Transcript

A (0:00)

Wondery subscribers can listen to How I built this early and ad free right now. Join Wondery in the Wondery app or on Apple Podcasts. And now a quick Vital break. A little more from our sponsor, Vital Proteins. You might have heard about Vital Proteins. They're all about collagen peptides. By taking collagen peptides daily, you can help support your hair, skin, nail, bone and joint health. Now Vital Proteins has a brand new way to get your collagen a new collagen and protein shake. It has 30 grams of protein and zero sugar or artificial sweeteners and it tastes like chocolate. It's honestly delicious. I drink it when I work out. Go to www.vitalproteins.com to learn more and where to buy. Get 20% off your next order by entering promo code built at checkout AI companies have unique business models, each with distinct billing needs. Stripe is the go to CH AI leaders from early stage startups to scaled enterprises. Whether it's OpenAI offering tiered plans based on user needs or cursor implementing flexible billing structures for code access, redefining the future requires sophisticated business models. With Stripe billing, you can support any business model from credit based to sales, negotiated contracts and easily align your monetization strategy with customer value. Join the ranks of 78% of the Forbes AI 50 and millions of businesses worldwide that trust Stripe to help them build more profitable, scalable businesses. Discover more@swepe.com this message comes from Capital One with the Spark Cash plus card from Capital One, you earn unlimited 2% cash back on every purchase and get big purchasing power so your business can spend more and earn more. Spend Steven, Brandon and Bruno, the business owners of Sandcloud, reinvested their 2% cash back to help build the company's retail presence. Capital One what's in your wallet? Find out more@capitalone.com sparkcashplus termsupply. I find that white sofas only exist in staged homes. I mean, yes, some some people have them, but like people have white sofas a have no small children or their children are so well behaved or they always wear latex gloves or they have no pets or they don't care about red wine.

B (2:48)

Have you ever heard of slipcovers?

A (2:57)

Welcome to How I Built this, a show about innovators, entrepreneurs, idealists and the stories behind the movements they built. I'm Guy Raz and on the show today, how a frustrated screenwriter brought her storytelling to real estate and built Meredith Behr Home, one of the biggest staging companies in the industry. In the late 1990s something subtle but seismic started to shift in American real estate. For decades, buying a home meant spending your weekends driving from open house to open house, picking up paper flyers and trying to remember which layout belonged to which address. But suddenly, homes were being listed on the Internet. And that changed everything, because for the first time, buyers could tour dozens of homes in a single sitting, scrolling through bedrooms and backyards long before they ever stepped inside. And with that shift came a new challenge. An empty room in an empty house simply didn't sell the dream, and it didn't photograph well. So a new idea, fairly a concept at the time, began to emerge. It was called staging. The art of giving a home just enough life to spark imagination. Trendy or artful furniture that could show what it would be like to live in that house or. And that staged furniture also helped in another way. It tended to increase the sale price, sometimes by hundreds of thousands of dollars over asking. And one of the people who helped transform staging from a clever trick into an entire industry was Meredith Behr. Meredith discovered the idea almost by accident in 1998. She was 50 years old, frustrated with her career as a screenwriter in Hollywood and pouring her energy into a house she was renting. She furnished it with tasteful pieces. She added art and plants to make the space come alive. So alive that when the owner showed the home to a potential buyer, it sold immediately. And almost as quickly, Meredith realized she might be onto something. Today, her company, Meredith Behr Home, is one of the best known staging firms in real estate. But in this episode, we're also going to learn about Meredith's pre staging years, because her life story is a story in itself, almost like a movie. She was a teenage mom who was forced to give up her child. She acted in Pepsi commercials, appeared in cigarette ads. She wrote for Penthouse. She dated Patrick Stewart. The staging work just happened by chance. It wasn't supposed to be a business. But Meredith eventually turned her brand, Meredith Baer Home, into. Into a major force in real estate. Now, long before she built the business, Meredith lived the early part of her life in one of the most unusual places in America. A notorious maximum security prison.

Summary

How I Built This with Guy Raz

Episode: Meridith Baer Home: Meridith Baer. She Started Over at 50 and Put Home Staging on the Map
Date: December 1, 2025
Guest: Meridith Baer, Founder & CEO of Meridith Baer Home

Episode Overview

In this episode, Guy Raz sits down with Meridith Baer, the woman widely credited with transforming home staging from a niche idea into a key part of the real estate industry. After reimagining her life and career at age 50, Meridith Baer built a multi-million-dollar business by using her innate design sense and storytelling skills to stage and sell homes. The conversation covers her unconventional upbringing—including time spent living on prison grounds—her early ventures in publishing, acting, screenwriting, and the serendipitous way she stumbled into entrepreneurship. The discussion centers on reinvention later in life, creative risk-taking, seizing accidental opportunities, and the psychology of turning spaces into irresistible homes.

