Designers at Their Desk: Jeannine Ford
Designers at Their Desk is a monthly feature showcasing a conversation with one of our staff, their unique outlook on architecture and design, hobbies, interests, and their current projects.
Jeannine Ford recognizes that her role requires multifaceted skills and an almost innate ability to manage her time well. Jeannine is a construction administrator in our New Orleans office and has established a name for herself at EskewDumezRipple over the last six years spent here, both professionally and personally.
“I have to keep myself extremely busy; I am just one of those people. I can handle multitasking, which, as a project manager in commercial construction, is a necessity.”
Jeannine’s experience in construction and project management began over 20 years ago; she has held various titles and roles over the course of that time, ranging from owner’s representative to onsite contractor, and she attributes her knowledge and skillset to on-the-job experience which she says, “really shows what your true abilities are,” as opposed to your degree which “shows that you’re trainable.”
“I’ve always been a ‘jack-of-all-trades,’ and I have been doing some form of construction my whole life. I learned a lot of it from my mom by renovating and rebuilding our house together,” Jeannine explains. This seemingly inherited passionate and creative energy is evident both in the office and on construction sites where Jeannine’s expertise-driven confidence is necessary. “You must be able to stand your ground. You must know your standards of care, your specialties, the intention of the design, and you have to have the ability to communicate it clearly and professionally to make sure everyone is protected,” she states.
“I like to bring a lot of humor, but on the job site I do have a strong ethos of getting the project done. I have always been a hard worker.”
Jeannine believes that the standard accepted definition of her job title is “a bit of a misnomer of a term.” She explains that collaboration is a major part of the job that gets lost within the world of contracts and what people might call “paper-pushing.” Outside of the contracts of it all, half of her days are spent climbing ladders, trudging through muddy job sites, and scaling roofs to ensure that things are being done correctly, in adherence to the architect’s designs. Jeannine says, “We basically filter what the designers want, approve it, and make sure we are protecting the owner, making sure everyone is getting what they want.”
She knows that the process of getting a project built and getting a project built correctly are two very different things, requiring communication with various teams and people. “A lot of this industry is actually being able to work with someone, and there is a complexity present in the conversations with subcontractors, owners, suppliers, and everyone else involved. The other aspect of the role is actually enforcing the contract, making sure that everyone wrote down, agreed to, and signed a contract,” she says.
Jeannine’s desk, complete many notebooks and papers. She believes in the power of writing everything down. “I use a bullet journal system to keep track of everything, and I keep all my journals, too.”
“I am a doer, and people know that I will get stuff done. I walk onto a site each day as a project manager, confident in my capabilities and experience.”
Jeannine’s role requires wearing many hats, and, because of this, she has a unique perspective on how our industry works and where it is headed, especially locally. Born and raised in New Orleans with an eclectic, traditional Louisiana family, Jeannine is a passionate supporter of the city of New Orleans, claiming it as “one of the most special places on Earth─ everyone who comes here knows it.” After 20 years of speaking to and collaborating on projects with local construction teams and architects, she recognizes a new direction for New Orleans: “The city is waking up to the fact that we are in a climate crisis. We don’t have the same materials available that they had 200 years ago. We need to build better, especially with the infrastructure issues we have,” she explains. Jeannine believes that people and the projects being built will need to get greener. Jeannine is hopeful for the industry’s adoption of new processes and is happy to work “for a place like EDR and in an industry that can affect such impactful change.”
As our firm’s resident party-planner and “maker of all things merry,” Jeannine brings excitement and creativity to projects outside the office, too. Jeannine’s intense love for crafting, fine arts, and community radiates positive energy throughout Studio 3150, and her ability to provide both fun and capability is part of the reason she excels in her role.