On this episode of Banking on KC, Erika Moody, President of Helix Architecture + Design, joins host Kelly Scanlon to discuss her path from entrepreneur to merger to firm leader and how she’s cultivating a culture of mentorship, innovation and collaboration at one of Kansas City’s most respected design firms. Tune in to discover:
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Erika Moody Transcript Cut
Kelly Scanlon: Welcome to Banking on KC. I'm your host, Kelly Scanlon. Thank you for joining us. With us on this episode is Erika Moody, the president of Helix Architecture + Design. Welcome, Erika.
Erika Moody: Thank you.
Kelly Scanlon: You started your own design practice before you merged with Helix in 2016, so tell us a little bit about your background and how that entrepreneurial leap did shape your leadership style today.
Erika Moody: Certainly, certainly I started the architecture journey at Kansas State University, so we'll start all the way back there. I'm a Kansas kid raised in Hutchinson, Kansas, and I think the dinner conversation went something like, you wanna go to KU or K State? So, you know, we've got fans of all in our office today, but K State has a great program, so I started there.
As you mentioned, I worked in practice prior to jumping out on my own. I don't think even the entrepreneurialship title is something I would have gravitated towards or even claimed for myself because it's pretty much in the nature of what architects do. You go into practice. I've seen a lot of that. I had seen my mentors and bosses and heard their stories, and it seemed like at some point there was sort of this.
Pivotal moment where a lot of them do sort of branch out on their own for a host of reasons. So we, uh, did launch a Blackbird design studio, which is what we named our, our firm, and started, there were a lot of people applauding the entrepreneurial sort of spirit, and I had to get comfortable with that because I think at first it just almost felt like the trajectory that was innate.
I've often said it was an MBA on the job. Many people do. Running towards something and not from something was really important to us. So we very much felt there was something we could do different or on our own. There was more to learn to gain. There was a healthy curiosity there. We'd also been armed with some really great teachings and mentorship of how to do it.
Kelly Scanlon: And where did those come from? Were they formal programs or other business owners or?
Erika Moody: For me, at that point, it was not a formal program, although I did do the Kaufman Entrepreneurial Program while I was, uh, with the, the larger firm. It was kind of an interesting time. We were actually. Thinking about sort of having a business within a business.
And I participated as a leadership member of the firm to do that entrepreneurship program. It was a fantastic experience. Um, and it definitely shaped some of my thinking in how we set up our business plan and so forth. But I think before that it really was just watching what my predecessors had done and, and watching and, and hearing, and.
Seeing, um, the conversations. The other aspect of what I get to do specifically was my, um, journey in architecture and interior design was often in workplace design. So I was surrounded and constantly being asked to step into the shoes of some of our greatest leaders in Kansas City and beyond. And so those.
People I count as my mentors too. And so when you're watching the decisions they're making, the conversations they're having around their own culture, um, the decisions on how they want to mentor the programs they're operating within, that was a great byproduct that I didn't maybe count on, but I certainly learned a lot from my clients.
Kelly Scanlon: Yeah, I would never think about that, but you're right. Mm-hmm. With some of the work that you were doing, you did step into the offices of some of the greats, got to step behind the door and see some of the inner workings. So in 2021, then you become president of Helix, just as the firm was entering its 30th year.
What does that milestone mean to you? Not just for the firm's identity, but to you personally? Well, the conversation of
Erika Moody: entrepreneurship is probably a good platform to leap. From here as well. In having our own practice, we recognized a pathway forward, but we also saw an opportunity by merging with Helix to sort of jump ahead and maybe even go.
Um, we kind of said it, we jumped a decade ahead, you know, of, of some of the, um, building of a business that might have, you know, might have happened as sort of our startup going. And so in, in part when we came to Helix, it was in. Preparation for their founders to be able to take retirement and for that transition to occur naturally.
It was something we all came together and discussed in terms of our shared values and vision for where the company could go. So we knew going into it, there was a match there. It's an incredible platform and place and, and the founders of Helix grew a, a, an incredible business that we got to then inherit, but it was.
