Engaging Conversations | Inspiring Dialogue, Empowering Communities
Welcome to Engaging Conversations, the podcast that connects you with the pulse of our local communities.
Hosted by Leon Goltsman, Co-Founder of Ecolibrium Headquarters (EcoHQ), each episode invites you on an inspiring journey into the stories that shape and uplift our neighbourhoods.
From visionary leaders and industry experts to everyday heroes making a difference, Engaging Conversations offers an exclusive look into our society’s diverse and dynamic fabric. This podcast is your gateway to broadening your perspective, building meaningful connections, and being inspired.
Please note that the views and opinions expressed by guests on this podcast are their own and do not necessarily reflect those of the host or EcoHQ. The discussions in this podcast are for informational and entertainment purposes only and should not be considered professional, financial, medical, or legal advice. Listeners are encouraged to seek independent professional advice before making any decisions based on the content of this podcast.
Tune in, join the conversation, and discover the people, places, and purpose driving positive change.
Engaging Conversations | Inspiring Dialogue, Empowering Communities
#34 - If You Can't Find a Seat at the Table, Build Your Own with Nerva Kay Ghamraoui
What happens when an architect decides there's a better way to build? Nerva Kay Ghamraoui, founder of Katalyst Construction, is reshaping Sydney's luxury residential construction landscape by prioritising people over profits and quality over shortcuts.
From winning her first drafting award at age five to becoming a standout leader in one of Australia's most male-dominated industries, Nerva's journey embodies resilience and vision. When she walks onto construction sites, people often assume she must be related to "the actual builder" rather than being the founder herself. Yet it's precisely this outsider perspective that has allowed her to create something fundamentally different.
Specialising in multi-million dollar custom homes, Katalyst Construction approaches each project with architectural precision and genuine human connection. "We're here to build homes, not houses," Nerva explains, highlighting the emotional investment homeowners make in what is often their life's most significant purchase. Her team maintains open communication throughout projects, remains flexible in the face of variations, and cultivates lasting relationships with clients that continue long after handover.
This relationship-focused approach extends to her carefully selected team of contractors who share her values around craftsmanship and client care. The results speak for themselves—including award-winning projects that stand as neighbourhood landmarks. For Nerva, success comes from creating trust, delivering excellence, and proving that construction can be both profitable and purposeful.
Her advice to anyone facing industry barriers resonates beyond the construction industry: "If you don't find a seat at the table, create your own table." Through continuous learning, unwavering self-belief, and genuine connection, she demonstrates how convention can be challenged and industries transformed.
Would you be ready to build differently? Connect with Nerva through katalystconstruction.com.au (Katalyst with a K) or follow Engaging Conversations for more inspiring leadership stories that are reshaping our future.
Thank you for listening!
Welcome to Engaging Conversations, the series where business meets purpose, and the people reshaping our future to get the spotlight they deserve. I'm your host, Leon Goltsman, and with each episode we bring you real-world insights from leaders who are raising standards, challenging industries and proving that integrity still has a place in business. Today's guest is doing all that and more. Nerva K Gumrawi is the founder of Katalyst Construction, a high-end residential building company based in Sydney. She's an architect, builder and a standout leader in one of the most male- dominated industries in Australia.
Leon Goltsman:But this isn't just about bricks and mortar. Nerva and her team deliver custom homes, each valued in the multi-million dollar range, with a high level of care, craftsmanship and connection that's rare in today's construction landscape. Her story is one of resilience, reputation and doing things differently from the ground up, and this episode is brought to you with the support of Nias Kanath and the team at Invest Intelligence, proud champions of values and leadership, smart development and communities that thrive. And, as always, the views shared in this conversation reflect personal experience and are not intended as professional advice. It's a conversation about values, vision and what happens when someone dares to build a different kind of legacy. So, without further ado, let's get into it.
Nerva Kay Ghamraoui:Hi, my name is Nova K Gamrawi, founder of Katalyst Construction. My love for design and architecture brought me into construction industry, but what kept me here is the drive to change it. So I set out to build something different, a business grounded in integrity, innovation and inclusion. For me, every project is more than just bricks and mortar. It's about creating purpose driven space, supporting local communities and proving that you don't have to fit the mold to belong. You can shape it.
