'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:

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!