It’s been a few months since Susie was appointed CEO and President of MEYERS+. To commemorate her first quarter as our leader, we did a little interview to get to know Susie a bit better. Where she’s coming from, where she is now, and where she is going.
Emily Iscoff-Daigian
Okay. First question, did you always want to be an electrical engineer?
Susie See
(Laughs) That's easy. I always wanted to be involved in designing buildings. And so I always wanted to be an engineer. And I always wanted to be around buildings. When I found out there was an architectural engineering program at universities, I was like, that's the perfect fit. In high school, I didn't know that existed. I just knew I LOVED, LOVED, LOVED architecture. I love the way space in a building can affect so much; so much about people’s lives; so much about you know, lighting, and whether you go upstairs or whether you go downstairs and the different feelings you get, whether you're viewing over the top of the world or snuggled somewhere cozy. And then I was definitely a math and science person. I was always very excited about solving complex problems using numbers. So engineering was something that I loved, even as an elementary school kid. So I guess the answer to your question is yes, I always wanted to be an engineer. The funny story is electrical was probably my weakest class. And it could have been a number of factors. But that was the one that I struggled with the most. And then something, no pun intended, something clicked (laughs). I try to avoid that pun. But once I grasped all the concepts, the simplicity was actually really, really cool. So I consider myself a building engineer who knows a lot about electricity.
Emily
And then how did you end up at Flack + Kurtz?
Susie
One of my very favorite professors, and he is outstanding in the lighting field, one of his earlier students, was hired by Flack + Kurtz. it was Caroline Fenlon-Harding. He just put the name in my head and said you can contact Caroline and reach out. And that's how I found Flack + Kurtz. I just pretty much packed the U-Haul and moved from Boulder to San Francisco without a job. So, I literally, you probably don't know this term, but growing up, my dad is telling me, '‘well you’ve got to go out and walk the pavement,’ you know, go from place to place, looking for a job. And that, you know, that's how I got jobs in high school. But I literally did that in San Francisco. I obviously reached out and got appointments first, but literally moved here first and then interviewed.
Emily
Was there something about the architecture in San Francisco or something about San Francisco in general that compelled you from a building standpoint?
Susie
Yes. I wanted to be in an urban setting with unique architecture. And, you know, honestly, Chicago is probably the number one place for that, but I also like San Francisco. Although it didn't, San Francisco, as you know, didn't lead the world in terms of architecture. It has a good mix of urban, water, mountains, things that we enjoy about California.
Emily
So was Randy already at Flack + Kurtz when you started?
Susie
He was.
Emily
And when you met him, did you know that you guys would be working together for over 30 years?
Susie
Absolutely not. It was kind of funny. It was a funny interview because I didn't have any previous internships as an engineering firm. So he saw my resume as being a little weak. My grade point average was strong, which is good. And I paid for a lot of my college by managing restaurants. So, I was a restaurant manager, and a waitress and a cocktail waitress, and I had experience managing people. And I did engineering, but I never did the two together in school. So, I think Randy was a little reluctant to hire me. And I think there were two people at the firm already that had graduated from my same program and gave it high marks. And so, they had to talk Randy into hiring me.
Emily
So Randy, actually interviewed you?
Susie
Yes. He interviewed me!
Emily
Oh, wow, that is amazing!
Emily Iscoff-Daigian
Looking back to that moment, and then where you are now, is this where you imagined you would be at your career at this point?
Susie
I don't think so. I don't think I had a long-range view of my career necessarily. I think I've been propelled by my really deep-seated passion for buildings and looking at floor plans and being in rooms and meetings with architects and watching buildings get built. It’s not like at age 21 I was viewing my future.
Emily Iscoff-Daigian
Looking back, is there one project that really kind of changed things for you? Maybe a favorite moment, or a favorite project that you worked on?
Susie
Oh, there are A LOT. It boils down to the people that I worked with. It always comes back to who was the project team and whether we together overcame a significant design challenge, or schedule challenge or client challenge. And it’s about good collaboration that results in something significantly better for a building design. I'll start more recently. Right now, we're involved in a lot of projects but there's a number of them that are my favorite because of our clients and our architects and our team partners. But if you look back at buildings that are built, Salesforce Tower is one of those for me. The Letterman Digital Arts Center at the Presidio is another. One Museum Place in Shanghai, just in terms of designing somewhere outside the country; that was important. Early on, I worked on Disney's Corporate Headquarters in Burbank with Michael Graves, and that was that was a big project for me.
Emily Iscoff-Daigian
Do you have any projects that come to mind that have been the most challenging?
Susie
Yeah, there are for a variety reasons.
Emily Iscoff-Daigian
Laughs, what about something technically challenging?
Susie
Yes. There are some data center projects that, from a reliability standpoint, were technically challenging. But typically schedule makes it the most challenging. Any of the sports projects we do typically have very strict schedules. The schedules are aggressive, because they must open for the sports teams on time, the buildings are complicated from a design standpoint, because they're not rectilinear. And they are not typical.
You have to be ready for opening day. And anything. When it is a new arena, or a new stadium or ballpark, there is a lot that goes into that. And some new professional arenas cost over a billion dollars so there is so much at stake. And it is usually a big project team because there are multiple architects, multiple systems.
Tall towers are also quite technically challenging as there are often electrical obstacles related to voltage drop over long distance. It is all doable but because there is so much building there, systems have to be repeated 100s of times to make sure they are right. And you are designing systems for thousands of people as well. People who are stacked on top of each other, so the fire life safety aspects of high rise buildings are extremely important. The designs are there to ensure the safety of the occupants. When a tall building is complete, everyone can see it.
