Meet Nairi Nayirian | Architectural Designer and Event Planner/Designer

We had the good fortune of connecting with Nairi Nayirian and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Nairi, can you tell us more about your background and the role it’s played in shaping who you are today?
I am a first generation Armenian-American born and raised in Los Angeles, CA. Los Angeles really is my hometown and anchor. I love the exposure to different food and culture. My Armenian roots and heritage have always played a big role in my life and upbringing. It has provided me with a sense of community and taught me a lot of cultural values that I continue to carry.

As a first generation Armenian- American and a child of refugees, my parents instilled values, including holding onto our Armenian culture; to remain humble and remember where your ancestors came from; to have gratitude for the things you have today, and to be ambitious and keep growing and moving forward as a content life is not a flourishing one.

I’ve been exposed to different cultures and values living in LA, and I love to juxtapose their differing ideologies, much like Architecture, and exploring different buildings and their autonomy. I have a natural impulse on holding onto culture, and love the opportunity to blend it with a modern flare into events. I respect culture, but also love pushing the boundaries as it creates moments of interesting dialogue.

Can you give our readers an introduction to your business? Maybe you can share a bit about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
D3 Events is an event design studio geared towards creating unique individual experiences. The most important factor behind our brand is maintaining autonomy while exploring different design ideas by paying attention to details as well as growing our self-identity by expressing ourselves through our vision per event/project. I am very passionate about my work, whether it’s Architectural Design or Event Planning, and a believer that drive and ambition, in spite of challenges, build true character.

The key to our success at D3 Events is to collaborate with the right group of professionals, to effortlessly bring together an event. Networking within the industry and meeting new people/personalities is the secret to our repertoire. Our goal for each event or project is to pull together a vision and craft it to reflect our clients’ individuality. We take on challenges as a team, and we use that as fuel for our creativity. On one particular occasion, an event venue canceled on our clients just two days before their wedding day. If not for our amazing team, our client’s dream day would not have turned out better and memorable as originally planned. A complete overhaul and design shift 24 hours before the wedding, and coordinating with the team of vendors created an epic event, better than the original plan.

The story behind the beginning of D3 Events has been an evolving one. I initially set out myself in Biology with an emphasis on premed at UCSB. After graduating with my Bachelor’s degree in Biology, I decided to take some time and to take additional Post Graduate courses, including working at an Optometrist’s office in Brentwood. This exciting year of career development to what I initially believed was my dream job actually turned into a year of reconsideration. I was left confused and questioning my career in biology, particularly in optometry.

I reassessed myself and refocused my energy into a lifelong passion of architecture. I enrolled into an Architectural Master’s three year program at SCI-Arc, in the heart of Downtown LA’s Arts District. Rigorous studies, late night projects, and self-deprivation, concluded in my Master’s Degree in Architecture, in a field of constant change and challenges to conformity that I thrived in and found my true calling. I never looked back.

Having experienced the corporate culture for four years as an Architectural Designer, and seeing the dynamic between clients and designers, I identified a void for individual experiences. During my time at a corporate firm, I worked on big scale projects, which were far removed from the user experience. At the time, the firm launched a program during the schematic design phase to improve the user’s experience with the design process and encourage feedback. The firm expanded this program into completed projects, to monitor the client’s use of the designed space. While the program was in its infancy, the results served a great personal purpose in exploring how designs on different scales impact a user’s experience in the new space.

I wanted to explore my Architectural conceptual ideas within a different scale by planning events. I wanted to merge my passions together, events and architecture, and venture into a new chapter. My prior experience sparked the idea to cohesively fuse design ideas into events, to create unique individual experiences.

I took the risk, and started D3 Events. I believe that risk is vital in growth and development, both in my personal and professional life. Refusing to take risks causes one to become complacent. Complacent behavior leads to resentment, doubt and fear of the unknown. I strongly believe that fearing to fail is why many don’t take risks and become complacent. Fear, however, is only momentary and subjective. One’s appreciation for the unknown is the spark needed to trigger change. Remaining flexible and focused on a goal does not imply that you have failed, but rather that you are ready for the next challenge. Starting my own business has not been easy at all, but the ambition and drive of doing what I love is what truly keeps me going. Coupled with the ability to recognize and appreciate opportunities in failure, and to seek growth are values and principles that matter most.

It has been challenging creating a work life balance. When you love what you do you tend to lose track of time, and you can easily get lost within your work. Hence my work life balance is constantly evolving and changing. This balance has been very difficult for me because as many Graduate Architecture students would agree, that we live for the all-nighters and we are taught to devote ourselves entirely to our work.

