EntreArchitect Podcast with Mark R. LePage

Catherine Meng of Design Voice Podcast This week at EntreArchitect Podcast, Catherine Meng of Design Voice Podcast. Background Catherine Meng received her bachelors of architecture degree from Cornell University and joined DLR Group Kwan Henmi in 2016 where she focuses on multi family and students housing projects. Prior to this she previously worked in New York City and Shanghai. In addition to her work as an architect Catherine is active in the San Francisco community. She serves as a mentor at the ACE Mentor Program, serves on the board of the Northern California Cornell Alumni Association, and is a member of the San Francisco chapters of the Urban Land Institute and the Commercial Real Estate Women (CREW).Catherine  just started a new podcast called the Design Voice Podcast, which aims to elevate and amplify the voices of women in the architecture, engineering, and construction professions. Origin Story When Catherine was growing up, she didn’t even know that the architecture profession existed…she wasn’t exposed to the idea that people purposefully designed buildings. She loved drawing, art, and making things with her hands. Her parents wanted her to become a doctor or an engineer. In high school, she read The Fountainhead, and the idea of architecture got lodged in her head. During spring break, she went on a class trip to Italy and was exposed to tons of beautiful buildings in Rome, Florence and Venice. She distinctly remembers climbing to the top of the stairs at Brunelleschi’s Dome and being in awe. She applied to half architecture and half liberal arts schools, and only got into the architecture school at Cornell. She had a love-hate relationship with architecture school, but overall loved her time there. She graduated in 2009 in the middle of the recession, and couldn’t find a job after school. She found some administrative work for about a year while applying to any architecture related jobs she could find. Catherine decided to move to China and find an architecture job there. She took a job with the first firm that was able to find a work visa for her, and worked for a husband and wife firm with a large international team. For her, it was a great architecture bootcamp where she was throw into managing projects, connect with clients, and negotiate contacts. After a year and a half, she applied for jobs in New York and moved there. Her CA and CD experience helped get her foot in the door at the small firm she worked at next. They went from 3 to 10 employees, and Catherine got to experience that first hand. After five years in New York, Catherine and her husband decided to move out west to San Francisco, where they’ve been for the last three years. Catherine works at a midsize firm called Kwan Henmi Architects. About a year ago, they merged with DLR Group, which has opened a lot of opportunities to expand the types of work they do. DLR Group also offers professional development grants that anyone can apply for. Catherine was inspired by stories of other women’s design journeys, and decided to start the Design Voice Podcast. The show officially launched a month ago. What was the podcast that you wanted to create? After Catherine started planning her podcast, another one was launched featuring interviews with women architects in LA hosted by Audrey Sato. It’s similar to what Catherine wanted to do, but her main goal was to hear women’s stories. How did they deal with challenges in their careers? What were their best moments? What inspires them? When Catherine was growing up, she was taught that she could do anything she wanted to. When she started working, she realized that the gender breakdown is different than she expected. Problems of sexism in the workplace have not yet been solved. The longer she’s the profession, the more she wants to know how other people are dealing with these issues. She wanted to strike a balance between talking about a lot of challenges women face in the field of architecture, while not focusing on the fact that these people are women, but they’re architects and engineers who are separate from their gender identities.  Were there any surprises you’ve come across? One big surprise for Catherine is that women sometimes struggle with asking for what they want. If they’re asking for a greater team or the company, they’re often more willing to ask. When Catherine started the podcast, she became bold to ask anyone for input to benefit the greater good of the design world. She’s felt free to know what it’s like to be able to put herself out there more confidently. Catherine is also amazed at what people have been willing to open up about. One of her guests teaches at an architecture studio and is a young mother, and shared the struggles she has balancing both. She doesn’t have her own space, and has to pump standing up and carry her milk around with a freezer back. Who are some upcoming guests? Anne Torney at Mithun, a young project engineer from McCarthy Construction and a principle at a structural engineering firm. Topics will range from work life balance, pay equity, flexibility with work. Sometimes people look at these things and assume they’re about women and minorities, when in fact, it’s about making the design profession better everyone.  What is the one thing that small firm architects can do today to build a better business tomorrow? “Sign up for an improv class. The skills you learn there apply to your life and work situations, and you have the opportunity to meet interesting people.”  – Catherine Meng Check out the Design Voice Podcast or connect with Catherine on social media on Twitter,  Visit our Platform Sponsors Freshbooks is the easy way to send invoices, manage expenses, and track your time. Access your free 30 day trial at EntreArchitect.com/FreshBooks. (Enter EntreArchitect) ARCAT has huge libraries of free content, Specs, CAD, BIM and more. No registration required. Want to collaborate with colleagues in real time? Visit EntreArchitect.com/ARCAT and click Charrette for more information. Referenced in this Episode Join The EntreArchitect Community on Facebook Download the Profit For Small Firm Architects course for FREE. Leave a Rating and Review at iTunes EntreArchitect LIVE in New York! Join us on June 20, 2018. We’re putting together a workshop that will talk all about success in architecture and will introduce the 4 P’s of the EntreArchitect Business Framework. The post EA220: Catherine Meng of Design Voice Podcast [Podcast] appeared first on EntreArchitect // Small Firm Entrepreneur Architects. Mentioned in this episode:Frosty & Fired UpBuild Smart

Pricing Creativity What is it that we sell as small firm architects? Is it a pile of paper? A bunch of technical services? A legal process required to obtain a building permit? What we sell is a desired future state. Whether we’re working with commercial, institutional or residential clients, they have an idea in their minds about how they’d like their lives to be in the future. We’ve all experienced the moment at the end of the project when our clients finally get it and understand the value we provide. We need them to understand the value of what we do before we do it. This week at EntreArchitect Podcast, Pricing Creativity with Author Blair Enns. Background Blair Enns is the sand in the free pitching machine. Through his sales training program for creative professionals, Win Without Pitching, he is on a mission to change the way creative services are bought and sold the world over. He is the author of The Win Without Pitching Manifesto and Pricing Creativity: A Guide to Profit Beyond The Billable Hour. Blair lives with his family in the remote mountain village of Kaslo, British Columbia, Canada. Origin Story Blair lives in a small mountain village in British Columbia, Canada. He grew up in the center of Canada, in business side of the advertising and design professions. He began as an account manager and moved into new business roles as his strengths developed. He started Win Without Pitching as a consulting practice and a way to earn a living so that he could drop out of the advertising profession. One day, he realized his limitations in the business were going to take him out if he didn’t change them. He began to scale out and build a training organization in early 2013. Do you see a lot of creative and profit difference in your circles? When people start their own small firms as artists, you’re doing it for fun. Sometimes we delude ourselves to think the money will come one day, or that it’s not about the money. One day, you realize you’re tired of having fun and ready to make money. What do you do if you’re a creative professional who loves design and wants to make money? If you’re going into business for yourself, the business part is more important than the art. Get a business education. Instead of just being inspired and only focusing on the art; you’ll burn yourself out and be unable to find success. It’s about value creation for your clients. Learn how to select and shape good clients and good engagements, and your best engagements will allow you to bring your artistic skills to the table – always to the ultimate goal of delivering value to the client.  You have something you want to do with every client you have, but it’s not just about you. Your focus is on your client and their different values. What is price discrimination?  