April 23, 2025 • 18 mins
Join Sarah Zubiate Bennett as she brings her passion for interior design to life in this stunning new episode. Sarah sits down with some seasoned pros at Texas Counter Fitters, home to some of the most awe-inspiring natural stone slabs around. Together, they explore the latest innovations in design — from textures and tones to tech-forward trends reshaping the way we live and decorate. Whether you’re a design enthusiast or simply love a beautifully curated space, this episode offers fresh inspiration straight from the experts. Don’t miss this insider look into the artistry and craft behind modern interiors!
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett (00:00):
Hey friends. It's Sarah Zubiate
Bennett and oh do I havesomething fabulous for you lined
up. In this brand new segment,I'm sitting down with some
incredibly talented design prosover at Texas Counter Fitters.
And let me tell you, these folksare the real deal. We're talking
jaw dropping slabs, cutting edgetextures, swoon worthy tones,
and tech innovations that'llhave your design brain buzzing.
(00:21):
So grab your coffee, yourcocktail, whatever suits your
vibe, and let's dive in. Be sureto hit those like and subscribe
buttons so you never miss out onthe fun. So tell me your name.
Chris Blackburn (00:37):
My name is Chris Blackburn.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett (00:39):
Chris Blackburn.
Chris Blackburn (00:39):
I'm one of the owners of Texas Counter Fitters,
me and my partner AndrewGilbert.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett (00:42):
Well, we are thrilled to be here. And I
know I've told you, but I'lltell everyone watching. So I
have had the longest lifetime, Ifeel like, of this entire home
renovation for our home inHighland Park, just forever. But
it's because I'm doing it all inconjunction with the expertise
(01:03):
at Premier Design to Completion.And so we are here today for a
panel which y'all will see, butwe're gonna get a little bit of
a behind the scenes tour.
Chris Blackburn (01:13):
This is the best hidden gem in Dallas. I
promise you. I can't wait.You're gonna really impressed.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett (01:17):
I cannot wait. And, oh my gosh. I mean,
so many of these already justfrom afar look incredible. So
please, I will follow you.
Chris Blackburn (01:24):
Come on. So a lot of these pieces have really
great stories behind them.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett (01:27):
Uh-huh.
Chris Blackburn (01:29):
And I'm gonna get to a couple of these that
are two of my faves. Soeverybody has Calcutta gold.
What's the anomaly about thisone is that you have the pyrite,
which is fool's gold. Itactually speckled speckled
through the slab. That's makesit really true Calcutta gold.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett (01:45):
Do you have any Carrera here?
Chris Blackburn (01:47):
Yes. We do have Carrera. That's more of a
commodity white marble, so wekeep a lot of that in the
factory in Garland.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett (01:54):
Oh, got it.
Chris Blackburn (01:54):
But, yes, it's a it's a known commodity.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett: So your factory is in Garland? (01:58):
undefined
Chris Blackburn (01:59):
We have a factory, a ginormous factory in
Garland. We service most of thelargest builders as far as
fabrication to them, and weopened this showroom as a luxury
item for to sell materialbecause there's a big
misconception, I think, in themarketplace that some
distributors will labelsomething rare. And at the end
of day, you know, a lot of theBrazilians feel it's just a
rock. And we also have reallysupported the fair market value.
(02:23):
After all, you can't Google theprice of a slab.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett (02:25):
That's right.
Chris Blackburn (02:26):
So it makes it very confusing to go into some
place to look at materialbecause you don't know what the
price is. We'll give you theprice. You know, we're gonna
give your fabricator a betterprice because he's the one who's
actually physically doing allthe work. Of course. And that's
only fair.
But anybody can come in here,get a budget, get a quote, and
know that they're in the goingin the right direction instead
of just coming here and notfinding anything and leaving
(02:49):
with is it expensive or not?
Sarah Zubiate Bennett (02:52):
And so can just any random person off
the street come in here?
Chris Blackburn (02:55):
Yes. This is a retail showroom. We do have a
lot of nice slabs, but we haveartwork. We have stone carvings.
We have garden features. Again,there's I think we represent
over 20 artists in this place.So and as you look around, you
gotta look in between the areasand see all the, I guess,
(03:17):
tchotchke items per se.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett (03:18):
Yes. Okay. Well, let's let's keep
going because I'm I'm alreadyliking some of the art that I'm
seeing.
Chris Blackburn (03:23):
More sculptures, specimens. You'll
see you'll keep seeing a handfulof these around everywhere.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett (03:29):
I am a geode collector. Since I've been
a little girl, clearly,they've...
Chris Blackburn (03:35):
Yeah. We have some
Sarah Zubiate Bennett (03:36):
Gotten nicer.
