Practice Disrupted by Practice of Architecture

Episode 080: Season 4 Finale with Madame ArchitectWhy is visibility of female leadership important in the profession of architecture?While the seeming lack of women in architecture has been well-documented, women are, and have been, making waves in all levels of the field. Madame Architect is an online magazine celebrating the extraordinary women that shape our world, a magazine designed to break the architect’s mold and show young women entering the industry the myriad choices they have in crafting a dynamic, meaningful, and interesting career.In this week’s season 4 finale, we’ve invited senior editor Amy Stone to join us in an interview.Moderator:Amy Stone is an architect, a mom of three, and is currently pursuing an MBA at Georgia Tech's Scheller College of Business. Amy is a design manager at Gensler and is dedicated to creating sustainable and equitable environments. Her professional work experience includes a variety of building types, including housing, mixed-use, adaptive-reuse, offices, higher education, and deep-green sustainable projects including the largest Living Building in the Southeast.Amy is a contributing interviewer and editor and is dedicated to elevating the voice and visibility of women in architecture and design. She studied architecture for her Bachelors's and Masters's at Georgia Tech. She is based in Atlanta. Follow Amy at @_amystone.Co-Hosts:Evelyn M. Lee, FAIA, MBA, MPA is a licensed architect in the state of California, with over 15 years of experience working with individuals and companies that are looking to reshape their future. She is the founder of Practice of Architecture, the first-ever Senior Experience Designer at Slack Technologies, and the first female Treasurer to AIA National‘s Board of Directors.She is widely published, wrote a monthly column for Contract magazine for over 3 years, and now is a frequent contributor to Architect Magazine. Evelyn has received numerous industry awards including the 2016 40 Under 40 award for Building Design + Construction and the 2014 AIA National Young Architects Award. She currently is a candidate for AIA National First VP 23/President 24 and most recently served as the first-ever female Treasurer to the AIA National Board in 2020-2021.Evelyn has been a featured Keynote Speaker, Invited Guest, Panelist, and Moderator at national design and architecture conferences including AIA National Convention, Dwell on Design, and Women in Green. Her topics focus on developing knowledge leadership, organizational change management, capacity building, stakeholder engagement, and strategic approaches to put design thinking into practice.Evelyn has nearly 20 years working with individuals, organizations, and companies who are interested in applying design thinking to their decision-making process.Je’Nen M. Chastain, MBA, Assoc. AIA (prounced Je-NEEN) is the founder of Apostrophe Consulting, a purpose-driven, woman-owned management consulting practice dedicated to helping architects transform their companies. In addition to consulting with firm leaders on practice management issues, she mentors architects on career development, leadership, and strategy. She specializes in facilitating conversations that engage multi-generational teams and has designed, developed, and presented dozens of training programs that inspire next-gen leaders. She is currently working on several in-house training solutions with award-winning firms that provide support to their teams on leadership development, mentorship, and communication.Je'Nen earned her MBA and BArch and has trained in architecture. She practiced in a traditional firm setting and has completed her NCARB hours. She has received several awards for her leadership in the profession, including the 2017 AIA Associates Award. Throughout her career, she's helped advance strategic conversations with firm owners and rising industry leaders. She has facilitated retreat planning and nationally recognized conferences, with expertise in leadership development. She co-created the AIA Leadership Institute and has contributed to dozens of professional development programs that support architects and emerging professionals. Her consulting work blends strategic planning, firm management, marketing, and team development.📍 Show Links:Madame ArchitectFollow us at @madamearchitect.📍 Follow Practice Disrupted on Social:Facebook | Instagram | LinkedIn | Pinterest | Twitter

