Architect Katharine Huber Navigates a Manufacturing Maze to Build Wit Design
Name: Katharine Huber
Business: Wit Design
Founded: October 2017
Architect Katharine Huber always loved watching her busy toddler interact with furniture in “weirdly wonderful ways.” Little Margaret wiggled in her chair, climbed up on it to sit on her feet and even carried her seat from place to place. Epiphany struck, and Katharine designed a set of lightweight, Margaret-sized chairs, plus a stool and a table. A fellow architect built the wooden furniture, and Katharine’s two kids (and all their rambunctious friends) used them for years before the set was retired to an upstairs bedroom.
Fast forward to 2013. Margaret was all grown up, and Katharine had ditched her daily commute and opened her own full-service architectural business in her home office in Connecticut. She wanted a new project to complement her practice. She knew the furniture in Margaret’s bedroom had more than withstood the test of time (and tykes). What would it take to bring her designs to market? Katharine decided to find out.
Katharine, what inspired you to turn your one-off furniture designs into a bona fide business?
For many years, I was so entrenched in working, commuting and being a mom I didn’t have a minute to think about doing anything else. After my kids left home and I started working for myself, I could explore new business ideas.
I was still fascinated by the challenge of designing functional, comfortable, aesthetically pleasing furniture – particularly chairs – for kids. I believe kids thrive when they have spaces and furniture of their own. It helps them move, imagine and play exactly the way they want to. Little kids don’t look at a chair as something just for sitting in!
I was also interested in the production side of design. Let me tell you, navigating the world of manufacturing has been quite a learning process.
We know plenty of small business owners would agree. Tell us how you turned your design into a finished product.
I really wanted Wit products to be made in the United States, preferably somewhere near where I live in Connecticut. I’d tweaked and refined my original furniture designs, so I needed a factory that could work with special features like hidden screw connections and “old fashioned” long mortise-and-tenon joints to hold the pieces together.
I did a ton of research online and asked everyone I knew for manufacturer recommendations. I found someone to work with nearby. We were all set to go, but some new equipment created problems in the factory. The plan fell through. Then I found a factory in Vermont, and everything was back on track. Just as production was about to begin, another client gave him a huge order and he couldn’t make my chairs.
What a let-down. How did you react?
I couldn’t believe it. I started thinking, maybe this isn’t meant to be. But being an architect means you have an incredible amount of patience. There’s no such thing as instant gratification, ever.
I reached out to more than 35 different manufacturers that seemed big enough to handle my production size but not so big that my orders wouldn’t be worth making. Finally, I found Fancher Chair in Jamestown, NY, one of the oldest furniture manufacturing companies in the country. Production dates back to 1807.
The owner liked my chairs, he liked me – we were back on track! Fancher Chair uses digital laser-cutting equipment. It’s high-tech but still a slow process. Each single sheet of plywood yields either six chairs, ten stools or three tables. All the pieces are assembled and then sanded and finished by hand.
The factory handles all our storage and shipping. I admit it’s hard not being able to inspect every item before it ships, but I really trust the quality and craftsmanship.
Now that you’ve got manufacturing sorted out, what are you focused on for growing Wit Design?
Our website is live, so customers can easily order online. I’m totally focused on building and marketing our brand.
Instagram is huge for Wit because it’s such a visual medium. I reach out to a lot of “mom blogs,” since that’s a significant target audience. I send out press releases to various publications, and I’ve donated Wit items to a private preschool auction, too. My goal is to get Wit out into the world!
At every step of this process, I’ve thought, “Oh, this is the most important part of building a business.” Of course, I just keep saying that. Now that I’m in the marketing phase, it seems more critical than anything else!
Katharine, what’s the best moment in this journey so far?
We booked a photoshoot with kids to get images for the website. All day, I watched these happy kids running around. They just made the furniture come alive. I was beyond myself. I felt like I’d come full circle.
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