Key Discussion Points and Insights

Meridith's Early Life: Growing Up in Unusual Surroundings

San Quentin Days:
- Meridith lived on the grounds of San Quentin Prison from ages 6 to 13 due to her father’s job as associate warden.
  - “From about six and a half till I was almost 13, I lived on the prison grounds at San Quentin. Beautiful piece of real estate.” — Meridith (06:07)
- Felt safe, despite being surrounded by inmates and strict security procedures.
- Mother pursued a law degree out of boredom, began dabbling in real estate and house flipping.
Family’s Financial Upheavals and Real Estate Roots:
- Her mother’s ventures in flipping properties and trading up to a mansion influenced Meridith’s early understanding of value and aesthetics.

Early Adulthood: College, Trauma, and First Forays into Design

1960s Counterculture Shifts:
- Attended University of Colorado during a culturally tumultuous era; describes own trajectory from sorority girl to “hippie.”
- Began flipping houses and decorating spaces as a student side hustle.
Personal Hardships:
- Became pregnant at 18, was compelled by her parents to give up her son for adoption; later reconnected and developed a close relationship decades later.
  - “I adopted him last year. … He’s a grown man. He’s in his 50s.” — Meridith (11:46)

Showbiz Careers: From Pepsi Commercials to Hollywood Screenwriting

Unexpected Career Breaks:
- Discovered by Jerry Bruckheimer in Boulder and acted in several Pepsi commercials (13:02–13:38).
- Moved to New York, landed an editorial assistantship at Penthouse Magazine, focused on finding justifying editorial content for a primarily visual magazine.
Modeling & Acting:
- Brief modeling career, became the “Winston Girl” in cigarette ads—sometimes too young-looking for regulators’ comfort.
- Landed supporting roles in major TV shows like Happy Days and CHiPs (19:18–19:26).
Screenwriting:
- Sold her first big script about growing up in San Quentin for a quarter of a million dollars in 1980 (20:38–20:47).
- Frustration with Hollywood’s transient tastes and rewrites, but found satisfaction in the success she achieved.

Reinvention at 50: The Birth of Staging by Accident

The Accidental Entrepreneur:
- Following a break-up and professional uncertainty, she found fulfillment fixing up her rental (26:05–26:51).
- The owner was so impressed that he immediately sold the home, realizing the value of her makeover.
- “The house sold in a matter of days for half a million over asking to the head of one of the studios using your furniture and your potted plants.” — Guy Raz (28:15)
- Real estate agents began requesting her “staging” services before Meridith even knew the term.
From Side Hustle to Business:
- Initially saw staging as a way to secure housing, only gradually realizing it could become a real business (29:33–30:00).
- Innovated by offering to live in and decorate homes about to go on market, providing both value and solution to her own housing needs.

Building the Company: Scaling and Innovating

Creative Logistics:
- Started buying vans, picking up laborers, sourcing furniture from thrifts, consignment, and local artisans (35:20–37:42).
- “If you were standing there, I’d ask you if you liked, if you’d like to work with me, because, I mean, I needed help.” — Meridith (35:44)
- Developed mutually beneficial relationships with rug dealers and other suppliers, often leveraging homes as “showrooms.”
Pricing and Value Proposition:
- Charged premium rates early on, justifying the investment by dramatically reducing time on market and increasing sale prices (38:17).
- “What I’m doing is going to sell their house and it’s going to sell it fast.” — Meridith (38:17)
Aesthetic Philosophy:
- Eclectic, tailored to the house, but with an anchor in white sofas for neutrality and versatility (41:29–41:49).
- Used props, humor, and scenarios to help buyers envision stories in the home—leveraging her screenwriting skills.