Episode 079: Increasing Black Women in ArchitectureHow can we elevate and celebrate Black Women Architects?FIRST 500 was founded with this mission in mind. Founder Tiara Hughes set out with the goa of elevating and celebrating Black Women Architects to raise awareness about their distinction through an excellent central community. FIRST 500 inspires Black women and girls to infinitely increase our licensed representation in the industry to better reflect the environments we serve. Tiara is building a database to bring visibility and showcase Black Women Architects, collecting and designing resources to support rising talent who are exploring architecture. She is also speaking to leaders about how to expand awareness and support.Guest:A St. Louis native, based in Chicago, Tiara Hughes is a Senior Urban Designer at SOM, an adjunct professor at IIT, a Commissioner with the City of Chicago Landmarks Commission, and founder of FIRST 500, a global platform dedicated to elevating and celebrating Black Women Architects. She is a devoted activist, educator, and advocate for underrepresented communities and voices, and currently serves on the Board for NOMA and the Charnley-Persky House Board of Directors for the SAH. Tiara's personal experiences in the industry along with her passion for advocacy led her to establish FIRST 500 in 2018. As the founder and executive director of FIRST 500, Tiara raises awareness of the importance of Black Women Architects throughout history and their contribution to the built environment.As a designer, Tiara creates work that emphasizes greater socioeconomic equity and cultural awareness. She believes "Ultimately our efforts to positively impact communities of color will expand outward and evolve our institutions, our firms, our industry, and by extension, our communities." In 2021, Tiara received the prestigious AIA Associates Award. In 2022, she received Landmark Illinois’ Influencer award for her progressive and inclusive efforts to preserve the built environment and advance the design industry. 📍 Show Links:First 500Show your support!📚 Continue Learning:Resources from First 500IG: @_first500Twitter: @_FIRST500📍 Follow Practice Disrupted on Social:Facebook | Instagram | LinkedIn | Pinterest | Twitter

Episode 078: Leading on Climate Action for a Positive FutureHow can architects address the challenge of global warming?Planetary warming is one of the biggest disruptions of our time. In this special crossover episode focused on climate action, our friends from Design the Future podcast will join us to discuss the evolution of the sustainable design movement and where it is heading. What can architects do to be part of the solution? The Design the Future podcast is hosted by Lindsay Baker and Kira Gould, two women working at the intersection of the built environment and climate change. Kira and Lindsay will share how they've seen architects leading on climate action, and where the opportunities exist for new leaders to join this work.Guests:Kira Gould is a writer, consultant, and convenor, working from multiple perspectives. As a writer and member of the design media, on staff at and as a consultant to firms, and as a volunteer leader at AIA, she has led the redefinition of design excellence as inclusive of climate action, health, and equity, and emphasized that human and leadership diversity is crucial to advancing all those goals. She is a member of the AIA Committee on the Environment's national Leadership Group. She is a Senior Fellow with Architecture 2030, and was named an Honorary Member of the AIA in 2022. She co-authored Women in Green: Voices of Sustainable Design with Lance Hosey (Ecotone, 2007).As CEO of the International Living Future Institute, Lindsay Baker is the organization’s chief strategist, charged with delivering on its mission to lead the transformation toward a civilization that is socially just, culturally rich, and ecologically restorative. Lindsay is a climate entrepreneur, experienced in launching and growing innovative businesses. Her introduction to the green building movement began at the Southface Institute in Atlanta, where she interned before entering Oberlin College to earn a BA in Environmental Studies. She was one of the first 40 staff members at the U.S. Green Building Council, working to develop consensus about what the LEED rating system would become. She then earned an MS from the University of California at Berkeley in Architecture, with a focus on Building Science, and spent five years as a building science researcher at the UC Berkeley Center for the Built Environment.  Lindsay applied her experience around the study of heat, light, and human interactions in buildings to a role with Google’s Green Team, and later co-founded a smart buildings start-up called Comfy, which grew over five years to 75 employees and a global portfolio of clients. She was the first Global Head of Sustainability and Impact at WeWork, where she built the corporate sustainability team and programs from scratch. Lindsay is a Senior Fellow at the Rocky Mountain Institute, and a lecturer at UC Berkeley. She serves on several non-profit boards, and is an advisor and board member for numerous climate tech startups.📍 Show Links:Kira Gould ConnectInternational Living Future InstituteListen to Design the Future Podcast📚 Continue Learning:Architecture 2030AIA SustainabilityThe 2030 CommitmentMaterials PledgeAIA Resilience and Adaptation Certification SeriesFramework for Design ExcellenceU.S. Green Building CouncilRocky Mountain Institute📍 Follow Practice Disrupted on Social:Facebook | Instagram | LinkedIn | Pinterest | Twitter

