Standing on Evans Road in Scottsdale, Arizona, this past
July, you could hear a certain buzz in the air. It was coming from
a small office in an unassuming office park just a hop, skip and a
jump from the freeway. While the mercury was busy rising over the
100-degree mark, life behind the tinted picture windows of Mad Science was
heading in a decidedly cool direction. Children's science
education franchisee Mad Science of Scottsdale and northeast
Phoenix was the winning business in Xerox and
Entrepreneur's "Help! My Office Is Obsolete!"
Makeover Contest. (To view the before and after photos of the
makeover as you read this article, click
here and they will open in a new window.)
That may sound like a dubious honor, but owners Jack and Kathy
Hamlett didn't just take it in stride-they took it at full
running speed. "This is a godsend because we were about to
outgrow ourselves," says Jack. Chosen from more than 450
qualified entries, their business was scheduled to get the face
lift of a lifetime: new furniture from The HON Company, new
technology from Xerox, and a completely redone interior courtesy of
Queer Eye for the Straight Guy interior designer Thom
Filicia and his design team from Thom Filicia
Inc.
To really understand why Mad Science came out on top, you have
to conjure up a strong mental image using the "before"
pictures as a road map. Don't be embarrassed if this reminds
you more than a bit of your own office. The issues Mad Science was
facing are typical of many growing businesses.
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Mad Science has three main rooms, plus a rear warehouse space
that remained untouched. The impression on arrival is part
teenager's room, part recycling bin and part science lab. A
colorful, 17-year-old director's chair; a desk that used to be
a kitchen table; anachronistic Greek columns in the front room; and
a thermal roll paper fax were some of the more unusual denizens.
Let's recap: a thermal roll paper fax. "We were surprised
by how many of these smaller companies still use thermal fax
paper," says Robert Luchetti, one of the contest judges, from
Cambridge, Massachusetts-based design and planning firm Robert
Luchetti Associates.
The Hamletts spent hours and thousands of dollars at the local
copy shop running off registration forms and materials. Their one
ancient inkjet printer at the office was fussier than an irritated
toddler. Stacks of paper, uncomfortable wooden chairs, and found
shelving holding chemicals and supplies filled the rooms. Mad
Science has 16 employees, most of whom are teachers and primarily
work out in the field at schools and birthday parties. But
sometimes, more than a dozen of them gather in this office space
for team meetings.
See the Difference
Check out the before and after photos
here.
"We were in a growth mode when we first moved through the
door. We couldn't catch up to ourselves, so when we put things
in, we just put them in," says Jack. With plans to hire 10
more employees by the end of the year, this makeover couldn't
have come at a better time. Kathy, 51, was hoping for new file
storage. Jack, 56, was hoping for a clean and uncluttered space.
Filicia arrived to help make it a reality.
On a hot day in late July, Filicia found out just how obsolete
Mad Science was. Surrounded by the purple, yellow and sage-green
walls, he had a telling comment: "It's like living in a
mood ring." Strike one for their original color choices.
"Their office is really tragic," was his overall
assessment. While Filicia consulted with his design team in hushed
tones, the Hamletts made final preparations to vacate the office
for the next two weeks so HON, Xerox and Filicia could work their
magic.
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