In this installment of our Women's History Month series, we decided to feature the team members who work behind the scenes. Through their answers, we hope you learn more about the collaboration and creativity that is at the heart of Rottet Studio's success, and how these two women work together to facilitate a path forward.Melody is the Executive Assistant to Lauren Rottet and has fourteen years of experience in office management and streamlining business operations. She was heavily involved in all aspects of the DMJM Rottet transition to Rottet Studio and now wears many hats assisting with the company's branding, public relations, accounting and business development initiatives.Ruthie is the Marketing Assistant and one of the newest additions to the Rottet Studio team. She recently graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Johns Hopkins University, where she earned her Bachelor's degree in English. Prior to joining Rottet Studio, she held internships in finance, fashion and publishing where she honed her strong visual and written communication skills.Describe the Rottet Studio brand. How has it evolved over the years and what direction would you like to see it go next?Melody: The Rottet Studio brand is highly respected and understood to be one of the leaders in our industry. Lauren has worked tirelessly to ensure that her unique brand is scalable to expand into new market verticals. For example, in 2008, Rottet Studio expanded into hospitality after previously only working in the corporate space. Again, in 2012, she pushed the envelope and pursued hospitality by river and ocean with Viking Cruises. For the foreseeable future, I would love to see Rottet Studio taking it 40,000 feet in the air and beyond!What is your favorite part of your job?Melody: Well, there’s never a dull moment, that’s for sure! I love to solve very difficult challenges that are daunting and almost impossible - it's like figuring out an intricate puzzle. Although I have countless moments I am proud of, my biggest accomplishment was the launch of Rottet Studio with Lauren Rottet. I played a vital role in helping her company come to life. Sometimes I think back on it and wonder how on earth I did it. I was very young and eager! Without Lauren's trust and confidence in me, I wouldn't have had the opportunity to make such an impact on the company's success.Ruthie: I love how creative I get to be, and that my job description continues to evolve with each project and challenge. I feel like I'm constantly operating on two different levels. On one hand, I’m involved in marketing strategy and brand direction which requires higher-level, “big picture” design thinking and pushes me to find new ways to innovate. On the other hand, I’m also responsible for taking ownership for these projects from end-to-end – designing and writing new collateral, and coordinating with vendors on all the details from start to finish. At this stage in my career, it’s truly rare to be able to propose solutions that I believe in, and then have the resources to execute them and watch them come to life.How has your experience in a creative environment shaped how you work today? Though you don’t work in a design capacity at Rottet Studio, do you still find opportunities to be creative in your role? How so?Melody: By working so closely, Lauren and I have created a bond that exemplifies the three I's: instinctive, intuitive and imaginative, which translates into creative ideas. In my role as troubleshooter and problem solver, I enjoy operating at my highest levels of creativity. Constantly I am given opportunities to develop creative solutions to complex challenges like finding one date, one hour, for 10 executives and making it happen. On a broader level, my role is not only about keeping track of a million moving parts, but also being able to envision where Rottet Studio is headed, the most efficient way to achieve those milestones, and what it's going to look like when we arrive. It's not about being two steps ahead, it's about being a mile ahead and knowing when to take a right!What's the best piece of career advice you've received?Melody: Look into your heart and see what it is that makes you happy. Always ask for increasing responsibilities and help drive the mission of a company forward. It is my goal to add value and contribute to the bottom line. Never be intimidated, think and act like a business owner and entrepreneur.Ruthie: The best advice I ever received was during my internship in the Executive Office at Goldman Sachs. A member of the Management Committee, who was speaking to a small group of associates, said:"I know many of you are concerned with the question of work/life balance. It doesn't exist, so you can all stop worrying about it. What does exist, however, is your short sacred list of priorities for yourself and your life. Nobody on the planet can tell you what your priorities are or how to order them - they're yours, and you don't have to defend or justify them. On the other hand, the consequences are also yours. If you're expecting someone else to police them for you, you will suffer. Always enforce your own priorities, and own their consequences."What would you tell your younger self?Melody: I would tell my younger self to prepare for the challenges you will undoubtedly face. Don't be afraid to come up with your own ideas. Learn to accept constructive feedback and learn from your mistakes. Look for a mentor and listen to their advice. Be patient with others, honest with yourself and drive your own path to success. Lastly, buckle up and enjoy the ride. There are so many wonderful things to learn in this industry. Embrace the metamorphosis to the new, worldly woman you will become.Ruthie: “Busy” is not always better. Resist the urge to fall into a pattern of talking about how busy you are or how much work you have to do. You don’t get brownie points for failing to juggle the basic demands of daily life, be it as a student or a professional. From here on out, your workload and the time pressures associated with it will only increase, and your decisions will impact more and more people. Your greatest asset is remaining calm and focused in moments of crisis, so don’t let people see you sweat.How has your transition from school to full-time employment been? If Rottet Studio is your first full-time employer, what are some unexpected challenges and rewards that you’ve experienced in your first job?Ruthie: Honestly, the most important and surprising lesson I’ve learned since graduating last May is that there’s so much that I still don’t know – and that’s a good thing! Learning should continue even - and especially - after your formal education