Advertise on podcast: Defining Design

In Episode 11 we take a peek into the world of interior design, meets furniture design, meets healthcare solutions. Kathy Pottschmidt takes us through her journey from being interested in interior design through a friend's sister to gaining experience in the healthcare furniture sales. Her work process, especially for healthcare solutions, has always involved asking a lot of questions. She talks about the empathy designers need, the value of being trained by healthcare workers to know how they care for their patients the best, and using furniture to solve inherent problems in a complex space.

Episode 10 is a different kind of episode, instead of my regular interviews this is the first Topic Breakout! I have a special guest, my husband Jacob to talk about what it is like to live with a designer. He has been surrounded by design his whole life, thanks to his dad being an architect and being there with me through my entire education and beginning of my career. We talk about all of that and what his perspective has been looking in from the outside.

Jamie Goth sits down with me for Episode 9 and walks me through her story of art, painting, and finding a love for watercolor creations. She recently decided to share her paintings and started a business, specializing in hand-painted watercolor paper goods, called Porch Swing Paper Studio. Surprisingly, this is her "second" job, in fact she is an attorney by trade. In her off time though you will find her testing watercolors, designing greeting cards, customizing pieces for family, and finding inspiration throughout life. She talks about having a foundation of art but when life and work stress increased watercolor became an outlet again. Her family pushed her to keep going, all while being her biggest cheerleaders, proving that creating, even as a hobby, is always a possibility.

Episode 8 I bring back another fellow Architect to the podcast. Luke Kamp is a Ball State Alumni along with Reed Thompson (Episode 5) and myself, as well as a Registered Architect. Luke recently transitioned to a project management role where he wears many hats, including one of entrepreneurship. We talk about what interested him in Architecture and his roots growing up near Chicago, and how in his first job at an architecture firm fell in love with educational projects i.e. schools, auditoriums, stadiums. His new-found interest is one that is all about the business of Architecture or Design and what is takes to build one. 

Allyson Fronk creator and owner of The Pemberley Creative joins me for Episode 7. As a born creator, Allyson was around creative processes including a printing business of a former swim coach. But even though she enjoyed the art, she pursued a higher education degree in Mechanical Engineering. In school and in her early years of her career she loved projects that were about people and making things with the human needs in mind. Her step into entrepreneurship wasn't easy but her decision to create her own calligraphy business sparked her beginnings in highly customized, handwritten, wedding decor. Allyson brings process driven artistry to a wide range of products; a process with the help of an engineer's eye to provide the best products for her clients.

I talk to Litany Zenz, a Construction Project Manager at Turner Construction, and listen to her journey of finding the career that fit her best. Her initial thought was to go to school to be an architect, but after a real life experience of what that looked like, decided to shift gears and focus on construction management. Her love for people and always adapting to the project, the team, and the lessons learned aligned with what she was passionate about. Working as the design team's field expert requires that she interact with every person that it takes to make a project successful.

Reed Thompson joins me in this episode and discusses his journey into Architecture from his beginnings in rural Illinois and his parents instilling the original idea of going into architecture to design churches. He paired his love of design, foundations of art and sketching, and faith to complete his goal of becoming a church architect and specializing in Classical Architecture. His projects have community involvement and design becomes more than creating a pretty space, instead he talks about thinking through the "why" or intentionally designing a place to better other people's lives.

Interior Designer, Beth Metcalf, and co-owner of Snider & Metcalf Interior Design joins us for Episode 4. She relives the beginning steps to her career and the choices she has made to gain experience (even as a student ), increase her knowledge about products, and build relationships with people who turn into long-term clients. After the years she has spent honing her craft she has never been bored and a big part of that is always enjoying the ability to provide people a sense of home.

Episode 3 we dive into the life behind Landscape Architecture with Brandon Roos. Similar to my story, Brandon knew he wanted to be a Landscape Architect early on. Growing up he preferred outside, drew on graph paper, loved his grandma's greenhouse, and had an awareness for the spaces people inhabit. He continued to work through different experiences that allowed him to become not only a Landscape Architect, but project manager, and now partner of a firm. His definition of Landscape Architecture makes it clear that it is Living Breathing Design.

In Episode 2 we are joined by Chris White who tells the story of how he made it to Construction Project Management. His story has some twists and turns from changing degrees, changing careers, and moving cities. He looks back at what he has gained from every phase of his journey, his personal skill sets, and explains why that makes him a better Project Manager today. Even though changing course can be scary, Chris shows that it's never impossible.

Starting off with the first ever episode of the podcast! Who am I? Why am I here and starting a podcast now? What is my job? And how do I define architecture? I answer these questions and more all while explaining the inspiration behind this podcast, the passion I have for design, my personal journey that has led me to where I am today, and my hopes for this podcast. Let's see where this goes starting with Episode 1!