Pride Road is the UK's Architectural Practice Franchise. We are leading the flexible working movement for Architects. Here on this podcast, we talk about the business of Architecture, the RIBA, marketing, sales, running your own practice, start-up, flexible working, women in architecture, career development, and more! We help architects get the architecture business they're dreaming of, with the added support from a trusted and experienced brand.
Episodes
Wednesday Feb 03, 2021
Wednesday Feb 03, 2021
There’s no doubt that we’ve all spent more time at home in the past 12 months, whether home working, home learning, self-isolating, shielding or caring, and in the process changed what ‘home’ needs to do for us and how our cities operate. This podcast is a conversation about what makes a healthy home, how the COVID-19 pandemic has changed how we relate to cities, and why it’s more pressing than ever for the property industry dealing in both new and existing buildings to be producing or reconfiguring homes to a decent size and with access to green space.
Host Lisa Raynes, Founder and CEO of Pride Road Architects has the perspective of the architect serving the mass market of homeowners of existing buildings; Doctoral Researcher Simeon Shtebunaev has insight into the needs and preferences of the next generation of homeowners, he also has oversight of projects currently going to through planning in the Birmingham area.
Pride Road Franchise grew out of Founder Lisa Raynes’ refusal to accept that there was only one way for a woman to have an architecture career and a family life. She built her practice in the domestic sector, and then invested to turn her business into one that other ambitious architects wanting work/life balance can buy into. She’s had a seat on the RIBA Council (2015-18), been Chair of Women in Property NW and founded Manchester Curious, an urban architecture outreach festival. At Pride Road we focus on making design interventions that improve our clients’ value and enjoyment of their homes.
https://www.prideroadfranchise.co.uk
Simeon Shtebunaev is a doctoral researcher and visiting lecturer in Birmingham City University focusing on how young people engage in the planning of future 'smart' cities. Simeon served as a trustee of the RIBA (2016-2019) and as a Vice-President for Students and Associates, co-founding the RIBA Future Architects initiative. Simeon also served as a member of the RTPI General Assembly (2018-2019) and the RTPI International Committee. He holds a dual master’s degree in Architecture and Town Planning from the University of Sheffield.
Currently, Simeon is part of the West Midlands Combined Authority Cultural Leadership Board and the Birmingham Civic Society's Planning Committee. For the past five years, he has co-ordinated and taught annually at a summer school in architecture and design for secondary school children in Bulgaria. He is part of the Birmingham Architectural Association committee and an Associate with the youth agency Beatfreeks.
Friday Jan 29, 2021
Friday Jan 29, 2021
To make money as an architect you need to find out what’s important to your clients, then explain how you can solve their problems. And this starts with knowing your clients; who they are, what they do and what their pain points are.
Tune in to hear top tips and tech tactics from two expert marketeers – host Lisa Raynes Founder and CEO of Pride Road Franchise and Su Butcher Director of Just Practising Ltd communications consultancy. You’ll get the benefit of Lisa’s experiences of setting up, testing and refining CRM systems for the Pride Road Franchise and Su’s expertise in providing digital strategy to architects and construction product companies.
Pride Road Franchise grew out of Founder Lisa Raynes’ refusal to accept that there was only one way for a woman to have an architecture career and a family life. She built her practice in the domestic sector, and then invested to turn her business into one that other ambitious architects wanting work/life balance can buy into. She’s had a seat on the RIBA Council (2015-18), been Chair of Women in Property NW and founded Manchester Curious, an urban architecture outreach festival. A key focus of Pride Road Franchise is the fully-automated customer relation management system, that helps lead a flow of new clients to our franchisees.
https://www.prideroadfranchise.co.uk
Su Butcher is well-known as a promoter of collaborative working and better communication she is a prolific user of social and digital media: talk to her on twitter @SuButcher and LinkedIn.com/in/SuButcher.
Su has been writing about architects and business since 2008, when she set up her blog as a way to share her experiences in practice. She now uses that understanding to help construction product companies understand specifiers’ needs and smooth the process of product selection. This has also led to her being heavily involved in digitisation projects, such as the IET’s Plain Language Guide to Product Data for Manufacturers.
Friday Jan 15, 2021
Friday Jan 15, 2021
Lisa is joined by Alessandra Upton, podcaster and recently qualified architect to discuss the importance of mentoring during the process of becoming an architect and beyond, and how to access mentoring either formally or informally.
Professionals are only as good as their training, and in the UK architecture is one of the longest and costliest routes to a professional career. It’s tough to become an architect, and that’s without any of the social or economic hurdles that non-traditional candidates face, so full credit to all those who qualify. This podcast is aimed at Part 3 students about to commence their studies in a COVID-changed economy and workplace.
