A Country Boy From Ohio Who Became an Award-Winning Architect: Paul Kozlowski's Journey

I have been looking for someone who lives at the intersection of creativity and business strategy and Paul Koslowski is exactly that person. He's an award-winning architect and co-founder of Dunn Koslowski, a firm that's spent nearly 24 years creating spaces that don't just look beautiful, they make people FEEL something. We're talking restaurants where you don't even realize you've been drawn up to the second floor, residences that are a pure expression of someone's personal brand, and hospitality spaces designed to work just as well for a post-yoga lunch as they do for the biggest celebration of your life.

But what really got me in this conversation is how Paul thinks about brand in a way most marketers and business leaders never consider. He dropped this 80-20 rule that honestly every business owner needs to hear — and the way he breaks down why most companies get design completely wrong might make you rethink that Pinterest folder you've been building.

If you've ever wondered why some spaces just hit different or why your dream vision might actually be working against you this is the episode to listen to.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

You know that moment when you realize the people you admire just didn't wake up successful. They figured it out as they went. That's the part no one really talks about. So I am talking about it. I'm Jeannie Walden, and this is Lift Off Journeys. This is where I sit down with leaders, founders, and executives to talk about how they actually became the people they are today. We skip the titles, we skip the bios, we focus on the choices, the detours, and the instincts that shape their journey. Because when you understand how someone else navigated their career, it changes how you think about your own. Let's see where today's journey takes us. Paul Kozlowski is an award-winning architect. Not only that, but he's the co-founder of his own company, Dunn Kozlowski. And they are known for brand elevating experiential design that blends creative vision with business strategy. How amazing is that? It's everything that I've searched for in my life because everybody that knows me, Paul, knows that I can do the strategic part, but when it comes to creative and design, that is all the help of friends and family. So I'm thrilled to have you on the show. Welcome to Lift Up.

SPEAKER_02 1:34

I'm so happy to be here. Thank you so much for having me, Jeannie.

SPEAKER_00 1:37

Yeah. So tell me a little bit about, you know, what Don Kozlowski does. Our viewers are dying to know. And, you know, about what makes the firm so great.

SPEAKER_02 1:47

First and foremost, you know, beautiful experiential design. You know, our whole passion is to create spaces that allow people to come in and be inspired, moved, transported, whatever may be in their experience and space. You know, human psychology allows you to be really engaged with those things. Um, and ultimately, I mean, as at a base level, we we provide architecture, interior design, branding services, but ultimately the goal is to create just really beautiful, inspirational, experiential design that just evokes emotions of people when they come in.

SPEAKER_00 2:17

And it's so it's so important, especially now in today's AI-driven world where you know things are becoming automated and people really truly are looking for a human touch, an emotional experience. I've got a whole book about you know inspiration and authenticity and relatability. So it's really important for all types of businesses. Tell me about the businesses and the industries that value your services the most.

SPEAKER_02 2:43

So ultimately, it's about human connection, like you just said, and we're living in a more digital world every day. And how do you create more opportunities for human connection? And so most of the places that we work in are hospitality fields, restaurants, hotels. Uh, but we really take a lot of pride in taking those types of experiences into all works. Um, we do a lot of residential work, and ultimately it's an expression of a person's brand, whether that's that person is a corporation, that person is an individual, what is their brand and how they want to host somebody, how they want to host their guests, how they want to engage with their guests. And how do we create spaces by listening to them and understanding who they are and they're at their core? How do we create spaces that express that brand and elevate that brand and allow their guests to experience it in the way that the host wants them to experience it?

SPEAKER_00 3:26

And I was doing some research, and we, the entire team was blown away when we looked at your website and saw some of the projects that you worked on and just the incredibly beautiful and thoughtful aesthetic. It's not just you're welcome. It's it's not just an overview or an initial wow, every single detail, and and your background is proof of that too, is so well thought out down to you know the tiniest, tiniest element that kind of brings such a comprehensive just statement together. You've got to have some favorites that you've worked on. Tell me about some of your favorites or some of the most significant projects you've worked on.

