Denver Power Women: 5 Questions With Architect Rebecca Stone
This limited series profiles Power Women who have helped shape metro Denver's cities, neighborhoods, businesses and lifestyles. These women will be honored at Bisnow's Denver Power Women event on Dec. 5.
Oz Architecture Managing Principal Rebecca Stone designs dynamic environments that enrich communities in which they are located. Stone has worked on hundreds of hospitality, multifamily and mixed-use projects that create a sense of place in the mountains, by the sea or in an urban setting. Stone, who received her Master of Architecture from Cornell University, sits on several resort design-review boards, the Urban Land Institute Resort, Tourism & Leisure Product council and is a ULI Partnership Forum 2013 Mentor. Stone also is active in the Greenway Foundation and Colorado Destination Imagination.
Bisnow: How do you describe your job to people who are not in the industry?
Stone: I have an unusual niche as an architect who focuses on the resort and hospitality industry. I design buildings, aid my clients in envisioning a sense of place and create unique cultures in both urban markets and resort communities for people to recreate. I also manage a firm of 165 architects and designers. We have over 20 owners to manage, so I would describe this part of my job as a consensus-builder.
Bisnow: What is the biggest business problem you have faced and how did you solve it?
Stone: As a business leader at Oz Architecture, the toughest time that I have experienced was in 2006 and 2007 when the recession hit and, as the managing principal, I had to make decisions about who at the firm would stay and who we would have to let go. The entire architectural industry lost a generation of talent during this time period, and we are still trying to recover.
Bisnow: What is one thing you think companies can do to address wage and gender inequality?
Stone: I believe strongly that wages should be based on contribution and performance and that companies need to look past implicit bias of all sorts in order to pay employees what they are worth regardless of race, gender, sexual orientation or religion. Specifically related to gender inequality, I hope that most companies are working toward building a flexible environment so that women can feel less guilty about taking time to have children and continue on an active career path as mothers and professionals.
Bisnow: What piece of advice do you give others entering the industry?
Stone: A career is what you make it. If you have passion and love what you do, follow your heart and give it everything you have. You can have a rich family life and a fulfilling career if you want it bad enough.
Bisnow: What do you do to unwind when you’re not working?
Stone: My family loves to travel and explore the world. I drag my husband and kids around to lots of incredible architecture, and they make sure we stop to eat all the local foods. With a 15- and a 12-year-old, I am also really active in my kids’ activities. I am the team manager of a DU Pioneers Peewee hockey team, I run the clock at the Cherry Creek Varsity home swim meets, I volunteer with Destination Imagination, and I watch a lot of baseball.
Meet Oz Architecture Managing Principal Rebecca Stone at Bisnow's Denver Power Women event Dec. 5 at Four Seasons Hotel Denver.