Different people are willing to pay different amounts for the same thing and your job is to let them. The reason they’ll pay different amounts is because the value to them is different. You have the license to charge as much as you want to. You may evaluate something as valued one way, where your client thinks it’s worth half that. What do you do in that situation? Offer options. If your client asks for a proposal, what you put forward should have options. Delivering one proposal puts your client a take-it-or-leave-it situation. They have a choice to make based on comparison, so enable and facilitate them to compare your options and figure out which is the best value. If they don’t like your option, they’ll go away and compare your proposal to other bids. Your clients are going to make comparisons anyway, so enable and facilitate those comparisons for them. With each proposal, show the client what they’re going to get for different values. They can choose the cost-effective option, but they’re going to gain more from the highest priced option. What’s value-based pricing? In a one-on-one situation, have a value conversation. What does the client want from the project? What is their desired future state? Identify the metrics to know how you’ll measure when their desires have been met. Then, decide what the value of this project is. Once you uncover the ideal, start offering some pricing guidance. Give them an idea of what the price will be, starting with a higher number than you actually think it’s going to be. You’re selling a better version of themselves to your client: their desired future state.  What about emotional contributions to value? Much of an architects work is in this murky bucket. It’s so emotional, and it’s vital that you have a framework to uncover all of that. Put your client in the future where the project has gone swimmingly, and figure out what’s needed to make that journey wonderful. When you get good at this, you’ll realize that your whole focus has shifted from what you can do to your clients’ desires and dreams. The best part is, your clients can feel this shift. What’s your best marketing tip? For your next engagement, get some video footage of your client in their pre-build space and have them talk to you about what they want from the space. Document throughout the process and have your prospective clients watch that video. What is the one thing that small firm architects can do today to build a better business tomorrow? “Focus. Specialize on something. Expertise comes from pattern matching. See the patterns in the problem, and find the patterns in the solutions. Your ability to command a price premium is rooted in the availably of substitutes. If there are other architects who can do what you do, you have no power to dictate how your services will be bought and sold. Narrow your focus and build deep, specialized belief.”  – Blair Enns Blair can be found on the web at WinWithoutPitching.com and on Twitter at @blairenns. Visit our Platform Sponsors Freshbooks is the easy way to send invoices, manage expenses, and track your time. Access your free 30 day trial at EntreArchitect.com/FreshBooks. (Enter EntreArchitect) ARCAT has huge libraries of free content, Specs, CAD, BIM and more. No registration required. Want to collaborate with colleagues in real time? Visit EntreArchitect.com/ARCAT and click Charrette for more information. Referenced in this Episode Join The EntreArchitect Community on Facebook Download the Profit For Small Firm Architects course for FREE. Leave a Rating and Review at iTunes EntreArchitect LIVE in New York! Join us on June 20, 2018. We’re putting together a workshop that will talk all about success in architecture and will introduce the 4 P’s of the EntreArchitect Business Framework. The Win Without Pitching Manifesto (book) Pricing Creativity: A Guide to Profit Beyond The Billable Hour (book) Mastering the Value Conversation (podcast) Win Without Pitching Training Programs (workshop) The post EA219: Pricing Creativity with Author Blair Enns [Podcast] appeared first on EntreArchitect // Small Firm Entrepreneur Architects. Mentioned in this episode:Frosty & Fired UpBuild Smart

How to Start an Architecture Firm The journey to become an architect is one of many struggles and accomplishments. Each step is achieved by setting goals, working hard, and doing what you set out to do. Every architect needs to follow their own path, and much of it is unknown. The process to becoming and architect and starting your own firm is often done through trial and error. This week at EntreArchitect Podcast, How to Start an Architecture Firm with Architect and Author Timothy Ung. Background Timothy Ung is a product designer and architect based in New York. After getting his architecture license at the age of 26, Tim started a blog called Journey of an Architect to document his process of design and pursue his goal of designing thirty theoretical projects before his 30th birthday in May 2020. He’s currently working on developing a podcast with a fellow blogger and evolving architect, Mike LaValley (EA161: SketchUp for Small Firm Architects with Mike LaValley). In 2016, Tim led a day-long seminar on starting an architecture firm where he brought together an architect with a young, successful firm, two lawyers, two accountants, and marketing and branding professionals to talk about the important things to do when starting your own firm. His seminar inspired a blog post, Almost 40 tips for Starting an Architecture Firm, and an e-book Starting an Architecture Firm, and it’s only the beginning of his story. Origin Story Timothy was born and raised in New York and attended a fantastic high school on Wall Street right across the street from Goldman Sachs. During his time there, he was involved in the ACE Mentor Program, which brings together architects, construction managers, and engineers to expose younger people to these kinds of industries. He had 17 architects, 10 construction managers, and 7 engineers as his mentors. He then decided to go into the architecture side of things. In the program, they designed a building for a competition for a design competition that the mentors put together. The theoretical building was a vertical farm located in a New York City skyscraper with the goals of feeding everyone in the area and use technology to gain passive energy to power the buildings around them. Learning from their mentor team was fascinating. His team ended up winning the competition and receiving a scholarship to study architecture at the University of Buffalo. He also worked as an intern at Leslie Robertson Associates, where he was able to work with a structural engineer on the Whitney Museum of American Art. In architecture school, he was confused about everything he was doing. After a few years, he started to understand the language and the design concepts. He graduated with a bachelors and masters of architecture and set another goal to pass his ARE within two years, which he then completed in 2016. His next goal was to start an architecture firm, but he knew there was so much he needed to learn before then. Timothy set off to create a portfolio of work through his blog, aiming to create 30 projects by the time he was 30 years old. Through the process of that project, he’s realized his passion for design in general, including leather working. What overwhelmed you when you got to architecture school?  Timothy came to university from a place where he was talking about architecture from New York City’s built environment around him. He started off with a lot of theory, and then had to do a lot of solo, independent work. After a few years, people were much more willing to collaborate and that’s where Timothy learned the most. He and his classmates were sharing and teaching each other new ideas and concepts. Where did your seminar fit into your 30 projects? As he started to learn more at the firm he works at, he started getting more opportunities and growing his responsibilities. Timothy realized he wanted to start an architecture firm by the time he turned 30, and knew he needed to learn more about the necessary steps to start his firm off on the right foot and be successful. He decided to bring together professionals who can teach the fundamentals of starting a business. He met Mike LaValley in the local emerging professionals group, and their colleague suggested they apply for a grant to put together this program. They realized it would be a great opportunity to teach local architects how to start a practice the right way. They didn’t know what that was, but they knew they could find some people to teach them. Once they received the grant and put the event together, they had 30 people that showed up for the event.  