Podcast Summary: "Meet Isla Porter, the Design-Forward, AI-Powered Kitchen Cabinetry Startup"

Business of Home Podcast
Host: Dennis Scully
Guests: Emily Arthur and Sharon Drenko, Co-Founders of Isla Porter
Date: November 17, 2025

Overview

This episode dives deep into the entrepreneurial journey of Emily Arthur and Sharon Drenko, co-founders of Isla Porter—an innovative, design-centric kitchen cabinetry startup that integrates AI tools. Host Dennis Scully explores how Emily and Sharon’s backgrounds, friendship, and product expertise informed Isla Porter’s approach, their lessons learned around tech-forward branding, their partnerships, and how they've navigated industry challenges and tariffs.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Founders’ Background and Origin Story

• Professional Experience
  • Emily Arthur: Extensive background in furniture and lighting design, including work at Martha Stewart and West Elm ([02:56], [03:54]).
  • Sharon Drenko: Sourcing, product development, and merchandising at West Elm ([03:32]).
• Identifying a Market Gap
  • Both founders bemoaned "uninspiring" cabinetry choices during personal kitchen renovations and noted the lack of design-forward, customizable, and accessible cabinetry ([05:17], [06:09]).
  • The market was split between high-end bespoke and utilitarian (e.g., IKEA), missing a broad, stylish middle ground.
    • “Why is no one tackling cabinetry? It’s so dusty. There’s nothing really inspiring… ultimately, it’s a permanently installed product. It drives the value of your home.” – Sharon Drenko ([05:17])

2. From Idea to Launch

• Early Collaboration
  • Transitioned from friends and colleagues to business partners; started with ideation, mood boards, and name brainstorming (“it was about a year from signing that investment deal until we got the site up… we were just two ladies with a PowerPoint deck” – Sharon, [14:40]).
• Manufacturing Partnership
  • Found a strategic manufacturing and investment partner in Asia, who invested and facilitated their launch ([09:43], [10:53]).
• Brand Creation
  • Great attention to branding for designer appeal—ensuring the look was both “aesthetically agnostic” and supportive of both traditional and modern tastes ([12:24], [13:28]).
  • The unique name “Isla Porter” references both “Isla” (island) and “Porter” (service), evoking the company’s product and client support ethos ([17:45], [18:41]).

3. The AI Angle: Tools, Learnings, and Pivot

• Initial AI Messaging
  • Early branding heavily emphasized AI to differentiate ("We probably shouldn't have led with that messaging... that's not what the design community really wants to hear about." – Sharon, [19:33]).
• How AI is Actually Used
  • Utilizes Skip AI for technical backend support (renderings, layouts) and Lidar tech for room scans, helping speed up kitchen project onboarding ([21:57]).
  • “AI is part of our business… but certainly there’s no robots mysteriously behind the scene laying out your kitchen.” – Sharon ([21:30])
  • AI assists operationally and with renderings, not with creative or design ideation ([48:52], [49:09]).
    • “Really understanding holistically where you want to go with your brand and directing it artistically is not something you can leave up to the robots.” – Emily ([49:53])

4. Building a Designer-Focused Brand & Community

• Designer Partnerships
  • Targeted design trade as key customers (85% trade, 15% retail) — found quick success onboarding well-known designers (Monica Stewart, Ann MacDonald, Jenna Chusett) ([15:17], [16:50]).
  • “To my knowledge, we’re the only trade-first cabinetry business out there.” – Sharon ([15:18])
• Benefits to Designers
  • Highly collaborative approach; offers customization and design support in ways most millworkers cannot ([28:47]).
  • Regularly incorporates designer feedback and is careful not to appropriate their creative concepts.

5. Scaling and Operations

• Nationwide Distribution
  • Serves clients across the US (even Hawaii is a major market).
• Challenges in Scaling
  • Reliant on local designer relationships for on-site installation and premium client experiences ([24:17]).