SPEAKER_02 4:07

So you're you're correct in that it is all layering. You can't create spaces that don't have um different scales in different layers that are tactile, that are visual, that are lighting, that are colors. Um, those are what make human beings feel comfortable in spaces and feel feel invited and welcome. Um and for us, the one in the background is um Adelina Prime in Chicago. Um we work with this company on all their projects. Um and really just building and branding their their delivery of hospitality. Um they are a new wave of Italian and steak restaurants that really want to deliver things at the highest level, but deliver them in a space that is comfortable and welcoming, like we talked about earlier. It's not staunchy, it's not stuffy, it's not all those things, and really it can work for all day parts. Um, so it allows people to come in, you know, after yoga class and have a lunch with their friends, but could also come in and celebrate their biggest occasion and have their nicest meal that they've ever had. Um, and creating spaces that allow people to do that are really just important to us. And we've, you know, really worked hard to create things that that draw people in. Um so one of the projects that we did with Adelina um group is called Adelina Italian, and it's a second floor space. And and whether unless you're in Minneapolis where everything is on the sky tunnels, um, second floor space is not a space you want to be in hospitality. Um and we really worked when you come in to use visuals to lift people up to the second space, second floor space and draw them up there. Before they know it, they're up there and they're enjoying it and they're having a blast. They don't even realize they're on the second floor. And then we were able to turn a first floor space that was really nobody wanted to go into when it was originally a different owner and made it the space everybody wants to get into because you can only get in there if you went upstairs and you were invited back down. Um, and things like that that really just just we love to create. We love to see something come from something we think about with the client and and create with the client to be something becoming real. And there's no greater reward than walking into a space and seeing the smiles on people's faces and them enjoying it. And and and part of that also goes into like creating a space that is operationally functional and and durable and those things, and it lasts and aesthetically it lasts. It's it's not overly trendy, but it pushes the boundaries, but it still has a classic quality to it that lasts and remains for the business, and they can continue to operate in and provide the quality and level of service and hospitality they want to provide.

SPEAKER_00 6:40

So with the focus on just the aesthetic and the emotion that gets evoked from it, from your side and your agency, are you bringing those thoughts and that kind of structure to the conversation with the client? Is the client reaching out to you and saying, hey, we want to design a great experience? Here's generally what I'm thinking. And you're bringing their vision to life, or is a little a little bit of both? Because from my days at agencies, you know, you you get the clients that have an idea in their head, but the briefs are often a disaster. And you've got to try and figure out how to bridge the vision to the brief to be able to create the excellent output. Are you do you see the same things from the topics? Absolutely.

