Caron Grunschlag

Caron Grunschlag is the co-owner of KE-ZU and the founder of The Indy Group, a referral-only network for women working in interior design.

She joined KE-ZU in 1996 after a decade in financial markets, partnering with founder Mark Swanton to build a business defined less by what it sold than by what it refused to. Over the following three decades KE-ZU represented some of Europe's most significant design houses in Australia : among them Andreu World, Artifort, Bernhardt Design, LZF, Sancal and Enea — and pioneered manufacturing international designs under licence locally, shortening lead times and cutting freight emissions.

Caron founded The Indy Group in 2018, as a furniture business owner rather than a designer, after noticing how often her customers came to her for business advice rather than product advice. Most were running studios of one to twenty people, learning the commercial side on the job. Her conviction was simple: women in this industry gain far more by leaning in together than by circling each other as competitors. The group has grown entirely by member referral to more than 120 women, skewed towards business owners, with monthly guest speakers and deeper-dive workshops.

She has been a guest on the podcasts A Designer's Perspective and Build Beautiful. She lives and works in Sydney.