Have you been wanting to specializeand discover how it could change your career trajectory? Andy tells his story on how finding his niche led him to the successful firm he has now.

In this episode of The Young Architect Podcast, Architect Andy Roehl shares his journey on how he founded his firm Moonlight Architecture and the story behind the name. Surviving the recession of 2008 was no easy feat and Andy is here to tell how he creatively used his niche to create a successful and flourishing firm. 

After Andy found his path to licensure in Maryland, he didn’t stop there! Since he works on projects all across the country, Andy continues to seek licenses (through reciprocity) in all the states where he is working. He is now licensed in 26 states and has no plans to stop seeking additional licenses. In this episode, you’ll learn that several states have

You’ve been living and working in Dubai for many years. How has the city shaped the way you approach design?
When I first came to Dubai in 2007, it was a very different place. I was also relatively junior with only 3 years of conservative professional experience under my belt,  having worked solely on refurbishments and new buildings within conservation areas in London. Alongside this, Dubai was in a pre-recession boom. Developers had a fairly open budget and too many projects aspired to be “iconic”. It was stimulating but immature and deep down we all knew it couldn’t last. There needed to be a stronger sense of purpose, more consideration to the public realm and to the sustainability of the industry as a whole. The design process was a lot more time consuming at the front end, with many hours spent in the office doing “all-nighters” to produce thousands of

Are you searching for direction on how to elevate your personal platform to the next level?

In this episode of The Young Architect Podcast, Caelan Huntress joins us to share his expert knowledge on marketing yourself. He describes the differences between a personal brand and a business brand. He explains what a personal statement is, how it’s different from an elevator pitch and why it is so effective and essential for marketing yourself.
While working as a web designer, Caelan has traveled all over and he discusses how impactful networking can be. Meeting people and networking can be done in so many creative ways, including finding your local Business Networking International (BNI) Group.

After listening to this episode of the Podcast head over to marketingyourselfbook.com to claim a free chapter of Caelan’s book and sign up for his newsletter to receive more tips, tricks and advice on marketing yourself and

How much persistence do you have when it comes to achieving your goals?

In this episode of The Young Architect Podcast, Brian Johnson discusses the importance of persistence when it comes to achievement.

The main thread in Brian’s story is never giving up and taking it step by step to reach your dreams. While in Architecture School, Brian learned about treehouse design and became determined to work for Tree House Masters. He pursued a job there relentlessly and continually worked toward his goal.

Hear his amazing story of how he reached out to them over and over again, taking a creative and passionate approach, which eventually landed him the position he had been working toward. He was thrilled. Check out his reaction here! He later went on to work on this tree house featured on Tree House Masters on Animal Planet!

Later, Brian put his persistence to work again; this

Ahhh, the holiday season is here!

It’s been a couple of years since I’ve done a holiday gift guide.

But recently I went through ALL of my Amazon purchases and picked out what I thought could help you choose some the best gifts for Architects or gifts FROM an Architect. 

All of the items mentioned below have been used and vetted by me (Michael Riscica) personally. These are gifts that I strongly recommend.

To make this guide easier to navigate, I’ve broken them into the following categories:

*Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links that I may earn a small commission on at no additional cost to you.

Architect Home Gifts

Record player 

Audio-Technica Record Player

I own 2 record players, but this is my favorite mainly because of the automatic start and stop. 

You’ll need some speakers for that record player so here is a link to a beautiful

Are you worried it’s too late or you’re too old to become a Licensed Architect? Evan Berger is here to tell you that it’s NOT!

In this episode of The Young Architect Podcast, Evan tells his inspiring story of making the decision to quit his job delivering pizzas in order to dive head first into architecture school. He took this all on while raising his son. Evan explains how having his child watch him go through the process of Architecture school, Graduate school, AXP and the AREs made becoming a licensed Architect even more special. 

He also shares how he got into volunteering and how it has benefited him personally and professionally. He started as an associate director of AIAS Albuquerque, which eventually led him to becoming the licensing advisor for the State Of New Mexico.

Tune in to hear why Evan thinks anyone can become an Architect if they

Are you looking for a way to bring in some extra money outside of your current full time job? Do you wonder how to make your side hustle, or passion project into a profitable business? Let’s talk all about how to make it happen with Nick Loper!

In this episode of The Young Architect Podcast, Nick Loper from Side Hustle Nation shares all the creative ways he has made money over the years, and even shares the inside scoop on some of his business plans that didn’t work out. 

Nick tells us his story about working his corporate job for several years while running a few side hustles in his spare time and how he eventually left corporate America to follow his dreams of entrepreneurship. Tune in to hear how Nick made it through the recession of 2008 and has grown his business following all the twists and turns

Ahhh, good ol ‘Black Friday…

Last year, I curated a list of all of the best discounts for ARE Prep during Black Friday.

(When I say best — I mean great discounts AND products I would personally endorse because I’ve used them and seen others benefit tremendously). 

When I previously provided a list like this, it went VIRAL. People said, “THANK YOU Mike for putting this together. You’ve saved me SO much time (and money) by doing this round up!”

Here’s an overview of the products featured this year/ Act quickly to take advantage of these time sensitive deals…

Happy Thanksgiving everyone.

*Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links that I may earn a small commission on at no additional cost to you.

The ARE Boot Camp
Since 2015, Young Architect’s ARE Boot Camp has helped thousands of Emerging Professionals become Registered Architects. 

You are an ideal candidate for this

Why did you choose to study Digital Transformation as a Master’s degree?
We are in the information age, and I can say with certainty that it is still in its infancy. Organisations find themselves again at the cusp of profound technological increasing influences and changes, the internet has disrupted age-old industries at the same time as giving rise to completely new ones. 

I always believed that the same technology can succeed in one organisation while significantly failing in another, as it does not depend on the technology itself but on the complex interactions between the organisations and technology. These complex interactions in terms of people, process, organisation structure, and technology is what I strongly sought to learn and understand, as well as the various factors an organisation considers when constructing a digital strategy.  The programme I chose looked at digital transformation in diverse ways and through different interconnections while also

Estimated reading time: 5 min

While there is not one universal definition of what a high-rise is classed as, according to the International Building Code (IBC), ‘a building is considered a high-rise when there is an ‘occupied floor’ more than 75 feet (roughly 7 stories) above the lowest level of fire department vehicle access’ (1).

The first example of a high-rise building was recorded in 1884. It was constructed by William LeBaron Jenney for the Home Insurance Company in Chicago, Illinois and sat at a grand 180 feet or 12 stories upon completion. Since then the concept has flourished, and there are now over 25,000 buildings over 7 stories across the globe- approximately a quarter of which are located in China alone (2). Though this may be surprising at first read, when the purpose of the high-rise is considered, the fact becomes a given.  

This is