Q. Tell us a little bit about yourself.
I grew up here in Oregon and have always had a real passion for the northwest. I love the rain, trees, coffee and all the culture that comes with it. I went to college at University of Oregon and graduated with the first COVID class in 2020, and knew I wanted to stay here and design beautiful spaces in the area. I began my career navigating the world of interior design at a small architecture firm in Salem for close to two years. Now, I am a fully remote part of the workplace team at Ankrom Moisan, I live in Corvallis with my kitty Maddy, and come up to Portland once to twice a month to work in the office.
Q. What has your experience been like at Ankrom Moisan these first few months?
I’ve had the best time! I love the incredibly supportive environment between peers, coworkers and supervisors. I’ve never worked with so many other interior designers at one time and feel fortunate to be encouraged to do the work that makes the project successful and the work we are good at! Especially concept design. I also love the reassurance from my team to be involved in IIDA and be integrated with Oregon’s interior design community.
Q. Favorite moment at Ankrom so far?
I am a thrilled for the holidays and all the festivities, so I loved getting dressed up and going to the holiday party! It was so fun to see everyone with the black and white theme and having seasonal cocktails and food!
Q. As one of Ankrom’s first few fully remote Workplace Interiors Team members, how has it been?
I have felt set up for success since day one – I’ve been impressed from the beginning with how equipped AM is to support their employees in any environment!
I also felt like the process of integrating myself with my team was seamless (both workplace and the larger AM team). When I get to come visit and work in the office, I may not know everyone, but I’ve found it comforting that people are so warm and willing to introduce themselves. Say hi, even if we’ve met before, I love it!
Welcome to the team, Emily, we are lucky to have you!
Emily Feicht, Interior Designer
📸: Oregon Coast by Eric Muhr
📸: Holiday portrait by Evrim Icoz
Promotions Announcement 2023
Over the past year, we’ve accomplished a lot. From designing seven award-winning interior design & architecture works and completing one of the largest zero-energy affordable housing projects in the Pacific Northwest, to raising over $167,000 for Food Lifeline during the annual A.M. Trivia Night, Ankrom Moisan’s employees have been responsible for a year of immense growth and success.
For Exploring Beyond the Expected, 35 employees throughout our Portland, San Francisco, and Seattle offices received promotions in the last year. These outstanding employees include:
Executive Leadership
- Alissa Brandt, Vice President of Interiors – Portland
- Leah Wheary Brown, Vice President of Interior Design Strategy – Portland
- Emily Lamunyan, Director of Marketing – Portland
Principal & Director
- Casey Scalf, Director of The Society – Seattle
- Matt Janssen, Architecture – Portland
- Laurie Linville-Gregston, Architecture – Portland
Senior Associates
- Michael DiBiase, Architecture – Portland
- Clare Goddard, Interiors – Portland
- Stephanie Hollar, Architecture – Portland
- Nandita Kamath, Architecture – Seattle
- Megan Kim, Architecture – Seattle
- Amanda Lunger, Architecture and Practice – Portland
Associate Principals
- Jenny Chapman, Architecture – Seattle
- Scott Crosby, Architecture – Seattle
- Francis Dardis, Architecture – Portland
- John Eidman, Architecture – Portland
- Tania Feliciano, Architecture – Portland
- Cara Godwin, Architecture – Seattle
- Bronson Graff, Architecture – Portland
- Kimberleigh Grimm, Architecture – Seattle
- Rick Heiserman, Architecture and Practice – Portland
- Scott Hopkins, Architecture – San Francisco
- Jason Jones, Architecture – Portland
- John Schupp, Architecture – Portland
- Sean Scott, Architecture – Portland
Associates
- Hans Fagerlund, Architecture – Seattle
- Doug Grove, Architecture – Seattle
- Jessica Kirshner, Interiors – Portland
- Michael Lama, Architecture – Seattle
- Keith Larson, Practice – Portland
- Sakura Moriya, Interiors – Portland
- Annabelle Nikolov, Architecture – Seattle
- Melanie Pakingan, Architecture – Seattle
- Christie Thorpe, Interiors – Portland
Business Services
- Minh-Toan Vu, Junior Systems Administrator – Seattle
For all your hard work, it is our pleasure to say, congratulations. Thank you for being what makes Ankrom Moisan a top design firm and best place to work, not to mention a source of inspiration and community to many. We look forward to witnessing the heights you will reach in 2023.
by Jack Cochran, Marketing Coordinator
Living Our Hows (5 of 6): Share Openly
Ankrom Moisan takes our Hows very seriously. Our Hows are the values by which we work and play. This post explores Share Openly and is one of a six-part series that touches on our Hows and the way they come to life at AM. Stay tuned for future blog posts revealing more about AM’s Hows.