Leon Goltsman:That's something we see a lot of great businesses do. They don't follow, they lead, and we know the great businesses often come from moments of frustration and seeing something missing and deciding to fill the gap yourself. Clearly, that's what you're doing.
Nerva Kay Ghamraoui:Exactly.
Leon Goltsman:So when you realized the construction industry lacked representation, empathy and inclusivity, what was the spark that made you say I'm going to change this?
Nerva Kay Ghamraoui:When I had my first project.
Nerva Kay Ghamraoui:I'll reflect on my own experience, which is I wasn't a builder at the time, I was just an architect and I started my first project and I built it with another builder he was a builder there, but I was a project manager builder with another builder.
Nerva Kay Ghamraoui:He was a builder there, but I was a project manager and I started to see how people react towards building and the lack of empathy and the inclusivity when people choose like because I was doing my own project. Then I've got duplex, I've got two sides and people saying how about, if we do this for your side, but then we don't have to do as good? As for the other section, which is it's going for sale, and for me to see people that's how they think of building and that's how they should deliver a project. It actually got me really deep down and I do realize people do spend a lot of money and hardship to build their own home, and this is what Katalyst Construction focus on custom homes to build their own home, and this is what Katalyst Construction focus on custom homes. So most likely we deal with homeowners and people do suffer from the way the builders misrepresent themselves and don't deliver the right product for the clients.
Leon Goltsman:Yeah, well, we see that in a lot of different industries, where people put profits before people, before results and the quality. And seeing you today where you've come, and you've come a long way, but when you've walked into rooms where people don't expect you to be the founder or the builder yet you've turned those moments into opportunities.
Nerva Kay Ghamraoui:Yeah, with this kind of experience it comes a lot, especially because as a woman in a male-dominated industry, so people don't expect to see a lady on job sites. But when I started it wasn't the norm for them. So people always expect me to be either the daughter of a builder or the sister of the builder or the wife of the builder, so no one would actually think I have started this from ground up. No one in my family is a builder or developer. I've started the passion for designing. You can go back when I was five years old, when I won my first award for drafting. My mom took me. I remember this as a dream and I feel like sometimes people ask me when did you start to have the passion or the love for designing? I reflect on that and I say maybe that's something I was born with the talent for designing and eye for details and stuff like that.
Leon Goltsman:And we see a lot of people growing up. They have all these interests as children, but sometimes along the way, the focus shifts and it's not always their option. That's not always their option. That's not always their choice. It's almost like the parents or the school or the career advisor choose something for people. It's probably the reason why people end up not being satisfied, knowing that they could have done something with their life, but instead they're living other people's dreams, and you've taken that and you followed your heart and you followed your dream. True, but you mentioned earlier that a building is more than bricks and mortar and it's a chance to leave a social footprint.
Nerva Kay Ghamraoui:Mm-hmm.
Leon Goltsman:Tell me, Nova, how do you make sure your projects deliver a positive impact long after the tools are packed away?
Nerva Kay Ghamraoui:At Katalyst we keep in contact with the clients. We make sure the client's happy and satisfied, even during our build. We deliver to their satisfaction. We see where they need to improve more in the build because not everything is always clear to the clients when they're building homes. So a lot of things come along the way and they start to realise maybe I want this, maybe I don't want that, and we work very flexible with the clients and also with the variation. We don't have a lot of loads on our clients in that matter, so we do help them during the build and we make sure this is continued on after we finish our project by having a good local tradies and contractors, that we all work together as a team. It's about delivering good product to the clients, and the clients has to be happy.
Leon Goltsman:Yeah Well, you've hit the nail on the head as well by saying good team, good people and locals. Having that doesn't just mean that you're supporting your local community and creating the jobs, but you're also better for the environment. Less travel, less traffic or, even worse, they cut corners and try and do things themselves, or they miss it all together A hundred percent, especially the cutting corners.
