Elias Horat’s Stories, Lessons & Insights

We recently had the chance to connect with Elias Horat and have shared our conversation below.

Elias, we’re thrilled to have you with us today. Before we jump into your intro and the heart of the interview, let’s start with a bit of an ice breaker: Have any recent moments made you laugh or feel proud?
A recent moment that made me feel proud was watching my team’s growth and initiative. Over the past few months, they’ve shown a real willingness to take on more responsibility and learn from past projects. Team members have pleasantly surprised me by voluntarily performing plan checks, integrating previous permit comments into new drawing sets, and actively tracking and elevating the quality of our work. Seeing them push our project excellence to a new level has been incredibly rewarding and makes me proud of the collaborative culture we’ve built.

Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
I’m Elias Horat, Founder and Studio Director of Creates Cool, an architecture and design studio based in the Bay Area. We specialize in residential, commercial, and mixed-use projects with a focus on efficient design, streamlined permitting, and sustainability. We are especially enjoying working with new small businesses and are actively contributing to the success of our home city of San Francisco by supporting economic recovery and helping people succeed here. What makes us unique is our ability to balance creativity with technical precision, designing beautiful spaces while making the process smooth and successful for our clients.

Appreciate your sharing that. Let’s talk about your life, growing up and some of topics and learnings around that. What’s a moment that really shaped how you see the world?
A moment that really shaped how I see the world has been participating in AIDS/LifeCycle, a 545-mile ride from San Francisco to Los Angeles to raise funds and awareness for those affected by HIV/AIDS. This year will be my third and final time participating, and the experience has been life-changing. The ride is physically challenging, but what stands out most is the community and the shared purpose behind every mile. It is incredibly humbling to see thousands of people come together with so much compassion, dedication, and hope. AIDS/LifeCycle has given me a deeper perspective on resilience, the power of collective action, and the importance of supporting others, not just during the ride but in life.

Was there ever a time you almost gave up?
There was a point during my journey to becoming a licensed architect when I almost gave up. I was taking my ARE exams, in debt from the costs of the exams and study materials, and I had no support from my job at the time. I felt completely discouraged and in a dark place about my future in architecture. The only thing that pushed me through was the support of my closest friends, who reminded me why I had started and believed in me when I was struggling to believe in myself.

So a lot of these questions go deep, but if you are open to it, we’ve got a few more questions that we’d love to get your take on. Where are smart people getting it totally wrong today?
In my opinion, it is humor. I often see some of the smartest and most successful people around me struggle to let go of seriousness and embrace the silly, easy laughs in life. For me, being goofy with my partner, friends, and family is one of the easiest ways to disconnect and not get completely caught up in work, which can be very serious. Humor is such an important way to stay balanced and grounded.

Okay, so let’s keep going with one more question that means a lot to us: When do you feel most at peace?
I feel most at peace at the end of the day or the end of the week when I know our deadlines are met, my flagged emails are cleared out, and no one on our team or among our clients is waiting on us. It is a great feeling to head into my personal life knowing that we did our best, met all expectations, deadlines, and contracts, and that the time ahead of me is truly mine. I also love knowing that my team can head into their time off with that same sense of clarity and balance.

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