I’ve been pressing myself to improve my work life balance by prioritizing tasks and delegating work for efficiency. It’s all about being productive in shorter amounts of time to get more done and attend to your life without compromise. You don’t have to sacrifice one for the other, you have to be selfless but also self-aware. As a mom of two, I was forced to reassess my work life balance before I dived deep into my professional career. I have learned to value my time with my family without disrupting my work. If anything, I feel like I’m working more now than ever before, but I feel liberated to have control over my own time as a business owner, and above all doing what I love.

The end goal for me is not a definite but perpetual. The goal keeps evolving and moving forward as I work through new challenges and succeed. As a person who lives through her work, I don’t see an end in my career path rather growth and expansion that develops over time. I believe that as long as you invest in yourself then professional growth will follow. I do have personal goals that I have set for myself as stepping stones to my future. One of these steps was taken last year when I launched my Architectural Design Firm, Archify LLC. I’ve always dreamed of starting my own Architectural Firm to explore theories and ideas in Architecture without the traditional constraints that come with the corporate 9 to 5, and to implement these ideas into my passion projects.

I always keep moving forward, as I keep growing, the line moves forward; there’s no immediacy to end. I have short term goals that I set throughout the year that continue to evolve and manifest itself into new goals in the following year. I believe setting short term goals are just as important if not more important than the big goals as they allow you to take steps into the right direction. If you love what you do you’re never really working and my portfolio in the end will be a reflection of my life’s work.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
If my best friend was visiting the area I would create a full week itinerary in LA to show them our restaurants, beaches, Malibu wineries, and nightlife. I believe there’s a lot of culture and character here in LA, that sets us apart from other cities. It’s a cultural hub. I would start the week off in Downtown LA, showing off some of our Architectural gems that makeup our famous skyline like the Bradbury Building to the Disney Concert Hall to City Hall to Grand Park and Grand Central Market. I would then grab lunch at the Otium followed by spending some time at the Broad Museum to share some of our many interesting artists in exhibitions including the Mirror Room by Yayoi Kusama. I would then grab dinner at Spire 73 or any of our rooftop restaurants like the Perch. We would then go to Clifton’s Republic for an interesting night. They have one of the best live music and performances in a nightclub setting with different rooms that teleport you to different places or time. I would spend the next day in the Arts District in DTLA. There are so many exhibits, like Art Share LA, a lot of street art, and hidden hole in the wall restaurants like Bavel and several coffee shops. We would then grab a few drinks at Everson or The Edison. I would spend the next day visiting Hollywood and West LA. There are so many interesting places to visit, like the Griffith Observatory to LACMA. I would also grab dinner at Yamashiro, one of my favorites, I would spend a good 2 days in Malibu visiting Maliby Wines and the secluded beaches in the area. We can also spend a day in Venice Beach or Santa Monica exploring the piers or finding new restaurants in the area. I always leave room to explore new places in the area, as I love stumbling across a new place wandering around, as LA has so many hidden gems you’re bound to come across an interesting exhibition or restaurant.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
I believe mentorship is the foundation to success. I’ve had a series of mentors that have guided me during different phases of my professional growth. My husband, Erik Dalir, has really been the reason I dived deep into figuring out my passion in Architecture, and later was my support to open my Design Firm, Archify LLC. I was also introduced into the event world through him, as I worked side by side with G Caters for over a decade helping bring many events together. As my attention to detail for events grew, so did my passion for event planning and design. It didn’t take long for me to launch D3 Events and begin another chapter in event production.

When I followed my passion and attended SCI – Arc for my masters, my thesis advisor, Elena Manferdini, really allowed me to find my niche in Architecture and my interests in conceptual design. She encouraged me to let myself explore my interests, and follow through with my conceptual design from beginning of the design phase to the end. I hope to now continue the same teachings into my design firm Archify LLC, and maybe some day mentor another designer.

I want to bring up two books that I’ve read that have impacted my perception of difficult situations and the way I approach and resolve challenges.

The first book is Mindset by Carol S. Dweck, and I highly recommend it. This book invites you to change your mindset on situations in your life to help you grow and move forward. They explain how there’s the growth mindset and the fixed mindset. The fixed mindset doesn’t allow you to grow or flourish; it’s the belief that you can’t change your skillset, whereas a growth mindset takes on challenges as an opportunity to grow.

The second book is the 4-Hour Workweek by Timothy Ferris. This book also changes your perspective on the 40 hour work week by thinking outside of the box to delegate work, and begin to take control over your own time but still continue to make money.

Website: www.d3eventdesign.com , www.archifyLA.com

Instagram: nairi.d3.events , archify_LLC

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nairi-nayirian-aia-29931943/

Other: Portfolio : https://nnayirian.wixsite.com/portfolio

Image Credits
Main Feature Photo- Rene Zadori Event Planning Images: Sako San Photography Rene Zadori Moosho KHACHIKYAN