The Road to Why

John Gabbert is founder and chairman of Room & Board, a home furnishings business headquartered in Minneapolis with over 1,100 staff members nationwide.

As a young man, John joined his father's furniture business. In 1980 at the age of 27, John left the family business to start his own furniture company which, over the past forty years, has helped to redefine the industry.

Last year John announced that Room & Board has transitioned to 100% employee ownership through an employee stock ownership plan (ESOP).

In our episode, John will discuss:
(0:52) – What was John’s upbringing like?
(3:09) – How did John get started in the family business?
(5:01) – How did John’s personality start to shape his father’s business?
(7:26) – What was the experience of breaking away from his father’s business to start Room & Board like?
(9:30) – How did John come up with a new direction for Room & Board?
(12:16) – Where did John’s business values come from?
(13:34) – How did Room & Board rethink the traditional furniture business model?
(17:02) – How is John thinking about succession?
(18:25) – Why did John choose the ESOP model? And how did his employees react to the decision?
(21:41) – How does John see his position evolving at Room & Board over the next few years?
(24:15) – Where does John think entrepreneurs go wrong?
(26:43) – What is the ‘why’ that motivates John?

What is The Road to Why?

From start-up entrepreneurs to multi-generational family business owners, most founders are driven to succeed for reasons well beyond making money. Whether it’s a passion for reshaping their industry, building a family legacy or advancing the causes they care most about — or, in many cases, all of the above — exploring the larger “why” of their life’s work offers insights into how successful leaders operate and what is really important to them.

On The Road to Why, host Eric Czepyha, Director of Business Services at Northern Trust, speaks with business owners, entrepreneurs and visionaries about business, family, wealth and legacy and shares advice and life lessons from those who have found success in ways expected and unexpected.