Build Beautiful
Build Beautiful
Where design meets depth
Hosted 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 process. The quiet decisions that shape extraordinary outcomes.
Because beauty isn’t just what we see - it’s what we feel.
And what we choose to build, together.
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Build Beautiful
Her Parents Fled Iran. She Grew Up to Design Australia's Most Iconic Restaurants. | Nasim Koerting
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Nasim Koerting grew up knowing what it means not to belong. Her parents arrived in Australia as refugees from Iran, and she inherited both their drive — the relentless, exhausting migrant roadmap: study, prove yourself, never stop — and their deepest, quietest wish: to belong somewhere, fully, without apology. She has spent her career trying to answer that question through design. The spaces she creates don't just look good. They hold people.
Nasim Koerting is the Creative Director of Merivale — the company behind some of Australia's most celebrated hospitality venues. Her path there was anything but straight: nearly a decade in London, time in Israel and Spain, a transition from interior design into creative direction at workspace developer TOG, and a phone call from Justin Hemmes that brought her back to Sydney to lead one of the country's most ambitious in-house design teams.
This is a conversation about identity and belonging, about the migrant drive that never fully switches off, and about what happens when a creative life is shaped by displacement instead of comfort. About designing spaces that make people feel at home — and about the slow, necessary work of learning to feel that way yourself.
In This Episode:
00:00 – Introduction: From Refugee Roots to Merivale
01:20 – Discovering interior architecture by accident
03:00 – Growing up as a migrant child in Australia
05:55 – Breaking cultural expectations in creative careers
09:50 – The pressure to prove yourself as a refugee’s child
11:03 – Publication, ambition, and the myth of “making it”
14:20 – Moving overseas: Israel, Spain, and London
16:38 – Creative direction in London and non-linear career paths
17:40 – The call from Merivale
18:13 – Leading design at scale across iconic hospitality venues
19:51 – Creative freedom vs brand and business constraints
21:00 – Sourcing vintage pieces in France
23:36 – When design mistakes become breakthroughs
25:42 – The collaborative Merivale design process
31:26 – Why Merivale built an in-house design team
32:21 – Living with your spaces and constantly evolving them
36:31 – Where creativity really happens
38:36 – Leadership, self-doubt, and managing large teams
41:12 – Burnout, boundaries, and reclaiming creative energy
45:45 – Advice to young designers from migrant backgrounds
53:25 – What “Build Beautiful” means to Nasim
Connect with Nasim Koerting
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nasimkoerting/
Connect with Build Beautiful
Instagram: @buildbeautiful_podcast
Website: buildbeautifulpodcast.com
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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.