My Journey
I hail from Cleveland, Ohio. It was a great place to grow up even though it was during some of the City’s less noteworthy days. Fortunately, 'The City on the Lake’ has rebounded with great vigor and experienced a complete revitalization, alongside their sports teams… I'm a longtime Browns supporter.
With my interest in exploring cities and aptitude for design and urban planning, I selected to study at the University of Cincinnati's - Architecture Work/Study Program.
This program offered me the possibility to gain experience in several large cities and variety of firms before I graduated.
My career began in Washington DC, where I had the opportunity to work with a number of firms, but the majority of my years were at Studios and Gensler, as a Project Architect leading numerous corporate interior architecture projects.
During my mid-career, I was fortunate to be able to spent several years pursuing my interests in retail and mentoring/teaching, while I was designing and constructing a condominium project.
While my position as a Department Lead at Barnes & Noble was a great environment to learn about the business of retail, my work as a Museum Ambassador and Classroom Instructor at the National Building Museum fulfilled my desire to mentor others. The ability to have an impact on the lives of high school students, through my instruction on Museum exhibits, architecture and urban planning projects was extremely rewarding. These experiences were broadened by mentoring Catholic University architecture students, as a professor's assistant, juror and guest lecturer.
My work as an architectural juror continued as I transitioned my career from Washington, DC to Durham, NC. I participated in several panels and design charrettes on the growth of downtown Durham, as the city expands eastward. I worked with Alliance Architecture and Haven Design Group before going out on my own in Durham.
I have worked on various accessible dwelling units, ADU's, residential renovations and garage additions but I am happy to work on commercial, retail or exterior landscaping / pavilion projects as well.
My architectural journey has provided me a wealth of experience in many different building types, and I have managed extensive interior architecture projects for many corporate clients. In addition to my comprehensive and rewarding work with client relations by managing turn-key projects, I also bring my keen interest for interior and exterior horticulture, green rooftops and environmental sustainable design to the programming phase of my project management. One example of this was demonstrated by my Sustainability Study for the Nova Community Project which describes Whole Foods successful use of greenhouses on urban rooftops in Brooklyn, New York.