We recently connected with Larry Paschall and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Larry , thanks for joining us today. What’s the kindest thing anyone has ever done for you?

I would say that, as a business owner, the kindest thing someone has done for me is respecting my time. That might sound strange to say because I like to believe that we all want to be conscious of others’ time and do our best to be mindful of the time of day or year in relation to that. However, I have colleagues whose clients, business partners, or employers have no concerns about contacting them at any time of day or night, expecting a response.

Being a sole proprietor, taking vacation time is an important way for me to disconnect and recharge. I have been fortunate that my clients understand this importance. In the past seven years, I have had only one project-related phone call, which was from a contractor who told me to expect a call from the client that never came. I even had a client chastise me for responding to a text during a layover on my way to Florida: “DO NOT TEXT ME ON YOUR VACATION!”

I don’t know if many of my colleagues are given that courtesy, and hearing their stories makes me more appreciative of the clients I have.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I am Larry Paschall, AIA, the Top Dog/CEO of Spotted Dog Architecture. We specialize in residential architecture, primarily focusing on additions and renovations for single-family homes. In addition to being a business owner and architect, I am the author of the blog “The Big Gay Architect” and co-host “The Architecture Geeks” podcast.

I always blame my stepmother for my interest in architecture. In the mid-70s, she was brave enough to pursue an architecture degree with four young children at home. More than once, I woke in the middle of the night and spent some time with her as she worked on a project. Unfortunately, architecture wasn’t welcoming to women at the time, and after being failed by a male professor, she decided to give up her pursuit. Somehow, I inherited her architecture supplies, including her drafting table. However, I was also one of four kids in a three-bedroom house, so I think my interest in residential design can also be traced back to a kid who simply wanted more space.

As a residential architect, I consider myself lucky to have families invite me into their homes and share their hopes for what their home can become. Most of my clients have been in their homes for some time and need to make changes to allow them to continue living there as their family grows.

I never assume that Spotted Dog will be the right fit for a client. Just as much as they are interviewing me, I am also assessing if I can see us working together as a team for the duration of the project and possibly beyond. In the past, I have witnessed what can happen when firms take on clients that are a poor fit for how the firm approaches their work. For a project to be successful, everyone needs to be on the same page, including the architect, owner, and contractor. For me, this results in liking my clients.

I also try not to take myself too seriously. My job is to listen to the homeowner and guide them to a solution that meets their needs. If there is an element they are insistent upon, I will do my best to present other options that might be better for the project. Yet, at the end of the day, the home must work for how they live. I met with a prospective client who fired their previous architect because they wouldn’t compromise on something important to the client. Their own aesthetic was more important than what the homeowner needed.

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

My former business partners and I launched a new architecture practice in January 2008, just in time for the great recession. Based on our workload, we had expected to grow to 7 to 10 people by the end of the first year. Instead, there were only four of us squeezed into 4000 square feet, like peas in a tin can.

At the time, the consensus around how to grow a practice was to simply do good work. Do good work. Have people see that work. Get more work to do. I’m not sure who came up with that marketing plan, but I can recall hearing it from the day I first started. There were also things that architects simply didn’t do. Marketing might appear tacky or beneath the profession if not done correctly, yet no one could tell you what that meant.

However, when the economy was tanking, we had to unlearn those habits quickly. The reality is that you cannot secure work if no one has any idea who you are. We embraced social media as it was beginning to grow, established our own business networking happy hour, and created a podcast. Other firms were certain that this wasn’t the way to go. However, we outlasted a number of those firms, and to prospective clients, we appeared as a much bigger and more established firm than we were.

We also had to unlearn how to sell our services to new clients. Previously, we would come in and do what we thought of as “the dog and pony show.” We’d showcase our portfolio, talk about our successes, and then ask what we could do. Despite that approach seeming to work in the past, it turned out that we knew very little about selling. Instead, we chose to take a sales course that completely transformed how we viewed clients and how we approached prospects.

Are there any books, videos, essays or other resources that have significantly impacted your management and entrepreneurial thinking and philosophy?

Two things had a significant impact on how I view management philosophy and entrepreneurial thinking. The first was the book “The E-Myth Revisited” by Michael Gerber. Reading that book opened my eyes to different managerial types and helped me understand which one was representative of me and my style.

The second was taking Sandler Sales Training. A colleague invited us to attend an introductory session with a local sales coach, and by the time we were finished, we knew this would be of great assistance in achieving our goals. The training we received during that time I have carried with me to this day.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://spotteddogarchitecture.com/#about
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/SpottedDogArch/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SpottedDogArchitecture/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/larrypaschall/
• Other: TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@biggayarchitect

Image Credits
The Headshot Credit: Beau Bumpass