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TAYA NOVA
Hello, my name is Tatiana. This is the MosFocus magazine. There is a live podcast on the air with pleasant, very talented and famous guests: Alexander Nazarov, Natalia Safina and Irina Leontieva. It’s a pleasure, we’re glad to see you. Let’s start our wonderful conversation. Alexander, please introduce yourself and tell us more about yourself: what do you do, how did you get into your business? Was it a childhood dream, a spontaneous decision, or just the circumstances?
Alexander Nazarov
Actually, I’ve been an entrepreneur for 9 years now. Before that, my entire experience was related to employment. I’ve worked in finance all my life, and I’ve been a finance director. At some point, I burned out a lot and realized that I was definitely leaving my profession. I rested for six months and recovered in various ways, including with the help of alcohol, to be honest. And quite by chance, a close friend invited me to participate in a turnkey renovation project for his office. Together with the designer, they have already done a design project, and we have started to calculate the estimate. At this stage, the customer, my friend, had a misunderstanding: how to optimize the budget, how to implement your plans in life, taking into account its capabilities, vision, cost, timing and all other parameters. At that moment, he turned to me for advice because he knew me as a good specialist in finance, budgeting, and project management. That’s how my career in entrepreneurship began. First, we negotiated with contractors, made a competitive offer, and optimized the estimate. To begin with, we calculated it correctly and removed the excess volumes. When the customer saw that the estimate had decreased by 30%, he was very pleased that such an opportunity existed at all, and invited me to continue working on his project. Gradually, everything expanded: first, just work, then the contractual part, the conclusion of contracts, negotiations, the withdrawal of contractors to the facility. As a result, he offered me to supervise the construction. I replied: “I don’t understand anything about construction. I’ve never done any repairs at home in my whole life.” He says, “It’s okay, you can handle it. I believe in you.” In other words, my first project was formed on such friendly trust, my business was born, and it was there that the whole foundation was laid for the philosophy that I am currently implementing in my company MiraPRO. This is a high level of responsibility, deep immersion in the task, optimization of all processes and, most importantly, the ability to hear and feel the customer, his needs, which are really important to him. These can be completely different things. In this case, it was not enough for him to include the designer in his financial task: to figure out how to make this project optimal for money. I supported him in this matter and got a great result. The project won first place in the Best Office Awards competition as the best office in Russia and the best regional project of 2020. That’s how my business started.
TAYA NOVA
Very interesting. Thank you very much. In fact, it’s good to have someone who believes in you, supports you, and pulls you up. Roughly speaking, everything turned out exactly as it should have.
Alexander Nazarov
Yes, and it is important that all this happened in the training mode. It was very interesting for me to understand all the details and nuances together with the customer and my friend. I learned how to look for contractors, understand how to choose them, and analyze for myself a large number of criteria that I was already familiar with from my experience in finance. I had experience in bank underwriting: when a borrower applies to a bank, the bank evaluates his reliability, whether he will return the money, and whether he is a reliable counterparty. This experience of evaluating, seeing the company’s structure, understanding who the owner, founder, and managers are, what their approaches to business are, and how the work system is built, formed my concept of evaluating counterparties. That is, in the selection of reliable performers, which I made into a standard last year. This standard has received the “Leader of Construction Quality” award from the Government of St. Petersburg and SRO Nostroi. I have been working on it for a year, and this year I will launch it for official use: many professionals in our field will be able to use it, choosing partners for the most complex projects. I hope it will become an analogue of Michelin stars in the restaurant business, only in the field of construction, renovation and business class real estate.
TAYA NOVA
Very interesting. The topic of restaurants has been touched upon here, and I would like to ask Irina a question right away. As far as I know, are you involved in projects not only in Russia, but also in Abu Dhabi?
Irina Leontieva
Abu Dhabi, Kazakhstan, neighboring countries. We also have projects in Istanbul, Turkey. I entered this market, which makes me very happy and proud that Russian projects are entering the international arena.
TAYA NOVA
Please tell us about your experience and about some favorite project. Surely you have a favorite, the brightest one.
Irina Leontieva
I can’t say that I have any one favorite project, because Novikov Group, it seems to me, is … in general, all projects are beautiful, beloved, and it’s simply impossible to single out any one of them, it’s unrealistic. I think everyone who was there appreciated how wonderful these projects are. And they tried.
Alexander Nazarov
I was there yesterday.
Irina Leontieva
It’s even great. Yes, yes, yes, that’s the one. My brainchild is still.
TAYA NOVA
It is impossible not to touch on another topic. You brought your paintings today. I know you’re an artist.
Irina Leontieva
Yes.
TAYA NOVA
And these works of art mean a lot to you. They have a certain history of the masculine and feminine principles. I would like you to tell me in more detail how you draw them: at night or during the day?
Irina Leontieva
As I…
TAYA NOVA
A bit of humor.
Irina Leontieva
Yes, yes, why not, I agree. First of all, of course, I am an artist at heart. It’s been my wish since I was a kid. Male and female… It seems to me that these are two energies that generally fill our world, and the idea of these paintings was born.: male and female energy interact, create that harmony, that comfort in the world, in principle, which overcomes everything, despite cataclysms, wars and anything else. The masculine and feminine hold this world together.
TAYA NOVA
Great. Tell me, please, what is the name of this painting?
Irina Leontieva
This painting is called “The Energy of the Sun and harmony.” It’s a very nice name.
TAYA NOVA
And these two can also be told, what are they called?
Irina Leontieva
Here we have the element of fire, here the element of water, but, again, they fill the masculine and feminine with energy. Only in such a tandem does beauty come into the world.
TAYA NOVA
Agree. Incredibly beautiful, incredible. And where can your paintings be seen at all? And is it possible to purchase them?
Irina Leontieva
Of course, you can purchase it. There’s no question about that. You can see it in various galleries, and I exhibit regularly. But this is my first time presenting these paintings.
TAYA NOVA
This is the first time you’ve ever seen them, and it’s the first time we’ve ever seen them. Unbelievable. Thank you very much, Irina. Natalia, how are you feeling today? Wonderful, in my opinion. We’re wearing the same color today.
Natalia Safina
Not talking? It’s spring, so it’s spring. Fuchsia color is a color that always charges, which always adds brightness to our appearance. And the accent that calls, let’s say: pink fuchsia always says that we are ready for new victories.
TAYA NOVA
Great. Natalia, what are the color trends in 2026?
Natalia Safina
Fuchsia is one of the trends. Yes, last year there was a more subdued pink color. Fuchsia, blue, and terracotta are in fashion now. Generally, there is always a good mood in fashion. Everything that suits a particular person, and at the same time he feels like the best. The best fashion is the one that makes a person happy.
TAYA NOVA
The desired mode. Thank you, it’s a pleasure. So, I would like to return to Alexander. I have a question for you: what are the current opportunities in the market for the design and implementation of projects for the construction and renovation of premium real estate?
