5 View gallery <\/p>\n
![\"\u05d4\u05de\u05e2\u05e6\u05d1\u05ea](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/B1Ur43N8ex_0_114_853_480_0_x-large.jpg\" "\\"Yael")
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Yael Gal. ‘I understood my calling’ <\/p>\n
(Photo: Tal Terry)<\/p>\n
\u201cUnlike them, I wasn\u2019t born with a silver spoon, and I didn\u2019t come into money through my husband. I was never truly one of them. I participated because I didn\u2019t have a choice. It was a calculated move to gain prime-time exposure. By then, I was already a successful designer with clients, but I wanted a broader audience to know me and my work. That\u2019s how I planned to reach the top of the industry.\u201d<\/p>\n
Still, the show helped pave the way to where you are today.
\n\u201cThat\u2019s true, and I have no regrets. It was an interesting adventure \u2013 part of my journey. More than that, the director, Orna Ben-Dor, made a promise and kept it. She said she admired people who built themselves up from scratch, and that the show needed someone like me \u2013 because viewers would draw strength and inspiration from my story. I understood that even if I felt the show hurt me at first, in the long run, my story would become an asset, part of my personal brand. And that\u2019s exactly what happened. People recognized my talent, my vision and everything I brought to the table.\u201d<\/p>\n
Indeed, Gal has checked off her goal with a bold V and forged a path straight to the top. Today, her portfolio includes luxury homes designed for some of the wealthiest clients in Israel and abroad \u2013 projects for which she\u2019s earned six- and even seven-figure fees.<\/p>\n
About five years ago, she made a major pivot: she stopped working with private clients and turned her focus to launching her own startup \u2013 HiWay, a design app aimed at homebuyers. The idea? A platform that lets anyone design their dream apartment, all on their own.<\/p>\n
Now 54, Gal is divorced and the mother of two daughters (26 and 24). She lives in a stunning penthouse in Tel Aviv and also owns a chic designer apartment in New York. Known as one of the most colorful personalities in the Israeli design world, Gal\u2019s acquaintances often call her a \u201cself-marketing powerhouse.\u201d She knows how to tell her story with charm and wit, often using vivid metaphors to describe her rise. Take, for example, the time she beat out major firms to win the tender for a prestigious office tower in Modi\u2019in \u2013 despite running a small studio. Her reaction? \u201cHapoel Be\u2019er Sheva just beat Manchester United.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n 5 View gallery <\/p>\n Yael Gal and her daughter Shira. Working together on the venture <\/p>\n (Photo: Tal Terry)<\/p>\n Her story begins far from the world of penthouses and luxury clients. \u201cI was born and raised in a tough neighborhood in Be\u2019er Sheva,\u201d she recalls. \u201cThere were drug dealers on the streets, and police patrols were a regular sight. My father was a police officer, and my mother owned a hair salon. We were five kids in a home that gave us strength, confidence and a deep belief in ourselves. I was raised with strong moral values.\u201d<\/p>\n Her mother, she says, was a strong, beautiful woman who knew her worth. \u201cShe took out loans, opened a salon and turned it into a thriving business. Many of her clients came from Omer, a nearby town known for its wealth. She taught me it pays to take risks, believe in myself, value good service and customer care \u2013 and above all, to act with generosity. When you give generously,\u201d Gal says, \u201cthe universe gives back.\u201d<\/p>\n After completing her military service, Gal began studying psychology and sociology, but didn\u2019t finish her degree. \u201cDuring that time, I met my husband, who was an architect. He encouraged me to leave school and join him in the business. \u2018You\u2019ll be listening to people\u2019s problems, and there\u2019s no money in that,\u2019 he told me. He saw I had star potential.\u201d <\/p>\n The two became partners in both life and work: \u201cWe were a power couple for 12 years,\u201d she says. \u201cEventually, we split \u2013 but I still respect him. That marriage, too, was part of the journey that led me to where I am today.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cA client once called to tell me I was charging too much. I told him, \u2018If Yael Gal wakes up in the morning and dollars aren\u2019t raining down on her \u2013 then you don\u2019t have a home.\u2019 He paid on the spot.\u201d<\/p>\n Gal later completed her studies at Shenkar College and spent about a decade working at an architecture firm before opening her own studio. Today, her name is attached to the design of homes belonging to some of the wealthiest tycoons in Israel \u2013 and beyond. Her portfolio is full of stories of clients whose dreams she brought to life in lavish, one-of-a-kind style. Some of those stories, she says, began completely by chance.<\/p>\n \u201cDuring one of my visits to New York, I happened to meet Elie Tahari, who was already a world-renowned fashion designer, a total superstar,\u201d she recalls. \u201cWe met on a bench in Central Park. He told me he was disappointed with the design of his apartment. I asked if I could see it \u2013 and followed him there. He handed me the keys, gave me access to his driver and assistants for the duration of the renovation.