What happens when you refuse to follow the industry’s playbook? In this episode of Play with Matches, Natalie Hartkopf, co-owner and chair of Hightower, shares how independence, curiosity, and collaboration have shaped one of the most distinctive brands in contract furniture.

From rethinking product development to challenging trade show norms and pushing for real supply chain transparency, Natalie makes a compelling case for why differentiation—not scale—is the true competitive advantage.

In a market full of lookalikes, sameness isn’t safe. It’s the risk.

Hightower | Show Transcript

Think you’d make a great guest on Play with Matches? We’d love to hear from you. 

UpSpring is a strategic PR, marketing, and growth partner for firms and product companies shaping the built environment. For more than 17 years, the agency has helped architecture, design, development, and building product brands turn expertise into market authority.

Learn more about UpSpring: Website | LinkedIn | Instagram

What does it take to turn a forgotten landmark into a blueprint for sustainable hospitality? In this episode of Play with Matches, host Tiffany Rafii sits down with architect, developer, and policy leader Bruce Redman Becker, President of Becker + Becker, to unpack the story behind Hotel Marcel, the first Passive House certified hotel in the United States. From adaptive reuse and integrated design to policy reform and investor alignment, Bruce shares how bold environmental commitments can become a powerful creative and business advantage. 

Becker + Becker | Hotel Marcel | Show Transcript

Think you’d make a great guest on Play with Matches? We’d love to hear from you. 

UpSpring is a strategic PR, marketing, and growth partner for firms and product companies shaping the built environment. For more than 17 years, the agency has helped architecture, design, development, and building product brands turn expertise into market authority.

Learn more about UpSpring: Website | LinkedIn | Instagram

What does it take to build a design voice that cuts through noise and scales globally? In this episode of Play with Matches, host Tiffany Rafii sits down with Pallavi Dean, architect, designer, and founder of Roar, to explore how bold creativity, evidence-based design, and entrepreneurial discipline can work in service of one another. 

From launching Roar out of her spare bedroom in Dubai to leading a studio with projects across continents, Pallavi shares how psychology and business rigor shape spaces that are both imaginative and measurable. For AEC and design leaders navigating growth, visibility, and differentiation, this conversation offers a clear takeaway: bold ideas matter most when they’re backed by clarity, research, and conviction.

Roar | Show transcript 

Play with Matches is part of the SURROUND Podcast Network.

Think you’d make a great guest on Play with Matches? We’d love to hear from you. 

UpSpring is a strategic PR, marketing, and growth partner for firms and product companies shaping the built environment. For more than 17 years, the agency has helped architecture, design, development, and building product brands turn expertise into market authority.

Learn more about UpSpring: Website | LinkedIn | Instagram

Play with Matches is where the architecture and design industry’s boldest voices come to ignite ideas. Hosted by UpSpring CEO Tiffany Rafii, this podcast explores the campaigns, stories, and mindset shifts sparking transformation across the built environment. Each episode features conversations with architects, designers, marketers, and visionaries who aren’t afraid to strike a match, challenge conventions, and set the industry ablaze.

Season 1 launches on March 24th.

UpSpring is a strategic PR, marketing, and growth partner for firms and product companies shaping the built environment. For more than 17 years, the agency has helped architecture, design, development, and building product brands turn expertise into market authority.  

Learn more about UpSpring: https://www.weareupspring.com/

Play with Matches is part of the SURROUND Podcast Network.

Think you’d make a great guest on Play with Matches? We’d love to hear from you. 

UpSpring is a strategic PR, marketing, and growth partner for firms and product companies shaping the built environment. For more than 17 years, the agency has helped architecture, design, development, and building product brands turn expertise into market authority.

Learn more about UpSpring: Website | LinkedIn | Instagram