Alexander Nazarov
If we talk about the market, in general, how it looks now, the market of 2026, which many of my colleagues see, is a rather difficult market and a difficult period. Because it’s no secret that there’s a crisis right now, and many people admit it. Some of my friends used to say: “There was little money in Russia,” they say now: “There is no money in Moscow either.” The crisis is obvious, and not talking about it is probably at least incorrect to assess the potential. Because there is always potential, especially in times of crisis. You just need to see it, uncover it, and see how to develop your product. That’s exactly what crises are designed for. Wise and informed people have always understood that a crisis is a time of opportunity. It is during a crisis that you need to think about how to optimize the product, which product the consumer needs right now, and where his pain is now. Because in a crisis, not only manufacturers and suppliers suffer, but consumers also suffer: purchasing power decreases, income and spending opportunities decrease. And it’s at this time that we need to think about development. Now there are several trends that can be considered as the main ones in any business, no matter if it is related to design, renovation or other areas. The first trend is optimization. Process optimization, standardization, identification of inefficiencies and their correction. That is, to make it so that you spend less time and effort, but get the best result. This is the first thing: creating an optimal business structure and improving it. The second is artificial intelligence. AI is also a trend right now. Many of my colleagues, I don’t know, by the way, Irina, it will also be important to listen to your opinion, they believe that in 2-3, maybe 5 years classic design as we know it now, working for two months on a project, drawing up working drawings, visualizations, approvals with the client… All this big two-month work will flow smoothly, not immediately, of course, but it will flow into 30 minutes, maybe an hour, a day. That is, in a very short time. The process will greatly accelerate, and the success of each entrepreneur will depend on how the market prepares for this, how it goes in this process, and whether it reaches the end point when everything happens very quickly. Because if an entrepreneur believes that it is possible to build processes, interact with clients and partners in the old way, advertise and promote, and by this time it will not change, he will leave the market. The market will simply squeeze him out. Therefore, it is very important now either to deal directly with your artificial intelligence, or to take into account that it will replace the classic design at some point. Of course not, it will stay. I’m sure there will be a suite. It will always be relevant, and it is the suite that will remain behind the classic scheme when there is a lot of interaction with the customer and the designer. Not because the customer doesn’t have money or wants to save money, but because he likes the process. He likes the interaction, he likes, maybe, not immediately getting the perfect option, he wants to work on it. I want to come to my future home or office space in stages, through some kind of overcoming, experimentation, and so on. This is a completely different level. But if we are talking about the business segment and maybe premium (I divide: business, premium, luxury), if you remove luxury and leave business premium, these segments still want to optimize, they want to spend less time and money, but at the same time receive a high level of quality. And the further you go, the better. The more we see perfect pictures on Instagram*, the more customers from the premium business segment, those with whom I am familiar and with whom my colleagues communicate, want it. As the vice-president of the Builders Club of the Federal Business Community, the only industry business communication in Russia, and as its active participant, I communicate with a large number of designers, builders, designers, suppliers.… I made over a thousand new acquaintances last year, which is about how many I estimated. And everyone is talking about one thing: it is very important to work on the product. You can change your attitude, change teams, teach teams, invest in them. The old motivation systems stop working. Money alone is no longer motivating. It is very important to build a specific approach to working with employees within the company. Non-material motivation comes first. For the sake of money alone, people began to burn out very quickly. Something started to change in this world. All these trends can be said to force, somewhere through pain, to change. We will observe such changes throughout 2026. I really want my personal philosophy to help this process. Everyone asks, “What is your mission in life?” I found the answer at some point. My mission is to make the world of renovation and construction more friendly and more responsible. To help a business become more efficient, but at the same time keep a human face.
TAYA NOVA
This, by the way, is important. Irina, please tell me, what do you think about the use of artificial intelligence directly in interior design?
Irina Leontieva
This is a very interesting question. Today, I believe that it is a great helper for artists, designers, designers, and creative people, but it will never replace. I’ll tell you this from the bottom of my heart. What the artist sees in his head… It seems to me, well, probably the proof is my paintings. This is one of the things that AI will not create. Just like in creativity, in a design project. Many customers, if we are talking about a suite, as suggested, want to see a living soul in the project. And they will say, “We can do this ourselves, believe me, it has already happened from my practice.” They say, “It’s not alive, I need a living soul.” I may now mention my favorite customer, Arkady Novikov, and I can’t help but mention him. I want to put my soul into all his projects. In order for people in my projects to come, relax, enjoy life and take a break from our busy world.
TAYA NOVA
Thank you very much. I can see that Natalia really wants to express her opinion on this. Well, what is artificial intelligence?
Natalia Safina
This is life “before” and “after”. That is, you will exist forever. People are talking about this not only in the field of design, but also in medicine. We read about it, we observe it in general nearby. Therefore, AI is definitely an assistant. Because he’s a robot. He definitely needs to ask for an idea, and only after that he will accomplish what we would like to get, some kind of result. To see and transform is regeneration, but without it it is also more difficult for us. The ability to delegate, the staff needs to be trained, as Alexander already said. They need to understand, they need to get this information across. Sometimes it’s easier with AI, because it’s like talking to yourself. It seems that you gave him an idea, he helped, you checked and immediately got the result. But people and communication with people in a team, in a team, as well as with customers, without this, society will fully suffer. Therefore, AI is the engine of progress. Artificial intelligence needs to be used. This is a really good, wonderful idea, program, and product that will yield great results in the implementation of completely different projects and spheres of life. But about yourself and about the people around you who are close and dear to you, as in interior design: any space is our daily routine, where we return to and where we start the day from. We cannot do without humanity. That’s why AI is driving, but thanks to us. Yes, there is nowhere without us, without humanity.
Irina Leontieva
Without a human soul.
Natalia Safina
Soul, yes, yes, yes. The concept. Well, we are already considering from the point of view of AI: does a robot have a soul? No. He has a “head”, so we conceived the soul into it all ourselves and got it.
Alexander Nazarov
Did you know that AI would not exist without humans? That is, the skill that AI has now is a huge amount of work invested. Neural network training is done by humans. Why am I saying that the market will change? Because a large number of people who understand how this system works will invest in training neural networks in order to make their work easier, create a cool, really good, high-quality, beautiful, stylish, functional design that will feel the soul, which Irina talks a lot about. This is absolutely correct. In order to feel the soul, you need to feed the neural network a very large amount of information, training material that helps it correct mistakes, including those that initially arose, for example, when six fingers were drawn. There are no more six fingers. It’s just a perfect picture right now, and it’s getting better every day. That’s why I have a big wish for the design world: don’t be afraid of neural networks, help them develop, and they will make your work really easier and help you earn more on projects. Faster, with less nerves. That’s probably what we’re all striving for.: to be happier, more free in terms of time, optimize, save time, find reserves to increase free time and reduce the expenditure of nerves.
TAYA NOVA
I immediately had a parallel question. What do you do in your free time besides your professional activities?
Alexander Nazarov
I have a few favorite activities that I genuinely enjoy. I really love nature. That’s what fills me up. At some point, I completely gave up alcohol, the so-called relaxing stimulants, nicotine. I just didn’t need them anymore, because I learned to get joy from the world around me, from what I do. I am very inspired by hiking, I really love nature. I climbed mountains, realized my dream last year, made a real ascent of 4,500 meters, Teacher’s Peak in Kyrgyzstan. We went up with a group of friends, 11 people came to conquer the peak. Five reached it. The others are fine, they just had severe symptoms of altitude sickness, they stayed at the base camp, did not go on the final ascent. Here we are in the top five…
Irina Leontieva
Alexander, tell me, is there a dream to conquer Everest?
Alexander Nazarov
I don’t have a dream of conquering Everest itself. I probably have a dream to create my own Everest. That is, your big global goal. This is to help all parties in the repair and construction work: the customer, the designer, the architect, all suppliers and contractors to make the process of creating and implementing the project easier, better and, most importantly, more relaxed. So that the notorious stereotype “repairs are a pain” would go away, disappear, and be forgotten about like a bad dream. And for this, as a system person, I see the only tool: to create an easy-to-use IT product. The ideal I want to achieve is to get a project implementation team, the entire contractual framework, the opportunity to pay for the project in half an hour and launch it calmly, with a responsible project manager, specialist, expert. To receive reports with a clear schedule, without wasting nerves, time and extra money, which very often goes to fix alterations and shortcomings of poor quality. I hear all the time that there are problems here, there are shoals, they chose an unreliable performer. I want to make it less so. Therefore, if we talk about such an Everest, I definitely want to conquer it.
Irina Leontieva
This is a really cool Everest, steeper than Everest itself.