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWithin a single day, I found myself inside a luxury apartment, redesigned it the way I felt suited him \u2013 and it worked. He was so thrilled, he literally screamed with joy. I should\u2019ve recorded it,\u201d she laughs. \u201cThat\u2019s when I realized: interior design problems aren\u2019t just local \u2013 they\u2019re global. And if someone like him, a New York star who had already hired a top designer, was still disappointed and called me in to deliver the wow factor \u2013 and I pulled it off \u2013 then something about my own process had to evolve. That\u2019s when I started thinking about my deeper purpose.\u201d<\/p>\n You\u2019re known for charging extraordinary sums for your work. \u201cA client once called to tell me I was charging too much. I told him, \u2018If Yael Gal wakes up in the morning and dollars aren\u2019t raining down on her \u2013 then you don\u2019t have a home.\u2019 He paid on the spot. I believe that if you wake up in the morning chasing money, it won\u2019t come,\u201d Gal continues. \u201cI woke up every day loving what I do, knowing I was the best in my field \u2013 and that\u2019s when the money started chasing me.\u201d<\/p>\n In some cases, she says, new clients arrived thanks to her generosity. \u201cOnce, I landed a major project because I had previously helped the same client solve a problem with her walk-in closet \u2013 just as a favor, no payment involved. That\u2019s how it works. People appreciate my work. Is the product a success? Then I\u2019ll charge what I believe it\u2019s worth.\u201d That confidence, she says, is something she learned from her mother. \u201cThe salon was in Be\u2019er Sheva, but my mom targeted clients from Omer. She gave them premium service \u2013 and that\u2019s how she built her own unique brand.\u201d<\/p>\n Over the years, Gal continued designing high-end interiors for the country\u2019s elite \u2013 but the sense that she was meant for something else never left her. The person who recalls the moment Gal finally made the shift is Dalia Mamrud, co-owner of Tadiran.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n 5 View gallery <\/p>\n Top 0.1 percent clients <\/p>\n (Photo: PR)<\/p>\n \u201cI had already designed two apartments for the Mamrud family,\u201d says Gal. \u201cWhen Dalia asked me to design a third, I just couldn\u2019t. That\u2019s when I was already deep into HiWay, a project that\u2019s now shaking up the real estate market.\u201d<\/p>\n How was the venture born? \u201cI took on the challenge, designed a stunning apartment for her on a tight budget and entirely remotely. Not long after, she sold it for a significant profit. That\u2019s when everything clicked. I realized how much I wanted to make high-end design accessible \u2013 to give people a full design experience without them having to spend a fortune. I wanted to create homes people would feel excited about every single day.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI understood that this was my purpose \u2013 that I was here to change the design world. Homebuyers don\u2019t need to rely on an architect or interior designer anymore. With the app, they can explore curated collections, see exactly what to buy and where to place it. It\u2019s also an emotional journey. After all, a building architect designs for developers \u2013 he doesn\u2019t specialize in interior aesthetics. That\u2019s where we come in, offering access to top-tier design, once reserved only for the ultra-wealthy.\u201d<\/p>\n Gal began working on the concept as a startup five years ago. \u201cFour months ago, we launched it commercially. Our first client was the real estate developer Fine Living. Since then, around 20 developers have signed on \u2013 including Canada Israel, Gabay Group, Yuvalim and more. Real estate developers are now flocking to the platform.\u201d<\/p>\n If you don\u2019t charge the client directly, then what\u2019s the business model?![\"\u05d9\u05e2\u05dc](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/H1ToHomIee_0_0_463_667_0_x-large.jpg\" "\\"Yael")
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\n\u201cThat\u2019s true. I reached some of the highest design fees in the country. My clients have spent tens of millions of shekels on designing their homes \u2013 and I charged exactly what my work was worth. For example, I once designed a 350-square-meter apartment. The client invested around ILS 30 million in the interiors alone, and I received a fee of ILS 1 million. I worked for four months and earned enough to buy an apartment. I know how to charge precisely what my design is worth.\u201d<\/p>\n![\"\u05e2\u05d9\u05e6\u05d5\u05d1](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/SkzOVnN8xl_0_0_1280_851_0_x-large.jpg\" "\\"Top")
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\n\u201cOne day, my sister \u2013 who\u2019s also my administrative manager \u2013 asked me to design her apartment in Be\u2019er Sheva. Their budget was modest compared to what I usually work with. I asked myself: how do I create a product for her when I don\u2019t have anything like that \u2018on the shelf\u2019?<\/p>\n
\n\u201cThe idea is simple: a buyer who purchases an apartment off-plan should be able to see the finished product before the home is even built. They can choose the design themselves from a range of curated collections, just like picking out a suit or dress from a store. The client puts on VR goggles and experiences the apartment as if they\u2019re walking through it in real life.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"\u05e2\u05d9\u05e6\u05d5\u05d1](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/B1QFNnE8xl_0_0_1280_855_0_x-large.jpg\" "\\"Luxury")
<\/a>![\"\u05d4\u05d3\u05de\u05d9\u05d9\u05d4](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/r1FkLjX8gx_0_0_2048_1152_0_x-large.jpg\" "\\"Simulation")
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