SPEAKER_02 7:23

So so most clients come to the table with thoughts on what they they they want, right? Um, to your point, there's a lot of times a disconnect in in what they're saying and as what their brand is and what they're describing as their space or or what they want to see as a final result. And so, first and foremost, our job is to listen. I think a lot of mistakes in design are coming with a preconceived notion of what a design should be for a client, or or coming with, hey, this is our style. If you look at our projects, our projects are very across the board in regards to style and the final execution of them. Um, and the reason for that is that we really try to sit and listen to the client and understand what you just said, like what is their vision? But what are they really saying and what are they really trying to get at to really trying to get at as a final solution? And then taking our expertise and what we do for a living and applying that to make that this beautiful outcome and helping them think through really kind of what they're saying and what's really important to them. So, one of the things we've evolved as a business over the 23 plus years at this point, almost 24, is we used to just be architects, and then we became architects and interior designers, and we became architects and interior designers and branding and procurement and all these things. And the reason we did that is there were gaps in the process. For the most part, there's a very disjointed process in our industry. Um, you hire an architect, you hire an interior designer, you hire a contract, whatever it is, and you're kind of hoping that they talk to each other and coordinate and do the things they're supposed to do. And it tends to take a lot of time and energy from our clients that takes away from them being able to concentrate on their business. And so we brought all these things in-house. And the reason we did it ultimately was we can then execute what you just talked about in the best way possible. When I have a branding expert sitting at the table and we're listening to what the client is saying, we can put something back in front of them that says, okay, here's the main words we heard you use a lot. And these kind of go together and these don't. And so let's have some real conversations, some thoughtful conversations around what really drives your business. What really, as I said earlier, what really is representative of your brand, right? You know, what you really want your guests, and I say guest because again, residential, a restaurant, whatever it may be, a corporate office, um, what you want your guests to feel as soon as they walk into your space. And having that from branding to architects, interior designers, and all the services in-house, it allows us to do that seamlessly and really get to the root of like what drives their brand, what drives their business, what drives their passion for why they do whatever it is they do and want to express whatever it is they want to express. And it really results in a much more layered, um, complete, expressive design that then ultimately results in that emotion that evokes from people when they're in it. And and just really being able to create different spaces within the space that allow people to come in and do different things in it, right? So, like we talked earlier, a big celebration may have a different type of space they want to sit in than just I'm you know, I'm a business traveler and I want to come in and and you know, sit and have a meal. Um, and so how do we create spaces that everybody is comfortable? And in a residence also, how do we create spaces that everybody is comfortable to come into? And all those things, we have to truly understand at the root what they want and what they're trying to accomplish. And you can only do that by having the expertise at the table to really decipher, as you said, like what are they saying and what really goes together and what really doesn't.

SPEAKER_00 10:33

So, what are clients or prospects or you know, potential, you know, clients most grateful for when they meet with you? Because I can imagine that even just having a conversation with you or the team about what their vision is and what it could come to life, you probably bring so much expertise to, well, that sounds great, but if you do it this way, it won't be functionally appropriate. If you do it this way, this could work better. So at the end of the day, what do you think the customers or prospects are most appreciative about?

SPEAKER_02 11:03

The we talk about this all the time, the ones that have been through it before. Um, the ones that have been through it in kind of the typical model um where you have all these disjointed services or you have a lot of ego at the table. Unfortunately, beautiful design has become somewhat synonymous with a lot of ego and and beautiful design has become synonymous with, you know, it's my vision, not yours. I don't really care about your business operation or anything else. And the ones that have been through that and experienced that either disjointed process or that ego or that those things just have a wonderful appreciation of what we bring to the table because we can bring it from start to finish. We can do it from start to finish, but we also we we create beautiful spaces. That's our passion, that's what we do, and we love it. But we also do it from a lens of operations and budget and schedule and things that truly matter to the business when we're gone and in that space and we've got our photographs and they're beautiful and they're wonderful. That business needs to be a successful business. And a beautiful space is part of that, but so is a functional space and an operational space. So is a space that's delivered on time and on budget. And we have that background that, you know, we own and operate places. Um, we also work in um fields that raise capital, that back up these projects and things like that. So we get what they're carrying, we get what they're what they're they're trying to accomplish. And when they've been through that other process and they come to us and they see how we deliver it and they know now they can focus on their core business, they don't have to worry about babysitting the process. Um, they're just extremely appreciative of it. And then we can also, you know, just as we talked earlier, like really help clarify their brand and bring it into a physical expression of a space. And they're just really thankful for that because it they ultimately see a bottom line um improvement of their spaces.

SPEAKER_00 12:43

I love that you can tie it back to ROI and with 24 years in business, uh, you know, you must have seen a lot. Very good co-founder statement. But you you've been in business for for two decades. So you've lived through so many shifts in just the way the world lives, including, you know, COVID, where everybody moved out of large spaces and then everybody left shopping malls, and now people are somewhat, then it was hybrid. Now people are kind of back into offices and restaurants matter more, and shopping malls are becoming the new cool place to go. So I mean you've seen it all. What are the top architectural brand-related trends that you're expecting to see flourish in the next year?

