Joined Team in 2008

Office Location: Jacksonville, Florida

Degree: Bachelor Fina Arts, University of North Florida

Expertise: Residential Conceptual Design, Team Leadership and Planning, Building Code Research & Interpretation, Construction Documentation and Detailing

Career Story: Starting in Residential Design in the early 2000’s, with a hunger and desire to learn more about my craft, and under the tutelage of some incredible mentors, I was blessed to learn some important lessons in the field of Residential & Building Design.
My career initially began at the local firm of Esposito Cheek & Associates, designing 3K-4K single & multi-family buildings a year at its height. Eventually moving to Looney, Ricks, Kiss, Architects a national firm with 9 offices, where I spent several years continuing to work on single & multi-family projects, but on a much broader scale (both geographically and architecturally diverse). In 2008, my career led me to help found True Design Studios where I currently act as the Head of Architecture and Managing Principle since 2012.
To date, one of the biggest lessons I’ve learned is that the culture of our team is just as important as the work we produce. That the integrity of our core values must extend beyond our projects and to our people as well. With help from those around me, we have been able to focus on the health of our company, as well as, maintaining the high standard of Great Design & Excellent Customer Service that have defined us since our inception. With the industry continuing to grow, TDS is poised to grow with it and I look forward to continuing to develop my ability to lead the entire team into the next phase of maturity as a company.

Outside The Office: The brightest spots in my life outside of the office, are my family and friends. A perfect day would involve spending all day at the beach with nice waves and a decent meal (or two). Trading barrels with my friends, playing guitar as the sun goes down and holding my wife and daughter close as we celebrate the day.

Industry Involvement:

• Grand Prize Winner – 2010 Carbon Challenge Design Competition
  https://www.apawood.org/florida-winning-designs
• Presenter – APA Carbon Challenge Multi-City Tour
  Gainesville/Jacksonville/Tampa/Tallahasse/Orlando/Pensacola/New Orleans/Houston
• Judge – 2013 APA Carbon Challenge Baltimore, MD
• Judge – 2013 APA Carbon Challenge Providence, RI
• Presenter – 2014 Southern Design Symposium

Joined Team in 2023

Office Location: Coppell, Texas

Expertise: Architectural Discipline in BIM Management, Whole Home Building Coordination, and Structural Estimating.

Career Story: My experiences make me a highly skilled professional with over 20 years in the residential construction industry. After serving in the Military, I began my career in residential construction and quickly developed a strong work ethic and leadership skills.
In addition to my extensive residential construction experience, I am skilled in team building, leadership, and mentoring. I have developed processes and procedures that optimize operations to ensure all projects are completed on time and efficiently.
I am dedicated to ongoing education and staying up to date with the latest industry trends and best practices. He is committed to delivering exceptional results and building long-lasting relationships with his clients and colleagues.

Outside The Office: I’m committed to my Wife of 24 years and two daughters, ages 21 and 31. As a family, we have fun just being together anywhere we go and enjoy our time in Church as we live and continue to grow in God’s Word.

Joined Team in 2017

Office Location: Jacksonville, Florida

Degree: Bachelor of Science – Interior Design from Georgia Southern University

Expertise: Multi-Disciplinary Project Coordination, High-Volume Residential Architectural Project Management, Client Communication, Scheduling/Logistics

Career Story: I moved to Jacksonville in early 2010, shortly after graduating from Georgia Southern University. I served as Project Manager and Senior Designer at a local residential interior design firm for seven years. During this time, I was able to hone my skills in project coordination, scheduling, client communication, construction documentation, and space planning.

Eager for a new challenge in 2017, I joined the team at TDS as a Senior Architectural Designer. I quickly advanced to the position of Senior Project Manager in the fall of 2018. I’m currently responsible for the management of several residential clients. Over the last few years, I’ve been fortunate to work with an amazing team that inspires and challenges me. I’ve been able to build on the foundation that I created previously to become a better designer, project manager, and person.

Outside The Office: Outside of the office, you can find me spending time with my husband and our two sons. We enjoying being on the water, live music, baseball (Go Braves!), football (Go GS Eagles!), our Great Dane, and exploring new places.

Joined Team in 2022

Office Location: Jacksonville, Florida

Degree: AS – Architectural Design and Construction Technology

Professional Licensure: Real Estate Sales Associate

Expertise: Simplifying processes without decrease in quality.
Teaching others in order to grow a strong team with scalability.

