In this episode of Transform Your Workplace, host Brandon Laws sits down with Chris Laudadio, CEO of VersaDesk, to explore the company’s inspiring journey from humble beginnings to industry innovation. Chris shares how VersaDesk revolutionized standing desks, responded to customer needs, and pioneered ergonomic solutions for schools, offices, and medical environments. With a focus on sustainability, team engagement, and cutting-edge technology, this episode showcases the impact of thoughtful design on workplace productivity and health. Tune in to discover how VersaDesk is shaping the future of workspaces and redefining what it means to work smarter.
GUEST AT A GLANCE
Chris Laudadio, founder of VersaDesk, is a visionary in luxury office design and ergonomic furniture. Driven by a passion for workplace wellness, Chris has positioned VersaDesk as an industry leader, delivering innovative products that enhance health and productivity in the modern workplace.
A QUICK GLIMPSE INTO OUR PODCAST
🔊 Podcast: Transform Your Workplace, Sponsored by Xenium HR
🎙️ Host: Brandon Laws
📋 In his own words: “The Transform Your Workplace podcast is your go-to source for the latest workplace trends, big ideas, and time-tested methods straight from the mouths of industry experts and respected thought-leaders.”
THE EVOLUTION OF A BUSINESS IDEA
Chris Laudadio, CEO of VersaDesk, started the business in 2000 with just $100. As computers and the internet gained prominence, the company transitioned from making fitness equipment to crafting ergonomic solutions for medical and educational workspaces. Our guest explained that listening to customer needs drove their growth. By 2005–2008, VersaDesk began producing standing desks, originally tailored for hospitals to accommodate 24-hour operations with heavy-duty monitors and cables. While standing desks weren’t yet common for home users, this venture solidified their role as innovators in ergonomic solutions.
Over time, VersaDesk evolved to meet both workplace and educational demands, introducing advanced designs like activity tables with flip-up monitors for better teacher-student interaction. The company is now exploring technologies that integrate app-controlled features for greater functionality. However, school systems have been slow to adopt these innovative and ergonomic changes, often sticking to outdated designs for cost and consistency reasons. “A lot of the school systems are government institutions, and they move really slow to change,” said Laudadio. It’s clear that, while progress is being made, the market is far from reaching its full potential.
PODCAST EPISODE HIGHLIGHTS
The Benefits of Standing
“But standing is definitely important, especially since some people have back issues. Standing is great. It creates better circulation and burns more calories compared to sitting, so that’s something that’s a huge plus. And then, obviously, if you can do any type of exercise while you’re standing, it’s going to just add to it.”
Avoiding the Awkward
“I’m one of those people. I need my space. If we’re talking, it’s a lot nicer to be speaking to somebody while standing than having them come over and look over your shoulder when you’re working. It’s an ergonomic benefit, but it’s certainly a good social benefit where, if somebody comes over, you’re actually just looking at your monitor.”
Valuing Your People
“Anytime you can get a team member engaged, whether it’s in the office or at home, it’s super important. Nobody wants to go sit on a milk crate and a door, and that’s how a lot of companies start. But you want to have something nice for your team members. I think it also says something to them when the employer spends a certain amount of money for their team members. It’s basically saying, ‘Hey, look, we value you, and we want you to be comfortable and happy.’ I think that’s most important, where team members shouldn’t have to be like, ‘Hey, can I get this? Or can I get a hundred bucks to try and buy a table or put it toward something?’”
A Healthier Workspace
“People that are standing are at least making the effort to be a little more healthy. I think that’s more of a positive environment, right? If you walk into an office, and everybody’s slumped over their desk and sitting there, that’s not really something that gets you inspired to jump up or do anything. But for sure, I think I’m a fan of open workspaces. So standing is a second to that as well, right? […] I feel that a lot of times team members working together, even if it’s like sales over here and customer service over there, and one of them is having an issue, it’s kind of like you can almost tell that you can go over, talk to them, have a conversation, and help out the situation.”
Rising to the Challenge
“At one point, we did this thing called the WorkFit Challenge. It was an app that we designed right before the pandemic. It had a leaderboard on it. If Brandon’s over here and he’s standing, he’s burning this many calories. Then, if he’s on the treadmill, we actually paired a treadmill with it and had it synchronized. The whole idea was to get all these team members out there, competing or at least having some type of camaraderie.”
New for 2025
“I think when we are designing a product, we’re conscientious of where the monitor is going to be, right? This is really important. For 2025, we have a new desk that’s programmable to both desk height and monitor height. When you’re sitting, the monitor should be lower. When you’re standing, the monitor actually needs to be higher. We have this program that’s like your seat in your car. You have three or four functions, whatever it is, and that’s on the app. It’s something you can program to be exactly the right ergonomic height for yourself.”
A Healthy and Sustainable Product
“We don’t source any materials that are more than 50 miles from our manufacturing location. It’s not like it’s coming from New York to Los Angeles to be processed. It gives us a shorter lead time to get our materials for manufacturing. Additionally, you’re not creating this huge carbon footprint by trucking materials all over the country or from other places. That’s been important to us in general. […] Even our paints are carefully chosen. We make sure there are no VOCs in them when we apply them, and even when you’re touching them, there are no issues. Bamboo is a very sustainable product — it grows very quickly, much faster than regular woods, even if they’re used in an MDF format, which is still a byproduct of another wood product. Sustainability is super important. Sometimes that word is played with a little bit, but we genuinely try to use 60% recycled corrugated material for the boxes. Our metal is somewhere around the same, about 60% recycled. We don’t use anything that has volatile compounds or anything that’s not organic. If we use adhesives, which we rarely do, they are water-based.”
LEARN MORE
Discover how VersaDesk can support your workspace needs, from innovative desks to startup-friendly promotions. Visit VersaDesk.com to learn more.