With the expectation that we get to put our own fingerprints on it and take it where we want to. And so now no longer are you a startup or a small business in the first decade, or like you said three, you're now in a second generation. So what does that mean? And that's exciting to come together. My two partners now at Helix and I have had many a conversation about that direction and that trajectory, and so I think having both the ability.
To recognize the incredible past and be able to have that in sort of our arsenal, if you will, of expertise, but then also be able to still layer onto it that entrepreneurial spirit and think about where we're going. Our market and industry, I think has always been sort of that first frontier into cities and projects and development, and that's exciting, but the, it's ever changing.
We're excited to launch into the. Future, and like I said, take the the great pieces of, of what was given to us in the past and layer that on top with our own experiences and really look forward to Helix in the, in the next 30 years.
Kelly Scanlon: Yeah. One of the things that sets Helix apart is that you're not just an architecture firm, you offer the design component as well.
So talk to us about what that blending means for your clients and in more. Importantly, how do you convey the value of that to your clients and prospects?
Erika Moody: Yeah, I appreciate that designation or, or, or that separation of something very unique for us. We do consider that to be a special component of what Helix offers to their clients.
First and foremost, helix, even by name. Was founded with the idea of our DNA Yes people, first people centric. And with that, I think you're constantly juggling and balancing the needs of an individual and possibly then an organization or a community. So you're looking, if you will, inside out and outside in.
And so with that comes different disciplines that have studied things in a different way. Interior design by nature is in the interior. There are parameters that have. Previously been set for one reason or another. Could be true. Bricks and mortar, could be expectations of planning and so forth. But there is sort of that piece of it that creates a certain kind of thinker, a critical thinker in a certain way that looks at things a little differently with those constraints.
You think about architecture and that. Larger planning and sort of that outward in, I think that also lends and tends itself to a, a type of thinker and a, a certain spatially sort of representation, uh, individual. And so the two coming together for us just offers that balance from, from every angle. I've been a part of projects where our interior designers and our interior architects are on the project from the very beginning, and you might not have historically seen that in a traditional team makeup from your design team because.
You could argue their work won't happen until much later. So is it necessary and important? And we would say yes because that. Connection to the goals and the direction that's set forth in the very beginning and having that buy-in for the whole team. And that team goes beyond architects and interior designers.
Those are our consultants, those are our clients, our construction partners. And so having that at the beginning and setting that up, certainly there's times throughout the process where people will lead. In more of a desired way. But having that group from the beginning I think does set us up for success.
And then continuing that team throughout the whole project. So you really are constantly looking again inside, out, outside in.
Kelly Scanlon: What are some of the projects that Helix has been involved with that our listeners would recognize and what's been maybe your favorite one? Oh, wow. Oh, favorite project is
Erika Moody: like favorite children.
You can't bet do that to me. I bet you can't do that. Um. Well, helix has been very blessed to be involved in a lot of our community changing projects. So whether that be revitalization in our crossroads area, renovation and rehab of a lot of projects you would recognize and know. Uh, picking a few that have been sort of our more recent, our current office.
So we're in a beautiful building that Shirley Helzberg owns. It is one of our film row jewels in Kansas City. Um, we have several of those buildings. Bringing that back to its glory and, and allowing that to be a place now for workplace. Our office being one of them there, um, has been a fantastic project.
There are many other projects like that. Uh, the Corgan station project and on Main Street, after we see what the street car development was allowing for. Developers to invest in and see renovation again of a beautiful historic building at Kurgan Station, but also counterbalanced with a be beautiful, brand new building right at the corner.
Um, being a part of some of our local universities, UMKC, we're proud to be working with them on their new performing arts center. That's been a project that's over a decade in the making, and we're excited about that one coming online and working again very collaboratively with students and educators in a public.
Private partnership way so that that can all come to be university work around the metro at KCU, at KU, Mu, K State. We've got projects in a lot of places that I think transformational and uh, and glad to be a part of those projects. Some of the other projects I will highlight too are in our multifamily space.
