In this interview for Bay Area Business RadioX, Ariana Makau shares her journey of building an award-winning business and industry leader in health and safety.

Nzilani is a highly specialized architectural glass preservation, design and fabrication company dedicated to making the profession more equitable by being accessible to under-served communities. What started as a small, one-woman studio has expanded to include a full-time core crew of glaziers, artists, project managers and interns. The company’s clients include private residences, churches, museums, and monumental historic buildings. Capable of completing a project “in-house” from start to finish, they also frequently collaborate with GCs, architects, masons, carpenters and metalworkers, etc.

Business RadioX features long-form interviews and in-depth conversations with local business leaders, allowing them to get the word out about the work they do to serve their market, their community, and their profession.

Interview on “Cracked with Chevonne Ariss” On this weekly episodic series Chevonne shares the experience of storytelling with fellow modern stained glass artists as they share their journey into the craft. 

Today’s episode is with Ariana Makau of Nzilani Glass. She is the second person in the world – and the first woman – to receive a Master’s Degree in Stained Glass Conservation from the Royal College of Art in London. Equally comfortable on a job site, at a board meeting or in a museum, Makau has over 25 years of experience with art and architectural preservation.  She is a Board Member and Health and Safety Chair of the Stained Glass Association of America and is a Fellow of AIC. Before she started Nzilani, she worked at the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles, London’s V&A Museum, and the New York Metropolitan Museum of Art.

On every show, host & preservation architect, Nakita Reed effortlessly weaves history, equity and genuine interest in her guests specialty in an insightful and approachable way.⁠

Episode 52 features a conversation with the trailblazing Ariana Makau. She shares her journey into the field of stained glass conservation and the challenges she faces as a Black woman in a predominantly white industry.