Ian Grant has a job most people would envy—he travels for a living.  He does it by hunting for unusual artifacts and objects overseas, then shipping them back and selling them to top retail shops, interior designers and end comsumers around the country and the world. 

His business, Bjorling-Grant, has earned a reputation in the design world as one of the best sources for beautiful cultural objects from around the world. At the prestigious High Point show and the New York Gift  Fair, Ian’s booth is a popular destination: designers and shop owners know they have to get there early before everything is gone.

To find desirable pieces to sell, Ian travels to places like the Mekong Delta, the mountains of Laos, the coast of southern India, Thailand, and Nepal, as well as Africa and Central America. Ian’s specialty is finding objects that are truly unique, which means his buying trips regularly take him to remote villages and bazaars—by truck, motorscooter, dugout canoe, on foot—whatever it takes.   

Ian works closely with artisans and raw material sources in developing countries to collect and create products that help support the local culture and are environmentally sustainable.  "Everything I collect has a story that comes with it, a cultural context to it, so when these objects find their way into homes around the country and around the world, those stories, those culture come with them."  He has seen first hand the reality that if you help support a culture, village or tribe, then they aren't put into a situation where they have to sell their land, their forests, their wildlife in order to survive.  That's a driving force behind his business.

In college, Ian acquired two degrees: one in history and another in art history. He studied at the National Gallery and the British Museum in London in a self structured course during college, and helped curate shows at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts.  He was lured away from graduate school, however, when he started selling high-end Persian rugs. Ian fell in love with a job that combined art, history, culture and hard-nosed bargaining.

Selling carpets for as much as six figures (while publishing articles on rug history) Ian made enough to follow his dream of starting his own import business.
He quit his job and immediately hopped on a plane for southwest India.  Ten days later he had his first shipment ready.

Ian’s never looked back—he can now tell you the exchange rates for ten different currencies and the exact shipping times from ports on every continent.  In 2007 he added a new angle to the business:  sourcing reclaimed and FSC certified wood from around the world.  He diggs deep in jungles and rivers to salvage "dead-fall" trees, and works with reforestation programs in various countires, importing the lumber to design and build custom furniture in his Minneapolis workshop for his clients.  For years Ian has been refered to in magazines and newspapers ranging from Duluth Minesota to Manila in the Phillipines as a modern day Indiana Jones.  In 2009 Ian won an Emmy for a series he had on the Travel Channel that followed him around the world giving the viewer a first hand view of what he does for a living.

Says Ian: “Tons of people would love to do what I do, but it’s not as simple as getting off a plane, buying stuff, and shipping it home. You have to know your prices, know the competition, and you need an ‘eye’. It’s not a vacation—it’s a business. But when I discover a treasure in a back alley or see the sun come up over Angkor Watt, I realize I have a pretty good job.”

Ian lives in Minneapolis with his wife Lisa and son Alex.  He runs marathons, practices a variety of martial arts, scuba dives all over the world, and plays hockey and the violin, although not at the same time.