SPEAKER_02 13:33

I mean, ultimately anything that allows for human connection. Um, I think we all, there's you said it earlier around AI, and there's and there's technological advances are always going to happen. There's great things to those things, but ultimately, human beings are human beings and they want to make physical connections. And so trends, you said it with you know shopping malls and office spaces and all those things. People want to go places that they can connect. And so the trend to me is ultimately how do you take, whether, regardless of the industry, again, whether it's a corporate office, whether it's a restaurant, whether it's a mall, how do you create spaces that allow people to be comfortable, welcomed, and allow them to connect in the ways that they're comfortable doing? Those trends will never go away because they're not trends, they're ultimately a core habit of the human psychology. People that you know, a lot of design is human psychology, and it's ultimately what people want at their core. They want to connect. So trends come and go, and you'll have different colors and different materiality and all those things. Those are going to continue to evolve and refresh. And that's, I think, the really exciting thing about an industry is we always get to kind of do something new. Um, and that's that's exciting to us. We we really enjoy that. But ultimately, at its core, the the trend, if you will, is is just an ability to create spaces and opportunities for people to connect and evoke emotion in them and what they do.

SPEAKER_00 14:58

Yeah, well, I gotta, I have to go down the route of the AI question, of course. Of course. So so you're designing these spaces, you're designing them for human connection, but more and more and more and more uh screens are being integrated into designs in so many different venues, not necessarily to distract anymore, but to be part of the experience and to really kind of bridge that. So is your company becoming an expert in integrated screen design with all of your architectural developments as well? Or do you have perspective on that at all?

SPEAKER_02 15:30

Definitely have perspective on it. And I think the advancements in the technology have made it more and more possible to integrate. I think when some of the technologies first came out from a screen standpoint, it was they were not to get too technical, but they were very blue light. They were, they were harsh light, they ruined spaces. You couldn't have them in beautiful, dimly lit spaces at night. You could have them there in the day, but they really didn't work at other times. New technologies and advancements in technology have really allowed those things to be more integrated. And then I think to our point of like successful design isn't just beautiful design, it's also operational design. I think that's really where a lot of it comes in, right? There, there is a ton of AI because we live in the operations world too, that there's a ton of AI that is really advancing at a pretty fast pace. Your ability to just deliver really beautiful, wonderful, personalized quality service to your customer, to your guests. And that's where that really, really, really starts to play in. And we're seeing more and more of it. And we absolutely try to stay on the cutting edge of it, the understanding of what it is and what we can do with it.

SPEAKER_00 16:27

Yeah, I I can imagine. It's just got to continuously probably drive changes and, you know, just build new opportunities and efficiency. So we talked a lot about what customers value most when they work with you. But what are the biggest mistakes you see companies making when it comes to architectural design? And I'm gonna just tell you, you can't say lack of human experience because you already talked about that. So you need to go like another level down. Like, are they not budgeting enough time? Are they, you know, too micromanagey in the process? Like, what is it that you see?

SPEAKER_02 17:03

You those are two really good ones, actually. Um, you tend to see an underestimate of what it takes to create a beautiful space and the amount of decisions that go into that and the amount of things that have to be put together and coordinated. And that ultimately takes time, right? It takes money. And it does tie a little bit into something before with you know, the clients that tend to have more experience through it tend to understand the value of having a team that does these things and does them successfully and doesn't get into the micromanaging, doesn't get into those things. And I think the the the other one that I would say is is probably the biggest mistake is when a CLAG comes to the table not truly confident in who they are as their brand, and they tend to try to chase things they see. And so they'll go somewhere, they'll have a nice dinner, they'll go to somebody's house and see something, and they, you know, they like these individual ideas. And while individual ideas are beautiful in design, right? They matter, ultimately a cohesive design is what really gets that impact. And so we will get clients at times that, you know, see the next latest and greatest thing that they, you know, let's just take that piece and put it here. And and it's really, you know, it's like a, it's like you know, becoming a disjointed outfit, right? You know, you've got a suit coat on with a tie and shorts and sandals, and they're all great individually, but collectively may not be the thing you should be, you know, going out with. And it really does become challenging when, and so that's where the branding process from the beginning really becomes important. Getting an anchored foundation of really truly at its core, what is the brand of that person or that client allows us to kind of mitigate that kind of chasing of I saw this, I saw that, this is cool. Let's just beautiful, let's try that. And it really ultimately results in a much better cohesive, you know, pure design.