Chris Blackburn (03:37):
Some phenomenal ones back here.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett (03:38):
Oh, wow.
Chris Blackburn (03:41):
There's your geodes. All cut and glued
together and milled down. Now, Idon't really like the process
they do, but these slabs, wehave a few varieties of this
particular geo where they putthe geodes together. They're
phenomenal.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett (03:53):
This is insanely beautiful. At our our
ranch, you know, si cheese? I'msure si cheese, they're Italian.
But, I had this entire floorcreated from different stones.
Mhmm. And, they shipped it fromItaly, and it is meant to mirror
Chris Blackburn (04:15):
Yeah.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett (04:15):
Some geodes. Yeah. But in more earthy
tones.
Chris Blackburn (04:19):
Yes. Yeah.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett (04:19):
So, my gosh. That that's that's
stunning. So where do you bringin a bunch of these particular
pieces? Like, this is amazing.
Chris Blackburn (04:29):
So, you know, a lot of these I I shop. I'm you
know, we I go to places thatdon't have things that I think
would look good in theirshowroom, and Uh-huh. We make
this a shopping experience. Yes,it's a lot of slabs, but we
still have a lot of decor and alot of it's mineral decor, but
there's some just kinda weirdart items.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett (04:47):
So so someone can come buy this?
Chris Blackburn (04:48):
Yes. Everything in the showroom is for sale.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett (04:51):
Okay. This is just amazing. Yeah. I
cannot believe that I have notbeen here before.
Chris Blackburn (04:57):
We I mean, I still think it's one of the best
kept secrets. We love curating.I mean, it's just like we love
finding cool stuff that peopledon't have. And, you know, there
are mineral hounds. They lovethe art of mineral collecting,
but
Sarah Zubiate Bennett (05:10):
Uh-huh.
Chris Blackburn (05:10):
There are lot of people that are like, hey,
just want that on abookshelf because it looks fascinating.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett (05:14):
That's right.
Chris Blackburn (05:15):
You know, I've had if in my office, you know,
big mineral specimens, it ithelps decorate.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett (05:20):
It really does. I have them in my office.
Chris Blackburn (05:22):
Yeah. Oh. This is we call this coyote cowling
at the moon. Is that crazy?
Sarah Zubiate Bennett (05:28):
Oh my gosh.
Chris Blackburn (05:30):
And it this lady would not part with it. I
thought, finally, you have togive me a price that you would
sell this to me for because it'sgonna go perfect in my showroom.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett (05:38):
Oh my goodness. This whole space.
Yeah. I mean, this.
Chris Blackburn (05:43):
Yeah. This artist is out of Aledo. Really?
I ran into him and I was tellinghim my place, he's like, they
all look at me like, oh yeah,you're on the Stone Biz. He's
like, no, no, I am, but it'skinda different.
Gosh. So he makes a lot of thisreally cool stuff, he hammers
all this inside there. Yeah,Billy Schenck? Yes. That's one
(06:04):
of his pieces.
We went to his house.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett (06:06):
You did?
Chris Blackburn (06:06):
Yeah. My business partner went to his
house in Santa Fe. Santa Fe. Andknow, he's a big fan of them.
This is Kym Day.
She's here in Dallas. She's aphenomenal
Sarah Zubiate Bennett (06:20):
This is Day?
Chris Blackburn (06:21):
Kym Day. She's a girl here in Dallas, and her
detail on horses is not real.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett (06:25):
Oh, the work is incredible.
Chris Blackburn (06:27):
But it is good Southwestern art, you know?
Sarah Zubiate Bennett (06:30):
Oh my gosh. Well, you don't
understand. I have a whole ranchthat I I need to also complete.
And so this is wonderful. Andthen look at...
Chris Blackburn (06:41):
This you can actually turn this into a
waterfall. So the highest pointis I think right here. And it
will all cas if you put a holeright through here, it'll all
cascade down. And people think,well, how do you move this
thing? And I said, well, whenthey made it, they cut forklift
jack rails in it. So you can runa forklift right underneath it
and pick it up. Oh. I can gowith this thing anywhere with a
(07:04):
little bit of ease.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett (07:05):
Yeah, this is insane. And where do you
find them?
Chris Blackburn (07:10):
So the Perot Museum had their their exhibit
that's going on right now, it'sgoing on for a year, is called a
Spectrum in Stone, the Topazexhibit. We got to sponsor that
exhibit for a whole year. Whenthey asked me for that
partnership, said yes. Andthrough that, I got to meet the
(07:33):
top mineral collectors in theworld. One of them is right here
in the Rockwall and she's thecoolest lady in the world. Her
name's Gail Spann. Gail and JimSpann, and they're they're
they're names on all a lot ofthe minerals up at the Perot.
