Knowing how to hire a new team member is a necessary skill for any business owner. This week, we asked two designers—Lisa Gielincki and Noz Nozawa—when they knew it was time to grow their team and how they went about hiring.
NEXT LEVEL
“As a principal who started my firm without prior industry experience, for years I prioritized hiring team members who were also industry switchers or newer in their careers. While that has made and always will make me proud, I realized a few years ago that I didn’t want to be the most experienced person in my firm. It became clear that hiring team members who had worked at other high-end firms on projects that were bigger than what I’d had a chance to work on myself would be invaluable experience to have in-house.
I have almost always posted hiring [announcements] on Instagram. For the more junior roles, social media always answered the call. But when I was ready to make my first more senior-level design hire, I ultimately hired a recruiter, who introduced me to the person who would join my team. It was such a smooth and clear process that the investment in that recruiter was 100 percent worth it.
The easiest tasks [to delegate to this new hire initially were] the ones I am not very good at—things like technical drawings and project timeline forecasting. The rest of the tasks I’ve delegated have come with a fluid process of getting to know the new team member, their skills and talents, and where they want to help. With this person on my team, the confidence I have to bid on larger, more complex projects has increased so much, because we now have the skills, expertise and drive to go after these opportunities and deliver on them. Our clients whose projects she works on have also seemed to recognize and appreciate her experience, which they now get to benefit from. It just makes me so proud—as a business owner and human person—that the team I get to work with is so amazing. I look forward to each day in the office, and I get to learn from the people I’m surrounded by.
What I’ve learned from making this hire is to stay focused on the big picture while hiring. The salary asks [when you’re hiring senior employees] might feel intimidating, but the experience and maturity that this new hire will bring to the team will lead to better-quality work—or more efficient work, or a leveling up of your capabilities—so you’ll earn it back in projects. Lean on recruiters to help identify the right people. My firm is relatively new to hiring experienced team members, but what I’ve observed to date is that more-senior people tend to stay at their firms more comfortably. They aren’t trawling social media or Indeed.com for some bigger, better role. Recruiter networks are an effective way to get the attention of talented folks who might be open to a new opportunity, as long as it’s the right one for them.” —Noz Nozawa, Noz Design, San Francisco
LEADERSHIP FOCUS
“There are several reasons to create a leadership team. For me, the process began when I could no longer manage every detail alone. The workload for a founder or CEO can be overwhelming. If you find yourself involved in every aspect of the business, from high-level strategy to daily operations, it’s a signal that you’re stretching too thin. When all decisions, big or small, funnel through one person, it can slow down processes, hinder productivity and create bottlenecks that affect team morale.
Creating a leadership team can also help your business scale. If the business is growing rapidly but the existing structure struggles to keep up, it’s time to bring in leaders who can manage different areas. And as your business evolves, so do the demands for more specialized knowledge. A leadership team with focus in various fields can take your company to the next level [and] can also bring more strategic focus to the founder’s role if you find that too much time is spent on day-to-day tasks rather than on long-term planning and strategy.
Creating a leadership team has transformed my business by bringing more structure, allowing for better delegation and fostering support I needed in critical areas. I was able to identify key team members who had shown leadership potential, and I offered them a role to help grow and better the company. Our leadership team includes an operations director, a design director, a marketing consultant and me. In addition to forming a leadership team, we implemented the Entrepreneurial Operating System, which has been instrumental in elevating our business. With EOS and my leaders, we have been able to accomplish far more as a company than we ever did before. EOS provided the structure we needed to set clear goals, align everyone on the same vision and hold ourselves accountable to measurable results. This has transformed our team’s focus and effectiveness.
We now have a team that takes ownership of different areas of the business, which means faster decision-making, more strategic planning and fewer bottlenecks. This level of alignment and coordination has allowed us to hit key milestones quicker and more efficiently, from revenue growth to operational improvements. Ultimately, EOS and our leadership team have created a culture of accountability, empowerment and continuous progress, enabling us to reach and exceed our company goals year after year.” —Lisa Gielincki, Lisa Gielincki Interior Design, Jacksonville, Florida
These excerpts were originally published in the 2024 Interior Design Business Survey report, produced by Pearl Collective and Interior Talent in collaboration with Business of Home. Download the full report for more insights on the state of the industry.
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