Pride Road Franchise grew out of Founder Lisa Raynes’ refusal to accept that there was only one way for a woman to have an architecture career and a family life. Pride Road is building its network of franchisees across the UK with the aim of providing rewarding careers for ambitious architects who can’t find the right role for them and in opening their own business want to retain the support of team. A key element of Pride Road busines model is to ensure that each Franchisee has the coaching support to help smooth out the business bumps along the way. Lisa has been both a mentor and a mentee – at the same point in time – and has a unique perspective to share. https://www.prideroadfranchise.co.uk
Alessandra Upton is a recently qualified architect specialising in residential and commercial architecture and interior design. Her interests are in sustainability and the genius loci, which guide her design intent and professional approach. Alessandra is currently hosting a new podcast show called “Archetypical: an affable adventure in architectural analysis”, which explores architectural history & theory.
https://feed.podbean.com/archetypical/feed.xml
Twitter: @archetypicaluk
Thursday Dec 17, 2020
Thursday Dec 17, 2020
Lisa Raynes, Pride Road Founder and CEO, chats to Chicago based Lira Luis RIBA.
Both Lisa and Lira – the former based in Manchester, UK the latter based in Chicago, US – are joyful networkers and members of the RIBA which in 2020 was acknowledged as a Superbrand. Hear them chat about how networking skills – used both in online and offline communities – have helped them to develop their own practices and what they enjoy about the process. When you have a high-energy career or you run your own business it can be difficult to understand where to focus your time. It starts by thinking about where you can add and also gain value as you make strategic decisions about which memberships to join, events to attend and people to engage. Pride Road Franchise grew out of Founder Lisa Raynes' refusal to accept that there was only one way for a woman to have an architecture career and a family life. Pride Road is building its network of franchisees across the UK with the aim of providing rewarding careers for ambitious architects who can’t find the right role for them and in opening their own business want to retain the support of a team. A key element of Pride Road business model is to ensure that each Franchisee has the self-confidence and skills to effectively market themselves and their businesses. Lisa Raynes got started in business by necessity after being made redundant for the second time as her family grew. She built her practice in the domestic sector, and then invested to turn her business into one that other ambitious architects wanting work/life balance can buy into. She’s had a seat on the RIBA Council (2015-18), been Chair of Women in Property NW and founded Manchester Curious, an urban architecture outreach festival.
https://www.prideroadfranchise.co.uk
Lira Luis FRIBA, FRSA, NCARB, CEM, LEED AP, formed an architecture career for the benefit of others through research and innovation. As Taliesin Fellow she revived Frank Lloyd Wright’s underutilised System-Built Homes, a precedent to Jacobs House (UNESCO site) — resulting in reduction of blight in a disadvantaged NJ city block. Her Leapfrog Project’s “Living Ball” enabled self-sufficient empowerment of extreme climate survivors through geodesic constructions. She developed new architectural solutions to help island nations overcome rapidly rising sea levels in her Magnetic Levitation Experiment. In 2020 both the RIBA and Royal Society of Arts elected her as Fellow.
Thursday Nov 19, 2020
Thursday Nov 19, 2020
Tune in to hear Lisa and Jason, from the perspective of being mentors and mentees, discuss the powerpack that is self-confidence.
So you’ve got your own architecture practice, and there’s a multitude of responsibilities resting on you, some play to your strengths, others not so much. Common challenges can be networking effectively, confidently expressing your value to clients, or fielding criticism (unfair or fair) with grace. Learn about the simple steps they take to allow them to turn challenges into opportunities and relish being in business - what is your question for them?
Pride Road Architects is founded on the principles of inclusivity, sustainability, and innovation. Our vision is for architecture to be a meaningful career for the missing 21% of women who study but don’t ever work in the profession. (UCAS gender split in 2017 when studying architecture is F:M 49:51, gender split ARB registered architects 2018 F:M 28:72). And to provide careers that can sustain rather than strain family life.
In 2010, Founder and CEO Lisa Raynes turned her successful sole practice into a franchise that other ambitious architects wanting work/life balance can buy into. She’s had a seat on the RIBA Council (2015-18), been Chair of Women in Property NW and founded Manchester Curious, an urban architecture outreach festival.
Jason Boyle is a Chartered Architect with over 20 years of experience in design. He has designed many different building types; from residential to cancer centres, office buildings through to Nuclear facilities. In 2017 Jason became the youngest Fellow of the Royal Institute of British Architects (FRIBA) and in 2018 he was awarded Fellowship of the Royal Society of Arts (FRSA). Jason is currently the RIBA Ambassador for Civil Infrastructure in the UK and has lectured internationally on the future of architecture and technology. Jason was a past member of the RIBA North West Regional Council and is currently working on one of the 3 UK Nuclear mega projects for the UK government.
Jason spends his spare time mentoring young professionals using a holistic approach.
Tuesday Nov 17, 2020
Tuesday Nov 17, 2020
In the second of our series Pride Road Architects, the team we will be meeting Rachel Moses, David Johnson and Kris Allen. Rachel is talking about how to get your marketing strategy right, David is talking about which social media platforms architect should use and then Kris is talking about how to manage clients once you've got them.
https://www.prideroadfranchise.co.uk
Tuesday Nov 17, 2020
Tuesday Nov 17, 2020
In this series of podcasts our host Lisa Raynes introduces you to members of the Pride Road technical team and explains the building blocks for setting up your own architectural practice.