All of the information that came from the event was inspiring. Each professional team had an hour to teach the best practices and the best way to start a firm from their field. What does the book contain? Timothy wanted to write something so that he could remember everything for when he was ready to start his own firm: Create a business plan and setting your goals When setting goals, know that your goals can change. You should have a 10 year goal, a five year goal, and an annual goal. Your business plan is your reason for starting your firm, something that’s personal to you. It can be a short, one-page plan or a 30 page document. It’s important to be comfortable with your plan so you can share it with others. Have a brand for your firm A lot of thought should be put in to your name. Your logo, the way you cary yourself both inside and outside of your firm, both go into your brand. Architects think that since we’re designers, we should design everything ourselves. When creating a logo, find someone who is experienced in graphic design and allow them to use their skills. Invest in insurance Shop around and ask each agency how they handle their claims. Will they know how to handle construction or architecture claims? Make sure you have the right person to represent you. Never settle for less than what you’re worth Know what you’re worth and don’t settle for less than that. Aspire for more successful projects every day. With every new project that comes in, you have to make sure that you’re getting paid what you should be getting paid and stop undercutting one another. You’re in this profession for a reason: because you’re passionate about it. This is a living document that will continue to change as new ways of running a business come out. Read more at JourneyofanArchitect.com. What is the one thing that small firm architects can do today to build a better business tomorrow? “Start building a team and mentoring that team so that your business can thrive tomorrow.”  – Timothy Ung Connect with Timothy online at JourneyofanArchitect.com or find him on social media on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn. Visit our Platform Sponsors Freshbooks is the easy way to send invoices, manage expenses, and track your time. Access your free 30 day trial at EntreArchitect.com/FreshBooks. (Enter EntreArchitect) ARCAT has huge libraries of free content, Specs, CAD, BIM and more. No registration required. Want to collaborate with colleagues in real time? Visit EntreArchitect.com/ARCAT and click Charrette for more information. Referenced in this Episode Join The EntreArchitect Community on Facebook Download the Profit For Small Firm Architects course for FREE. Leave a Rating and Review at iTunes EA002: Secrets to Blogging Success with Bob Borson EntreArchitect LIVE in New York! Join us on June 20, 2018. We’re putting together a workshop that will talk all about success in architecture and will introduce the 4 P’s of the EntreArchitect Business Framework. Almost 40 tips for Starting an Architecture Firm (blog) Starting an Architecture Firm (e-book) The post EA218: How to Start an Architecture Firm with Timothy Ung [Podcast] appeared first on EntreArchitect // Small Firm Entrepreneur Architects. Mentioned in this episode:Frosty & Fired UpBuild Smart

Life of an Architect with Bob Borson It’s been 215 episodes, and he’s back. His firm, his family, and the life of an architect. This week at EntreArchitect Podcast, Life of an Architect with Bob Borson. Background Bob Borson is a principle of Malone Maxwell Borson Architects, a full service architecture firm based in Dallas, Texas. The award winning firm is frequently published and is widely recognized for its thoughtful and considered designs. In 2013, they were honored as the AIA Dallas Firm of the Year. Bob is very active at his local and state components of AIA, where he serves on several committees and leads many initiatives. In 2009, he was recognized as AIA Dallas as Young Architect of the Year and in 2017 he was elevated in the AIA College of National Fellows. Many listeners may know him through his blog, LifeofanArchitect.com which has millions of listeners per year. He’s also a dedicated dad, husband, and traveler. A great tip he’s shared over the years is to sign up for the tours at AIA conventions. Origin Story Bob’s earliest recollection was that he wanted to be an architect. His dad, an engineer, encouraged him and got him a drafting board, a t square and a triangle for Christmas when he was about five years old. When he was a young man, a guy he knew bought a Porsche and Bob thought he was on the right track. For young people wondering if they’re going to be good at architecture, Bob always lets them know that he was terrible when he was in architecture school. He didn’t put the time and effort into doing what he needed to do, and had a huge identity crisis when something he thought he wanted to do his entire life he was seemingly not good at. Since then, everything has fallen into place. When you had that crisis and weren’t sure if you wanted to be an architect, how did your family react? Bob never told his family that he had that crisis of identity. His parents more thought that he was goofing off in college and wasn’t dialed in the way he needed to be to enjoy architecture as the path he wanted it to be. At one point, his sister told him that their parents were going to pull him out of school if he didn’t get his act together. How do you deal with the balance of firm and family? For what it’s worth, it hasn’t been hard to balance for Bob. Their firm isn’t very big with about 7 members, and they believe that you’re a better architect when you have other interests outside the office. They close the office on Fridays at noon and encourage people to get out. Their philosophy is that you’re a grown up and no one will do your job when you’re not here, but as long as you’ve handled the things you have to handle, nothing should get in the way. The culture has been established to create this balance. From the very beginning, they’ve always operated from this kind of philosophy. It’s hard to lead from the ivory tower and make a different set of rules for everyone else, so they don’t do that. It comes down to more than just money. If you’re an architect who wants to make a lot of money, there’s a career path you can put yourself on to make more money than other paths. The amount of work in high end residential work is way more hands on than a warehouse, and the fee scale will be different. As an architect, you can make decisions to shape how you’ll live your life. Some of it is financial, others are around how you spend your time, but they’re all interlinked.  Tell us about how travel works with your family and your firm. Bob and his wife get a decent amount of time off, and they try to take advantage of that time that’s been provided by the stations they’ve achieved in their careers. In college, Bob did a study abroad program where he traveled through Europe. He quickly realized that after that trip, he’d visited more countries than he had states. His wife worked as a consultant which required her to travel on a weekly basis, and she began to wrack up hotel points and miles. Though they were on a tight budget, they stayed at nice hotels and got cars for free. Once they had their daughter, they knew it was important to expose her to different people, cultures, and foods. Recently, they took a family trip to Ireland to learn more about her heritage, as Bob’s wife was born there. Though they like to look at interesting design, Bob is more interested in turning off the parts of his brain that he usually uses. What is the one thing that small firm architects can do today to build a better business tomorrow? “The practice of architecture is personality based. If someone wants to hire an architect and their only requirement is to have five bedrooms, a bathroom and dining room, they can get that from anyone. Let your personality be part of the process. You can’t be all things to all people at all times and experience any kind of satisfaction from the process, so be true to yourself.”  – Bob Borson, Life of an Architect Connect with Bob online at MMBArchitects.com and LifeofanArchitect.com or find him on social media at Facebook, Twitter, and check out his pictures from Ireland on Instagram. Visit our Platform Sponsors Freshbooks is the easy way to send invoices, manage expenses, and track your time. Access your free 30 day trial at EntreArchitect.com/FreshBooks. (Enter EntreArchitect) ARCAT has huge libraries of free content, Specs, CAD, BIM and more. No registration required. Want to collaborate with colleagues in real time? Visit EntreArchitect.com/ARCAT and click Charrette for more information. Referenced in this Episode Join The EntreArchitect Community on Facebook Download the Profit For Small Firm Architects course for FREE. Leave a Rating and Review at iTunes EA002: Secrets to Blogging Success with Bob Borson EntreArchitect LIVE in New York! Join us on June 20, 2018. We’re putting together a workshop that will talk all about success in architecture and will introduce the 4 P’s of the EntreArchitect Business Framework. The post EA217: Bob Borson – His Firm, His Family and Life of an Architect [Podcast] appeared first on EntreArchitect // Small Firm Entrepreneur Architects. Mentioned in this episode:Frosty & Fired UpBuild Smart

