People see the finished homes and the marketing. They don't see the thirty-plus people behind them. Host Adrian Kizy asks Randy Najjar, founder of Sapphire Luxury Homes, what it actually costs to lead that team.

Randy starts at the beginning — the first salaried hire, a project manager at $80,000, which was more than Randy was making at the time. He walks through the lunch with a mentor that settled the decision, and the weight of knowing another man was leaving his own business to bet on yours.

From there it gets less comfortable. Randy talks about learning to build systems he didn't enjoy building, bringing in an integrator to run the people side, implementing EOS and then scaling it back when the meetings started swallowing the work. He tells the full story of firing a project manager who wouldn't buy into the vision — including the phone call that ended it, and why the relief afterward surprised him.

He also owns a mistake. Randy missed something in a due diligence report on a piece of property, and it nearly cost a client a lot. What he did next is why that client came back to build a second home with him eight years later.

The last stretch is the part most builders won't say out loud: what he takes home at night, why one unhappy client out of ten is the one that keeps him up, what changed after he had kids, and who he calls when he needs advice.

CHAPTERS

00:00 The people behind Sapphire you never see

00:47 The first real hire and the $80,000 decision

01:46 The lunch with a mentor that settled it

03:26 Growing the team and learning to build systems

04:30 What good leadership actually requires

05:16 A staff of thirty and bringing in an integrator

06:25 Implementing EOS, then scaling it back

07:47 Why systems drove Adrian out of engineering

08:12 Never hire someone you would be afraid to fire

08:32 The first person he had to let go

08:53 The project manager who wouldn't buy in

10:48 The lie that ended it

11:57 Why firing someone still doesn't feel good

13:06 Owning a mistake on a due diligence report

15:30 Why that client came back eight years later

16:29 The hardest client conversation: post-COVID delays

18:46 Setting expectations without setting the bar too low

19:51 What Randy takes home at night

21:20 Kids, weekends and the hours you don't get back

22:07 The one bad apple that stays on your mind

23:18 Who Randy calls when he needs advice

25:31 The mental health side of business ownership

25:50 Insurance, leases and everything that isn't building houses

Connect with Sapphire Luxury Homes: 

www.sapphireluxuryhomes.com 

www.instagram.com/sapphireluxuryhomes

If this episode resonated, please follow the show, leave a review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify, and share it with someone building something of their own. New episodes coming soon.

Host Adrian Kizy sits down with Randy Najjar, founder of Sapphire Luxury Homes, to talk about the hardest thing to do in custom home building — getting a client to see a house that doesn't exist yet.

Most people can't read a blueprint. They can't judge scale from a 2D plan, they can't picture a tree from a colored landscape drawing, and they walk into a framed house convinced it's smaller than what they signed off on. Randy walks through how Sapphire went from hand-drawn renderings to full 3D architectural models, fully rendered interiors by the second meeting, landscaping designed in 3D, and virtual reality walkthroughs that have sent clients back to redesign staircases and ceilings before a shovel hits the ground.

He's just as candid about the limits. A rendering is a representation, not a promise. Brick changes color when it rains. Tile from a January run won't match tile from March. A screen brightness setting can start an argument. Randy tells the story of the client who was certain the finished bathroom looked nothing like the rendering — and what happened when they held the two up side by side.

The conversation closes on AI: clients showing up with ChatGPT blueprints that have no staircase, what Randy calls AI slop, where the technology genuinely helps today, and the one thing he wishes it could do that would change the industry overnight.

