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We sit down with Heartwork founder Karen John to explore how travel, Italian design culture, and a love of craft shaped a U.S. manufacturing brand that treats storage as a culture-building tool.

We chat about:

• curiosity, travel, and multidisciplinary Italian design
• why Heartwork chose storage and makes it in the U.S.
• color strategy with Laura Guido-Clark and moving past gray
• quality, customization at scale, and installation simplicity
• enterprise clients, culture through design, and durability
• AI to reduce rework and protect furniture quality
• practical career advice, mentorship, and following energy

Resources:

Monday Morning Quarterback - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8-V62fgnCiM

Episode 57 - The Power of Color with Laura Guido-Clark - https://www.sidmeadows.com/episode57

Episode 159 - CEO Chat with Natalie Hartkopf of Hightower - https://www.sidmeadows.com/episode159

Connect with Karen John:

Heartwork - https://heartwork.com/
LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/johnkaren/
Email - Karen@Heartwork.com

The workplace is changing faster than the conversations guiding it. We’re stepping up with a sharper plan for Season Seven: weekly episodes designed to spark action, challenge assumptions, and give you practical tools to build spaces and businesses that actually work.

Connect with Sid:

Home Page: www.sidmeadows.com
Podcast Website: https://www.sidmeadows.com/podcast

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The Trend Report introduction music is provided by Werq by Kevin MacLeod Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/4616-werq License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/