating discussions that are especially useful for design professionals. This time we’re throwing the spotlight on Keith’s lively interview with Philip Bershad, president of Phillip Jeffries wallcoverings.
Philip is a bubbly, positive presence and shared his great passion for his work, “Gratitude is one the best things you can do to be optimistic so I try to have a little gratitude every day.” As a family business that started in a garage, Philip shared that he values “employees and clients first and then profits” so they made significant efforts to ensure that their entire staff of 180 kept their jobs. During the thick of the crisis, the company maintained a core team of staff to ensure that orders were on track; plus extended a PJ Pledge program for many months to help designers who experienced setbacks from vendor bankruptcies.
As his company has grown to become the industry leader in wallcoverings, Philip shared how proud he is of his staff working as a community worldwide. They all connect frequently across offices in New Jersey, Los Angeles, Singapore, and London with a “daily huddle.” Being the company namesakes and leaders, Philip and his brother Jeffrey Bershad release weekly videos to the whole team for morale and keep everyone on the same page.
A useful and fun acronym Philip brought up in the interview was WFIPTAG—wow, fun, integrity, passion, teamwork, accountability, and growth—all key elements that the company uses to drive success. He believes in the importance of maintain a strong and consistent culture in his company and it led him to spearhead a new magazine for the company called The Drop and you can read the latest issue.
View the recording of the Philip Bershad interview here, check out the full collection of Connecting with our Community webinars, or read a blog post about the entire series.