Episode 077: Urban Intervention with GroundcycleWhat can we learn from a former architectural designer turned sustainable entrepreneur?At the peak of COVID-19 in New York City, farmers struggled to distribute their produce and the city had suspended all composting options. An architectural designer saw an opportunity to make a difference in her community. She began by picking up composting bins from friends and neighbors and has since grown her outreach into a fully operational business with over 300 customers. Vivian Lin made the jump from architecture into sustainable entrepreneurship and is dedicated to closing the loop between produce and compost with her Bin Swap and Compost Hub programs.Guest:Vivian Lin is a sustainability enthusiast born and raised in Midwood, Brooklyn. Being from lower Brooklyn, she has realized that many of NYC’s most valuable resources, including brown bins, Greenmarkets, and even Citi Bikes, don’t reach a majority of the city’s population. It’s important to her that these programs become accessible to all.Vivian is trained as an architect but recently left her design career to fill the massive composting gap in New York City. She is interested and curious about almost everything and is happiest when traveling, petting dogs, at an art museum, or simply being outside. Funny enough, for someone who started a delivery and pickup service, Vivian doesn’t even know how to drive but that doesn’t stop her. She is determined to make NYC a greener place to live.📍 Show Links:Groundcycle📚 Continue Learning:Read the article published in New York Times📍 Follow Practice Disrupted on Social:Facebook | Instagram | LinkedIn | Pinterest | Twitter

Episode 076: Practice Applications Digital Architecture, Block Chain, and NFTSWhat are practice applications of digital architecture, block chain, and NFTs?This week on Practice Disrupted we are going deeper into technology talk about all the buzzwords around the metaverse, cyber currency, blockchain, and NFTs to talk expert Wendy W Fok on the potential implications these technologies have on practice and the fabric of our communities. This conversation delves deeper into:The Metaverse, is it truly something new or an extension of www 1 & 2, and what is the real opportunity there.Cyber and digital currency, worthwhile payment for services rendered and how different is it from a credit card transaction?Blockchain’s implication on  data ownership, but also project team attributions and policy implications at the urban scaleLooking beyond the marketplace that is NFTs, and its future ability to bring together digital communities within a physical spaceGuest:Wendy W Fok (she/them), trained as an architect, is interested in design, technology, and creative solutions for the built environment. They have experience in Product Development and Program Management from Zero to Launch, Design-Build, Manufacturing, Hardware/Software, and Digital Fabrication. Proficient in 3D modelling, innovative material research, design-build, augmented reality (AR) and mixed reality (XR) design, and other types of engagement that could promote a larger discussion of how consumers interact with products and delivery for architecture, real estate, retail, and innovative business development.Grantee of the New York City Corps Artist Grant (2021), Fellow at the MacDowell (2022), Urban Design Forum (since 2018), they were featured as Autodesk Remake’s Women in Reality Computing (2017), winner of the Autodesk AiR (2016), Digital Kluge Fellowship, Library of Congress (2014/15), ADC Young Guns 11 Award (2013), AIA Dallas Women in Architecture (2013), Perspective 40 under 40 (2011), and Hong Kong Young Design Talent Award (2009). Fok was the co-editor of AD Journal’s “Digital Property – Open Source Architecture”, published by Wiley. Their recent book chapter “Bio-Data Matter of New York City” is published by Routledge in “Data, Matter, Design – Strategies in Computational Design”, edited by Frank Melendez, Nancy Diniz, Marcella Del Signore. Fok is currently working on “digitalSTRUCTURES” in issues of digital property and data infrastructures. Fok holds a Doctor of Design from Harvard Graduate School of Design (GSD) partnering with the Harvard Law School, obtained her Master of Architecture and Certification of Urban Policy/Planning from Princeton University, and a Bachelor of Arts in Architecture with a Concentration in Economics (Statistics) from Barnard College, Columbia University. 📍 Show Links:Digitalstructures.ccIG: @WendyWFokTwitter: @W_W_FPersonal: http://wendyfok.com 📚 Continue Learning:Fok is currently working on “digitalSTRUCTURES” in issues of digital property and data infrastructures. 💻 Learn about our podcast partners:👉 Monograph is the cloud-based practice operations solution built for architects by architects. It is easy to use, beautifully designed, and helped firms streamline operations by empowering them to see project and firm-wide financial health in a single tool.  Plan your projects with schedules, budgets, roles, and team members. Track a project’s financial health with their unique MoneyGantt which takes timesheet data and makes it simple to see whether you are on track or not.  Use firm-wide revenue forecasts to make strategic decisions. With Monograph, you never have to make a decision in the dark again. 👉 Visit Monograph now.👉 ArchIT:Tired of dealing with generic IT providers? ArchIT offers Complete IT Solutions for Architecture, Design, and Engineering firms, including helping architects fight back against ransomware and cybersecurity attacks. Visit http://getarchit.com/pd  to set up your free 15-min Cyber Security Assessment, or custom solutions for your design firm.📍 Follow Practice Disrupted on Social:Facebook | Instagram | LinkedIn | Pinterest | Twitter