ends. A college diploma doesn’t necessarily or automatically confer the skills that you need to succeed in a work environment, like communicating clearly to multiple stakeholders or managing competing deadlines and expectations.The first step in filling those knowledge gaps is having the self-awareness and humility to admit what you don’t know. Even though I’ve only been with Rottet Studio for six months, I feel like I’ve already learned so much about so many different focus areas – not just in architecture, but art history, design theory, business development, photography, and event management, as well.What does diversity in leadership mean to you?Ruthie: Diversity has become a buzzword that a lot of businesses advocate in theory but not in practice. To me, diversity encompasses the broadest swath of experiences that one can identify with - race, gender, and ethnicity, as well as diversity of thought and background. So many workplaces fail to recruit and retain a diverse employee base, which is often reflected in a lack of diversity in senior level management. Luckily, we don’t have that problem at Rottet Studio. As a young minority woman, it’s incredibly empowering for me to work in an office that mirrors the communities that it serves, especially at the highest levels of the organization.Mentorship is crucial to professional success and longevity, but many studies have shown that women in the workplace are more reluctant to pay it forward and have a harder time finding mentors than men do. Do you think this dynamic holds true in the design industry, as well?Melody: Before my time at Rottet Studio, I worked in home healthcare. I was surrounded by an office full of senior level women who had worked their way up the ladder. These women have played a heavy role in my career growth, more so than I think they know. In my early twenties, it was hugely influential and inspiring for me to be working with these nurturing, successful women who really took me under their wings and saw something in me. They embodied the notion that there are no boundaries, even when you start at the very bottom, and I'm truly grateful that they invested their time and energy in me.Ruthie: I've observed this dynamic in other industries, and it's a shame that some workplaces still allow the middle-school cattiness to permeate their culture. However, I think the collaborative DNA of our company, and the design industry as a whole, fosters mentorship by nature. I feel very fortunate to have had a string of dedicated mentors, male and female, who are invested in my potential to grow. Kyle, the Director of Marketing, has been an incredible mentor. I am beyond grateful that he takes the time to identify and understand my career interests, encourages me to think outside of the box, and defends the value and validity of my ideas. Working in such a positive environment has only reinforced the importance of paying it forward and helping others as a mentor when my time comes.

In this Women's History Month post, we sat down with two of our designers in New York. Kangsim has over fifteen years of design experience, both domestically and abroad, and began her career at Hyundai Engineering & Construction Co. in Seoul, Korea. From there, she moved to New York to pursue her Master's in Interior Design at Pratt Institute. Ashley joined Rottet Studio in 2013 after earning her Master's in Interior Design at New York School of Interior Design (NYSID). She also earned Bachelor's and Master's degrees in Taiwan prior to moving to New York in 2010. She brings to each project a deep understanding of design development and research with a focus in urban and environmental planning.Tell me about your path to a career in design and architecture.Kangsim: Originally, I wanted to go to school for dentistry. But then, I discovered a dormant talent for space design, so I decided to give it a try - and that led me here!Ashley: I studied Urban Planning in Taiwan for both my Bachelor's and Master's degrees. I love how great urban planning/design brings cities totally different and new lives, but I've always been interested in architecture and interior design, as well. One day, I picked up a copy of Tadao Ando's portfolio in the school library and saw the "Church on the Water" in winter view. The beauty of how he incorporated the architectural structure into the landscape was too stunning and gave me goosebumps. From that day on, I decided to study architecture/interior design because I think it is a wonderful thing to bring more joy and beauty to people's lives.What is your favorite part of your job?Kangsim: As much as I enjoy collaborating and interacting with the team and clients, my favorite part is drafting and sketching.How do you feel your experience working in a creative field might have been different if you were in a more corporate industry?Ashley: I always knew that working in a more corporate industry wasn't my thing, so instead of pursuing urban planning, I came to New York to work as a designer. I meet fun, creative souls and learn something interesting everyday in the design industry. Working in a creative field makes me feel young and cool and alive, and it actually gives me more room to play with my ideas and discover what I can do.What advice would you give to young women who are just beginning their careers?Ashley: Open your eyes and train your ears every single minute. Don't be afraid to take on challenges. Try as much as you can, and you will grow much faster than you expected.Kangsim: Make sure you find balance in your career and your personal life; don't lose sight of one over the other.As designers of the workplace, what can we do to foster productivity and creativity while addressing issues of work/life balance?Kangsim: To have work/ life balance, a lot of things should be considered in creating a work environment that promotes efficiency. One example is to have flexible workplaces, which respond to both the needs of the individual and the team.How has your transition from school to full-time employment been? If Rottet Studio is your first full-time employer, what are some unexpected challenges and rewards that you’ve experienced in your first job?Ashley: School doesn't teach you everything, so I was kind of scared the first time I had a meeting with all of the consultants (HVAC, MEP, structure, etc). Everyone talked very fast during the meeting and used a lot of terms that I wasn't familiar with. Because English is not my native language, the most unexpected challenge for me was just trying to understand what everyone was talking about! Now I'm used to it and actually enjoy meeting and learning from the same consultants who used to scare me. 