Nerva Kay Ghamraoui:That's something that really bothers me. When I see someone cutting corners, it's just like I raise it straight away and we have the conversation. You go back to quoting jobs and never people ask you to quote a job to cut corners. You charge for your money like you charge for your work to do a proper job and good job, and this is what I focus on. When people going to work, they need to deliver and this is my main concern for clients. It's not always smooth, it's not always happy time on site, not the client's always satisfied. That's why we have to manage between the tradies and the clients, the home owners, that everyone is just getting the message doing the right thing and not to focus about the dollar thing. It's focused about these people are going to live in this house for a very long time Because when you're working with home owners, most of them they build only once.
Leon Goltsman:Yeah, and this is their dream home. And not only that it's probably the most valuable investment other than their children and their family. Of course, it's the most valuable investment, the most significant, they're ever going to make in their life.
Nerva Kay Ghamraoui:Exactly, it's a lot of decisions. A lot of the psychological comes with it as well, especially when a lot of financial includes and people get emotional over building their own home. So it's sad to say also a lot of people known to get divorced during build. So that's bring a lot of pressure on them and also on us. So for me it's a bit of a personal as well. So through my own experience I wanted to protect my clients from going through that and make sure they're all good and keep the communication clear with them and make sure for them they're all going to get what they want in their house even if it's going to cost us some more money, if they can't afford it, but we make sure they do get receive it.
Leon Goltsman:I never really thought about that before, but absolutely, when people going through a difficult time like building, moving is one of the the hardest thing, I mean that's your relationship. Well, that is because it's not just one person that has to deal with it. It becomes everybody's. Exactly. So what I'm seeing is not just the way that you approach business, but the way that you work with people. Being different in business isn't a weakness. It can actually be your greatest advantage. And how has embracing your difference shaped the way you run, Katalyst Construction and approach projects?
Nerva Kay Ghamraoui:You've got to be authentic to people. You've got to show that you do care and you've got to show that you're a partner with them in their project. It's not about you making money. It's about you making them happy to deliver their jobs, and being different is something that makes you special.
Nerva Kay Ghamraoui:I am an architect and a builder, so my architectural comes very handy also with my building project, because we do see things differently. So also sometimes we do add more of designing and color coordination, material choosing for people, so we help them a lot with all this stuff. Some builders they're not there to spend that time with their clients and to help them out with this one-on-one. So for me I do take things very personally and I come very close with my clients and I make sure they feel comfortable. They contact me at any time of the day. I answer.
Nerva Kay Ghamraoui:I feel like the clients need to be in a space where they're feeling safe with their builder because unfortunately, a lot of builders I can't say all of them, but there is a big number that did not left a good reviews about builders. So people come to you already they're just assuming you're like everybody else, so you need to prove that you're not. You need to show them that you do have sympathy towards them. You're not coming there just to take the money and run away and disappear on them. I'm very comfortable with myself and I feel this is what makes me different. I feel this is my point of different is just to have that feeling towards people and connect with them on a different level than just a financial level.
Leon Goltsman:So speed and cost cutting might win short-term contracts. We've seen that. We've seen people over-promising, under-delivering. Quality and thoughtfulness builds a lasting legacy, yes. So in a fast-paced industry, how do you stay true to high standards without compromise?
Nerva Kay Ghamraoui:We do keep our contractors who hold the same values as us. So for clients, this is what makes us to deliver jobs on time with good quality. This is what make us to deliver jobs on time with good quality. That people who works with us as a team, they know, understand what it is for the client to get good work, and they do understand what they're working with as well. So it's not just about having license with no knowledge of what they're doing. They do understand the industry, they do know the materials, they do know the product as well, and this is what we keep this kind of contractors and that's what makes us strong as well. So we are strong together as a team. Together, with the right people, we do deliver the good quality homes. Our legacy is to create working with good people without compromising the delivery of the quality of the project. We're here to build homes, not houses, and this is something we make very clear with our contractors.
Leon Goltsman:As you mentioned, the right partnerships can elevate a project from good to exceptional, and sometimes that can make all the difference. What do you look for in a client, developer or investor before deciding to work together?