Episode 075: Growing an AEC Startup / The Evolution of a CompanyWhy is everyone talking about Monograph?Founded in 2018 by Robert Yuen, Alex Dixon, and Moe Amaya, the initial agency called Dixon & Moe has grown into a 50-person team, now known as Monograph. In their search to build tools and websites for startups and architecture firms, they noticed a recurring challenge—architects and project managers kept complaining about their existing and non-existent project management software. Even more prevalent, there was a disconnect between how projects were managed, budgets were forecast, and time was tracked. Often they would hear that existing solutions are “cumbersome” or “tedious”. Why wasn’t there a solution that could help architects manage their firms more effectively, with more transparency?This week we interview Robert Yuen, the CEO and Co-Founder of Monograph to learn about the company’s growth, pursuit in solving the challenges of the industry, and vision for the future. Let’s just say that their plans are much bigger than project management.Guest:Robert Yuen, Assoc. AIA, is the CEO and Co-Founder of Monograph, a software company revolutionizing the future in how architectural projects are managed. Having worked as an architectural designer in his hometown Chicago and ultimately setting his roots down in San Francisco, Yuen discovered his passion for designing software solutions for the AEC industry. A serial entrepreneur, a trained architect, and zealously productive, Robert is an active member and avid public speaker within the architecture, design, and engineering industries.His experience in working with some of the industry’s most renowned firms and designers, including SOM, Holabird & Root, and BluHomes, led him to discover a void for a simple cloud-based project management application that was tailored to the industry. As such, Yuen co-founded Monograph alongside his co-founders Alex Dixon and Moe Amaya, to help architects and engineers oversee projects in an integrated, user-friendly, and ever-evolving interface. Robert graduated with a Masters in Architecture and a Masters in Science in Digital Technologies from the University of Michigan. 📍 Show Links:Monograph💻 Learn about our podcast partners:👉 Monograph is the cloud-based practice operations solution built for architects by architects. It is easy to use, beautifully designed, and helped firms streamline operations by empowering them to see projects and firm-wide financial health in a single tool.  Plan your projects with schedules, budgets, roles, and team members. Track a project’s financial health with their unique MoneyGantt which takes timesheet data and makes it simple to see whether you are on track or not.  Use firm-wide revenue forecasts to make strategic decisions. With Monograph, you never have to make a decision in the dark again. 👉 Visit Monograph now.👉 ArchIT:Tired of dealing with generic IT providers? ArchIT offers Complete IT Solutions for Architecture, Design, and Engineering firms, including helping architects fight back against ransomware and cybersecurity attacks. Visit http://getarchit.com/pd  to set up your free 15-min Cyber Security Assessment, or custom solutions for your design firm.📍 Follow Practice Disrupted on Social:Facebook | Instagram | LinkedIn | Pinterest | Twitter

Episode 074: Exploring the Evolution of Computational DesignWhat should architects understand about the influence of computational design in practice?Technology has prompted a massive change in the way we practice architecture. This week we’ve invited Andrew Heumann to the show to help us take a deep dive into the world of computational design and coding. This episode aims to bridge the gap between those new to the niche of computational design and those embedded in the community. Andrew will share his perspective on the evolution of the digital tools that help architects create, the role of coding in architectural design, his work at Hypar, and trends in computational design.Hypar: Building technology visionaries have spent 70 years telling us we could generate building designs, but instead, the software industry helped us draw walls. It's time for AEC to do what the software industry has done for 40 years — capture and share its expertise to accelerate the improvement of an entire sector, not just individual projects.With Hypar, anyone can generate, visualize and analyze buildings to make better decisions faster. You can easily add your own processes and expertise so you don’t start from square one with each new project.Guest:Andrew Heumann is a software developer at Hypar, with a passion for building the next generation of software tools for designers. He has previously worked as an automation researcher at WeWork, and before that as an architectural designer at Woods Bagot and NBBJ architects. He has written more than 20 plug-ins for 3D modeling software like Rhino and Revit, including the popular "Human" and "Human UI" plugins for Grasshopper. Outside of his professional work, Andrew is a generative artist, working with data, algorithms, geometry, and machines to create rich visual abstractions that engage and challenge the limits and affordances of digital media. Andrew has studied both architecture and computer science and has lectured and taught seminars at Columbia GSAPP, Yale University, Princeton University, and the California College of the Arts. His work has been published in Wallpaper* magazine, the International Journal of Architectural Computing, CLOG journal, and presented at conferences including ACADIA, SIMAUD, Autodesk University, the Design Modelling Symposium, and the AEC Technology Symposium.