Natalia Safina
We completed so many tasks in half an hour.
TAYA NOVA
Introduce this, please tell me, what difficulties do you face in your profession? Are the main difficulties with clients or in the work itself?
Alexander Nazarov
I would say that I am not the only one facing these problems. They are faced by all participants in the process, because I never separate myself and my company from the participants in the process. Even at some point, colleagues ask: “Sasha, why didn’t you create your own construction company? Or Sasha, why didn’t you create a design bureau?” They sincerely ask why your entire product is connected with a full range of sales. Customers come to me even at the moment when they don’t have a design project, and ask: “Help me make a design project. Help us organize this whole process, because we don’t have time to do it, we don’t understand how. We have never done this before.” Or, on the contrary: “We did it, we know how much time, nerves and everything else it takes to do it.” It would be logical to create your own design bureau. Why not? Plant designers, let them make beautiful projects, the construction company implements everything, and I’m in chocolate. But I realized it wasn’t mine. Not my task, not my mission. I listened to myself and replied: I don’t want to do this. But I want to facilitate this process, making it more efficient, easier, faster, and more cost-effective. So that people don’t overpay. That’s why I decided to create an IT service that will allow a client to come, order, and get results very quickly, with minimal nerves. All the difficulties in this profession somehow lead to a lack of clarity. To the lack of understanding of what the result will be. This is the first big problem when all parties have different visions of the outcome. They represent deadlines in different ways, and they represent the cost in different ways. Or someone has no idea at all, often gets involved in the process, not realizing how much it all costs. And third, they don’t understand what quality will be at the end. That is, everyone has their own idea. The customer has his own, the designer has his own, the contractor has his own. And there is no one who will clarify this, who will make sure that everyone’s ideas come together. Because the main cause of conflicts, discontent, disappointment, pain, losses, bankruptcy is a lack of clarity. This applies not only to the design and renovation market, but to everything else. When there are no clear agreements, created and signed on paper, to which you can appeal: “Sorry, we agreed on this.” When there is clarity, there are no emotions. Can anyone formulate what an emotion is and why it appears?
Natalia Safina
Any emotion… Why does it appear? Well, it’s the ability to hear yourself. That is, it is a reaction to what is happening from the outside, around.
Alexander Nazarov
By the way, it’s funny that I ask a specific question about my emotions, and very rarely can people answer it. But I have an answer for our audience. It’s not that he’s the only one, he has a right to exist. It’s just that the question “what is an emotion” has a specific description. Let’s say there’s a situation. The budget has doubled. Is the situation good? No, maximum pain for clients. And it’s also a pain for contractors who face it. The budget doubled during the implementation process. So, if the client is in such a situation… There is a dimension to the situation. If he understands the causal relationship of what is happening by 10%…
Natalia Safina
Why?
Alexander Nazarov
Why did this happen? Who is responsible for this? Why has it changed? Why was this the way it was and how much was initially determined? How responsible was he for checking this amount? Where is his role in this situation? Where is his responsibility or irresponsibility? When he understands all the cause-and-effect relationships of what is happening, including his connection with this situation, he will have emotions by 10%, by 90%. Exactly.
Natalia Safina
Well, the result is obtained.
Alexander Nazarov
If he understands everything, where he did not ask, did not specify, where he understands his part of responsibility for what is happening, where he did not look, looked. And he understands all this. At best, he will have a slight regret that this happened. This is also an emotion, but it will be small, about ten percent of what he does not realize yet. And when he doesn’t understand anything at all, when he didn’t have enough responsibility to figure it out, when no one really explained anything to him, as often happens in our field, unfortunately. They don’t keep clients informed that deadlines are being delayed and budgets are growing. Initially, they mislead, they say that it will cost three kopecks, but in the end it costs one hundred million. And when such a situation occurs, the client is always furious. Sincerely, furious. Because he doesn’t understand anything at all, information is pouring in: it has grown in three months, it costs two million instead of one million. Quality: I thought there would be beauty and veneer, but it turned out to be cheap chipboard crap. Etc.
Natalia Safina
Etc. He’ll be furious, of course. Here’s a definition for you: emotion is a level of awareness. How interesting. That is, who wants to receive what emotion? From rage to 90%, each person needs to create… Moreover, positive emotions are also precisely related to the level of awareness.
Alexander Nazarov
If there is any strong euphoria and joy, again related to the repair. Let’s say the client was told that the repair would take two months. He doesn’t even realize that it’s impossible. I figured out what was possible. I believed in a fairy tale myself. At first, he flew up on a super-big joy. He’s already moving into this apartment in his head in two months. He has joy, delight.
Natalia Safina
I wish these two months would be faster. I came up with it myself, I believed it myself, I was happy.
Alexander Nazarov
Therefore, it concerns everyone. The joy is strong and inadequate.
Natalia Safina
Here I want to say that there is something to strive for. Again, aren’t you growing your Everest there? We need to somehow figure out how to realize the customer’s dream within two months, to move in where he wanted. This is also a very good process. But there is an agreement for both.
Alexander Nazarov
I liked one video on the Internet. They ask the customer from the builder. The customer’s wife asks: “Will we come to the apartment in two months?” The builder thinks to himself: “Well, you’ll go somewhere, you’ll definitely go to some hardware store.” Like, “Yes, yes, we’ll stop by.”
Natalia Safina
No, actually…
Alexander Nazarov
And he speaks honestly. I already asked.: “Will we come back in two months?” He says, “Yes, you will.” I answered them honestly.
Natalia Safina
Proper planning can even allow for such a period of two months. But the customer must also plan the start date of this period in advance. It’s very saving. In practice, such a topic exists, it is quite a working topic. When a person understands: I have a space where I want to move in. What factors influence this? When do I need to start the repair? To start it, what is needed? Calculate the budget, purchase materials, assemble a team, a general contractor. These are all ongoing processes. But it’s not like we bought an apartment today, we have the keys, and we’re moving in two months later. And at the same time we want the best. These are unreal moments. So here again, it’s planning. Our day consists of discipline, and we have been taught this since childhood.
All speakers
Planning, yes.
Alexander Nazarov
And it’s always nice. Result. And the second thing, after the clarity we’re talking about now, is responsibility. The level of responsibility for everything that happens for at least one person in the implementation team. At least one of them. Someone who really takes responsibility.
Irina Leontieva
Author’s supervision. In my projects, this is impossible without it. There must be an author’s supervision. It is very important to build what we are saying about responsibility here. In the complex, it is very important for the whole team, I think, to build trust. If he’s not there, the whole team just collapses. It is impossible to assemble it. Everyone will pull the blanket over themselves, saying, “He is responsible, this one is responsible.” When there is a level of trust in the team, a really tough nut to crack, then everything works out like a good Rubik’s cube. Trust me.
Alexander Nazarov
I have a very mathematical mind. I have my own wording about trust too. Do you know the difference between trust and trustfulness?
Natalia Safina
Trustfulness is the initial stage, and trust is the result. Credulity is a superficial feeling. And trust is the result.
Alexander Nazarov
Good. Do you have an opinion, a formulation: what is trust, what is trustfulness, why do they differ from each other?
TAYA NOVA
Well, trust is something that I initially believe in. For example, I’ve talked to a man, and I’m starting to trust him. And trustfulness occurs in the process of friendship or communication, depending on what we do. That is, trustfulness – it accumulates over the years, and you realize that it exists. Well, is that so? Wrong?
Alexander Nazarov
It’s not about what’s wrong or right.
Natalia Safina
Everyone has their own trust.
Alexander Nazarov
Everyone has their own idea of the words we use.
Natalia Safina
This is already from the experience of life, you probably know what it is.…
Alexander Nazarov
I don’t even have mine, but what I liked in life, a formulation of what trust and trustfulness are. Credulity is, well, for example: how much money do you care about losing? Is it a pity to lose a thousand rubles?
