Architect history
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March 2024
Begin Master of Science in Computer Science (MS-CS) at University of Colorado.
January 2024
Home renovation project featured on HGTV's Rico to the Rescue.
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2023
Architectural field trips to Mesa Verde, northern Arizona, southern Utah, the Badlands of South Dakota, and Door County, Wisconsin.
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2019-2022
Wrote a weekly quiz for architecture education provider Black Spectacles' online community.
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2019
Traveled regularly from Denver to Chicago to meet with other architects from across the country to create content for emerging professionals wishing to pass their licensing exams. Gained status as a Subject Matter Expert (SME) in my profession.
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2018
Started a freelance position at Hall Architects in Colorado Springs.
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2018
Officially started my design consulting practice by filing an LLC with the state of Colorado.
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2017
Started freelance job as a writer of Architect Exam prep materials. Tutored students one-on-one in test prep.
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2017
Yet another architectural field trip to NYC. This farm girl from the Midwest loves NY!
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2017
Passed all divisions of the Architect's Registration Exam (ARE) on the first try in just over 4 months. Granted license to practice architecture from the State of Colorado.
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2015
Architectural field trip to Chaco Canyon in northern New Mexico.
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2015
Architectural field trips to Taos, Santa Fe, and Albuquerque in New Mexico.
2015
Started a freelance position as a designer and consultant at Metamechanics in NYC.
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2013-2016
Finds Coursera platform and completes approximately 60 courses including a certificate program in Medical Neuroscience from Duke University.
2013
Inspired by my students, I read 100 books in one year to make up for not reading much of anything for a few years!
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2011
Founded my line of handmade beaded jewelry, Cassia Ione. Made custom earrings per customer requests while they waited at fashion shows.
2010
Started a new career at Summit Reading Center in Boulder, Colorado where I trained extensively and intensively in academic and speech therapies and tutored students from pre-k to adult in reading, writing, math, and spelling, many of whom struggled with learning due to ADHD, dyslexia and other neurodevelopmental delays. Became a fierce advocate and ally for struggling students of all kinds.
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2009-2010
Occasional work as a sales associate at Perpetual Clothing, a high-end consignment shop in the Highlands neighborhood of Denver. I filled in when the owner needed to take a break. I love fashion and I love helping people feel good so it was a lot of fun!
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2010
Selected by Lawrence Group to represent the firm in their proposal for designing housing at the Vancouver 2010 Olympics. At this time, LGA was a front-runner in shipping container design and I was one of the first architects in the country to pioneer this building type.
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2009
Promoted to Associate at Lawrence Group, the second youngest designer to achieve associate status at the firm.
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2008
Architectural field trips to Seattle, eastern Washington State, Utah, Las Vegas, and Los Angeles.
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2008
Became a homeowner and started slowly renovating my fixer-upper. The REAL education begins!
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2008
Acquired LEED AP credential from US Green Building Council.
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2008
Women's Bean retail store featured on HGTV's "Change the World".
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2008
One of the senior living projects I designed, Villa at San Luis Rey in Oceanside, California, was featured on NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams in a segment about sustainable design.
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2007
Guest juror at the University of Colorado Boulder and CU Denver architecture and design programs.
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2005
Moved to Denver, Colorado, and started a new job as a designer at Lawrence Group Architects/Josh Comfort Architecture.
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2005
Another architectural field trip to NYC.
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2004
Provided computer-generated imagery for Morningside College's fundraising video "This is our Moment."
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2004
Selected to be on a steering committee for wayfinding by the Siouxland Chamber of Commerce just in time for the 200-year anniversary of Louis and Clark's Discovery Expedition.
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2004
Architectural field trip to Los Angeles, San Diego, and the Baja region of Mexico.
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2004
Travels to Rome again along with visits to Bologna, Florence, Cinque Terre, Sienna, and Venice in Italy and Lugano, Switzerland.
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2004
Team member for the winning entry of the Iowa Great Places design competition.
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2004
Elected to secretary of the board of the Siouxland Growth Organization (SCGO), a young professionals group aimed at shaping the future of the community.
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2003
Featured in the National Council of Architectural Registration Board (NCARB) newsletter "Sioux City Six" which provided recognition for our group of young lady architects in Sioux City that banded together to help each other study for their license exams and learn their profession.
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2001
Architectural field trip to New York, New York.
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May 2001
Graduates with a Bachelor of Architecture degree from Iowa State University of Science and Technology, College of Design.
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December 2001
Starts first job post-college at Ruble, Mamura, Moss, Brygger Architects, later named Cannon, Moss, Brygger, and Associates.
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2000
Architectural field trips to:
- Monte Carlo and Barcelona.
- Paris and London
- Milan, and Pisa
- Vicenza, Verona, Parma, Padua, Todi, Perugia (my favorite), and Padua
- Hadrian's Villa
- Mousillini's EUR
- Amalfi, Ravenna, Naples, Positano, and Pompeii
January 2000
Study abroad classes begin including a phenomenal history class that was taught by a visiting professor from Yale. The class was taught while walking through the streets of Rome. at
December 1999
Travels to Roma, Italia to sightsee a bit before classes start in January. Eats, breathes and sleeps DESIGN for the next few months.
1999
Started job as an intern for Eldon Schroder, a well-respected civil engineer in Sioux City, Iowa to gain construction experience and familiarity with the structural engineering portion of building design.
E
1998
Travel to New Mexico to study indigenous architecture.
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1998
Architectural field trip to Montreal, Canada.
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1998-1999
Volunteer groundskeeper at Shelsler Hall, a women's shelter in Sioux City, Iowa.
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1998
Worked for The Door and Fence Store in Ames, IA as a contractor doing fine finish for rental properties.
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1996
Accepted into Iowa State University's Bachelor of Architecture program.
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September 1994
Completes entire semester's worth of AutoCAD coursework in 3 weeks and loves every bit of it.
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1991
Junior high shop teacher introduces me to tools and making things in shop class.
