Episode 8; Getting real with Frank De Maria. Adaptation, Resets and Dealing with Failure

In this episode of Tea with Rich, we are joined by Frank De Maria, the Vice President of Digital Engineering and Platforms at Miller Knoll. Frank is a brand-side legend, and one of the most experienced, kind, and bright leaders in the technology and e-commerce field. 

We of course being by - you know it - shooting the shit and catching up before Frank shares his story and background in the industry, where he started as a developer and eventually moved into a number of senior leadership roles. Frank touches on the importance of having in-house expertise and control over his technology stack, as well as the challenges of standardizing design systems across multiple brands. 

We then get into a dialog on the role of a leader (e.g. blocker and tackle for your team), the most productive hours of our days, and the constant challenge of balancing work and family, with an emphasis on the the importance of loyalty, hard work, and building strong relationships. 

We get into a some gnarly questions (see Chapters below), including franks perspective on maturing the tech stack, how we deal with failure and what’s next for me (Tea) - which is a challenge to answer so I basically ramble on the reality of my head space right now, how we handle failure, and what we do to reset/recharge - and how we manage the short, mid and long resets.

We end with Franks final question for us - our perspective on the state of the Digital Agency/SI (and ISV) industry and the what opportunities might lie ahead for them.

Chapters
00:00 - Welcome and Shooting the Sh!t
07:00 - The time Tea tried to steal Frank from Rich’s
08:00 - Frank De Maria Introduction
09:16 - Rich and Franks first meeting - 25 brands launched in a year
11:41 - Frank on how his journey started with late 90’s web production work
16:29 - Frank tells the story of meeting Tea (aka TJ, Thomas, etc.)
20:03 - That one time Tea talked Rich out of a Vegas Tattoo
23:37 - Frank talks about his team at Miller-Knoll, and Experience Design Collaboration
30:09 - A day in the life of Frank
32:17 - Open dialog - our thoughts on the most productive hours of the day
33:31 -(Q) Tea asks Franks advice for the next generation of leaders in our space?
35:00 - Imposter syndrome, just wanting to do a good job, having an impact and helping others
40:38 - (Q) Teas asks Franks perspective on tech stack maturation (e.g. moving toward composable)
47:40 - Commercial break, ish - Rich and Tea talk about their Herman Miller chairs
51:05 - Rich and Frank talk the importance of strong relationships
54:14 - The sacrifices we have made to be successful - and the urban myth of balance
57:02 - (Q) Frank asks Rich about ‘the late 90's bankruptcy story’
01:06 - (Q) Frank asks Tea - what's next for you? Everyone wants to know.
01:10 - Everyones superpower should be networking (and the power of making introductions)
01:14 - (Q) Frank asks us how we reset and recharge, and how we handle failure at this stage of our careers?
01:15 - Tea goes first and answers the reset and failure-handling questions 
01:21 - How Rich resets, and deals with failure
01:30 - The BEST way to disarm a leader when you need help...
01:32 - (Q) Frank asks us what we think about the current state of the Agency industry

About Frank
Frank is the Vice President of Digital Engineering and Platforms at MillerKnoll (NASDAQ: MLKN, ⁠https://www.millerknoll.com/⁠) supporting its collective of dynamic brands. In this role, Frank oversees the technologies responsible for driving the global digital and retail business, including systems such as ERP, WMS, POS, OMS, CRM, and various web, commerce, content, marketing, and integration technologies supporting both B2B and B2C businesses. Prior to joining MillerKnoll, Frank spent over sixteen years in progressively more senior technical roles at consumer goods giants Newell Brands (NASDAQ:NWL) and Jarden Corporation (NYSE:JAH) transitioning from hands-on engineering roles and into leadership roles.


Peace. -t
---