Today we’d like to introduce you to Robby Simon.
Hi Robby, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
I started my journey in furniture design and, woodworking through my job at Mailchimp. I am currently a member of our Aesthetics and Facilities team, we handle all things interior for Mailchimp and that includes beautification and interior design, and other things, as well. when I joined I had no previous construction or furniture building background and learned everything while on the job through training myself and taking other opportunities to learn. We have pieces from Herman Miller, Eames, Mies Van Der Rohe, and also we have ordered so many custom furniture pieces from local artisans, and other furniture makers across the country like Blu Dot and West Elm and stuff as well. I couldn’t imagine being able to see some of these pieces that we were purchasing I had only seen these things in movies and in magazines. I was constantly surrounded by beauty that I was not accustomed to every day and I was inspired to learn as much as I could.
When I started on the team I literally couldn’t read a tape measure other than the common numbers like 1,2,3 etc. But I had to adapt and pivot and learn quickly, this was an opportunity a person like me cannot afford to lose. But, in my study, I found love. A love for design. So, my head in the clouds I began to dream, dream as far as my mind could take me of objects I would design, go to youtube and watch woodworking and DIY videos, and it began this obsession with this craft.
But I had a barrier to entry, I did not know where to start, my first introduction to woodworking was in Boy Scouts and a kid told me I needed a dad to be able to do it. So in my kid brain, I always thought woodworking or building was something Black kids with no dad could never do. So it took alot of internal work and the whole process was actually so healing for me as well. But I had no tools, no access to someone with the tools necessary to make this happen. I was unable to feel confident taking on harder tasks because I had no clear vision forward on how to do this without messing up and ruining my opportunity which is what alot of Black people that have experienced poverty face in life, and careers. So I was going to every type of class I could find out about, there was not really much access to get better at my job through my job so I had to get creative. Then, I met Robell Awake, another Atlanta native and Black furniture maker, he was managing Habitat For Humanity’s Atlanta builds and I expressed I wanted to learn to build from him, this was about three years ago and my job told me I would still have to keep up a 40hr work week on top of taking this course, which, with having a family, and working and other commitments I could not do.
So then, the pandemic happened, and it was the perfect opportunity to take this time and once it was safe to be together, ask again if I could do the apprenticeship through Robell. So myself and Robell came up with a program we could present as “learning and professional development” So we presented it to them, and they said yes! I was able to get them to provide assistance with getting wood and my membership to MASS Collective, an Atlanta Makers Space on the Westside of Atlanta.
It was amazing, I was finally getting taught to do something I was scared to do. he taught me everything I know and became my brother truly. We talked about everything and through that process, I made my first table, then I made a dining table, then I started thinking what other things could I make? And before I knew it, I had an entire first collection completed. Featuring lighting, cabinetry, and tables as well.
Influenced by all the subcultures that I move through (punk, metal, skateboarding, hip hop, fashion) I started to bring all those influences with me. So then, it became a vehicle to use all of my loves into one place, studying the late Virgil Abloh became a normal for me, he is a MASSIVE inspiration because he fully represented in a person, all the places I inhabited. So I watched lectures and learned how I wanted to build essentially a brand.
I chose the name Play.Room because that’s where all these ideas start with for me, this blank room in my mind where I pull together all these influences and places and interactions like a kids’ room with posters hung everywhere, and from that, I create and iterate, then once I see the object in my mind something inside kind of goes “this has to be made, I’d love to see that in reality”
I also wanted to build something different, because I am different, I’m not your typical person that would figure would be into the design, etc. So I wanted the way I do things to reflect that. So I regularly run raffles for my pieces, and also only use sustainably harvested local wood native to GA. so species like White Oak, and Walnut are what I typically use and they 100% Forest-Free harvested.
From there I have been selling pieces on a regular basis while designing and putting out new pieces as well. I am currently working on the second collection which the first piece just came out, as a collaboration between myself and Portrait Coffee a black-owned and operated Coffee Roastery/shop here in the city as well.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
No. I have run into challenges within myself a lot, and also of others as well.
I have no background in design and did not go to a design school so I would ask a lot of designers I did follow and very few were kind to me. And many of them were not people who looked like me also. Which is fine with me, but I had an interaction with a designer I really admired, and I asked him for a general woodworking question and he was rude to me. But overall SO many people have been encouraging and willing to lend their shops and time and zoom calls and give me books to help me, and it’s been an incredibly rewarding experience although, at times, not easy.
the challenges within myself were confronting a LOT of fear of failure. Coming from my background, in my experience, black and brown people from impoverished communities do NOT have the luxury of making mistakes, they cost you and that mistake could end dreams, or end careers. So it was challenging to get over that it is ok, to fail and you can fix things, and finally being able to say with confidence “I am not a mistake” I belong here.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I make art, for now out of wood, but I also am dreaming big where I am at. so being a visual artist with photography and loving fashion trying to bring all of those things to the table cohesively is awesome and so fun and a challenge I love thinking through.
My pieces are fun and serious, I like juxtaposing things and creating unique ways of expressing things. and tying in narratives into each piece or object.
What sets me apart from others, is that I want everyone to win. I want everyone to feel like they can do scary things, or things that intimidate them. Atlanta is a place where I have found that artists are willing to help you. I hope that is true for everyone because I have felt that love. It is amazing.
Networking and finding a mentor can have such a positive impact on one’s life and career. Any advice?
If you are looking for a mentor in something. Go to where that thing is. Hit up a local artisan, you’d be surprised. Also, watch all of Virgil Abloh’s lectures. Art can be ANYTHING, a business can be built off of ANYTHING. Learn to ethically finesse your way into rooms. You deserve what the world has yet to see from you.
Contact Info:
- Website: playroomisfun.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bored.robby/ | https://www.instagram.com/playroomisfun/
Image Credits
All product photography and done by me Robby Simon portrait of me was done by Artimio Black
