Rich the Architect

While my wife prepares for her ballet school's production of the Nutcracker, I was able to sit down with her to talk about her school, the Williamstown Ballet Theater, and her upcoming show.  We also talk about how she started the ballet school and the ways it differs from the dance school she owned and closed a few years ago.   Then we dive into the challenges we both face as being marr...

In this episode Matt Auterson of the Bill Mervin Team at Apex Home Loans visits with me.  Matt is the Business Development Manager for the Bill Mervin Team, which is a mortgage lender that serves Southeastern Pennsylvania and South Jersey.  Matt and I cover a number of topics which include providing the best possible service for your customers, focusing on yourself and not your competiti...

In this episode I go over three common questions I get from new or potential clients on a project.  These three questions are: How much will the project cost How long will a project take What services can a client provide in a project Not only do I go into detail of various factors for each topic, I also add some real world examples from my projects in the past.  Enjoy and please take a...

The second interview I did during my town's arts and crafts fair was with John Lorenzo of Two Two Creative.  Two Two provides marketing and graphic design services, primarily serving the South Jersey and Philadelphia region.  Besides graphics and marketing, they also are a full service print shop, producing print media both large and small for their clients.  John and I discuss the wide range of s...

The town I live in, Williamstown, NJ, had a town fair recently, which I got a vendor table at.  During the day I setup my podcast equipment and sat down with two different guests.  My first guest I sat down with is Cody Miller.  Cody has been on town council the past few years, and here we chat primarily about the town's redevelopment plans, along with other opportunities for growth...

I traveled down to Avalon, New Jersey to one of my projects completed a few years ago and sat down with my client, Chas Peruto.  We primarily discussed two projects we worked on at the Jersey shore, along with how Chas got to the point of managing these projects, and what he's doing now with his new company Peruto Custom Homes.     There was a minor audio issue during the first...

I just purchased new equipment to record the podcast and in this episode I'm trying out the new toys.  From here on out there will also be a video of the podcast on my firm's Youtube channel, Dauntless Design Collaborative.  I'll have a playlist for the podcast episodes in the near future so you can check out the videos as well.    As for this episode, I go into how years of ex...

Before I had my own firm, I worked for a larger architecture firm who worked on high rise projects.  One project I work on was a 30 story residential condominium project.  One of my tasks for the project was to solve an issue with the stair wells in the building.  In this episode I go through the process of what this issue was, and how I came to the solution for the project. 

I just started working with a local Marketing Services Firm, Two Two Creative in helping me to market the firm.  In this episode I first cover my thoughts of how to market the firm prior to my first meeting with Two Two Creative.  I then follow up with a segment of my thoughts after my initial day long meeting with John.  John was a guest of the show back in Episode 11.  You can listen to that epi...

I've been getting away from doing an episode on the personal side of my life, so this episode i touch on my hobby of keeping chickens.  It was also a good time to jump into this since my town is about to launch a backyard chicken program, which I volunteered to be a member of the committee that reviews applications for a license to keep chickens in town.

The first step I'm taking in ways to look how to grow the firm are the main positions I'm considering filling.  As I have been looking into these positions i realized that in order to find people who are a good fit into the company, I need to define what the culture for the company is for what I'm trying to build.  If you would like any more information in these positions, please visit m...

With consistently keeping busy, I've been thinking about growing the firm and bringing new people into it.  Problem is I'm not sure which way to grow.  In this episode I discuss a few sections of the business where it might make sense to bring someone in to grow that specific area.  

The Hidden Sands Brewery was a different type of brewery project in that I didn't work on the inside of the brewery at all.  The client had fired the previous architect and needed to get drawings for railings that were leading up to the brewery entrance.  

This episode launches a new series of episodes related to breweries and the potential cannabis industry in New Jersey.  In this episode I talk about my project experience with the 13th Child Brewery here in my home town of Williamstown, NJ.  

In a recent marketing push, I've started to provide some free services when the situation makes sense.  I discuss two recent situations where I applied this approach for one project, and probably missed out on another project because I didn't.    

Every now and then I start thinking about starting a new business.  I guess it's the entrepreneur spirit (or disease) of owning a business that gets me thinking about this.  Recently I've had an idea for a business that is stuck in my head, so I decided to free that idea and discuss it in this episode. 

In this episode I speak about factors involved in designing a shore house. Specifically how it relates to the flood elevation at the location being designed for.  

Recently my team finished up the drawings and specifications for a high school auditorium renovation project.  In this episode I cover how I got hired for this project and each of the steps that were taken to take this project from an idea the school had to the finished drawings.  

A common question I see in an architects group I’m a member of on Facebook, Entrearchitect, is how do you determine your fees. I cover how I came up with my fees in this episode, and also how I modify the fee while I’m negotiating with a potential client.

Back for another podcast since being pretty busy the last few weeks with some updates with what I've been doing, a move I'll be making in the new year, and a new segment I'm calling the secret sauce.

I talk about a past project that ended up being a great looking project when all was said and done, but the relationship between the client and myself deteriorated to the point where I ended up walking away from the project.

Lately I've been super busy, but at the same time, I've been getting burned out. In this episode I first admit that I'm not too motivated but then begin to talk myself out of this rut. I also cover how someone I met a year or two ago passed on hiring me, but now has hired me for a new project.

I had an interview with a local business network where they asked for marketing advice. I mentioned that one way to expand your business is to hack the existing services you already have. In this episode I explain what i mean by that concept.

Back from vacation and finally getting back in the swing of things. When marketing in any form I now have an approach that there are two main service categories first, which then all subcategories fall under.

In this episode I give an update of what’s been going on the past couple weeks. I also touch on dwelling on the past, and it’s negative effects.