EntreArchitect Podcast with Mark R. LePage

The Entrepreneur Architect Series featuring Chris Bailow At EntreArchitect, you’re encouraged to share your knowledge. When we share with other architects, we all benefit. We are able to learn from one another and the profession will grow. One of the goals of EntreArchitect is to provide a platform for other entrepreneur architects to share their stories. Join us for our series called  The E...

For Architects, By Architects: The Story Behind ArchiOffice This week, we have another inspiring story from an architect turned accidental entrepreneur. He turned a need for managing finances at his own small firm into a new software tool to solve the problem. He shared the idea with some colleagues, formed a small company, and eventually sold that company. Today, it’s offered to architects...

Architects Practicing Beyond The Traditional Design Firm Beyond The Box Architects are trained to find solutions. We have a superpower many other people don’t have: we can see a problem and create a way to solve it. This gives us a huge opportunity to lead both as traditional practitioners and in roles in our society that require creativity and solutions for critical problems. This week on E...

Working Toward an Equitable Future in Architecture This week, the Chair of the AIA National Equity in Architecture Commission, Emily Grandstaff-Rice, FAIA, shares an update on the work that the commission has done to promote equity and diversity in the profession of architecture. How is the AIA working to make the changes needed to have the profession of architecture more accurately represent the...

Finding MyCORBU with Rick Wolnitzek Retired from the profession and finding himself eager to give back, today’s guest has partnered with a developer to create an app that helps small firm architects manage their time and money. After a long journey, he’s launching the product he wishes he had when he was the owner of his own small architecture firm. This week on EntreArchitect podcast,...

The Entrepreneur Architect Series featuring Michele Grace Hottel At EntreArchitect, you’re encouraged to share your knowledge. When we share with other architects, we all benefit. We are able to learn from one another and the profession will grow. One of the goals of EntreArchitect is to provide a platform for other entrepreneur architects to share their stories. After 162 episodes, we think...

The Pain, the Passion, and the Process of Becoming a Young Architect Let’s dive deep into what it means to be a young architect and what it takes to get licensed. This week at EntreArchitect Podcast, Michael Riscica of YoungArchitect.com  shares The Pain, the Passion, and the Process of Becoming a Young Architect . Origin Story Michael is based in Portland, Oregon is the founder of YoungArch...

SketchUp for Architects SketchUp is a great tool for small firm architects to quickly develop 2D ideas into full, 3D models. It’s not BIM and it may not be super efficient for our whole workflow, but when used as a quick way to develop concepts, to share ideas with colleagues or to present to a client early on, that’s where SketchUp thrives. There are few programs better suited. This w...

Questions from the EntreArchitect Community As an active community of entrepreneur architects, we’ve come together to build better businesses. We’re working together to build a better profession. Every day, we see the willingness to share our collective knowledge every day on the EntreArchitect Facebook Group . Members are sharing their struggles and not only are they benefiting as ind...

Compensation Strategies for Architects How do you get paid? How to you structure your fees as an architect? Architects love to talk about this topic! This week at EntreArchitect Podcast, Mark R. LePage shares his Compensation Strategies for Architects . Note: This episode is about how Mark structure’s the compensation strategies for his own firm. These strategies work for him. You should str...

Getting Noticed Through Fun Projects This week, you can hear the story of two young architects coming together to build their dream. These guys survived the recession by developing a company creating BIM objects for manufacturers, then designing and building tiny houses which led to getting noticed by media. Now, they’re launching their newest projects: a book, a podcast, and an architect-as...

Modern Architecture and Design for the Masses Throughout the profession, a common theme we hear is how to leverage what we do as architects. How can we leverage what we do for the good of more people? How can we take our unique skills and talents and use them to better serve the entire population? How do we benefit all of society as architects? This week at EntreArchitect Podcast,  Modern Architec...

The Architect Specialist This week on the podcast we have an architect pursuing his dreams, following his passions, serving a market outside the traditional design studio business model and building a successful company. This week at EntreArchitect Podcast, The Architect Specialist with Alan Stein of Tanglewood Conservatories . Alan’s Origin Story As a kid, Alan always loved building things...

Developing Specifications for Small Projects How do you put together specifications for your projects as a small firm architect? Do you put them on drawings? Do you use a separate project manual? Should you use outline specifications? What are the different options for small firm architects putting together construction documents for a small project? Is there anything out there to make this proces...

How to Succeed as a Married Couple in Architecture “Being a married couple in architecture may be the most difficult,  the most satisfying and the most successful approach at being small firm architects. It’s not always easy and it’s not always pretty, but I wouldn’t trade my life as an architect with my wife and partner Annmarie for anything. How we’ve established ou...

How to Pursue Your Passion as a Small Firm Architect Most architects are born dreamers, but we tend to be afraid to pursue those dreams. Often our dreams are stuck in our head and it’s hard to find a way to reach them. Success in achieving our greatest goals can only occur if we… start. Make a plan and take the first step to move toward your dreams! This week at EntreArchitect Podcast,...

10 Steps for Creating Standard Operating Procedures for Architects Michael Gerber, the author of The E-Myth Revisited , said, “Organize around business functions, not people. Build systems within each business function. Let systems run the business and people run the systems. People come and go, but the systems remain constant.” This week at EntreArchitect Podcast,  Simple SOPs: 10 Ste...

  How to Grow Your Architecture Firm This week at EntreArchitect Podcast,  How to Grow Your Architecture Firm  with Todd Reding, President and CEO of Charrette Venture Group and Rena Klein, founder of RM Klein Consulting . What is Charrette Venture Group? Charrette Venture Group (CVG) is a firm that provides a wholistic approach to building a business; they provide services from management, leader...

Beautifully Simple Websites for Architects How can you find more work? How can you convert more proposals into projects? Tell your unique story to your target audience. That’s brand building, the essence of marketing. The best and maybe most important tool we have to accomplish this strategy is our website. When our potential clients start the process of seeking an architect, the first step...

Copyright Protection for Architects A question often raised is, “How do we protect our designs?” How can we deter a client from overextending their license to our ideas and using our designs beyond their initially intended or contractually bound uses? As creatives, how do we protect our creativity? This week at EntreArchitect Podcast,  Copyright Protection for Architects  with Abe Cohn...

Public Interest Design Firms At EntreArchitect, we’re learning that we need to build a better business so we can be better architects. We want to make the work a better place. That’s why we became architects in the first place. We want to provide a positive social impact. What if by building better businesses we built a better world? What if a part of what we do benefits the public in...

How to Build a Profitable Architecture Firm Profit… Then Art. In order to be a better architect, we must first be better business people. We need to build better businesses. This week’s guest is the author of Profit First , a book outlining the simple process of transforming any business from a cash-eating monster to a money-making machine. Accounting can be overwhelming and complicate...

Design-Build is the Future of Architecture Architecture, construction, interiors and furniture. This week’s guest is a successful architect from Austin, Texas serving the high-end residential market. He started his firm with a single speculative project and grew it into a $20 million integrated design-build firm. How does a design-build firm like this work? How do they structure their fees a...

An Architect on the Inside at HGTV HGTV To many of us residential architects, that's a four letter word. Promoting unrealistic expectations for most projects regarding time, quality and budget, HGTV has made our tough job as architects even more difficult. This week's guest is a successful residential architect serving the southeastern region of Michigan. One day, about a year before we...

Public Relations Strategies for Architects You’re out there hustling, shaking hands and responding to all your RFPs, you’ve got your business development down. At the other end, you have a strong brand, your website is working and your marketing material is telling your story. Somewhere in between the two, lies a critical step to your success as a small firm architect: public relations...