Parkhill Welcomes James Howard as the Oklahoma Market Leader for Architectural Services
Written By: Parkhill Communications
Date: August 9, 2024
Parkhill recently announced the key addition of James Howard, AIA, as Oklahoma Market Leader for Architectural Services. James has more than 27 years of experience in business development and project execution in various markets, including education, municipal, federal, and commercial.
James’ primary focus will be business development in Oklahoma, which will be key to extending the firm’s growth in the state. He has a deep understanding of the local business landscape, which spans the state from local communities to tribal nations.
Throughout his career, he has demonstrated strong leadership in every organization he has been associated with, which has led to sustainable company growth. He also has a passion for professional development and helping others succeed through the power of mentorship.
What made you pursue a career in architecture?
I had a strong desire to do something with math, science, and art. I didn't realize how much art really played into what I wanted to do. It was the marriage of science and architecture or design art. I also had a desire to help people with whatever they needed help, and this was absolutely the most perfect way to do that. If I could help the people I work with achieve their professional and personal goals while helping our clients meet their goals … that's where I achieve the most satisfaction or happiness.
What is your design philosophy?
The driving force behind what I do is bringing people together to create great solutions that achieve the goals. My process is highly collaborative. I bring everybody to the table from the start so everyone can have a discussion and a full understanding of the project scope. If we can hear directly from the client and find out exactly what their needs are, then we can ask those probative questions. I want to know the exact direction they want to head. They're a crucial part of the process, and it’s important that they walk away knowing that they've been heard. We're consultants as well as designers.
What piqued your interest in joining Parkhill?
What I see here is true action. Again, a lot of firms talk the talk, they don't deliver. What I'm seeing is actual execution of the goal and that's wonderful. That means there's real leadership and there's real buy-in. When leadership and the rest of the organization are aligned in the firm’s goals, we're pulling the rope in the same direction and we're going to get a lot further a lot faster.
I also like the vision for Oklahoma. There's a great desire to really bring full design capability to Oklahoma to create opportunities for others here. It's been made very clear to me by everyone in this organization that Oklahoma is important, and being successful and finding good people here is important. Having the opportunity to help find those great people and bring them on board, and help them create great projects for some of my clients that I've worked with for years is going to be fun. It's going to be thoroughly enjoyable.
What is one of your strengths that will help you build community in Oklahoma?
I was taught to seek consensus and to understand that everyone has their own ideas. Nobody has a monopoly on the best ideas. To me, building community is bringing people together to visualize the future and execute the plan.
Understanding who to bring to the table, who would want to participate, and who could be effective and help resolve problems is critical. Sometimes, you can come to the table with a client and realize that you don't have everyone there that you need. To be able to say, ‘Don't worry. I'm going to make a phone call. We're going to get those people here and see if we can't help address this issue.’ That's extremely helpful in those situations, and connecting those dots is very satisfying.