Well, they love me. So we get togo. They invite me to private
digs.
They invite me to to go dostuff. I'm meeting people that
(07:54):
I'd I've always wanted to meetand just never knew how to meet.
And she's like, Chris, we hangout with all these people. Oh my
god. So and then she believesthat this is a a true
connection, the minerals and thestone, because the fossils up
there, they're the same age as alot of this same stuff.
And most people, they don't whenthey put those two together,
they're like, oh, this is thisis not a new countertop. You
(08:16):
know, this is this is this isold. This is as old as that
fossil that's on the wall.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett (08:20):
That's right.
Chris Blackburn (08:20):
So it it makes you think differently about the
stone, that's what me and Andrewwe think it's an education, and
it's also fun, and all thisstuff comes from different
places with a different storybehind it.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett (08:30):
That's right.
Chris Blackburn (08:31):
So we know when we started this, we said we are
gonna be a different stonecompany than what everybody
knows. My goodness. The stonereps that travel the world that
come to us, they said, Chris,top five in the nation. They
said, not because you have sucha luxurious because your vibe is
so cool here.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett (08:47):
It is. It is a vibe.
Chris Blackburn (08:50):
So we're gonna walk quickly because I still got
the other building I want you toshow.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett: Of course. (08:54):
undefined
Chris Blackburn (08:55):
Before we hit run out of time here. Did you
see the bathrooms?
Sarah Zubiate Bennett (08:58):
The bathrooms? No. Oh, I love this.
You're right. It is an entireexperience.
Chris Blackburn (09:05):
And
Sarah Zubiate Bennett (09:08):
are you the one who designs most of
this?
Chris Blackburn (09:10):
Yeah. I have to be people. I I don't talk
myself. I I I just have a I havea I have a dream, I guess.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett (09:18):
Oh my goodness.
Chris Blackburn (09:19):
This is all semi precious stone. Oh my god.
Bismuth, tiger eye, quartz.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett (09:27):
Gosh. Is that intense? That is epic.
Chris Blackburn (09:32):
So we're gonna walk across a little bit.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett (09:34):
Please, let's do it.
Chris Blackburn (09:41):
And we like to entertain. We have some
phenomenal functions here. Dwellthe dinghy iron color party is a
big one. Rocktoberfest,Rocktoberfest, I'll show you
pictures in a minute. You'llblow your mind how we do Oh,
gosh.
I mean I can get 3,000 peopleand this property looks empty.
But you can see there's justit's just stuff and we try to
create environments that justmake it fun to hang out in and
(10:04):
get inspired because nobody doesit and we still have so far. I
mean, you know, we've been inhere five years in this space
and we still want to get thisclosed in and make it another
really fun epic space. This is athis is a great one. Look how
clear. There's parts on this youcan literally see your hand on
the backside of it.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett (10:23):
Oh, I'm sure. Oh, that's a beautiful
one.
Chris Blackburn (10:29):
Basalt columns. These are true basalt columns.
They're not glued together. Thisis true basalt columns in the
earth. And it's funny because alot of times you see It's in
Brazil.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett (10:40):
Brazil.
Chris Blackburn (10:40):
Well, South America. Most of it comes from
Brazil. But it's funny that mostof the time you see this, it's
turned this way so you see thelinear. A of people kind of like
this and I love this.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett (10:51):
Me too.
Chris Blackburn (10:54):
Yeah, it's hard as nails.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett (10:56):
It is?
Chris Blackburn (10:57):
Oh, yeah. Basalt is hard as nails.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett (10:59):
Do people ever use this outdoors?
Chris Blackburn (11:03):
It can be used outdoors.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett (11:04):
It can be.
Chris Blackburn (11:05):
For sure.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett (11:05):
Well, thank you so much for this tour.
I know it goes on and on, andthen you have
Chris Blackburn (11:10):
There's so much stuff here.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett (11:11):
Yes. Mean, There's just
Chris Blackburn (11:12):
There I have stuff on the back row that's
just as expensive as what's inhere because I can't it's it's
For sure. Yeah. It's I can'tmerchandise it because it's too
heavy.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett (11:20):
No. I get that. I absolutely get it.
Hello, everyone. My name is Sarah
Subiate Bennett. I do not workdirectly in this wonderful
industry, but I am cofounder ofthe Dallas Express and the host
of Let's Talk Local. So thiswill actually be viewed by not
just everyone in this room, butwhen we launch this on the show
(11:43):
by thousands and thousands andthousands of different people.