📍 Show Links:Andrew HeumannHyparAndrew on Twitter @andrewheumann 📚 Continue Learning:<ATN> #26 What's All The Hype About Hypar W/ ANDREW HEUMANNTRXL 014: 'A DEGREE OF NUCLEAR', WITH ANDREW HEUMANN💻 Learn about our podcast partners:👉 Monograph is the cloud-based practice operations solution built for architects by architects. It is easy to use, beautifully designed, and helped firms streamline operations by empowering them to see project and firm-wide financial health in a single tool.  Plan your projects with schedules, budgets, roles, and team members. Track a project’s financial health with their unique MoneyGantt which takes timesheet data and makes it simple to see whether you are on track or not.  Use firm-wide revenue forecasts to make strategic decisions. With Monograph, you never have to make a decision in the dark again. 👉 Visit Monograph now.👉 ArchIT:Tired of dealing with generic IT providers? ArchIT offers Complete IT Solutions for Architecture, Design, and Engineering firms, including helping architects fight back against ransomware and cybersecurity attacks. Visit http://getarchit.com/pd  to set up your free 15-min Cyber Security Assessment, or custom solutions for your design firm.📍 Follow Practice Disrupted on Social:Facebook | Instagram | LinkedIn | Pinterest | Twitter

Episode 073: Architecture, And: Civic LeadershipHow are individuals using their training in architecture to explore diverse career paths in government and public service?The Mayors’ Institute on City Design (MICD) is a leadership initiative of the National Endowment for the Arts in partnership with the United States Conference of Mayors. Since 1986, the Mayors’ Institute has helped transform communities through design by preparing mayors to be the chief urban designers of their cities. MICD has hosted over 1,200 mayors representing all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico. This week we’ll interview Trinity Simons, the Executive Director of the Mayors’ Institute on City Design, and Jake Day, the Mayor of Salisbury, Maryland. Trinity and Mayor Day both started their careers in architecture. We’ll interview them to learn more about their current leadership responsibilities, the path from architecture to civic leadership, and how their foundational education informs their work.Guests:Trinity Simons helps local leaders across the nation improve their communities, bringing together her advanced training in architecture and planning with a conviction about the importance of the built environment and respect for the democratic process. For the last decade, she has served as the executive director of the Mayors’ Institute on City Design (MICD). At MICD, she works with mayors across the country on the nation’s most pressing urban planning and design challenges. During her tenure, she has led the expansion of leadership development and learning opportunities for mayors, building off the successful MICD Institute model, to now include virtual seminars for mayors, advanced technical assistance, and the innovative MICD Just City Mayoral Fellowship. She speaks and writes frequently about the intersection of design and politics, and how design is a tool that can help mayors creatively address numerous challenges simultaneously, including equity, affordability, and sustainability. Under her leadership, in 2021, MICD was awarded the Landscape Architecture Foundation’s Founders’ Award, its highest honor for organizations.Trinity previously directed the Enterprise Rose Architectural Fellowship, a prestigious fellowship program for emerging architects and landscape architects to achieve design excellence in affordable housing through work with community development corporations.Trinity has a Bachelor of Architecture from the Fay Jones School at the University of Arkansas and a Master of City Planning with a focus on city design and real estate development from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.Jake Day is the Mayor of Salisbury, Maryland. Born and raised in Salisbury, he was elected to the City Council at the age of 30 and unanimously elected President. First elected Mayor in 2015, he was reelected in 2019 with 86% of the vote. Under his leadership, Salisbury has established a Housing First program to reduce chronic homelessness, opened its first 2 youth community centers and recreation programs, borne witness to Maryland’s fastest declining rate of opioid overdoses, and the fastest dropping crime rate of any US city in the last decade. The renaissance of Downtown Salisbury has helped Salisbury become Maryland’s fastest-growing