In this Women's History Month post, we're heading to opposite coasts to introduce some of the designers on our New York and Los Angeles teams!Michelle joined the Rottet Studio L.A. office a few years ago after interning with us for six months. She holds a Bachelor's degree from Carnegie Mellon University and a Master's in Interior Architecture from UCLA/Cal Poly Pomona. Rose graduated from the University of Texas at Austin with highest honors and, in her relatively short career, has worked with some of the most respected developers and commercial firms out of our New York office.Below, Michelle and Rose share their perspectives on being part of a tight-knit team and how that has affected their experiences in the design industry.Tell me about your path to a career in design and architecture.Michelle: When I was about 6 years old, my parents told me I got to “redo” my bedroom. I definitely didn’t know it then but the opportunity to create my own story was incredibly impactful. (My bedroom ended up hot pink and yellow and still remains so today…) Officially, I didn’t decide to be a designer until I enrolled in design classes at UCLA. I went on to complete the interior architecture Masters program and then came to Rottet.I was telling someone recently about my path to design and what about design makes me feel most at home. I did my undergrad in acting and while it was embarrassing for a long time to live in Los Angeles and say that I wanted to be an actress, I think that the whole acting portion of my life has only helped me pave a road for myself in the design industry. When you say you’re an actress in Los Angeles, there’s a stigma that is overwrought with boredom, as there are so many actresses here. However, when you say you’re a designer, there’s an excitement instead and being a woman in that field is suddenly empowering.When I came to Rottet, I started as an intern in the library. That experience was truly priceless - the library taught me so much about possibilities and introduced me to so many projects we were working on. Now as a designer, I find myself grateful for my personal path and I use tools dating all the way back to my 6 year old bedroom (with a little less hot pink).What is your favorite part of your job?Rose: Definitely construction administration. I love being challenged by a field condition or site issue that forces you to think outside the box and come up with a creative solution on the spot. Seeing the process of construction and knowing how things come together will make you a more conscientious designer.What are potential pinch points that affect talent retention in the design industry, particularly for women? Why do people leave?Michelle:  This question carries a lot of weight for me right now. I am at a point in my life where all my friends are starting families and I would love to one day as well. The idea of having a family is scary for so many reasons, but a major scare-factor for me is how it will affect my work. Having not yet gone through it, I can only imagine that familial priorities become evident and the work does not just go away. I have spoken with several women in the firm who have families and while the work/life balance certainly becomes tougher, I think women should be empowered by their family and their work.How do you feel your experience working in a creative field might have been different if you were in a more corporate industry?Rose: I feel my experience has already differed because of the fact that the phases of projects I am most interested in are typically male-dominated. Walking into a construction coordination meeting, often the lone female, can sometimes be an intimidating environment. It took practice to gain the knowledge and confidence to speak my mind and voice my ideas. Overall, I think architecture/design is fairly gender balanced, but certain areas tend to attract one gender or the other. I believe our firm does a wonderful job encouraging young designers to not feel limited by gender stereotypes in the workplace. Hopefully, the industry continues to foster the same mindset.Michelle: I can confidently say that I am where I am today because of how much Rottet values cultivating its employees and really teaching. It’s insane to me that there needs to be a differentiation between a man and a woman in any industry! Having said that, I understand that the corporate workplace really limits women, especially when it comes to creativity. A woman should be able to express creativity confidently and I think social stigmas don’t necessarily allow a woman to do so. There are, however, both sides to the story and I have been involved in scenarios where the woman’s voice is the one that is heard. I think women like Lauren are really paving the way for young working women.What would you tell your younger self?Rose: Always ask to do more and be willing to step out of your comfort zone! As a young professional you may think you know what you want out of a career but there are many aspects of project work that you aren’t exposed to in school. You may discover an interest or passion within yourself that you didn’t know existed. Remember to remind your supervisors to give you opportunities to take a stab at something new—everyone slips into a rhythm on projects and sometimes learning opportunities and mentorship roles tend to get pushed to the back burner.Michelle: Do what you love and stop apologizing. I wish someone told me to stop saying sorry so much and just own it.What does diversity in leadership mean to you?Michelle: True diversity in leadership means equality  - and equality would mean that men’s history month would be celebrated. That sounds sarcastic, but I genuinely mean that! If women