So I'm so excited to be here. Myhusband has hospitality
industry, runs three publiclytraded companies, all of which
own hotels, hundreds of hotels,and everything within it. We
have Premier Design toCompletion, which is part of the
(12:05):
Ashford/Remington group ofcompanies. And so this is very
much part of my everyday life. Idesign a lot of my own homes and
spaces, and I know a lot of theviewers and listeners of the
show will gain a lot of insightas to what takes shape in this
remarkable industry. It is atough one. It is a cool one. And
(12:29):
I feel like most people who workin this respected industry just
have a lot of wisdom to share.So I'm eager to learn from each
of these wonderful people heretoday. And I have not met any of
you except for just earliertoday, but I'm excited to get to
know you and hear your wisdomand to share it with a lot of
(12:52):
people. And now if we can pivotover to AI and all of these
tools that are now readilyavailable within your space,
even the client space. So I'msure that's changed a lot of
conversations that you'rehaving. But the question
specifically, how are youleveraging AI or other emerging
(13:13):
technologies in your work? Andwhere do you see the biggest
opportunities for innovation indesign?
April Henegar (13:19):
I think there's this connotation that AI is
scary for a lot of people that Iknow. And I think that it
there's a fear of it taking overthe design industry or or or
other jobs, and there there isin some situations. But I feel
like in our field, what ourclients hire us for is for the
(13:41):
design expertise, emotionalintelligence when we're
interacting with them, thereading them and figuring out
what what really ticks in theirhearts and what really is
important to them. And you can'tget that from an AI bot. One
example that really sticks in mymind is just using the lidar to
(14:07):
just scan a room. That saves somuch time and you get it in a
CAD or DWG or whatever file youwant to do and it takes twenty
minutes, you scan the room andall of a sudden you have a three
d in the computer versus veryaccurate. So I think that would
be like when I was trying tothink of the most amazing AI
(14:29):
like tool, like you hiresomebody to do that and they
spend like three hours measuringand then then you're like did I
really trust that junior to dothat? Like did they do it right?
I need to go back and check.There are ways of using those
tools, but that's not acreativity's tool.
You're not you're not picking upfurniture. You're not picking up
color with it. You're using thetools to save you time so that
(14:51):
you can do the creative partthat your client really hires
you to do. Because yourresponsibility is to put the
client's story in their home.
David Call (15:00):
Truly, AI for us has been a game changer. I've been
doing product development forthe past three years, and to
have AI as part of thatinfluence, to have the business
acumen of, just like Deborah wasmentioning about, I've gotten to
a point in my career, I don'twant to work. I want to do what
(15:22):
I love. And so this just simplycomes with age and with the age
of your business also. So thatis truly where it has been a
game changer for us, fromhelping us to design packaging,
to helping us tweak and redesignfurniture pieces that we're
(15:44):
putting in the line or whateverwe might be doing, they engage
AI. And it absolutely has been agame changer for us.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett (15:54):
Thank so much, David. I didn't hear
anyone here talk about somethingin particular that I found to be
fascinating that our, myarchitect uses. And her name is
Purva Jain, and she uses, somesoftware that allows people,
let's say like my husband, whocannot for the life of him, he
(16:16):
can't imagine what this willlook like against this. Just
can't do it. So she has somesoftware, this system that
inputs the entire room into avirtual reality space using the
Oculus. And so he's able to walkthrough and say, no, no, no, no,
we need to, Sarah, this is notworking in this So it takes
(16:40):
longer, but do you all findyourselves working with more
architects or places thatutilize this?
April Henegar (16:47):
My CAD guy, he who who have I hired, he does,
like, three d walk throughs.With renderings today?
Renderings. I think that's,like, the step right to the
next, like the VR. Right? And Ithink you're talking about VR.
Yes. I think that when you havea bigger firm, then possibly you
(17:08):
can do more technology. But Ireally think that probably in
the next year is gonna change. Ifeel like the technology has
grown so much. And and my cadguy has said, I can do this. I
can do this for you. And I'mlike, okay. Well, when I have
the client that wants it,currently, I use more of the 3D
or the walk through version inin CAD.
Nicole Arnold (17:29):
Seamless as it is today to all of us to take CAD
and put it in the SketchUp andsee that 3D rendering. Chief
Architect will do the samething. Anybody uses that tool.
How much more seamless is itgoing to be this in a year or
so? Because I bet you there'sgoing to be an import from that
to the Oculus. It's Awesome. Itwouldn't surprise me at that
(17:51):
much.
Debra Stewart (17:51):
Well, now I'm doing the full size to scale
floor plans that people canstand in the middle of the room
and get a feel for it, but it'snot three-dimensional.
Nicole Arnold (18:00):
Yeah. Right. No problem.
Debra Stewart (18:01):
But clients love it. Mhmm. Do love it. The 3D
version is called their roomwhen it's installed.
