As someone who started pursuing architecture in earnest later in my career, I've had extra time to build up a robust set of skills and knowledge through my work in related fields.

While living in Los Angeles, my years in the film industry trained my eye for careful observation and image composition while I was also developing hands-on technical skills in video editing and film production. When I joined a film advertising agency, I learned the art of managing client projects: how to work towards mutually agreed on milestones and decide when to accommodate client feedback directly or diplomatically suggest alternate creative solutions. In developing the digital presence for film projects, I learned the importance of clarity and cohesiveness in marketing.

When I left the agency, I moved from the project-oriented advertising business model to a product-oriented software business model, giving me the opportunity to expand my technical skills beyond visual design to system design. I became deeply interested in understanding all the wiring and plumbing that makes websites and software work, and how to author and design those systems.

Although my daily work was in software program design, I was also able to absorb industry knowledge in fields adjacent to architectural practice. At Sonder, I followed conversations on real estate portfolio management and business development within the hospitality sector. At Provide I observed how lenders evaluate the financial health of an owner looking to build, and gained insight into how construction loans are disbursed from the other side of the owner-architect relationship. With Lush Cocktails, I started an LLC for a side project, which became a crash course in business incorporation, bookkeeping, and other bureaucratic administrative tasks.

When I eventually was able to study architecture, I was acting as the primary income earner for my spouse and young children, and continued to work in software development full-time throughout my education to support them. Through four years of undergrad and two years of grad school, I became an expert at time management, switching constantly between paid time at work, student time at school, parenting time at home, and personal time with my spouse. By treating my education as a marathon, not a sprint, I was able to retain financial stability, an intact marriage, and close relationships with my children. Perhaps most unusual, I managed to graduate summa cum laude without ever spending one of those infamous architecture-school all-nighters.

As consolation for all the weekends I spent on coursework and final projects, I promised my children I would design and build a clubhouse for them at the end of my education. The 170 square foot open-air a-frame (shown in more detail on my portfolio) helped round out some practical skills not taught in academia. I learned to assemble a drawing set, commission surveys, pull permits, and schedule inspections. Other then getting a couple extra sets of hands for pouring concrete and raising rafters, I did all the construction myself, sweating it out with a manual post-hole digger, swinging a hammer at joist hangers, and cutting half-lap joinery with a circular saw. When my drawings lacked necessary dimensions, I performed an informal self-RFI of sorts, giving me a better sense of what dimensions and notes are important to include in a drawing set.

Since graduation this past December, I've been making use of the spare time in the job search by making progress on the ARE. With one exam passed, and another pending, I'm eager to continue the next steps on the path to licensure.

While I would have liked to start working in architecture earlier in my life, I am ultimately glad for the experiences that have made me who I am today, and for the broader set of skills that I can bring to the field. I am confident in my future contributing to both the field of architecture and the greater built environment, and am excited to find the role that will be the start of that journey.