We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Michael Muroff a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Michael Muroff, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today What’s been the most meaningful project you’ve worked on?

As an architect, I am blessed with the opportunity to design building and create spaces which shape the way people see the world. In that respect, all of our projects are “meaningful”. The projects I’m sharing in this article include a medical office, a multi-tenant professional office building, a hair & nail salon, a jewelry store, and my company headquarters. With the wide variety of buildings we design, we truly provide you with better spaces to live, work, and play.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

I think I “backed into” my industry. I was always good at math, art, and science, and I loved creating art and watching construction. Growing up, my plan was to be a Major League Baseball player, so I never considered any other professional choice. On a college visit/interview at Cornell University, the interviewer actually suggested that I look into Civil Engineering and Architecture. I took an internship in construction, and then one in architecture, and then I discovered an architecture firm that designed baseball stadiums and took that as a sign from the universe. One of the guys I worked with at that firm connected me with a world famous architect in New York named Peter Eisenman, and I took an intership with Eisenman Architects. That experience completely transformed my design skills and solidified my vision in the profession. I knew I wanted to design cool buildings that people could enjoy. I’m most proud of our firm’s reputation for being one of the premier design firms in the area, while also being humble enough to listen to our clients individual wants and needs, so that we create buildings that stand out in their environment and help our clients leave their legacy in the community.

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

I would say it’s working with and inspiring others to express their achievements through our work. We aim to help people leave a legacy in their community. We are a relatively small local firm – one office with 11 people, yet we work with Fortune 100 and Fortune 500 clients and compete with national firms who are much larger than we are. We are licensed in 18 states, and we have designed buildings all over the country. The buildings that we have designed include restaurants, medical offices, banks, shopping centers, law offices, photography studios, warehouses, multi-family buildings, community centers, schools, and single-family houses. We take tremendous pride in our work. We like the opportunity to be creative, apply our knowledge of the construction process, and provide designs uniquely crafted to our client’s individual needs.

Are there any books, videos or other content that you feel have meaningfully impacted your thinking?

I read quite a lot, so there are a ton of books that have influenced me over the course of my life. When I told people I was going to architecture school, everyone suggested I read Ayn Rand’s The Fountainhead. It’s a book about architecture, but it’s more about being true to yourself and your values and not compromising them to be popular or please critics. I have a variety of differing interests, and have never felt that I fit into a specific group, and this book allowed me to embrace that. Malcolm Gladwell’s The Tipping Point is another book that was so transformational for me. My biggest takeaway from this book was a chapter that talked about the need to find a way to stand out an express yourself in your profession. I credit this book with helping me understand more about myself and my profession, and I completely changed my approach to marketing my business after reading this book. A friend and mentor turned me on to Tim Grover’s Relentless: From Good To Great To Unstoppable a couple years ago. Tim Grover has worked with hundreds of high level competitors including Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant and made them even greater. His book is about achieving total mental and physical dominance in any aspect of life. He divides people into three groups – The Cooler, The Closer, and The Cleaner. His message is that a great leader knows the best way to get people to raise their performance is to put them where they can truly excel. Cleaners don’t block others from reaching the top; they bring them along with them. This book has inspired me to elevate the game of my teammates at work, and this has really helped to catapult our business.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.purdymuroff.com
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/purdymuroffarchitecture/
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/purdymuroff
• Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/company/purdy-muroff-architecture-inc