and men were considered equal, then the histories of both sexes would be honored in a similar fashion. Women wouldn’t have to highlight their accomplishments as being any different from their male counterparts.Rose: I think diversity in leadership requires diversity in gender but also in personal background, age, expertise and even personal interests and hobbies. I think it’s the responsibilities of these leaders to really listen to their employees and understand all the aspects that make them diverse. People and their career goals evolve naturally, and it’s important for employers keep up with that evolution so they can continue to provide support over time. There is no “one size fits all” career path and the best way to promote equality is to throw gender stereotypes out the window and really develop a plan that suits each individual.As designers of the workplace, what can we do to foster productivity and creativity while addressing issues of work/life balance?Michelle: Productivity and creativity are so unique to each individual, but, having recently done a lot of research into the “new way of working,” I think mobility is key here. Not necessarily a "work from wherever" mentality, but more so the idea that there are multiple areas to do work within the workplace. I often find myself bringing whatever I’m working on to a small conference room, the library or just to a communal table. Getting up and moving is always good and a fresh space to work really helps me foster focus and creativity.Mentorship is crucial to professional success and longevity, but many studies have shown that women in the workplace are more reluctant to pay it forward and have a harder time finding mentors than men do. Do you think this dynamic holds true in the design industry, as well?Rose: I have observed this dynamic in our industry. I think young women starting out in their career are more inclined to be shy and reserved than their male peers and less likely to seek out a mentor. They may think that pursuing a mentor/mentee relationship would create more work for the mentor and be an inconvenience. As more experienced women in the workplace, it’s our responsibility to make ourselves available and encourage younger designers to develop this relationship. I think our relatively intimate and very friendly office environment definitely makes it easier for new designers to build relationships with co-workers; however, I have also experienced situations where they may not speak up and ask questions out of fear that they are asking a “dumb question” that everyone will overhear. The best advice I ever received was, “Always ask dumb questions, just don’t ask them twice!”Michelle: Honestly, I think the design industry has changed drastically from what it was before I ever came into it - and for the better. I see my female friends from school thriving because of the phenomenal mentors they have had and this dynamic is blossoming. As for myself, I work in our Los Angeles office and I am beyond grateful to consider so many of the men in our office mentors. Whether they know it or not, the men in our office create a nurturing atmosphere that truly celebrates women. I feel so fortunate for the office support from both men and women.

 To celebrate Women’s History Month, we’re featuring some of the inspiring women who are crucial to our success and embody the creative growth to which we always aspire. Rottet Studio occupies a unique vantage point in the conversation about women in the workplace – over 60% of our full-time staff are female, and we are a proud Women Business Enterprise (WBE) Certified firm under our Founding Principal, Lauren Rottet.Meet two of our Houston-based designers, Erin and Ginny, who work tirelessly to manage and support our projects in the hospitality, corporate and residential sectors. Erin joined our Houston office a year ago, bringing her expert proficiency with 3D modeling, presentational graphics and renderings. She studied architecture at the University of Houston, where she received her Bachelor's Degree with Honors. Ginny has been with Rottet Studio since 2013 and recently used her bilingual fluency in English and Spanish to help launch the Four Seasons Casa Medina in Bogota, Colombia.Tell me about your path to a career in design and architecture.Erin: I always knew I would be in a creative industry. I was heavily influenced by art at a young age and had amazing opportunities to work with great artists. I loved my experiences, but could never wrap my mind around designing things that didn’t solve problems that were tangible. This ultimately led me into architecture and I found the purpose in design I was looking for.Ginny: Before I graduated from high school, I re-did my room in my parent’s house three times. The interest was always there - even just spending Saturday mornings watching certain House Beautiful shows or looking at magazines and reading floor plans. But after the crash of 2008, I lost my job working in a hotel. I kind of just floated, not knowing what to do, and I took the Birkman Questionnaire – which takes your personality and your work style to show you how you interact with people, and what your strong suits are. Mine were aesthetics and mathematics, so I went back to school for interior design in L.A. Honestly, I think it was better for me to go back to school at that age because I was much older than my peers, and I excelled.What is your favorite part of your job?Erin: Problem-solving.Ginny: There’s a few. The first is building the client relationship – I really enjoy that interaction, and I feel like it’s important to cultivate business relationships. The second is the final stages before opening when you’re selecting the