At Ankrom Moisan we highly value and prioritize mentoring relationships to share skills, create career growth and nurture our culture. Over the course of testing and establishing a mentorship program the past two-years, the most successful and beneficial mentorships embody leading and learning between both individuals. When a mentorship relationship is established without dedicated “mentor/mentee” roles, both individuals can remain receptive, which allows for open communication and knowledge sharing resulting in everyone’s growth.
Roberta Pennington, Senior Associate Interior Designer at Ankrom Moisan, has this to say about her experience with mentorship:
“My mentorship team consists of two people who are not related to my area of practice. With their neutral view, I was able to see my contributions to the team and the firm out of context. Our conversations helped me to better understand what role I want to pursue and, even better, redefine the roles that were available.
Apart from the professional advice, it’s reassuring to see my colleagues are human and have similar stressors related to family and health. My mentors/mentees helped me to manage expectations around being healthy and successfully performing my job.
We still meet quarterly despite each of our respective busy schedules. I love this commitment we made. It’s attainable and shows we care about the other’s well-being.”
The following tips support this method of mentorship:
Be Open to Vulnerability:
When genuinely connecting with one another, it can feel truly vulnerable to share openly about the successes and ever so humbling lessons being learned at any given time. We’re putting ourselves out there when we invite another to problem solve with us, while knowing that we each bring something to the solution, and that neither person needs to have all the answers to every question. When we meet with a professional outside of our department, or when we invite guest speakers to address goals beyond our scope or abilities, we allow ourselves to be vulnerable, which opens us up to further mutual growth and connection.
Value the Mutual Commitment:
Showing up is a first step, but a commitment to the mentorship also means being prepared to answer questions and share experiences mutually. Respecting one another’s time is also integral to the mentorship. To do so create recurring meetings in advance, honor this reserved time, and communicate clearly when you need to reschedule.
Establish Goals:
Determine where the mentorship will take place, and for how long. Within the mutually agreed-upon boundaries, share your interests, strengths, and weaknesses with each other. Conversations that encompass these vulnerable topics can foster an environment in which you can better establish goals and review them together. Thereby offering opportunities to both shore each other up and hold one another accountable. Create a road map of topics you will discuss, along with activities to share as learning experiences.
Good Questions:
Sharing openly leaves room to take initiative to lead the conversation and actively listen. Have meaningful questions prepared so you can uncover the insight you are looking to gather. Don’t be afraid to dig deep and listen with intent! Unexpected jewels can be uncovered when the right questions are asked.
Express Gratitude:
Take the time to discuss what you have learned from each other, and express gratitude for the time invested in you. When the opportunity arises, speak positively of each other to others. When gratitude is expressed the positive effects ripple outward. And don’t forget to celebrate achievements together!
Using this method of mentorship at Ankrom Moisan has made the workplace a welcoming environment. Every member of the team has talents and skills to be shared and can create a stronger connection. Growth is achieved at a rapid rate with mutual respect and understanding!
by Kaci Mespelt, Interior Designer, and
Roberta Pennington, Senior Associate Interior Designer
📸: Cheryl Mcintosh, featured image
Living Our Hows (4 of 6): Client Trust
Ankrom Moisan takes our Hows very seriously. Our Hows are the values by which we work and play. This post explores Trust and is one of a six-part series that touches on our Hows and the way they come to life at AM. Stay tuned for future blog posts revealing more about AM’s Hows.
At AM, we are proud that most of our clients are return customers. Or, they have been referred to us by a happy customer. Clients come to us after the market has changed or their businesses have evolved – and, right now, whose hasn’t? It’s humbling when someone reaches out to us for help – and, to honor this, we ground our relationships in TRUST.
