“Resilience, perseverance and confidence backed by talent and hard work. The higher you go in the profession, the fewer women peers you will have. Make sure to treat them really well and support them so that you will, in turn, earn their support. You will need it. Develop a reasonably thick skin — there will be people who are intimidated by women in leadership positions. Don’t let them get you down for too long. Do good work — do very good work. Don’t be afraid to stand by your design decisions because you know that you do very good work. Love the process of design and celebrate successes along the way because architecture requires patience. Building client trust takes a long time. Creating high-performance teams is hard work. Finishing projects with 75 percent or more of your vision in place is a great success.”
“First, I think it’s fantastic that more and more women are entering the fields of architecture and engineering. When my sister graduated 28 years ago with an engineering degree, she was one of just a handful of women in her graduating class. She received 12 to 15 job offers from across the country. Although there are many more women entering these fields today, we’re always looking for great engineers, especially mechanical engineers. So I encourage women to explore an engineering path if they have a strong aptitude for math. There is a huge demand for women in the engineering and architecture fields, and there will always be a huge demand.”
“It’s important to make time in your life for personal interests outside of the office, as well as time for your professional development. For example, I still look back fondly on all of the opportunities I have had to participate in my children’s lives in many ways: at school, their sports and other activities. I continue to enjoy opportunities for involvement in my career outside of the office. I also recommend getting involved in professional organizations that interest you because they can offer great learning opportunities, lifelong friendships and great connections and networking. After all, it’s a very small world. I love being curious and encouraging others’ curiosity! I learn so much when I ask questions and when others ask questions. And our ‘asks’ also show our intentions, and I truly believe that we can all make a difference by learning to ask more.”
“Get licensed. It is important. Become an architect. Be part of your profession, not just your office. Get out of your office, meet others in your profession, look to allied professional organizations and get involved: AIA, SPUR, USGBC – find something that matches your interests and meet others.
Enjoy the people in your office. The work will always change. The work will not always be fun. Sometimes it will be hard, or awful or not at all what you want to do. But being in an office with great people around you makes the rough times easier."
“Winston Churchill once said: ‘We shape our buildings; thereafter they shape us,’ and this reinforces the fact that what we do is important to people’s lives. We must never become complacent about every decision we make as an architect — big or small — because it either enables or disables communities.
Don’t wait to prove yourself before believing that you can contribute meaningfully.
Set the “northstar” for your life and consider work within this. Then have the courage to hold onto it when it’s most challenged because this is when it will be the most important.
Don’t judge where to go or how by those around you. Forge new trails and stay true to yourself.
'We make sense of the planet through architecture — this endeavour deserves your heart and soul.' -Carl Sagan"
“Figure out what you are really good at and passionate about, and then spend time learning to hone those strengths. Don’t worry about what you can’t do. Spend your time and energy on what you can do and how you can do it even better.”
“Be an active participant in shaping your career narrative; you will be far happier with the outcome than if you take a passive role. Be self-aware; know your strengths, weaknesses and what you bring to the table that makes you unique and valuable. Know how to communicate your value and use this knowledge to guide when to say yes and no to the opportunities presented. Finally, build your support infrastructure. As you face challenges on your journey, you’ll never regret having people you trust to lean on.”