Hey friends. It's Sarah Zubiate
Bennett and oh do I havesomething fabulous for you lined
up. In this brand new segment,I'm sitting down with some
incredibly talented design prosover at Texas Counter Fitters.
And let me tell you, these folksare the real deal. We're talking
jaw dropping slabs, cutting edgetextures, swoon worthy tones,
and tech innovations that'llhave your design brain buzzing.
(00:21):
So grab your coffee, yourcocktail, whatever suits your
vibe, and let's dive in. Be sureto hit those like and subscribe
buttons so you never miss out onthe fun. So tell me your name.
Chris Blackburn (00:37):
My name is Chris Blackburn.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett (00:39):
Chris Blackburn.
Chris Blackburn (00:39):
I'm one of the owners of Texas Counter Fitters,
me and my partner AndrewGilbert.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett (00:42):
Well, we are thrilled to be here. And I
know I've told you, but I'lltell everyone watching. So I
have had the longest lifetime, Ifeel like, of this entire home
renovation for our home inHighland Park, just forever. But
it's because I'm doing it all inconjunction with the expertise
(01:03):
at Premier Design to Completion.And so we are here today for a
panel which y'all will see, butwe're gonna get a little bit of
a behind the scenes tour.
Chris Blackburn (01:13):
This is the best hidden gem in Dallas. I
promise you. I can't wait.You're gonna really impressed.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett (01:17):
I cannot wait. And, oh my gosh. I mean,
so many of these already justfrom afar look incredible. So
please, I will follow you.
Chris Blackburn (01:24):
Come on. So a lot of these pieces have really
great stories behind them.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett (01:27):
Uh-huh.
Chris Blackburn (01:29):
And I'm gonna get to a couple of these that
are two of my faves. Soeverybody has Calcutta gold.
What's the anomaly about thisone is that you have the pyrite,
which is fool's gold. Itactually speckled speckled
through the slab. That's makesit really true Calcutta gold.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett (01:45):
Do you have any Carrera here?
Chris Blackburn (01:47):
Yes. We do have Carrera. That's more of a
commodity white marble, so wekeep a lot of that in the
factory in Garland.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett (01:54):
Oh, got it.
Chris Blackburn (01:54):
But, yes, it's a it's a known commodity.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett: So your factory is in Garland? (01:58):
undefined
Chris Blackburn (01:59):
We have a factory, a ginormous factory in
Garland. We service most of thelargest builders as far as
fabrication to them, and weopened this showroom as a luxury
item for to sell materialbecause there's a big
misconception, I think, in themarketplace that some
distributors will labelsomething rare. And at the end
of day, you know, a lot of theBrazilians feel it's just a
rock. And we also have reallysupported the fair market value.
(02:23):
After all, you can't Google theprice of a slab.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett (02:25):
That's right.
Chris Blackburn (02:26):
So it makes it very confusing to go into some
place to look at materialbecause you don't know what the
price is. We'll give you theprice. You know, we're gonna
give your fabricator a betterprice because he's the one who's
actually physically doing allthe work. Of course. And that's
only fair.
But anybody can come in here,get a budget, get a quote, and
know that they're in the goingin the right direction instead
of just coming here and notfinding anything and leaving
(02:49):
with is it expensive or not?
Sarah Zubiate Bennett (02:52):
And so can just any random person off
the street come in here?
Chris Blackburn (02:55):
Yes. This is a retail showroom. We do have a
lot of nice slabs, but we haveartwork. We have stone carvings.
We have garden features. Again,there's I think we represent
over 20 artists in this place.So and as you look around, you
gotta look in between the areasand see all the, I guess,
(03:17):
tchotchke items per se.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett (03:18):
Yes. Okay. Well, let's let's keep
going because I'm I'm alreadyliking some of the art that I'm
seeing.
Chris Blackburn (03:23):
More sculptures, specimens. You'll
see you'll keep seeing a handfulof these around everywhere.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett (03:29):
I am a geode collector. Since I've been
a little girl, clearly,they've...
Chris Blackburn (03:35):
Yeah. We have some
Sarah Zubiate Bennett (03:36):
Gotten nicer.
Chris Blackburn (03:37):
Some phenomenal ones back here.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett (03:38):
Oh, wow.
Chris Blackburn (03:41):
There's your geodes. All cut and glued
together and milled down. Now, Idon't really like the process
they do, but these slabs, wehave a few varieties of this
particular geo where they putthe geodes together. They're
phenomenal.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett (03:53):
This is insanely beautiful. At our our
ranch, you know, si cheese? I'msure si cheese, they're Italian.
But, I had this entire floorcreated from different stones.