In this episode she talks to IT manager Darren Gibbon explaining the importance of domain names and platforms as well as talking to Adam Pritchard about the fundamentals of web design and SEO, so customers can find you!
Tuesday Oct 27, 2020
Tuesday Oct 27, 2020
Lisa and Ben talk about resilience and why this quality is so important to build into your practice. During the best of economic times startups have a high failure rate, often tripped up by undervaluing your work or badly structured fee proposals. The truth is that these also are valuable lessons, and working through to find solutions helps to build entrepreneurship. Looking back on the last ten or so years of business, learn how Lisa and Ben built resilient architectural practices.
Pride Road Franchise is an innovative architecture practice for UK-registered architects. It’s a smart business model that exploits the potential of the domestic mass market and was founded out of necessity after Lisa was made redundant as her family grew. The ultimate in flexible working, Pride Road successfully pivoted online during the spring lockdown and continues to develop pipelines of work across the franchise at a time of great change in the profession as a whole.
https://www.prideroadfranchise.co.uk
In 2016, Founder Lisa Raynes turned her successful sole practice into a franchise that other ambitious architects wanting work/life balance can buy into. She’s had a seat on the RIBA Council (2015-18), been Chair of Women in Property NW and founded Manchester Curious, an urban architecture outreach festival.
Ben Derbyshire is Chair of HTA Design LLP. HTA Design LLP is a design consultancy to the home-building industry specialising in Creative Collaboration between its multidisciplinary team, clients, communities and other professionals. Ben has built up broad-ranging expertise through involvement in much of HTA's work in regeneration, masterplanning, housing and mixed use design across all sectors. He is Immediate Past President of RIBA. He was elected onto Council in 2014, becoming President Elect in August 2016 and serving as President from September 2017 to August 2019.
Thursday Sep 17, 2020
Thursday Sep 17, 2020
This episode is about what it takes to make change happen – starting with the decisions you make about the value of the work you do, applying that into your architecture practice, and then rippling out the benefits of having a solid business model to others in the profession. It all seems like small steps, but the result is disruption, literally tearing down the ways we do and make architecture.
Pride Road Franchise – with its innovative architecture practice-in-a-box concept – is disrupting the domestic market by making architecture accessible and affordable to homeowners. The result even during uncertain economic times, is sustainable and growing businesses.
Simone de Gale takes entrepreneurship seriously. Starting her practice as soon as she completed Part 2’s, she now has a team of 7 people at her London office. Recently re-elected to the RIBA National Council, she’s passionate that architects maximise their full value and although this is something which can be learnt once qualified, feels strongly earlier training is vital to improving dynamics of power in the construction industry.
About Lisa
Founder Lisa Raynes got started in business by necessity after being made redundant for the second time as her family grew. She built her practice in thedomestic sector, and then invested to turn her business into one that other ambitious architects wanting work/life balance can buy into. She’s had a seat on theRIBA Council (2015-18), been Chair of Women in Property NW and founded Manchester Curious, an urban architecture outreach festival.
https://www.prideroadfranchise.co.uk
About Simone
Simone is a Chartered Architect, qualifying at the Architectural Association in London, UK. Her grandfather was an Architect, and her family work in construction in London. At 10 years old, Simone knew she would become an architect and today, she is the driving force behind Simone de Gale Architects (SGA), continuing to shape an innovative path to advance architectural form and function throughout London and Internationally. Winner of ‘Architect of theYear’ 2017’s Women in Construction Awards UK, Simone was invited as one of the keynote speakers at 2017’s Stephen Lawrence Annual Memorial Lecture, for whom she is also a board advisor, and now continues to give Keynote speeches at highly regarded Architectural Forums in the UK and abroad. Simone was appointed RIBA Chairwoman Audit and Oversight Committee UK in 2018 and was in August 2020 re-elected to RIBA Council for an extended three-year tenure.
Wednesday Aug 19, 2020
Wednesday Aug 19, 2020
Join in to hear Lisa and Rion’s tips for avoiding common mistakes and growing a successful business doing work that you love – and find out why Lego makes an appearance in the Pride Road marketing mix.
Pride Road Franchise’s vision is to provide businesses for ambitious, time-poor architects that can sustain rather than strain family life. We do this by innovating how to deliver architecture in the domestic market. The impact is disruptive to architecture business models, providing a third option in addition to employment and self-employment.
Rion Willard is the co-founder and Director of the Business of Architecture UK, a business consultancy helping Architects win meaningful, impactful and profitable work with creative client acquisition & business development strategies.
He is the host of the Business of Architecture UK podcast, an interview show, where prominent guests, business leaders and architects share tips and strategies for success in architecture.
He’s also the founder of the TTHS Architects a London based architectural design firm specialising in high end luxury residential.