A Journey to Design

As Koorosh Sharghi embraces his new role of President at Studio TK, it fully seems to be the most natural next step in a career that has a developing and distinct arc.  

Sharghi began his career from a background in finance, but quickly tackled the larger issues of overall business operations. Then he found himself engaged with brand and marketing issues, and ultimately product development. And he did all that while navigating an interesting and growth-inducing progression of roles in diverse industries and market segments — from hospitality to consumer goods to pet products, finally landing at Kimball International and the office furniture industry. 

Koorosh Sharghi is the new President of Studio TK, a Teknion brand. Photos courtesy of Teknion

“There’s a lot more to running a business than reading the P & L, but I do think it’s kind of given me an advantage in just being able to take a more holistic view on a business. So, it’s stuck with me, the finance background for sure. But throughout my career, I knew I wanted to do more than just report out on the numbers. So, I started to dabble in really any area that I could, taking on opportunities to sit on various cross-functional project teams so I could get exposure to marketing and sales and product development, and then build connections through those functions in a variety of companies. And ultimately it turned into opportunities to be able to take leadership jobs in those functions. So, I transitioned into more of a marketing and product development type role.” 

Studio TK launched in 2013 as part of the Teknion brand portfolio to provide products with a distinct design pedigree for an emerging need in the office workplace — informal spaces to socialize, collaborate, and build an organizational culture. It has experienced steady growth, both in volume and product portfolio. And it is an opportune time for a leader who has discovered a powerful attraction to design. 

Kalm seating and Sly tables from Studio TK.

“This industry pulled at my passion strings because design, product development, more of the creative aspects of business, those are the things that really resonated with me throughout my career. And I realized how much opportunity there was to elevate this industry compared to the consumer products world or the durables world that I came from. To me, I saw it as a huge opportunity to do something new, do something that I could get passionate about.” 

Sharghi is also passionate about building the Studio TK brand. “This brand is positioned for growth, and for me, the opportunity to be the person who leads that growth is a huge draw for why I wanted to come and take this role. It also helps fact that it’s under the Teknion umbrella, so there’s a lot of great support there.” 

Petal Lounge seating from Studio TK.

He thinks that sort of growth will be achieved through their ability to create meaningful differentiation from all the other brands that are creating a level of saturation in the segment for what some have called ancillary furniture, but which Studio TK labels as a “social applications” focus for their brand. “For us, it’s all very applications based. Where some other manufacturers out there might be focused on individual products, Studio TK is deliberately applications focused. For example, how do you build comprehensive solutions for a collaboration hub? How do you build solutions for a workplace cafe? How do you build complete applications and solutions for the greeting and welcoming area for a company? If you visit our website, you’ll see that it’s all positioned as products that all fall within those applications. I think that’s a unique, differentiated position and my goal and our team’s goal is to evolve that position to become even more relevant for today.” 

And building that internal team at Studio TK is another crucial focus for Sharghi. “My focus while still very externally driven, is also very internally driven, meaning making sure we have the right culture, the right talent, the right motivations internally to be able to do some of these things. That is incredibly important to me, so I spend a disproportionate amount of my time making sure that our teams have the tools they need, that we have the right people in the right roles, that we are building the right culture, and especially early in this journey doing those things now versus putting it on the back burner for later is very, very important. And that’s where a lot of my focus is right now, getting us ready for that level of growth.” 

Santé cafe furniture from Studio TK.

Koorosh Sharghi is only five months into his tenure at Studio TK, so his perspectives are fresh. “Yeah, it’s still a bit brand new, but feels like a bit longer. And I’d say in a good way. The company has been easy to connect with. The dealers have been easy to connect with. The A&D folks that we work with have been easy to connect with. So, in general, it’s felt like a pretty smooth five months. But yeah, the opportunities are endless, so deciding when to do what is important. But one thing I know for sure is that getting the team excited around everything we are doing is the most important part.” 

As the office workplace evolves and new models of working emerge, it is clear that new furniture applications will need to take shape. It is also clear that Studio TK and its new leader will be paying close attention.