The Psychology of Success So much of our success and failure as entrepreneur architects is determined by our mindsets. It’s all in your head! What’s keeping you from growing? How do you properly  set boundaries around your firms and families? What about the importance of visions and planning your life? How about the seasons of our lives determining the timeline for our success? This week at EntreArchitect Podcast, The Psychology of Success with Entrepreneur Psychotherapist Joyce Marter. Background Joyce Marter is a licensed psychotherapist and the founder of Urban Balance, a multisite counseling practice that she started and grew to over 100 therapists working in 9 locations in Chicago and St. Louis during her 13 years as CEO. She has a passion for applying psychology to business.  She’s a public speaker, a corporate trainer, and she has been featured as an expert on media outlets like Wall Street Journal, US News & World Report, CNN, MTV and more. Origin Story Joyce went to school at Ohio State, and when she started she had no idea what she wanted to do. She chose psychology, sociology and humanities since she was interested in learning more about it. She quickly learned that she was interested in learning about people’s thinking, emotions, experiences, and how we’re shaped by our experiences in life. She attended Northwestern for her graduate degree in counseling psychology. After that, she feel accidentally into entrepreneurship. She saw a need for an insurance-friendly counseling practice. Though she went through ups and downs, her practice grew quickly. Did you plan to grow into such a large business? As Joyce worked on her business, she worked on herself personally. Sine they’re two sides of the same coin, the business organically grew as she grew herself. There was a need for insurance-friendly therapy and for jobs for therapists. One person at a time, her business grew leaps and bounds. Was there fear in launching your own business? Many people told her she was too young, that the market was too saturated, and that there was too much competition. She set strict boundaries for herself and people laughed at her. There was a lot of fear in it. She took the feedback with a grain of thought and forged ahead anyway. How did you find the balance between your family and your business? Joyce planned her career in the context of her life, not the other way around. She visualized the life she wanted to have with her family, and planned around that. As a mom and provider, she puts great value on her time and puts parameters around her day. Taking care of our selves allows us to think more clearly and be more productive and joyous in our work. Because Joyce prioritizes her family, it has helped her delegate and find great people to partner with instead of trying to control and do everything herself. What was the first step to create your plan and vision? How many weeks a year do you want to take off? What do you want your work week to look like? What’s your prime target of hours? What of those are from home? When do you need to be home for your family? Build boundaries around those and make them non negotiable. Next, imagine financially what you want to make. Aim high and visualize that. Focus on what’s being supported. Let it take shape organically based on what’s going on at work and at home. How did you plan for future seasons? From a psychology perspective, there are different phases of development that impact where our energy and time go. For Joyce, career growth happen in stages and steps. There may be a push to grow, and then a pause to maintain there. How do you combat the fear in your head that gets in your way of taking the next step forward? Eckert Tolle, author of The Power of Now: A Guide to Spiritual Enlightenment and A New Earth: Awakening to Your Life’s Purpose, says, “Whenever you feel inferior or superior to someone else, that’s your ego.” All the negative, neurotic mind chatter comes from our ego. Instead, be present in the moment by practicing mindfulness. Develop the skill to observe your thoughts rather than believing everything your inner critic is saying. Start practicing meditation to reboot and become aware of your thoughts. Believe in yourself in order to sell yourself to someone else. Be your own most compassionate coach and advocate as you move through building and running your business. If you’re interested in getting started with meditation, check out Headspace or Calm. Whether it’s balance, an integrated life, or success at a high level, start to understand who you are to get out of your head and achieve all that you’re planning. What’s getting in my way of doing the things I know I should do? We all have self sabotaging behaviors, and we all create patterns that are familiar unless we choose something different. We need an accountability partner – whether it be a coach, therapist, another architect or business partner – that you get together with periodically about staying on track. For Joyce, each Monday her and a friend email each other with 5 things that they want to do in the coming week for their business growth but they fear they won’t get to. At the end of the week, if they don’t get to those 5 things, they need to explain to one another why that is. When you have stress in your life, another really important skill is learning how to manage that. Learning how to detach and move through it without being reactive will help. Challenges are always opportunities for growth. You cannot do these things alone, accountability is crucial. It helps us grow to the best version of ourselves and live a greater version of our lives. What is the one thing that small firm architects can do today to build a better business tomorrow? “Practice gratitude. Keep a gratitude journal and, every day, write down three things you’re thankful for. This will teach you to focus on the positive. When you’re positive, you’ll attract more positivity and success into your life.”  – Joyce Marter, Urban Balance Connect with Joyce online at UrbanBalance.com and Joyce-Marter.com or find her on social media on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn. Visit our Platform Sponsors Freshbooks is the easy way to send invoices, manage expenses, and track your time. Access your free 30 day trial at EntreArchitect.com/FreshBooks. (Enter EntreArchitect) ARCAT has huge libraries of free content, Specs, CAD, BIM and more. No registration required. Want to collaborate with colleagues in real time? Visit EntreArchitect.com/ARCAT and click Charrette for more information. Referenced in this Episode Join The EntreArchitect Community on Facebook Download the Profit For Small Firm Architects course for FREE. Leave a Rating and Review at iTunes The Power of Now: A Guide to Spiritual Enlightenment (book) A New Earth: Awakening to Your Life’s Purpose (book) EntreArchitect LIVE in New York! Join us on June 20, 2018. We’re putting together a workshop that will talk all about success in architecture and will introduce the 4 P’s of the EntreArchitect Business Framework. The post EA216: The Psychology of Success with <br>Entrepreneur Psychotherapist <br>Joyce Marter [Podcast] appeared first on EntreArchitect // Small Firm Entrepreneur Architects. Mentioned in this episode:Build SmartFrosty & Fired Up

A Step-by-Step Guide to Becoming an Architect Developer If you’re interested in becoming an architect developer, this is the episode for you! This week at EntreArchitect Podcast, A Step-by-Step Guide to Becoming an Architect Developer with Danny Cerezo of cs design. Background Danny Cerezo is originally from New York City, but moved to LA long ago. He has a bachelors in Architecture from USC and a masters from Woodberry San Diego where he studied under famed architect developers Jonathan Segal and Ted Smith. He’s a liscensed general contractor who has recently started a contracting firm with a development partner where he’s now designing and building a development project as an architect. Origin Story Hear Danny’s origin story in EA126: Successful Technologies for an Architect Startup with Architect Danny Cerezo. cs design is a small husband and wife firm in LA. In 2008, Danny decided he wanted to pursue the architect as developer route, and today the firm is split between traditional projects and partnering with developers to do their own projects. In LA, there is so much development that isn’t necessarily attractive, and it made Danny wonder why people weren’t developing things that were more architecturally significant. Through talking with others, he found a whole world of people who were architects and developers and took a leap. If someone wants to be an architect developer, what should they do? For Danny, he knew that he wanted to do it but didn’t have any money. The natural action for him was to find someone to partner with. The developer he went to work for was willing to do some smaller projects with their funds and equity. How do you show someone that you have the skills needed to take their money and turn it around for a profit? You have to learn how to walk the walk and talk the talk. What are the fundamentals of real estate development? Do you know how to do a pro forma? Can you talk about risks and potential pit falls of a project? Are you familiar with comps? Build up a base of tools and knowledge. Figure out how to convey your goals to those who you’re hoping will fund your development. Danny has written the whole process out on Medium. What’s a pro forma? It’s typically a spreadsheet that shows what it would cost to do Project X, where that money comes from, what the return will be, and what everyone gets from the project. How much are you putting in and how much are you getting out? What is the process as an architect developer? Danny suggests staying local. Jonathan Segal says, “If you can’t get to it in 15 minutes, it’s too far”. You’re familiar with what’s closest to you. Once you find the land, figure out how you’re going to borrow the money for the lot. Get as creative as you want with how you acquire the land. Once you pull the money together, give a verbal offer or letter of intent. Next, there’s 12 months to pay the financiers back through the construction loan. That means there’s 12 months to