TAYA NOVA
No.
Alexander Nazarov
Five thousand?
TAYA NOVA
Well, just a little bit.
Alexander Nazarov
And ten?
TAYA NOVA
Well, more than that.
Alexander Nazarov
It’s a pity. And five hundred thousand?
TAYA NOVA
It’s a pity, because I know where to apply them. And they’re very hard to come by.
Alexander Nazarov
And if it’s 10 million? Where is the level where it just gets unbearable? That’s where the level of money is, the loss of which just becomes unbearable. Money is a familiar tool that can be evaluated. There’s a level of criticality somewhere where it’s really hard.
TAYA NOVA
The larger the amount, the more unbearable it is.
Natalia Safina
The level where you start working on what needs to be done to avoid losing money at all.
Irina Leontieva
Borderline.
Alexander Nazarov
Where is this border? When is it really strong? Yes, it’s really hard somewhere.
Natalia Safina
It’s different for everyone, actually.
Alexander Nazarov
A billionaire may have one, a kindergarten nanny may have another.
Natalia Safina
I think the three-try rule always works. There is always a rule of three in psychology. A maximum of three attempts per person.
Alexander Nazarov
Let’s say we call it a million. For evenness. So, credulity is when people can lend more than a million. Let’s say they can enter a project where they can lose more than a million. Hiring a man and entrusting him with an assignment that could cost more than a million is gullibility, it’s stupidity. Putting money in the pyramid is stupidity, it’s gullibility. And trust is when you can entrust an amount, give 5,000 rubles in debt, realizing that, in principle, it doesn’t mean much if he doesn’t even return it. In other words, you give it away initially without waiting for a refund. I also invested 500 thousand in the project. You understand that the project may not work. It’s a startup. And you trust the situation. So, when people trust inadequate amounts or invest a lot of time and nerves waiting for a refund, realizing that if they don’t return, it will be critical.…
Natalia Safina
So it just doesn’t come back, because when a person doesn’t let go of a situation, he doesn’t understand why he did it at all. That is, it is the result of an action. Any action is backed up by a result. Why are you giving this money? Just to indulge in debt, to amuse self-esteem, or to have a result.
Alexander Nazarov
Therefore, trust is a very good word, I really like it. I myself like to trust new partners, acquaintances, and employees. But this is the key: trust, but verify. The credibility can be constantly increased. I gave the person a little bit to prove himself for 5,000 rubles, he returned it. Time passed, I gave 10, he returned 15. In 10 years, you can give him a million, and he will return it, because you have formed a trust with him, you have experience building trust. And if you gave him a million at once, he took it away, disappeared, and you don’t seem to understand.…
All speakers
Trusting, stupid dude.
Alexander Nazarov
Therefore, I think that this concept, this understanding, will help each of you to be happier in life.
TAYA NOVA
Well, you’ve got us thinking, haven’t you? To reflect on this topic.
Natalia Safina
I always say that you need to be an experienced user in this life.
TAYA NOVA
But experience comes anyway over the years.
Natalia Safina
Only on their mistakes. Yes. Unfortunately or fortunately. I’m always grateful for that in my stories. But as much as possible and minimally. That is, they all work for me on a credit of trust.
TAYA NOVA
So, Alexander, there’s another question. We’ve been talking a little bit about customers, their displeasures, and how to make everyone happy. How do I find clients and how do I get them interested?
Alexander Nazarov
I would recommend getting yourself interested first. Well, to put yourself in the client’s shoes, to understand what the client might need in general, to ask questions, including unpleasant ones. And, of course, make custdev. Collect information from a real audience. When you have the opportunity to deeply and sincerely analyze your own opinion, a complete opinion about the situation, and conduct a survey of a sample of people, then you can understand what the client needs. And then look at your product, compare it with the resulting sample and understand where your product matches and where it doesn’t. And, accordingly, if you look at your website, presentation materials, speeches and realize that there is no value for the client in them, but there are just beautiful words, how wonderful you are, what an awesome team, but there is no satisfaction of the client’s pain and needs, there is no understanding how the client will become happier with you, how he will be more he will invest money profitably by working with you, as he will save nerves or get into housing faster… Here it’s about efficiency, about creating products. I read a book once. By the way, if you haven’t read it, I highly recommend the Blue Ocean Strategy.
Irina Leontieva
I read it.
Alexander Nazarov
Have you read it? The main idea of the book is that there is a Scarlet Ocean. This is our usual competition, when there are a million designers, suppliers, builders, and they compete with each other on quality and money. In short, like sharks, there’s a lot of blood, so it’s a red ocean. And there is another strategy – the strategy of the Blue Ocean. A situation where you’re not competing with anyone. You’re creating a product that’s different from the rest. You are creating a new market in which you are your own competitor. That is, by looking at yourself, you improve your activities and do new things.
Irina Leontieva
Well, it’s such a daily work on your product.
Alexander Nazarov
And there you just need to make sure that your product differs from the entire market in at least three ways. You remove one expensive, maximum one, which greatly increases the cost of the product, and add one that makes it possible to get savings. You remove one expensive one and add one that allows you to optimize the price, time or nerves. And you add three new ones that improve the product. You get a completely different product, which, it turns out, does not compete with anyone. This is the uniqueness of the Blue Ocean strategy. I highly recommend everyone to look at their products from this point of view.
Natalia Safina
So it’s all great, but it also happens, or rather it doesn’t even happen, and practice is very important. Practice takes a lot of time to implement all this. That’s why I’m sitting here analyzing: I wonder how long the practice will take?
Alexander Nazarov
The practice of hypothesis testing. In other words, you have created a new product and described it. Then the notorious 80 hypotheses begin, which all major entrepreneurs talk about. Several hypotheses are formed, and you begin to test them. As a result, there are two out of eight or three workers, depending on their experience. If you have a team that can quickly test hypotheses, and on what they like to say, “assemble a product out of shit and sticks.” This is the first one. A very common phrase among coaches, mentors, and promotion masters is: make cardboard out of sticks, test it quickly. See if the product works, it can be sold in principle, theoretically, start packaging it, making it beautiful, high-quality and bringing it to a wide audience.
TAYA NOVA
And tell me, please, if it’s not a secret, how much does business class real estate cost now?
Alexander Nazarov
I would divide the concept of business class real estate into three segments approximately. What should I call them? Business, premium, luxury. That’s what they call it, so I won’t deviate from the common names. For Moscow, the business category, according to my estimates, starts somewhere from 300 thousand per square meter. Turnkey renovation with furniture, all finishing materials and works – somewhere from 300 thousand per square meter. The premium category starts from about 500 thousand per square meter. The luxury category starts at one million per square meter. These are the budgets that can already be worked on. I am often asked: “Sasha, is there any way to optimize the budget?” I say: “Yes, of course, it is possible. You can always optimize your budget. There is no situation in which the budget cannot be optimized. Those who say that it is impossible, just want to earn more. It’s fair.” Therefore, when we talk about budget optimization, we can do it by reducing deadlines. Colleagues also said today: to reduce the production time. Either you will earn a million profit in 12 months, or in six months. There is a difference. Therefore, build a competent work plan, a plan for the supply of materials, equipment, and everything else. And take into account that not everyone likes to compare and analyze everything. When they think they can make repairs within a certain time frame, they did not take into account that supplies of various quantities of materials do not fall within these deadlines at all. No way. Accordingly, make the most effective work plan, create a budget for it, and make a competitive comparison. Which is also something not everyone likes to do, it takes time, and you need to have a working selection of suppliers and contractors who will make proposals. We need to keep these offers open, create interested parties who are ready to make offers, compare, analyze, understand the cost, what each price is calculated from, and how to reduce it. It can be reduced due to time limits, due to changes in the properties of materials: for example, veneer can be replaced with a good board or a good plastic. Or replace the Italian veneer with veneer from another manufacturer. And start modeling the situation by changing variables: timing, quality, price. Somewhere to replace the staff, someone is ready to exchange for our colleagues from the southern countries. This reduces costs. Someone is not ready for this. Therefore, it is a question of interviewing the customer and identifying his needs.: what is important to him and why? Money or quality? Quality or timing? Timing or money? When you understand, you build a chain: one, two, three, four, five according to the criteria of importance from one to at least three positions, you can already manage the process. Until you understand this, you are not in control of the process. And all optimization attempts come down to trying to squeeze the contractor’s profit. What’s the point? If there are other, more environmentally friendly tools. It seems, Natalia, that you can comment on ecology, not about environmental friendliness, including working with suppliers.