City, America’s 7th fastest growing job market, and America’s 16th fastest-growing metro area. As Mayor, Jake oversaw the complete reorganization of the Salisbury government; restoring employee morale, customer service, efficiency, and transparency. Jake earned a bachelor’s degree in Architecture from the University of Maryland, a Master’s Degree in Urban Design from Carnegie Mellon University, and a Master of Science in Environmental Policy from Oxford University where he graduated with distinction for his dissertation on the American lawn. Jake has spent his career revitalizing downtowns and making them more vibrant, livable places. His work with the Eastern Shore Land Conservancy, most recently as the Director of the Center for Towns, employed design, planning, and implementation assistance to establish vibrant, sustainable small cities and towns on the Eastern Shore. Before moving back to the land of pleasant living, Jake served as national President of the American Institute of Architecture Students (AIAS) and later as Editor-in-Chief of CRIT: a journal of architecture. A Richard Upjohn Fellow, he served on the American Institute of Architects (AIA) national Board of Directors and in various capacities with each of the national architectural organizations (NCARB, NAAB, ACSA) as well as Urban Dialogues. 📍 Show Links:Mayors’ Institute on City DesignSalisbury, Maryland💻 Learn about our podcast partners:👉 Monograph is the cloud-based practice operations solution built for architects by architects. It is easy to use, beautifully designed, and helped firms streamline operations by empowering them to see project and firm-wide financial health in a single tool.  Plan your projects with schedules, budgets, roles, and team members. Track a project’s financial health with their unique MoneyGantt which takes timesheet data and makes it simple to see whether you are on track or not.  Use firm-wide revenue forecasts to make strategic decisions. With Monograph, you never have to make a decision in the dark again. 👉 Visit Monograph now.👉 ArchIT:Tired of dealing with generic IT providers? ArchIT offers Complete IT Solutions for Architecture, Design, and Engineering firms, including helping architects fight back against ransomware and cybersecurity attacks. Visit http://getarchit.com/pd  to set up your free 15-min Cyber Security Assessment, or custom solutions for your design firm.📍 Follow Practice Disrupted on Social:Facebook | Instagram | LinkedIn | Pinterest | Twitter

Episode 072: Finding Your Voice as a LeaderWhat lessons on leadership and career growth can we learn from Practice Disrupted co-hosts Evelyn Lee and Je’Nen Chastain?To celebrate the last day of Women’s History Month, Evelyn and Je’Nen sit down to have an open and honest discussion about their career paths as industry leaders. They’ll discuss stepping into leadership responsibilities as emerging professionals in the AIA, challenges they faced in practice, and mentors who helped them along the way. Learn more about the experiences that have informed their work as well as their diverse contributions to the profession. Across four seasons of Practice Disrupted, Evelyn and Je’Nen continue to encourage individuals to share their personal stories on leadership to elevate more voices in practice.Hosts:Evelyn Lee, FAIA, NOMA, is the first-ever Senior Experience Designer at Slack Technologies, Founder of the Practice of Architecture, and Co-Host of the podcast, Practice Disrupted. Lee seamlessly integrates her business and architecture background with a qualitative and quantitative focus to build better experiences for an organization's employees, clients, and guests.She is widely published, wrote a monthly column for Contract magazine for over 3 years, and now is a frequent contributor to Architect Magazine. Evelyn has received numerous industry awards including the 2016 40 Under 40 award for Building Design + Construction and the 2014 AIA National Young Architects Award. She recently served as the first-ever female Treasurer to the AIA National Board in 2020-2021.Je’Nen M. Chastain, MBA, Assoc. AIA is the founder of Apostrophe Consulting, a practice focused on helping architects and next-gen leaders strengthen their teams and businesses. In addition to consulting with firm leaders on practice management issues, she mentors architects on career development, leadership, and strategy. She specializes in facilitating conversations that engage multi-generational teams and has designed, developed, and presented dozens of training programs that inspire next-gen leaders. She is currently working on several in-house training solutions with award-winning firms that provide support to their teams.Je’Nen is a co-host on the podcast Practice Disrupted, a show that explores the evolution of architectural practice through conversations with industry thought leaders. Through this work, she’s transformed her expertise in marketing and communication into a passion for telling the stories of leaders who are moving the practice of architecture forward. Common themes discussed on the show include business strategy, operations, technology, cultural shifts, entrepreneurship, and professional development.Je'Nen earned both her MBA and BArch, and has trained in architecture. She has received several awards for her leadership in the profession, including the 2017 AIA Associates Award.