Meet The New WithIt Board President
After over 20 years of experience in the furniture industry and a stint in entrepreneurship, Cathy Valent joined the Springs Digital team five years ago to help lead the new arm of Springs Creative. She and her team work with creatives in the furniture industry using their large catalog of unique prints and their custom design services to create patterns for furniture, wallpaper, textiles and more.
Cathy has been a WithIt member since she owned her own business in textiles, and this year she is serving as our board president. We sat down with her to talk about her career, advice she has for others and what she’s hoping to accomplish in her role at WithIt. You can read the full conversation below!
Q&A
How did you get started at Springs Digital?
I’ve been in the furniture industry for 20 years. I had a previous business where I worked for myself doing textile product development as well as color and trend projection. Our division of Springs Digital has only been in the home industry for 6 years, so we’re a pretty new company to the furniture market. Over the past 5 years I have tried to use my contacts to try to educate people with what Springs is. We’re actually a 135-year-old company. Our division has only been around about 6-7 years but we do a lot of custom work. We like to think we’re on the cutting edge of trends.
What does your day look like?
We have a sales force, and I manage the sales team. There’s three of us at this point. I do a fair amount of travel. I’m based in the High Point showroom and handle the Mississippi and Hickory markets along with other key accounts around the country. A typical day is following up on sales calls, working with design on new collections, and there’s a lot of styling involved in what I do. I have a full design team that can implement those changes.
What is it about textiles that speaks to you?
It kind of gets in your blood and it never leaves. Everyone I know in textiles feels the same way. For me color was always very important, so you put creation and color together and it’s very attractive. I love to see the end product. To see a piece of furniture on a commercial or in a showroom is very exhilarating. I have a great design team and they are wonderful at what they do so it’s very rewarding to see their creativity too.
You don’t realize at the time why things are put in front of you, but I think it’s important to keep the connections that you make and volunteer. Try to get involved early on. The more you give, the more you get. It’s a wonderful tribe.
Cathy Valent, Springs Digital
Why is an organization like WithIt important?
Number one is networking. For younger people coming into the industry it’s a way to help navigate the landscape in a productive manner. If you don’t know much about the market and you come in as a young person, it can be a little overwhelming. I often say people who go to market the first time are like deer in headlights. It’s a way to get familiar with the industry with support – find a mentor or a group of people you can go to for help. We have over 650 members now, so I can pick up the phone and call any of those members and get a response. And that’s a wonderful attribute to have. That’s a wonderful tool to be able to utilize, especially in sales.
As the incoming president, what are you looking forward to this year?
We have a new internship program that we’re launching. We started the mentoring program last year and now we’re going to work on our job bank. We’re expanding our design tours. We’re doing one in the fall in Chicago for the first time. One of our other key goals is we’re moving west. WithIt started in the southeast but we have members all across the country and in Canada. We’re hosting our annual conference in Kansas City, and it’s our first one not on the east coast. We really want to broaden our horizons. We’ve had the members in these areas, so now it’s time to support them.
What’s one lesson you would share with young women entering the industry?
Any experience is worthy. You don’t realize at the time why things are put in front of you, but I think it’s important to keep the connections that you make and volunteer. Try to get involved early on. The more you give, the more you get. It’s a wonderful tribe.
Is there anything else you’d like to add?
We’re so grateful for all of our corporate sponsors and we want to show our support to them. We have a fabulous educational bank of lunch and learns that are available to our members. Sometimes I think people don’t realize all the tools we have available. My experience with WithIt is first as a private small business owner and now as a corporate member, so I’ve been fortunate to experience membership on both levels and gotten great things out of both levels. I think when I got the most out of it is when I put time into it and started going to the annual conference. It’s a great way to meet people, both professionally and personally.
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If you’re considering WithIt membership for your professional journey, find out more about WithIt’s mission here or join today.
