1975 -1986

• Was given a Psychological Assessment Screening by Knoll to determine if I was suited for the job and in November, 1975, was hired as a sales representative in Los Angeles. There I fixed broken chairs, made presentations to architects and designers, priced out projects, and, most importantly, learned how the business worked from the ground up.

• 1977 Knoll moves me to New York City to be the Knoll representative to firms like: I.M.Pei, Marcel Breuer, George Nelson, and Gwathmey-Siegel.

• 1979 Become Assistant to the President of Knoll (Marshall Cogan)

• Worked with Seibu Department Store in Tokyo and introduced Knoll Japan, with a showroom designed by Motomi Kawakami.

• Summer of 1979 along with Stephen Swid, Chairman of Knoll, was invited to Beijing to view furniture production and design capacity while fostering a working relationship with China. We were told at the time that Knoll was the first American Furniture Company to visit China.

• Created a partnership with Itoki, a leading Japanese manufacturer, and hired Bruce Hannah to create an “American thinking desk for Japanese thinking people.”

• Opened manufacturing in Seoul Korea with Kesson International.

• Opened Knoll distribution in Hong Kong, Singapore and Australia.

• Became Regional Manager for Knoll in Southern California and Arizona.

• Move to New York in 1983 to manage the company’s largest market.

• Was sent by Knoll to The Program for Management Development (PMD) at Harvard Business School.

• Attended Cornell’s Tools and Techniques for Facility Planners and Managers.

• 1986 appointed lead the Knoll National Accounts program. Marshall Cogan and Stephen Swid end their long partnership abruptly and longtime CEO is Larry Ryan is terminated and Mel Silver is made CEO.