Inspiring Conversations with Jay Zapata of zprout

Today we’d like to introduce you to Jay Zapata.

Hi Jay, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
I was born and raised in Panama City, Panama. The city inspired me to become an architect. It is a buzzling one where the old ruins meets the contemporary world. An especial place. I remember visiting a construction site ,at a very young age, with my father who was a pastor. He took me and my brother to a construction site for a church he was building to practice his ministry. During that time, I was fascinated to see how multiple building trades came together to achieve a common goal but more impressed on how they followed drawings and directions from someone called “the architect”. Following my uncle’s advice, who is also an architect, I focused at an early age on the development of my hand drawings skills, math, physics, and basic computer drafting skills which then helped me enter the University of Panama architectural bachelor degree program in 2004.

I had the opportunity to start working for my uncle in 2006 while I was on the 3rd year of my bachelor degree. This opportunity came with a challenge as I had to work during the middle of the day and take classes in the early morning, at night, and sometimes both. I had to quickly learn how to manage time as it became my most precious asset. It was a grind, I will find myself struggling juggling both. I was lucky to have great examples of hard work at home. My mother worked for the Universidad Techonlogica (national tech university) during the day, evaluating their educational programs on finances and then taught college level economics during the evenings. Working hard has always been part of our family culture and I truly believe that those early years of my life shaped me into the resilient person I’m today.

My path brought me to the city of Angels in 2010 where I had to start my professional network from scratch. Leaving a high profile position in Panama was not easy but I was up for the challenge. I was in my mid 20’s and the first job I got in the US was as drafter for a welding shop in South El Monte in LA. Needed to start somewhere and the first few months in the US were probably one of the most challenging ones but the ones I will never forget. I quickly learned the importance of personal connection and that every person has their own story which is worth listening to. I found out that you usually learn a thing or two by doing so. Also, that the simplest things in life bring you the most joy. I met great people at that welding shop which I still remain in touch today. I even made a collaboration with some of the guys to create unique pieces of furniture, lamps, and household accessories. It was truly a place of inspiration where I learned how to connect with people. I took ESL (English as a second lenguage) classes at night at San Marino High School and worked on transferring my professional credentials on the weekends. That same year I had the opportunity to work as a consultant for The Getty Institute at the iconic Getty Center in Brentwood which forced me to leave “the shop”. I was recruited for this position through an architect I met while I was volunteering for Pasadena Heritage one weekend. He had an old coworker who works at the Getty Center in need of a Spanish speaking architect. My role was to assist the Institute’s Seismic Retrofitting Project: a comprehensive damage and construction assessments for four historic earthen sites in the country of Peru representing building typologies found in the Latin American’s region. The project aimed to design and test historical and new seismic retrofitting techniques for historic earthen buildings; provide guidance on implementing the techniques to architects, engineers, and conservators; and work with building regulation authorities to gain acceptance of these techniques. The following year I was hired by Home and Garden Television Network (HGTV) to work as a consultant for the television show The Outdoor Room with Jamie Durie. I assisted the network coordinate the design, and construction trades for season number 2 of their popular reality show. I also played an important role in coordinating multiple design and construction trades to acquire the necessary permits with authorities having jurisdiction. I also attended 2 years of college level English classes at night at Pasadena City College.

I acquired an accreditation from the Green Building Council Institute in April 2012 as a LEED Accredited Professional in Building Design & Construction. I made a comeback into the commercial architecture world that same year landing a job at AC Martin (formerly known as Togawa Smith & Martin), an architecture firm who specializes in high density multifamily residential and mixed use buildings throughout Southern California. At AC Martin, I had the opportunity to implement innovative technical solutions to deliver sensitive design with thoughtfully composed and cost effective planning. During my tenure, I was designated as the Job Captain of WREN, a 362 unit mixed use development project in Downtown Los Angeles with 6,400 sf of retail space and 362 parking stalls completed in spring 2017. This project was a highlight on my career as one of the first City approved double concrete podiums with 5 story levels of wood framed structure. The project was broadly accepted when completed which gave me the opportunity to be interviewed and featured on AIA’s Architect magazine which is distributed globally. I was also recognized by the firm’s high achievement award individual in 2015 for my contributions to the company.