art and putting the final touches that really bring the space together. The third is collaborating with artists and consultants that expose you to other creatives.What are the ways in which men’s and women’s careers in architecture/experiences in architecture school differ?Erin: Before starting architecture school, I was asked by a woman, “Why do you want to go into a man’s industry?" I can’t ignore that this is/was reality, but I’ve always felt that the women before me paved the way. I haven’t been met with nearly the resistance I’ve heard stories of. When I was in school the student body was also edging close to 50/50.Ginny: I think as a woman you almost have to prove yourself more. Outside of the design part, it’s such a male-dominated industry that, as a woman, you have to be confident in your decisions and have the backup knowledge to support them.What's the best career advice you've received?Erin: The best advice I’ve received is that it’s perfectly fine not to care what anyone else thinks about you! Whether in life or your career, it’s important to keep yourself in mind and work towards what matters to you first.Ginny: A designer who worked with Benjamin Noriega said that a major part of our job in the design industry is to anticipate problems - and by anticipating problems, you can try to find solutions before they occur. It helped me because it builds foresight and keeps you looking forward.What does diversity in leadership mean to you? Erin: Diversity in leadership means putting many different parts together that work – not equal parts, but that, together, create a super team that would never exist with all parts equal. Companies need to foster individualism and diverse environments that thrive from their many talents, genders and backgrounds. Diversity makes things interesting and I think design firms get it.Ginny: Diversity in experience can help a company’s profitability – because if you only know one way of doing things, how are you going to gain perspective on another approach? I think the most important definition is a diversity of experience that you can bring to your job.Mentorship is crucial to professional success and longevity, but many studies have shown that women in the workplace are more reluctant to pay it forward and have a harder time finding mentors than men do. Do you think this dynamic holds true in the design industry, as well?Erin: I think it does – mentoring largely comes from leadership roles, which there are often fewer of among female designers.Ginny: From my experience, no. I don’t think it has to do with gender, I think it has to do with age and being threatened by the unknown of a newcomer. Male or female, nobody wants to be replaced. I’ve just been really fortunate to have worked under some really talented women, like Lauren [Rottet] and Rozalynn Woods - they've all taken an active role in mentorship. I think it has to do with the fact that how we learn under them helps them succeed. Design is such a creative field that if we're not in sync, the project suffers.

Amber Lewis is a Registered Interior Designer (RID) in Texas and a Senior Associate in Rottet Studio's Houston office. Over the past 15 years, Amber's love for interior design has taken her from Houston to Dallas and back as she's worked on a range of hospitality, restaurant, commercial and residential projects. In 2010, Amber was recognized as one of Dallas' Top Designers by Modern Luxury Magazine.Tell me about your path to a career in design and architecture.I initially went to college with a focus on communications - I thought I wanted to be a news anchor on the Today Show. I quickly realized I should stick to what I was naturally good at and that was being creative and designing interiors.I grew up early childhood in Huntington, West Virginia and remember making life-size Barbie houses outside in a fort. It was a beautiful natural environment for inspiration. I loved using my imagination and decorating my bedroom with collages I would create from magazine clippings. Instant Art! My mother was my first source of inspiration because although we lived in an apartment and didn’t have a lot, she always had a way with jazzing up our space with an accent wall of wallpaper or paint and she regularly rearranged our furniture to change the space. I learned early on that a well-designed and organized interior can influence your subconscious. What is your favorite part of your job?That it’s a really cool job!  It’s hard work but it’s creative, multi-faceted, ever-changing, challenging, and each month, year and project is different.  It’s such a cool feeling to sit in a space you’ve designed and watch the people around you enjoying the environment.What are potential pinch points that affect talent retention in the design industry, particularly for women? Why do people leave?I believe salary is a challenge, as many feel the investment between time required and salary received is imbalanced. This is often why several designers transition to product sales or ultimately get burned out and leave the profession. Stick with it and the sky’s the limit.Describe the professional moment, accomplishment, or realization that you are most proud of to date.The professional realization I am most proud of to date is that I have found success doing what I love.What’s the best career advice you’ve received?The best piece of career advice I received was from the late, great Turner Duncan who taught me to have conviction and defend my design!What sacrifices have you had to make, personal or otherwise, to succeed professionally?Weekends and evenings at the office mostly, but I find ways to make the time fun and enjoyable.  Usually music and a glass of wine or two helps!

