'Mid-Career' is hard to define. If you find yourself between 'Emerging Professional’ and retirement planning, these events are made for you!

Wherever you are on your career journey – in the AEC industry or not – all are welcome. Bring a friend and let's recharge our professional batteries and elevate our careers together!

Questions / suggestions: contact Shawn Mulligan - shawn@designclarity.co

Join us for coffee! — Bi-monthly, third Wednesday of the month. Keep up with Mid-Career Professionals events on our calendar here.

Past Meetings:

9.15.26

Back to School

You're as young as you'll ever be.
And 'growth' never stops - it just shifts as years go by.

This month, in honor of back-to-school season, AIA Central Virginia's Mid-Career Coffee group met at Studio IX to teach each other about something we're excited about: a skill, a tool, an insight, or just something that helps us hold work and life together.

Each story was a small window into lifelong learning.

Rachel Shelton, AIA (Pella Corporation) is learning to love golf, the challenge, the pursuit of excellence, plus "meeting new people lights me up." As does supporting Leashes of Valor, which trains rescue dogs as service animals for veterans.

Adrienne Stronge (The Gaines Group, PLC) is all-in on building a better firm. As COO, she's strengthening firm culture, solving the challenges of growth, while developing staff into leaders. She's excited by the results: they're growing, on track for a great year, which means increasing staff pay - and engagement.

Reed Muehlman (Dialogue + Design Associates) is cooking-up a Creator Hub to spark innovation for the young and the young-at-heart. Maybe at a rural crossroads, or tied to his love of mountain biking. He's ok with being in the "not yet known phase."

Jeffrey Boynton (i5 Lighting Collaborative) is growing his new lighting-design business while feeding his other passion: movement. "I'm waking up every day to just pay attention to what's happening" - tuning himself, and his clients, to their own base current.

Candace Smith (candace m.p. smith architect, pc) is practicing mindfulness with a group, learning to let go of expectations and attachments, and stay in the moment.

Alec Woletz, AIA is growing his solo practice; Jim Tocci (Candid) is building the Charlottesville Architect + Builder Exchange; William Abrahamson, AIA, CPHC is learning from life, kids, and adventures; and Whitney Hudson, AIA is enjoying her new job!

I shared about the Future of Business & Practice report The American Institute of Architects (AIA) Strategic Council group is wrapping this month, and the joy of learning from people striving to solve real problems in their work and life.

The conversation ranged, from inspirational podcasts, to how to be better for our families and kids, and the growing pains of living a full life. Seek guides (peers, mentors, coaches, books) and don't let the inevitable mistakes turn toxic in your mind.

And I also shared some news:

Creating and running this group for nearly three years has been one of the highlights of my AIA service. At the end of the year, I'll be stepping down - and I'm looking for the next person, or people, to lead it.

Someone said, "Harmony is an indicator of things working well."

These conversations give me that: harmony, presence, connection, and joy. I wish the same for you, your team, and the people you love.

If you're mid-career and craving this kind of support - join us on October 21.

Read Shawn’s post on LinkedIn here.

9.4.26

Beach Reads

I never expected a book conversation with architects to run over-time - or get so deep!

June's AIA Central Virginia Mid-Career Coffee (at Studio IX) was supposed to be a casual chat about books and great beach reads. But it turned into a two hour chat on parenting, purpose, remote work, and how to stay inspired.

I brought a bag of books that helped shaped my thinking - many recommended by AIA Virginia's Leaders in Architecture & Business (LAB) presenters - to kick us off, on:

But the books were just the beginning.

We got into the important stuff: Why architects should think of our work as advisory services - not just fee-for-service design. How a fully remote office can both fuel and challenge a firm's growth. Listening to audiobooks while doing .. everything! The messy jumble of work, kids, and actually having a life.

Parenting is always part of it. Someone said our job is to give our kids "the skills they need to live full lives" because soon enough "they'll be thrown to the wind" in lives of their own. It was a good reminder that this season of intense parenting is short, and it ends. Enjoy it. Prepare them. And prepare yourself for what comes when they're gone.

As many of us step into bigger roles on bigger stages - leading, volunteering, building things we hope people will love - good books are signposts, guides, and relief.

Here are a few we recommended, in no particular order:

  • Dungeon Crawler Carl, Matt Dinniman

  • The Murderbot Diaries, Martha Wells

  • The Starless Sea & The Night Circus, Erin Morgenstern

  • The Searcher & The Hunter (Cal Hooper), Tana French

  • Anything by Raymond Chandler (The Big Sleep)

  • The War of Art, Steven Pressfield

  • The Fourth Turning, William Strauss & Neil Howe, and

  • The Fourth Turning Is Here, Neil Howe

What's on your reading list this fall?

Read Shawn’s post on LinkedIn here.

10.15.25

Time & Money

AIA Central Virginia Mid-Career Professionals met at Studio IX to talk "Time & Money" this week, and the group was ready for it!