Emily
I am also learning that this is an industry that can move very slowly at times. How do you stay patient in this industry specifically?
Susie
It's a really good question. Because, as engineers, we tend to be fairly booked. The word busy is used a lot. There's so much that goes into building design. So you're busy. Every single day, although it takes you know, three plus years and sometimes 10 years to see a building, designed and built, but in those years, there is so much you’re doing on a daily basis.
Emily
Interesting! So its sounds like you don’t really need patience because time actually feels like its going so fast!
Susie
Exactly. I mean, we need to, we need to make what we do more efficient. But you know, there are times where it goes through review, it goes through a city review or ordered jurisdictional type review. And that does take time. And you do need some patience at that point. There is always a lot to be reviewed - by the city officials. These buildings need to last for 30, 40, 50, maybe 100 years sometimes. With that in mind, the fact that they are built in three years is relatively short. So, there are so many details and so many things to consider. What the ground is like to the building’s materials, its height, how it will cast shadows. And then there are the systems, electrical and mechanical. Those systems are significant, from a cost, time and materials point of view.
Emily
With that in mind, do you feel like engineers need certain characteristics to be good at his or her job?
Susie
I think there's certain characteristics everybody needs to be good at their jobs. I think there are some characteristics that are common to engineers; I think you must have a strong interest in problem solving, using math and science. But you also must be good at listening; Have the ability to think outside of the initial problem and you have to be good at asking the right questions. That can be hard sometimes, especially if you're an engineer programmed to give answers. Sometimes that is a hindrance, it is really important to be able to ask the right questions.
Trying to solve a problem before you ask enough questions to really understand the problem, you are going to solve for the wrong thing. That can set you back in terms of systems design and schedule.
Emily
What has been the most challenging part of your career thus far. And also, what's been the most rewarding?
Susie
The most rewarding is easy. The number of truly talented, smart, committed people in this Industry has always amazed me. Because building buildings can be tough. It's complicated. It's time consuming. There's a lot at stake. And so when you get somebody who's been in the industry for a long period of time and who is successful, those characters, those people are…. basically, I call it a building badass.
Now, what has been the most challenging? I think of constant constraints we all face. The scheduling and the costs. Also, when the teams are not working well together. Or there is a lack of communication that leads to misunderstanding, that can be really challenging when teams aren't working well together.
Emily
Sounds like communication is so important, because the teams tend to be fairly big, and there's like a lot of different people at play.
Susie
Right, you can have a team of 30 subs, and then a firm could have 20 people, each firm could have two key people, and then they've got teams.
So you've got this very big group of people that all have to work together to achieve the same goal, you know, to build the same building. In some cases, it's like, running any very large group. But things change; designs change constantly. And so you have to keep everybody in the loop. Its really no different than delivering any big product but the issue with designing buildings, it's always a prototype, it's always the first time you design this building, even if buildings are super similar, they're not the same. And you will almost never get to do the same thing twice. So you never get that kind of practice.
Emily Iscoff-Daigian
And now that you're the President of the company, do you see yourself changing the way you do things?
Susie
Yes and no. I love designing buildings. You heard me say that a couple times. My job is to lead our group, hopefully lead our group to love designing buildings. But my focus will be on finding ways for us to continue to do that better. So that has always been a priority for me. But I think that priority moves up to the top. And the question becomes how can MEYERS+ plus continue to improve the way we design and deliver our designs?
Emily Iscoff-Daigian
That leads well to my next question, which is what are your dreams for MEYERS+ at this point?
Susie
We want to be able to design and deliver systems that continually reduce the carbon footprint of buildings and particularly the operational carbon footprint of buildings and do that in a way that essentially reduces the cost of those systems. And for our engineers to continue to love designing systems for buildings and continue to find ways to improve how they go about that work. So our clients have a clear understanding of what goes into the MEP design.
Emily
Great answer. 😊
If you weren't an engineer or couldn't be an engineer, what would you be?
Susie
An architect.
Emily Iscoff-Daigian
(Laughs). Another great answer. Seems very on brand. So you really do love designing buildings?
Susie
Oh, I have had some really talented architects tell me as I've added commentary during meetings, “I won’t tell you how to design the system, so don’t tell me how to design the architecture…” (laughs).
Emily Iscoff-Daigian
At least you’re consistent!
Susie
I do have a little story. I was thinking the other day that the women's issue has come up a lot. I have always been blessed because I've never felt like it's been an issue. And I have always seen it as sort of a benefit. Being a woman in this industry causes people to remember me, and that's nice. But the story is that when I was about five years old, I was in the back of our station wagon with my younger brother and sister and my mom decided to give us a riddle, which she did often. And they used to frustrate the heck out of me. But the riddle went something like this. A little boy and his dad were driving down the freeway, and a truck pulled out of the farm road onto the freeway and the car crashed into the truck. The father died and the little boy was hurt. The ambulance came and took the little boy to the hospital and they rushed him into surgery. And the doctor, the surgeon, looked down at the little boy and said, I can't operate on him. He's my son. And my mom asked, “who is the doctor?” And I couldn't come up with the answer. This was 1970. I couldn't come up with that answer. Then my mom said, “it was his mother.” I was so upset that I couldn't get the answer because it was so damn obvious, like the best riddles are right? And from that moment on, I said, I was never going to have that narrow viewpoint. And it changed the way I thought about what I could do. And I never again categorized occupations about who can be what.
Emily
That is an amazing story.
Susie
After that, I told myself I was never going to have a narrow view of what anybody could do again.
Emily
What a perfect place to end.