The Office Is Changing — And It's More Interesting Than You Think (Part 1)

The Office Is Changing — And It's More Interesting Than You Think (Part 1)

HOSTS Josh Smargiassi — Host, Boomerang Office Furniture / Common Sense Office Furniture John Sorrell — Co-Host & Office Furniture Industry Veteran WHAT WE COVER * DoorDash, a machete, and a very confused delivery driver — the intro that has nothing to do with furniture and everything to do with how we live now * The case for paying cash and living below your means — a surprisingly real conversation about financial discipline * Extinct office rooms: the file room on rolling tracks, the 40-person boardroom, the CRT corner insert workstation * Why less square footage doesn't mean fewer people — it means smarter use of space * The open office plan isn't new — Frank Lloyd Wright was doing it. And it keeps coming back around * Why private spaces are coming back: when everything's open, you can't have a candid conversation without the whole floor hearing it * Lighting evolution: from humming fluorescent tubes to app-controlled zone lighting that adjusts by section * The felt cubicle ceiling — what it is, how it works acoustically, and why it's better than it sounds * The tax and permitting advantages of building with furniture instead of walls — most business owners have no idea * Sprinkler codes, HVAC, lighting clearance — why office furniture can replace construction in many applications * Phone fatigue: why a whole patio of people sat outside at a bar with live music and nobody looked at their phone * Hacky sacks are back — and Boomerang should put their logo on one KEY QUOTES "You don't need a 40-person boardroom. We did them — they were incredible — but now half the room zooms in anyway." "The reason people do cubicles instead of walls: full write-off in year one vs. 1/39th depreciation for forty years. Most people never knew that." "We can build out an entire office without doing any construction. That's the thing people never knew about Boomerang and Common Sense." "Everything that was old is new again. The kids are hacky sacking now and nobody's on their phones. There's something happening." PRODUCTS & REFERENCES MENTIONED Artifex — acoustic felt cubicle ceiling panels (creates privacy without full enclosure) Boomerang's showroom, South Jersey — features app-controlled zone lighting and a live example of the felt cubicle ceiling installation The furniture-as-construction argument: full Section 179 write-off vs. 39-year straight-line depreciation for construction SPONSORED BY Boomerang Office Furniture — boomerangofficefurniture.com Common Sense Office Furniture — commonsenseoff.com

25 Years, One Company, One Industry: What the Office Looked Like Then vs. Now with Adam Wayne

GUEST Adam Wayne — 25-year veteran, Global Furniture Group, Northeast Region (PA, NJ, NY, DE) Website: globalfurnituregroup.com WHAT WE COVER * Global Furniture Group's origin story: Saul Feldberg starting in his garage, now a billion-dollar manufacturer celebrating its 60th anniversary * How Global maintained culture from a family garage to 3,500+ employees across North America * Adam's 25 years at one company — what loyalty and culture actually look like from the inside * The Grand Getaway: Global's legendary annual customer appreciation trip and what attention to detail looks like at the highest level (branded toothpicks, napkins, mirrors — all of it) * What changed most in the office furniture industry from 2001 to 2026: filing cabinets, CRT corner inserts, height-adjustable desks, built-in power * Why height-adjustable tables went from luxury to standard — and the Bluetooth app that tracks your standing habits * NeoCon 2026 in Chicago: the trade show, the Merchandise Mart, and Global's exciting new Fulton Market showroom opening * The 'live in it for a while' philosophy — why Boomerang and Global both tell clients not to rush into changes * AI pop-ups during a podcast recording and what they say about where technology is headed * The felt-topped cubicle ceiling: the acoustic solution that looks open but functions like a private office * Tax advantages of furniture over construction — why building with furniture instead of walls is smarter than most people know KEY QUOTES "You almost have to get a height-adjustable table now to attract people. And it's so inexpensive not to." "From a toothpick with a Global symbol to the sticker on the toilet paper — that's what tells you what the main focus of a business is." "We can build out an entire office without doing any construction. Most people have no idea that's even possible." MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE NeoCon — the annual international contract furnishings trade show, held every June at the Merchandise Mart in Chicago Fulton Market, Chicago — where Global is opening its new showroom for 2026 Global's Free Fit height-adjustable table series — includes a Bluetooth app that tracks sit/stand patterns Artifex — acoustic felt cubicle ceiling panels referenced in the John & Josh segment CONNECT WITH GLOBAL FURNITURE GROUP globalfurnituregroup.com SPONSORED BY Boomerang Office Furniture — boomerangofficefurniture.com Common Sense Office Furniture — commonsenseoff.com