Client relationships based in trust allow both parties to be a bit vulnerable. They allow us to dig deeper when strategizing to get to the heart of the matter. These in-depth and intimate conversations uncover the key drivers of a project and are used to craft spaces that truly resonate. Client trust gives us the freedom to go beyond our “first good idea” and offer more avenues to consider.
Clients who believe they are being led by a dependable team, feel at ease with the process of a project. At AM, it is our teams’ responsibility to create this sense of ease by sharing our experience, mentoring each other, and staying curious by researching contemporary trends within our industries. Our expertise resides in several market sectors – from workplace to housing to hospitality – and this cross-discipline perspective allows us to see synergies between markets. Design strategies for one project type are informed by the insights of another – creating the multi-dimensional experience that so many are seeking in today’s market.
Central to creating trust with anyone is consistency. At AM, we strive to create a customer experience that is enjoyable for everyone; we do our best to be approachable and available to our clients, to be enthusiastic and reliable, honest, and genuine. It is a part of our DNA to work from this perspective and it allows clients to create their own journeys – trusting that we are here as guides during the process.
by Laura Serecin
Exploring our Design Passions
“It was one of the highlights of my entire working career.”
At Ankrom Moisan, we believe that continued education is a key facet of success and fulfilment. When we make room for the betterment of ourselves, when we feel supported to follow our passions and to live authentically, we all thrive.
In addition to programs such as Lunch and Learns, conferences, and paid educational hours, AM offers two annual in-house scholarships; the Do Good Be Well Scholarship and the Travel Scholarship. Both are open to all staff across all offices.
The annual travel scholarship is an opportunity for our employees to travel while exploring a design topic they are passionate about. They receive 10 days of paid time off for their trip and a stipend to cover their travel expenses. When they come back, they receive additional time to prepare a design presentation and share their findings with the rest of the firm.
Jenny Chapman and Sadaf Quddusi, two previous AM Travel Scholarship winners, tell us about their travel experiences.
In 2021, Jenny visited Italy to attend the Venice Biennale and explore the global design conversation surrounding communal living and how we will live together in the future.
“I think it’s really important that we take time away from our day-to-day work to lift our eyes to the horizon and consider what’s coming next in our industry. The AM Travel Scholarship is a great opportunity to do that, it offers space to think deeply about design.
My experience travelling to the Biennale and exploring different architectural approaches really helped me to refresh my perspective. It was incredibly valuable to see some of the same problems we often face in this region, being solved in entirely different ways in other parts of the world.”
Exhibits from the 2021 Venice Biennale
Sadaf—who visited the UK in 2019 to study mass timber—agrees, adding that “research is so important to what we do. My research in the UK allowed me to be on the leading edge of the mass timber transition in the US. It was something I was really glad to study and share with the firm.”
The Travel Scholarship is an investment in the design culture and community of our firm and industry. It is an opportunity to explore how design betters our environments and our lives.
Our 2023 scholarship is now open for submissions. In January we’ll be sharing the next winning design topic, stay tuned!
by Mackenzie Gilstrap, Sr. Marketing Coordinator
Employee Spotlight: Jenna Mogstad
Last month Interior Designer Jenna Mogstad was named the 2022 Emerging Professional by IIDA’s Oregon Chapter. after being nominated by several of her AM coworkers.
Jenna, who has been with AM for 6 years, has excelled as a designer for many reasons. But perhaps her greatest strength is her passion. As her manager and mentor, Cindy Schaumberg, describes it, Jenna “puts her heart into each project.”
Jenna is fascinated by the psychology of interior design and she approaches her work with a sense of advocacy—taking great care to ensure that the end user will be positively impacted by her projects.
Driven by a desire to help people heal, she gravitates towards trauma-informed design and often applies her skills to affordable housing projects. Jenna enjoys this work because she recognizes that it has a significant impact on people’s lives. Her designs have the power to help the residents of affordable housing communities to feel a sense of safety and stability.
Jenna is particularly proud of her current project Meridian Gardens, an 85-unit supportive housing community designed to serve individuals who are experiencing or at risk of homelessness and are receiving substance use disorder treatment.
Jenna’s passion for design is apparent to everyone working alongside her, as the nominations will attest. They describe someone who “embodies curiosity, empathy, and the ability to innovate” with a “drive to improve herself and the field of interior design.”
