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PODCAST

Build Beautiful

Build BeautifulWhere design meets depthHosted by interior designer and property developer Linda Habak, Build Beautiful is a podcast about more than just aesthetics - it’s about the intention behind the spaces we shape and the stories we tell.Each episode features honest, insightful conversations with designers, developers, architects, artists, and creative thinkers who are reimagining the way we live, build, and create.This is a space for the ideas behind the work - the risks, the pivots, the

arts design

All Episodes

44:17

The Breakdown That Became a Breakthrough — Alexandra...

Build Beautiful ·

2026/09/30

Send us your feedback, thoughts or comments! Introduction In a small studio above McClay Street in Potts Point, Alexandra Kidd has spent more than 20 years shaping how Australian homes can feel. What began as a solo practice has grown, slowly and deliberately, into an all-women studio of twelve. But beneath the elegant, celebrated work sits a story most successful founders never tell: a breakdown at the end of 2018 that stopped her mid-conversation on a building site, and the slow, hone...

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42:11

"Energy Over Empire" — Simone Mathews on Choosing to...

Build Beautiful ·

2026/09/16

Send us your feedback, thoughts or comments! Introduction Somewhere along the way, ambition began to look like a larger studio, a bigger team, a longer list of projects. Simone Mathews, founder of Soul Home, decided to walk the other way. Alongside her builder husband Ben, she's quietly built one of Australia's most interesting design and development practices, including Soul of Gerringong, The Bower and The Pause. In This Episode, We Explore: * Why she rejects ...

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53:09

"I Am a Creative Person, Even Though I Never Admitted...

Build Beautiful ·

2026/09/02

Send us your feedback, thoughts or comments! Introduction There is a kind of artist whose career you can summarise in a paragraph: the school, the prize, the gallery, the rise. Antonia Perricone Mrljak is not that artist. She came to painting late, in her 40s, as a mother, after a first life as a fashion stylist. She walked into Sydney College of the Arts when most of her classmates were half her age, graduated with first class honours, and a year later stood in front of nine metres of bla...

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46:26

I Woke Up to 3 Million Views — Georgina Wilson on...

Build Beautiful ·

2026/08/19

Send us your feedback, thoughts or comments! Introduction There's a particular kind of honesty that's hard to find in any industry, the kind that looks at something widely admired and says plainly, this is not good enough. This week on Build Beautiful, we're joined by Georgina Wilson, registered architect and founder of Georgina Wilson Associates. Once a ballet dancer and flutist, she found her way into architecture, spent a decade training under one of Australia's finest residential architec...

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46:04

The Room Went From One Table to Global — Grace Miller...

Build Beautiful ·

2026/08/05

Send us your feedback, thoughts or comments! Every beautiful thing you've ever loved was iterated into existence. This week on Build Beautiful, we're joined by Grace Miller, Head of Failure & Experimentation at FlightStory, Steven Bartlett's media company behind The Diary of a CEO. She joined the team in January 2022, when it was just a handful of people around one table, and over four years helped grow it into a global operation followed by millions. In This Episode, We Explore: * What "...

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49:54

Success Never Feels as Sweet as It Should — Yasmine...

Build Beautiful ·

2026/07/22

Send us your feedback, thoughts or comments! Yasmine Ghoniem's father left for Kuwait for what he said would be a couple of months. Seven months later, her mother still did not know if he was alive. He had arrived in Kuwait the day the Iraqis invaded. Yasmine was ten. Today, she is the founder and director of YSG Studio, was named Interior Designer of the Year 2025 by Vogue Living, and co-hosts ABC's Grand Designs Transformations. This conversation goes somewhere most design podcasts do not...

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55:58

He Got a $30K Loan for a Pool Party. It Started a...

Build Beautiful ·

2026/07/01

Send us your feedback, thoughts or comments! The bank told Nicholas Karlovasitis they could not give him a business loan. No trading history. So he called back and told them he needed $30,000 for a pool party. An epic one. Just the once. They offered him $50,000. That was 18 years ago. Today, Design By Them — the studio Nicholas built with his co-founder Sarah Kay from a Newtown apartment — has a team of 35 and dealers across Dubai, the UK, the Netherlands, and the US. When their accountants ...

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71:53

Belinda Botzolis | The Property Valuer Every Designer...

Build Beautiful ·

2026/06/17

Send us your feedback, thoughts or comments! Belinda Botzolis has valued nearly $12 billion worth of Australian real estate, inspected more than 15,000 homes, and spent 17 years as one of the most credentialed voices at the intersection of property, finance, and design. But somehow, most designers have never thought to call her. That's the gap she is on a mission to close — through her consultancy Add Value, through her social media presence, and now through this conversation. This episode wa...

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41:06

Silvana Azzi Heras | From Moulin Rouge to House of...

Build Beautiful ·

2026/06/03

Send us your feedback, thoughts or comments! Silvana Azzi Heras is the founder of House of Heras, a Sydney-based textile and interior design studio known for its maximalist, emotionally rich patterns rooted in folklore, flora, and cultural memory. Born in Lebanon and raised in Australia from the age of two, Silvana was the youngest of five in a family of doctors, surgeons, engineers, and academics — the black sheep, as she calls herself, but the kind that glimmers in the light. Before foundin...

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60:14

Helen Lynch & Karyn McRae | 30 Years of Interior...

