What's the real difference between a $1,000 couch and an $8,000 couch that look identical? In this episode of Inspired to Lead, host Talia Mashiach sits down with Avigail Nadav, founder of OC & Co Living, a global custom furniture and manufacturing company serving designers, architects, and hotels worldwide.

Avigail pulls back the curtain on the complex, often secretive world of manufacturing in China — from touring factories that don't match their showrooms, to spotting fake materials, negotiating with vendors, and building a team across three continents. She shares the real story of how she and her husband went from furnishing their own flipped apartments to running a global manufacturing business, the costly lessons learned along the way, and how she built trust with factories most people never get access to.

Beyond business, Avigail opens up about the challenges of being a mother of four while traveling internationally, running a business through war in Israel, and building a marriage that's also a business partnership.

Timestamps:

0:00 – Welcome & introduction

1:02 – What we'll cover in this episode

4:57 – Solving designers' dreams

4:34 – How it all started

4:37 – Her career at Freightos & learning logistics

29:20 – The $1,000 vs $8,000 couch mystery

31:13 – The "iceberg" theory of manufacturing quality

52:46 – Her upbringing & her mother's inspiration

53:38 – Building a business through war in Israel

59:29 – What's next for the company

67:37 – Final message to the audience

Thanks to our friends at Roth & Co., innovators in accounting and business advisory, for making this conversation possible.

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