Why Great Architects Need More Than Talent to Succeed with Nancy S. Weinman

0:02John Lee Dumas:Who's ready to rock today, Fire Nation? JLD here and welcome to Entrepreneurs on Fire, brought to you by High Level, the all-in-one sales and marketing platform. Today we'll be breaking down why great architects need more than talent to succeed. And to drop these value bombs, I brought Nancy S. Weinman into EO Fire Studios. Nancy is an award-winning architect and founder of the Weinman Architectural Services, blending design and construction expertise, while mentoring the next generation of architects to build confidence and careers. And today we talk about lessons from five decades where math meets art, the power of mentorship, and oh so much more.

0:36John Lee Dumas:And a big thank you for sponsoring today's episode goes to Nancy and our sponsors. Fire Nation, meet Hutworks, the number one boutique fitness franchise with 850 plus locations. They pioneered virtual workouts inside infrared saunas with recurring membership revenue, a low labor, high tech model in a proven franchise system, entrepreneurs gain a scalable business built for growth. Visit hotworks.net slash franchising to learn more. If you are building a real business, you need real infrastructure. High Level gives you website hosting, funnels, email marketing, automation, calendar booking, payments, and course hosting all on one platform, plus award-winning 24 seven support.

1:14John Lee Dumas:Get a 30 day free trial and my full bonus stack that includes a 15 minute private call with me and much more at highlevelfire.com. highlevelfire.com. Nancy, say what's up to Fire Nation and share something that you believe about becoming successful that most people disagree with. All right. Well, the one thing I think that is really the key to success and what most people's mind doesn't think about is your personal health. Now, it doesn't sound that important, but in the scheme of things, everybody is working hard, they're sleepless nights, running through deadlines, and all of that is very necessary, and I understand that.

2:02But at the end of the day, it's your personal health that will help you drive your decision making. It will help your creativity. It actually will help you sustain your energy. And if you have fewer sick days, well, then your efforts are not going to be derailed. So I understand that work demands sacrifice, but keeping yourself in check is probably the best way to ensure success. Like the exercise you do before a hard meeting or demanding a job site or demanding jobs, job site visit will absolutely pay off. Getting a good night's sleep in lieu of being part of the all-nighters will definitely pay off.

2:48And then grabbing those healthy snacks, I know it sounds a little juvenile, but that's what's going to give you real energy. And when you work and live as though you're going to be doing this for years, and I hope that for you, it will make you love not only your career, but you would just feel good all the time.

3:09John Lee Dumas:And Fire Nation, that's why the title of this episode is Why Great Architects Need More Than Talent to Succeed. And I want to dive into lessons from five decades, Nancy, because you spent nearly 50 years, that's five zero in architecture. So what's one lesson that you've learned the hard way that young architects often miss? So the one lesson I'm going to talk about is not only something I learned the hard way, but it's what architects don't really want to do, which is really bridging your vision of the piece of architecture with reality, meaning the budget, the constraints, the timeline. So when you have a brilliant idea, it's not really architecture until it gets built.

3:58It's actually probably more like a piece of art. So I can't tell you how many architects like complete a set of drawings and then they hand them off to their client and they go, well, sort of a good luck pleasantry. In lieu of that, you really have to make sure that it fits with the budget, fits with the constructability, and that that's not somebody else's problem. so it's the constraints that usually diminish the work in lieu of shaping it and that's wrong it doesn't diminish the work you have to take those things on but most importantly and this is the part that architects are not going to like you kind of have to put your ego aside it's like the enemy of your best work it's probably misunderstood as like confidence or conviction.

4:56But in fact, if you're subordinate to your client's needs or the project's needs or even the building needs, that's what we need to do because we are service providers. In fact, when we do a set of drawings and people say, can I have the set of drawings? It doesn't become their set of drawings. What's theirs is the service we provide. So the set of drawings is a service. We're service providers and we always have to keep that in mind and keep our clients happy, doing the right things. And that usually means putting your ego aside, which is harder for some people.

5:39John Lee Dumas:Nancy, I love that quote that you shared. And I actually want to repeat it right now for Fire Nation, which is ego is the enemy of your best work. So go ahead and wrap up that point because we get a lot to get to. Another great thing that I found is, which is talent gets you the commission, buildability gets you the next commission. Now, how important is that? You can, you can really impress people with all of your work and do the drawings, whatever, but if it can't be built and if you have issues in the field, suddenly you are projected as not the superstar. So you've really just got to get your feet wet and get into it.

