Podcast Summary: Trade Tales – "Ask Us Anything: Noz Nozawa on How to Find the Best Talent"

Podcast: Trade Tales
Host: Kaitlin Petersen (Business of Home)
Guest: Noz Nozawa (Principal, Noz Design)
Date: October 15, 2025
Episode Theme: How to attract, identify, and integrate exceptional talent into an interior design firm—especially post-pandemic, with unique challenges in workplace culture, hiring practices, and team fit.

Episode Overview

In this episode, Kaitlin Petersen addresses a pressing question from a fellow designer struggling to find and engage the right talent for an in-person, collaborative design firm. The conversation explores the post-COVID hiring landscape, generational differences in workplace experience, strategies for nurturing teamwork, and the crucial role of recruiters—culminating in advice from celebrated designer Noz Nozawa, who shares her insights from building her own dream team.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Modern Talent Challenge (00:51–06:13)

• The question asker, an unidentified designer, outlines post-COVID hiring struggles:

  • Juniors lack experience with in-person teamwork due to remote education.
  • Seniors often prefer remote work or are nearing retirement.
  • Building a passionate, office-based team is difficult.

  "Design needs light, design needs synergy. And with our work, you need people in the office."
  – Unidentified Designer (01:19)

• She notes that while finding people willing to be in-office is easier now, instilling passion and helping team members see future opportunities remains hard.

• Sourcing methods include Business of Home’s job board and referrals; more proactive talent strategies are desired, including possibly using a recruiter.

2. The Impact of COVID on Work Culture (08:40–16:17)

• Noz Nozawa recounts her own journey: rapid business growth, formation of an in-person team after starting digitally during the pandemic, and how the new environment affected the design process.

  "I built a team of more than me, plus a person, sitting at my dining room table during COVID... I didn’t actually appreciate until years after lockdown... that being in person is way better."
  – Noz Nozawa (14:12)

• Noz notes that more candidates now actively ask about office presence and are often open to in-person work.

3. Building Collaboration & Teamwork (16:23–21:44)

• Noz emphasizes modeling collaboration from the top. Her approach:

  • Open, conversational feedback regardless of hierarchy.
  • Fluidity in roles and boundaries, with the principal actively involved in riffing, brainstorming, and troubleshooting.
  • Safe, informal sharing of ideas, including works in progress.

  "I’m always here if you want to riff with me... That engenders a very conversational approach to design collaboration in the office."
  – Noz Nozawa (17:24)

• Team members were sometimes “rehabilitated” from former workplaces where only polished, presentation-ready work was shown to a supervisor. In Noz's office, sharing half-formed ideas is encouraged to speed up learning and innovation.

4. Hiring for Cultural Fit (21:47–24:37)

• Key culture indicators Noz looks for:

  • Lack of ego: Pride in work without arrogance or defensiveness.
  • Kindness and listening skills: Not just waiting to speak, but genuinely engaging.
  • Genuine passion for home and design: Especially for residential design.
  • Personal fit: Dog lovers (because there's an office dog), food lovers, and people who enjoy informal gatherings.

  "Taking pride in your work is so different from ego... My team, like really, they roast me all the time... And I'm like, oh my god, thank you for sharing your information."
  – Noz Nozawa (21:50)

5. Skills vs. Fit: Which Matters More? (24:44–27:19)

• For Noz, verifying skills (e.g., technical ability with CAD, drawing) is the “least emotionally and mentally taxing part” of hiring. A great fit still trumps technical wizardry—her most technically skilled hire was overall a poor match.

• Evaluates for:

  • Pride in work, balanced with boundaries to prevent burnout.
  • Self-starter mentality.
  • Potential for resentment or overwork if boundaries aren't modeled/tested by leadership; the need for managers to lead by example regarding “switching off” after work hours.

  “We don’t work late. Do not ever respond to a client email, a client text, a vendor text... after you’re done working for the day. It can wait until tomorrow.”
  – Noz Nozawa (26:08)

6. Interviewing for Passion & Intuition (28:19–30:23)

• Noz prioritizes intuitive assessment: she wants to see candidates “glow” both about their work and other parts of their lives.

  "I want people who glow and I want that to be part of my office... I love seeing them light up when they talk about work that they love..."
  – Noz Nozawa (28:30)

• She explicitly asks about both professional and personal interests, observing how candidates’ “glow” shifts.

7. Where and How to Find the Right Talent (30:36–41:15)

• Instagram and LinkedIn are useful for junior roles where “the stakes are lower.”