So we just finished four Corners at Armor and Truce, and I think what is so exciting about the work there, very different from some of the other projects I mentioned that sometimes get. The sort of, uh, gold star standard, if you will. And, and they get the highlight and they get the, the media reel. But that project was, uh, was an area that previously had four parking lots that primarily didn't add to that neighborhood in any really meaningful way.
And so coming together with a multitude of neighborhood associations along with, um, the various city organizations and coming up with a space that not only provided housing. Parking, but I think did so in a beautiful way that's not sort of in your face, that there's a large garage right there. You've got walkable neighborhood amenities and you've got amenities to the, the multifamily residential that's really added to that neighborhood.
And I think it's exciting to see those urban redevelopment opportunities come along for our city.
Kelly Scanlon: Yeah. So you talked about when your original firm merged with Helix that you were gonna put your thumbprints, uh, on things. Putting a thumbprint, not just on that business, but on the community itself. Some of those projects really are transformative, as you said.
Where do you see the biggest growth opportunities and innovation occurring in the industry?
Erika Moody: Technology will always be an innovator for us. We talk a lot about AI and how that applies to our business. I think the answer's still a little bit in the wild, wild west, unknown, but we're embracing it in a safe way and kind of understanding what it can do for us.
Um, understanding that it oftentimes does take that creative engine first and foremost to put something. To it in it is exciting. So technology will continue to be something that we look for and carefully apply at the same time. We are back in the office very proudly, five days a week. And I think it's because of that face-to-face collaboration conversation, that shoulder to shoulder mentorship, and so not losing sight of the things that we know to be.
Tried and true methods for teaching training. It is a practice. It is meant to be observed, and it's meant to have that continuous mentorship both ways. Uh, and so recognizing that just good conversation and getting things out of the computer and pinning things up and inviting people in for conversation, collaboration, um, that could be.
Hearing from a great author or an artist. It could be other forms of art and media, but it inspires and so healthy balance between technology. I think in the construction world we have been a part of and will continue to want to, uh, be a part of projects that are sophisticated and complex in terms of how they're delivered.
So whether that's new materials, whether that's modular construction, whether that's using, uh, materials in maybe an interesting, um, or innovative way, wanting to stay. Included and involved in thinking about those for our projects as well.
Kelly Scanlon: Um, so, so the collaboration that you just described, it seems to me would be essential for taking the different groups that you mentioned earlier, the architects, the designers, the construction folks, and and others that are involved in the work that you do and keep them from being siloed.
So talk to us about how you do keep that collaboration fresh, ongoing. And not just have people retreating back into their areas of expertise.
Erika Moody: It is something that we keep at the forefront of all of our conversations. So you mentioned several different partnership groups. I think when we're talking about our larger team group contractors and consultants, and that having the ability to kick off a meeting like we talked about, kicked off a project like we talked about earlier, with all stakeholders involved and be able to share the.
Goals and opportunities for the project and really get buy-in is, is in, is crucial. There's also elements of check-in, how are things going. Um, our process allows for a lot of that conversation to happen and not just to happen at the team level, but also for leadership to be plugged in and have those conversations.
So I think recognizing that those are conversations you want to have throughout and really ask the question, how are things going both ways, uh, good and bad and that sort of thing. And, and, and recognize where you make adjustments as needed at a. Firm level. We have participated in a couple different activities more recently, but I think one's very successful.
On Thursday afternoons we get together, we identified an hour where anyone in the studio can pin up or talk about a project or something that they have that they're working on, and we've designated a time and a place in our studio for that to happen. It's become really well participated in. I think we've had a variety of.
Topics and conversations we're hearing from all levels of our design professional staff and team from the very newest interns that might be starting with us to some of our more senior um, professionals. And so that has been a forum that for us, has added information sharing inspiration, which I think is really critical.
