Over the last decade, I’ve worked closely with both architects and engineers - and if you sit where I sit in finance, you start to notice patterns pretty quickly.
They’re both essential - smart, hardworking, and critical to getting a project across the finish line. But they think very differently about value, output, and money.
Architects, in my experience, lead with vision. They care deeply about the design, the experience, how something looks, feels, and comes together. There’s pride in the work - and rightly so. The conversation is often about possibilities, beauty, and pushing the idea further.
Engineers approach things a little differently. They want to know:
Does it work? Is it efficient? What’s the most logical way to get there?
And those differences show up clearly when you bring finance into the picture.
Architects often see cost as something to work around or manage. Engineers tend to build cost into the equation from the beginning. There’s a natural focus on efficiency, optimization, and measurable output.
As someone wired for performance, margins, and accountability, I’ll admit - I naturally gravitate toward the engineering mindset. It aligns closely with how I think about results. But I’m also deeply artistic at my core. I can get completely absorbed in an art project, losing track of time, chasing the details, wanting a painting to come together just right. I still love Picasso’s quote, “Every child is an artist. The problem is remaining one when we grow up.” I’ve held onto that. And because of it, I understand the pull of the creative process, which is exactly why I’ve come to appreciate both sides even more.
Which makes this season of life especially meaningful.
My son is starting his second year at Wake Tech, with hopes of transferring to NC State for Civil Engineering. And in a lot of ways, this path feels like it’s been building for a long time.
When he was two, he wanted to be an architect. I still remember his daycare teacher laughing and telling me she had to Google how to spell “architect” so she could label his self-portrait - because most kids his age were drawing themselves as firefighters or police officers.
By third grade, he had shifted to wanting to be a structural engineer. His teacher smiled during our conference and told me her brother was a structural engineer - and that most third graders don’t even know what an engineer is, let alone a structural one.
The signs were always there.
He spent years building detailed worlds in Minecraft and Roblox, completely absorbed in how things came together. He understood, even then, the balance between vision and function. He could sit for hours watching YouTubers like Mark Rober, Practical Engineer, Real Engineering, and Smarter Every Day.
Looking back, it all lines up.
But what stands out most to me isn’t just his interest in engineering - it’s his work ethic. He’s driven, focused, and disciplined in a way that makes me confident that wherever he lands, he’s going to do great things.
And the more I’ve worked with architects and engineers over the years, the more I’ve come to appreciate that the best outcomes don’t come from one way of thinking.
They come from balance.
The strongest teams are the ones where big ideas are paired with practical execution. Where creativity is supported by discipline. Where vision and function push each other to be better.
So while I may naturally lean toward efficiency and results, I’ve learned to respect both sides.
And I’m excited to see where my son fits into that world - and what he builds next.
