Havenly CEO Lee Mayer shares how she scaled a design tech platform, acquired top home brands, and sees AI reshaping interior design.
While the interior design industry is filled with women, there are very few female executives. But Lee Mayer proves otherwise. The CEO and cofounder of Havenly Brands took what was essentially a tech platform and transformed it into a powerhouse, acquiring some of the most talked-about brands in the direct-to-consumer furniture and decor space, including The Inside, Burrow, Interior Define, St. Frank, and The Citizenry.
I recently spoke with Mayer to learn about how she built her business from a data-driven platform to a brand portfolio, as well as what the future holds for the industry as a whole as the era of AI comes into play. From Data To Design
After previously working for Bankrate, Bain & Company, and Canon, Mayer launched Havenly along with cofounders Emily Motayed and Jessie Dixon in 2014. The online interior design platform and shopping experience proved to be more than just an easy and accessible way for consumers to work with interior designers virtually and on a budget. “In our early years, we learned a lot about what customers wanted and what they didn’t,” Mayer tells me. “We developed a strong point of view on the white space in the category.”
At the same time, the home furnishings industry was undergoing a major shift with the rise and demise of various direct-to-consumer (DTC) brands. Once flush with venture capital dollars, many were now struggling to stay afloat.
Mayer saw an opportunity and first acquired The Inside. Best known for its custom furniture and traditional-leaning aesthetic, The Inside, like Havenly, was also female-founded. Just as Havenly made working with an interior designer more accessible, The Inside brought once-expensive, trade-only custom pieces online, allowing consumers to purchase them on their own at an accessible price point.
“We found scale and reach through bringing on our favorite of the rising home brands into our portfolio,” says Mayer. “But it was also something that aligned with Havenly’s values. We’ve always been grounded in the belief that everyone deserves to live in a home they love. Our homes are a backdrop to our lives. And as we’ve executed our acquisition strategy, we’ve been able to further deliver on that mission.”Building On The Inside
After that, Havenly began acquiring a variety of brands that on the surface appeared to be in competition with one another, but in reality had very different aesthetics and niches.