SPEAKER_00 18:51

Yeah, I think that's uh super spray. And human connection. And human connection, of course, of course. Well, you know, I'm laughing because while you're talking about this, I'm picturing my husband because, you know, at some point in time in the next couple of years, we want to completely knock our house down and do a new one. So he's got this folder on his iPhone of all the great pictures of things that he sees and it for design ideas. And as you were talking, I'm thinking through the photos and I'm like, they're all so disconnected. Our house would look like some weird um, you know, like Island of Misfit toys house where it's just random things and it it'd be be difficult to talk about.

SPEAKER_02 19:28

They're all beautiful in their own right, right? They're all beautiful individually, right? They're all beautiful.

SPEAKER_00 19:32

Contextually, they made sense at the locations we were when we when we were there. But yeah, absolutely. Absolutely. So you talked a lot about brand. And, you know, from my side of the world, from business and marketing, a brand is a positioning statement that's got to be strong enough that it lives on forever, but flexible enough that it can adjust with the times and still be relevant. Uh, when you're working with companies with more on those on the business side of the house, how long does your architecture and your brand design last? Is it, you know, a seven-year period, 10 year period? When do you need to refresh? And I mean, obviously, you know, in the 70s there were the browns and oranges. And then the 80s, we went like all Peter, I can't remember his last name, with all the like reds and the pinks and the dark colors, and it became very modern. But what is the time frame that a business can expect their brand aesthetic to be appealing?

SPEAKER_02 20:28

So in hospitality, you know, you're the the rule of thumb is five to seven years. We really try to exceed that. And we, we, we, we want it to go eight to 10 years and longer if possible. Um, and we use a rule, we kind of call it an 80-20 rule. So 80% should be of the design, should be classic, not classic in the design sense, but classic in the sense that it's lasting, right? It will last through time. It's not as trendy in the colorways and things like that. 20% is more on trend, and then those things that are more on trend are things that are easy to change out. So a wall covering, a back of a chair, a light fixture. And then that way we can refresh with kind of that 20% through time, which extends the runway that a project can be relevant. Um, it's really, I think just when you think you said, like so from the business standpoint and from a small business owner, we are, right? You you need things to maintain, you need things to last. You can't reinvest capital every three years, you know, and restart. And so designing in a way that allows for a percentage of it to maintain and sustain through any design changes and be more classic, along with these things that are more traditional, that are more easily chased out and economically chased out, really becomes the formula that we try to make sure we we maintain in all projects.

SPEAKER_00 21:50

Yeah, I love that. So you've got this secret method, the 80 20 rule that will make any work you do with a company generally be timeless, right?

SPEAKER_02 21:58

Yeah, that's the goal.

SPEAKER_00 21:59

There's your social media. Yeah, because my social media team always looks for, you know, what kind of scrolling statements and scroll stoppers can we have? And that's it. So I'm just gonna repeat it again for the team. Um, just you've got this 80-20 rule, and it makes working with your company effective, efficient, timeless. And you already promised us ROI. So it matters.

SPEAKER_02 22:24

What else can we talk about?

SPEAKER_00 22:25

It matters. It matters. I think that's great. So for businesses that are interested in working with you, how do they find you? Do they go online, website, LinkedIn? Do you have certain showcase locations that they can visit?

