Luxury Home Décor: In 1997, I was offered a senior design position in HOK's San Francisco office. I wanted to work at a forward-thinking, international, multidisciplinary firm where I would be continually challenged. HOK was a perfect fit.

I remember being at a party with HOK people before I had even officially started. At some point a design director handed me a stack of material with the challenge to come up with a design concept for a high-rise in Jakarta. I spent the weekend researching the project and the region's culture and discovered that traditional Indonesian dance is architectural in nature. I developed a design inspired by the dance and shared it with the team that Monday. They loved it - and I knew I was in the right place.

After a year in San Francisco, I was offered the opportunity to lead the design for a biomedical research building for Emory University in Atlanta. I eventually was asked to serve as the director of design in launching HOK's new Atlanta office. I was in that position for the next seven years.

I am very proud of the practice my colleagues and I were able to build in Atlanta. We took a small group of people and elevated ourselves into a large, well-respected office. It was tough to leave, but I knew I was leaving the office in good hands.

In 2005, I returned to San Francisco as the office's director of design. I'm inspired by the atmosphere of innovation I see throughout the Bay Area and thriving at HOK.

The way the company has reorganized itself during my nine years is remarkable. I saw the word 'collaboration' move from an intent to a firmwide focus to now being standard practice. Next I saw 'accountability' lead to becoming a leader in Building Information Modeling.

Today, HOK has a new, loftier goal. Our current charge is to do the most significant design work in every location, practice area and market we're in. Because of the firm's flexibility and ability to synthesize our strengths, I'm confident that we'll succeed.

Courtesy HOK