Nerva Kay Ghamraoui:What we look for in our clients is people who have the same values as us. They see the same outcome when we're building and when we're working together. Because when we deal with clients it's a long-term relationship. It's not a week or two Like sometimes we do spend a year with the same clients. So if we don't all have the same values that we work with and understand what business is like because it's very important In our works most of the time we do need to educate some people, especially homeowners, the people who've done it the first time. But when we work with investors and developers, obviously they do understand it a little bit more and it makes it a bit more easier. But our satisfaction is to work with both of them, with everyone, everyone that do need our service, to make them happy and to give them a good home. They would always be proud of that. They were a partner with us to build it for them. Let me share something with you.
Nerva Kay Ghamraoui:I had a client. He was a developer and he known me as an architect. So he he asked me give me something nice. He just didn't give me any guidelines, nothing. All he wanted is something nice, something.
Leon Goltsman:So that was the brief. It's just like give me something nice Give me something nice and he knows.
Nerva Kay Ghamraoui:he knows I need to follow with the council regulation and all of that. And he knows how I work. He knows my tests. I've designed something for him, like a couple of other jobs for him before that, so he knows my ability and he's just like do whatever you want with that one. And he was doing that for sale. So I gave him designer in the area when it was built.
Nerva Kay Ghamraoui:Everyone now turns head to that design and when he started to build it, he asked me to come and do project manager on it. So I was there from the beginning to the end of that project and the freedom that he gave me in regards of making decisions, choosing colors, design the whole project the way I really wanted to do it. It was very, very beneficial for him as well, because he knew it was in his area to interfere and interrupt all the decisions that I was making. So he gave me the trust and, based on that, I gave it all my power and it was something I was I was very proud of to do. And now I look back at it and it's just like I'm so happy with this experience because this guy he he put my name on that project as well, and that project did win an award for best project in construction and design in the year 24.
Leon Goltsman:And that's only recent.
Nerva Kay Ghamraoui:Yeah, last year, but the job was done in 2023. Yeah, and things like that people need to understand. When they hire an architect or a builder, they need to give them a trust. They need to trust them with what?
Leon Goltsman:they're doing. So when you've got people who actually step back and you do your work, it must be very liberating.
Nerva Kay Ghamraoui:It is. It's very, very good and rewarding as well.
Leon Goltsman:Especially if you end up getting projects that win awards.
Nerva Kay Ghamraoui:Yeah, exactly, and especially for me, like when I was starting, I say again, as a woman in a male dominated industry, and this guy gave me all this trust. I felt like more power, because when people show you the trust, they make you feel like you got it and you can do what you love to do most. And this is why I think it's very important to have that feeling with your clients.
Leon Goltsman:Yeah, and also just listening to your story, it proves that leadership doesn't require permission. It requires courage and conviction. Exactly, and you've demonstrated that in spades. What's the one piece of advice you'd give to someone, especially a young woman, who feels they don't fit the industry that they're dreaming of entering?
Nerva Kay Ghamraoui:I'll say just follow your dreams. Don't let anyone doubt what you do or your ability of what you can do. Just look around you and, if you don't find a seat on the table, create your own table and just get in strong and follow up people who you admire. Reach out for people who can give you motivation and don't feel you're alone. You're never alone. We're all successful in our work. We do things by ourselves, but we're never alone. We're all successful in our work. We do things by ourselves, but we're never alone. We can never be successful if we're doing things without anyone's help.
Nerva Kay Ghamraoui:I don't believe that. When people say I built this by myself and I've done this with nothing, okay, yes, well, maybe we do start from zero, but if we don't have the support along the way, that people support us and trust in us and see the good that, what we can deliver, we cannot make it. So this all comes within yourself. If you believe that you can do this, everyone else can see it. If you don't believe that you can do it, no one else is going to believe you. You've got to believe in yourself and this is where it starts from.
Leon Goltsman:Whether you think you're right or you're wrong, you're right.
Nerva Kay Ghamraoui:Yeah, this is what I felt as well. It's got to be me right Now. Look, you do got to listen to other people, and sky is the limit. When I came to Australia, I also had no word of English, so this is something I started to work on myself and improve my skills, and I started to take courses to just fit in and feel like I need to deliver my work within the standard of this country. So I didn't rely on my certificates that one I had back home I kept on studying and working all the journey of my work. I've never studied and stopped and then I went to work. It was never like that. I was studying, working, and then I improved myself more with my study and then I'll work, and then I'll go again and I'll study more, and this is what led me today to be an architect and a builder.