Jenna is well-deserving of the title “Emerging Professional of the Year” and we’re incredibly proud to have her on our team.
by Mackenzie Gilstrap, Sr. Marketing Coordinator
Living Our Hows (3 of 6): Be Yourself
Ankrom Moisan takes our Hows very seriously. Our Hows are the values by which we work and play. This post explores Be Yourself and is one of a six-part series that touches on our Hows and the way they come to life at AM. Stay tuned for future blog posts revealing more about AM’s Hows.
Celebrating Roberta Pennington and her Influences on Interior Design
Ankrom Moisan takes our Hows very seriously. Our Hows are the values by which we work and play. This post explores Be Yourself and is one of a six-part series that touches on our Hows and the way they come to life at AM. Stay tuned for future blog posts revealing more about AM’s Hows.
In the Fall of 2021, we proudly announced on social media that Roberta Pennington, NCIDQ was awarded the Legacy Award for the 2021 IIDA Oregon Design Excellence Awards.
Since arriving in Portland over 20 years ago, Roberta has been a leading advocate for the interior design profession, having served many terms on both IDC Oregon and IIDA Oregon Chapter Boards as a voice for interior design advocacy all over the United States. Her colleagues credit her with possessing vast knowledge and contagious enthusiasm, bringing excitement, and understanding to legislative efforts. Roberta puts a fun spin on everyday advocacy, hosting a podcast that dissects movies and TV shows featuring interior designers, and discussing how they do or do not represent the reality of the profession.
Over the years, Roberta has touched many lives through mentorship and community involvement. She helped develop a mentorship program within Ankrom Moisan, which was successfully adopted across all three offices. She is credited with having a management style that fosters immense and rapid growth in junior designers and making everyone she works with feel valued. She openly shares her personal and professional experiences with others, helping our design community to know we’re in this together. Her personal stories bring levity to a seemingly serious, deadline and deals driven industry.
The testimony of those who nominated Roberta for this award in excellence is compelling. From many sources it has been made clear that Roberta is constantly stepping up and helping when needed. That she is dependable and responsible, and always stays true to herself, maintaining a rare authenticity. She embodies everything a leader should be.
With a theatrical background, Roberta brings big ideas to the table and loves to dream of the impossible and work to make it a reality. She also wants everyone to be heard and never shuts anyone down. No idea is a bad idea to her; she welcomes all with enthusiasm and helps to understand why it would or wouldn’t work for a project. Her experience in set design and theatre, her sharp wit and legendary sense of humor, and her myriad of extracurricular interests keep her busy. These inform her design directions, and she brings a truly unique perspective to every project she works on. Roberta is an active advocate for interior design. She can whip out her elevator speech to explain to anyone what commercial interior designers do day-to-day and overall. She’s a great role model for how to communicate the importance of the role in the industry.
Roberta hails from Youngstown, OH and is proud of her upbringing. When a childhood friend announced that he was hoping to open a community theatre in her hometown, she dove into action. She assisted him with selecting a site and campaigned to the Executive Leadership Committee at Ankrom for use of our VIZ Team Services so that this project could have top tier 3D renderings for their community outreach and funding programs. This project is currently underway.
Roberta is the Geek in the details of interior design. She loves BOMA, egress calculations, technical details, and code compliance. She is exceptionally educated and experienced in these areas. These interior design skillsets provide great contrast to the universal myth that interior designers’ only skill is to “pick out” finishes. Roberta takes every chance she can to challenge the many misconceptions of the interior design industry, through conversation, podcasts, educational campaigns, advocacy and leadership. She slays misconceptions with her quit wit, expertise and signature charm. Through seeing commercial interior design as having an impact on the humans that interact with the spaces that we create, she is forever a spokesperson for design, its importance and the impact it has on our community.
Roberta has clearly impacted the industry by inspiring those around her and has already made an indelible difference to the profession of Interior Design, as well as to the people she encounters in her advocacy and playful approach to life.
View her IIDA Oregon Chapter video feature and be sure to check out her podcast @starchitectspodcast.
content provided by IIDA Oregon Chapter
edited by Kerstyn Smith Olson, Content Coordinator
Trivia Night 2022
We’re proud to share that we raised over $167,000 for Food Lifeline during our 12th annual AM Trivia Night last week!
