"Building a business is really hard, exhausting, and time-consuming" with Chaya Krinsky
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Chaya Krinsky, Co-Founder of TOV, has a keen understanding of what the millennial shopper wants. Chaya saw a gap in the market for stylish and affordable furniture and worked to provide chic, fashion-inspired pieces by examining runway trends. Chaya’s love of interior design brought her into the furniture space where she has changed what it looks like to be a woman in this male-dominated industry. When she isn’t shaking up the world of furniture, Chaya loves spending time with her three daughters and supporting the performing arts.
Can you tell our readers about your background?
Career-wise, I went to college to become a teacher and worked as a teacher for ten years. I worked in early childhood, specifically with three-year-olds, but I always loved the furniture and interior design. When I got the opportunity to take on this big adventure with my husband Bruce, I jumped on it. It was so exciting to turn a hobby into a business.
When we started TOV, I didn’t have any background or formal training in interior design. I was very much self-taught, but I was so passionate about it that it came naturally to me.
What inspired you to start your business?
The whole reason we started TOV was to fill a void in the marketplace. We knew it was nearly impossible to find well-made furniture that was affordable and super stylish. There was no brand in the low to mid range price point that was spot on in terms of trends and style. Now Target is killing it and has a great design team, but back then, there was just Home Goods if you were lucky enough to find a great piece there. It made total sense for us to jump in.
What inspired me most was our customers. We had Coleman Furniture, a website that Bruce had purchased and built up, so we knew our customers were looking for more trendy, upscale-looking pieces at an affordable price. That’s how we knew we had something special and unique to bring to the table.
Where is your business based?
We’re in Miami Beach now! Our offices are here, and we’re opening a showroom before Spring 2021. We also have warehouses in California and North Carolina.
How did you start your business? What were the first steps you took?
When Bruce purchased the Coleman Furniture website, it was really just a domain. We started TOV by buying a few containers of furniture from China and shipping them to California. We didn’t have a real plan at that point! We just bought beautiful furniture, and when it got here, we had to figure out how to sell it!
When we came up with the name, we were playing around with what we wanted our brand to stand for. We knew that we wanted something really positive and affirming. “Tov” in Hebrew means “good.” It made total sense and has brought so much positive energy to the brand.
When I started creating our own designs, it was important to learn how furniture works and how to make a piece that is equal parts comfortable, functional, and beautiful. I did a lot of traveling to different parts of Europe like Milan and Paris to look at furniture and understand how to make it chic and stylish.
I went through a lot of trial and error to hone in on the design process. I tend to think about the room first. I imagine a space and then figure out what I would want as the ideal shopper for our brand. Our designs are created to fit a specific mood and style of a room.
A lot of times, high-end furniture fits a certain aesthetic on paper, but when you put it in a room, it looks bonkers! I’m always asking, "How can we make a room look beautiful and elevated with just one sofa?” We focus on feminine curves for feminine customers! Keeping that soft feel is ALWAYS a top priority in our designs.
What has been the most effective way of raising awareness for your business?
Everything was organic from the start. We didn’t do any advertising or PR. It was just people finding us. When we started, we were marketing the furniture toward brick and mortar stores and designers. We just went direct to consumer in mid-2020. The industry really found us because people desperately wanted this affordable, chic product. There was so much need for it and we had this tunnel vision for creating beautiful, well-made furniture. Stores and designers were looking for us!
Our Instagram following has been strong since we were doing business to business. People appreciate our upscale design aesthetic and love that it’s also attainable. Seeing a luxurious, beautiful product that you can afford is such a great feeling!
What have been your biggest challenges and how did you overcome them?
I think the number one challenge is doing it all while being a mom to three kids! It’s really challenging to make everything work and do all the things I’ve envisioned doing. It’s taken many years to learn how to focus, prioritize, and try to maintain balance.
How do you stay focused?
I’m always trying to refocus on our goals. It’s easy to get distracted by all the trends in our industry and want to fill even more voids that we see, but we have to focus on our mission which is to provide polished, feminine, quality furniture at an affordable price point.
I also work at staying focused on who our ideal customer is. Anyone who wants their business to grow needs to always be thinking about who their ideal customer is and how to get and KEEP that customer. How are they thinking? What do they want? What problems are they having that you can solve?
It has been especially tough to focus during COVID because we’re home and the world feels chaotic! It’s so easy to get distracted, but you have to do the internal, emotional work to maintain focus. It’s the part of being an adult that we don’t get an instructional manual for!
How do you differentiate your business from the competition?
We are incredibly proud of what we’ve built and continue to build. It’s a continuous journey, so we don't even look at our competition. Not to sound cliche, but I don’t care what they’re doing! We’re doing what we’re doing and keeping our heads in the right place.
We strive every day to stay focused on our original mission. It’s so easy to try to change your message and change your goals when you see what your competition is doing, so staying laser focused is super important to us.
Keeping our furniture affordable and beautiful is our number one priority. If we create a stellar piece that’s above our customer’s ideal price point, we will scrap it. That’s how important that is to us. I think the trust that our customers have in us truly sets us apart, so we will always work to keep that trust.