Career Story: After exploring the US and studying several areas of interest including music education, art history, fine art, graphic illustration, web design and coding, Cari was called back to her first love and completed her AS in Architectural Design and Construction Technology at Hillsborough Community College in Tampa. She was hired as a high-volume residential AutoCAD drafter and very quickly rose through the ranks to Project Manager where she was able to grow teams of drafters and job captains and impact day to deliverables.
Cari is a natural leader easily able to connect with people where they are and bring out the best in them.

Over the course of her career, she has tuned into her teaching and mentoring ability to lead training exercises on new software, efficiency, organization, and best practices. Cari’s ability to simplify processes without impacting quality is evident as she has repeatedly cut cycle times for her clients. She is enthusiastic about developing others through collaboration and making the day to day better for everyone she works with. She is excited to be thriving and making a difference alongside her talented teammates across the TDS and Apex family.

Outside The Office: When not at work Cari is likely to be found with a book in her hand relaxing at the beach. She is also quite keen on DIY-ing her fixer upper with her family, who have all embraced her love of mindful spaces and functional organization.

Industry Involvement:

• Hillsborough Community College: Emerging Green Builders and Designers – President 2009-2011
• Beyond Sustainability Conference Nov 2011 – Presentation on retro-fitting for energy efficient design
• Habitat for Humanity – Volunteer Site Supervisor 2010-2012

Joined Team in 2023

Office Location: Jacksonville, Florida

Degree: Master of Architecture

Professional Licensure: In Progress

Expertise: I am currently responsible for managing multiple clients such as Richmond American Homes, Toll Brothers, and Lennar. I am also involved with custom home design work and developing the Schematic Design team, which has always been a passion of mine. In the future, I would like to help aid in the growth of the architecture department and mentor young upcoming designers.

Career Story: As the daughter of an artist and an engineer, it seemed like only destiny for me to become a Designer and Architect one day. I received my Bachelor’s Degree in Environmental Design and Master’s in Architecture from the University of Colorado. After college, I found my place in the residential home building industry and since then have gained over 10 years of experience as an Architectural Designer and Project Manager. Through my experience thus far, my skills have grown in schematic design, construction documents, technical drawings, graphic presentations, project planning and project management.

Outside The Office: Outside of work, I enjoy exploring new restaurants, seeing live music and traveling as much as possible. I’m also passionate about the theater and I try to stay active with yoga and other fitness classes. I am known for planning fun activities and social events, but also enjoy downtime at the beach or swimming pool.

Joined Team in 2023

Office Location: Jacksonville, Florida

Degree: Master of Architecture (PVAMU)

Expertise: Client management/coordination, Production management and QC, 6 years of Residential Single-Family design and production.

Career Story: I am a 2006 graduate of Prairie View A&M University (TX) with a Master of Architecture degree. Three months prior to graduating, I accepted my first career position and moved to Orlando, Florida. After four years of commercial architecture (specifically grocery and fast-food remodels, shopping center remodels, new businesses, and ground up shell buildings), I moved back to Texas during the recession and taught high school Architecture. These three years taught me patience and how to manage large and small groups, as well as providing a refresher on the core reasons to why I enjoy architecture. By summer 2013, I rejoined the Architecture field and quickly rose in the ranks from production drafter to production lead, to Project Coordinator, and finally Project Manager. I enjoy managing teams of people, learning new ways to increase production, and sharing my knowledge with others. My goal as Sr. Project Manager is to continue to learn as much as I can about management and business development and to one day begin using my networking connections to bring in opportunities to this company.

Outside The Office: I’m passionate about my community. I volunteer with one of my neighborhood Main Street organizations (www.themilkdistrict.org) as a Board of Directors member. I spend my free time and weekends with friends and supporting local events, restaurants, and bars/breweries. I am a rum collector and bit of a craft beer snob. I enjoy teaching people about both. I also am a self-proclaimed Orlando concierge who loves being able to share local events on his Instagram account.

Industry Involvement: In the past I’ve been members of NOMA (National Organization of Minority Architects) Orlando and a member of GOBA (Greater Orlando Builders Association) via my company. In the future I may rejoin these and other local organizations as a representative of TDS.

Joined Team in 2011

Office Location: Jacksonville, Florida

Degree: Bachelor of Science – Building Construction Management

Expertise: I have great experience collaborating with my fellow team members on base plan set-up through to the final product being sent to the clients. I also have great experience in training the new up and coming designers in software usage and Architectural design standards.

