Five Things To Create A Successful Career As An Architect

Thank you for joining us today! Can you share the story of what led you to pursue a career in architecture?

I grew up making things constantly- crafting, painting, writing stories, building clubhouses, you name it. I made my first architectural model in elementary school, a 5-story cardboard dream house inspired by an episode of “Friends”, complete with ladders and slides instead of stairs, a hammock instead of a bed, and posters of all my favorite boy bands on the walls. Truthfully, I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life at the ripe age of 18, but I knew it had to be something that allowed me to create, so my initial pursuit was interior design. My first year of college I took a wildly popular and fascinating elective called “Architecture and Society” that opened my eyes and my mind to the world of architecture, a career that I had never even considered and which I now realized shaped the world around us. I wasn’t ready to abandon interior design, but since interior design was within the School of Architecture at my university (University of Texas at Austin, Hook ‘em!) there was a ton of overlap between the programs, so I didn’t feel like I was giving anything up. Ultimately, I decided that studying architecture would give me more flexibility and versatility in the long run. Studying architecture felt like being a part of something very big, and the balance of art and science really seemed to align with my strengths at a time when I was discovering what those were.

What’s the most interesting or amusing experience you’ve had in your career so far, and what lesson did you learn from it?

When I first moved to Southern California I was working on commercial core & shell projects for the first time, and I just felt that it wasn’t for me. I lobbied to get myself on any and every project that had an interior component, mostly tenant improvement projects, and at one point my firm hired an Interior Design Principal to start a new department. I didn’t know him, he didn’t know me, and I didn’t talk to anyone before I did this- but I walked right up to him and told him I’d like to join his team. I suppose my audacity impressed him, because I did become a founding member of that department and it turned out to be an incredibly rewarding experience. So the lesson is to be bold in asking for what you want, because you just might get it.

Do you have a favorite life lesson quote? Can you share a story about how it has been relevant in your life?

“This too shall pass” is a mantra that I repeat to myself regularly. We’ve all heard it a million times, but my mother reminded me of it during a particularly trying period in my personal life, and ever since then I’ve carried it with me and reminded myself that circumstances and emotions are temporary any time I get stressed or frustrated at work or in life.

Can you describe a recent project you completed and what your specific contributions were?

One of my favorite projects I’ve completed in recent years is the community room for a new residential development in Valencia, CA. We were brought on board to design the interior after construction had already started, which meant we had to move fast and we had to bring the “wow” factor. Our strategy was to propose big ideas and figure out the details later. The coolest part of this space is a suspended atrium in the center, and I worked closely with the structural engineer, fabricator, and plant vendor to help bring this idea to life under very tight deadlines. It requires so many people with different expertise to take a big idea like that across the finish line and I really thrive in that kind of teamwork driven atmosphere.

How do you approach balancing aesthetics and functionality in your designs?

In commercial design, we typically start with a client visioning session and then the space plan. In visioning, we establish aesthetic preferences in order to root out the goals of the project. Ok you like this look, but why? How does it apply to what you’re trying to achieve with your new space? That way we avoid making decisions based on aesthetic alone. Once you’ve shaped the space to meet the functions of the program, the aesthetics almost fall into place, and we always go back to those initial project goals to guide decisions.

What strategies do you use to ensure effective communication and collaboration with clients and other stakeholders throughout a project?

My fool-proof strategy is to pick up the phone and have a conversation, rather than relying on back and forth emails that can last days. Then, once we’ve had a productive conversation, I send a confirming email to create a paper trail of whatever decisions were made. I’ve been observing my managers doing this for years and I’m so glad I started implementing it because it has helped me sidestep many miscommunications and saved a ton of time.

Can you discuss a time when you had to resolve a major issue during a project and how you handled it?

Internal dynamics are always tricky, and each new project can come with a different team structure that sometimes needs the kinks worked out. I was at a transitional point in my career when I was working on a very high profile project. In the early stages, it was just me and a design director working on it, but I was doing all of the legwork and he was taking all of the meetings. On a logistical level that didn’t make sense to me, because I knew the drawings better than anyone so shouldn’t I be the one to present them? But I also felt like I was being shut out of decisions and shielded from the client to the point that it was really affecting my mental health and making me lose sleep. I considered myself an asset, so I didn’t understand why I was being hidden in a back room, figuratively speaking. I was very nervous to confront this person because he was my superior, but I decided that if we didn’t talk this out I would never sleep again, so I scheduled a meeting for us to sit down on a sofa together and have a heart to heart. I expressed how I was feeling and why I felt that way, and he explained to me that his reasoning for taking meetings without me had to do with fee management and the client’s preference to keep the meetings intimate. After that discussion he had a better understanding of my career goals, and ultimately I ended up taking over management of that project and he took a backseat. Sometimes uncomfortable conversations must be had, and I’ve learned time and again that it’s best to address team dynamics and roles early on before it comes to a head like that.

No one achieves success alone. Is there someone who has been particularly instrumental in your career? Can you share a story about their impact on your journey?

