Starting Your Own Architectural Business

Join AIA LA\EPs for a roundtable with five panelists to discuss their experiences starting their own firms and transitioning from employee to employer. Although each person’s career path is unique, some clear lessons learned can be gained from their experiences.

Starting You Own Architectural Business is for anyone working or studying in the Architecture and Design Industry who wants to learn the ways to start their own firm or business in this industry. Our panel consists of experienced architects and designers who started their own business in this industry. We will discuss the challenges and obstacles of starting a business in these fields and the ways to overcome them.

Speakers:

Poonam Sharma, Principal, LOC Architects

Poonam Sharma is a co-founder of LOC Architects, a multi-disciplinary, award-winning architecture firm that is based in Los Angeles since 2006. Poonam received her undergraduate degree in Literature from Scripps College in 1995 and her Masters of Architecture degree from the Southern California Institute of Architecture in 2001. Through an experimental and rigorous approach to design, LOC has received several design awards and publications nationally.

Julia Molloy Gallagher, AIA, Founder, JMGA

Julia Molloy Gallagher is a serial entrepreneur; she co-founded XLXS, the sustainable design collective with Taka Sarui in 2007, co-founded Future Goose real estate and film production company with actor and partner Anthony Aguilar in 2012, founded the licensed architecture and design firm Julia Molloy Gallagher Architecture PLLC in Brooklyn in 2017, and established Julia Ann Gallagher Architect, PC in Hawthorne, California in 2024.

Yong K Kim, AIA, Urban Design Director, RELM

YongKim, is a resilience-focused urban designer and co-founder of LVL Collaborative, an interdisciplinary design consultancy firm based in Los Angeles. With over 20 years of multidisciplinary experience in architecture, landscape architecture, and urban design, Yong brings a holistic design approach that fosters synergies among ecological resilience, urban systems, and cultural equity. He operates at the convergence of various scales and typologies, cultivating opportunities for integrated design processes and resilient design strategies. Yong received his BFA and BArch degrees from Rhode Island School of Design, and a MAUD degree from Harvard Graduate School of Design.

Christian Stayner, Founder and Managing Principal, Stayner Architects

Christian Stayner, a Principal of B-arn-S Architects, (AIA, NCARB, LEED-AP) received his undergraduate degree from Harvard College in 2005 and Masters of Architecture from the Harvard University Graduate School of Design in 2008. His work primarily focuses on cultural projects across several building typologies for organizations that work through arts to produce community change. Christian’s interest in the architect-as-developer model of practice enables a unique project-focus specialization in adaptive re-use and urban renewal. Additionally, as a licensed general contractor, he brings a builder’s perspective to the design approach for each project.

Luis Tena, Founder and Managing Principal of Luis Tena Design

Luis Tena founded his solo design practice, Luis Tena Design, in November 2019. Originally from Pamplona, Spain, he moved to Los Angeles in 2013 to work at WHY Architecture. Surfing, one of Luis’ main passions alongside architecture, inspired him to join Studio PCH, a boutique design firm in Malibu. This location allowed him to surf almost every day before work. Luis received his bachelor’s and master’s degree from the University of Navarre School of Architecture, and he is an Associate at The American Institute of Architects.

Barbara Aguirre, Project Coordinator, AC Martin, Inc.

Barbara attained her mechanical engineering degree from the University of California, Riverside, as well as two master’s degrees from the University of Southern California, in Architecture and in Building Science. Barbara uses her mechanical engineering background to help innovate and suggest improvements to meet sustainability and technical goals.

Learning Objectives:
Learning how to start your own firm.
Lessons Learned on starting own firm.
Legal considerations
How to leverage relationships for new clients