00:00 Why clients struggle to visualize a space

00:55 3D renderings from the second meeting

02:22 Landscaping in 3D and why 2D plans failed

03:22 VR walkthroughs and the bridge nobody expected

05:09 The bathroom that looked nothing like the rendering

08:13 Why renderings can never be 100 percent accurate

09:53 Material runs and why brick, tile and wallpaper shift shade

11:30 An empty yard turned the whole house green

12:17 How Sapphire bridges rendering and reality

13:48 Why a framed house feels smaller than you expect

15:47 Before renderings: mood boards, tile stores and trust

19:25 Why higher price points bring more scrutiny, not less

20:30 Crown molding, archways and design cycles

22:17 Deciding everything before the shovel hits the ground

23:01 Does technology actually reduce decision fatigue

25:03 The Sapphire meeting cadence

26:07 Friday follow ups and job site walkthroughs

27:36 Building for clients who live out of state

28:22 AI enters the picture: ChatGPT blueprints and AI slop

32:23 What Randy wishes AI could do next

33:34 Will AI replace people in construction

Connect with Sapphire Luxury Homes: 

www.sapphireluxuryhomes.com 

www.instagram.com/sapphireluxuryhomes

If this episode resonated, please follow the show, leave a review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify, and share it with someone building something of their own. New episodes coming soon.

Host Adrian Kizy sits down with Randy Najjar, founder of Sapphire Luxury Homes, for a look back at the last ten years — and what Randy would tell his 25-year-old self if he could.

Randy was already building homes and running Sapphire by 25, going 100 miles an hour and taking on nine projects at once. In this episode he unpacks the cost of that pace: why "more" isn't always better, why scaling something before you've vetted it turns into nine mistakes instead of nine wins, and why the biggest change he'd make is simply slowing down.

He also tells the story of the most expensive lesson he ever learned — a $150,000 loss on a gated-community build where the client manipulated the situation for extras and then laughed in his face over the balance due. The lesson that came out of it: protect your reputation above all, but learn the power of no and stand your ground.

From there, Randy and Adrian get into why building a custom home is an art, not a science — why perfection is the wrong expectation when you're building something for the first and only time, how aligning a client's vision is half psychology, and why a space you don't like in isolation can come together beautifully once it's whole.

00:00 What would you tell your 25-year-old self?
02:35 Keep going, but slow down
03:04 Why 1 to 9 isn't the same as 1 to 3 to 6 to 9
05:02 Parallel paths: sales, standards & imposter syndrome
06:38 Selling nine houses before finishing the second
07:20 Reputation as the most valuable thing you own
08:16 The $150K lesson: the client who laughed at the loss
11:21 "I'm going to give you something more valuable"
13:27 The power of no
15:24 Building homes is half psychology
16:31 A beta version every time: aligning the vision
19:11 Selling a commodity vs. selling an experience
20:03 How do you value art?
21:27 Perfection vs. imperfect circumstances: the GM analogy
23:43 Doing right by the client when a mistake happens
26:14 Educating the client instead of telling them they're wrong
26:44 The 3000K vs. 4000K lighting story
28:22 Looking at a home in a silo vs. holistically
30:24 Why the space looks biggest once the furniture is in
31:12 Would you do it all again — and would you do it differently?
34:30 A great note to end on

Connect with Sapphire Luxury Homes: 

www.sapphireluxuryhomes.com 

www.instagram.com/sapphireluxuryhomes

If this episode resonated, please follow the show, leave a review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify, and share it with someone building something of their own. New episodes coming soon.

Host Adrian Kizy sits down with Randy Najjar, founder of Sapphire Luxury Homes, to go back to the very beginning — the first house he ever built, the losses that nearly broke him, and the negotiation that landed his first million-dollar deal.

Randy walks through how a neighbor's offer to partner 50/50 turned into his first project under the Sapphire name — a 3,300 sq. ft. home in Rochester Hills that took over a year to build. He talks candidly about convincing a client to trust an unproven builder, what it actually felt like in the room (no imposter syndrome, just confidence he didn't fully know was earned yet), and how quickly that confidence turned into overreach: nine projects signed in twelve months, three losses in a row, and a partner who had his back when it mattered most.

The conversation also covers the moment Sapphire's luxury identity started taking shape — a Parade of Homes event that planted the seed — and the story behind his first million-dollar contract, including a client's obsession with numerology that led to one of the more memorable price negotiations of Randy's career.