I became a licensed architect in the US on March 2015 and right after that I founded zprout /s-prout/ architecture. I moonlighted for a local developer on small scale projects for a few years continue working on the weekends, evenings, and holidays. I had the desire to expand the numbers of clients I would like to serve as well as personal and financial goals I wanted to achieve so I left AC Martin by the end of 2017. Right away a friend offered to lease a space and I opened an office in San Gabriel California in early 2018 where I still practice today. As faith will have it, the building I occupy is the same building I used to stare at on my way to work back in the “shop days”. It is a 2 story brick building built in the 1940’s by the federal government. It was used as a storage facility for artillery ammunition right next to the train tracks on a triangular shaped site with an open floor plan and open roof trusses. I never made the train light on my way to work and while I waited I always wondered about the shape of building which fits a very irregular shape. The trains tracks are now underground however you can still hear the tracks which brings great memories. One afternoon, my wife and I went a walk in our neighborhood while she was full term pregnant with our first child in 2014. We ran into another couple which happened to live a few streets over, also full term pregnant, and we chatted for a while. We immediately became friends after our children were born through play dates and dinners together. Few months later, we found out that they owned that building I used to stare every morning on the way to work. The building is named the Spanish Galleon because of its irregular shape and is truly an architectural icon as you can’t miss it. Life works on mysterious ways. I believe that you just need to follow the signs. Keep your ear close to the ground and place your hand in your heart. Follow your gut feeling. Never forget that life comes on full circle. I have been running zprout architecture for over a decade now and we are very proud of our work as we truly believe that our work has a an impact on people’s everyday life. 70% of work comes from repeated clients and we work on a referral system with little to no advertising system. Over the last years, I have been able to focus more time and energy into my family, wife and kids which have become a main priority to me over the last years.

I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
Every entrepreneur will tell you that is never easy to start a company from scratch. Ben Horowitz said that he sleep as a baby when he founded his company…we woke up every two hours and cry. However I believe that finding joy in the business journey keeps you going since it is not all about the destination and more about he journey. I perceive it as a game. It is competitive, you need a new strategy for each deal, have passion, and it brings the best (or sometimes the worst) out of you. The most challenging part of being an entrepreneur is the need to have the ability to change and adapt rapidly. Also to make decisions based on the best interest of the company rather than an individual. You have to be able to navigate all types of circumstances and to understand that the highs seem to be short lived and that the lows feel like an eternity. I believe the biggest struggle for a small shop like ours is the demand for manpower and time management. It seems like you never have enough to take on certain jobs or that you have too much when the market dries out. It is a struggle but it is something I’m learning to manage by keeping the business simple and plain. You need to have thick skin but also a smooth ones to just let certain things go. You have to be willing to wear multiple hats and sometimes many at the same time. The world will tell you one day that you are too young to do something and the next day it will tell you that you are too old. It takes hard work to own a business but it is one of the most rewarding things I have ever done in my life since I truly believe we are improving people lives through architectural design be improving the value of their real estate.

As you know, we’re big fans of zprout. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about the brand?
I started the company because I wanted to assist clients sprout /z-prout/ new ideas to make their vision a reality. Our goal is to improve the value of real estate for our clients through architectural design. We specialize in multifamily developments, commercial, and federal funded projects on all phases of design and construction. We currently serve the San Francisco Bay area and Southern California markets. Company corporate clients include Quest Diagnosis, Conoco Phillip, and North West College. We also serve local developers, cities, and counties with professional design needs. On March 2021 the company received certification by the US Small Business Administration to participate in their small business development program. This certification has given the company the opportunity to grow as a Certified Federal contracting firm and to do business with the General Service Administration (GSA). I was awarded the young architect award in 2024 by the American Institute of Architects (AIA) in Washington DC for setting the framework of design excellence in the architecture world. Awards categories are defined by innovative design adapting to climate change, impact on communities, and enhancing people’s lifestyles. I believe that what sets us apart is our attitude to be reachable as I personally work on all our projects. We listen to our clients goals, budget, and schedule in order make our projects successful. At the end of the day we are not designing for ourselves so working closely with our clients is part of culture. We truly look forward to the next challenges ahead.

How can people work with you, collaborate with you or support you?
Feel free to use the information below to get in contact with me.

E: jzapata@zprout.com

P: (626)-569-7780

Book 30 mins complementary consultation using link below:

https://calendly.com/jzapata_zprout/complementary_30_minutes_consultation?back=1&month=2025-05

Pricing:

• We believe our services fit project budget exceeding half a million dollars. Also, we only work on single family residential projects by referrals only.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.zprout.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/zprout_architecture
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/zprout.architecture.7
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/zprout