Challenges, Growth, and Resilience

Growing Pains and Major Setbacks:
- Expanded into new markets as reputation spread, eventually operating bicoastally and opening offices nationwide (49:18–50:49).
- Survived early 2000s recession and 2008 financial crisis by adjusting target markets and setting minimum job sizes (51:23–51:38).
- Confronted a devastating double blow: state tax compliance issue and diagnosis of colon cancer—but overcame both with grit.
  - “Actually, the very same day I got this news, I found out I had colon cancer. So it was a big double blow.” — Meridith (48:04)
Never Raising Outside Capital:
- Grew organically, reinvesting profits and leveraging home equity instead of seeking venture funding (53:51–54:57).
Diversification:
- Began building her own custom furniture, now constituting 60–70% of staged homes (55:26–55:36).
- Created revenue streams: direct furniture sales, “instahome” (instant furnished packages), luxury furniture leasing (56:00–57:39).

Leadership, Legacy & Life Lessons

Company Scale:
- As of the interview: 320 employees, 7–900 homes staged at once, typical jobs from $10k to $180k+ (58:01–58:29).
- Meridith largely stepped away from hands-on work, now focused on operations and leadership at age 78.
Reflections on Reinvention:
- “I do think we all are capable of reinventing ourselves. … We might love something for a while, but after a while, we don’t. Doesn’t mean we have to stay on the same path.” — Meridith (61:29)
- Credits serendipity, but also her willingness to say yes and figure things out in the moment.
  - “I just learned to say yes. Yes, I can. And then I’d figure out if I really wanted to or if I could, but I’d say yes, and then do it.” — Meridith (62:53)
On Purpose and the Future:
- Open to selling the business, seeking more balance and time with family, but recognizes the significance of what she’s built.

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

On Growing Up at San Quentin
- “Who was gonna steal my bicycle? … It was pretty much go out and play and come home when it’s dark, that kind of a childhood.” — Meridith (07:18)
On White Sofas and Staging Myths
- “I find that white sofas only exist in staged homes. I mean, yes, some people have them, but, like, people have white sofas a have no small children, or… they always wear latex gloves, or they have no pets, or they don’t care about red wine.” — Guy Raz (41:49)
- “Have you ever heard of slipcovers?” — Meridith (42:08)
On Her First Big Sale as a Screenwriter
- “I sold it [her script] for a quarter of a million dollars in 1980.” — Meridith (20:38)
On Starting Over at 50
- “I kind of felt nowhere, you know, I’m 50, I’m not gonna raise children. I’m sick of relationships. I’m, you know, I’m sick of my career. I was just kind of a really low point for me.” — Meridith (27:18)
On Luck vs. Hustle
- “I think there is luck involved in most success... But I also think one has to seize the opportunity. I think that we probably all trip over luck at times in life.” — Meridith (62:10)

Timestamps for Major Segments

06:07 – 08:13 | Childhood at San Quentin and Family Background
10:16 – 12:29 | University, Early Real Estate Flipping, and Personal Trauma
13:02 – 15:52 | Pepsi Commercials, Penthouse Magazine, and Entry to Showbiz
19:18 – 21:47 | Acting in Hollywood, Screenwriting Breakthroughs
26:05 – 29:11 | The Spark for Staging: First Home Sale and Accidental Entrepreneurship
35:20 – 39:08 | Launching the Business: Logistics, Early Hustle, Sourcing Strategies
41:29 – 43:40 | Aesthetics and the Influence of Storytelling in Staging
47:43 – 48:36 | Navigating Tax Issues and Cancer Diagnosis
49:18 – 52:46 | Rapid Growth, Market Expansion, Surviving the Recession
53:13 – 55:14 | Reality TV’s (Limited) Impact & Organic Business Growth
56:00 – 57:39 | Furniture Manufacturing, Sales, and Diversification
58:01 – 59:09 | Company Scale, Celebrity Clients, and Operational Leadership
60:05 – 62:53 | Reflections on Work-Life Balance, Legacy, Reinvention, and Luck

Tone & Style

Guy Raz’s interviewing style is warm, curious, and inviting, while Meridith Baer is candid, witty, and self-deprecating. The episode mixes lighthearted anecdotes with raw honesty about setbacks and personal reinvention.

Key Takeaways

Reinvention and success can happen at any stage of life; innate talents often become powerful differentiators.
Luck presents itself, but embracing opportunity and persevering through adversity is key.
Storytelling and psychology are just as important as aesthetics in any creative business.
Sustainable businesses can be built organically, without outside capital, by reinvesting and innovating.
“Staged homes” not only sell faster and for more money, but also sell a story and a dream.

For those who haven’t listened, this episode offers an inspiring roadmap of creative risk-taking, resourcefulness, and the enduring power of saying "yes"—no matter where you are on your journey.

wavePod

Meridith Baer Home: Meridith Baer. She Started Over at 50 and Put Home Staging on the Map.