Ginny Rothschild, CEO and principal, Workscape Inc. (Jim Harris/PBT)
By Riley Dunn, Pittsburgh Business Times
The past six years have brought a lot of excitement for CEO and Principal Ginny Rothschild and her management team at Workscape Inc., a provider of modern office furnishings and architectural solutions from brands that include MillerKnoll and DIRTT. That excitement includes new acquisitions and a recent leadership shift as Dave Sauter, one of the company’s co-founders who had served as president and head of sales, transitioned out. Rothschild said she is proud of all that the Workscape team has accomplished as well as the fast growth of the business. Located on 2912 East Carson St., the dynamic office space that doubles as a product showroom has been one of Rothschild’s favorite aspects of her work environment. Prior to heading to Pittsburgh to join Workscape, Rothschild worked in several different management jobs across the country where she got experience working in teams and developing different management strategies.
I saw you had a quote on your website: “Success comes before work only in the dictionary.” Why did you choose it?
That’s one that has really stuck with me throughout my career. I was never afraid to work really hard. In internships, I always was an intern who was willing to take on the extra work or stay late. It was not just about clocking in and clocking out. One of my first internships in college was actually with Bath & Body Works. I was given an amazing opportunity to work there after my freshman year of college. The person who sat next to me, his mom, she ran the European office, and he said, “I told my mom about you; you’re going to work for her next summer.” And so I went over and lived in London. I think that only happened because I worked really hard.
You’ve worked at places like Gap Inc., Dick’s Sporting Goods Inc. and Walmart. What was your experience like at those places, and how has it translated into this job?
In those businesses, they always were complex, cross-functional teams, and they always had an end goal. So I was working on getting products into stores and then evaluating their success and figuring out a strategy for the next time. And in many ways, it’s similar to what I do now. I work with a team of really smart individuals who all have a common goal of helping a client renovate their space and make it more beautiful and productive for them.
How have the people you work with helped shape your work environment?
Dave and Dawn [Sauter] founded Workscape 29 years ago. Dave was in the industry, and Dawn came from outside the industry. She had the financial brains, and he had the product and the sales knowledge. They were a dynamic pair and were good people who were doing all this good out in the community. Dawn retired about six years ago, and a group of local investors bought the company, and that’s when I had the opportunity to come on and be CEO. In the last six years, Dave has taught me about this entire industry. Our management team, we all come with different perspectives. Alicia Wolfe, who’s replacing Dave in sales, her background is really interesting. She’d been with Stantec, an architecture firm in town. She went to La Roche (University) — most of our designers actually went to La Roche — and she then went to JLL, so she worked in the commercial real estate space, and then she was with F.N.B., which was a client for us. So she understands this from a client perspective, from working with us in commercial real estate and then from working with us when she was in an architecture firm.
You have a nice showroom on the South Side. How do you typically use that space?
We’ve had CEOs walk through the door, and they say, “Oh, this is what a postmodern, post-Covid workplace is supposed to look like. I get it now.” We have natural light; we have small collaborative areas; we have different sized rooms for people to get together — not just large conference rooms. Some of the collaboration spaces have doors; some of them don’t. Its been a great tool for our entire team. We’re also constantly having tours or events. We are known as the people you want to hang out with and network with. I think many people thought Covid was the end of the office. We could not disagree more. It’s all about making your office commute worth it and making it a vibrant place where people want to build relationships.
Workscape sponsors three of Pitt’s women’s sports teams. How did you go about building that relationship with them?
This upcoming year we’ll have sponsored the Pitt volleyball team for the fourth or fifth year in a row. We’re going to sponsor the gymnastics team for the first time ever, and then we’re going to sponsor the softball team. Its been this really cool, authentic relationship. We’re not just slapping our names on. Our employees love to go to the games; we like to follow women’s volleyball — they’ve been good and have made it to the finals for the last three years. Just watching that momentum in women’s sports has been really cool.
What’s your approach to developing client relationships?
When a company is thinking about changing their space, they’re typically thinking about it for a broader reason. So you want to work on these projects with people who have the background, who have done this before and who are also genuinely good people. I’ll give you our core values. Our first one is “be Fred Rogers.” Just be a good neighbor. At Workscape, we care a ton about what’s going on in the South Side. We want the South Side to be successful and want Pittsburgh to be a great place to live. The next one is “be a problem solver.” We deal with problems all day long. I always talk to our team and ask: What are the unintended consequences of the decisions you make? Our third core value is “the standard is the standard.” So Mike Tomlin, the coach of the Steelers, that’s one of his Mike Tomlin-isms. And we’re professionals. We’re going to do the best we can. We’re here, we’re working. And the last one is “hashtag winning.” At the end of the day, we want to win. But I think those core values have really helped us define how we show up every day.
ABOUT GINNY ROTHSCHILD:
Title: CEO and principal, Workscape Inc.
Education: B.A., American government, University of Virginia
Family: Husband, Mike; two stepdaughters, Anna and Lily
Hobbies: Live music; trying new restaurants around the city; live sports, specifically Penguins and Pitt volleyball; and continuing goal of visiting one new country a year.
Causes: Supporting the wide range of non-profits where Workscape has been involved in their spaces.
Day in the Life:
6 a.m.: I always make time for breakfast. Then, I catch up on emails and prioritize my day.
7:30 a.m.: I arrive in the office or go straight to a job site. I’m typically meeting with our internal teams, manufacturers or clients.
12 p.m.: I have lunch from a local South Side neighborhood restaurant. Birmingham Bridge Tavern, The Speckled Egg and Kassab’s are in the current rotation.
6 p.m.: I’m attending an event with clients or heading home to eat dinner. We watch the news after dinner and catch up on the show we are streaming.
9:30 p.m.: I’ve always liked to go to bed on the earlier side.
Riley Dunn is a student at the University of Iowa and one of 10 Pittsburgh Media Partnership summer interns.
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