How Branding Transforms the Workplace with Kim Chudoff

GUEST Kim Chunoff — Co-Owner, Fast Signs of Maple Shade, NJ Website: Search "Fast Signs Maple Shade" or email/call directly WHAT WE COVER * How Jeff Chunoff went from Tint Man to one of the most recognizable vehicle wrap businesses in New Jersey * Kim's journey: leaving her family's construction company in 2019 and finding unexpected purpose in the signage world * How Amazon changed the conversation around workplace environments — and kicked off a wave of interior branding investment * How vinyl graphics, wall murals, and glass treatments transform office culture without a major renovation * The synergy between signage/branding and office furniture — how Boomerang and Fast Signs work together on client projects * Why brand consistency across office locations (like insurance companies and franchises) matters more than most businesses realize * Kim's philosophy on her young team — empowering people, investing in their 401k, treating employees like family * The COVID pivot: plexiglass screens, safety stickers, and building new products in a crisis * Why running toward a problem is always better than running from it * The Wayfair problem — why buying office furniture online sounds great until it isn't * Why being a human being is the real competitive advantage in 2026 KEY QUOTES "We're not just a sign shop. If you read my Google reviews, you'll understand." "In 2026 and moving forward, our superpower is going to be our ability to be a human being — because everyone can go online and buy from Wayfair." "When you walk into a business and you don't see anything branded inside, you know exactly where you are on the buying level." CONNECT WITH FAST SIGNS OF MAPLE SHADE Google: Fast Signs Maple Shade They are a full-production shop — one of the few that produces entirely in-house rather than reselling SPONSORED BY Boomerang Office Furniture — boomerangofficefurniture.com Common Sense Office Furniture — commonsenseoff.com

From the Army to the Corner Office: Real Estate, AI, and Why the Office Still Wins with Tom Weitzel

GUEST Tom Weitzel — Managing Director, Tenant Representation, JLL Contact: JLL.com — search Tom Weitzel for email and contact details WHAT WE COVER * Tom's origin story: Cleveland, 2.1 GPA, joining the Army at 19 to see the world * The military-to-real estate pipeline: how Army discipline and mentorship shaped his career * Deploying to Iraq in 2005 and the decision to leave the military for civilian life * Landing in Philadelphia with no network — and why it turned out to be the perfect city * What tenant representation actually means — and why most people don't understand the commercial side of real estate * The Staubach acquisition by JLL in 2008 and how it changed Tom's career trajectory * JLL's billion-dollar investment in technology and AI tools — and what that actually looks like for clients * The real return-to-office picture: Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday are back — and Mondays are trending that way * Why choosing which days to come in doesn't work — and what actually does * AI: the washing machine analogy vs. the computer analogy — which is more accurate? * The CEO who said: I can't just think of my employees' productivity — I have to think of their wellbeing as human beings * Trade school vs. four-year college in an AI world — who's actually safer? * Eric Church's commencement speech and the Ready Player One warning about living in virtual reality KEY QUOTES "It's not the washing machine — it's the computer. What do you mean you're not using AI? It's like telling your boss you don't need a computer." "My job is to think about the wellbeing of this human being. Show me one study that says isolation from colleagues is a positive thing for a person." — Tom's client, CEO of 800-person company "Relevance. That's the only question. Is what I'm doing right now relevant to the job — or just beneficial to me personally?" LINKS MENTIONED Eric Church Commencement Speech — search 'Eric Church commencement speech 2025' on YouTube [link in show notes] Ready Player One by Ernest Cline — the book Josh references on virtual reality and mandatory real-world time CONNECT WITH TOM JLL.com — Tom Weitzel, Managing Director, Philadelphia SPONSORED BY Boomerang Office Furniture — boomerangofficefurniture.com Common Sense Office Furniture — commonsenseoff.com

UFO's, Coffee, and Office Furniture

This episode is that conversation. We started talking about UFOs. We ended up talking about office furniture. And somewhere in between, we covered the thing that actually connects them: the way human beings process the unfamiliar, resist what they don't understand, and eventually — when someone takes the time to explain it clearly — come around to seeing something they couldn't see before. It sounds like a stretch. It isn't. Because the office furniture industry has a UFO problem. Most buyers walk into a purchase with a fixed idea of what they want, a brand they've heard of, and a price point they've already decided feels right. And most vendors are happy to confirm all three and close the deal. Nobody stops to ask the harder questions. Nobody slows it down. Nobody says — before we talk about what you want, let me show you what you might not know you're missing. That's the coffee part. The part where the real conversation starts. In this episode we get into what it actually looks like when a vendor takes education seriously — when the goal isn't to close the room but to open it. What it means to build trust before you build a proposal. And why the clients who take the time to understand what they're buying almost always end up with something they're genuinely proud of. It's a little unexpected. It covers more ground than you'd think. And if you've ever had a conversation that started somewhere strange and ended somewhere useful — you'll know exactly what we mean. Believe In Your Office is produced by Boomerang Office Furniture, with offices in South Jersey and Orlando, Florida. Nearly 30 years of helping businesses across the Philadelphia, Delaware, and Central Florida markets build spaces their teams actually want to come back to.