to start a firm

cheers
Sat, 05 May 2007 16:26:36 +0000

I didn’t say I haven’t struggled, I said I have made a profit and a good salary every year of the twenty one years I’ve had my own practice. I have opened offices and branch offices in three cities, on two continents, each office more successful than the last. I have that aspect sussed. I deliberately stay under the radar–I dont’ have a website and you wouldn’t find my name if you Googled it–partly because my one brush with fame (for a venture I started outside of archtiecture) happened in 1992.

The hiring partners of the Manhattan firms were upset that I left after brief apprenticeships. One did kick the wall when I went to work for the other. The other gave me a six week paid vacation with airfare to Europe to get me to stay four months beyond my departure date. I awarded myself a Rome Prize after that apprenticeship and we spent several months in Rome. Back in Manhattan, I tried working for another architect but couldn’t do it with a small baby. A friend recommended us for our first built project and we made the jump and never looked back.

I’m not playing that name game. I don’t play the fame game–I think it damages my ability to work with a clear mind. On CC, I have too much consideration for my boys to post too much. I never want them to hear about my CC posts from their peers. They would hate that–and I would too. College is their experience–not mine.

Have you heard the expression, live and let live rick?