design, permit and get a construction loan. The construction loan that you get covers the cost of the land to pay back your sellers, the money for the fees, and pay for construction. Usually the bank will loan you 75% of the total development cost, which allows us to pay back the sellers and start construction. If you borrowed a dollar, you have a dollar to spend. As an architect developer, you only have the money that you have to spend, because you have to pay out what the pro forma says to each party at the end. After we’re done and we get our certificates of occupancy, we hope to sell them for the prices we had in the pro forma. Then, we pay back the bank for the construction loan and those who gave us the money for the  soft costs. Whatever’s left goes to the developer, the fee and interest negotiated over time. During construction, is the process different doing it as a developer? The only difference is that you’re way more involved. On a typical project you may be doing some construction administration and some site meetings. For architect developers, you’ll go to the job sites every week and sometimes more. You’re way more invested in it than a typical agreement, and that’s a selling point when you’re looking for a partner. You care about the project more than the next firm because you want it to succeed. You also know the pro forma and what the parameters are around what can make this project fail or succeed. Having been there from the beginning, you know what the project hinges on and you have to be involved to makes sure it stays on track. What do you do for marketing? Throughout the project, stay on social media and share what you’re doing. Pick a good real estate agent who can get the word out and create interest. Where are you now and what are your next steps? Danny’s first project started in 2015, and now they’re framing the second project and have another one they’re about to submit for permits. They have a general contractor company and are starting to look at larger projects. Are you rolling your profits into the next project? Once this project sells, part of the money will go to savings and the other part will allow him to contribute more to the pro forma and become a bigger stakeholder in deals moving forward. Eventually, the goal is to have enough paydays to be ready if a great opportunity comes along. What is the one thing that small firm architects can do today to build a better business tomorrow? “Play a simple ‘what if’ game. What if _____. Think of something beyond your comfort zone. What if you did that? What’s the worst that could happen if you did?”  – Danny Cerezo Download Danny’s free Architect Developer Worksheet Connect with Danny online at CandSDesign.com or find him on social media on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and Medium. Visit our Platform Sponsors Freshbooks is the easy way to send invoices, manage expenses, and track your time. Access your free 30 day trial at EntreArchitect.com/FreshBooks. (Enter EntreArchitect) ARCAT has huge libraries of free content, Specs, CAD, BIM and more. No registration required. Want to collaborate with colleagues in real time? Visit EntreArchitect.com/ARCAT and click Charrette for more information. Referenced in this Episode Join The EntreArchitect Community on Facebook Download the Profit For Small Firm Architects course for FREE. Leave a Rating and Review at iTunes EA126: Successful Technologies for an Architect Startup with Architect Danny Cerezo [Podcast] The post EA215: A Step-by-Step Guide to Becoming an Architect Developer [Podcast] appeared first on EntreArchitect // Small Firm Entrepreneur Architects. Mentioned in this episode:Frosty & Fired UpBuild Smart

Building an Architecture Firm Around a Delightful Client Journey So much of the success experienced by thriving small firms can be found in their process. How are they developing the services they provide to their clients? How are they managing their clients’ expectations? Are they making things happen in an efficient way? Is the design, development and building process enjoyable? This week at EntreArchitect Podcast, Building an Architecture Firm Around a Delightful Client Journey with Architect Anthony Laney. Background Anthony is an architect and designer who’s devoted to bring out the best in creative teams. He’s a cofounder and partner at Laney LA, an architecture firm focusing on  serving home and business owners in LA and the surrounding region. He began his career with the renowned firm Marmol Radziner working for clients as distinguishd as Tom Ford. Graduating at the top of his class from the USC School of Architecture, he won 17 class commendations and received numerous recognitions including the AIA Medal and the Studio Design Award. Anthony is a multi-disciplined designer whose work encompasses architecture, landscape architecture, interior design, graphic design, branding, and social leadership. He’s active on social media, reach out to him there! He’s building a culture of a young startup and sharing it with the rest of us. Origin Story Anthony decided to try out architecture after high school, and the most significant thing was that architecture school was super intimidating but he ended up meeting his future wife there. After graduating and getting married, Anthony and his wife worked for several great firms. Once they got licensed, they decided to launch their own studio. They’ve slowly grown to a team of 11 and outgrown their home garage studio. Since then, they’ve discovered their passion lies in high end residential custom homes in the area south of the Bay. How did you land in your target market? They landed on something they were passionate about, good at and that could pay the bills. Whether it was a full house, a renovation, or a small portion of design on a bigger team, these discerning clients wanted a high touch, high quality of service experience. Though they’re not for everyone, clients hire them because they want an enjoyable, passionate process. The process leaves a feeling of joy instead of a wake of headaches. Laney LA makes the process fun. What are you doing to differentiate yourselves from other firms? Laney LA is extremely clear and consistent with how they communicate with their clients. They make it very easy for clients to share their journey with their friends. Every piece of the design project is pretty enough to share. When clients come to their studio, they’re treated like guests. They have food and drinks, and branding with their names. They receive quick follow up and intentional communication. This all stems from asking the questions, “If I was a client, how would I want to be treated? How can we go above and beyond?” How did you grow your company culture? They didn’t have a master plan for rate of hiring, but it doesn’t feel like they’re growing fast. They’re always interviewing, and that can be a long process. They possess a specific set of values that they try to reflect in the way they approach their work, most often in the way they treat their employees. Their goal is to create a runway for designers who have very distinct aspirations to launch their own practice one day. They have a team of rockstars who are going places; these people will launch their own firms eventually. That, in turn, attracts people who are passionate about creativity and building something together. Are you actively teaching employees? While they don’t have a fully open book firm, each year they set specific goals to move closer to that. Project managers have full access to all the contracts and their profitability reports. One of the purposes of internal lecture series is to give give project managers and designers the opportunity to rehearse on a stage and get feedback. The goal is to create leader makers which attracts a certain type of individual. They’re also a big fan of evualtuating strengths, specifically the DISC Theory and DISC Personality Traits. They pay close attention to having a diverse team, and knowing where people’s natural strengths are helps Anthony put them on the right seat on the bus. What model do you use at Laney LA? Anthony’s job is more as a coach. The design isn’t at the principle level, it’s on the project manager level. This has allowed them to build their team the way they want to. They use apps to track time and delegate tasks, as well as take detailed notes. They find different software packages that work well for them and use technology to their benefit. From day 1 of design all the way through, everything is modeled in 3D with ArchiCad, which they teach internally. What are some apps you use? ArchiCad Harvest for time tracking and invoicing Insightly for tracking opportunities Evernote for digital sketchbook and note-taking Dropbox for file organization Amazon web services to host BIM cloud Quickbooks for accounting All of these are cloud-based, so people can access them anywhere, any time! Do you have specific hours of work? They’ve moved to having people together 80% of the time. There’s a residual benefit of having people together, but they offer flexibility when needed. The theme of 2018 has been “startup to grow up”. They’ve clarified policies, including working hours from 8 AM – 5 PM. It may not feel good at first, but more consistency is better as they grow. What are your roles as partners? As they’ve grown, Anthony and Krista’s roles have changed. Anthony is more outward-facing, dealing with recruiting new work, writing contracts, and handling the business. Krista prefers to do more behind-the-scenes design, be a part of teams, and be more creative. As the team develops, they’ve both let go of BIM management to let other team members lead that. Krista has transitioned to part time with several additions to their families, and her role is moving more toward design review. Do you have a process for people to move into leadership positions? Anthony came to the realization that looking at his longest staff members, the best case for them to stay is to be part of a growing firm. The biggest opportunity there is to have many hires so that leaders can start mentoring down as well. This gives them exposure to what’s going on in the firm. What is the one thing that small firm architects can do today to build a better business tomorrow? “If you have any focus on residential, invest in Houzz.com to grow your business.”  – Anthony Laney Connect with Anthony online at Laney.LA, and follow him on Twitter and Instagram. Visit our Platform Sponsors Freshbooks is the easy way to send invoices, manage expenses, and track your time. Access your free 30 day trial at EntreArchitect.com/FreshBooks. (Enter EntreArchitect)   ARCAT has huge libraries of free content, Specs, CAD, BIM and more. No registration required. Want to collaborate with colleagues in real time? Visit EntreArchitect.com/ARCAT and click Charrette for more information. Referenced in this Episode Join The EntreArchitect Community on Facebook Download the Profit For Small Firm Architects course for FREE. Leave a Rating and Review at iTunes EA130: How to Build a Successful Architecture Firm That Works with Architect Declan Keefe [Podcast] EA185: The Passion, The Process and Problems of Running a Design/Build Architecture Firm [Podcast] The post EA214: Building an Architecture Firm Around a Delightful Client Journey [Podcast] appeared first on EntreArchitect // Small Firm Entrepreneur Architects. Mentioned in this episode:Build SmartFrosty & Fired Up

AIA Contract Documents for Small Firms The man behind AIA Contract Documents, the comprehensive legal document system from AIA. For years, small firm architects have been a bit disgruntled about the bulky, intimidating documents. In the past few years, AIA has been working hard to serve the small firm community and AIA Contract Documents have evolved to provide documents specifically for small firm architects. This week at EntreArchitect Podcast, AIA Contract Documents for Small Firms with Ken Cobleigh of the American Institute of Architects. Background Ken serves as Managing Director and Counsel, AIA Contract Documents. He works with a team of lawyers, specialists and support staff, and the AIA Documents Committee, in developing and publishing AIA Contract Documents, and in providing support services to contract document users. Ken joined the American Institute of Architects in October 2006. Ken is a graduate of the University of Maryland where he earned both his B.A. and J.D. with honors. After earning his law degree, and prior to joining the AIA, Ken practiced for eighteen years as a construction attorney in private practice Maryland law firms. During that time he represented owners, contractors, subcontractors and design professionals in a number of dispute resolution forums, including State and Federal Courts and administrative agencies, mediation and arbitration. Origin Story After graduating college, Ken was a police officer for several years before he decided to move on to something different. He graduated from law school and went to work at a general practice firm. One day, he ended up an associate to a partner on construction cases where he learned a lot of information at an incredibly fast pace. Once he developed his expertise in construction, he moved to another firm where he had a majority of architect and engineer malpractice cases. Now, every day, he gets to work with bright architects, lawyers, and others in the industry to develop good tools and put the law to work in a good way. Why should we be using AIA contract documents? The contract is an essential part of the relationship. At the end of the day, you’re in a business relationship built on a set of understandings and promises. Architects make promises about services rendered, and the owners make promises about payment. What each person understands can be different, so the contract is where everyone lays out rules for issues that could arise. We never like to think that a project could end poorly, but sometimes there are disputes. All of these potential issues can be addressed up front with the contract. What type of documents does AIA provide for small firms? For those practicing in residential and commercial, there’s a wide range of documents available. Many vary in size for different firms. The smaller the contract, the less things have been fleshed out for clarity and the more things will be open to interpretation by the parties. AIA cautions everyone that, depending on risk tolerance, they suggest the contract that will do the best job of making things clear and minimizing risk. Small, low-cost projects may allow use of a shorter form. Longer forms may have more potentials for alternate dispute resolution or licensure for the services. There’s a specific agreement (B107 2010) for an architect and a developer builder where there’s some replicated spec houses in a development. The contract lays everything out and clearly limits the roles and responsibilities of the architect, assuming that the builder is experienced and should be able to take on responsibility for the selection of finishes, equipment, etc. Essentially payment is for the design, and the architect agrees that the design will be replicated. When providing pro bono services, one document (B106- 2010) starts with a standardized limitation of liability and prompts the architect and owner to agree on different line items and set limits on number of meetings the architect will attend and number of revisions. This way, the owner understand that the architect will meet certain expectations for their unpaid work. In order to encourage this work, the form is free to download in PDF format. Rather than renegotiating contracts with a previous client, architects and negotiate a working set of terms and conditions. This group of documents (B121- 2014 and C421- 2014) that came in response from feedback from small firm architects. Where can people find this information? There’s a guide that AIA published with input from various groups called the Guide to AIA contract documents for small projects: Resources for small project practitioners, sole practitioners and custom residential architects. What’s new with AIA contract documents? AIA launched an online, web based product that addressed a lot of concerns that Mac users experienced. It also allowed people access to documents anytime, anywhere. Most importantly, small firms wanted to be able to have documents on a one-off basis. The new, web based product allows architects to purchase fully functional documents one by one based on need. Like any software, it’s subject to development quirks. What about construction management documents? There are two distinct construction management delivery models. One where the construction manager is ultimately the project constructor, but they come on early to help with pre-construction services. The construction manager also may come on as a separate consultant or advisor to the owner to oversee the work, they’re not actually doing the construction work. What is the one thing that small firm architects can do today to build a better business tomorrow? “Understand contracts and develop a contracting process that you can repeat project after project. It’s critical to get in the habit of utilizing written contracts and understand the content and how it works.”  – Ken Cobleigh Check out the documents online at AIAContracts.org. Visit our Platform Sponsors Freshbooks is the easy way to send invoices, manage expenses, and track your time. Access your free 30 day trial at EntreArchitect.com/FreshBooks. (Enter EntreArchitect) Core by BQE Software is a brand new software designed specifically for architect’s project management! Get a free 15-day trial at EntreArchitect.com/BQE. ARCAT has huge libraries of free content, Specs, CAD, BIM and more. No registration required. Want to collaborate with colleagues in real time? Visit EntreArchitect.com/ARCAT and click Charrette for more information. Referenced in this Episode EntreArchitect Foundations: Business Forms and Checklists Download the Profit For Small Firm Architects course for FREE. Leave a Rating and Review at iTunes   Guide to AIA contract documents for small projects: Resources for small project practitioners, sole practitioners and custom residential architects A145 2015 Standard Form of Agreement Between Owner and Design-Builder for a One or Two Family Residential Project B106- 2010 Standard Form of Agreement Between Owner and Architect for Pro Bono Services B107 2010 Developer Builder Architect Agreement for Prototypes for Single Family Residential Projects B121- 2014 Standard Form of Master Agreement Between Owner and Architect for Services provided under multiple Service Orders C421- 2014 Standard Form of Master Agreement Between Architect and Consultant for Services provided under multiple Service Orders The post EA213: AIA Contract Documents for Small Firms with<br>Ken Cobleigh of AIA [Podcast] appeared first on EntreArchitect // Small Firm Entrepreneur Architects. Mentioned in this episode:Build SmartFrosty & Fired Up