6:18John Lee Dumas:Fire Nation, we're going to move on to where math meets art, because Nancy, you often describe architecture as the place where just that, where math meets art. So how do you balance creativity with the financial and practical realities of building? Math as a child was always just something I loved. I would run home and do the algebra problem. I don't know where that came from, but I just loved it. And so when I decided to become an architect from being a cellist, I'm like, well, it's perfect. I love math and I love art. And so we don't really balance them. I mean, I think that people used to view it as you're balancing the art and the math, but it's the integration of the two.

7:02And after enough experience, math and art, they don't feel like opposites anymore. They actually inform each other. Like a structural constraint forces a more creative solution. So what doesn't work with the numbers on paper might make you feel, think more creativity, more creatively to actually find a better solution. Or say a budget restraint requires you to change a building material. Well, that material may be the defining factor in your design. so I don't balance them anymore but these constraints have become my creativity and in fact when I have clients and we do a design and they go okay that looks great I love it it's almost like could you give me some more constraints could you challenge me more because I know I get better when I have more constraints.

8:01So a lot of my career was in my hometown, New York City. And in Manhattan, you don't just have a space constraint. What you have, it's not like a practical constraint. It's like the most expensive commodity on earth, square footage in Manhattan. I mean, you really, that pressure forces you to think in ways that unlimited space would never make you think. You find these solutions that are vertical, that are dual purpose, hidden structural efficiencies, and a more comfortable project wouldn't give you that. So, young architects always at the beginning go, ah, this constraint, ah, there's not enough space.

8:48somebody's asking me to get four rooms and 2 ,000 square feet. How do I do this? And suddenly, you just embrace it. So, a place like New York City, it didn't limit my creativity. I would say it really sharpened it. And that's what math and art does. It sharpens your creativity so that you can get to a better solution.

9:12John Lee Dumas:And that kind of moves us on to the power of mentorship because Because that's become a major part of your work now, mentorship. But so many architects struggle without strong mentorship early in their careers. Why is that? I think that maybe people don't think it's that available. Maybe they think it's more expensive. But the fact of the matter is, as an architect, there's probably one of the longest gaps of any other profession between learning and doing. So you go to architecture school, you do an apprenticeship, you take the exam. It's at least five years before you even start a project. And so you've never experienced now a failing building or a client changing their mind or the contractors finding these drawings unbuildable.

10:07So a mentor like myself, I'd love to close that gap. because architecture school really teaches you to design. It doesn't really teach you about the practice. So my mentors come to me and they really maybe don't understand how to get a client to pay them on time. It's kind of a basic thing. And there's a skill to that. Or they may not understand how important client relationships are, which is the basis of all successful projects. And so the questions that I hear, I'm a little bit taken back like, wow, yeah, you just started your professional business as an architect. You are not prepared for managing the client or sort of understanding the professional code that's unwritten.

10:59Or maybe you don't even understand what contract you should use or why or what's your responsibilities of an architect and where do those boundaries start and stop? that's really important because the clients that you pick up may have been in the field for a long time and you know how to dream you know how to design but you don't really know how to deliver like a project which is more than a set of drawings it's like I say it's a service it's taking care of your client and without showing you this could take years I mean I was I was working for a bank we were consultants to this bank and there was a woman about my age and she kept getting promoted she was on the bank side and she kept getting promoted and promoted and she told me that she had a mentor and it had never occurred to me to get a mentor I wouldn't have known even where to start to get a mentor but I would say that through that observation she definitely accelerated through that mentorship and I never had one and I know what it is to navigate alone because I mean it maybe gave me a lot of self-reliance and instinct but what it did was it made it harder and slower than it really needed to me to be because those being a mentor, I give the students or the newbies answers that are right there and you can't download them.

12:46You can't find them always online. And so it gives me great pleasure to be able to share and give people that information that's so key to a successful business.

12:58John Lee Dumas:And Fire Nation, a great mentor is you finding somebody who is where you want to be. I mean, mentorships played an amazing role in my life and my career where they're helping me really avoid the pitfalls because maybe they've experienced them or seen them time and time again so they can give that advice and also show the right path or make that right introduction or give even just that one piece of guidance that can make all the difference. So we're going to be talking about leading in a male-dominated industry, good versus great architects, and more when we get back from thanking our sponsors.

13:30John Lee Dumas:Okay, Fire Nation, let's talk about something every business owner should care about, making your cash work harder. High-yield savings accounts exist for a reason. Your emergency fund shouldn't just sit there losing purchasing power to inflation when it could be earning interest. The problem is most businesses don't have an easy way to earn on their cash, so huge amounts sit idle in checking accounts earning little to nothing. Waldo changes that. It gives small business owners, startups, nonprofits, and enterprises a way to put idle cash to work through a high-yield treasury account. With Waldo, you can invest in pre-built portfolios of treasury bills, investment-grade bonds, and more, with yields up to 5%, same-day liquidity, and extended SIPC insurance coverage up to$75 million.

