T-Square Dad's Brown Bag
Professional practice and parenthood can be challenging. As a father, a husband and an architect we embrace the challenge but we understand how difficult it is to navigate through these obligations. In this podcast we focus our discussion and base our opinion from a father's perspective. The T-Square Dad's podcast will focus our experience, reading habits, lesson's learned while practicing architects and how the practice impacts our daily life as a father. We will also focus on how technology impacts our profession and how the lack of experts and training fails our profession. We hope that our podcast bring value to others and is a constant reminder of how life can change quickly and impact us all and our profession.
T-Square Dad's Brown Bag
#032 - I thought it would be fun - A Landscape Architect story
Welcome to our podcast. If you're new to our podcast, the podcast was created by two Architect that felt they needed to share their experience and hardships not only in our profession but in life and family.
On today's episode we invited Alan Holt, he is a licensed Landscape Architect with more than a quarter century experience, licensed in over a quarter of the continental united states. He joins us from his RV just outside of Glacier National park, Montana. He is a graduate from the University of Georgia. Go dawgs!! Don't forget to visit his website at www.30alandscapearchitect.com.
Grab a seat and some coffee and take a few minutes to join us in our podcast.
If you guys have any questions or comments please reach out to us at our Facebook pages or via email.
Audio file
Podcast #32 - Alan Holt - Landscape Architect.mp3
Transcript
Welcome to the T ^2 dad's Brown Bag podcast. Here's your host, Kyle Baker and Dieter Burrell.
Hey, Dieter, it's been a long time.
I thank you for joining us in this podcast.
So I guess the the real story is I graduated high school in 85 and wasn't sure what I wanted to do.
So I worked a bunch of different jobs.
It was run by two landscape architects, and I thought, man, this is the coolest.
And I was never a fantastic student or anything.
Once a month it was tough, but I learned a lot of stuff and made a lot of good contacts.
One of the companies I worked with at that company is still a client of mine now.
Panama City so moved back there.
Worked for design, build, maintain company and then broke out on my own, started my own business.
And 2000, most of the cause I didn't know any.
So we work remote and work all over.
Still work on a ton of projects and I'm have a totally remote team.
I've got like 6 guys that work for me on a contract basis.
And I just managed them remote so.
I went, I started working at BT in 2003 to 2009 or 8 or something like.
Do you have to pursue your CPU's for your landscape architecture? Is that is that something?
When probably 24 or more a year, just because of all the different states that I'm licensed in to.
Oh, that. You know, that's right. Now that now it's it's coming to me. I think it was 2008.
It's a right now hydroseed spec.
That's about the extent of the.
And then they have that temporary irrigation for one year.
But and I think I think when I was working.
Now it's called prime E, but it was it was, uh, Carlos something.
Those, of course, architectural group, I think.
I think we may have reached out to you.
How long did it take you to to?
It something really easy or was it a pretty?
Hassle cause I know there's a hassle.
And I guess it's the same with architecture.
You have to work under a licensed landscape architect for so long.
You have to work for somebody for four years before you can even sit for the exam.
I went to Georgia where they only had a one year requirement.
On us because it used to be, it was a four day test and it had 7 sections and I passed six of them.
Then they reformatted the test and I had to go back and take.
Yeah, so same thing for landscape architecture.
There's a lot of states like Florida has a section, Georgia has a section.
Ohh Louisiana has a section that was fun.
Was at LSU in identify plant material on the campus and it was a handwritten pencil and paper test.
And that was like just two years ago.
I took that test and yeah, so every almost not every state.
Probably half the states have their own sections, but.
Then I have to renew every year and.
Now I know for some of you guys listening out there.
I would have thought it would have been a lot easier for landscape architects.
So it's so it's got to be like a.
People say, oh, I'm gonna be a veterinarian and.
If you listen to any of your any interns that that you may work with or something like that, I'm.
Sure, it's totally different now.
You know than it is than it was when you when you took.
Yeah, it's from what I understand, it's all online now.
So it's multiple choice testing online.
And then I think it's basically like a, a CAD based drawing for the construction detailing section.
And I think for the site planning section also.
So you said you said you graduated from Georgia, right?
It's a it's the funniest thing everybody says is like, you know, I always hear people.
Take a chance and and and and.
I don't care if I have to take this Class 3 three times.
You you've been doing this now.
I mean you tell me it's like if I'm if I'm saying that correctly.
Yeah, I've been fortunate that I have.
The just a broad variety of projects.
But you still want it to look good.
But yeah, residential is what I really enjoy right now.
I'm doing a lot of stuff that watercolor and Rosemary and Alice Beach and all that stuff and.
Do pools and hot tubs and fire pits and there's those get to be complicated drawing sets?
They're they're not just a planting plan.
They're, you know, 5 or 6 pages of pool details and all that kind of stuff.
Do you have a website that people?
Yeah, it's 38 landscapearchitect.com.
I mean, I kind of ran across different states, worked in different different different states.
Arizona, Florida, I've, I've, you know, I've done work in Las Vegas, so.
It's like just a spectrum of things in, in different offices.
It's just a a learning curve and I think it's same probably the same thing with you.
More than Texas, I've heard to say.
Have you done anything California?
I just had a client today asked me to go look at a project in Montana and I'm.
When when we were working together, I had a bunch of employees.
Where, where are you in your profession?
Have you kind of gotten rid of all that stuff?
You kind of just work with contract and with other other landscape architects.
Looks like you're traveling, so.
Yeah, that's that's probably a subject for a whole another podcast.
How you can work remote from all over the country like we've been doing.
And so I don't want to have to do that.
Using contractors and that way I don't have to worry.
About, you know, if they only want to work 30 hours a week, fantastic.
I don't have to come up with busy work to fill up their time, and they don't have to look busy.
They just go do something else.
Go hang out with their family or whatever.
Yeah, that that's a good thing about what I call it, the the freelance mentality.
And I think I said this on another podcast, James Jameson from Spiderman.
Don't need the job? Freelance.
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