Natalia Safina
Do you want to look at me directly as a supplier, yes, in this situation? Well, to begin with, I love you very much, I already initially said that I love you in advance. Sasha and I are very similar, very similar. And indeed, people don’t just meet and get attracted. This is planning. Because, let’s say, our acquaintance also took place when a man, my colleague, said that I was engaged in planning. I say, “God, is there really anyone who really understands how important this is?” Because when you do a certain, responsible piece of work, let’s call it that. That is, you are a contractor in this case.: textile interior decoration. This is the final stage of any interior, any space. And you’re already entering the space, just like at the initial stage, when the general contractor is just starting to think about where the niche will be, what kind of battery, and so on. Together with the same designers. So it is at the end, when everything is done at the finish, and it is almost impossible to fix anything, but for some reason, the textile decorator has to fix it all by some magical method. Therefore, it is natural if we say more briefly what environmental friendliness is.: This is on the initial path, before starting work, it is necessary to negotiate on the shore. Negotiate openly, even if there are pitfalls at the beginning or at the end. That is, again, before starting work, when there is still bare space, and we are trying to figure out how to properly manage it. And at the end, when the battery is already 20, and the niche is 15 wide. That is, professionals and colleagues understand me. Because environmental friendliness is a healthy climate. A healthy climate of agreements, trust, and any result. And then, in principle, there are no issues that cannot be resolved. Because even a niche of 15 cm and a battery that protrudes 20 cm cannot limit anything so that the customer gets a beautiful story of his space at the exit. When professionals work, this is very important.
Alexander Nazarov
Take responsibility and make it clear.
Natalia Safina
Yes, yes, I added it.
TAYA NOVA
Alexander, Natalia and Irina, I have a question for you: do you think artificial intelligence will be able to optimize the budget?
Alexander Nazarov
I believe that he will definitely be able to optimize the budget due to big data. That is, AI differs from humans in its unlimited ability to compare a large number of parameters compared to humans. This is a mathematical model in which there is a possibility…
Natalia Safina
Then a period should be set. Do you understand what, let’s say, even the tender basis it should be based on?… That is, he can try to optimize it as much as possible, but it will be practically unrealistic at the finish. He won’t take all the factors into account.
Alexander Nazarov
Again, the task of someone who takes on the implementation of such a cool idea as optimizing the budget through AI is precisely to train this AI to make comparisons as efficiently as possible. First, collect analytics, analyze and compare. When there is big data, when there is, going back to my product, to my Everest, a base of reliable performers, it is initially for AI to reduce the risks to the maximum for the sample. So that he doesn’t analyze everyone. That is, manually select the performers, select them because they are reliable. They have risks of default, risks of poor-quality work, and risks that a person will run away, tend to zero, that is, they are minimal. Minimize risks and enable AI to compare the prices of these already selected people and find a quick solution. Or evaluate their employment now, understand that they are overloaded, production facilities do not allow them to get involved in work quickly, and give preference to those who now have a free window. And thus, when building a work schedule, optimize all the chains, look at the load and make recommendations in the form of: “The most minimally risky, most effective and most profitable option is such and such, please.” And the customer makes the decision. That is, in any case, it is clear that the customer or the project manager assumes responsibility for the result. AI cannot take responsibility for the outcome of the project. Here, in any case, the person remains in the picture of realization. Yes, but AI can definitely help you optimize your budget a lot. I’m sure of it. And it will be embedded, by the way. Some of the models will definitely be integrated into my system.
Natalia Safina
Well, as an assistant, yes. I already understand the result, which I think I answered briefly here.
TAYA NOVA
Natalia, as far as I know, you are engaged in interior and textile design. Please tell us more about your activities.
Natalia Safina
Let’s just say I’m in interior design. I have a narrower profile. It was also a conscious choice for me, because working with fabrics is tactile. All these properties have a positive effect on our inner emotional state. There is a very global work with color here, because fabric conveys depth, it conveys shapes. The wall is always flat, always perfect on either side. Including the ceiling. But the fabrics, their plasticity is maximum, let’s say, the luxury of draping them is permissible. This is an incredible feeling that I encounter every day. That’s why I’m in a narrow profile.: textile interior decoration. I’m a founder, I have my own special studio, my own showroom. And a subsequent expert with many, many well-deserved regalia.
TAYA NOVA
I know that you are an expert on many federal TV projects, and one of them was a joint one with Sergey Zverev. The “battle of styles”, right?
Natalia Safina
The project, yes. Sergey Zverev… I don’t stop talking about Sergey Zverev. A superstar is a person who knows more about fashion than anyone, and I can really sincerely talk about it. This is a person who has a lot to learn from, starting with fashion, in exactly the same way and method, and how to live properly. An experienced person.
TAYA NOVA
Natalia, but tell me, please, if you imagine that the listener hears the name Donatello for the first time? It’s a very nice name. How would you describe the brand’s DNA and your philosophy of interior couture in three phrases?
Natalia Safina
The most important thing here is that the person who hears about my brand and my middle name, which is already recognizable enough to be told it correctly, reads it correctly. Because I’m Danatella, I have a bias towards the letter “a”. There are quite a few other famous designers with the same name, but it is spelled differently. I would like to say this because Donatella Versace is Donatella, and I am Danatella, Natalia Safina. DNA… We have already talked about the soul here. That is, the most basic thing from which my brand was born is a conscious understanding: who, how, to what extent am I personally? I always ask myself a question in my life, to which there is a short and correct answer: “yes” or “no”. If a person answers “yes” about himself, then the decision is made immediately. If we start to doubt, then it’s a one hundred percent “no.” This is like a hint in general, in principle, also to colleagues and listeners that any doubt is practically a “no” option. That’s how, by converting my name Natalia, I got a name similar to other famous designers today, without even suspecting at that time that I would conquer the catwalks in the fashion industry.
TAYA NOVA
Your collection of interior textiles goes on the catwalks as full-fledged artistic images. How does work on such a collection begin: with fabric, with space, or with the story you want to tell?
Natalia Safina
It all depends on where the show is, the goal to be achieved, the country, consumer requests, and the public. That is, there are a lot of factors that influence. I can give you an example that is most interesting to you. Here is one of the latest awards, where designers and architects sit. Are they interested? They understand what textiles are. In this case, they were curtains that were divided according to interior styles. We had classic Parisian style, minimalism, of course, and there are others. That is, the audience, who has been working for a whole year, who understands what textile interior design is, they heard it through a live image of the presentation, that is, the work of models. If we are talking, for example, about Emirates Fashion Week, where the fashionable audience sits, as we have here at Moscow Fashion Week, then there is a completely different audience. Somehow, I always wish I could, so that they would see a non-standard approach to implementation in the fashion world. Plus, I do it all with my own hands. I already have a stitched collection. In this case, it’s on me now too.… This is my collection. But I am the exclusive author of this particular know-how. I’ve been collecting images behind the scenes for about two hours on models. Therefore, we create images for any event, for any purpose. Why are we? Because without a team… A team, of course, would be difficult for me, but in this case I am the ideological inspirer and full-fledged implementer of all these processes. Where do I get this from? I respect watching. I always have my own non-standard vision. My classics can’t be the same. I can’t have a loft with natural fabrics all the time, because if you add velour or velvet fabrics to any loft style, it will take on a completely different life. That’s how planning is most important. Basically, we come to one thing: planning. All our planning.