14:10John Lee Dumas:There's no minimum deposit, and you don't have to change banks. Opening an account takes less than five minutes. Visit waldo.ai or use the link in the show notes to start putting your cash to work like big companies do. Use code EOFIRE when you sign up to receive a 1 % deposit match up to$1 ,000. See full terms and conditions at waldo.ai. Some businesses make money. Some make a difference. The best businesses do both. Imagine owning a business where people leave feeling better than when they walked in. That's Hotworks. Hotworks is the number one boutique fitness franchise combining infrared workouts, virtual instruction, a recurring membership model in a scalable proven system that's helping entrepreneurs grow successful businesses while making a difference in their communities.

14:55John Lee Dumas:And as entrepreneurs, we know how valuable it is to have a proven system to follow. Instead of starting from scratch, Hotworks gives franchisees and established brands a unique fitness concept and a business model designed to create recurring revenue. Hotworks has 850 plus locations, giving entrepreneurs the opportunity to join a growing brand while bringing something unique to their own community. Because building a successful business isn't just about the bottom line. It's about creating something you're proud of and making an impact along the way. You don't have to choose between purpose and profit.

15:23John Lee Dumas:With Hotworks, you can have both. Visit hotworks.net slash franchising to learn more today. That's H-O-T-W-O-R-X dot net slash franchising. Fire Nation, if you are building a real business, you need real infrastructure. That is why High Level is Entrepreneur on Fire's featured partner. High Level gives you a website builder and hosting, funnels and landing pages, email marketing, appointment scheduling, payment processing, course and membership hosting, and so much more. Everything you need to succeed all under one roof. No duct tape, no juggling five platforms, just one clean system for your business.

16:00John Lee Dumas:And their award-winning 24-7 support has your back when you need it most. When you sign up at highlevelfire.com, you also get my exclusive bonus stack, a 30-day free trial, a private 15-minute call with me, JLD, access to my weekly live office hours, a digital copy of my book, The Common Path to Uncommon Success, my 50 Days to Something Execution Roadmap, and more. Visit highlevelfire.com and start building your something today. Nancy, we're back. And as I kind of tease before the break, I want to talk about leading in a male dominated industry because you've built your career. And let's be honest, a highly male dominated field.

16:40John Lee Dumas:So how did that shape your confidence and leadership over time? Confidence in a male dominated field doesn't come as a gift. It's not like you have confidence or you don't have confidence. It's something that gets forged through resistance. Now, in my experience, confidence in a resistant environment is something you start building deliberately. It's almost like a muscle. So in a male-dominated world, I had lots of opportunities to work that muscle. so um i went into a meeting early on my career and um there was probably i think 26 other male project managers and i was being introduced we had a meeting so i figured all right i'll start out i'm going to go use the ladies room first and in this boardroom um on the floor of the boardroom there was no ladies room so i had to go downstairs somebody had to show me where it was it was only only a men's room came back to the table and I'm like all right now I'm kind of like in a different position and I kind of understand like my confidence is already being for stress tested because I'm like wow this is definitely a male world then people said oh hi who are you you must be your boss's secretary at the time.

18:08No, I'm actually one of you, like a project manager, and I'll be introduced later. And so these things kept happening, or like I would go into a job site and the electrician would say, ma 'am, I think you're in the wrong area. And I would say, no, actually, I just want to introduce yourself. I'm Nancy, I'm your new project manager, you know, and take it from there. So all of these things happened. And when these things happened, you're being, your muscle is being sort of stress tested, and then it becomes a little bit unshakable. So I couldn't just walk into a room and automatically command respect the way some of my male colleagues could.

18:54I had to earn it sort of every single time. And so that actually became my advantage. I led by competence, consistency, and credibility, but all that was built always over time. So I had to show up as myself, which I did. I was always polished, feminine, and it wasn't like a vanity statement, but it was just an identity thing that, you know what, I belong here and I feel confident about that. And when I say that and I sit down at the table, it bleeds into authenticity. And authenticity is a good leadership quality. Because when you try to become what the room expects of you, you kind of shrink and people sense that.

19:46But if you know immediately in yourself that you have the confidence and you do belong with these other 26 project managers, suddenly you can lead. And many times with that, that authenticity was something that I would bring to the other people that I worked with. So sometimes I would go to a job site and say, okay, you know, Paul, what's going on with this? and they would give me an answer that was not really an answer and they would be sort of back swimming and not giving me the information. So another thing I would bring into this as as much as well it pretty much became natural but I would bring humor into it and say listen Paul I like my information like my martini.