In the third installment of our Women's History Month series, we're featuring Senior Associate Jennifer Mateo in our Los Angeles office. Jennifer has been with Rottet Studio since its inception in 2008, but has worked with Principals Richard Riveire and Lauren Rottet since 2002. She cites a line of strong women in her family for providing her with the inspiration and motivation to launch her own career in design.Tell me about your path to a career in design and architecture.I count myself lucky that my parents had interest in traveling and sharing that with me and my sister.  Although the destinations were not always far flung or exotic, I was always intrigued when exploring new places and cities.  For me, examining the built environment and how it shaped or resulted from events or history is something that continues to interest me today and pointed me in the direction of this career.What are potential pinch points that affect talent retention in the design industry, particularly for women? Why do people leave?I believe that a lot of the issues regarding talent retention, specifically for women, are the residual effects of a culture that historically favors men.  Framing the discussion is important in that we cannot just look at talent retention in the workplace, but must also discuss the inequality we face at home or in other social environments. Whether it’s about child care, or domestic work, or career goals, these are all issues a woman may contend with in an adult working life. Until we treat them as important as we would a man’s day-to-day job or career, then we will continue to battle retention of female talent.How do you feel your experience working in a creative field might have been different if you were in a more corporate industry?I don’t believe my own attitude or mentality would necessarily have differed that much.  I am fortunate enough to have a mother to look up to who was a small business owner and aggressively made her way into her field as an entrepreneur.  I also have an aunt working in tech, which is dominated by males, who built her own career despite any hardships she faced as a woman.Now, growing my own career, it seems fitting that I am working with Rottet Studio, founded by none other than Lauren Rottet. The talent and determination of these women have inspired me to forge my own career path, even in economic environments that historically favor men.  They have been primary examples of how women fit into the world.What advice would you give to young women who are just beginning their careers?My advice to all is to be willing to take on the opportunities that present themselves, but also remember to follow your passions.  Your career path is abound with opportunities for you to be great, to contribute meaningfully and to make a difference.A recent study of 22,000 firms in 91 countries found a positive link between the number of women in leadership roles and a company’s profitability. What does diversity in leadership mean to you? What responsibilities do you think companies and individuals, both male and female, share in promoting gender equality in the workplace?I look forward to the day when we are not creating quotas to fill just to portray equality or demonstrate diversity. I hope for workplaces that can naturally do so; where we promote, collaborate and elect people without regarding culturally negative labels. If that means being more inclusive of women, then we should strive to do so, as the statistics show our value time and time again.As designers of the workplace, what can we do to foster productivity and creativity while addressing issues of work/life balance?Seldom is architecture a solo endeavor.  It takes a team to construct or realize a project.  If you engage with people that you can not only rely on but learn from, then you foster both productivity and creativity.  These same people would also understand your personal needs and respect that.  As the phrase states, it is a ‘balance.’  When there is imbalance, you will be hard pressed to find a person performing their best.Mentorship is crucial to professional success and longevity, but many studies have shown that women in the workplace are more reluctant to pay it forward and have a harder time finding mentors than men do. Do you think this dynamic holds true in the design industry, as well?Although I cannot necessarily relate to this concept personally, I can understand how this dynamic pervades our industry. Studies have already identified that, historically, women face more challenges and hardship when it comes to professional growth and success.  That could inform the concept that women are reluctant to pay it forward in that they want to eliminate competition, and not share the success with other women. And historically, women do not hold as many senior roles as men; and men may find it a threat when a woman is performing on par with him. This may hold true in any industry, but I think more and more women are challenging this behavior every day.

