The Novalé Podcast

15: Design Hotline with Interior Designer Jamie-Maree Love

Welcome to Design Hotline where we answer your questions about all things renovation and design with our first ever Interior Designer guest Jamie-Maree Love! Jamie has designed over 200 Bathrooms, Kitchens and Laundries and is excited to hop on and give us some insight on:

1. Her journey into Interior Design

2. Novalé's Preferred Suppliers and why we use them

3. Top 3 tips on designing a bathroom

4. Advice to people wanting to hire an Interior Designer

14: How Novalé Makes Renovations Stress Free with Kristian Jones

Kristian, Head of Project Delivery at Novalé joins Ben to explain how we make Renovations Stress Free for our customers. With over 20 years in the construction industry, as well as plenty of years in Novalé, Kristian is an expert on this topic and currently shapes the process we currently employ today. So if you're wondering why so many of our customers in our reviews mention how stress-free our process is, look no further!

Chapters:

1. Kristian's background and how he started working for Novalé

2. Why learning a trade is a future proof career

3. Tips on getting off the tools and becoming a Site/Project Manager

4. F1 Car in the Garage - Why we expanded into Kitchens

5. Why waterproofing properly is essential in bathrooms

6. What is PVC waterproofing and why Novalé uses it with paint-on waterproofing

7. Tips for people starting a renovation

8. When does a Project Manager gets involved in the renovation?

9. Risks and unforeseen issues and how Novalé mitigates for this

10. How long does a Bathroom renovation typically take?

11. Novalé handover process and post project care

12. Doing multiple renovations at once vs. one after another

13. Renovating a Kitchen vs. a Bathroom

14. Buildertrend and why our team and customers love it

15. How Novalé chooses new talent

16. Kristian won the first ever Drippy award for Leadership

17. Bathroom reno - what would Kristian splurge on and save on?

18. Funny construction story with Kristian

13: How Much Does a Renovation Cost? with Steve Novkovic

Founder and Director Steve Novkovic is back on the podcast! Ben and Steve pick up where they left off in 2021 with one of the most popular topics, "How much do renovations actually cost?". Join the duo as they explore and break down the costs for a typical renovation project, how to compare quotes and renovators as well as tips on how to save on your project.

Chapters:

1. Why Steve is so excited about Novalé's project search function on the website?

2. What is Buildertrend and how does it make the renovation process stress free?

3. Common myths about renovation costs e.g. focussing on arbitrary numbers.

4. Is Googling for average renovation costs helpful?

5. Run down of our Free Online Bathroom Estimate tool.

6. What are the typical costs of a renovation?

7. Hidden or overlooked costs of renovations

8. How much do you need as a contingency?

8. How to compare quotes (and our checklist in the Reno Guide)

9. What is HBCF Insurance and why is it so important?

10. Potential risks of going for the cheapest quote.

11. Fun questions for Steve at the end!

12: Intro to Design Hotline! An Exciting New Series

Welcome to Design Hotline, where we answer your burning design and renovation questions as well as talk about everything interior design! Hosts Ben and Krystal (Novalé lead stylist) introduce the new "podcast within a podcast" format and answer some questions whilst waiting for our Novalé Interior Designers to hop on later.

In this episode, Ben and Krystal explain:

1. What an Interior Designer does

2. Where to find design inspiration

3. When to hire an Interior Designer

4. Where to start when designing your space and

5. a bonus styling tip from Krystal at the end!

11: We’re Back! What's New in Novalé with Marina Novkovic

After a long pause since 2021, The Novalé Podcast is back on the air - refreshed, rebranded, and ready to inspire! In this relaunch episode, we pull back the curtain on why we hit pause, what’s been brewing behind the scenes, and what exciting things are lined up for 2025.

 

Tune in as we:

1. Introduce Marina, our Director and Head of Brand & Design

2. Announce Ben’s full-time move into Novalé Marketing

3. Reveal that Novalé now offers kitchen renovations for everyone — not just returning customers

4. Launch the brand-new Renovator’s Guide 2025

5. Walk you through our updated website with a sleek project search

6. Celebrate the live launch of our bathroom estimation tool

7. Share how our Design Studio is now partnering with other builders and renovators

8. Drop hints about big plans for 2025

 

It’s a warm, behind-the-scenes catch-up episode — perfect for loyal listeners and fresh faces alike. Hit play and join the next exciting chapter of Novalé!

10: The Story of Novalé - Starting the Business with Steve Novkovic

Novalé Bathrooms has been around for 12 years. The business has actually been around for longer in different shapes and forms. And yet, Steve believes Novalé is just getting started. The team is growing, the office is expanding and the jobs keep flowing. But it's always been intriguing on how and why Steve started the business, as well as his story. How did Steve start Novalé? Was it a smooth transition from tiling? How did he gain success early and use that to grow? How much did his business rely on referrals? How did he build his team? Why did he take his time to grow? 

