1. Be connected to my heart
Sounds a bit like a cliché, but I still choose to give first place to this understanding. Our lives are so full of noise and stimulation that we can get lost in all the abundance around us. However, and despite all the pressure, it’s important to me to find my own unique design language, my path in the world of design, and the world in general.
2. Remember the good people I’ve met along the way
Throughout the journey of establishing AV, I’ve met many good people who believed in me, people who offered advice, support, and encouragement, people who connected me with other good people. Good people I’ve met along the way, people to whom I owe a great deal.
The were, of course, also people who were not so much… and they taught me life lessons that made me stronger, shaped me, and made me who I am today. But, hold on, I’m more in favor of the good people…
3. Learn from mistakes, and don’t be afraid to make them
As a child who experienced school as a huge challenge, and made lots of mistakes along the way, I learned that mistakes are a significant and necessary step in order to go on doing. It’s not fun to make a mistake, it’s not easy to take responsibility for myself. On the other hand, mistakes are a part of success. Mistakes are important in keeping us on our toes.
4. Look inward
Somewhat metaphoric… Not a night goes by that I don’t lay in bed, look inward, and ask myself: “How did I do today?” A kind of summing up of everything that happened, and where there’s room for improvement, for adjustment, and for doing better.
From another perspective, with every product I plan and design, I look inward, to its essence. I breathe it, research it, and examine it to see whether people will still like it with the passage of time.
5. Carry on dreaming
Or, in other words, my next step. My dreams come to me during my waking hours. I sketch them, talk about them, not to say shout them out. Because I believe we should speak our aspirations/dreams out loud, especially when their purpose benefits all.
I’ve been asked: “Aren’t you scared you’ll be copied?” My answer has always been that if someone chooses to copy me, then I say, “Good for them!” My brain can’t be copied. And anyway, cooperation is needed in order to make big changes in the world, so the greater the number of people who know our dreams, the better chance we have of making them come true.
6. Go out into the world and open all my senses
I confess that this is something I don’t practice sufficiently, and that’s too bad. In the midst of all the intensity of life, my wish for myself is that I’ll find time to go out and explore new spaces, visit more exhibitions, and discover inspiring places. On the other hand, inspiration can be found everywhere. As a mother who stays very close to her daughters, it’s hard for me be away from them; nevertheless, I do sometimes manage to find ways to go out into the world.
7. Grow in small steps
People ask me: “How did you build up your business?”
I’ll start from the beginning: Even before my academic studies, I wrote down why I want to study industrial design. Throughout my degree studies, I wrote the moment after graduation, and I also continued writing as I transitioned into motherhood.
I started small, at home. I did everything myself, with help from my father with the manufacturing processes. My husband helped in countless ways, but most importantly, he believed in me. I’d put my girls to bed, and start working into the small hours. I did that for three years. The day my daughter started polishing candle holders instead of playing with her toys, and the whole house looked like a factory, I realized I had no choice, and I ventured to take the most important step – finding a place. I rented a building in the moshav, and together with my extraordinary family I created a studio. That’s how I grew, slowly-slowly. And to this day, I still trudge between shops, meetings, and lectures. There aren’t any shortcuts.
8. Research
I research every product I want to design. I investigate its DNA. What it really needs in order to be complete and right, in my view. I try to find my innovation in it. I “delve” down, across, and diagonally in my search for added value, seeking to expand my knowledge of it, and especially to understand what I don’t know about it.
9. Keep my feet on the ground
Always remember who I am, where I’ve come from, and where I’m going.
10. Release
One word that speaks volumes. Releasing, or, more precisely, letting go of the difficulties I experienced during elementary and high school as a child with learning difficulties. Releasing people who aren’t good for me, releasing them in a good way, with acceptance.
Releasing products that don’t live up to expectations, which sometimes happens. To my mind, it’s the most natural thing, because if there were a failsafe formula for how to design a desirable product, we’d all hurry to use it.
11. Believe in myself
On the whole, I do believe in myself. It doesn’t work otherwise. Nevertheless, I check with myself every day if there’s justification for what I’m doing, what’s the right thing to do, and what’s my path.
12. Start every day with a smile
Every one of us is carrying a burden on their back – traumas, difficulties, and fears… The question is what you choose to do with them. I choose to smile. There were times when I really had to force myself to smile. Not from a false place; rather that I didn’t want to surrender to the sadness. There is always sadness, and it’ll come of its own accord, but my smile depends solely on me and how I choose to live. A day that
starts with a smile about the little things in our life can only do good.
13. Love myself
With everything this implies.
14. Surround AV with good people
As part of owning a business, I have a responsibility to ensure that everyone at AV feels at home, receives the entire staff’s embrace, feels they belong, that they’re part of the business; to maintain a family atmosphere, an atmosphere of togetherness.
So that we always march forward and grow, I wish for AV to always be surrounded by good people. From loyal employees, to businesses that believe in our products. And may we have opportunities for collaborations that will enable Israeli design to take place here.
