Life and Work with Barrett Cooke

Today we’d like to introduce you to Barrett Cooke.

Barrett, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
I moved to Los Angeles after finishing my graduate degree at Rhode Island School of Design. I was working at small architecture firms since 2005 and then 2008 hit. I was barely weathering the Great Recession and the impact on the industry, people were starting to build again. After the birth of my second child, I started dipping my toe into going out on my own with a small design firm. I met Alice Arterberry, my business partner, randomly on a project where she was consulting. Soon thereafter, Alice’s family decided to move to Austin and she needed help finishing up some work in Los Angeles. We started working together and both realized how incredible it is to have a partner and not feel so alone in navigating all of the aspects of our business. To being with we were primarily taking projects in LA, but currently, we are equally split between Los Angeles and Austin.

We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc. – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
I was motivated to go on my own by both the lack of flexibility that exists in typical workplaces and creative frustration. My parents are entrepreneurs and so the idea of creating my own path always seems inevitable. After I had my second child the economics didn’t make sense either way, so it seemed to be the moment to really try. I could barely afford to work and I couldn’t afford to not work. It was depressing to realize how financially undervalued I was. But I am a worker. I need a purpose outside of the family. I made the calculation that if my husband and I could weather the initial years on my own with a low income (calculating in that my in-office income was unfortunately also quite low) that it would be worth it. I was working so hard in the beginning, trying to maximize my child-care hours, please my clients, survive parenthood, be a partner. At the end of the first year, when I added up all my income for tax purposed, I sobbed. Luckily, each year has grown. I am no longer willing to work for free and I hope increasingly the value I place on my experience is shared by my clients.

So, as you know, we’re impressed with Arterberry Cooke – tell our readers more, for example, what you’re most proud of and what sets you apart from others.
We are a small Design and Architecture firm, working primarily on residential projects in Los Angeles and Austin. Architecture is extremely complicated. We endeavor to balance regulations/codes, technical expertise, design, and job-site relationships daily in order to have successful projects. Someday, that balance is easier than others! Our goal is to provide excellent, accessible service. We try not to take ourselves too seriously and often our job is more of spirit guide… helping clients achieve their aesthetic goals. All of our clients have a perspective. Even the ones who claim “no design sense.” We all live in the built environment and have strong points of view whether recognized or not. Our goal is to help people love more comfortably, with satisfaction, in their space. A majority of our clients are in a similar age range as Alice and I with families and children. In Los Angeles, most of us live in modestly sized homes and fitting managing the chaos if the day is a challenge. We bring that perspective to a lot of projects. How can we beautifully hide the mess and not feel so out of control!

What advice would you give to someone at the start of her career?
Oh boy. Keep going? There are so many moments that you have to remind yourself that this is what you wanted. This is the thing that you always dreamed of doing and you are DOING IT! When things get tough, as they still do, I always check in and go through the other career options I have and inevitably come back to where I am now. With my kids now, it is also so easy to see; so much of any success is rooted in the trying. The not giving up. Really, there is no secret other than that.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.arterberrycooke.com
• Email: office@arterberrycooke.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/arterberry_cooke/

Image Credit:
Kari Wilton Sherman, Corey Bodoh-Creed, Tim Coulter

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