EO Series #18 - When Art Meets Business: Building a Furniture Empire in Dubai - Tini Meyer

My First Business

Ever wondered how to seamlessly blend art and business? Tini Meyer's journey from artist to top contract furniture supplier in Dubai is a masterclass in creativity and entrepreneurship. 🎨

My guest for this conversation is Tini Meyer, who has found a way to mix art and business so aesthetically. What I learned from her during this conversation is how to set a good foundation first before trying to grow the business. She emphasized the need to "nail it before you scale it" and shared her approach to making strategic pivots and taking calculated risks.

In 2009, Tini moved to Abu Dhabi to establish an artist studio residency center. In 2012, she co-founded interior360 as a boutique home furnishing store, which then pivoted to contract furniture. She started her business by importing designer furniture and home objects. But with the one-off nature of the products and the customization requests from clients, she realized that her business model might not be sustainable. Instead of giving up and packing her bags, she pivoted the business to focus on supplying furniture to hotels and restaurants in 2015. 🏨

Now, interior360 has become one of the largest contract furniture suppliers in Dubai, having delivered over 900 restaurant and hotel projects throughout the GCC. Over the years, Tini has expanded her business to include in-house manufacturing and has recently gone vertical, now supplying cleaning materials made by a company that's been around for 100 years. 🛋️✨

In this episode, Tini and I discussed:

00:00 Introduction ▶️

05:25 How she juggles business responsibilities while raising a family 👩‍👧‍👦

31:49 The early mistakes she made and the lessons learned 📘

27:09 Strategies for building a strong workplace culture 🏢

34:29 Recognizing and seizing opportunities in diverse industries 🌐

1:07:52 Why there's no room for complacency in her team 🚫

1:21:29 The art of blending creativity with business acumen, and much more! 🎨💼

I've been so lucky to have found such humble superstars that should be heard about more, and Tini is definitely on that list! As always, there was no pretense, no academic business jargon, just pure passion for the way she molds her business and keeps it going and growing.

I hope you enjoy this episode as much as I did. Without much further ado, here’s Tini Meyer, on the EO Series of the My First Business Podcast. 🎙️

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This episode is brought to you by ⁠Entrepreneur’s Organization – Dubai.⁠

The organization also offers a mentorship program that pairs members with experienced business leaders who can provide guidance and support as they grow their businesses.

So if you are a business owner, tired of taking on your challenges all alone and are looking for unique networking opportunities along with structured support through accountability groups and mentors, this community is for you.

To learn more on how to become a member, visit ⁠https://eodubai.com/⁠ or reach out to EO Dubai Administrator ⁠[e-mail]⁠.

Details about the EO membership: ⁠https://eodubai.com/member-benefits-new/apply-for-membership-new/⁠

Where to find the podcast:

▶️ YouTube: ⁠https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCjrbr87_ZSPICaDoTcCebyw⁠

🎙 Spotify: ⁠https://open.spotify.com/show/6B5JdkAWrGSd927rZquJz7?si=4802c936a51f418c⁠⁠

🎙 Apple Podcasts: ⁠https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/my-first-business-with-naeem-parvez/id1615535576⁠

🎙 Google Podcast: ⁠https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5idXp6c3Byb3V0LmNvbS8xOTE1MjA1LnJzcw?sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjk_8SnuPD5AhUBGRoKHZ-DAxMQ9sEGegQIARAC⁠

Where to find Tini: 💼 ⁠LinkedIn⁠: https://linkedin.com/in/tini-meyer-093470a1/ 📸 Instagram: https://instagram.com/interior360/ 📸 ⁠Facebook: https://facebook.com/interior360Dubai/ 🌐 ⁠Business Website: https://interior-360.com

Where to find me:

📸 IG: ⁠http://www.instagram.com/the.naeem.parvez⁠⁠

📸 IG: ⁠http://www.instagram.com/myfirstbusinesspodcast⁠

💼 LinkedIn: ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/nparvez⁠⁠