Bay Area designer Noz Nozawa despised the corporate culture she encountered early in her career—inflexibility, an always-on-call mentality, or simple indignities like having to ask for permission to go to the doctor. As her team has grown, Nozawa has developed her firm’s values around the inalienable right to take a break.
What shaped your approach to PTO at your firm?
I had no idea if I would ever have employees when I set out to build this business, but I knew that I hated the way that I was working when I worked for other people. I believe in work—I think we would all atrophy if we didn’t have something that we worked toward—but it’s only a part of our lives. I make a lot of mistakes as an employer, but I’m very protective of [my staff’s] time off, and I am very proud of that.
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