0:00 Welcome back, Randy
0:15 Going back to the early years
2:58 Randy's first home: Rochester Hills, 2013
4:30 Earning a client's trust with no track record
6:40 Imposter syndrome — or the lack of it
8:05 Falling in love with the business, then signing nine projects
9:43 Overextended: three losses in a row
12:22 From Sapphire Building to Sapphire Luxury Homes
13:05 The Parade of Homes that shaped his vision
16:10 The first million-dollar deal — and the "1122" negotiation
20:03 Lessons that still stick today

Connect with Sapphire Luxury Homes: 

www.sapphireluxuryhomes.com 

www.instagram.com/sapphireluxuryhomes

If this episode resonated, please follow the show, leave a review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify, and share it with someone building something of their own. New episodes coming soon.

In episode three of the Dream Builders Podcast, host Adrian Kizy sits down again with Randy Najjar, founder of Sapphire Luxury Homes & Landscaping, to unpack what custom home building actually means — and why the answer is more nuanced than most people expect.

Randy walks through how Sapphire balances a curated portfolio of pre-designed plans with full custom, blank-sheet-of-paper builds, why finding the right piece of property is often the single hardest part of building in Metro Detroit, and why "cost per square foot" is one of the most misleading questions a client can ask. He shares real examples — from a 7,000-square-foot custom home on 160 acres of hunting grounds, to a Moroccan-style build with materials imported from overseas, to a recent Bloomfield project where the right lot finally checked every box after years of searching.

The conversation also gets practical: which decisions are worth investing in upfront, which can be deferred, and why Randy almost always recommends finishing the basement, landscaping, and major selections during construction rather than after move-in. Throughout, the theme is the same — guiding clients through hundreds of decisions, separating real needs from preconceived notions, and making sure no one builds a home they'll regret.

In this episode:
00:00 Welcome back to the Dream Builders Podcast
00:31 What it actually means to be a custom builder (and Sapphire's niche)
01:17 Portfolio plans vs. full custom design
03:01 Walking clients through homes at different stages of construction
04:30 The questions Sapphire asks every client — and the myths about formal dining rooms and resale
08:11 Lot constraints, tear-downs, and why the right property is the hardest part
12:02 A real example: years of searching, finally landing in Bloomfield
13:00 "How much does it cost per square foot?" — Randy's least favorite question
15:00 Why finished basements skew the math (and the million-dollar basement)
17:34 Why no two Sapphire homes are ever the same
18:00 Sapphire's typical price range, minimum engagement, and what's included
19:30 Custom vs. production builders — decisions you didn't know you had to make
20:30 The Sapphire style: Modern, French Country, Tudor, Mediterranean, and more
21:46 The biggest cost drivers in a custom build (and why land isn't just land)
23:30 Design phase budgeting and the 20% rule for upgrades
27:00 Needs vs. wants: what Sapphire won't cut corners on
29:30 The Sapphire Standard for structural components
30:00 Why finishing the basement during construction saves 20–30%
32:30 Landscaping, pools, and the case against phased projects
35:00 Educating clients so they never get blindsided later
36:18 When a plan gets over-modified

Connect with Sapphire Luxury Homes: 
www.sapphireluxuryhomes.com
instagram.com/sapphireluxuryhomes

About the show:
The Dream Builders Podcast is the unfiltered story of Sapphire Luxury Homes — what it actually takes to build a luxury custom home company from zero. Honest conversations about craft, cost, client experience, and the difference between luxury and expensive. New episodes every other week.
If this episode resonated, hit subscribe, leave a comment, and share it with someone building (or building toward) a home of their own.

If this episode resonated, please follow the show, leave a review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify, and share it with someone building something of their own. New episodes coming soon.

#LuxuryHomes #CustomHomeBuilder #DesignBuild #MetroDetroit #BirminghamMI #BloomfieldHills #DreamBuildersPodcast #SapphireLuxuryHomes

Connect with Sapphire Luxury Homes: 

www.sapphireluxuryhomes.com 

www.instagram.com/sapphireluxuryhomes

If this episode resonated, please follow the show, leave a review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify, and share it with someone building something of their own. New episodes coming soon.

