I have enjoyed most every project team I have been a part of. There are many talented and kind professionals in the field of architecture and engineering. But I have been in situations where one bad actor soured the entire firm. Or one team member brought the whole project down.

I used to tell myself that it was for the greater good - I needed to put up with certain people for the sake of the client. I thought leaving the firm meant I was abandoning the other team members. I worried that the project would fail and my favorite client wouldn’t get the help they needed. I worried that I didn’t know enough to practice architecture on my own.

Starting your own firm doesn’t mean you are alone. Surround yourself with mentors, a mastermind, and collaborate with other architects on your terms.

I’ve been dismissed, ignored, and turned down for bringing new ideas to firm principles. Architecture is steeped in tradition and adverse to risk. It’s hard to explore change. Trying new programs and team structures is risky. But in a dynamic world - the firms that don’t adapt simply die in their ways.

Innovation is an uphill battle. But the architects who are able to re-write the script end up in a league of their own. They strengthen their business by breaking the traditional boundaries of architecture. I wasn’t able to test ideas under another firm. Everyone said ‘No! This is the way we’ve always done it.’

Starting your own firm takes a personal commitment to pursue your own dreams of professional practice. The naysayers who put others down to build themselves up are not worth your time.

The corporate ladder is brutal. I saw multiple leadership transitions at former firms. The next generation waited silently for their turn to replace the founders. Then they floundered with the new responsibilities.

The founders of many firms started before they were even 30 years old. They didn’t wait for that position - they took it on at the onset of their career. I looked up to the founders of the firms. They took risks and made tough decisions that guided these firms through many recessions and into a time of prosperity worth passing on to a new generation. These founders welcomed ideas and encouraged young architects to grow because they saw how the growth of individuals strengthened the entire firm.

The leadership transitions I experienced didn’t take the same risks. They didn’t find the same waves of innovation. Many tried to follow in the footsteps of the former leaders without finding their own stride or their own rhythm. New leadership can re-energize a firm’s culture and spin a growing and successful firm into further success! But when new leadership simply copies what others have done without understanding the purpose, the firm culture becomes a shadow of its former self. I wasn’t willing to wait my whole career to simply be another copy of a copy.

Starting your own firm immediately promotes you to the C Suite. The trick is to give yourself time to grow into the role.

I love doing architecture. It challenges me and grows my talents and skills in a way that betters the lives of people around me.

I love this career. I love my family more. I’m not willing to lose my spouse or time with my three little girls. But why does it have to be one or the other? Why can’t I have a satisfying architecture practice within 20-30 hours a week?

Starting your own firm allows you to set your own boundaries. The challenge is keeping those boundaries clear!