 To celebrate Women's History Month, we're featuring some of the inspiring women who are crucial to our success and embody the creative growth to which we always aspire. Rottet Studio occupies a unique vantage point in the conversation about women in the workplace - over 60% of our full-time staff are female, and we are a proud Women Business Enterprise (WBE) Certified firm under our Founding Principal, Lauren Rottet.This week, we interviewed Associate Principal Patricia McCaul, who leads our Los Angeles office with over 20 years of experience practicing interior design and architecture.Tell me about your path to a career in design and architecture. I think I was always interested in being an architect. My grandfather loved to take us on tours of old houses. The rest of my family always hated it, but I loved it. He taught me how to draw in perspective when I was 10. I studied Interior Design at Drexel [University] - I was fortunate because it had a strong art and design program, but it also had a strong engineering school, so I was able to take classes in both. I went to UCLA for a Master's Degree in Architecture, and when I graduated I went to work in the Frank Gehry Model Shop like many other architects. It was a great place to learn that design ideas are not precious and that you have to keep thinking and responding to what is happening around you. After a few years, I found that I was interested in interior space building rather than buildings as objects - I've been working in interior architecture since that time. I think that being in L.A. has been an inspiring place to work in the design profession, because people are open to and want to see creative new design ideas.What is your favorite part of your job?Seeing design ideas become real. I enjoy the challenge. It's one thing to think of a cool, beautiful, or inspiring idea, but to actually then work with all of the different people it takes to sell the idea, document the idea, and then build it - that takes determination and vision. I like the moments in the project when others start to see your vision and help to make it happen. What are potential pinch points that affect talent retention in the design industry, particularly for women? Why do people leave?It is hard to work and have a family as an architect or designer. It's a job that takes up so much time and is really difficult to do part-time, particularly when working in larger firms. I've seen a lot of talented women stop working in the field or working at a much reduced capacity because they have a family. I would love to see a path for both men and women that encouraged people to take time with your family, and then be able to come back into the profession after your family is grown. It is a job that I believe can be done better by someone with more life experience. Mentorship is crucial to professional success and longevity, but many studies have shown that women in the workplace are more reluctant to pay it forward and have a harder time finding mentors than men do. Do you think this dynamic holds true in the design industry, as well?Absolutely. I think that this is one place where all of the advances in computer technology have not been helpful. When I started my career, everyone who I worked for started out doing exactly the same tasks that I was doing in the exact same way. Now that software and technology change so fast, the way something was done two years ago is not how it's done today. This makes mentoring difficult.What piece of advice would you give to young women who are just beginning their careers? What did you wish you knew when you first started out?You are only competing with yourself. Don't waste your energy comparing yourself with what others are doing or achieving. There are barriers, but if you spend time focusing on them, you don't get past them. Focus on what you want to accomplish and how you can do it. 

Happy International Women's Day! In the spirit of celebrating the women, past and present, who've dedicated their lives to breaking barriers and paving the way for others, Rottet Studio is featuring some of our fabulous and fierce female designers on our blog. Over the course of Women's History Month, we will be profiling their experiences in the architecture and design industry as they put a face to the realities and rewards of being a working woman.Though the conversation around women in the workplace is hardly new - buzzing with oft-quoted entreaties to "lean in," fraught with questions of work/life balance and "having it all" while working a "second shift" -  it continues to have profound, if varied, applications for both genders. In what has become known as The Missing 32% in the architectural practice, women represent about 50% of students enrolled in architecture programs in the United States, but only 18% of licensed architects are women (Equity by Design). Rottet Studio occupies a unique vantage point in the industry - over 60% of our full-time staff are female, and our Founding Principal, Lauren Rottet, has broken new ground as one of the most celebrated architects and interior designers over the past few decades.As the only woman in history to be elevated to Fellow status by both the American Institute of Architects (AIA) and International Interior Design Association (IIDA), Lauren shared some of her thoughts on and advice for women in design:Tell me about your path to a career in design and architecture. I was always constructing and inventing things. When I was a child, I used to build little rock houses for the toads that would hang out in our driveway in Waco, Texas. I’d construct these little houses, then put the toads in there, and I considered it a huge accomplishment if the toads were still inside the next morning - it meant that I had built something sound and secure. During high school in Houston, I watched as these lovely high-rise buildings were constructed. My father let me skip school one day – which was a very big deal – to explore what I thought would be amazing interiors way up in the sky. I was so disappointed that these great buildings had such uninspiring interiors, and thought I could do better.What is your favorite part of your job?That it’s so different every single day. I love going into a space and it’s just like you imagined it, that you created something out of nothing and everyone’s so happy and enjoying it – if it’s an office space, they say it’s enlightened and catapulted their business, and if it’s a hotel, watching the guests enjoy their stay and come back. Every designer wants to make people happy.What are the ways in which men's and women's careers in architecture differ?I was raised by a father who told me that there would be no difference between men and women in my generation, and that I needed a career so that I wouldn’t have to rely on anybody else. So when medicine didn’t work out [at The University of Texas at Austin], I switched