The Slow Space Movement with Mette Aamodt of Aamodt Plumb Architects “In 1986 Carlo Petrini protested the opening of a McDonald's restaurant in Piazza di Spagna, Rome and launched the Slow Food Movement. Carl Honoré explains in his book, In Praise of Slowness, that Slow Food stands for everything that McDonalds does not: fresh, local, seasonal produce; recipes handed down through the generations; sustainable farming; artisanal production; leisurely dining with family and friends. But ultimately the movement is about the sensual pleasures of food. Thirty years after Carlo's protest, organic produce, artisanal cheeses and craft beer are everywhere. Foodies flock to ever more specialized restaurants serving only food cultivated in their own backyards. Whole Foods is considered mass market and Michelle Obama is promoting farm-to-table in public schools. Carlo should be proud. He saved food! Since then, the Slow Movement has touched almost every industry except ours. Slow Cities. Slow Aging. Slow Religion. Slow Cinema. Slow Education. Slow Sex. Slow Medicine. Slow Fashion. Slow Parenting. Slow Travel. Architecture, design and the building industry are conspicuously absent from the list. We find that strange. So we decided to do something.” – Slow Space Movement This week at EntreArchitect Podcast, The Slow Space Movement with Mette Aamodt of Aamodt Plumb Architects. Background Mette Aamodt is an architect, CEO and cofounder of Aamodt Plumb, an architecture, interiors, and construction firm in Cambridge, Mass. She’s a former AIA member, a design activist, and cofounder of the Slow Space Movement to promote good, clean, and fair buildings for all. She publishes biweekly thought pieces on her blog, SlowSpace.org, to explore ideas around slow space and slow architecture. She’s a mother of two with her husband and partner, Andrew Plumb. She was diagnosed with MS in 2002 upon graduation from Harvard’s GSD. Origin Story Mette’s story goes back to her parents, who did not want her to be an architect. Her father was an architect, and her parents taught her that architecture was a very hard business. She remembers the highs and lows and recessions. She found her way to architecture through a long path through urban planning and ending up at the GSD. When she graduated, she was diagnosed with MS. There she also met her husband and partner, Andrew. A week before her thesis review, she went blind in one eye and couldn’t hold the exactor to cut her model. Thinking it was stress, she pressed on. When she went to the doctor, she realized it was worse than she t thought. Mette and Andrew were starting their careers as architects with this horrible diagnosis and no idea how it was going to affect them. They were unsure of what to do because they believed in the power of architecture to make an impact on people’s lives, but they saw how much it sucked to be an architect and what little value society places on architecture. They were faced with a dilemma: how could they do good work, have a good life, and make a good living? Since then, the challenge has been to work to balance all three of those things. After a few years of working, they were lucky enough to start their own firm to figure out how to do things differently. How could they run their firm that was different from the way all the other architects were doing? How could they persevere to their triple threat: good work, good life, good money. They began looking at other business models for good examples of how to run a company well. Through trial and error and their own learning, effort, and mistakes, they’ve gotten to where they are today. There’s no status quo, they’re constantly innovating on the design side and the business side. They picked a speciality and chose to stay in their lane. The goal was to be profitable so that they could leverage that position to make a greater impact. Recently, they became an architect-led design build firm to get away from the crazy, combative relationship with builders that’s often typical. Now, they have so much more scope out of the same client AND have found that their clients love it. It’s a win-win. They don’t have to go through all the paperwork, it’s one hand talking to the other hand to streamline what’s a very overcomplicated process. When you start from a model that’s comprehensible to your prospective clients, you set yourself up for success. Before, doing the architecture alone meant that the projects had to be a certain size to make any money. Now, if they design and build, they have a better opportunity to earn more at the end while helping more people. How do you provide the construction? Aamodt Plumb brought in a partner who is a construction manager with a great interest in architecture. They’d worked with him as their builder on another project and found a great fit. They created a sister company that he runs. Do you give your clients one fee? They give one proposal for the entire contract, AIA has a document (A145) that outlines that. There’s an amendment after the design phase when the construction fee is known, and that triggers the start of construction. Were there any surprises? There’s so much that’s bad about the typical design build process, and they went through the wringer on much of that already. Where did slow space come from and what does it mean? For Aamodt Plum, it’s part a design philosophy and part practical social movement. Architects tend to know little about social movements, so Mette wanted to model the movement off of anther successful one. The idea of the “slow movement” fit so well with her philosophy on life; slow and steady wins the race. The idea blends so well with the interest in the experience of space as opposed to the objectification of architecture of recent. How do the spaces make you feel? What were your goals? Running a profitable firm and doing good is a challenge in and of itself. What they wanted to be able to do was to get to that point so that they could leverage that position so that they could to have a greater impact. Their mission is to improve the lives of one million people by creating good, clean, and fair homes.  The number is intentionally large to get them thinking big and dreaming beyond what they could do. They decided on the bottom up approach: Starting a movement to change ideas and change minds. This is the genesis of the slow space movement. How much is wrong with our industry? How can we give consumers options and change what’s available? Can we help people build custom homes in a reasonable time frame? Their philosophy is to build less but better. It’s a waste of resources to build buildings that will last less than 50 years before they are torn down and rebuilt again. If things are done better, buildings can be around for 100 or 200 years. How do you serve a market that’s looking for the fast developer process? First we have to change people’s hearts and minds. The slow food guys went out and protested McDonald’s. Architects need to protest this kind of fast development. The slow food movement is about the sensual pleasures of eating and the experience of sharing food around a table with loved ones. That part that translates so well to architecture because it’s about connecting, being together, and enjoying the sensual pleasures of being fully immersed in architecture. Instead of competing with the builders, teach the clients that those houses are unhealthy and temporary, and that there’s an alternative for them to consider. What are your tenants? The ideas are good, clean and fair – which are borrowed from the Slow Food Movement. Good means good design, human-centered around empathy. It must be beautiful; no one will take care of an ugly building. Architects used to be specialties in beauty. Clean is a different take on the sustainability side. Are the things we’re building homes with clean? It might be a new silver bullet, but clean things like wood work great and have been around for as long as we can remember. Would you let your kids eat it? If not, should we be living in it? Fair has to do with labor exploitation in the construction industry. People are being paid under the table, they aren’t paying into the social security system, and there’s no benefits. When workers get hurt, they’re out of luck. Many production builders are guilty of withholding wages unless workers come back to the job over long times. This lowers the bar for the whole construction industry that could be a great source of middle class income jobs. Changing this will take away the possibility of building a huge house for cheap: less but better. How can we get involved? To sign up for her mailing list, visit SlowSpace.org. Join the conversation. Start talking about these ideas and get them to more people. The more people who start asking these questions, the more the movement progresses. This is how change happens. Connect with Mette online at AamodtPlumb.com and SlowSpace.org. Follow her on social media on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Visit our Platform Sponsors Freshbooks is the easy way to send invoices, manage expenses, and track your time. Access your free 30 day trial at EntreArchitect.com/FreshBooks. (Enter EntreArchitect) Core by BQE Software is a brand new software designed specifically for architect’s project management! Get a free 15-day trial at EntreArchitect.com/BQE. ARCAT has huge libraries of free content, Specs, CAD, BIM and more. No registration required. Want to collaborate with colleagues in real time? Visit EntreArchitect.com/ARCAT and click Charrette for more information. Referenced in this Episode EntreArchitect Foundations: Business Forms and Checklists Download the Profit For Small Firm Architects course for FREE. Leave a Rating and Review at iTunes The post EA212: The Slow Space Movement with Mette Aamodt of Aamodt Plumb Architects [Podcast] appeared first on EntreArchitect // Small Firm Entrepreneur Architects. Mentioned in this episode:Build SmartFrosty & Fired Up