Mhmm. And, they shipped it fromItaly, and it is meant to mirror
Chris Blackburn (04:15):
Yeah.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett (04:15):
Some geodes. Yeah. But in more earthy
tones.
Chris Blackburn (04:19):
Yes. Yeah.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett (04:19):
So, my gosh. That that's that's
stunning. So where do you bringin a bunch of these particular
pieces? Like, this is amazing.
Chris Blackburn (04:29):
So, you know, a lot of these I I shop. I'm you
know, we I go to places thatdon't have things that I think
would look good in theirshowroom, and Uh-huh. We make
this a shopping experience. Yes,it's a lot of slabs, but we
still have a lot of decor and alot of it's mineral decor, but
there's some just kinda weirdart items.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett (04:47):
So so someone can come buy this?
Chris Blackburn (04:48):
Yes. Everything in the showroom is for sale.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett (04:51):
Okay. This is just amazing. Yeah. I
cannot believe that I have notbeen here before.
Chris Blackburn (04:57):
We I mean, I still think it's one of the best
kept secrets. We love curating.I mean, it's just like we love
finding cool stuff that peopledon't have. And, you know, there
are mineral hounds. They lovethe art of mineral collecting,
but
Sarah Zubiate Bennett (05:10):
Uh-huh.
Chris Blackburn (05:10):
There are lot of people that are like, hey,
just want that on abookshelf because it looks fascinating.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett (05:14):
That's right.
Chris Blackburn (05:15):
You know, I've had if in my office, you know,
big mineral specimens, it ithelps decorate.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett (05:20):
It really does. I have them in my office.
Chris Blackburn (05:22):
Yeah. Oh. This is we call this coyote cowling
at the moon. Is that crazy?
Sarah Zubiate Bennett (05:28):
Oh my gosh.
Chris Blackburn (05:30):
And it this lady would not part with it. I
thought, finally, you have togive me a price that you would
sell this to me for because it'sgonna go perfect in my showroom.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett (05:38):
Oh my goodness. This whole space.
Yeah. I mean, this.
Chris Blackburn (05:43):
Yeah. This artist is out of Aledo. Really?
I ran into him and I was tellinghim my place, he's like, they
all look at me like, oh yeah,you're on the Stone Biz. He's
like, no, no, I am, but it'skinda different.
Gosh. So he makes a lot of thisreally cool stuff, he hammers
all this inside there. Yeah,Billy Schenck? Yes. That's one
(06:04):
of his pieces.
We went to his house.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett (06:06):
You did?
Chris Blackburn (06:06):
Yeah. My business partner went to his
house in Santa Fe. Santa Fe. Andknow, he's a big fan of them.
This is Kym Day.
She's here in Dallas. She's aphenomenal
Sarah Zubiate Bennett (06:20):
This is Day?
Chris Blackburn (06:21):
Kym Day. She's a girl here in Dallas, and her
detail on horses is not real.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett (06:25):
Oh, the work is incredible.
Chris Blackburn (06:27):
But it is good Southwestern art, you know?
Sarah Zubiate Bennett (06:30):
Oh my gosh. Well, you don't
understand. I have a whole ranchthat I I need to also complete.
And so this is wonderful. Andthen look at...
Chris Blackburn (06:41):
This you can actually turn this into a
waterfall. So the highest pointis I think right here. And it
will all cas if you put a holeright through here, it'll all
cascade down. And people think,well, how do you move this
thing? And I said, well, whenthey made it, they cut forklift
jack rails in it. So you can runa forklift right underneath it
and pick it up. Oh. I can gowith this thing anywhere with a
(07:04):
little bit of ease.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett (07:05):
Yeah, this is insane. And where do you
find them?
Chris Blackburn (07:10):
So the Perot Museum had their their exhibit
that's going on right now, it'sgoing on for a year, is called a
Spectrum in Stone, the Topazexhibit. We got to sponsor that
exhibit for a whole year. Whenthey asked me for that
partnership, said yes. Andthrough that, I got to meet the
(07:33):
top mineral collectors in theworld. One of them is right here
in the Rockwall and she's thecoolest lady in the world. Her
name's Gail Spann. Gail and JimSpann, and they're they're
they're names on all a lot ofthe minerals up at the Perot.
Well, they love me. So we get togo. They invite me to private
digs.
They invite me to to go dostuff. I'm meeting people that
(07:54):
I'd I've always wanted to meetand just never knew how to meet.
And she's like, Chris, we hangout with all these people. Oh my
god. So and then she believesthat this is a a true
connection, the minerals and thestone, because the fossils up
there, they're the same age as alot of this same stuff.
