March 2025

LJC Office Location: St. Louis
Title/Role: Principal
Focus: Healthcare
School(s) you graduated from: St. Louis University, Philippines
Professional Affiliations: Autism Speaks, Best Buddies

What’s the most fun you’ve had on a trip or vacation?
The most fun I’ve had on a trip was during my recent travels to Siem Reap, Cambodia, and Bali, Indonesia. Both destinations offered experiences that left me fascinated. In Siem Reap, I was in awe of the ancient temples and ruins, especially Angkor Wat. In Bali, the experience was just as memorable, albeit in a different way. The island’s lush landscapes, vibrant culture, and temples provided a sense of tranquility and wonder.

What’s the last TV show you binged and enjoyed? What was so good about it?
The last TV show I binged and enjoyed was The White Lotus. What made it so good for me was the stunning hotels and locations. The resorts and tropical backdrops were beautifully shot, to the point where they almost became characters in themselves.

LJC Office Location: Chicago
Title/Role: Technical Director
Focus: Architecture
School(s) you graduated from: Illinois Institute of Technology
Professional affiliations: AIA

What is something about you that you think would surprise your co-workers?
I can juggle - a little bit.

What’s the last TV show you binged and enjoyed? What was so good about it?
Midnight Diner - Such a skillful blend of sometimes heavy “situations” with laughter and comic relief, all made to blend under the consistent and calm atmosphere of the diner, the food and the demeanor of the proprietor. (Japanese language with English subtitles). 

As a kid, what did you want to be when you grew up and why? 
When I was young, I vacillated between architecture and genetic engineering. I held onto both ideas until very close to time to apply to colleges. At the time there were only two schools in the U.S. with genetic engineering programs. Both were expensive and career options seemed far too unknown at the time, so here I am in architecture.

LJC Office Location: Kansas City
Title/Role: Interior Designer 3
Focus: Interiors
School(s) you graduated from: Kansas State University
Professional affiliations: IIDA

What does a perfect weekend look like to you? 
A perfect balance between rest and fun! Probably going out to dinner at a unique restaurant with some friends on Friday. A fun, outdoor, warm-weather activity with my kids and husband on Saturday. Sunday is a mental/physical reset day where we sleep in, go to church, tidy the house a bit, take a walk, and end the day at my parents' house for dinner with my whole family. 

Name three songs that are your favorites and briefly explain why! 
"Beautiful Crazy" by Luke Combs - It’s the song I walked down the aisle to when I got married and whenever I hear it, it brings me right back to that day!

"Man! I Feel Like a Woman" by Shania Twain - I mean, how can you not dance and be happy when you hear this song?!?!

"Human" by Cody Johnson - I am obsessed with all songs Cody Johnson, just ask my Spotify Wrapped to confirm. But this song just kind of reminds us that we are all human and trying to figure it out as we go and to give ourselves some grace. 

What non-AEC related subject are you an expert on? How did you become one? 
Birth-order and familial psychology (think about the nurture vs nature argument)! I would not say I am a subject-matter expert; however, I love thinking about it. I've always thought it was fascinating because my brother and I would make the perfect case study. We were raised in the same environment, yet we could not be more different. And we also fit the typical oldest child/youngest child stereotypes to a T. I also think the psychology behind what makes us who we are is cool to think about. If I hadn't studied design in school, I would've absolutely chosen to become a psychologist.

LJC Office Location: Chicago
Title/Role: Senior Principal, Chicago Office Director
Focus: Architecture
School(s) you graduated from: University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (BSAS + MArch)
Professional Affiliations: AIA, NCARB, CID, LEED AP, Habitat for Humanity Woman Build, Designs for Dignity

