By Jordan Parker W endy Black has been in the staging business for over a decade and what started as a neighbour favor, has grown into two amazing businesses; one an award-winning staging business and the other a furni- ture rental business. Wendy Black took the leap into entrepreneurialism in 2011 when she founded Wendy Black Interiors, a full-service home staging company. It was not long before word soon spread of Black’s success in getting the top dollar for her clients and she was staging homes, cottages, condos and offices, working alongside some of the top realtors and builders in the business and helping individual homeown- ers to maximize their return on their property investments when selling. To say that Wendy Black is chalk full of creativity is an under- statement, she is always looking for ways to improve the industry and offer assistance to her fellow home stagers. So, in 2015 Black took her flair for home staging to the next level and founded Exit, Staged Right! which offers furniture rental for home stagers. Black says that it was a simple decision, “In 2015 I realized the need for a luxury furniture rental service in our area so Exit, Staged Right! was formed.”
Black has been in the staging game since April 2006, and she’s pretty clear she “fell into” the industry.
“I’ve always been a doer. I get things done. During the eight years as a stay at home mom I was involved in my kids’ school as Chair of School Council, Fundraising Chair and I created the yearbooks,” she said.
So how does a Humber College graduate who left a successful career in the travel and tourism industry to be a stay-at-home mom become one of the Top 100 Most Influential People in real estate staging, well if you ask Wendy Black, she kind of fell into it and has never looked back. Now Wendy Black Interiors carries their own extensive line of furniture and accessories that are housed in their sister companies, Exit, Staged Right! warehouse located in Kitchener, Ontario. Having both a staging company and furniture rental business keeps rental costs down while allowing for all the furnishings to be carefully chosen by Black to capture the latest styles and trends. Whether you are looking to stage a tiny condo or a multi- million-dollar home and all properties in between, we have the right scale and style of furnishings to suit your needs and assist you in getting the largest return on your investment with the least amount of time on the market.
“It’s normal for me to always push forward, and when I start, failure just isn’t in the back of my mind.”
A neighbour liked how I decorated my house and just asked me for help with staging her home for an upcoming open house after it had been on the market for three months. After selecting paint colours and showcasing the home, it sold for full asking price at the open house. Black had found her new calling. She began working with a local staging company, received her Canadian Certified Staging Professionals (CCSP) designation in 2008 and in 2011 was ready to push forward and started out on her own with Wendy Black Interiors. Black has used her experience throughout her professional career to share herself as a professional and as a business owner. “My former life before I was a stay at home mom was in the travel industry. I worked for three yacht charter com- panies, got my sailing certification and sailed the British Virgin Islands five times. I did corporate travel which lead
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OCTOBER 2018 • SPOTLIGHT ON BUSINESS MAGAZINE
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