Host Adrian Kizy goes deeper with Randy Najjar, founder of Sapphire Luxury Homes, on what actually separates Sapphire from a traditional custom build — and why the "design-build, fixed-price" model exists in the first place.

In the traditional path, a homeowner hires a separate architect, civil engineer, landscape architect, interior designer, general contractor, and landscape company — and tries to coordinate all of them. That's how timelines blow up, budgets double, and "we started at X and finished at 3X" horror stories get made. At Sapphire, every one of those roles lives under one roof.

Randy breaks down why Sapphire is fixed-price instead of cost-plus, what that actually means for a client's budget, why front-loading every decision protects both timeline and sanity, and how the team designs every home in 3D photorealistic — sometimes VR — before a shovel hits the ground.

In this episode:
0:00 The architect's perspective on custom home building
1:10 The traditional path: too many cooks, too many handoffs
2:28 How projects balloon — timelines and budgets blown
3:15 Everything under one roof at Sapphire
4:26 Build your dream team before you buy the land
5:24 Why Sapphire doesn't charge for blueprints
5:47 Fixed-price vs. cost-plus — the real difference
9:25 Running a full design department in-house
11:28 Why every decision gets made up front
12:15 A fridge isn't just a fridge — front-loaded selections
15:44 Three benefits of designing everything up front
16:53 Tailoring the Sapphire process to every client
18:41 The two phases of design and the 6-month timeline
20:53 Where Sapphire's design inspiration comes from
22:55 The New American Home tour and luxury home travel
24:08 The canceled flight and Miramar Lakes
26:17 The E-Myth — working ON the business, not IN it
28:54 The four quadrants and what Randy loves most
30:11 Passion projects — the Cameron, the Kylie, and 2028/29
31:20 The meaning behind the Najjar name

Connect with Sapphire Luxury Homes: 

www.sapphireluxuryhomes.com 

www.instagram.com/sapphireluxuryhomes

If this episode resonated, please follow the show, leave a review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify, and share it with someone building something of their own. New episodes coming soon.

Welcome to the pilot episode of the Dream Builders Podcast — where host Adrian sits down with Randy Najjar, founder of Sapphire Luxury Homes & Landscaping, to unpack the real story behind one of Metro Detroit's most recognized custom home builders.

From walking around at two years old with a tool belt strapped to his waist, to a sixth-grade aptitude test that pointed to architecture, to nearly walking away from his own company in 2019 — Randy shares the full origin story of Sapphire: the childhood influences, the pivot from architect to builder, the branding decisions (why a lion?), and the make-or-break Sophia model home on Maple Road near Oakland Hills Country Club that put Sapphire on the map.

Today, Sapphire is a boutique, full-service luxury builder in Oakland County — architecture, construction, landscaping, interior design, and furnishing all under one roof — delivering 10-12 homes a year in the $3-10M range across Birmingham, Bloomfield, and the surrounding areas.

In this episode:

00:00 Welcome to the Dream Builders Podcast

01:11 Tool belts, toy cars, and a sixth-grade aptitude test

04:30 Why Randy walked away from becoming a registered architect

06:14 The 2008 crash, real estate, and learning the business

08:14 Why he got his builder's license and founded Sapphire in 2012

10:38 Building the brand: the name, the lion crest, the luxury vision

17:30 The Troy 10x10 office and the gamble on Maple Road

20:05 The Sophia model home — Randy's make-or-break moment

25:30 "Three feet from the gold" — the call with mom that changed everything

28:30 Where Sapphire is today and the full-service vision

Connect with Sapphire Luxury Homes: 

www.sapphireluxuryhomes.com 

www.instagram.com/sapphireluxuryhomes

If this episode resonated, please follow the show, leave a review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify, and share it with someone building something of their own. New episodes coming soon.