TAYA NOVA
Tell me, please, when you create all this, yes, you are focused on work, does it happen that you want to turn on background music?
Natalia Safina
She works in her own way.
TAYA NOVA
All the time, of course. Because music is like a muse, I guess.
Natalia Safina
Any creative person will always listen to music. He will always sing, dance, swim, and eat delicious food. That is, he will enjoy this life, because we definitely need to take this resource, this energy, from somewhere. That is, you need to be able to hear yourself. That’s why the music. There’s no way without music. By the way, I’m probably the only designer who comes out with a certain direction of music according to the brand book. And Irina’s paintings today are very much masculine and feminine, by the way. Because the main direction of music is Enigma. There are events, such as the award, where there was a different emphasis on jazz. We had to spend the whole evening playing jazz, and it was something new for me when my show was playing jazz. Because the main thing, when this retraining was created through a female image, a female soul: warmth, comfort and comfort, in principle, always depend on the woman in the house. That’s where Enigma music works best. That’s why music is very important to me.
TAYA NOVA
Thank you very much. But I also wanted to ask you a blitz question. To get into your models, do you conduct a specific casting or how does this process work?
Natalia Safina
I have no restrictions. I am often asked this question. The issue of restrictions does not exist. Any woman who wants to be beautiful, to understand what she needs, to somehow get into the female community, has access to cooperation with me, with my people and with my colleagues. Because desire is the main thing. Therefore, there are no restrictions. Of course, there are parameters, again, for the event: Emirates Fashion Week, Turkey, where there is a certain selection of participants initially by the organizers themselves. And so I also see that I have tall girls, and I can afford long trains, because any fabric needs to be shown exactly in length. But when we do something as part of our work activities, yes, we look at which models we need, how many, how many. Anyone can try themselves. And believe me, they sometimes do it even better than the most professional, top, podium people.
Alexander Nazarov
No, don’t you agree? It’s not me who’s surprised.
Irina Leontieva
It seems to me that everyone has after…
All speakers
Your shows are not different for them, their self-esteem is rising. Everyone calls me a doctor, a doctor. My girls get married, give birth, and get divorced there.…
Natalia Safina
That is, they lose weight, try some… Well, who’s red. That is, people are just shocked. There was a period of mental burnout, too, when I got tired of it, because you’re alone, and they’re coming, coming, coming. They want you to. Well how? That is, there was such a period, and the change of the team should take place at this moment. That is, female energy does not always work as a plus. When you are constantly in the black and there are too many disadvantages, then you can also become a minus. And I’m an empath. You can’t give correctly if you don’t take what comes to you correctly. Therefore, in this case, there is a change of team. The team is the same one that we have constantly behind us, it also periodically gives, well, let’s just say, some kind of failures, either relaxes, or it seems to them that something unusual is already ordinary. Therefore, new people bring in new projects, they bring in a healthy climate, and a very eco-friendly product is obtained.
TAYA NOVA
Your work is at the intersection of fashion, interior design, and performance. How do you personally define for yourself: are you more of an artist, technologist, entrepreneur, or still a director of visual stories in space?
Natalia Safina
God. But what would it mean to me if I said that I am everything taken together and a little more and a little more?
Irina Leontieva
You have your own Everest.
Natalia Safina
Yes, I have my own Everest, yes, yes, yes. I have my own Everest. None of that profession, that is, collectively, can lead, well, that is, if it is removed from there, yes, that is, lead a person to such a result. And there was a time when I was told: “Do you even know what you’re doing?” In that sense, what I’m doing. That is, I’m doing it for me. But for me it’s normal. And so I had a period where I just sat down like that and thought: “Can you imagine what you’re doing? Be proud of yourself.” That is, it’s great to be surrounded by like-minded people who will always say: “I believe in you, I’m proud of you.” But just shutting down and sitting down and admitting if you’re proud of yourself doesn’t mean anything about your self-esteem. It just came to me in this case because I didn’t have time. There is such a thing as “uninteresting”, there is such a thing as “no time”, but you definitely need to find time for it. Therefore, I also wish every listener, every colleague, and absolutely every person to find time in time to realize why you are there in general, why you are doing something, and to be proud of yourself. No matter how small or big the victories in this life may be. Therefore, I can only add there and go to my Everest.
TAYA NOVA
You are responsible for managing the studio, author’s shows, international trips and individual work with VIP clients. How does your workday work and which processes do you never delegate?
Natalia Safina
I have the last word. I never delegate this to anyone. This is the most basic thing. How am I doing? It’s impossible to do everything in time. It is necessary to highlight the important things and move them correctly to the next day. Because the rule of three is psychological. That is, if I don’t do what I have planned for myself within three days, then these are questions for me. Just get a good night’s sleep, go for a swim, and somehow life starts to hit the same key. Manage the studio… It’s not like you understand how I drive a car. Yes, there is something similar. People clearly in their places must necessarily understand what job responsibilities are assigned to them. Thanks to Sasha, too, yes, I think I will complete the training as soon as possible, because I already need to divide, let’s say, my life between cities. And before that, there was also such a sinful desire: “How do I clone?” All during this period.
Irina Leontieva
And creative people always have little time.
Natalia Safina
It’s sorely lacking. Therefore, this state of the clone is very relevant today. And in this planning process, the one that Alexander’s product offers, it’s very early… to delegate, as I said, yes, that is, I have the last word, yes, in deciding everything. This is very important: always check what you are responsible for, because your name, your reputation, the first impression you make … It is impossible to rebuild. It’s very easy to destroy. Just like the first impression, you can’t make a second one. This is the vessel, then this is the main core, which must always be protected. Which any manager does anyway, too, in the same way.
Irina Leontieva
As Coco Chanel said, yes, since we continue the fashion theme: Won’t you get a second chance to make a first impression?
Natalia Safina
That’s right, yes. Therefore, absolutely everything can be delegated, but the decision is up to the manager.
TAYA NOVA
Sure. It’s either good or bad. Natalia, what do you like to do in your free time? I heard: swimming.
Natalia Safina
Swim, yes. A lot more than the last time, if you take literally the last time, sleep. Because there really isn’t enough sleep. I don’t get enough sleep, because constant movement is great, movement is life, but you need to understand how much time you still need to sleep. Because of the power… Proper sleep must necessarily be eight hours, which is an unacceptable luxury, I am more than sure, for almost every resident, not to mention the people who work at the construction site. Because it’s very important. So I try to stop somehow.
TAYA NOVA
You are often presented as a designer with the intuition of an artist. How do you combine your creative intuition with the harsh demands of the market, deadlines, and budgets?
Natalia Safina
This question is very good, very important. And here, again, we can’t, let’s just say, not say that if you’re an accomplished professional.… You can grow up to any level of professionalism, let’s say. That is, you already have the right processes going on with a confident gait. That is, when you get to know any person, any customer, or the processes of the fashion industry, backstage life, you must have your own opinion, your own goal, your own kind of egregore that you carry. This is the most basic guarantee of such success. Therefore, in principle, how the idea is born in the interior space. Here we come, well, we have a project that needs to be adapted. There is a visualization that the architect, the designer came up with. I need their idea, which they also worked on, not to spoil, perhaps improve, or help. This is one of those fairly easy tasks for me. Why? Because we are finding compromises both on budget and on the timing of implementation. And in accordance with this, that is, my task is to add a certain zest. Because it’s like borscht: when you cook, you need to add garlic or pepper. Well, because I’m a professional too. I need, I can’t just make straight curtains. I definitely need to do some kind of early antique. All this affects the budget, but if you approach this issue correctly and see where you can save money, again in the process, without compromising on quality. I never vote for it, it always leads to a good result. My favorite regular customers allow me to unleash my creative potential, who, in principle, do not care at what stage and in what process, what kind of visualization they have of the project, yes, that is, in terms of textile design. And they say, “Natasha, do it for us, as always.” Of course, there was a certain path of formation to this “as always”. But that’s another story, let’s just say.
