Today we welcome Noz Nozawa of Noz Designs, a full-service interior design firm based in San Francisco, California. In this episode, Noz shares her story of discovering design at a young age, her appreciation for art history and architecture, and the pivotal moment when she found her community and pursued her passion for interior design. We also discuss the realities of launching a business, the importance of perseverance, and explore her lighting design partnership with Hudson Valley Lighting Group and what it really takes to bring a collection to market.

SHOW HIGHLIGHTS

• How Noz’s fascination with interiors began as a child browsing design books and eventually led her to consider architecture and interior design as a career.
• The impact studying art history and architecture at the University of Pennsylvania had on the way Noz understood the built environment, furniture, and design.
• How her career in marketing and her time at Houzz connected her with designers, architects, contractors, and other creative entrepreneurs who inspired her to make a career change.
• The financial, emotional, and practical realities Noz faced when launching Noz Designs in 2014—and why perseverance became essential to building the business.
• Why intentionally curating her portfolio helped Noz attract the kinds of projects and clients she ultimately wanted to work with.
• Noz’s perspective on why building a design business can feel significantly harder in the early years and how experience, reputation, and financial stability can change the equation.
• The behind-the-scenes story of Noz’s partnership with Hudson Valley Lighting Group for Corbett Lighting, including why she walked away from the first opportunity and how the collaboration eventually came back around.
• What Noz has learned about product design, manufacturing constraints, mentorship, rest, and defining success by being fully present and satisfied with the life she has built.

NOTABLE QUOTES

• “You can only be new once. You can only have your first collection once.”
• “Everything gets so much easier if you can survive how hard it is at the beginning.”
• “You need to find mentors. Like, you can’t just wait for someone to pluck you out of obscurity and take you under their wing and help you.”
• “For me, success is like, am I obsessed with the life that I have right now?”

SUPPORTING RESOURCES

• Noz Designs Website: https://nozdesign.com/
• Noz Designs Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/noznozawa
• Noz Nozawa for Corbett Lighting: https://www.hvlgroup.com/Products/Designer/NOZAWA
• 1stDibs Objects of Desire Podcast — hosted by Noz Nozawa and 1stDibs Editor-in-Chief Tony Freund
• Houzz — discussed as an important part of Noz’s early career and exposure to the interior design community

SPONSOR LINKS

• Design Manager / Design Spec: https://designspec.com/survivalguide
• Interior Design Society: https://interiordesignsociety.org/