6. Navigating Industry Challenges: Tariffs, Supply Chain, and Growth

• Tariffs & Overseas Manufacturing
  • Tariffs on Cambodian cabinetry have hit Isla Porter, but the team prioritized not passing costs to clients — instead, they’ve dialed back marketing ([39:44], [41:26]).
• Operational Efficiencies
  • Leveraged backing of their manufacturing partner to scale responsibly; on track for profitability in 2026 ([33:15]).
• Potential for Domestic Manufacturing
  • Open to US-based partners, but requires a fit with their collaborative, innovation-driven approach ([45:47], [46:29]).

7. Startup Life – Lessons, Surprises, and the Power of Partnership

• Unpredictability & Strategic Planning
  • Ongoing challenge to gauge how far ahead to plan—six months vs. years ([35:32]).
• Entrepreneurial Insights
  • Emphasis on sharing learnings with and from the designer community; see themselves as resources for others considering a similar leap ([36:27], [37:53]).
  • Co-founder partnership is invaluable: collaboration, creative synergy, practical support, and shared highs and lows.
    • “Having a partner to help you with both the fun creative bits, but also the not so fun bits about running a business is really great…we laugh together and we cry together.” – Emily ([53:54], [54:52])

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• The Cabinetry Gap:
  • “Cabinetry ultimately is a permanently installed product...it drives the value of your home. So we really wanted to give, not just ourselves, but the industry, some better options than a white or gray shaker cabinet.” – Sharon Drenko ([05:17])
• On the Name "Isla Porter":
  • “Isla is referencing islands as a product and Porter is services, the services we provide...That’s where the name came from.” – Emily Arthur ([18:41])
• On Starting with AI:
  • “Maybe we came out too strongly with that AI messaging...That’s not what the design community that we’re targeting really wants to hear about. We’re more excited to tell them about the work that we’re doing behind the scenes…” – Sharon Drenko ([19:33])
• Human Touch over Tech:
  • “Really understanding holistically where you want to go with your brand...is not something you can leave up to the robots or AI.” – Emily Arthur ([49:53])
• On Partnership:
  • “Having a partner to help you with both the fun creative bits, but also the not so fun bits...No one understands how hard it is to start this company except for Sharon. So we laugh together and we cry together.” – Emily Arthur ([53:54], [54:52])

Timestamps for Important Segments

| Timestamp | Topic/Segment | |-----------|--------------| | 02:56 | Emily & Sharon’s home industry backgrounds | | 05:17 | Market gap—uninspiring cabinetry, the need for better design | | 09:43 | Manufacturing partnership in Asia, investment secured | | 14:40 | Branding process, forming the Isla Porter identity | | 17:45 | The meaning and creation of the “Isla Porter” name | | 19:33 | Initial AI messaging and shift in marketing strategy | | 21:57 | How AI and Lidar are used in practice | | 24:17 | Distribution model, reliance on local designer partners | | 27:44 | Why focus on trade/designer relationships | | 32:12 | Comparison with custom millwork: pricing and process | | 33:15 | Manufacturing/investment partnership and effect on scale | | 39:44 | Navigating tariffs and avoiding passing on costs | | 45:47 | The role of product development in cabinetry | | 53:54 | Importance of partnership and shared support in a startup |

Conclusion & Takeaways

Isla Porter is reshaping the kitchen cabinetry sector with a design-led, collaborative, digitally enhanced approach—without losing the human touch that designers value. Founders Emily Arthur and Sharon Drenko credit their friendship and complementary skills as key ingredients to their success, navigating market gaps, manufacturing logistics, AI tools, and industry shakeups (like tariffs) with adaptability. Their journey offers lessons in thoughtful branding, community-building, and scaling a design business responsibly.

Final thought for entrepreneurs from Emily and Sharon:
“Definitely find a partner…no one understands how hard it is to start this company except for Sharon. We laugh together and we cry together…and I’m glad I’m not alone.” ([53:54], [54:52])