LA Power Women: 5 Questions With HOK's Anne Fletcher

This limited series profiles SoCal Power Women who have helped shape cities, neighborhoods, businesses and lifestyles in Southern California. These women will be honored at Bisnow's Los Angeles Power Women event Dec. 12.

Anne Fletcher likes to keep it old school. Despite all of the technology around her, there's nothing like sketching and designing on a notepad. 

As the managing principal at HOK's Los Angeles office, Fletcher is responsible for leading the team and providing strategic direction. She also sits on the company's board of directors. 

Fletcher, who holds a master's degree in architecture from the University of Virginia and a bachelor's degree in art from Washington University, has more than two decades of experience in the design and real estate industries in New York and Los Angeles.

When it comes to putting her ideas down, Fletcher told Design Milk:

"It’s still all about paper for me. I sketch things out for people, though I have an iPhone, iPad, a laptop and two monitors, of course. I look at models on screen with designers to help pick views that will be most expressive, but I usually end up with a pin up on the wall."

Bisnow: Who are you and what do you do?

Fletcher: Anne Fletcher, managing partner, HOK Los Angeles

Bisnow: What is the most challenging part of your job?

Fletcher: Multitasking the amount of diverse directions the practice can generate. The most rewarding? Watching people grow into their potential.

Bisnow: How have you seen companies change the way they address wage and gender inequality in recent years?

Fletcher: The acknowledgement that inequality exists and the fact that companies are looking at the value the person brings in isolation of gender bias on a more rigorous basis.

Bisnow: What do you enjoy most about living and doing business in Los Angeles?

Fletcher: I love the variety of landscapes and a city where you can bike on the beach and hike in the mountains on the same day. In terms of business, the open nature and warmth of the community and collaborative nature in pursuing work. Clients see architects as partners in LA.

Bisnow: What are you most excited about, professionally, as we head into 2020?

Fletcher: The emerging design technologies that are changing architecture as we know it as well as the innovative markets to work in, such as gaming and esports.