In a recent post I introduced Stongwork Architecture’s newly refined and renewed Core Values. These Values are central to everything we do as a firm:
· Values serve as the guardrails for decision making.
· Values show up day-to-day as firm culture.
· Values guide our interactions with the world, community, and families.
· Values are the foundation for the firm’s Mission and Vision.
With Values at the core of our business, I thought it would be helpful to expand a bit on the foundations of these Values and how they show up at Strongwork. Today’s post focuses on:
Family first: We value time with our families and actively promote true work/home balance. This foundational, family first philosophy extends to our clients, colleagues, and community members.
Family History
In November 2014, I took leave from a perfectly good day job at a mid-sized architecture firm in order to be a stay-at-home dad for our 3-month-old baby boy. The idea was that I could share the primary parenting duties while also practicing my profession as a part-time stay-at-home architect.
By taking the leap off the workaday cliff into the abyss of primary child caregiver, I was following in my dad’s footsteps. He worked part-time at home during my childhood while my mom commuted back and forth to an office job. This arrangement is relatively common now, but back in the late seventies/early eighties, my parents were breaking ground.
Later, my dad started his own business and became the primary breadwinner. Later still, my mom went back to school, changed careers—and the roles flipped once again.
Architect and son on one of many blustery walks on the river in Portland
My parents showed me that the conventional rules of career and gender stereotypes are meant to be broken. Their example gave me the confidence to pursue my own vision for adult, career, and parent life. I feel extremely privileged to have been given the option to explore a wide variety of life paths, and to have partnered with a hard-working spouse who shares this Family First philosophy. I know not everyone is so lucky.
Family Foundations
Don't get me wrong, I learned first-hand that being at home with a baby as a primary caregiver is NOT EASY! Many days, after bouncing on a yoga ball for hours with a screaming baby strapped to my chest, I would have given ANYTHING to be strapped to an office chair at a desk in an office downtown.
My cap is off to those stay-at-home parents who are doing it on their own, or with little help from a partner or other support. You all are the true heroes.
Now, six and a half years later, the balance has flipped, the kids are older, and I'm doing more and more architecting and less and less full-time parenting. (I won't even start with pandemic parenting woes).
The point is, Strongwork Architecture was founded with a Family First philosophy. This philosophy underpins everything else we do.
Architect and daughter go paddle boarding on a Tuesday
Extended Family
But Family First is not just about my family, nor does it apply solely to folks who are participating in some version of the traditional nuclear parent-child familial arrangement.
Family First includes:
· Flexible work arrangement for employees
· Support in employee growth
· Values led by example
· Family-focused residential design
· User-focused infrastructure design
· Mutually supportive and beneficial relationships
Family First extends to our employees, clients, sub-consultants, and everyone else we interact with during the course of life and business.
Employees - If your kid is sick, stay home! If it’s nice out on a Tuesday and you want to go paddle-boarding, go for it! Yes of course the work still needs to get done but we can plan around the things we want and need to do. Life’s too short!
Clients - How can we help you achieve your goals and make smart decisions about how to leverage your resources? How can we help you re-configure your home as YOUR family grows and changes? How can we help you perform your critical functions more safely, comfortably and efficiently.
Sub-consultants - Do our Values align? Let’s develop a mutually beneficial partnership of support and learning.
Family Future
A key part of our firm Vision is to intentionally grow and nurture our key staff, client network, and sub-consultant relationships….aka, our Family.
If you are looking for work, check out our open positions on our Hiring Page.
If you are interested in collaborating with us as a client or consultant, please contact us.
We hope you will follow us as we grow, and perhaps join us as we work to Better Every Day.