At mid-career, we navigate choppy waters: increased professional demands, childcare, aging parents—and the elusive hope of time for ourselves! Add career transitions, layoffs, empty nests, and new babies to the mix, and it's clear we're managing more than projects—we're making profound life transitions while trying to run profitable practices.

The group discussed some hard truths:

➕ Perfectionism is our enemy. We make this harder than it needs to be.
➕ We've got to get better at talking about money. Fast.
➕ Additional services can cause conflict that we'd rather avoid.
➕ "It's harder to sell the value of a process, than the cost of product."

And the challenges that hit home:

⭕ Clients are rarely honest about their budget ...
⭕ Which sets our fees too low for the project we end up designing.
⭕ Late-stage changes wreck good plans & sap goodwill.
⭕ Some clients misunderstand our value & service - that's on us.

But that's where it got good! We discussed strategies we use that work, and some we've adapted from other creative fields like software development, consulting, product design & film production:

✔️ Value-Based Pricing & Options: Offer clients a range of services and options. Let them choose the level of support they need and can afford.

✔️ Agile Sprints & Time-Boxing: Work in 2-week sprints with defined deliverables. When time's up: submit it, iterate once (max 5 days), or stop. No more endless refinement.

✔️ Minimum Viable Product (MVP): Deliver just enough to get clear feedback on scope, quality, and cost alignment—then proceed. Stop perfecting in isolation.

✔️ Pre-Production Investment: Spend MORE time upfront aligning the team around priorities, timeline, and expectations. A paid pre-design phase clarifies scope and budget before committing to fixed fees.

There are as many ways to practice as there are architects—and we're constantly innovating. Let's learn from other industries, value our time, get paid for our expertise, and "pay ourselves first" so we bring our best, most creative selves to work each day—and can actually go home and live our lives.

Ultimately, we want:

💡 Architects well-paid for their work,
💡 Clients thrilled with the outcome, and
💡 Builders equipped to give solid feedback & build it right the first time.

To get there, we have to get aligned on services, fees, and expectations BEFORE diving into the fun stuff. It prevents headaches, sleepless nights, and resentment.

Thanks to everyone who brought their challenges, strategies, and honesty to the table. These conversations matter.

2.19.25

Love and Design

In the spirit of Valentine's Day, we're talking about "Love and Design". What are you passionate about? What charges your battery or lights you up - is it your team, serving clients, sales, mentoring, design? Is there room for "love" at work? We'll discuss what excites us, and how we foster and maintain that spark, in and out of the office.



12.5.24

Year in Review

As we wrap up our first year serving AIA CV Mid-Career Professionals, we'd love to catch up and celebrate. We'll toast our wins, chuckle at our flops, and brainstorm ways to help each other shine in '25!



10.3.24

Changing Seasons

This month we're talking about 'seasons' - in life, work, and everything in between. As Fall brings new weather, food, routines, and foliage, it's a great time to reflect on the cycles of life and how they impact us, the people we love, and the work we do.



6.26.24

Conflict and Communication at Work - with HR Expert!

We’re excited to welcome Human Resources expert Amanda Moxham to answer your pressing questions and delve into the complexities of the ‘human side of work.’ From adeptly managing conflict to navigating change, fostering trust, handling difficult conversations, and mastering influential communication, Amanda’s expertise will provide valuable guidance.



4.17.24

Q&A with two local Fellows! 

Alison Ewing FAIA (HEDs) and Doug Gilpin FAIA (W. Douglas Gilpin FAIA Architect) will join us to reflect on their careers and answer our questions.

2.21.24

How to approach - and enjoy - change.

12.6.23

Launch: Mid-Career Professionals!

This month, mid-career professionals from our Chapter met in a daylit gallery at Jbird Supply Coffee Roaster in Studio IX to kick-off our newest program, the ‘Mid-Career Professionals’ group. This ‘pilot program’ builds on the work of the AIA Virginia Mid-Career Taskforce and Mid-Career Roundtables, to give members a venue to discuss the joys and challenges of balancing work and life in one of its most demanding seasons. Our goal is to build a thriving community for Mid-Career members and try out different meeting formats to help inform program development at AIA Virginia.

The group’s far-reaching and engaging conversation about our paths in the profession, successes and challenges, and what a group like this can provide yielded a number of themes and take-aways we’ll explore in our next few meetings:

  • Comparison is the thief of joy - especially if you’re always ‘looking up’.

  • Who can you look to for advice, or a model - especially when you’re unfulfilled, overwhelmed, or stuck?

  • There are many paths to a good destination - but we have fewer choices ahead than behind.

  • How do you get ‘back in the game’ if you’ve been in ‘the safe lane’?

  • Community is what you make it!

After we met, almost half the attendees emailed me with ideas for future meetings and excitement about the possibilities of the group. It’s also encouraging that this group wants to keep ‘finding and celebrating joy’ at the center of our work together. I couldn’t agree more!
Thanks to all who attended, especially Allied Member Jeremy Boynton with Lighting Virginia, who donated the space!