to architecture. Fewer than 10 percent of women graduated in my class, but I didn’t really think consciously about being a woman in architecture. I never really thought about it as a man’s field. Then again, I don’t think I’m a normal woman.Once in a while, when the guys are standing around taking credit for your ideas (not the design ones, as they figure you might know how to “design,” but the structural, mechanical or project-siting big ideas), I do get a little annoyed. But, it’s a team effort at the end of the day, and I always end up giving those big ideas away anyways. In my studio there is, of course, none of the man/woman thing. We all work hard, and we all have each other’s backs. If you’re knowledgeable, have done your homework, and can hold your own on a job site or in front of a client, you’ll be respected. If you never even realize that there’s something holding you back, then there isn’t anything holding you back.What are potential pinch points that affect talent retention in the design industry, particularly for women? Why do people leave?The time pressure of a design or architecture career is tremendous, so having a family and rising to the top of your game are an effort, to say the least. It is physically difficult to be a young mother with children and work the long hours that being a designer or architect requires. But businesses should be flexible with employees who have children; it’s incredibly helpful when firms are flexible.How do you feel your experience working in a creative field might have been different if you were in a more corporate industry?I just couldn’t have worked in a non-creative field. I would have been an absolute failure, because my brain works too non-linearly. I think you have to match what you love doing with your career, then you can’t help but succeed - because you love it! Working in a more corporate industry wouldn’t have been as fulfilling for me – in a creative field, you’re always learning, excited, and inventing. Every day is a new challenge.Describe the professional moment, accomplishment, or realization that you are most proud of to date.One of the first interiors projects I did when I moved to LA was for a law firm, and it broke so many new grounds. Paul Hastings’ office in New York turned the way people office upside down, catapulted a new way of thinking about office furniture, and went on to win Best of NeoCon. They were moving out of a building with 360 degree views on Park Avenue to a space with no views whatsoever. That’s how I figured out little tricks – the use of materials to make them seem like they go on forever and make a space feel bigger, which was a precursor to what we do now. I had been influenced by Light and Space artists from LA like James Turrell, Larry Bell - and found it fascinating how light alone can manipulate and create the illusion of space. So with the Paul Hastings project, I really added in form and started to look at a space three-dimensionally. In modernist architecture, you look at the floor, wall, and ceiling like planes, whereas in Paul Hastings New York, I looked at the space like a volume that you sculpt into – planes, angles, forms, that trick your eye.Other than that, I must say I was proud to have a parking spot with my name on it when I worked for Keating, Mann, Jernigan & Rottet.What's the best career advice you've received?I’ve been given quite a bit of wonderful professional advice, but I think probably one of the best ones is just to listen. Listen very, very well. You know, you always want to come up with a solution or an idea, or instantly retort back, but I think if you really sit back and listen to the parameters – what the client wants, what the surroundings are telling you about a project, I think that’s probably the most helpful professional advice.And another piece of advice – one of my favorites – is if you start to recognize what you’re doing, you’re not designing. A recent study of 22,000 firms in 91 countries found a positive link between the number of women in leadership roles and a company’s profitability. What does diversity in leadership mean to you? What responsibilities do you think companies and individuals, both male and female, share in promoting gender equality in the workplace?In any field, your responsibility is to promote the candidate with the most drive, who is best equipped to do the job, and that means if you end up with all women or “pink people,” then so be it! Businesses have an obligation to hire the best talent: young or old, male or female. Don’t make people wait for their age bracket or take their “turn” to catch up.You’ve often said that your work centers on improving the human experience through the built environment. What are specific ways we can improve women’s experiences through the design of the physical environment? The way we can help any person in the workplace is having good lighting and more personalized temperature control, because that seriously affects the way people work. Give people inspiring spaces – spaces that are light-filled, uplifting and environmentally clean. There’s nothing wrong with beauty and aesthetics. In my opinion, making your path beautiful from here to there is equally as important as actually being able to get from point A to point B. We have more of an obligation to make things “pretty” than we do just to make things. It’s human nature to respond positively to a smile, a hug, or something that looks or feels welcoming.Mentorship is crucial to professional success and longevity, but many studies have shown that women in the workplace are more reluctant to pay it forward and have a harder time finding mentors than men do. Do you think this dynamic holds true in the design industry, as well?I find that shocking – intuitively, women are nurturing, they’re typically givers. I could see it happening if women were not confident in themselves, or came from a past generation. They always say – hire your replacement, because then you can do bigger and better things. Those people must have come in the workforce late, or don’t understand how to grow people.The key to being a good mentor is the day you realize you can’t do it all by yourself, so you have to teach someone else how to do it. I think the education of our staff – and of our clients – is really important. I love nothing more than getting a student straight out of school - very smart, very talented - and then, you know, kind of hovering over them and helping them learn. Then, once you do that, I feel like they’ve learned from my experience, which amplifies the experience they came to the table with – and now they’re twice as good. They’re better than I am! And I love that.Who is your mentor? The absence of one was my mentor. You can self-mentor by being a sponge and watching people, even if they’re not sitting down and teaching you. You can also learn what not to do by watching those same people.