Build Beautiful

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Introduction
 Dylan Farrell's design career began underneath his father's drafting board in New York, and took a long way round: a rocky start at Pratt, years in avant industrial bands, and a phone call that brought him to Sydney. In this episode, we talk about building Dylan Farrell Design across two countries, launching the furniture collection After Editions, and what slowing down has changed.
 
 In This Episode We Explore
 * Growing up in a family of architects, artists and gallerists
 * Why starting late wasn't a disadvantage
 * New York vs Australian design, and being told the work was "a bit much"
 * Letting a team lead while running a studio across borders
 * Digital fatigue, patience and burnout
 * Being present, and how family changed the way he works
 
 Why This Conversation Matters
 Dylan shows that a winding path can build something lasting, and that how you live shapes the work you make.
 
 About Dylan Farrell
 Founder of Dylan Farrell Design and creator of the furniture collection After Editions, working across New York and Australia. Follow him: @dylan_farrell_design
 
 Proudly Supported by Tappeti Fine Hand-Crafted Rugs.
 
 Follow @buildbeautiful_podcast for a new conversation every fortnight.
 
 #BuildBeautiful #DylanFarrell #AfterEditions #InteriorDesign #AustralianDesign #DesignPodcast
To get in touch with Build Beautiful or to follow us head to our socials: 
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on Facebook
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If you'd like to be on the podcast, or want to collaborate with Build Beautiful feel free to contact us on buildbeautifulpodcast@gmail.com.

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Introduction
 Rachel Luchetti has spent 17 years building one of Australia's most prolific hospitality and retail design studios, Luchetti Krelle, without ever settling on a signature look. In this episode, we talk about responsiveness, designing for feeling over awards, and what it has meant to build something in her name, in her way, on her terms.
 
 In This Episode We Explore
 * Why having no signature style is the strategy
 * Designing for the end user, not other designers
 * Why bad acoustics can ruin a beautiful space
 * Expensive mistakes and what they taught her
 * Growing a studio slowly and leading through crisis
 * Red flags, free concepts and choosing your clients
 
 Why This Conversation Matters
 Rachel shows that quiet, unhurried conviction can build something that outlasts a trend.
 
 About Rachel Luchetti
 Co-founder, principal and creative director of Luchetti Krelle, based in Surry Hills. Follow her: @luchetti_krelle
 
 Proudly Supported by Tappeti Fine Hand-Crafted Rugs.
 
 Follow @buildbeautiful_podcast for a new conversation every fortnight.
 
 #BuildBeautiful #RachelLuchetti #LuchettiKrelle #InteriorDesign #HospitalityDesign #DesignPodcast
To get in touch with Build Beautiful or to follow us head to our socials: 
 on Instagram
on Facebook
on LinkedIn
If you'd like to be on the podcast, or want to collaborate with Build Beautiful feel free to contact us on buildbeautifulpodcast@gmail.com.

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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, honest rebuild that followed.
 
 In This Episode, We Explore:
 * Her childhood roots in design, and the belief that a "perfect home" could heal a broken one
 * Scaling from one project to thirty, and holding every decision herself
 * The 2018 breakdown, and why a friend reframed it as a breakthrough
 * What twelve months of recovery actually looked like
 * The shame she carried, and speaking about it publicly for the first time
 * Rebuilding the business with real structure, delegation and boundaries
 * Launching her Atelier, a passion project in collectible glass, after 20 years in business
 
Why This Conversation Matters
 Most founder stories celebrate the climb. This one is honest about the cost of it. Alexandra built one of Sydney's most respected design studios by believing she had to do everything herself, until her body made the decision for her. Her recovery wasn't about bouncing back. It was about becoming someone new, someone who asks for help, sets boundaries, and stays authentic in both business and life.
 
About Alexandra
 Alexandra Kidd is the founder of her eponymous Sydney-based interior design studio, now an all-women team of twelve. In 2024, she launched Atelier, a passion project creating collectible, Australian-made glass lighting in collaboration with local artisans.
 
 🎧 Listen to the full episode now.
 
 Follow @buildbeautiful_podcast for a new conversation every fortnight.
 
 Proudly supported by Tappeti Fine Hand-Crafted Rugs.
To get in touch with Build Beautiful or to follow us head to our socials: 
 on Instagram
on Facebook
on LinkedIn
If you'd like to be on the podcast, or want to collaborate with Build Beautiful feel free to contact us on buildbeautifulpodcast@gmail.com.

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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 "balance" in favour of shifting priorities
 * Her accidental first job at 19 as PA to Rodney Adler
 * The unplanned path from marketing to real estate to interior design
 * The story behind Soul of Gerringong
 * Building brand partnerships on authenticity, not free products
 * Her design philosophy: creating a "holiday feeling" at home
 * Straddling developer and designer roles without losing herself
 * Why she deliberately shrank her studio instead of scaling it
 
Why This Conversation Matters
  Most business stories celebrate growth for its own sake. Simone's challenges that quietly and convincingly, choosing energy over empire, and proving that a smaller, more intentional business can be the more successful one.
 
 About Simone
  Simone Mathews is the founder of Soul Home, an interior designer, property developer and mother of four. Alongside her builder husband Ben, she has built one of Australia's most distinctive design and development practices, including Soul of Gerringong, The Bower and The Pause.
 
 🎧 Listen to the full episode now. 
 
 Follow @buildbeautiful_podcast for a new conversation every fortnight.
 
 Proudly supported by Tappeti Fine Hand-Crafted Rugs.

To get in touch with Build Beautiful or to follow us head to our socials: 
 on Instagram
on Facebook
on LinkedIn
If you'd like to be on the podcast, or want to collaborate with Build Beautiful feel free to contact us on buildbeautifulpodcast@gmail.com.

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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 blank canvas at Sydney Contemporary and painted, live, for the room. From there, the career people now recognise began.

In This Episode, We Explore:
* Growing up Sicilian-Australian in Sydney's western suburbs, and what it meant to be raised "not Australian"
* Rebelling through fashion as a teenager, and accidentally landing a career at David Jones
* Standing in a harbourside home at 16 and having no idea what a Picasso was
* The catalyst that led her back to study, wanting to be an example for her own children
* Painting nine metres of canvas with zero experience, and the clever trick that got her noticed
* Why she walked away from gallery relationships to work independently
* The fear of being "figured out," and how she talks herself through it
* Her biggest advice for any young artist: put everything in writing

Why This Conversation Matters

Most artist stories follow a familiar shape: talent discovered young, formal training, a steady climb. Antonia's story doesn't follow that shape at all, and that's exactly why it matters. She spent decades not knowing she was creative, mistaking her own instinct for something ordinary. Her path shows that reinvention has no age limit, and that the years spent surviving, adapting and quietly observing can become the very material an artist draws from later.

About Antonia
 
Antonia Perricone Mrljak is a Sydney-based painter. After a first career as a fashion stylist, she enrolled at Sydney College of the Arts in her late 40s, graduating with a Bachelor of Fine Arts with first class honours in 2018. The following year, she painted live across nine metres of canvas at Sydney Contemporary, a moment that launched her painting career. She has since exhibited independently across Australia and internationally, including with a gallery in Auckland.
 
🎧 Listen to the full episode now.
 
Proudly supported by Tappeti Fine Hand-Crafted Rugs.
To get in touch with Build Beautiful or to follow us head to our socials: 
 on Instagram
on Facebook
on LinkedIn
If you'd like to be on the podcast, or want to collaborate with Build Beautiful feel free to contact us on buildbeautifulpodcast@gmail.com.