January 2026

LJC Office: Lenexa, KS
Title/Role: Executive Director, Engineering
Focus: Engineering
School: Kansas State University 
Affiliation: TCA (Tilt Up Concrete Association) C

What is your most memorable vacation or trip?
As a kid, we used to go to Rainbow Lake in Buena Vista, Colorado with all our cousins and grandparents. Each family stayed in a cabin on the lake which was in the Rocky Mountains. We trout fished, rode horses, went white water rafting, and hiked the mountains often encountering bears, mountain goats, deer and moose.

What is the last show you binged and really enjoyed?
The last show I binged was Yellowstone.

What does your ideal weekend look like?
My ideal weekend starts with watching my kids play whatever sport they are currently involved in (soccer, baseball, basketball, football, wrestling) followed by BBQing in the backyard with a group of family friends watching the sunset, listening to music, and enjoying a cold drink or two. The weekend ends with a Sunday family dinner after church.

What was your very first job?
My first job punching a time clock was washing dishes at a Mexican restaurant called Santa Fe Depot in Leavenworth, KS. Santa Fe Depot was an old train station that had operated for over 100 years. I was 15 and quickly learned that the restaurant industry was not for me.

LJC Office: Chicago 
Title/Role: Senior Associate / Senior Designer
Focus: Interiors 
School: Harrington College of Design 
Affiliation: IIDA, ACAP 

If you could speak another language, what would it be and why?
Croatian. I already speak fluent Croatian but if I had to pick again I would re-up every time.

What’s your most memorable vacation or trip?
Croatia / Portugal Summer 2019. Accumulated 7 weeks of PTO and spent almost 2 months in Europe. Went to a friend’s wedding, spent a week on a yacht island hopping along the Croatian coast, visited family I haven’t seen in years, went on a road trip throughout Croatia, Slovenia, and Italy, and spent a week in Portugal…and proposed to my at-the-time girlfriend, now wife. 

What’s a niche or unexpected interest you have outside of work?
Woodworking. Currently in the process of building my woodshop in the basement and purchasing special tools so I can expand my capabilities. 

LJC Office: Culver City/Irvine, CA 
Title/Role: Senior Cost Engineer
Focus: Project Engineering and Operations
School: Missouri University of Science and Technology

What’s your most memorable vacation or trip?
My most memorable vacation is my honeymoon to Japan and Australia! It was awesome to experience two widely different cultures in one vacation. Some of our favorite things that we did while on the trip were snorkeling in the great barrier reef, and trying local cuisine.

What’s a niche or unexpected interest you have outside of work? 
I really enjoy doing needlepoint. I started doing it about a year ago and have loved it ever since.

What are you most proud of outside of work?
The one thing that I’m most proud of outside of work is turning my husband into a runner! When we first started dating over 6 years ago, he never wanted to run more than a mile. Over the years I’ve slowly turned him into a runner and we just ran a marathon together in October.

LJC Office: Lenexa, KS 
Title/Role: Senior Structural Engineer
Focus: Structural Engineering
School: Kansas State University

What’s something coworkers might be surprised to learn about you?
In 2022, I completed a 200‑hour yoga teacher training program. It was an incredibly humbling experience that pushed me to grow and taught me a lot about compassion, presence, and being a better human overall.

While I’m not actively teaching right now—life with two young kids and a full‑time engineering career keeps me busy—before my son Oliver was born, I began teaching Grief Yoga. I was drawn to it because when we go through deep trauma or loss, our bodies often hold onto those emotions. Yoga’s slow, intentional movement can help release some of that stored stress and grief, creating space for healing.

What’s your most memorable vacation or trip?
I’ve been on so many memorable vacations. When my now‑husband and I started dating, it was November, and by January he had decided he was going on vacation to Costa Rica in April. He told me I could decide whether I wanted to go or not. Being the young, naïve person I was, I said, “Sure, I’ll go on a vacation with you!”

Later, after everything was booked, I panicked about traveling overseas with someone I barely knew.

We visited Liberia, San José, and Monteverde. We went waterfall rappelling, explored caves, ate so much delicious food, did a night hike to see the wildlife that awakens in the dark, ziplined through the rainforest, and hiked across swinging bridges. We tried to do a volcano hike, but it was cancelled — and Shane tried to convince me we could just walk from our hotel to the base of the volcano… we never made it. We plan to visit Costa Rica again in the future, and next time we’ll take our kids with us. 

What does your ideal weekend look like?
An ideal weekend is spending time with my husband and our two boys. Oliver (2-year-old) is really into tractors and cows, so really letting him experience any form of animals and tractors is the best. Griffin (11months) loves doing whatever his older brother is doing, mainly being mister destructive for anything Oliver creates.