20:37I like it straight up. No lemon, no olive, just tell me what's going on Or if you need a day or two, that's okay too. So that authenticity and a little bit of humor is something that really helped me lead in a male dominated world because I think after a while they thought, okay, we're all together here. She's being honest. She's comfortable here. And now she's making me be honest. So it wasn't the power suit at the time. It wasn't those oversized shoulder pads, which I didn't like, or sort of like a manly briefcase. It was just me deciding to be me as I was and being authentic. And from that became the lead.

21:25John Lee Dumas:I want to move on to good versus great architects, because in today's markets, there's a separation there. And I really think that our listeners need to understand what that separation is. So what do you believe separates a good architect from a truly great one? There's no shortage of talented architects, but what's rare is wisdom. And how do you get wisdom? Okay, it takes time. It takes making mistakes, the constraints that I spoke of, and the willingness to stay in the game long enough to learn what talent alone cannot teach you. And what are those things. So one of the most important things is buildability wisdom.

22:08You need to know what you can deliver in real world constraints. Like I always consider the triangle of time, budget, and scope. And if you have, if something takes more time or money, you need to know how to flex the scope. If the scope flexes, you need to know, you know, what else can move. So buildability wisdom is important. But the second one, human intelligence, being able to read clients, managing fear, navigating expectations, teaching your clients, really teaching them, but listening to them and getting them involved. I mean, you're a shepherd for them to go through the process, especially if you're taking care of the construction piece.

22:57So getting close to your client and letting them be comfortable and letting them understand that you're here for them is so important. And the other piece is there's a lot of decisions and a lot of young architects don't know what to do with all those decisions. Like the decision is the client's, but what if they can't make the decision? Well, you really have to be a salesman and your enthusiasm about a decision one way or the other or the project itself but your enthusiasm my enthusiasm I know is contagious so if I get super excited about moving in one direction or the other I can always convince or my I could say I would say my client becomes convinced I'm not just convincing them I'm truly enthusiastic and so that enthusiasm that ability to shepherd a client and really knowing what can be built, that's what makes a great architect.

24:02John Lee Dumas:I love that one phrase you use is what's rare is wisdom. And Fire Nation, if you can just take away that wisdom comes from time, from experience, from being mentored by the right people, by putting in the reps. And Nancy, we've talked about good versus great architects, male-dominated industry, and how to lead within that, the power of mentorship where math means art, lessons from five decades. If Fire Nation wants to learn more about you, maybe connect with you, do you have a call to action for our listeners today where they can go and learn more? Absolutely. They can go to my website or Instagram to connect with me.

24:42So it's Wyman Architectural Services. There's website, there's phone numbers, there's emails, all the things.

24:50John Lee Dumas:Love it. If you could just in one sentence, give a takeaway from our conversation today, what would that takeaway be? What do you want our listeners to walk away with? Refuse to be a smaller person than you think you are in order to make people comfortable. So every compromise you make on who you are costs you more than any failed project will. So architects, entrepreneurs, leaders who build legacies, they show up completely and unapologetically. Like don't dress for the room if that's not who you are. I would say it's not your legacy you leave behind, but it's what you refuse to compromise along the way.

25:37John Lee Dumas:Fire Nation, you are the average of the five people you spend the most time with. You've been hanging out with NSW and JLD today. So keep up that heat. And for links to everything we talked about, just visit eofire.com. Type Nancy in the search bar, the show notes page, it'll pop right up with links to everything that she mentioned, her website, her social media, all that jazz. And Nancy, thank you for sharing your truth, your knowledge, your value with Fire Nation today. For that, we salute you and we will catch you on the flip side. Thank you so much. Hey, Fire Nation, a huge thank you to our sponsors and Nancy for sponsoring today's episode.

26:11John Lee Dumas:And Fire Nation, are you an entrepreneur who is looking to share your amazing message with the world? If yes, we're now accepting applications for EO Fire. So to learn more about becoming a guest, visit eofire.com slash guest. And I'll catch you there or on the flip side. Fire Nation, meet Hotworks, the number one boutique fitness franchise with 850 plus locations. They pioneered virtual workouts inside infrared saunas with recurring membership revenue, a low labor high-tech model in a proven franchise system, entrepreneurs gain a scalable business built for growth. Visit hutworks.net slash franchising to learn more.

26:46John Lee Dumas:If you are building a real business, you need real infrastructure. High Level gives you website hosting, funnels, email marketing, automation, calendar booking, payments, and course hosting all on one platform, plus award-winning 24-7 support. Get a 30-day free trial and my full bonus stack that includes a 15-minute private call with me and much more at highlevellfire.com. highlevelfire.com