When a Good Plan Meets Fate

I like to have a plan.

Whether it’s for my lunch tomorrow or where I want to retire in 30 years, I can’t help but think ahead. This quality has been a key part of my personality since I was a young. As an only child, I would entertain myself by constructing elaborate Lincoln Log structures for my stuffed animals and then plan additions out of Tupperware. I enjoyed working with a set of materials and planning out how they could fit together in different ways to serve a new purpose.

In high school as I thought ahead to college, I knew I wanted a career path that would allow me to be creative and solve problems but was also technical and practical. I thought, “that’s an Architect!” I had a few friends with architect parents who let me tour their offices and ask questions about the field. Dreyfuss and Blackford was one of the offices I visited. I vaguely remember sitting in the conference room with floor to ceiling views of Folsom Boulevard and flipping through a set of drawings. What stuck with me was the architect’s parting words about architecture being a field where you could learn and grow every day because no two projects were the same. I decided to go for it and luckily my intuition was spot on.

Over the years in Sacramento, I’ve thought back to the afternoon I spent at Dreyfuss and Blackford as a teenager. When I first moved back after college, I lived one block away from the D+B office. I was intrigued by the mid-century modern exterior and every time I passed by, I would look up to see if anyone was working behind the windows. Occasionally, I would hear about a new D+B project, and though the programs varied, it felt like each one was driven by a commitment to serving the community and delivering a high design aesthetic. Since I spent the last nine years focused on healthcare design, I took special notice of D+B’s healthcare work and was impressed with the thoughtful approach and patient centered design.

Now I get to count myself as part of the D+B team. Planning is at the heart of the services delivered by D+B.  As we build project relationships toward quality design work, I feel particularly well matched to assist with planning the firms future success.  A little ways from my days of Lincoln Log structures, but a similar level of passion is in this place; I’m glad to be part of the team.