Experimentation and exploration have been key to Fríant’s growth and drive our innovation and development of unmatched workspace solutions. No one exemplifies our forward-thinking mindset more than our Founder and CEO, Paul Fríant. We sat down with him to get insight into how Fríant started, his favorite Fríant products, and to learn a little more about him as a person.
What initially sparked your interest in office furniture?
My interest in office furniture began because of my dad. He had a dealership, so on summer vacations I would work for him. I started with sweeping floors and eventually got into working with furniture. Later on, I decided to start my own company; I provided service work where I repaired old furniture and installed it. But then I realized people needed more than just repairs, so I started making and selling my own furniture.
That realization was the spark that got me where I am today. I was going through the effort of taking something used, selling it, painting, adding fabric, and building multiples of it — so I thought, “Why not design something of my own?”
Now I’m a manufacturer.
The partnership between Fríant and Cubespace has created a global alliance — can you talk a bit about that?
Throughout the process of buying used furniture and refurbishing it, I started to run out of things I needed for each job and had to begin sourcing products and parts through other people. It quickly became really expensive, but I didn’t have any other option.
Then I got a phone call one day from someone saying, “Hey, I’ve got this guy from China and he wants to see an American factory.” I told him I didn’t have a factory but he was more than welcome to come. He wanted to see the work I was doing and if he could sell me parts from China, so he dropped by. I gave him a box of parts and he took them back with him. A month later, I received a new box of parts that looked exactly like the ones I gave him. He manufactured the parts to the exact specs.
Two weeks after I received the replicated parts, I jumped on a plane and went to China to meet with him. The rest is history.
“That guy” would turn out to be my business partner and best friend to this day. His role within Fríant has been the driving force of our supply chain and parts manufacturing for Fríant.
With Fríant’s global network, you’re always traveling. What are three things you never travel without?
I never leave without my travel work bag. I only use it when I go to China, and it has everything I need. It’s an accumulation of things I’ve identified as travel must-haves over the past 22 years. Here’s some of what’s inside:
- Phone
- Passport
- Battery Pack
- Camera
- Extra shirt
- Cold medicine
An agenda. You have to have a plan. I always know who I’ll be meeting with, what we’ll be focusing on, and how I’m getting there.
And while it’s not a physical item, travel preparation is a must, even though I’m only gone for 6 to 7 days most of the time. I make sure I’m healthy and try to get my sleep patterns aligned so I’m ready to work right away when I reach my destination.
As you continue to work with product development, what is your favorite Fríant system?
Interra, because of its cleanliness, its ability to go together with ease, and how the lines meet each other. It works well with all of our components, whether it’s Dash, shelving, storage, legs, or worksurfaces. It’s sophisticated and matches and blends well together.
It looks good, installs well, and performs. That’s what’s key in this industry. It goes back to the panels — the total solution.
When it comes to life outside of Fríant, what are your favorite ways to recharge?
Going to the lake and golfing. But I would say having a variety of social experiences is the best. Being around people that don’t want to just talk about work. Putting yourself in places where everyone is active and doing something different is usually a pretty good place to go.
