Love of Architecture Propelled Haley Balzano to Found Her Own Firm

Source, Phoenix Business Journal

Haley Balzano fell in love with architecture when she was young.

Growing up outside Philadelphia, it was hard not to take an interest in the design and buildings of that city as well as nearby New York. She developed that interest starting at about 8 years old.

“It definitely gave me an exposure to things that I wouldn’t have gotten had I lived somewhere else,” she said.

That love of design eventually led her to Arizona and co-founding her own firm, Bar Napkin Productions, with her partner and husband Jeffrey Rausch.

The firm specializes in the hospitality industry. The company was born out of the Great Recession, after both Balzano and Rausch had worked for other companies and decided to strike out on their own, long before they even started dating.

Balzano arrived in the Valley after spending five years in the architecture program at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, which had a top-notch program but rough weather.

“I remember I came out here during my last week of spring and was interviewing, and I knew this is where I wanted to be,” she said. “Architecture is a five-year program, and five years of winters in Pittsburgh were enough for me.”

She started with the Stein Cox Group before it was bought by Dallas-based HKS Architects. Next, Balzano worked at Exclaim Design, where she met Rausch. They became business partners in 2009 and started Bar Napkin.

Jobs pulled them toward hospitality. Starting out in the depths of the recession, Balzano said they often showed up at bid meetings with a who’s who of local architecture firms. Carving out a niche allowed them to expand as the economy improved.

Doing that kind of work went far beyond just the building design, Balzano said.

“When we work on a restaurant for instance, we’ll work with them on coming up with the name, the logo, the menu, the uniforms,” she said. “We’ve even worked with them on the music selection to really make that as part of the brand.”

You originally came out here because your grandmother was here. How did she influence you? She was a woman who always went against the grain. She was an avid learner, very progressive in her thoughts and actions. She was a strong, independent, spitfire of a woman. She’s been a mother to me, a sister to me. So when I fell in love with the desert, she was there. It just checked every box.

What made you want to take the jump from working for a firm to owning one? I’ve always been just a go-getter. I’ve always been a Type-A personality. I’ve always been looking for something more. That’s the way it was for me growing up. The focus for us was always education. But it’s just an inherent thing in my nature to take it to the next level. And also I’m a control freak. I’m like just give it to me, I’ll do it.

You spent a year living in Italy while you were in college and you say you love to travel. How does that inspire your work? Going out and seeing things is where I draw my inspiration from, so I try to be out as much as possible. I’m an avid reader, so I read a lot. And I love eating out. And when I go out to eat, I’m always checking things out, looking at how things are laid out. The bar’s over there, why is this there. I’ve been known to flip over a chair in a restaurant and be like, “That’s a cool chair I wonder who made it.”

You worked with your husband for more than 17 years before getting married. How does that help with the balance between work and home? I think because we had the working relationship first, and had such a strong friendship, that it was a natural progression. We always joke around that people say statistically that it doesn’t work out, but we partner together in so many aspect that it just works.

Haley Balzano

Title: CEO

Company: Bar Napkin Productions

First job: Dance teacher for kids

If you could live a double life, what would it be: Well, there’s a running joke in my office that because I’m so busy that I need to be cloned so that I can be in two places at one time. But, I’d also love to design shoes.

One thing you’ll never do again: Birkenstocks

Best advice received: You learn nothing from your achievements and everything from your failures

Three things always in your refrigerator: Almond milk, wine and cilantro (I can’t get enough cilantro)

Aside from your parents, the most influential person in your life: My grandmother.

Definition of success: Setting goals and achieving them. Also, finding balance in life professionally and personally.

What's important in your job: Inspiration. I can’t be creative if I’m not inspired. Sometimes the best thing I can do in my job is to get away from it to travel, learn and immerse myself in new things and bring that inspiration back.

What makes an effective business leader: Surrounding yourself with other talented people. I am only a good leader when there is a good team and strong collaboration.