Food Lifeline is a non-profit organization on a mission to feed people facing hunger today while working to end hunger for tomorrow. Food Lifeline’s mission goes hand and hand with our values at Ankrom Moisan. We are passionate about designing affordable housing because we strive to provide stability and security to those suffering in the US housing crisis and many of the people we hope to impact through our housing projects are also facing food insecurity.
The money we’ve raised will make a very real impact in the lives of those experiencing hunger in Western Washington and it was only possible thanks to our generous donors, participants, and volunteers.
Not only did we raise an incredible sum for Food Lifeline, we also had a lot of fun. This year’s theme was “camp chic” and, besides trivia, the evening was filled with good company, incredible costumes, hilarious competitions, and—of course—a dance-off.
If you want to know more about how AM’s Food Lifeline fundraiser evolved into annual trivia with a side of dancing and costumes—we have the full story here.
The music video we filmed to thank our event sponsors.
Center: The 2022 Trivia Champions, Morrison Herschfield!
THANK YOU TO OUR 2022 SPONSORS:
AvalonBay Communities with Brian and Holly Fritz
Aegis Living
Bill Soderberg with Max Wurzburg/Windermere & Red Propeller
Cross 2 Design Group
Legacy Group
Navix Engineering
RDH Building Science, Inc.
The Walsh Group
Willamette Management Associates
A3 Acoustics LLP
Brumbaugh & Associates
Clark Construction
Glumac
GLY Construction
Howard S. Wright, a Balfour Beatty company
objekts
PCL Construction Services, Inc.
PCS Structural Solutions
Rushing Co.
Shaw Contract
Stone Source
Swinerton
Vulcan Real Estate
by Mackenzie Gilstrap, Sr. Marketing Coordinator
Employee Spotlight: Roberta Pennington
Roberta Pennington doesn’t just offer advice to her colleagues; she puts on a pair of mustache glasses and coaches them through challenging scenarios with skits.
For designers, a particularly formidable stage of the design process is construction administration (CA). Roberta equates it to herding cats.
During CA, designers’ people management skills are put to the ultimate test as all the project stakeholders converge. Designers are often faced with managing a wide array of disciplines—resolving miscommunication, realigning over-stepped roles, and negotiating endless spreadsheets.
But Roberta doesn’t want CA to feel scary, so she offers guidance on how to handle the most common and frustrating scenarios, while also making you laugh, in what she calls “CA Theatre”—a new regular segment of the monthly interiors team meeting.
With an artful blend of empathy and humor, she’ll perform a dramatic reenactment of the most dreaded situations. In her groucho-esque mustache glasses, she pretends to be “Bob Boberson,” an amalgamation of the all the challenging experiences and people that designers often face. Bob serves as a caricature villain, the bane of interior designers everywhere. Managing Principal Alissa Brandt models how to respond to Bob’s micro-aggressions and unchecked behavior with professionalism and composure.
Roberta playing “Lady Carol Brittingham” during CA Theatre
Most recently she played a Cruella de Vil inspired character, “Lady Carol Brittingham”—another dramatized version of the difficult scenarios that can be encountered during CA.
During CA Theatre, something incredible happens, everyone comes alive, laughing, nodding and commiserating. But it goes beyond entertainment, the skit spurs problem-solving and engaged discussion about how to handle challenging situations. It offers mentorship and project management training in a fun and approachable way. Roberta’s goal is to ensure the entire team feels equipped to take on the responsibility of construction administration.
Having been with the firm for more than 10 years, Roberta says that one of the many reasons she’s stayed is because at AM she has the space and support to bring unconventional ideas to the table. While previous employers may have put up with her “shenanigans”—as she calls them—AM encourages them. She doesn’t feel censored or silenced.
And it’s a good thing, because Roberta being anything other than herself would be a loss for us all.
by Mackenzie Gilstrap, Sr. Marketing Coordinator
Not Your Average Fundraiser
We’ve been told that AM Trivia Night is THE industry event of the year. And we can’t help but agree—between the killer pub trivia, dance offs, costume contests, and goofy videos—it’s a night you don’t want to miss. Mostly because it feels more like a lively night out with good friends than a fundraiser.