The Girl UNinterrupted Project with Juliet Chun & Zhanina Boyadzhieva These two young, emerging architects have decided to take the lead in the profession and build a powerful resource that informs and empowers other emerging professionals. Hear what can happen when two women refuse to allow anything to block their way to success. This week at EntreArchitect Podcast, The Girl UNinterrupted Project with Juliet Chun & Zhanina Boyadzhieva. Background With a B.S. and M.Arch from Northeastern University, Juliet, Associate AIA, joined Leers Weinzapfel Associates in 2008 and has worked on a diversity of projects such as Ohio State University East Regional Chilled Water Plant and the UMass Design Building. She has taught at the Boston Architectural College as a studio instructor and thesis advisor and has been a guest critic for various institutions including Wentworth Institute of Technology, Mass Art College of Art and Design, and Pratt University. Originally from Bulgaria, Zhanina, Associate AIA, received her MArch from Harvard GSD and a BA from Mount Holyoke College. She joined Leers Weinzapfel Associates in 2014 and has worked on variety of academic and infrastructure projects: Condorcet Campus Competition, UMass Design Building and currently Harvard Allston Energy Facility Plant. Zhanina is an active member of WID and Culture NOW. She has taught at Boston Architectural College and has been a guest critic at Harvard GSD, Northeastern, Wentworth, Mount Holyoke College and Kuwait University. Zhanina is an avid world traveler and an occasional writer with work published at TEDx Bulgaria, Metropolis Magazine, Oculus, Dnevnik, Ureport and SciencexArt. Together, they are the cofounders of The Girl UNInterrupted Project which seeks to bridge the gap between young female designers and leaders in the architectural field. Juliet’s Origin Story Juliet didn’t know she wanted to be an architect until she was in college. She grew up in Tampa and attended Northeastern because of her love for the city of Boston. At the end of her freshman year, her advisor encouraged her to pick a major. She decided on architecture and loved everything about her experience through school. Northeastern does a coop program, so Juliet had the opportunity to do a coop with Leers Weinzapfel Associates. There she was able to get her foot in the door to return full time after graduation. Zhanina’s Origin Story Zhanina was always interested in the arts and tended to be good at math, systems and organizations. In Bulgaria, when applying for college, you tend to know what you want to study right away because of the technical nature of the programs. She was always searching for a school with a big population of international students and an architecture program. She also works at Leers Weinzapfel Associates, where she connected with Juliet. Where did the name “Girl UNinterrupted” come from? The name comes from the unique environments that haven’t interrupted them. Both Juliet and Zhanina have been lucky to be in places that allow them to grow. How did The Girl UNInterrupted Project start? Both Juliet and Zhanina work at Leers Weinzapfel Associates Architects, a firm that was started in the 1980s by Andrea Leers and Jane Weinzapfel. Last year, Andrea and Jane were nominated for an award that brought them to London for the ceremony and, when they returned, they brought a copy of the Architecture Review Magazine that focused all about the history of women in architecture. On Women’s Day, they had an office-wide lunch to discuss any general observations about equity of the architecture field. Juliet and Zhanina were quite shocked to see the statistics due to the incredible support that they’ve always felt at Leers Weinzapfel Associates, and wanted to learn more about what was happening with the other emerging professionals in Boston. They submitted an application to be a part of the ABX in Boston and were accepted. They launched the project soon after. What is The Girl UNinterrupted Project? The project is divided into three phases. Phase 1 is the Designers Data Survey that they distributed to emerging professionals in Boston. The survey included questions on general info, salary negotiation, work/life balance, and career growth. All of the data was professionally analyzed and the results were presented at ABX. Phase 2 was the Conversation Series between Juliet, Zhanina and top leaders in the field like women principles, landscape architects, and human resources associates. What challenged did they face? How did they come up in the field? Do they have any tips for emerging professionals on what to do to jumpstart their carers? Phase 3 was a manual to publish all of the information that they gathered to promote transparency within the office culture. One side includes tips for emerging professionals and the other side was tips for leaders on small tweaks they could try to maximize and retain the talent they have. Where have you completed the survey? After surveying Boston and analyzing the results, they were really encouraged to expand to other cities to compare contents. Currently, it’s now available in Los Angeles, Chicago, Washington DC and New York. If you’re in one of those cities, you can CLICK HERE to complete the survey. What’s the big picture of what you’re hoping to achieve? First of all, they’re hoping to bring transparency around certain procedures. Many policies are hidden, and they want to give a voice to people who may not feel supported in their work environments. Second, they want to understand what emerging professionals are struggling with and and what issues need to be tackled for future progress. A lot of emerging architects may be in a bubble like Julie and Zhanina, where they don’t necessarily recognize many of the issues that other emerging professionals are dealing with. How have professionals reacted to the project so far? Often, there’s a disconnected communication where designers assume that leaders know how they feel and leaders assume that they’re being transparent. Girl UNinterrupted is trying to create a dialogue instead of assuming that everyone can read each other’s minds. They were very surprised on how principles reacted to the project, as they were surprised by the questions that emerging professionals were asking and really sought to make that connection. Were there any surprises in the data from the Boston survey? One surprise was when they would ask questions about policies in their office, many emerging professionals responded that they didn’t know. This either meant that those issues weren’t important to the emerging professionals or that there wasn’t transparency with office policies; either way, the two groups needed to communicate more. When they started asking more questions about how people felt about initiating ideas in the workplace, the percentages drastically dropped. How can the work environment be more open so people can share their ideas? Another interesting result was in terms of negotiation. When asked if you negotiated, more women than men replied that they had. For those who didn't negotiate, when asked why, women responded that they did not feel confident doing so whereas men responded that they did not need to negotiate. What is the one thing that small firm architects can do today to build a better business tomorrow? “It’s important to have a personal connection with your employees, regardless of the size of your firm. What are their personal struggles and goals? Those connections create a relationship of mutual respect.”  – Zhanina Boyadzhieva “Promote good morale throughout the office to show people they are appreciated. Even a simple thank you' from time to time can be incredibly encouraging.”  – Juliet Chun Connect with Juliet & Zhanina by email at mail@girluninterrupted.com or find them online at The Girl UNinterrupted Project and Twitter @grlUNinterrupt. Visit our Platform Sponsors Freshbooks is the easy way to send invoices, manage expenses, and track your time. Access your free 30 day trial at EntreArchitect.com/FreshBooks. (Enter EntreArchitect) Core by BQE Software is a brand new software designed specifically for architect’s project management! Get a free 15-day trial at EntreArchitect.com/BQE. ARCAT has huge libraries of free content, Specs, CAD, BIM and more. No registration required. Want to collaborate with colleagues in real time? Visit EntreArchitect.com/ARCAT and click Charrette for more information. Referenced in this Episode Download the Profit For Small Firm Architects course for FREE. Leave a Rating and Review at iTunes The post EA211: The Girl UNinterrupted Project with Juliet Chun & Zhanina Boyadzhieva [Podcast] appeared first on EntreArchitect // Small Firm Entrepreneur Architects. Mentioned in this episode:Build SmartFrosty & Fired Up