What’s the most fun you’ve had on a trip or vacation? 
This is a hard one to answer, but I’m going to do a PSA with my response: Every parent of a fourth grader or soon-to-be fourth grader should get their kid a pass to the National Parks. https://everykidoutdoors.gov/index.htm This grants your entire car free admittance to any national park. In 2021 we visited Mammoth Cave for Spring Break and then took our first BIG National Park Trip to see the Badlands, Wind Cave, Mount Rushmore, Devil’s Tower, Yellowstone and the Grand Tetons. That sparked our daughter, Rae, to declare “I want to see every national park by the time I’m 18”. That’s a huge task, we are 1/3 the way through them since 2021 and she’s 14 now……not sure we can meet her goal of 18, but we are trying. I’ve enjoyed EVERY SINGLE National Park we’ve visited. Having lived in the Midwest for basically my entire life, some areas of the west seem like another planet to me. It’s hard to pick one FAVORITE National Park, but on our summer 2024 trip where we finished the rest of Utah’s National parks: Arches, Canyonlands, Capital Reef and went to Grand Canyon of the Gunnison and Mesa Verde in Colorado, I’d say Capital Reef and the pies at Gifford House were my favorite. They were delicious after a very hard hike from Cohab Canyon Trail to Hickman Natural Bridge in July. In the heat. We also hiked a slot canyon which was intense! 

What’s a book you’d recommend to just about anyone?
The Small and the Mighty by Sharon McMahan. Why? It talks about Americans you most likely have not heard of, starting in the 1800’s through the 2000’s. There are heartbreakingly devastating things Americans have done to other Americans. The perseverance to push through the adversity to bring a better life to those around them is just so heartwarming and encouraging. I think this book should be a mandatory read for every adult and every high school student.

What was your first job, and what is most memorable about it?
Detasseling corn the summer before 7th grade. Like many other things in my life, I stuck to detasseling way longer than anyone else who started at the same time as I did and was basically the only girl left at the end of several years of doing this during the summer. If you do not know what detasseling corn is, this is what the day was like: Get to the pick-up spot to be on a school bus by 5:30 am. Pick up other kids in other small towns on the way to the corn field. Walk through a row of corn removing the tassels from the female rows for hours. The pit toilets were awful. It was usually chilly and wet in the morning and blazing hot by the afternoon – but you had to keep a long shirt on, or the corn would cut your arms to pieces. You may be frightened by a deer bounding through the field. Sometimes we were able to ride a special tractor to detassel the corn, which was great, unless you were right in front of the wheels as there was no way to jump off and get some of the tassels that you might have missed without being smashed by said tire. I often got home with many wooly caterpillars in my shirt pockets and was always dead tired.

What movie can you watch repeatedly? What makes it so special?
So….I Married an Axe Murderer. This is a silly movie from the late 1900’s where Mike Myers plays a 20-something who is in love and also plays his Scottish father. In college, I’d be in studio very late at night working away. I’d eventually get tired and leave but had a 20+ minute walk back to my apartment and would be WIDE AWAKE by the time I got home. I’d pop the VHS into the player and watch the movie until I eventually fell asleep. I’ve seen the first ½ to 2/3rds of the movie an uncountable number of times. And the full movie maybe only several dozen times. I still watch it at least once a year. I could quote the movie for hours.

LJC Office Location: Culver City
Title/Role: Principal – Ops Leader Commercial Market
Focus: Operations
School(s): University of Manitoba
Professional affiliations: IIDA

What is something about you that you think would surprise your co-workers? 
I love a good camping trip. There’s nothing better than spending the day hiking and the evening around the campfire under the stars. I’m a mountain person who dreams of living in a forest meadow by a glacier. 

What’s your most niche, non-work-related interest? 
I’m a member of CASSP (California Archaeological Site Stewardship Program) for whom I monitor archaeologically sensitive sites in the Greater Los Angeles area and occasionally assist with digs. 

What’s a book you’d recommend to just about anyone? Why? 
The Measure by Nikki Erlick. An intricately woven story about how different people manage the knowledge of when their life will end and how their various reactions to that information can bring joy or cause harm. It’s one of those books you think about for weeks after. 

What was your first job, and what is most memorable about it? 
Designing and installing window displays for a toy store. One of my displays won a competition and I received a weekend pass to the Commonwealth Games when they were held in Canada. Enjoyed some great diving, swimming, and rowing races.