Leon Goltsman:So you have come a long way, and hearing stories and seeing what someone with challenges went through to get to where you are today, it really is inspiring, thank you, and I'm sure other people would be inspired as well. So, nova, if people did want to reach out to you, if they wanted to see the quality of your work or even ask you questions, what is the best way they can get in contact with you?
Nerva Kay Ghamraoui:There's a couple of ways they can check my website, which is Katalyst.
Leon Goltsman:Katalyst with a K. I was going to say that with a K Katalyst with a K. And if someone wants to call you and actually hear your voice, what's the best number to call you on?
Nerva Kay Ghamraoui:0-4-3-3-9-6-6-2-9-0.
Leon Goltsman:Fantastic. Do you want to just repeat that again? 0443. A433. 966. 966. 290. 290. I mean, I'll have all the other details as well, like the Instagram, in the show notes. So if you're driving or walking, hopefully you're not doing both.
Nerva Kay Ghamraoui:No, my car's just down there.
Leon Goltsman:No, I was talking to the listeners. Oh, okay, sorry, so you'll be able to access the information in the show notes. Thank you very much, nerva. You're fantastic. Talking to you is great. Speaking and sitting in front of you in person is just as good, if not better.
Nerva Kay Ghamraoui:Thank you so much. I really appreciate you inviting me for this podcast today and it was lovely meeting you and I hope the listeners will enjoy our conversation and bring maybe some laughter to them as well. Like we had a bit of good laughter.
Leon Goltsman:Yeah, we have a lot of fun in our conversations. I do, I always have a lot of fun in our conversations and yeah, especially what happens behind the scenes which I'm not going to mention with the audience. But I can tell you that some of the people I speak with are so serious in real life and then we're just sitting back laughing.
Nerva Kay Ghamraoui:Yeah, I think you've just got to relax and just be natural and let people know who you are from the inside, you know.
Leon Goltsman:Yeah, absolutely. But, nova, thank you so much. I'm really looking forward to seeing you go from strength to strength, as you have been. You're doing great work. We've got a couple of really good events coming up, and it's just wonderful that we, as professionals in our own right, have the ability to connect with other professionals, not just within our own industry, but beyond. So I'm really grateful for that and all the wonderful people who have brought us together as well.
Nerva Kay Ghamraoui:Thank you so much, and I really appreciate that as well.
Leon Goltsman:Now that was a conversation worth holding on to, not just for what Nerva's achieved, but for how she's doing it. In an industry driven by speed and shortcuts, Nerva K Gomorowie is proof that doing things the right way still matters, and that conviction, not convention, is what sets true leaders apart. More than just building multi-million dollar homes, it's about building trust, raising expectations and reshaping what leadership looks like on the job site. It's that blend of discipline, design and genuine care for people that makes her story so compelling. To learn more or connect directly, visit Katalyst that's Katalyst with a K or check out the show notes for all the links. And if her story sparked something in you, you're exactly who this series is for out anytime at Leon. Goltsman at ecohq. com. au. I'd love to hear what this conversation meant to you or simply keep you in the loop for what's ahead.
Leon Goltsman:Next month, I'm in partnership with Bondi and Districts Chamber of Commerce, where we're hosting celebrating connections a special, special VIP event where leaders like Nerva, community builders and purpose-driven professionals from all across New South Wales will come together for one unforgettable evening. This is an event about recognising those who walk the talk and represent the kind of future we all want to build. Spots are limited, so email me or subscribe through the show notes if you'd like an invite or early access to the details. A big Niaz Cannoth at Invest Intelligence for their ongoing support of this series and the values that we all stand for. If you enjoyed today's episode, follow Engaging Conversations, share it with someone who builds with heart and leave a short review to help others find it too. I'm Leon Goltsman, and until next time, let's keep showing up, lifting others and building something that lasts together.