Career Story: Prior to joining the team at True Design Studios, I was a senior architectural designer and construction superintendent for a small commercial and residential design-build firm for 11 years. While there, I supervised construction and subcontractor scheduling, client communications, construction documentations and the bidding process for residential, commercial, and government clients. Some of the work I was involved in included designing, construction oversight and renovation of custom homes, religious and educational facilities across Northeast Florida.

Outside The Office: When not at the computer I enjoy volunteering in my wife’s Pre-Kindergarten classroom, watching UFC and football with the family. My wife and I enjoy spending the summer months traveling the country with our dogs, seeing as many national parks, monuments, museums, and architectural masterpieces that our great country has to offer.

Joined Team in 2020

Office Location: Coppell, Texas

Degree: Bachelor of Environmental Design

Expertise: I have 10-years of experience in residential architecture, I’ve been in the field and have been involved in all aspects of residential construction from the ground up, and I am adept at current architectural technologies.

Career Story: After graduating from the College of Architecture at Texas A&M University in 2011, I have had the privelege of experiencing nearly all aspects of residential architecture and construction. Early in my professional career I worked as the sole architect of a mom & pop development company in Austin, TX. I was involved in the process from inception to built house and learned a little bit of everything in between. This allows me to bring to my position a level of knowledge and perspective which can help ground our conceptual work in reality. I hope to continue to utilize this knowledge to help the architectural department grow and succeed.

Outside The Office: In my free time I enjoy chasing after my dog, camping when Texas weather gets nice, and watching live music. I recently joined the Pickleball fad, I love to play soccer, and I’ve also gotten into mountain biking. I have an adventurous spirit and I like to try new things.

Joined Team in 2018

Office Location: Jacksonville, Florida

Degree: Bachelor of Fine Art

Expertise: Proficient in AutoCAD, space planning, and organizational skills.

Career Story: My career and love for construction began when I switched high schools in my junior year. The school was going through a big renovation for all their classrooms to theater style, as they were transitioning to a more digital platform. This is also where I met my art teacher that pushed me to go to art school. He gave me an opportunity to help design a new art studio for the school. From that point on I knew I wanted to study interior design.

From there, I went to The Art Institute of Jacksonville where I earned a B.A. in Interior Design. At the Art Institute, I had amazing teachers that taught me some of the biggest lessons that I still use to this day; like don’t be afraid to ask for more and don’t be afraid to fail. From college, I joined the True Design Studios team as a level one drafter. With years of hard work and team members to help me grow my industry knowledge, I have been able to advance my position within the company. My goal in the near future is to advance not only within the company, but to also deepen my industry knowledge as well.

Outside The Office: Outside of work, I spend most of my time with my wife and two children. I also spend time helping my parents with tasks that they can no longer do, such as yard work and projects around their home. When I am not doing that, I engage in hobbies like fishing or woodworking.

Joined Team in 2020

Office Location: Jacksonville, Florida

Degree: Previous studies in Architecture, Architectural History, and Business Administration (University of North Florida, Savannah College of Art and Design, Illinois Central College), currently pursuing B.S. in Building Construction Management

Expertise: Leader by Example, Documenting & Implementing Efficient Processes, and Organization

Career Story: Megan aspired to work in architecture from a young age. The mix of creativity & mathematics is what continues to inspire in her career today. Megan worked her way through college as a manager for a luxury retail company, and after her studies in Architectural History, she made her way from Savannah, GA to Jacksonville. Lucky for us, she landed at TDS to pursue her career in Architecture. Megan’s energy and enthusiasm for the industry makes a great fit for our team. She consistently sets & exceeds goals. Megan’s background in retail management has led to her success interacting with clients and peers.

Megan began at TDS in 2020. She has played an integral role in reviewing projects to ensure clients receive quality residential plans. Megan prioritizes collaboration across departments to ensure the success of each project, especially during Schematic Design phases. TDS has provided her with opportunities & mentoring to become the valued design professional she is today.

Megan hopes to further her career and become a Project Manager. She looks forward to mentoring others as she has learned from the best PMs here at TDS. Megan is grateful to work with such knowledgeable individuals who also have a passion for Architecture. Megan enjoys being part of a team that positively impacts communities across the country.

Outside The Office: In her free time, Megan enjoys traveling, riding her motorcycle, golfing, and staying active in and outside the gym. She also likes to visit family in Illinois whenever she can.

Industry Involvement:

• Women in Construction Club Member – UNF
• Architectural History Club Member – SCAD
• Former American Institute of Architecture Students Club President – ICC