Weekend Interview: How Warner Summers Partner Dana Ladd Went From Filling The Gaps To Earning A Piece Of The Pie

This series goes deep with some of the most compelling figures in commercial real estate: the deal-makers, the game-changers, the city-shapers and the larger-than-life personalities who keep CRE interesting.

Dana Ladd started at Warner Summers doing random tasks after finding herself as an unemployed architect during the Great Recession. She calls herself lucky for the experience because it instilled a hunger in her.

That mentality carried her into a growth trajectory at the 60-year-old Atlanta architectural firm Warner Summers, to the point where in 2020, Ladd gained partial ownership of the firm, which ranks among the 20 largest interior design firms in Metro Atlanta, according to the Atlanta Business Chronicle.

The transaction allowed the company to register as a certified woman-owned small business, allowing it to compete for more business.

“That’s the kind of leverage that WOSB certification gives you — a little bit more work,” Ladd, director of architecture and business development for Warner Summers, told Bisnow.

Warner Summers earned certification from the Women's Business Enterprise National Council, a nonprofit entity set up in 1997 to standardize and certify women-owned businesses in the U.S., earlier this year.

“Hopefully [we will] partner with some larger firms. I mean, I think that’s another thing that we’re seeing is opportunities with general contractors who need to have that box checked,” she said. 

Bisnow spoke to Ladd, a graduate of Clemson University and the Georgia Tech School of Architecture, about her outlook on the industry and her philosophy on being a female business owner.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Bisnow: Describe that moment you knew you wanted to be an architect. When was that?

Ladd: It's hard to pinpoint. During childhood, I was constantly thinking of what I wanted to do. The first career I ever had a dream of was an archaeologist. And then from there, ‘Oh, well maybe I need to be a psychologist,’ because I was into psychology at the time. I was really good at math. I'm really good at drawing. Maybe I should do something with drawing? So at first, I was thinking maybe graphic design. And then I had a teacher whose husband was an architect, and she actually tried to persuade me away from architecture.

So I don’t remember being consciously like, ‘this is what I'm going to do,’ But then I decided before I went to Clemson that I was going to do architecture in school and somehow, it all worked out. I really enjoyed it. 

Bisnow: You got your start right before the Great Recession. How had that experience informed your career and your outlook on your professional life?

Ladd: I am super grateful for that happening. I felt shame and embarrassment that I lost my job. Even though I was one of many, many people who have lost their job. Personally, I realized I never want to experience that again. I never wanted to feel like a failure. I was unemployed for about a month.

I came back to Warner Summers and found ways to provide value even though we were not getting very much [work]. I was finding things to do, like I was trying to teach people how to use computer programs, new features of computer programs. I was developing new standards for the company, just trying to find ways to do more than just my job. 

I do believe that that sort of thing, going through that recession, lit a fire under me to work hard and not really take anything for granted.

Bisnow: How did you segue into business development? That seems to be an art that's very separate from the creative side of architecture. How do you marry those two?

Ladd: The guy who was really my mentor at the time said, ‘You need to start doing business development.’ So he took me to a networking event, and I met a woman who mentioned I should get involved with this organization called [Commercial Real Estate Women].

And so I did, and I think from that point on I started making friends. I wasn't really looking at it strategically, like, ‘Hey, I should try and get business from this person.’ I started to see that the path to business development is that, truly, you have these relationships that lead to business. And relationships are so much easier than trying to force somebody to give you new business from a sales pitch.

Bisnow: Looking at the two hats, which gives you more satisfaction? The architect hat or the business development hat?

Ladd: The development hat for sure. Only because with architecture, unfortunately, our designs are driven by budget. You're really designing for what that client wants. Sometimes it’s a developer, so it's really budget-focused. And there have been so many designs that I've done that have never been built, that changed and got butchered, which is something that I hate. It can be very disheartening. 

On the business development side, it's about fostering relationships. I enjoy the mentorship aspect of it, like getting to meet people who are new to the industry and they want to meet people, especially if they are a woman. ‘Let me teach you. Let me take you under my arm, and I'm going to introduce you to these people, and I will show you how it's done.’ That has been so deeply fulfilling, way, way more than design.

Bisnow: With younger professionals who have probably not ever experienced an economic downturn in their lives, what would be your word of advice to them about surviving these times?

Ladd: It’s a good question, and I want to say it in the nicest way. There’s a little bit of a sense of entitlement that I see. Not with everybody, but I do see it with some of the things that people ask. The ones that I see working hard and not asking for, I don’t want to say handouts, but those are the ones who are going to go really far. I hate to say that. 

Bisnow: What are developers getting right about design? And what are developers still getting wrong?

Ladd: They’re getting the cost wrong. We’re not going to see a decrease in the cost of construction. I’m also seeing a focus on the bottom line. That’s obviously how they have to approach their project, but I think the approach should be on the urban experience. If it's a suburban mixed-use building, how do the outdoor spaces engage with the community? You create a place, versus just a, 'This is a place to go once.' The cost needs to be more relative. 

Bisnow: What are the biggest design trends you're seeing in office right now?

Ladd: There is an emphasis on wellness, creating a work environment that is a place. It's a destination, a place to collaborate. It’s a place to be mentored, it’s a social venue. The best kind of collaboration happens organically, and we need to have some social interaction to foster that environment.

The wellness thing kind of crosses a bunch of different aspects of design. Your desk needs to be ergonomic. Do you have access to natural light? Do you have plants? Also, your break area isn’t just a kitchen. It’s a cafe that promotes healthy living.

Bisnow: From which architects do you take your inspiration?

Ladd: My favorite architect is Lake Flato out of Dallas. They do more residential than they do commercial, but they’re taking into account the natural beauty and the natural light on their impact on design.

Bisnow: How do you compare today’s commercial real estate environment to what you went through in the Great Recession?

Ladd: The difference between now and the Great Recession is the change in the work environment. Back then, we had still a healthy amount of office design as leases expired. We have other verticals that we serve. Medical office, industrial, financial and a few other minor things. The difference now is that office has taken a huge dip. What Covid did to working from home drastically changed the work environment. I think we’re still a few years from the dust settling on that.

Bisnow: Give us a bold prediction about the rest of the year.

Ladd: I think that the Feds will cut the interest rate sometime in the second half of the year and that will shake loose capital markets. I think the second half of the year is going to be the healthy one. We’re already starting to see things start to happen. For brokers, things were slow at the end of the year. Now they’re slammed in the new year.

Bisnow: What is your weekend routine or favorite weekend activity?

Ladd: Cleaning and working out every weekend. Every weekend I try a hot yoga class. You do a pretty extensive workout where you’re doing a lot of pushups and squats in a hot room for an hour.