SPOTLIGHT ON BUSINESS MAGAZINE OCTOBER 2018
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
to group travel and tour escorting. One of my most memorable tasks was organizing the Southern Legis- lative Conference for U.S. Senators in Toronto. Then I was a Sears Travel Manager for years where I travelled extensively.” “It’s normal for me to always push forward, and when I start, failure just isn’t in the back of my mind.” “Realtors play a huge role in our business. They refer their clients to us for consultations and/or occupied and vacant home staging. Typically, realtors pay for the consultation on behalf of their clients, where I would provide a walk through of the home giving recommendations on how to best prepare the home for the upcoming listing.” “I leave a prioritized list of written recommendations for everything from lighting, editing, decluttering and furniture placement to selecting paint colour and exterior landscape grooming. Today’s buyers are not as handy as people were in the past, and 7 out of 10 buyers want move-in ready homes so much, that they are willing to pay more money for it! Sometimes the home requires light or full staging, and if the homeowner is on board, we make arrangements to return when the home is ready to be listed and showcase the home for them.” “Buyers need to feel emotionally connected to the space, we want them to imagine themselves relaxing in the living room or entertaining in the kitchen. I create the look most appealing to the widest range of prospective buyers by combining the latest trends in decor with proven methods of layout and design.” Black says real estate is integral to how her company runs and functions.
She said that staging the home helps realtors sell for more money while
truck and transported to the home. Our team then stages the home to feature it at it’s absolute best in preparation for the photographer and then the listing, and more impor- tantly, the homeowner doesn’t have to stress out about all the details.” Currently the president of the Kitchener Waterloo chapter of the Real Estate Staging Association (RESA), and winner of RESA’s Top 10 Home Stager of the Year award in Canada for vacant homes, Black feels blessed to be able to be creative at work each day. “It’s the best part of all. A home’s imperfections could be detrimental to the sale of the property, so addressing even the most difficult problems and highlighting the right selling features of the home allows it to stand above the competition,” Black goes on to say. “I love to be challenged so one of the most creative pro- cesses comes from occupied stagings which has me using most of the homeowner’s own furnishings to best showcase the space. The homeowners love the new look and regret not having the home decorated like that from the very beginning.”
spending less time on the open market.
On the other side, she also sees dealing with homeowners themselves as crucial.
“We usually are given access to the home to stage it when the homeowners are not present. It is great to see the reaction when they see their transformed family home for the first time. The usual response is that they no longer want to move because they love it so much,” she said. “We advise our clients that we can provide redesign consulta- tions for their new home to showcase it in a way they love from the very beginning. “ “Realtors play a huge role in our business…” On top of her March 2008 designation as a Canadian Certi- fied Staging Professional, she has been designated a Luxury Staging Specialist and Occupied Staging Specialist by the CSP International Business Training Academy.
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We asked Black to take us through the actual staging process with Wendy Black Interiors.
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“Firstly, time is spent behind the scenes planning and creating the showcasing of the home down to every last detail. We set up the vignettes in our warehouse exactly how it will appear in the home,” Black tells us.
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“Everything is then packed up and placed carefully in the
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Wendy Black Interiors
50 Ottawa Street South, Kit
wendy@wendyblackinteriors.com 519-498-5509
www.wendyblackinteriors.com
as spotlighted in the OCTOBER 2018 issue of SPOTLIGHT ON BUSINESS MAGAZINE
www.spotlightonbusinessmagazine.com
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