 

Join Ben and Steve on this episode of the Story of Novalé - Starting the Business.

 

What we discuss in this episode:

1. Steve's early career as a tiler

2. Working with his father

3. Managing jobs at the age of 16

4. Learning how to do give a great customer experience from his uncle in war-torn Croatia

5. The slow transition to doing bathroom renovations

6. Bathroom renovator vs. bathroom renovations company

7. How did he learn how to start and run a business?

8. What was his team at this point?

9. Would he have done it any differently if he could do it again?

10. Final words

 

Novale Instagram - @novalebathrooms

Novale Facebook - /novalebathrooms

09: How to Grow Your Business Sustainably with Nasser Abdu (JFC Advisory)

Growing your business can mean a lot of things. It can be growing in sales. It can be expanding the product and service offerings. It can even be building the team. But how often do you think about the fundamentals? The systems, policies and procedures that enable you to run the business without you needing to be there? Could you take a 7 week holiday to Europe (like Steve did with Novalé Bathrooms) whilst still being able to keep the business running? Our guest on this is episode is Nasser Abdu, a business advisor whom helps organisations grow and expand whilst keeping the operations and fundamentals effectively sound. This episode Nasser will explain why growing your business sustainably means perfecting the fundamentals and building a system, rather than just generating more sales.

 

Join Nasser, Ben and Steve on this episode to learn how to grow your business sustainably.

 

What we discuss:

- Nasser's early career and education

- Why there is no 'perfect' moment to start a business

- When did Nas meet Steve?

- What does a business advisor do?

- What does a business consultant do?

- What does a business coach do?

- What systems, policies and procedures need to be refined in order to grow

- Why you need to document processes

- Final words

 

Novalé Instagram - @novalebathrooms

Novalé Facebook - /novalebathrooms

08: How to Keep Your Subcontractor Happy with Wayne Vassallo (All Points Glass)

As contractors, we are always focusing on giving a great customer experience. But how often have we thought about how to give subcontractors the same satisfaction? As subcontractors how do you make sure you're helping out the contractors? And most of all, how can contractors and subcontractors work together to give the customer the best experience? This episode we have glazier Wayne Vassallo from All Points Glass to share his insight on how to keep subbies happy. Wayne has been in the trade for 35 years, taking over his father in the glazing business. Wayne installs shower screens for Novalé Bathrooms as well as more than 100 contractors in NSW. 

Join Wayne, Ben & Steve on this episode to learn about how to keep subcontractors happy.

 

What we discuss with Wayne Vassallo:

- Wayne's early beginnings into glazing

- What is glazing?

- How did Wayne meet Steve?

- What simple things can contractors do to keep customers and subbies happy?

- Mistakes that subbies do on the job

- What to do when things go wrong in a job?

- Why you need to fix things straight away for the customer

- Final words.

 

Novalé Bathrooms Instagram - @novalebathrooms

Novalé Bathrooms Facebook - /novalebathrooms

07: How to Use Your Numbers to Achieve Your Business Goals

All business owners are abundant in hard work and passion, but how many are well versed in strategy and metrics? Many just hope they are doing the right thing, but how do you know? How can you calculate the impact of your decisions and processes? How can you forecast future performance? How do know when you're getting your next client? How do you know if you're pricing your work correctly? How do you know if you're growing enough?

Join Ben Le and Steve Novkovic from Novalé Bathrooms, who break down the numbers of running a successful business.

 

Episode Notes:

- Intro;

- The importance of knowing your numbers;

- Using data to forecast future performance;

- Evaluating processes and the value of time over money;

- Sales & Marketing in plain English;

- Conversation rate and required activity;

- Referrals are king;

- Building a job pipeline;

- Grow slowly or lose quality;

- Onboard the team with the process;

- Putting a value on your time;

- Time as a cost;

- Finances in plain English;

- Producing consistent great customer experiences;

- Final words;

- Outro.

06: Designing Your Dream Bathroom with Catherine Kirwan

Design is not only making your bathroom look beautiful but also ensuring it is a functional space for everyday. It is as much as creating as it is problem-solving. This episode we have a special guest, Interior Design Consultant Catherine Kirwan (Coco Republic, Max Sparrow, Thomas Hamel & Associates & Novalé Bathrooms) who explains how she helps her clients not just 'like' their new bathrooms, but "love" them too.

 

Join Steve, Ben & Catherine as they discuss the role of an interior designer, the design-client relationship, the design process and much more.

 

Episode Notes:

- Intro;

- Catherine's beginnings into interior design;

- Should you go to school to learn design?

- Interior designing for leading furniture companies;

- Catherine's entry into interior design for bathrooms;

- The difference between interior designing & decorating;

- Catherine's design process with a client;

- Design is creative problem solving of functional spaces;

- Designing around technical limitations;

- Look and feel over price for the PC items;

- Understanding the clients' needs and being guided by that;

- The value of hiring a designer;

- Designing for resale or for yourself;

- Final words;

- Outro;