TAYA NOVA
You work both as an expert and as an inspiration for the younger generation of designers. What is the main advice you give to those who want to create not just textiles, but semantic spaces, as Danatello does? Yes, Danatella.
Natalia Safina
You know, a lot of people seem to want to be like Danatella, I’ve already come across this. Really. That is, the girls, the students who come to me for some seminars, workshops, they do not understand how you take the combined, the incongruous, starting from the density of texture, ending with just color. I always say: close your eyes, imagine how you would like this space to be if it were your home. This is the most basic rule. Just like we came to the store and start trying on some outfits.: You won’t know it’s yours until you try it on. That’s exactly how girls feel, young people understand. Well, it’s easier with guys, they always have, let’s just say, someone who understands this issue. But again, female energy once again shows that only through feelings, through self-acceptance, the right answer always comes. This is the golden key rule. How do I do this or use some methods from Danatella? Make it your own way. But the customer doesn’t always need to be told that. Because there is such a story, right? “What are you building for yourself? What are you doing to yourself?” There are such moments. There must be a balance here.
TAYA NOVA
That’s it. And still everything comes back to the fact that you need to listen to your heart. So why engage in some profession, some business, and spend an insane amount of time, effort, and nerves on it if you don’t like it? In other words, this is the same basic rule of our profession, our life: do what you love, and everything will be great for you. I even have a song now, I remembered it was written about artificial intelligence, I heard it in Yandex Music: “Do what you love, and the world will smile at you.” The phrase is straight from there, yes. That’s why it’s like this. Natalia, if you imagine that your future partners and clients are listening to this podcast, what would you remember about Natalia Safina and the Danatella brand after this conversation?
Natalia Safina
To remember, I would probably correct it a little bit. I would like everyone who listens to hear and remember the most important words that I want to convey to you, let’s say, as everyone. I am always glad to have every new companion and traveling companion in my life. Therefore, the most important thing for people to remember about me is that I am an open, kind, rather sincere person with whom you can deal, how to entrust him with personal space, in the same way to entrust your personal role in styling. Don’t be afraid at all, go ahead, colleagues, friends, professionals, any people. And the world will catch up. That’s the most basic thing.
Irina Leontieva
That is, such good messages, no matter what the experts may be. Coming back to the topic again: to be the Everest that everyone would strive for, yes, yes, yes. And I’m always happy to see everyone.…
Natalia Safina
Let’s just say to get to know each other, to suggest something, not to teach, to suggest, to enhance the effect, to become better. That is, always create some kind of gorgeous community. Therefore, support is one of the most basic points in life, which makes every person a little happier, and maybe even as much as possible.
TAYA NOVA
It’s like that. Thank you very much, Natalia. Very pleasant. Irina, please tell us. I know that you are not only an artist, but also an art psychologist.
Irina Leontieva
Art psychologist. Why am I emphasizing it? Because creativity is already psychology. It makes us all so happy, starting from the fact that we draw, we tactfully do something, we knit, girls, if they knit, yes, boys, up to the fact that they make stools there since childhood, yes, that is, this is already a creative process, we are involved in it. So this is art psychology, let’s say, which is absolutely present in each of us. Everyone was born with it. Believe me, everyone has it. It’s just that she’s probably sleeping somewhere. She just needs to be woken up a little. And how do I wake her up? Can you tell me if there is a method? Let’s just say everyone has methods, let’s go back to Alexander. It helps your planning. Now you’ve felt a creative streak, that you want to do it in some way. To what end? That’s what it’s about, yes. Is that what you realized?
Alexander Nazarov
I felt like I wanted to do something very useful for a lot of people. When I realized this for myself, what I had been doing before was somehow all very small, limited, and often invisible. And I wanted to do something so big, serious, large-scale, global. And when the idea came to my mind, I realized that it reflected just this request. I had already started acting then. The energy went, and everything seemed to spin. People started coming, some helpers. I even remember that the IT specialist came to me completely by accident. The one who makes my product, he came to me through three people in general. That is, I was invited by a friend of mine, and a little friend, to his girlfriend’s birthday party. We went somewhere in the Moscow region, met her there, talked, started communicating, and my IT specialist is her brother. That is, a stream of events is being formed in a crazy way, which already lead to a result. But then, when such a sincerely honest request appears, yes, and then resources begin to be pulled up to this.
Irina Leontieva
Well, this is coming back to the fact that, as art psychologists, we are, in principle, all born with this art streak. Yes, ask yourself the question more often. We, every person who has come into this world, we are individual. There are no repeat cases. You’re the only one of your kind. That is, through myself, it seems to me, more often you need to ask yourself the question: what can I give to this world? That’s right, from here.
Natalia Safina
Yes, I’m an art psychologist too, it’s working out too, wait. Of course, at the expense of creativity. The new ones, I say, just complement you.
Alexander Nazarov
In general, I think that everyone who works in repairs, in the subject of repairs, they are all a bit of psychologists.
Natalia Safina
And here it is impossible not to be a psychologist. We must understand what the customer likes, how…
Irina Leontieva
Here, it is important to feel the customer, to feel, yes, what he wants. And it’s important not just to listen to him, but to hear him. Hear. Yes. That is, if the customer says: “I want blue,” and the designer says, “I’m on trend right now, here’s red, and we want red,” and we won’t cook soup with you here.
Natalia Safina
I don’t understand such tactics at all. And moreover , it exists… Well, there are designers, our colleagues, who insist.
Irina Leontieva
Yes, yes. Very often, we come back, because it is young designers who now, yes, really, believe that this is a race for a trend, for some kind of trend, yes, right now there is minimalism, everything is done in minimalism, and the customer says: “Well, I’m uncomfortable with this.”
Natalia Safina
Now, I can even comment on these last ones. But minimalism will be easier, it’s so easy to understand everything. Life in gray, yes, that is, even again, we are able to make textiles in the maximum anachronistic interior. And when you have a cold shade there, that is, people freeze, people go into terrible depressions. That is, there is such a competent need to work with this key in tones. And only the key.
Irina Leontieva
Here we are also talking about invoices.
Natalia Safina
About the invoices. The fact that you’re using these fabrics is the textures. No, actually, in principle, furniture is even installed. That is, there are very complex interiors. And the customer, in principle, sometimes… By the way, an interesting metaphor for you is, at the repair stage, why does he become unhappy? Because he’s already uncomfortable when he comes and checks what’s going on in certain states. A warm range is required. A warm, comfortable range. That is, if we add some cool tones, they must have a balance. It’s not just that everything is cold, but it’s very fashionable to do everything. Well, thank God, our colleagues all know the taupe color. You can work with it, but again, the right subtone. One color is wrong, the paint is mixed incorrectly, the substrate is given, that’s all, you go to the hut as much as possible, in a cold direction. You also need to be able to work with this. Then you win. Imposing it on the customer, and then the alterations begin.
Alexander Nazarov
That is, I will have such an experience, by the way, the customer’s alterations are beginning. So I can support and agree that everything about colors and style, yes, it’s probably really necessary to listen to the customer in order to get such satisfaction.
Natalia Safina
To see, you know, at least a part of his life before he met you.
