EntreArchitect Podcast with Mark R. LePage

In addition to developing a sales system, the concept of Target Market is the one thing that I most credit for the success of my small firm, Fivecat Studio. Every day I see architects’ websites stating that they “specialize” in residential, commercial and institutional. Specialists in everything specialize in nothing. Your customers want you to be the best at what they will hire...

Click the podcast player button above to listen or subscribe to the show on iTunes . This past recession has been tough on the architecture profession. For the past several years many of us have been struggling to survive. We've taken the work we could get and reduced our expenses to the absolute minimum. As we crawl out from the darkness, the warm sunshine of a recovering economy feels so go...

Click the podcast player button above to listen or subscribe to the show on iTunes . Entrepreneurism, architects pursuing ventures outside the traditional practice, the education of architects, the AIA and how we all need to join together to build a better profession; these are all topics that I discussed with my guest this week on the Entrepreneur Architect Podcast. He started his own practice in...

Click the podcast player button above to listen or subscribe to the show on iTunes . The compilation and documentation of project specifications may be one of the most important services we provide as small firm architects and in my experience many of us, especially us residential architects, limit our specifications to a sheet of general notes and product descriptions listed throughout the drawin...

Click the podcast player button above to listen or subscribe to the show on iTunes . Fivecat Studio was founded in 1999. Annmarie and I were 29 years old. She was licensed. I was not. With no clients and no money, we launched the firm as a sole proprietorship; Annmarie McCarthy, Architect. Slowly, we grew the firm and in 2002, with my license in hand, we incorporated as McCarthy LePage Architects,...

Click the podcast player button above to listen or subscribe to the show on iTunes . “Do you ever wonder what might happen if you chose not to work late on a deadline because you need to take care of your family? Do you ever daydream about working part time, but wonder how it may impact your career? Do you ever wonder what it would be like to stay home on Fridays with you little baby or to l...

Take Action! Every once in a while I need to look inward at my own life and remind myself how blessed I am. I often find myself falling into a mild depression, stressed and discouraged by what I have not yet achieved. It is important for me to look to the good things in my life. The blessings that I have been granted and the great achievements I have already attained. Life is good and sometimes I...

Click the podcast player button above to listen or subscribe to the show on iTunes . Last week on the podcast, I had the great opportunity to speak with Emily Hall, a senior associate with Union Studio Architecture and Community Design. We had a chat about how to take a very well known architecture firm with a recognized established brand and successfully rebrand that firm with a new name, a new l...

Click the podcast player button above to listen or subscribe to the show on iTunes . When Annmarie and I launched our residential architecture studio in 1999, we made a very important decision about the name of our firm. We wanted to be sure that our name was unique and would clearly separate our studio from the many other residential architects in our region. We wanted a name that would be easy t...

Click the podcast player button above to listen or subscribe to the show on iTunes . After years of contributing to the profession of small firm architecture through my weekly post here at the blog, my weekly newsletter and at the Entrepreneur Architect Podcast, I wanted to make Entrepreneur Architect even more interactive; even more influential. I wanted to create a place where small firm archite...

Click the podcast player button above to listen or subscribe to the show on iTunes . Have you ever put all your heart and soul into a architecture project? Have you ever worked from inception at Schematic Design, developed all the details during Design Development, assembled the construction documents, bid it out and then handled it off to some unknown contractor to build? How often do we do this?...

Click the podcast player button above to listen or subscribe to the show on iTunes . This week on the Entrepreneur Architect Podcast, I have a very special guest. He's a friend of mine and a rising star in the profession. Elected as the current president of the American Institute of Architecture Students in December of 2013, I met this man at a small reception following my speech at the organ...

Click the podcast player button above to listen or subscribe to the show on iTunes . Sylvia Montgomery is a senior partner and head of the Architecture, Engineering and Construction practice at Hinge Marketing. When she's not traveling around the country for speaking engagements or client meetings, you will find Sylvia creating marketing and branding strategies for clients, supervising her A/...

