When speaking with Phyllis Cannava, you get the idea that she's seen it all.
Mainly because she has. When we sit at her table at Office Direct, the commercial interior design company she's owned for nearly 30 years, she tells a fabulous story of her experience as an entrepreneur — an experience that has ultimately paved the way for both the startup ecosystem in Rhode Island at large and solo entrepreneurs themselves.
"When I started my business, there was none of this [area startup resources] — especially being a woman," Cannava said.
While times have changed, Cannava had to begin her trailblazing journey at 37, starting a new stage of life right when having only a year's worth of college was an unfathomable hurdle to steady employment.
"What am I going to do?" She remembered asking herself. "I'm going to lie. People will now at least talk to me."
It worked. She got her first gig selling fine furniture, the only woman on staff. When there was pay discrepancy — i.e., her boss refused to pay her all the money she had earned — Cannava took him to court and won.
"I'm smart enough to know what I don't know."
This wasn't the first time she had to use the law to get her full paycheck. After the second go-around, she realized that enough was enough.
"I'm not going to punish myself anymore than anyone else can," she said. "I'll work from my house."
And that was that, the beginning of Office Direct. It was 1989, and Cannava began carving a niche for herself in the Rhode Island, Massachusetts and Connecticut design space. Her mission was simple: "To provide great value, excellent design, outstanding products and flawless installation at a reasonable cost."
The company, which describes itself as "a design-oriented commercial furniture and flooring dealership," provides customers with a (mostly) one-stop shop for planning and designing their facilities. Office Direct has worked to renovate spaces at the Pontiac Mill, R.I. Secretary of Commerce Stefan Pryor's office, the Newport County Convention and Visitors' Bureau and doctors' offices at Women & Infants Hospital, to name a few of its projects.
"We buy direct," Cannava said. "I don't think there is anyone else who does what we do."
Besides its unique offerings, Office Direct comes with more than 40 years of Cannava's experience and insight; she's seen the ins-and-outs of the industry, and likes to help clients save money.
"We look at that piece of carpet [a client likes] and find very close, cheaper match," she explained. "We know product because we spend a lot of time investigating in the commercial market."
One area that Cannava doesn't touch? Lighting.
"I'm smart enough to know what I don't know," she said with a smile.
Currently, the all-woman Office Direct staff has two designers (with a hunt on for a third), Meghan Robinson and Meghan Villeneuve, and Office Manager Leanne LaBanca. As for Cannava, she's the face and the leader of Office Direct. Often seen at many a Rhode Island startup or entrepreneurial event, she's always hustling.
"These designers do a huge amount of work," Cannava said. "I'm out there doing a lot of networking, bringing [customers] in," she added.
She's also leveraged the expertise she gained during her participation in the first cohort of Goldman Sach's 10,000 Small Businesses program in 2016, where she was one of the 35 accepted applicants (out of a pool of 135). During that time, she studied ways to grow her business and identifying a growth pattern. That, in turn, helped her to design, furnish and install 70 offices for a company in states like North Carolin, Pennsylvania, Maryland and Ohio, as they worked to have identifiable, unified design.
"It was an incredible, wonderful experience," she said.
Looking ahead, Cannava is considering bringing her business to Los Angeles for six months out of the year, where she'd potentially be out West during the winters.
"I think it’s going to be crazy good," Cannava said. "If it doesn't work, big deal."
When she retires, Cannava added that Office Direct will continue, under Robinson's leadership.
Her story and perspective bring to mind that age-old aphorism, here paraphrased: If you find a job you love, you'll never work a day in your life.
Cannava is no exception to that rule.
"I love what we do," she said. "Nothing feels so good to see a place that we’ve designed — these designers have designed — and the customer is so happy."
