Green Couch Sets Stage for Success

How do you make your brand stand out among the others?  Simply have a photo shoot with a green couch in downtown San Francisco and people will come flocking to you. Thus begins the story of Green Couch Staging and Design, owned and operated by SMSU marketing/creative advertising alumnus Jeff Schlarb.  With the first year of business under his belt and an unending determination to succeed, no one can tell what is in store next for this motivated entrepreneur and his mascot, the green couch.

Schlarb and wife Tracey, an interior designer, started their residential staging business in San Francisco in June 2002.  They work with residential realtors and sellers to temporarily decorate or enhance residences with the intent to make them more sellable. In effect, Green Couch Staging is a marketing company, marrying interior design, web design, and marketing services to assist realtors and sellers in the real estate transaction process.  Not only does Green Couch “stage” open houses to impress and please audiences of all types, but also photographs the designs for use on clients’ websites as well.  Green Couch offers lighting techniques, a warehouse of furnishing props, plant and floral décor and artwork.

While residential staging businesses are still a relatively new concept, Schlarb found a way to create buzz and brand identity for his company by developing a mascot, the green couch.  One day on a whim, Jeff and Tracey decided to take their mascot outside to explore the city and to do a photo shoot.  People were intrigued by the couch and many asked to sit with the mascot.  After the all day outing, the Schlarb’s had an epiphany.  They realized they could inspire others with their creativity just as they were inspired by the beauty of the green couch.

Of their first year in business, Schlarb says, “It’s been very exciting, extremely exhilarating and completely fulfilling.” As the self appointed marketing coordinator of Green Couch, Schlarb goes on to add, “If we have a customer who needs something done, there’s no corporation duopoly to navigate through to get a simple task complete.  The buck stops here!”  He adds, “The most challenging part of owning a business is managing the cash flow and keeping low liabilities!”   Even though his title is marketing coordinator, in reality, he’s also the merchandise buyer, salesman, advertising director,  project coordinator, and manager of all service vendors.

And when business is slow, persistence prevails.  “Getting on the phone, selling more jobs, setting appointments, creating work for us, being proactive!” is all part of being an entrepreneur.  Schlarb says some days he works into the late hours of the night and even into the weekend.  But because he enjoys what he does he declares, “I love being responsible for the success of our business and the happiness of our clients.”

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So how did Schlarb, a Trenton, Missouri, native and 1999 graduate from SMSU, get from Springfield to San Francisco?  He attributes a large portion of his success to the skills and values acquired at SMS.  “I enjoyed practical sales/management experience while I was attending SMS which proved to be extremely helpful,” he says.  In fact, last year he wrote a letter to his favorite professors to thank each one of them for giving him the knowledge to tackle difficult tasks in the “real world.”  Among those marketing professors who impacted Schlarb’s career moves were, Drs. Steve Parker, Melissa Burnett, Allen Schaefer, and Charles Pettijohn. Schlarb goes on, “Learning the sales cycle, researching your market, test marketing– all of the textbook principles a business needs to begin, flourish and persist,” were part of his learning experience at SMSU.  “Receiving a B.A. in Marketing from SMS offered me the opportunity to hammer out all-important professional values—such as positive attitude, creative copy writing, web design, leadership, presentation skills, positive expectation, management skills, and HARD WORK.” 

While at SMS, Schlarb rounded out his academic experience with professional work experience too.  He gained business, organization, leadership and entrepreneurial skills working for Southwestern Company from 1995-1999. 

Upon graduation, Schlarb decided to travel for a year.  In hindsight, he says he can see that the year of exploration gave him a chance to reflect and define himself and to choose his direction in life. This led to a stint as a program manager working for a fundraising company and then another with Allegiance Telecommunications as a national account manager, before moving to Green Couch.

During that time, he also met Tracey (Tray) his wife.  They enjoyed two 2001 weddings- one in Trenton and then a larger one in Cape Town, South Africa where Tray’s family lives.  The couple met while living in London.   Schlarb is also very quick to compliment and give credit to his wife. “Tray’s talents are the foundation that Green Couch Staging and Design relies upon.  Her skills as our lead interior designer are of mammoth importance!”    

When asked what practical advice Schlarb might give to recent or upcoming marketing graduates regarding the job search, he says, “Wherever you are, whatever state, city, country, etc. – work from 8 in the morning until 5 at night on finding a job that YOU want.  Every time I job hunt it’s tenacity that gets the job!”

To learn more about this self-described philanthropist, optimist, global traveler, guitar player and green couch lover, visit the Green Couch Staging and Design website at www.greencouchstaging.com.

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