And even just maybe a safe space to be able to present or test something or try out a little bit and, and not have anywhere to fall or fail. You're, you're talking to a group of people that wanna see you succeed and, and wanna see that happen in a safe way. So it's been incredibly successful. I will also say, I think maybe the number one reason it was successful was it was brought to us from our.
Practice leaders and practice leaders at our firm are up and coming, emerging professionals that have been in the industry 10 or so years, and are moving towards maybe where they want their career to be, either as an owner or someday maybe, um, leading designs, um, and, and, and in their practice area have certainly risen to that, to that challenge and that expertise.
It came from them that they saw a need for this, and they have really, that has really driven a great conduit between maybe your most senior and your most emerging, and, and having that be at their direction and at their guidance and leadership has also been really exciting.
Kelly Scanlon: Yeah, it's not like there was some mighty leaders up on high that said, you're going to do this.
Very much. A self-started. Exactly. You've mentioned mentoring several times your own mentoring. It actually sounds like there is a peer-to-peer mentoring in these Thursday afternoon sessions that you have. So what does mentorship look like at Helix in, can you share a story about someone who has been mentored and how it shaped their leadership?
Progress. Sure.
Erika Moody: Mentorship is vital, uh, critical. It's certainly, um, a gift I have been given many times over with incredible mentors in my own career and life. I do have my own personal feelings and philosophy that it should be somewhat organic. And so at Helix it is somewhat informal. Um, if we didn't say already, we are usually 25 to 30 people.
We kind of fluctuate in that number, but that's historically been the size of our studio. With that, we'd like to think that there's transparency and a flat hierarchy where everyone can be approached or could be asked. And so I'd like it to be an organic, um, situation where if someone feels like their skill.
Would require more information from someone that they could reach out and they, they could do that. So we definitely encourage that. We encourage it both ways. Um, we encourage someone to be self-starting in that. And when we talk to younger folks looking for mentorship, maybe from a senior person being prepared and thinking thoughtfully about how they're gonna use their time and, and when they ask that.
But then also reminding. Our senior staff, how they have also been mentored and where there might be some areas that you could just simply ask for a coffee or ask someone about a project and that that opens a door in a great way. And so I think modeling the behavior is the first thing we do. Um, examples that I would give for myself probably come from when somebody has told me.
Later on something I said or did resonated. And I say that because I do think sometimes as you move throughout your career, you feel like as a younger person might think surely they know they're a mentor, or surely they know what they've done. But I don't know that it's always obvious. That's a good point.
Yeah. And I don't know. The things we say on a daily basis, the little kernels that kind of, you know, come in and out of our mouths from meetings and different conversations. I don't know that you always know what lands or where someone's ready to hear it or what resonated, and so just having people sometimes say, I remember sometime you said this, I was in an interview last week, for example.
And I love to hear our staff talk about Helix to a new candidate. I love to hear how they describe our culture. I love to hear how they describe our leadership, our style, how we work on projects. And this particular, uh, person attributed something to me that I didn't know she thought or felt or had heard me say.
It's very much something that I say, but I thought it was funny. And she said, but you know, Erika said this. And I thought, okay.
Kelly Scanlon: People are listening. Mm-hmm. Now, are you gonna keep us in suspense? Are you gonna tell us what it was?
Erika Moody: Well, it was fun because in our industry we talk a lot about the value of design and you have to value yourself first.
And so her direct comment was, Erika won't let us give away free work. Mm-hmm. And I thought it was funny because I probably have said that, I probably said that Uhhuh exact thing. It means we need to work with partners and we need to have clients that value what we do and bring to the table. You know, that same, that same level of respect to one another.
But I love that she said it to a new candidate and the way she was telling them was how we work as our process. And so our process begins with showing a lot. Of research and study and connection to a site or a client, and that is work that we do happily and readily to get prepared for an interview, to get prepared for a pitch, if you will.
And those are all things that. Aid us in the process that we go through, and we would rather spend our time educating ourselves as much as we possibly can than trying to throw down an early idea without really understanding what it is we're trying to solve, what it is we're trying to resolve. And so I think that was a nice moment for me.
