Her Story
About Sarah
I come from a family of engineers with very stereotypical engineer thought processes and mindsets, but I showed an aptitude for art and creative things from a young age. My mom suggested I look into architecture because I had the math and science backgrounds but also the creative side, and architecture was a possible field where I could blend those. I earned an accredited bachelor's degree from California Polytechnic University in San Luis Obispo, California, and then worked towards my architectural license. I am a registered architect in the state of Texas, which required passing 6 exams and logging roughly 3 years worth of experience hours through NCARB. I've been working in the architecture field for 7 years total. I got my architecture license roughly 2 years ago, and I've been in my current role as a junior medical planner for 3 years. Before medical planning, I was working towards my architecture license doing lab planning and manufacturing work in biosciences. Medical planning has become a passion I didn't necessarily think I would go into, but I love interfacing with clinicians, doctors, nurses, and staff to understand what they do day-to-day and then provide them with architectural solutions that work within their facilities. I aspire towards business development roles and am focused on furthering my personal brand and brand awareness as I continue growing in the architecture field.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Sarah
01What do you attribute your success to?
I think having someone that'll champion you and believe in you has been crucial to my success. Being younger in my field, sometimes people have to take a chance on giving me opportunities. Having someone that'll give you that opportunity to grow and fail and learn and become stronger has made all the difference. You can't grow unless you get outside of your comfort zone, and I've been fortunate to be put in situations where I ask for opportunity and someone believes in me enough to give me that chance.
02What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?
The best career advice I've received is to chase opportunity and not necessarily chase the paycheck. Look for jobs that'll give you either opportunity in what you already know you have a passion for, or diverse opportunities in order to find what it is that drives you and makes you want to go. It's about finding work that fulfills you rather than just focusing on compensation.
03What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
I would say don't be afraid of failure. You can't grow if you don't get outside your comfort zone and try new things. If you only ever do what you know you'll be successful at, then you'll only do what you've always done and you'll get what you've always got. You have to be willing to take risks and step into uncomfortable situations in order to learn and grow in this field.
04What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
I see both challenges and opportunities in our field right now. On the challenge side, working intergenerationally is complex because there are three different generations in the workforce with different expectations and working styles. The younger generation values work-life balance more and wants to work in hybrid situations, sometimes in person and sometimes traveling or in a coffee shop. Understanding and proving to the generation above us that you can still do good quality work in what they might see as atypical working environments is an ongoing struggle. Another challenge is navigating the use of AI in our field and figuring out how to use it as a tool versus a replacement for the work we do. On the opportunity side, I think AI offers tremendous potential to accelerate certain design aspects. We're using it for ideation as well as image rendering. If you can accelerate processes that don't necessarily require your specialized set of skills, then you can really save that time and mental energy for things that only you can do.
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