WHB founder and president Lisa White shares the story behind WHB’s founding and how she was able to grow the business by walking in Faith and providing excellent service to customers.
Atlanta, Georgia, Sept. 30, 2024 – White Howard Brands (WHB), a full-service commercial furniture dealership headquartered in Atlanta, has achieved an important growth milestone, going from a solo minority woman-owned business to a strong core dynamic team that is complemented by dedicated local, warehouses, a delivery team, and professional installers.
Founded in 2017 by Lisa White, WHB provides complete commercial interior solutions that support the architectural and design community throughout the US. Aside from supplying new and pre-owned furnishing, WHB provides various services for its partners, such as space planning, design, and specification of architectural floor plans, project management, delivery, and installation of furniture. It serves partners across various industries, such as healthcare, government, education, non-profit, corporate, and hospitality.
Lisa White, Founder of White Howard Brands
Lisa’s journey to establish and grow WHB had its roots in divine prophecy. She worked for 23 years in sales at furniture manufacturer Kimball International, which is now the primary manufacturer for WHB. One day, a pastor prophesied in church that Lisa would have her own business, but she paid little heed to it, as she was happy in her job at Kimball.
One day, on a company-sponsored business trip to Italy, Lisa met Carolyn Francis, a fellow Black woman who owned a commercial furniture dealership. She was inspired by Carolyn, as very few Black women owned businesses in this space. Lisa learned as much as she could from Carolyn and approached the president of Kimball with the idea of establishing a select furniture dealership selling the company’s products in Georgia. The president agreed with this idea, and Kimball provided financial and logistical support for Lisa to establish what would become White Howard Brands.
“As someone who lives by Faith, I knew that only God could have put together something like that,” Lisa says. “It’s like He tapped me on the shoulder and said ‘I told you this was going to happen.’ So I let the pastor and the church know that the prophecy came true.”
Lisa adds that her entry into entrepreneurship allowed her to follow in the footsteps of her mother and her grandmother, who were both passionate entrepreneurs in the days when there were fewer economic opportunities for women, especially women of color. Recognizing this, she made it her mission to share her knowledge and experience with her fellow women of color, helping them benefit from business ownership. This is evident in the composition of WHB, where the core team members are all women coming from diverse ethnic backgrounds.
As an entrepreneur, Lisa became an active part of the local business scene, joining organizations such as Atlanta Black Chambers (ABC), Commercial Real Estate Women (CREW), and Women in Defense (WIDGA). She was recognized as the inaugural ABC Member of the Year in 2023 and one of ICABA’s “Women of Impact” that same year. She also holds a seat on the board of the Museum of Design Atlanta (MODA) and was recently inducted into the Georgia Titan 100.
According to Lisa, WHB’s growth was fueled by the close coordination and white-glove service it provides its clients, which WHB prefers to call partners, due to the collaborative nature of their work. Going beyond just providing furniture, WHB gets to know its partners and the goals they have for their spaces. It helps them create an ideal space for the business that helps attract and retain talent by creating the best working environment possible. This is reflected by the company’s tagline of ‘Our mission, your goal’. WHB also has good relationships with many architects and interior designers, cooperating with them to create the most functional and aesthetically pleasing spaces.
“It’s our partner’s selection that is the most important because, at the end of the day, it’s not me who will be working there,” Lisa says. “The typical furniture expenditure is not inexpensive. When purchasing furniture, our partners hope that they last upwards of 15 years. So, to make that investment worthwhile, we make sure to put a lot of thoughtfulness into the process.”
Looking forward, WHB aims to continue growing its business, serving more partners in the Atlanta Metro area and nationwide. It also aims to expand to several overseas markets, including Colombia and Guyana. To achieve this, WHB will expand and nurture its team towards its full potential.
“From just me, WHB’s team has now grown to 15 highly capable individuals in just a few years. We will continue expanding our business and headcount. As WHB continues marching towards success, I want to see everyone under the WHB umbrella thrive and be their best selves,” Lisa concludes.