To hear that someone had picked up on that and that that was now permeating in the studio as sort of a way in which we practice. Sure,
Kelly Scanlon: sure. Uh, so how have your own personal views on leadership evolved, shifted? Pick whatever verb you want as you've moved from, uh, the founder of a company to the president and now really, I mean, that list of projects you gave an industry leader.
Mm-hmm. Thank you. Uh, so, so how has your views and, and practice really of leadership? Yeah. Changed.
Erika Moody: Yeah. Well, there's always, still something to learn, continuous learning and um, the situations where we've had, um, egoless conversations and that goes across all the different disciplines that we work within, I think have, have been an important reminder.
But I will say, I read something recently and I'm sure someone can check me, it's probably on the Instagram on some flowery background somewhere, but it generally went like this, that. Being ready is a decision and not a feeling. Ah. And I really do think, if I could go back to my younger self, there were times when you knew you wanted to do something, you felt it in your gut.
We've, entrepreneurship is a lot of times that fire in the belly. Absolutely. And yet you might hold back because you didn't think you were there yet. And that would've kind of been fun to hear. It was a decision, not a feeling. So I'll try to. Apply
Kelly Scanlon: that to the next chapter. That is great advice, and it leads me right into the next one I was gonna ask you.
So for emerging leaders, whether they're in design, architecture, just business in general, what's one piece of advice you wish that you'd received earlier? Is it that or is it something else?
Erika Moody: I'm a huge advocate of just continuing to learn, so to continuing to be curious. And so I don't know. I don't know that that just applies to emerging leaders or young leaders.
I've never. Not answered a question. There might be times when we can give only what information we can give, but I love to have a new staff member, a new emerging leader, come and say, how does this work? Or why did we do that? Or How did we decide to do this or that? That curiosity is. Really the best way to learn.
And hopefully you're surrounded by leaders who will answer you honestly and talk to you about that, and where they can share why they made a decision or how they did that. I think that's one of the best ways to learn. So that continuous learning, mixed with curiosity, um, would probably be my advice to just about any young person in my life.
Kelly Scanlon: Keeping that open mindset, soaking up everything that you can. I once talked to an entrepreneur who told me that the day that she. Arrives at the office, puts the key in the lock and dreads opening the door. That's the day she's done. Um, what is it that keeps you getting up every morning and starting your day at Helix?
What is it about it that keeps you doing that?
Erika Moody: That's a great reminder, and I think I would probably say the same thing. And maybe it's the type of industry we're in or the choices we've made, but knowing that every day the project's gonna be new, that we don't even know what we're gonna work on. Two years, five years, 10 years down the road, those projects haven't even been formulated.
There's excitement in the unknown. Yeah, there's excitement knowing that I come to work with people every day who are trying to make something better. Right. A community better, a workplace better, a multi-family living situation better so. Incredibly inspired people that I get to work with. Um, incredibly creative people that I get to work with.
That keeps me going 'cause it's always changing, it's always new and I do know that we'll be able to deliver something for that client or for that community or that project that's gonna exceed expectations.
Kelly Scanlon: Erika, thank you so much for coming on the show today and talking with us about your story, about all the great work you're doing and really, like you said, the betterment of communities.
Uh, we really appreciate that. Thank you.
Erika Moody: Thank you.
Joe Close: This is Joe Close, regional leader. Thank you to Erika Moody for being our guest on this episode of Banking on KC. As President of Helix Architecture and Design, Erika discussed how combining architecture and interior design helps create spaces that strengthen communities and foster collaboration. She shared insights from her entrepreneurial journey, the firm's 30 year legacy, and how Helix continues to innovate through technology, mentorship, and human-centered design.
At Country Club Bank, we understand that building a thriving community takes both vision and partnership. The same principles that guide firms like Helix as they shape Kansas City skyline and its future. Thanks for tuning in this week. We're Banking on you, Kansas City. Country Club Bank, a division of FNBO, member FDIC.