STOA Spotlight: Carlos Godinez

In 2017 we wanted to bring the focus back down to what really keeps STOA moving in the right direction, and that is our staff. Today's STOA Spotlight is on Carlos Godinez, Project Architect.

Q: How long have you been at STOA?

5 years as of October 1st.

Q: Before working at STOA, what was the most unusual or interesting job you’ve ever had?

Administrative Assistant at a Surgery Center. It was interesting to be part of a completely different field of work.

Q: What is your favorite part about working for STOA?

The teamwork.

Q: What did you want to be when growing up?

I have wanted to be an architect since I was a little boy. One day I came home from school with a drawing of a house. It was your typical square box with a triangle shaped roof, a rectangle for a door, and a small square for a window. I showed it to my dad and he said “That’s not how you draw a house, this is how you draw a house!” He pulled out a paper pad and pencil and proceeded to draw a 3/4 type view of a house.

After that he would ask me all the time to draw him a house and I was hooked.

Q: What do you consider your greatest achievement?

My greatest career achievement has been passing my architecture exams and becoming a licensed architect.

Q: What are three career lessons you’ve learned thus far?

1. Do not procrastinate. (Always a work in progress for me.)

2. Learn from your failure and your success. I have found that I learn a lot more from my failures.

3. Just go with it. This career can lead you to very interesting places, both physically and mentally.

Q: People would be surprised if they knew:

Although I am an only child, I have a huge family. I have close to 100 cousins, the oldest is in his 60s and the youngest is 2 years old.