We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Dillon Arnold. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Dillon below.
Hi Dillon , so excited to have you with us today, particularly to get your insight on a topic that comes up constantly in the community – overcoming creativity blocks. Any thoughts you can share with us?
When I find myself facing a creative block or burnout, it is usually caused when I am struggling to connect to a particular project or feel stretched thin. I’ve witnessed the ebbs and flows of my work enough times to predict when these seasons are likely going to happen which has been my first strategy in overcoming it: being able to anticipate it. I have more recently discovered that emerging myself in other peoples’ work, whether it overlaps with my style or not, has been valuable in “recharging” my creative mind. Another strategy I find helpful is being creative for creativity’s sake without a project or client involved. This allows me to ground myself and reconnect with my imagination. Creative blocks are sometimes unavoidable but they can be a great opportunity to self-reflect and re-engineer your practices.
Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?
Since starting Haus of Black, my goal has been to blaze a trail in mastering all the elements of my industry in efforts to provide a seamless and minimally-overwhelming experience for my clients by eliminating the amount of people involved on a project. So often there are numerous parties on a project and it’s relatively easy for miscommunications to occur and timelines to be effected. In keeping as much in-house as possible, we have discovered ease in the construction process and relief both in stress and financial to the clients. Though we have been a design and construction firm up to now, I am excited to add drafting to our repertoire. Drafting is a valuable skill we have used on our previous projects to aid in schematic design and provide visual representations, but we are now offering it as an individual service to clients looking to design custom homes, tackle rehabilitation of existing structures, or even build out a commercial space.
Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?
While technical skills are valuable in the field, I have found that interpersonal skills are key to leading a team and sustaining a successful business. In my experience, being organized is arguably my most critical soft skill. In the nature of designing and building homes and businesses, I have to be organized with my office, my time, my job sites, subcontractor schedules, and beyond. The construction process consists of steps that build on each other (no pun intended) and with that, every detail requires careful consideration and execution before proceeding. Weak organization is the equivalent to a weak foundation — no matter how high of quality the structure is that stands on it, it is nothing if the foundation is not sturdy.
Being decisive is another soft skill I find to be necessary and scary (at times). It is imperative that I make decisions confidently and in a timely manner. I make thousands of decisions for a given project in the realms of sections, pivots, and change orders. In doing so in a timely and confident order, it translates to my team that I respect their time and the project schedule and instills the same confidence in everyone else. Should you look back and think of a different or better decision that could’ve been made – it’s a learning opportunity, not a fault.
The ability to form and maintain meaningful relationships with my team and clientele is what I believe creates a seamless and meaningful experience to everyone involved. My background has shown me that strong relationships help in inevitable adverse moments, receiving future work, and overall finding joy in the field that we’ve chosen to spend the majority of our time in. There is a tightrope to be walked in terms of deepening relationships while maintaining professionalism and your leadership status, but there is a balance and when it’s found, it is good.
My advice to others is to consider where you stand in your soft skills and how they have helped or hurt you in previous circumstances and implement the necessary changes moving forward.
What’s been one of your main areas of growth this year?
In the last year, I have been more intentional with collaboration between colleagues and other businesses. In this nature of work, there are so many parties involved to complete a project and knowing how to navigate the ins and outs and work with different personalities is key to a smooth process. I have found that collaboration has strengthened my soft skills, provided me the opportunity to explore new technical skills, and overall bring more community and joy to my work.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://hausofblack.co
- Instagram: @hausofblck
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/hausofblck/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/72342389/admin/feed/posts/
Image Credits
Heather Hughes