• For senior hires, recruiting becomes more complex:

  • Candidates are less likely to actively job hunt or have portfolios/resumes ready.
  • Using a recruiter for higher-level positions is expensive but “absolutely worth it.” Recruiters have ready-made networks, making the process less strenuous for both candidate and employer.

  "It was worth every dollar times five figures that I spent on a recruiter to find me the right person."
  – Noz Nozawa (32:27)

• The recruiter only gets paid if a hire happens (typically 20% of first-year salary), and often provides a return policy for early departures.

• Recruiters have the advantage of maintaining pipelines without poaching or awkward networking.

  "They are the ones who proactively have a pipeline of incredibly talented people. So that if and when it does happen... you come back from winter break and the person you thought was going to become your senior designer... [is gone], that's what a recruiter is for. They are the insurance plan."
  – Noz Nozawa (44:02)

• For junior hires, Noz still prefers organic, direct methods unless overwhelmed by volume.

8. Proactive Recruiting & Business Resilience (42:35–45:46)

• Noz is candid about not “networking” to “poach” from other firms; she views such behavior as inappropriate.
• Recognizes the importance of a recruiter as a proactive insurance plan against sudden team changes due to life events or other unforeseen circumstances.

9. Closing Advice from Noz (45:54–47:01)

• Offers guidance centered on perspective:

  “Fear is just information and pain is information. If you take emotions and anxiety away... it’s good information. Figure out why or how... Does that mean you need to avoid the thing, or do you need to walk into it and find a way through?”
  – Noz Nozawa (45:54)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “You can’t design in a dark room without oxygen. Design needs light, design needs synergy.”
  – Unidentified Designer (01:19)

• “My team rocks... we have an office dog, we have an espresso machine. Projects are awesome. So I don’t know, it’s just a really... rewarding time to go to work.”
  – Noz Nozawa (10:13)

• "I try to have no ego... my team, like really, they roast me all the time... and I'm like, oh my God, thank you for sharing your information."
  – Noz Nozawa (21:50)

• “I want people who glow and I want that to be part of my office.”
  – Noz Nozawa (28:30)

• “Recruiters... are the insurance plan. They’re like, that’s OK, don’t worry, I’ve got you.”
  – Noz Nozawa (44:02)

• “Fear is just information and pain is information… [it] has been really helpful... in me overcoming the overwhelm here and there.”
  – Noz Nozawa (45:54)

Key Timestamps for Major Segments

| Timestamp | Segment/Topic | |------------|------------------------------------------------------------------| | 00:51–06:13| Designer Question Asker: Post-COVID hiring challenges | | 08:40–10:38| Noz Nozawa on her firm’s journey since 2021 | | 14:12–16:17| Office culture shift: digital-first to in-person collaboration | | 16:23–18:11| Modeling and teaching teamwork in small design teams | | 21:47–24:37| Defining and hiring for culture fit | | 24:44–27:19| Balancing skills and fit; protecting against burnout | | 28:19–30:23| Interview strategies—watching for “glow” in candidates | | 30:36–41:15| Hiring practices: junior roles, recruiting, recruiter experience | | 42:35–45:46| Building a pipeline; recruiter as proactive insurance | | 45:54–47:01| Best advice: reframing fear and pain as information |

Episode Tone and Language

• Conversational, candid, supportive.
• Noz is generous with personal examples and honest about her own learning moments and evolving philosophies.
• Humor and vivid metaphors (“rehabilitating” new hires, glowing about work) make the discussion relatable.
• Both host and guest exude empathy, especially for the challenges of firm owners and junior designers alike.

Practical Takeaways

• Model the behavior you want to see: The principal’s attitude sets the collaborative culture.
• Be intentional about “fit”: Kindness, active listening, shared purpose, and excitement for design matter as much as technical skills.
• Recruiters are an investment: Best reserved for higher-level or niche positions where both skill and culture fit are mission-critical.
• Build a resilient pipeline: Don’t rely solely on personal networks or passive job postings—proactivity and preparation pay off.
• Normalize work-life boundaries: Protect talent from burnout by institutionalizing healthy practices in the firm.
• Stay open to change and learning: Embrace new approaches—even learning to get comfortable being a beginner again can benefit the work environment.

For design firm leaders navigating today’s hiring landscape, Noz Nozawa’s advice is a blend of practical hiring tactics, thoughtful leadership, and a deep respect for people—inspiring listeners to build not just talented, but truly vibrant teams.