But it is, in fact, a fundraiser. Over the past 12 years, the occasion has evolved from a small donation event to support a summer food drive to an eminent annual fundraiser with more than 600 people in attendance and over $240,000 raised (in one year!) for Food Lifeline, a non-profit working to end hunger in Western Washington.
The success of AM Trivia Night is the result of an enduring partnership between Ankrom Moisan and Food Lifeline. A partnership made possible by the countless Ankrom Moisan employees who are dedicated to positively impacting their communities, and a company culture that brings fun and creativity to all that we do.
The journey from food drive to trivia (with a side of dancing and costumes).
A few decades ago, Food Lifeline started a donation competition, called Food Frenzy, amongst businesses to help raise money to provide kids with free lunches throughout the summertime—kids who usually relied on subsidized school lunches each day.
Someone who had previously participated in Food Frenzy was now working at Ankrom Moisan and suggested that the firm get involved. AM President Dave Heater agreed, stipulating that the AM event should be fun and different, not your average fundraiser.
About 30 or so people joined us in that first year for pub trivia in our office—punctuated by beer, food and laughter. In the first round of questions, several teams tied and all the tie breaker questions were used. The game continued smoothly until the final round ended with another tie. Completely out of trivia questions and with no clear winner, there were only a few moments of uncertainty before someone in the group shouted, “dance off!” and a tradition was born.
That was in 2009. To this day, AM Trivia Nights still feature dance offs where a winner is chosen by audience applause.
As the event grew, we added more and more unconventional elements; fun themes, costume contests and silly “music videos” to thank our sponsors. Trivia Night quickly became a hit. By 2019, we were filling up the ballroom at the Hyatt Regency Seattle and we raised the equivalent of one million meals in just that single event. A proud moment for Ankrom Moisan.
The reason behind the Ankrom Moisan x Food Lifeline partnership.
Ankrom Moisan employees are, and always have been, enthusiastic participants in Trivia Night, as attendees, event volunteers, and donors. We, as a company, are united in our support for Food Lifeline.
Food Lifeline’s mission goes hand and hand with our own values. We design affordable housing of many types—from workforce housing to transitional housing—because we strive to provide stability and security to those suffering in the US housing crisis. Many of the people we are hoping to impact through our housing projects are also facing food insecurity.
And for some of us, food insecurity is an issue that hits close to home.
In 2010, Dave Heater and his husband welcomed their son into their family through open adoption, choosing to cultivate a lifelong relationship with their son’s birth mother, Amber. Dave describes the process of open adoption like grafting a new branch onto your family tree.
At the time of his son’s birth, Amber was in rehab and was trying to piece her life together. She was in her early 20s and had been struggling with addiction since she was a kid. Amber already had a 3-year-old son that she was working to parent, and she recognized that she was not in the position to care for another child.
Since that time, Amber has gotten her life on a stable track—despite the odds stacked against her. She’s put herself through beauty school and is now a successful hairdresser and parent to two children. Dave’s son still sees her regularly and Dave thinks of her as a sister.
Dave knows what the food bank and the summer lunch programs meant to Amber, throughout her life. She and her family relied on these meals for survival. It is non-profits like Food Lifeline and the generosity of donors like you, that made the difference in not going hungry while balancing all the other challenges of Amber’s life as a single mom.
This year we aim to raise over $200,000 for Food Lifeline to feed children and families facing hunger today, and to solve hunger for tomorrow.
Join us at Trivia Night 2022 and be a part of the fight to end hunger in Western Washington.
Thank you to our 2022 sponsors:
AvalonBay Communities with Brian and Holly Fritz
Aegis Living
Bill Soderberg with Max Wurzburg/Windermere & Red Propeller
Cross 2 Design Group
Legacy Group
Navix Engineering
RDH Building Science, Inc.
The Walsh Group
Willamette Management Associates
Campfire Sing-a-long:
A3 Acoustics LLP
Brumbaugh & Associates
Clark Construction
Glumac
GLY Construction
Howard S. Wright, a Balfour Beatty company
objekts
PCL Construction Services, Inc.
PCS Structural Solutions
Rushing Co.
Shaw Contract
Stone Source
Swinerton
Vulcan Real Estate
by Mackenzie Gilstrap, Sr. Marketing Coordinator