We were lucky to catch up with Sara Ngan recently and have shared our conversation below.
Sara, appreciate you joining us today. Can you open up about a risk you’ve taken – what it was like taking that risk, why you took the risk and how it turned out?
I don’t think I have ever been much of a risk taker in my life. I am a creature of comfort., especially with my personal life. I’ve worked at two large architecture firms in my life, before moving to the real estate development/client side. At the time, I didn’t realize how much this transition would change my own trajectory.
It was risky making this move at the stage I was at in my career. I was rather senior at the company, and had just completed a major project. I had established a great relationship and reputation within my firm and its clients, but I felt antsy. The 7-year itch was hitting hard! An opportunity came up to move to a young development company where I had a few contacts, and I decided it was now or never to make the move, and made the risky choice to pivot from my comfort zone to the development side.
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 am a trained architect, working at established firms for just over 16 years, primarily specializing in large scale, multi-family developments. I then moved to the development side, where as VP of Design and Development, I oversaw the analysis of prospective sites and design aspects of a nearly $1.5B portfolio. In this role,
I saw that there was such a disconnect with how different groups interacted and spoke with each other, and even though they had the same goals and intent, they still couldn’t understand each other. Development teams tend to be mostly financially focused /savvy (which is of course needed), design teams are focused on the building and programming, but aren’t necessarily understanding of cost and schedule implications of their design intent, but everyone’s end goal is the same, to have a beautifully designed and financially successful project that they can be proud of.
The intent of Fenix is to break down this language barrier for teams. I act as an external design director for development companies. I understand the design, carefully go through the drawings and presentations providing needed feedback to the design team, but also reviewing things against the schedules and budgets to ensure projects and their design work for everyone involved.
Have you ever had to pivot?
Opening up my own consulting company was a big pivot in my career. Owning your own company, betting on yourself is SCARY! I never thought I would have my own company, because I always loved being part of a team, and there are certain aspects (accounting, invoices, legal) that just aren’t what I wanted to focus on.
However, getting to bet on myself, and be proud of everything I’ve accomplished, and using that to fuel new sets of relationships has been an amazing experience.
We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?
I am a complete workaholic. I had time separating work from my personal life, or rather my personal time, and was raised to think that the more committed I was to firms and my projects, the more successful I would be. However, I wasn’t necessarily happy with where my personal life and knowing who I really was.
It has taken a lot of time and work on myself to understand that its not about working 24/7, it’s about giving your full focus when and where it’s important, but also taking time to take care of yourself. To have your own personal adventures and that’s ok.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.fenixdesignconsultants.com/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sara-ngan-aia-23486610