Last winter, the founder and CEO of Charrette Venture Group, Matt Ostanik contacted me and inquired about my interest in being a jury member of his new Architecture Business Plan Competition. I receive emails and requests all the time asking me to buy things or participate in surveys or to join a networking group or just notification that I am a winner of the million dollar grand prize. So when Ma...

There is an invisible force occurring with every project we start and it is working against us. It’s working against me. It’s working against you. It is working against every small firm architect, at a very rapid pace. You need to get things done before it shows up and finds your client. This week on the Entrepreneur Architect Podcast, I will share my experience with the I.P.S., also k...

In this episode of the Entrepreneur Architect Podcast, I talk about my goals for 2015 and how I will accomplish each one. Please review this podcast on iTunes. Referenced in the Episode The Total Money Makeover: A Proven Plan for Financial Fitness by Dave Ramsey (book) EntreLeadership: 20 Years of Practical Business Wisdom from the Trenches by Dave Ramsey (book) Zig Ziglar’s Wheel of Life Pl...

As the new year quickly approaches, we hear the annual recommendations for planning our year ahead. Every magazine and blog is running an article about how to plan for 2015. Although stating long term goals and planning for their success is important, I suggest that planning your week, every week, will put you closer to your desired target when this time rolls around again next year. This week on...

As Entrepreneur Architects, we are all leaders. Whether we are running a firm of 1 or 100, it is leadership that will determine the success or failure of a firm. It does not matter how bad the economy gets or how your opportunities may have been reduced by circumstances outside your control. The fate of your firm sits squarely in your hands. It will be your vision, your decisions, your words and y...

The passion required to overcome the fear and uncertainty of launching a start-up business is a very powerful emotion. It's what takes us from business-owner architect to Entrepreneur Architect. It's what gets us out of bed every morning and keeps us going years later. Passion for what we do though, will only take us so far. To become a great firm, a truly great business success, we must...

Once per month, my friend Bob Borson at LifeofanArchitect.com organizes a group of bloggers to write on a specific topic. The series is called #ArchiTalks. Search for it on Twitter or on EntreArchitect.com and you will find links to all the other posts from the series. This is a day in the life of Mark R LePage; November 26th, 2014. Happy Thanksgiving! Please review this podcast on iTunes. Referen...

As small firm architects, we are all wearing so many hats. We have so much going on in our lives. As Partner in Charge of Operations at my small firm Fivecat Studio, I am CEO, COO, CFO, President, Director of Architectural Services, Architect, Project Manager, Office Manager, Book keeper, Receptionist and custodian and thats just at work. How do we get it all done? There is a secret to getting eve...

This week on the Entrepreneur Architect Podcast is a registered Architect based in Allentown Pennsylvania. He has worked in the architectural field since 1993, specializing in high-end residential architecture. Published in a variety of professional journals and magazines, Doug Patt worked on projects that have received American Institute of Architects (AIA) and Builders Awards in residential arch...

A few week back, I traveled to the west coast of the United States to attend The Equity by Design Symposium organized by a committee of AIA San Francisco called The Missing 32%. The event was well attended (in fact it was sold out) and very well produced. It was a day filled with thought provoking seminars and workshops focused on the disparity between men and women in architecture. This week our...

This week on the Entrepreneur Architect Podcast, I have the privilege to be speaking with a man that may have some answers for students and professionals regarding IDP, the AIAS and the future of the profession. As a former assistant director of the Intern Development Program (IDP) for the National Council of Architectural Registration Boards (NCARB) and as the new Executive Director of the Americ...

This week on the Entrepreneur Architect Podcast, Bob Fisher of DesignIntelligence and I have a fantastic conversation about how small firm architects may succeed through storytelling. Another submission to the #ArchiTalks blog series, this episode is being published simultaneously with many other #ArchiTalks blog posts from all over the internet. Scroll down to the bottom of this post for links to...