What has been your most effective marketing strategy to grow your business?
There are so many answers to choose from because we have so many things in place to help our business grow! Right now, I would say that collaborating with celebrities, TikTok stars, and YouTube personalities has been immensely impactful. They love TOV!
The reputation and relationships that we’ve built with our celebrity clients go beyond the furniture. We’re family-oriented, we’re humble, and we’re fun, normal people! We treat these celebs like the great, normal people that they are, too. At the end of the day, we want to provide them with excellent service and great style, and they appreciate that!
To everyone out there who thinks they’re “too old” for TikTok and all that it entails, I have to tell you: TikTok and YouTube are the future! Understanding them and what they can do for your business is crucial. It’s important to take the time to get to know the app and engage with it!
We also believe in checking in on your past customers! Nurturing those relationships will take you so far!
What's your best piece of advice for aspiring and new entrepreneurs?
I always want to help aspiring entrepreneurs understand that building a business is really hard, exhausting, and time-consuming. No one seems to mention that! You may not be able to go out with your friends as much as you want. You’ll probably miss some parties and fun get togethers. But you have to understand that you can’t do it ALL. When I had to turn down invitations early on, it was hard. My friends didn’t understand, and honestly, I didn’t always understand why that had to happen. It was difficult, but it was rewarding. Stay focused on your customer and their needs and become comfortable with your life changing while you’re growing. It takes time to get to a place where you have more freedom. If you’re dedicated, you’ll be uncomfortable, but it’s well worth it.
I also think it’s so imperative to network with other female business owners. I’m a member of the Jewish Women’s Entrepreneur networking group, for example. It’s so refreshing and helpful to get to talk to other like-minded female business owners about the hard things. Having that support is so incredibly important! We’re becoming more of a woman’s world, but we’re still in a very male-dominated one!
What's your favorite app, blog, and book? Why?
Digital Minimalism by Cal Newport is beyond, beyond incredible. Every mom needs to read this book! It talks about how easy it is to get lost and overwhelmed in our digital world. The book helps you focus on the best uses of technology and how to remain focused and HUMAN in our very tech-driven society.
And speaking of best uses for technology, my favorite app is Waze because I’m terrible with directions and it gets me where I need to go. I’m lost in my own city!
I love food blogs — I’m a crazy foodie! I adore food and I love to cook! I read The Pioneer Woman and love everything she makes! Half Baked Harvest is a fantastic blog, and her cookbook is worth every penny!
What's your favorite business tool or resource? Why?
I love Instagram and would 100% call it a tool! It’s the best resource for any business. It’s so easy to look things up and find inspiration. Plus, being able to see first-hand how customers use products and furniture is incredibly valuable.
Who is your business role model? Why?
Emily Weiss from Glossier is my number one idol. She’s so balanced and super focused like me.
How do you balance work and life?
I could give you all these flowery answers, but I’m a very real girl, so I’ll say that you need to have the right support and help in your life. You cannot do it all on your own. We have an amazing nanny and wonderful friends who are always there for us when we need to travel for our business. Our parents have stepped in to watch our kids, and we have great community schools that know we have to be away a lot. It’s just extremely important to ask for that help and know when you need it.
To me, keeping a balanced life is much easier when you put your ego aside. If you let things go to your head or get emotional about things, you will forget your priorities. Understand that everything comes from God. I do believe that God is leading our lives and any success we’ve had is from Him. It’s not about me!
What’s your favorite way to decompress?
I do intense athletic training every day. I’m an avid rower on the machine! It’s a great way to decompress.
Bruce and I actually met at the gym, and working out is still one of our favorite things to do as a couple. We have an incredible trainer. We bond and compete, so it’s super fun and helps us stay focused!
I also read a lot. I love to read and spend time with the kids. As a family, we are committed to recognizing the Sabbath starting Friday nights. We shut off and put phones away. We don’t drive anywhere, and we spend time with family and friends. We’ll play board games, go to the park, and basically enjoy non-electronic things! When Sabbath starts Friday night, we can FEEL the relaxation settle over our house. I get to meet my teenager again! It’s so funny to watch teenagers without phones in 2020. It’s so wholesome and they can be silly and young again. They don’t even miss them!
We also still observe the Sabbath when we travel, which is often! We can be having a crazy week in India, but we will still shut off and have a peaceful day. People don’t realize how important that is one day a week!
I also keep my phone off and in a closet on Sundays. It’s so important for our emotional health to take that time away from the phones. If there’s an emergency, they can call our landline. That’s right — we still have one of those!
What do you have planned for the next six months?
It’s a really exciting time for TOV! We just started selling in Romania, Dubai, and Europe. We’re also opening our very first real showroom in one of the most trendy areas of Miami! Space is going to have furniture and an outlet store, which our customers have been asking for so much!
How can our readers connect with you?
I answer all of the messages on Instagram — I will never give that up because I want to hear our customers! Hit me up on Instagram at @tovfurniture and on LinkedIn!