SPEAKER_02 22:40

What's the best way to The easiest way is to go online and visit our website, which is uh Dun Kozlowski. And and then from there you can submit a contact form. Um and we get back to you and talk to you about kind of what's your dream, what's your vision, and how can we, how can we help you get there?

SPEAKER_00 22:56

All right. Well, you know, before we end this conversation, I would be remiss if I did not ask how you ended up in this line of work because I ended up here. I started out as a teacher, an elementary school teacher. So things move a little, you know, along the way.

SPEAKER_02 23:12

Life life takes you on paths, right? Um I grew up a country boy in Ohio in the middle of nowhere. Um, architecture wasn't really uh a thing that I knew about or or or had a feeling for, but I always loved to create. And I loved, always loved to build, and I always loved to see things come from an idea to fruition. And when I discovered in high school what architecture was, I fell in love with the idea. Um and then I discovered what design does within architecture and how that can impact human beings. And ultimately I I love that human connection thing they keep talking about, right? I just that that that energizes me and inspires me. And to have the opportunity to work in a field that um a lot can create things that do that was just really inspirational to me and ultimately drove me into the industry. And you have to have a passion for it. It's not the easiest industry. It it's a lot of hours and a lot of time, and and you can't do it if you don't really have a a passion for for creating for people.

SPEAKER_00 24:12

That's great. So here I am. So here you are. Now, how did you decide to start your own business and not just work for a firm?

SPEAKER_02 24:20

Or did you work for a firm for a while, get street cred, and I did work for a firm for a while, and and this is this one's probably less inspiring. Um I I I didn't do well um kind of following what somebody else wanted to do. Um, I had I had a passion, I had a vision, and um I wanted to execute it. And that ultimately drove me on my own. It wasn't now I've you know I've evolved over time, and now I I I truly look at myself as an entrepreneur and I love creating businesses, I love doing those things that's why I have other other ventures and things. But the real inspiration to start was like, I felt there was a better way to deliver it. I felt there was a better way to do it. And it wasn't because I knew it all, it was just I felt there was a passion that could drive towards ultimately finding better and better answers. And I wanted the chance to to to chase that. And I've I've never met a person that's been overly uh concerned with what might happen or could happen. I I'm pretty willing to jump. Um, so I took the jump and you know, a lot of years later, we're we're sitting here and I and I've enjoyed every step, and it's it's never easy. Um, I think people one of my favorite statements is overnight success, 10 years in the making, right? Um, anybody that's an entrepreneur understands that all the work that goes in and all the time that goes in. But again, if you have a passion for it, it's worth every step of it. And when you can look back, again, and in a creation thing, right? When I can look back at, you know, almost 24 years later and what we've been able to do and and create for people, it's it's pretty cool.

SPEAKER_00 25:49

That's awesome. That's awesome. Well, Paul, thanks so much for being on Liftoff. This was such a great conversation, really fun, really interesting to look at brand from a different perspective. And you know, I really am glad you're on the show.

SPEAKER_02 26:01

Thank you so much for having me. I really appreciate it.

SPEAKER_00 26:03

That was awesome, right? I thought so. And I totally wasn't expecting half that conversation. And like always, I learned something new. One of the things I hope you can take away from today's conversation is this there is no single path to growth, but there are great ideas that you can integrate into your own style. You know me, I'm a big fan of the air method, authenticity, inspiration, and relatability. And those are the patterns that will lead you to success. When you start noticing how people make decisions, how they pivot, lead, and handle those very real bumps along the way, the ones we all call life, you get much clearer about your own next move. And that's what we explore here on Liftoff Journeys and across everything we do at Liftoff Enterprises. We look at conversations, we do it through media and experiences designed to help leaders grow with more trust and confidence every day. If this episode resonated with you, there is more waiting for you. Whether it's another journey, a liftoff with Genie Weldon TV interview, or one of our liftoff spotlight episodes, find what speaks to you and use it to cross that trust threshold and go from stuck to unstoppable. Thanks so much for listening. Until next time.