And most people, they don't whenthey put those two together,
they're like, oh, this is thisis not a new countertop. You
(08:16):
know, this is this is this isold. This is as old as that
fossil that's on the wall.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett (08:20):
That's right.
Chris Blackburn (08:20):
So it it makes you think differently about the
stone, that's what me and Andrewwe think it's an education, and
it's also fun, and all thisstuff comes from different
places with a different storybehind it.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett (08:30):
That's right.
Chris Blackburn (08:31):
So we know when we started this, we said we are
gonna be a different stonecompany than what everybody
knows. My goodness. The stonereps that travel the world that
come to us, they said, Chris,top five in the nation. They
said, not because you have sucha luxurious because your vibe is
so cool here.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett (08:47):
It is. It is a vibe.
Chris Blackburn (08:50):
So we're gonna walk quickly because I still got
the other building I want you toshow.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett: Of course. (08:54):
undefined
Chris Blackburn (08:55):
Before we hit run out of time here. Did you
see the bathrooms?
Sarah Zubiate Bennett (08:58):
The bathrooms? No. Oh, I love this.
You're right. It is an entireexperience.
Chris Blackburn (09:05):
And
Sarah Zubiate Bennett (09:08):
are you the one who designs most of
this?
Chris Blackburn (09:10):
Yeah. I have to be people. I I don't talk
myself. I I I just have a I havea I have a dream, I guess.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett (09:18):
Oh my goodness.
Chris Blackburn (09:19):
This is all semi precious stone. Oh my god.
Bismuth, tiger eye, quartz.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett (09:27):
Gosh. Is that intense? That is epic.
Chris Blackburn (09:32):
So we're gonna walk across a little bit.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett (09:34):
Please, let's do it.
Chris Blackburn (09:41):
And we like to entertain. We have some
phenomenal functions here. Dwellthe dinghy iron color party is a
big one. Rocktoberfest,Rocktoberfest, I'll show you
pictures in a minute. You'llblow your mind how we do Oh,
gosh.
I mean I can get 3,000 peopleand this property looks empty.
But you can see there's justit's just stuff and we try to
create environments that justmake it fun to hang out in and
(10:04):
get inspired because nobody doesit and we still have so far. I
mean, you know, we've been inhere five years in this space
and we still want to get thisclosed in and make it another
really fun epic space. This is athis is a great one. Look how
clear. There's parts on this youcan literally see your hand on
the backside of it.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett (10:23):
Oh, I'm sure. Oh, that's a beautiful
one.
Chris Blackburn (10:29):
Basalt columns. These are true basalt columns.
They're not glued together. Thisis true basalt columns in the
earth. And it's funny because alot of times you see It's in
Brazil.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett (10:40):
Brazil.
Chris Blackburn (10:40):
Well, South America. Most of it comes from
Brazil. But it's funny that mostof the time you see this, it's
turned this way so you see thelinear. A of people kind of like
this and I love this.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett (10:51):
Me too.
Chris Blackburn (10:54):
Yeah, it's hard as nails.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett (10:56):
It is?
Chris Blackburn (10:57):
Oh, yeah. Basalt is hard as nails.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett (10:59):
Do people ever use this outdoors?
Chris Blackburn (11:03):
It can be used outdoors.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett (11:04):
It can be.
Chris Blackburn (11:05):
For sure.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett (11:05):
Well, thank you so much for this tour.
I know it goes on and on, andthen you have
Chris Blackburn (11:10):
There's so much stuff here.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett (11:11):
Yes. Mean, There's just
Chris Blackburn (11:12):
There I have stuff on the back row that's
just as expensive as what's inhere because I can't it's it's
For sure. Yeah. It's I can'tmerchandise it because it's too
heavy.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett (11:20):
No. I get that. I absolutely get it.
Hello, everyone. My name is Sarah
Subiate Bennett. I do not workdirectly in this wonderful
industry, but I am cofounder ofthe Dallas Express and the host
of Let's Talk Local. So thiswill actually be viewed by not
just everyone in this room, butwhen we launch this on the show
(11:43):
by thousands and thousands andthousands of different people.
So I'm so excited to be here. Myhusband has hospitality
industry, runs three publiclytraded companies, all of which
own hotels, hundreds of hotels,and everything within it. We
have Premier Design toCompletion, which is part of the
(12:05):
Ashford/Remington group ofcompanies. And so this is very
much part of my everyday life. Idesign a lot of my own homes and
spaces, and I know a lot of theviewers and listeners of the
show will gain a lot of insightas to what takes shape in this
remarkable industry. It is atough one. It is a cool one. And
(12:29):
I feel like most people who workin this respected industry just
have a lot of wisdom to share.So I'm eager to learn from each
of these wonderful people heretoday. And I have not met any of
you except for just earliertoday, but I'm excited to get to
know you and hear your wisdomand to share it with a lot of
(12:52):
people. And now if we can pivotover to AI and all of these
tools that are now readilyavailable within your space,
even the client space. So I'msure that's changed a lot of
conversations that you'rehaving. But the question
specifically, how are youleveraging AI or other emerging
(13:13):
technologies in your work? Andwhere do you see the biggest
opportunities for innovation indesign?