📍 Show Links:Practice of ArchitectureEvelyn LeeApostrophe ConsultingListen to past episodes of the show:https://practiceofarchitecture.com/podcast/https://gablmedia.com/show/practicedisrupted/💻 Learn about our podcast partners:👉 Monograph is the cloud-based practice operations solution built for architects by architects. It is easy to use, beautifully designed, and helped firms streamline operations by empowering them to see project and firm-wide financial health in a single tool.  Plan your projects with schedules, budgets, roles, and team members. Track a project’s financial health with their unique MoneyGantt which takes timesheet data and makes it simple to see whether you are on track or not.  Use firm-wide revenue forecasts to make strategic decisions. With Monograph, you never have to make a decision in the dark again. 👉 Visit Monograph now.👉 ArchIT:Tired of dealing with generic IT providers? ArchIT offers Complete IT Solutions for Architecture, Design, and Engineering firms, including helping architects fight back against ransomware and cybersecurity attacks. Visit http://getarchit.com/pd  to set up your free 15-min Cyber Security Assessment, or custom solutions for your design firm.👉 NCARB:Shape the Future of Architecture. You have the power to influence future updates to how architects are educated, trained, and licensed. Visit ncarb.org/AOP to take NCARB’s profession-wide Analysis of Practice survey and ensure your voice is heard.📍 Follow Practice Disrupted on Social:Facebook | Instagram | LinkedIn | Pinterest | Twitter

Episode 071: A Case Study for Practice: Shepley BulfinchWhat workplace policies and recruitment strategies actually attract talent? This week is both a case study for practice management and firm leadership, featuring two CEOs working in partnership to help their firm grow and navigate this pivotal moment of industry transformation. Shepley Bulfinch is a national architecture firm that tackles complex challenges, focusing on visionary design in education, healthcare, and urban development. They are a nationally certified woman-owned business and a firm member of the Large Firm Round Table. Current CEO Angela Watson, FAIA, and immediate past CEO Carole Wedge, FAIA share their thoughts on practice management, their firm’s new workplace policies, and their leadership transition. They’ll also discuss key strategies the firm has implemented to attract new talent to the team. Learn how Shepley Bulfinch has embraced change to move the practice forward.Guests:Angela Watson, FAIA, LEED AP, is the President and CEO of Shepley Bulfinch, where she focuses on creating environments that support people in learning, teaching, and collaborating. Throughout her 25-year career, she has led more than a dozen award-winning projects. Angela publishes and presents widely, including a number of studies that investigate the impact of light on occupant well-being to better understand the relationship between space and behavior. Her passion for teaching in both the classroom and studio makes her a leader who fosters a collaborative team process that challenges all members to reach their full potential. Born and raised in Germany, she attended Universität Karlsruhe and earned her Master of Architecture from MIT, where she returned as a design studio lecturer from 2006-2010. She was named a Senior Fellow at the Design Futures Council in 2020. Carole Wedge, FAIA, LEED AP, is a Principal and former President and CEO at Shepley Bulfinch. Her work in both leadership and design capacities is noted for its success in achieving organizational change and strategically positioning her clients for the future. Carole is recognized for her leadership in moving the firm forward, growing the quality and creativity of the firm’s work, and aligning the brand. She is the recipient of the 2020 Edward C. Kemper Award. A senior member of the firm’s Education Practice Group, her experience includes projects at Princeton University, University of Houston, and Harvard Business School.📍 Show Links:https://shepleybulfinch.com/💻 Learn about our podcast partners:👉Monograph:March 8th - 10th, Monograph is hosting Section Cut, a virtual conference and career fair dedicated to firm owners and operation leaders. Hear from leaders at Cottage, Krueck Sexton, Verdant Studio, and more! Register today to reserve a seat by visiting https://sectioncut.com/👉 ArchIT:Tired of dealing with generic IT providers? ArchIT offers Complete IT Solutions for Architecture, Design, and Engineering firms, including helping architects fight back against ransomware and cybersecurity attacks. Visit http://getarchit.com/pd  to set up your free 15-min Cyber Security Assessment, or custom solutions for your design firm.👉 NCARB:Shape the Future of Architecture. You have the power to influence future updates to how architects are educated, trained, and licensed. Visit ncarb.org/AOP to take NCARB’s profession-wide Analysis of Practice survey and ensure your voice is heard.📍 Follow Practice Disrupted on Social:Facebook | Instagram | LinkedIn | Pinterest | Twitter