Irina Leontieva
Yes, it is very important here, indeed. And sometimes this meeting may not be a one-time meeting, but for example, in my projects, before we even start making sketches, we hold at least five meetings for customers, yes, such meetings in an informal setting. It can be over a cup of tea or coffee. If we are talking about a public project, restaurants, hotels, as a rule, there is, of course, not one, let’s say there are investors who participate, but there are business owners. That is, it is important to hear from everyone here and identify what they have in common. And only then do we have to make some sketches and give them out. Because if you listen to only one opinion, then some other side will definitely lose. Well, naturally. Yes, it is very important to maintain this balance that you are talking about. And sometimes I often ask my clients right down to what they liked when they were kids, and what they would be interested in now. And I would have brought it since childhood. Because our children’s emotions are the most sincere emotions.
Natalia Safina
Especially the ones we remember.
Irina Leontieva
Yes, those that we remember from the most conscious age. That is, inside each of us lives a little person, our own self. No matter how much we say that we have grown up, we… no, we have an adult self inside us, yes, and a child’s self. It is very important to hear this childish and adult. And indeed, then, sometimes customers from childhood take such memories that you think: he says: “That’s what I remembered, really, but that’s what I want.” That is, you give him this childish child to come out. And this, as a rule, always works with a bang.
Alexander Nazarov
I have such a story. There is a story when a customer hears his child speak: “I want to make my own water supply in this beautiful closet. I want it, I want it in the closet.” I was like, “Okay, that’s it.” I listened to the customer. And then the problems started. When it was necessary to produce something there, in short, before the equipment, everything was already difficult to get around, it was already very limited, and something could not be done. They started changing the filter somewhere there. The filter was unscrewed, and water started flowing. The water started flowing, it flowed behind the back wall. A fungus appeared, mold appeared. That is, it’s about the fact that you don’t always have to follow the lead of the customer.
All speakers
Here it’s the technical side, that’s right.
Irina Leontieva
That’s what the author’s supervision is for. We’re talking about balance, but I’m farther away. In terms of what we are creating for this creative tandem, I call it: customer, designer, architects, contractors, suppliers. This tandem needs to be folded correctly. But we need to hear everyone’s opinion. It happens often, yes, indeed, there is something like this, we started drawing, but it is very important not to be afraid here. Many, yes, again, they did, and I’m afraid to change something in the process. There is no need to be afraid here, here you need to exhaust your own… If you look at the course of events, of course, that is, here again, well, the customer is still the customer, as they say, yes, whoever pays the money orders the music. It is very important to observe this here, because if we do not listen to the customer, then it will no longer be his project. Naturally. Yes, yes. After all, it is the customer who plays an important role here.
Natalia Safina
It remains, but when the customer is too bothered, it is necessary to hear him, to hear as soon as possible, because he is also busy, he also has something to do. And when this, let’s say, any construction site, any idea of something new takes up a lot of time in his life, it also becomes…
Irina Leontieva
That’s enough… Well, if we go back to design, to art psychology, let’s just say that I have a Milanese education, graduated from the Milan School of Design, and then I personally had courses at the London Rostov School. What am I talking about: Unfortunately, yes, we do in Russia, and I do, if we return to talking about the dream that we should try to introduce subjects such as psychology and building a dialogue with a customer into our education. This subject is not taught in any Russian university. And this is very important. Indeed, we’ve been reading it for 5 years. 5 years, not a year, not two, five years. That is, to really hear the customer as soon as possible, and we needed to hear what they were telling us about the psychotype. If we go back to the zodiac signs, each zodiac sign has its own preferences.
Natalia Safina
Which I sometimes choose according to the signs of the zodiac, because anything can happen. These are really all working techniques.
Irina Leontieva
It’s a very working technique, because yes.
Natalia Safina
This is working with people, it’s not just like in a store: “Hello, everyone, the law on consumer protection.” No, working with people is hard.
Irina Leontieva
Of course, but it’s honed by those who can work with them.
TAYA NOVA
Do you use numerology there too? Zodiac signs, yes, now many people even look at birth dates.
Natalia Safina
We can’t guess, but just listen, let’s say. That is, when you come across a customer, you are… All my friends and I are staying. That is, in principle, it seems to me that any professional who has already achieved something, who has been on the market for more than 10 years, well, about ten years is enough, because it will either appear later or it will not appear. Well, you can’t not find out later in the course of communication, and it helps a lot. It helps, it can also be informal sometimes. Well, yes, indeed, that’s what it means to drink coffee. This is not included in the moment, let’s say, and the vishlist of the meeting with the customer or with the customer, but it is very important, and you should never refuse if you say: “Let’s have a coffee.” That is, it is considered a sign of bad taste. And this is a very important point.
Alexander Nazarov
In general, I always ask customers: “Please give me an hour and a half of time, I need to talk to you. Just to chat with you.” There is even such a checklist, at least 40 questions that you just have to ask.
Natalia Safina
You’re already a staff member.…
Alexander Nazarov
In order to create such a good, friendly, conscious, and clear relationship with him, which is strong.
Natalia Safina
But it also helps that we have, like, the most important thing – it’s a reputation and word of mouth, yes, like a printer used to be. We don’t, just like that, just with advertising… No ads, no, of course, it’s already at work. If it’s just some kind of advertisement, and they start calling you, yes, then this method is not working, which we are talking about now. It works exactly in a certain environment, in a certain… well, that’s some kind of that, but it’s right. It’s really just working on the result.
Irina Leontieva
Working on the result.
Natalia Safina
And a comfortable job for us, so that we don’t burn out.
Irina Leontieva
Sure. Yes. And I just, well, to sum it up, it’s exactly that even according to the signs of the zodiac, yes, if we’re talking… You already come to meet the customer, drink coffee with him, and if you are there in advance, of course, when you fill out even the contract with the customer, you fill out the date of birth there, you see all this, you already subconsciously understand what sign he is, you come to him, and the customer perceives you, thinks: “Holy shit, they’re reading me, they’re reading my mind. I said A, the person continued B.” In other words, this is indeed a big gap in our education, which I regret very much, but I hope that in the future we will definitely introduce such a subject in Russian universities. Necessarily.
TAYA NOVA
It will be Ekaterina Leontieva.
Natalia Safina
If it is clear. Write to the Foundation for Artificial Intelligence and Intellectual Development. Yes, yes. Everything will be. No, I’m really… Especially for the current younger generation, for whom gadgets are the first assistant, artificial intelligence is already the first assistant. Artificial intelligence is great, but it has no emotions.
Irina Leontieva
They surprise me. There are kids who are modern, yes, already teenagers, they say: “I do not know what to do with myself. I’m sorely short of twenty-four hours to occupy.” And the man says, “I do not know what to do with myself.”
Natalia Safina
Absolutely everything needs to be reviewed. Sure.
TAYA NOVA
What is the 2026 color trend used in interior design? Because it’s clear that you’re listening to the customer. But there are still many people who live by the trends. Well, that is, yes, just like in clothes, yes, fuchsia is also on trend here, for example, everyone will want fuchsia. How’s it going with you, please?
Irina Leontieva
Well, let’s just say that I’m still listening, probably, to the opinion of the Institute of the International Pantone Institute in London. Every year he announces a specific color of the year, the one he sets, and the Pantone Institute is still an institute that develops and develops new colors every day. And, of course, if our color is fuchsia this year, at least, I’m still in my projects for the customer, even to the point that a pillow, a photo frame, a phone case. That is, it’s something that little things will surround him, but he will be on trend.
TAYA NOVA
Dear Alexander, Natalia, Irina, it was a great pleasure to talk to you, warmly. We learned a lot of things. Both “MosFocus” and we are in focus with you today. Fuchsia light. Thank you very much for the great interview.
All speakers
We wish you success, may all your dreams come true, may you be surrounded by only kind, good people, and may you have many clients and customers.
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