Remember that Interior Design Principal who I dazzled with my audacity? His name is Jackson Thilenius and I would argue that I am where I am today because of the path he carved out for me. We were a young department of just three designers, and I suppose my initial display gave him the idea that I had a way of getting things done, so he put me on the path to becoming a project manager and, ultimately, a leader. He is also a licensed architect, so I suppose maybe he saw a bit of himself in me and my interests. I was thrown headfirst into the deep end on my first large commercial project, I had no idea what I was doing and I made a ton of mistakes, but he was always there to counsel and encourage me, and when it was all said and done I had this huge accomplishment under my belt that gave me a giant boost of confidence. Jackson has always genuinely cared about his team members career development, and it was never just about learning the technical ins and outs of project and client management, it was also about gaining the confidence that I actually do know what I’m doing and overcoming that nasty imposter syndrome that seems to plague many of us, especially women, in this field. I will forever be grateful that he saw leadership potential in me because otherwise I may not have seen it in myself.

As a successful business leader, which three character traits have been most crucial to your success? Can you share a story or example for each?

1. Confidence — having the confidence to speak up for a seat at the table, a voice in the conversation, and just knowing that the words that are coming out of my mouth are valuable. It takes a while to get there, but I’ve found that the “fake it ’til you make it” approach really works wonders.
2. Vulnerability- no one can know everything, and it’s ok to be vulnerable and admit that you don’t have the answers to something on the spot. Because you are an expert in your field (which you will manifest into a reality), you will know where to look to find the answers, and sometimes displaying that resourcefulness can be more impressive than just having a photographic memory.
3. Levity- sometimes we take ourselves and our role so seriously that we can forget that most things in this industry are not life or death. Finding ways to lighten the mood by infusing casual banter or humor into the conversation can remind us and our collaborators that our work can and should be fun, and creating an unpretentious rapport with clients, contractors, brokers, etc. really does lighten the load of what feels serious and urgent versus what feels like contributing to a team in a meaningful way. I always want to remain professional, of course, but I tailor what that means to each individual relationship.

Thank you for sharing all that. Now, let’s delve into the core of our interview. What are three things that excite you most about architecture and the real estate industry? Can you share a story or example for each?

1. Traditionally, this industry has been heavily male-dominated. I won’t sugar coat the statistics- we still have a long way to go for equal representation- but we are seeing steady growth in the number of women entering and staying in the field. We have a number of institutional and economical challenges to address, but I am lucky enough to be surrounded by powerful female mentors at Hendy and I have enjoyed seeing our company create solutions for some of those challenges internally, such as flexible schedules for working moms and fostering a culture that doesn’t pit teammates against each other.
2. By now you know that I always keep one foot planted in interior design, and throughout my career I’ve seen a gradual shift toward acceptance of commercial interior design as an architectural specialty, rather than something entirely separate, and interior architecture has become a much more popular degree at major universities. The interior experience of a space isn’t something that should be taken lightly or as an afterthought and we’re seeing clients engage our services earlier and earlier in the process.
3. There’s a lot of fun to be had in what we do, but there are also a lot of tedious tasks that lay the groundwork for that fun. AI scares people because there’s this fear that it could replace entire professions, but I think we can use AI to our advantage to help lighten up some of those cumbersome data-driven tasks like programming and code analysis so that we can get to the meat of a project quicker, and that’s really exciting to me.

What are three things that concern you about the industry? If you could implement three changes to improve it, what would they be? Please share any relevant stories or examples.

1. Inflation and generally high prices are a huge concern for every project. This isn’t unique to architecture, but there are so many incredible solutions available to us that never see the light of day because they are cost prohibitive. Most projects go through some cost cutting, but over the past few years I’ve seen so many projects get stripped down to the necessities that it can be disheartening as a designer, and being aware of those limitations ahead of time can sometimes stifle creativity. If I could implement a change to improve this, I would make costs more transparent and easily obtainable by designers early in the process. Cost estimating is a specialized skill because there are so many factors, but wouldn’t it be great if we had more tools to help us understand costs in-house?
2. Material waste really bothers me. There are new eco-friendly and recycled solutions entering the market every day, but I still cringe when I look at how much we are demolishing that goes into landfills and all the new material that goes into a project. As specifiers we try to make the best decisions possible, but everything goes back to cost and many times those two ideals are not symbiotic. I think a lot of the hurdles when it comes to used building material recycling involves the time and effort it takes to separate materials, so if I could create a solution for this maybe it would be in the form a public agency that is tasked with separating and recycling materials on every project and paid for through permitting fees.
3. I mentioned in a previous question that women gaining traction within the industry excites me, but the rate of growth in this area and the reasons behind that do concern me. In the US, we have the most educated female workforce in the world with the lowest participation in the labor market. We see women exiting the workforce in droves when they become mothers, and we tend to think of having kids as a personal choice, but really this is an economic issue. The childcare crisis is such a hot button topic in our country today, and as a new mom I feel this in my soul. I never pictured myself being a stay-at-home mom, but after I had my son I found myself doing the calculations to see if it was really worth it for me to work based on the exorbitant (and still rising) cost of childcare. I would love to see architecture firms offering childcare as a benefit, but this can’t happen until the cost of childcare is addressed at a national level.