Build Beautiful ·

2026/05/20

Send us your feedback, thoughts or comments! Helen Lynch and Karyn McRae, co-founders of McRae & Lynch Design, have been in business together for thirty years. They met on the first day of design school, started taking on projects while they were still studying, and have since built one of Sydney's most quietly enduring interior design practices, spanning residential, medical, hospitality, and even cruise ship interiors for Carnival. In this episode of Build Beautiful, Helen and Karyn sha...

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60:47

Brooke Aitken | I Was Happy But Broke: 21 Years in...

Build Beautiful ·

2026/05/06

Send us your feedback, thoughts or comments! Brooke Aitken is one of Sydney's most quietly powerful voices in residential design — a Registered Architect AND Interior Designer who has spent 21 years building Brooke Aitken Design into one of the few practices in the country with the rare ability to both build a home and furnish it. But somewhere in the middle of that journey, on a panel in front of an audience, she said something that stopped the room cold: “I was happy. But I was broke.” This...

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44:09

Kym Elphinstone | How to Collect Art: A Curator's...

Build Beautiful ·

2026/04/22

Send us your feedback, thoughts or comments! Kym Elphinstone | How to Collect Art: A Curator's Guide to Living with Art Kym Elphinstone is the founder of Articulate, one of Australia's most respected contemporary art and culture agencies, and the author of Collecting and Living with Art. A lawyer turned curator, advisor and strategist, Kym has spent her career immersed in the art world — from the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia and New York's New Museum to building audiences for the Bien...

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71:42

Alexandra Donohoe Church | The Layers Beneath:...

Build Beautiful ·

2026/04/08

Send us your feedback, thoughts or comments! Alexandra Donohoe Church is one of Australia's most sought-after interior designers — founder of Decus Interiors, a Sydney-based studio she has led for over 16 years that has become synonymous with a rare kind of beauty: restrained, layered, and deeply felt. Her work has graced the pages of Architectural Digest, Elle Decoration, Vogue Living, and Belle. But what sets Alexandra apart is not her portfolio — it's how she thinks. She grew up between Sy...

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60:35

Darren Genner | Design Life Better: From Factory...

Build Beautiful ·

2026/03/25

Send us your feedback, thoughts or comments! Darren Genner, co-founder of Studio Minosa, is one of Australia's most awarded interior designers — a man who began his career on a factory floor producing 34 kitchens a day, and built one of the country's most quietly powerful design studios over 24 years. Alongside his partner Simona, his studio is known for its signature approach to 3D visualisation, its "Design Life Better" philosophy, and an unwavering belief that great design starts with func...

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51:06

Nasim Koerting: Refugee Roots to Merivale Design...

Build Beautiful ·

2026/03/11

Send us your feedback, thoughts or comments! Refugee Roots to Merivale Design Director: Nasim Koerting on Creative Freedom In this episode of Build Beautiful, Refugee Roots to Merivale Design Director: Nasim Koerting on Creative Freedom, Nasim Koerting shares how her refugee background shaped her identity, leadership style, and creative direction at Merivale — Australia’s most iconic hospitality group. From migrant identity and self-worth to creative freedom, intuition in design, and leading ...

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66:21

Sophie Vander: From Online Art Store to One of...

Build Beautiful ·

2026/02/25

Send us your feedback, thoughts or comments! How does an online art gallery grow into one of Sydney’s largest contemporary gallery spaces? In this episode of Build Beautiful, Linda Habak sits down with Sophie Vander, founder of Curatorial & Co., to explore her journey from launching an online art gallery in 2015 to building one of the most visible and welcoming contemporary art galleries in Sydney. Located on William Street, Woolloomooloo, Curatorial & Co. is known for its floor-to-ce...

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78:07

Carla Middleton: She Saved a Life — Then Built a...

Build Beautiful ·

2026/02/11

Send us your feedback, thoughts or comments! One moment changed everything - architect Carla Middleton saved her husband’s life during a sudden cardiac arrest. What followed was trauma, burnout, and the slow, intentional work of rebuilding her nervous system, her life, and a thriving architecture practice. In this deeply honest conversation, Carla shares how meditation, nervous system regulation, and values-led leadership helped her move through trauma and why success without wellbeing is not...

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67:19

Thomas Hamel: Old World Meets New World - The Art of...

Build Beautiful ·

2026/01/28

Send us your feedback, thoughts or comments! Thomas Hamel, founder of Thomas Hamel & Associates, is one of Australia’s most influential luxury interior designers, known for creating timeless interior design that bridges old world craftsmanship with contemporary living. In this episode of Build Beautiful, Thomas shares how his formative years in New York, London, and Europe — including time at the legendary Parrish-Hadley — shaped a design philosophy grounded in history, restraint, and end...

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51:40

Kate Nixon on Systems and Process that will set you...

Build Beautiful ·

2025/12/10

Send us your feedback, thoughts or comments! Kate Nixon went from Interiors Editor at Australian House and Garden to running her own design studio, bringing her storytelling skills along. She's not your typical interior designer—Kate runs her creative business using the Entrepreneurs Operating System and believes that systems will set you free, proving you can blend beautiful design with smart business structure. We're diving into her transition from magazines to design studio owner, how she'...

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28:28

Career Pivot After 20 Years: Brand Strategist Cynthia...

Build Beautiful ·

2025/12/03

Send us your feedback, thoughts or comments! Cynthia Myssy built her career in luxury cosmetics with L'Oreal and YSL before making a bold career change into automotive marketing with Peugeot. As a brand strategist, she helps people find real clarity in their personal branding and career pivots. Cynthia shares how fresh thinking and creative strategies transform not just brands, but entire careers. In this conversation, discover how Cynthia owns new chapters with confidence, whether navigating...

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31 results

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