those things I learned in the military into my architectural career. On the flip side, many things that I learned in my architectural career I took into my military career. Both careers helped each other.” Lessons Learned “Early on in my career, I felt like a hotshot designer,” Stephan said. “But if you want to climb up in the management of an architectural firm, and want to do larger project, you’re not going to do much design anymore. What you will do is manage architects and staff — not just manage them, but also provide leadership for them.” Since he had always had a second career, traveling the world with the Air Force, still trying to run a firm, Stephan learned to rely on his people. “My job was leadership, both in the Guard and in my firm,” he said. “I’ve never been a micromanager. I’ve always empowered people to do what they want to do. Sometimes they’d mess up, but I would never break their spirit. I would say, ‘You know what went wrong, so how are we going to fix it?’ And they would come up with a fix, and learn a valuable lesson.” “Even though I had built up a successful firm, running a business can take a toll. You have to procure the work, so you’re always looking for opportunities. You have to put in the effort and submit proposals,” Stephan said. “And then there is healthcare, payroll, workers’ comp, all the forms, all the government stuff, everything it takes to run a business.” Towards the end of his career, he changed his business model. “Even though I liked to do a lot of design early on, I realized that some of the larger projects would be unattainable for my small firm,” he said. Stephan went on to explain that when you don’t have experience in a particular field, you don’t get the job. “I would seek out architects who were project-specific architects. If I was doing a sports center, I would hire people who specialize in sports architecture. If I was doing a hospital, I would hire people who did a lot of hospitals, and so on.” Ultimately, Stephan would remain the architect of record and would maintain direction and approval over the design. “I enjoyed that part of my career. There was not much technical work. I worked with clients, my consultants and with regulatory authorities, whether city, county, state or federal,” said Stephan. “I worked with people with whom I have always enjoyed.” A Love of the Profession “I love all architectural styles. However, being Greek, I have always enjoyed classical architecture — the Greek Parthenon, the Ionic and the Doric, the Corinthian columns. I never designed in that style, but I really like classical architecture because of its symmetry and proportion,” Stephan said. “But modern and contemporary architecture styles are what I have mostly worked in.” Towards the end of his career, Stephan designed some of his favorite projects. One of them was the Marion H. Rochelle Gateway Center, a $36 million project. “It’s an iconic three-story building with huge cantilevers. It has a learning center that’s oval and a large ballroom. The entire building is illuminated with LEDs that change colors, and there is a big dynamically illuminated monolith,” Stephan recalled. This project was funded by private donations and supported by the University of Wyoming Foundation. This allowed Stephan great design latitude to do what he wanted. A few other projects that stand out to Stephan were the Carey Junior High, his last project in Cheyenne, and the Cheyenne Frontier Days Carriage House, an Old West museum filled with carriages that celebrates the rich history of the area. Another project of note was on the north end zone of War Memorial Stadium at the University of Wyoming. It was the Mick & Susie McMurry High Altitude Performance Center, where Stephan worked with Coach Craig Bohl and the UW Athletic Department to create a state of the art facility filled with innovation for the university’s athletic programs. Focusing on the next generation of architects and sharing his love for the occupation is important to Stephan. “I try to mentor young architects and encourage them to pick up their pencils and pens and hand sketch. Sketching is something that opens the mind,” Stephan said. “I started mentoring many years ago. It changed over time, starting with architects, but then included interior designers, graphic designers and engineers. I would spend time with these young professionals, and over time, we became pretty good friends,” Stephan said. “I still see many of them on occasion, and I enjoy seeing how they have grown and how their capabilities have gotten better, and now, many of them are training the next generation of professionals.” Last Thoughts “I would just like to encourage the profession to continue to be honest and design with integrity. I’ve noticed a decline in civility in my political career, and that really hurts my heart. So, I ask all the folks who are working in architecture today to work with civility, with integrity and with honesty,” Stephan continued, “If they do that, the health of the profession will be on solid ground.” 37
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