As she settles into the role of executive director of the International Casual Furnishings Association, Siri Scott said she’s optimistic for what the future holds for the organization and the casual furniture industry.
“There are a lot of things in the future that are exciting,” she said. “Covid did wonderful things for our industry in terms of motivating consumers to spend more time outdoors, setting the stage for us to grow and be a bigger part of people’s lives. So let’s take the horse by the reins and lead it to the future.”
Scott officially took on the role of executive director last month after a year of serving as the ICFA’s director of programs and member engagement. While in that position, Scott shadowed her predecessor, Jackie Hirschhaut, who served as executive director for more than a decade. Scott said that experience, along with Hirschhaut’s guidance going forward as a senior adviser to the ICFA, has been and will remain invaluable as she leads the organization.
“Jackie has brought us to a place where we are so well-positioned to be an integral part of the future of the industry,” she said. “I think it’s on us now to really listen and see what our members need, what the industry needs, and help find those resources, help be a conduit for success. And that’s really my vision. Let’s be innovative. Let’s listen. Let’s connect resources, find new resources and move forward together.”
One of Scott’s biggest initiatives in her previous role with ICFA was facilitating the launch of the Women’s Leadership Network, a program designed to tap into the experience and insight of women executives while also connecting them with women on the rise in the casual industry.
“Megan Pierson (of Polywood) was only the second woman chair of the ICFA, and she thought, ‘That needs to change,’” Scott said. “She had the idea of creating a pathway for women in our industry to have more leadership roles, and we had a conversation about it, which led me to put together a plan, and we started moving forward.”
The Women’s Leadership Network currently has four committees that are working on ways to offer more events and programming to women in the industry, including creating a roadmap for women that will help them build their careers from entry-level to executive.
“At our conference in February, one of the hot topics was how we keep young people in the industry,” she said. “I’ve heard that echoed a few times, and one way we can hopefully influence that is through creating this roadmap and a support system to engage them. It will take effort on our part, but keeping young people in the industry is critical to the future.”
Scott said the group also intends to offer resources and programming outside of markets and the ICFA Conference so that women who don’t typically attend those events can still participate. And ICFA is working with others in the industry to expand the reach of the Women’s Leadership Network.
“It’s really amazing to watch this come together,” Scott said. “And we’ve just started a new partnership with WithIt so that we can share resources. With our combined powers, we’ll be able to move everyone forward faster.”
Another area Scott said she would like to explore with the ICFA is consumer outreach. She said many members have voiced a need for consumer education about casual furniture.
“How do we touch the consumers as an industry to make sure they understand casual furniture and feel empowered to make the best choices for their families and homes?” she said. “We’re discovering what that might look like.”
Other priorities for Scott include ensuring the ICFA continues to offer benefits that meet its members’ needs while also educating members about those benefits so that they can take full advantage. And she also wants to help the ICFA to continue growing Casual Market Atlanta, working with Andmore to leverage the range of AmericasMart’s offerings to make the event as valuable as possible for buyers and exhibitors.
“We filled up more than the allotted floors and have a waiting list, which is really exciting,” she said. “So now let’s focus on making it the best experience possible for everyone. How do we engage the retail buyers, the designers? How do we make the experience beneficial for everyone — the exhibitors, the first-timers, the 15th-timers? That’s a key focus area.”
Scott said that she’s not interested in making drastic changes to the ICFA, but rather in building on the organization’s successes and listening to members to best serve their needs.
“I want to instill confidence in the industry — both members and people who are considering joining — that we have a great foundation, and we’re going to build upon that,” she said. “We want to continue to meet their needs and have a thriving casual furnishings industry.”
