John Foley
CEO
Ernesta, Inc.
John Foley founded custom-cut rug company Ernesta Inc. earlier this year and is planning to take the direct-to-consumer company nationwide this fall.
The company’s Beta program initially delivered to 3,700 zip codes in New York, Dallas, Miami and Chicago. But it has quickly grown to reach more than 30,000 zip codes across the country.
Ernesta is committed to placing the consumer at the heart of the company, according to Foley. The company’s sample program will allow customers to choose up to five samples for $50, which they’ll get back as a credit toward their rug purchase.
Foley is best known as the founder of the connected fitness company Peloton Interactive. After graduating from Harvard Business School with his MBA in 2001, Foley quickly went on to become president and CEO of event site Evite.com. He then founded price comparison site Pronto.com and served as CEO of that company until he moved on to short-lived social network Proust.com in 2010. Foley then briefly worked as president of e-commerce for Barnes & Nobles before founding Peloton in 2012. It now has a community of more than 6.7 million members across the U.S., U.K., Canada, Germany and Australia. Foley officially stepped away from his role as executive chairman of Peloton in September 2022.
“People are often surprised to hear this, but I’ve always been passionate about interior design,” Foley said. “Launching Ernesta this year is such a point of pride since it represents the culmination of two decades of wanting to build a company in the home décor space.”
Foley said many people pore over every detail of their interior design, but often settle for ill-fitting, standard-sized rugs that make rooms feel off.
“The right-sized rug can completely transform a space,” he said. “That’s the consumer problem I’m so excited about solving at Ernesta. We make designer quality, custom-sized rugs delivered to your door in as little as two weeks.”
In addition to bringing Ernesta to customers across the country this fall, Foley said the company is also growing its rug assortment by 30% as well as adding more materials to its collection of elevated classics, including performance silks, weaves and a host of new naturals.