April Henegar (13:19):
I think there's this connotation that AI is
scary for a lot of people that Iknow. And I think that it
there's a fear of it taking overthe design industry or or or
other jobs, and there there isin some situations. But I feel
like in our field, what ourclients hire us for is for the
(13:41):
design expertise, emotionalintelligence when we're
interacting with them, thereading them and figuring out
what what really ticks in theirhearts and what really is
important to them. And you can'tget that from an AI bot. One
example that really sticks in mymind is just using the lidar to
(14:07):
just scan a room. That saves somuch time and you get it in a
CAD or DWG or whatever file youwant to do and it takes twenty
minutes, you scan the room andall of a sudden you have a three
d in the computer versus veryaccurate. So I think that would
be like when I was trying tothink of the most amazing AI
(14:29):
like tool, like you hiresomebody to do that and they
spend like three hours measuringand then then you're like did I
really trust that junior to dothat? Like did they do it right?
I need to go back and check.There are ways of using those
tools, but that's not acreativity's tool.
You're not you're not picking upfurniture. You're not picking up
color with it. You're using thetools to save you time so that
(14:51):
you can do the creative partthat your client really hires
you to do. Because yourresponsibility is to put the
client's story in their home.
David Call (15:00):
Truly, AI for us has been a game changer. I've been
doing product development forthe past three years, and to
have AI as part of thatinfluence, to have the business
acumen of, just like Deborah wasmentioning about, I've gotten to
a point in my career, I don'twant to work. I want to do what
(15:22):
I love. And so this just simplycomes with age and with the age
of your business also. So thatis truly where it has been a
game changer for us, fromhelping us to design packaging,
to helping us tweak and redesignfurniture pieces that we're
(15:44):
putting in the line or whateverwe might be doing, they engage
AI. And it absolutely has been agame changer for us.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett (15:54):
Thank so much, David. I didn't hear
anyone here talk about somethingin particular that I found to be
fascinating that our, myarchitect uses. And her name is
Purva Jain, and she uses, somesoftware that allows people,
let's say like my husband, whocannot for the life of him, he
(16:16):
can't imagine what this willlook like against this. Just
can't do it. So she has somesoftware, this system that
inputs the entire room into avirtual reality space using the
Oculus. And so he's able to walkthrough and say, no, no, no, no,
we need to, Sarah, this is notworking in this So it takes
(16:40):
longer, but do you all findyourselves working with more
architects or places thatutilize this?
April Henegar (16:47):
My CAD guy, he who who have I hired, he does,
like, three d walk throughs.With renderings today?
Renderings. I think that's,like, the step right to the
next, like the VR. Right? And Ithink you're talking about VR.
Yes. I think that when you havea bigger firm, then possibly you
(17:08):
can do more technology. But Ireally think that probably in
the next year is gonna change. Ifeel like the technology has
grown so much. And and my cadguy has said, I can do this. I
can do this for you. And I'mlike, okay. Well, when I have
the client that wants it,currently, I use more of the 3D
or the walk through version inin CAD.
Nicole Arnold (17:29):
Seamless as it is today to all of us to take CAD
and put it in the SketchUp andsee that 3D rendering. Chief
Architect will do the samething. Anybody uses that tool.
How much more seamless is itgoing to be this in a year or
so? Because I bet you there'sgoing to be an import from that
to the Oculus. It's Awesome. Itwouldn't surprise me at that
(17:51):
much.
Debra Stewart (17:51):
Well, now I'm doing the full size to scale
floor plans that people canstand in the middle of the room
and get a feel for it, but it'snot three-dimensional.
Nicole Arnold (18:00):
Yeah. Right. No problem.
Debra Stewart (18:01):
But clients love it. Mhmm. Do love it. The 3D
version is called their roomwhen it's installed.
Popular Podcasts
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Intentionally Disturbing
Join me on this podcast as I navigate the murky waters of human behavior, current events, and personal anecdotes through in-depth interviews with incredible people—all served with a generous helping of sarcasm and satire. After years as a forensic and clinical psychologist, I offer a unique interview style and a low tolerance for bullshit, quickly steering conversations toward depth and darkness. I honor the seriousness while also appreciating wit. I’m your guide through the twisted labyrinth of the human psyche, armed with dark humor and biting wit.