There was also a long crossover between generations. “I really liked the way Roger Jackson and Jeff Fisher coached me for five or six years — mimicking their positions,” he says. “It was a great way to learn the job, watching what they were doing. In the long run, it pays off. It is not as abrupt of a change.” And, of course, it is an investment. FFKR Goals What’s next? Leishman: “Our goal is to expand. At the heart of that is the principal’s ability to collaborate with other principals, making it easy to win.” Practically, what that means, is that partner(s) might have multiple other partners working with them, building an operational platform that isn’t based on a single person, or that could fall apart if they were to leave. The primary reason they want continued growth is that it is the vehicle that provides expanded leadership opportunities. As many people want to be partners, there has to be a bigger pie to slice. Leishman sees expanding geographically being a likely development. “COVID taught us how to collaborate remotely. As we had work, we were able to use short‑term contracts with people from other firms that were temporarily short of work.” When they opened their office in Arizona, they recruited a core group of people, and the overhead was fairly small. Fortunately, they also had some larger projects that they could use to keep the remote location busy while they were building their Tempe practice. Now they are seeing Arizona clients flowing into that office. Leishman believes the Arizona office has huge potential. Other FFKR studios are looking outside the Salt Lake Valley and outside Utah for work. The firm is looking at a couple of locations for new offices. He says, “It is about the personality of the principal group. Some people are more willing and able to make those trips and can take the three to five years to invest to build a practice.” Growth also happens with bigger, better projects. Currently they have four really big projects, with five or six in the wings, so they are in a better position to collaborate with the Big “A” firms on some very large, exciting, complex projects. “This really allows us a lot of ability to support all of our projects and all of our staff. Even when there is less work in one studio, we have four studios knocking it out of the park; four studios that are generating significant fees. It is beautiful to see.” “We are always hiring. We have a lot of opportunities for customizable job descriptions even at the principal level. People don’t have a job in the box. We can create positions and slot people where they are strongest. We don’t have a one-size-fits-all; it has allowed us to keep good talent.” FFKR’s extensive portfolio of past and current work is enviable. Their client list is long and loyal. And, from the ground, it appears that their goals are reachable: steady growth, reasonable profits and stable employee retention. Their brand is solid. I am also happy to report that they celebrate National Hot Dog Day. Even for one of Salt Lake’s respected design firms, not everything can be about architecture. 19
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