LJC Office: St. Louis
Title/Role: Senior Design Coordinator
Focus: Architecture, Civil, Plumbing, and Standards
School: Ranken Technical School

What’s something coworkers might be surprised to learn about you?
 I began riding at the age of three and entered the show ring just a year later, competing with Arabian horses. From an early age, horses were a central part of my life, and I spent much of my childhood traveling throughout the Midwest to compete in a wide range of disciplines, including English, Side Saddle, Western, and Costume. I was often trusted to show other people’s Arabian horses, which taught me adaptability, responsibility, and strong horsemanship skills. These experiences fueled my long-term goal of becoming a professional horse trainer. One of my most memorable achievements came while showing in Kentucky, where I qualified for the Canadian Nationals in Side Saddle aboard a horse I did not own, an accomplishment that reflected both my dedication and my ability to succeed with unfamiliar mounts.

What are you most proud of outside of work?
My daughter means everything to me. If I didn’t have her in my life, I honestly don’t know where I’d be. She keeps me grounded, and we genuinely enjoy so many of the same things, going to baseball games, traveling, and binging our favorite shows together. We listen to the same music, laugh a lot, and truly have fun in life. She’s basically my mini me.

She’s 21 now and currently in cosmetology school, and I couldn’t be prouder of her for finding her niche. I always joke that I’m her guinea pig, so if I show up to work with green hair one day, don’t be surprised, just kidding. She’s already doing professional quality work on my hair and watching her grow into her talent has been incredibly rewarding.

As a kid, what did you want to be when you grew up?
Growing up, I dreamed of becoming a large animal veterinarian. I have always had a deep love and respect for animals, especially horses, and I once imagined spending my life caring for them professionally. As I grew older, however, I came to realize that a career in veterinary medicine would be emotionally overwhelming for me. The thought of having to put an animal down, even when it might be the kindest decision, was something my heart could never fully handle. Because of that, I made the difficult decision to step away from that path.

Even so, my passion for horses has never faded. Horses have remained a constant source of joy, peace, and connection throughout my life. Today, that love continues through trail riding, a tradition shared by my mother, my daughter, and me. Riding together allows us to enjoy the outdoors while strengthening our bond across generations and keeping my lifelong love for horses very much alive.

LJC Office: Chicago
Title/Role: Senior Principal
Focus: Architecture
School: Indiana University, BA Economics and University of Oregon, M. Arch
Affiliations: Architecture + Aviation industry organizations

What’s the last TV show you binged and enjoyed? What was so good about it?
I have binged Ted Lasso more than once. How does one not enjoy that?

What’s a book you’d recommend to just about anyone? Why? Round Ireland with a Fridge by Tony Hawks. A true story of a British comedian who wakes up with a hangover realizing he made a bet he could travel the circumference of Ireland with a cube refrigerator. He does and it is hilarious.

What does a perfect weekend look like to you?
No socks. No shoes.

What was your first job, and what is most memorable about it?
In junior high I would lock and unlock a parking lot of the neighborhood park for the Village. Most summer evenings I needed my dad to come with me to lock up because there always seemed to be a romantic couple parked in a far corner that did not particularly enjoy a 12-year-old knocking on the window and asking them to leave.

LJC Office: St. Louis
Title/Role: Fire Protection Engineering & Coordination
Focus: Engineering – Building Services
School: Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from Tuskegee University, Master of Science in Business Administration from Webster University
Affiliations: Omega Psi Phi Fraternity Inc,100 Black Men, Being Individually Genuine Mentoring Program, National Fire Sprinkler Association, National Society of Black Engineers, Flight: Explosion Sports Academy (Football), High School Football Coach (Defensive Coordinator & Defensive Backs Coach)

What’s your most memorable vacation or trip?
My honeymoon! My wife and I went to Montego Bay, Jamaica, Excellence Oyster Bay Resort and it was AMAZING! We’ve been to many countries and islands, but this was by far the best experience and we didn’t do any excursions! Just spending quality time on the resort soaking in the peace, great eats & drinks!

What is your favorite song and why?
"Happy Feelings" Frankie Beverly & Maze

This song brings a euphoric, magnetic, emotionally and mentally altering peace regardless of the stress that I may be amongst. Calming my nerves & mind & bringing me back to equilibrium. Putting me in a positive mindset to be at my best. 

What movie do you never get tired of watching?
The Dark Knight and The Dark Knight Rises! I’m a huge movie fan. These two are by far the best movies ever made from script, plot, storyline, and cinematography to the actors nailing the vision. (RIP Heath Ledger) A MASTERPIECE!

What are you most proud of professionally so far?
Professionally, I am most proud of my growth and versatility through experience. As a Fire Protection Engineer, I’ve touched almost every market sector there is within this industry as a designer and engineer. From Residential, Commercial, Industrial to Advanced Manufacturing, Consumer Products/Food and Beverage, Healthcare, Distribution/Supply Chain, Life Sciences and now Mission Critical. Typically, you’re either one or the other but having experience on both sides has put me in this special position to tie the two together and have better relations with our subs, disciplines and clients.