Meet Chantal Aquin

We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Chantal Aquin. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Chantal below.

Chantal , thanks so much for taking the time to share your insights and lessons with us today. We’re particularly interested in hearing about how you became such a resilient person. Where do you get your resilience from?

My resilience comes from believing there’s always a way forward. While raising two young kids alone and living on very little, I lost the government grant that allowed me to study abroad — but I refused to give up, built a case, and fought ten months until I got it back. Around the same time my son faced a serious health scare, and I learned not to panic but to act and keep going. Those lessons echo my early life too — moving between countries taught me to adapt quickly and stay curious. Today that same mindset guides how I lead my practice — solving complex problems and finding creative paths through obstacles.

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?

CARA Architecture is still young — just over a year old — but it’s built on my 26 years of experience designing housing and mixed-use communities. Most of the work we have right now has come through referrals, which means a lot to me because it shows the trust I’ve earned over time by doing good, thoughtful work.

Before starting CARA, I led some really complex projects — including Downtown LA’s largest mixed-use development — and after years in big firms, I wanted to work more directly with clients and communities. Our focus is housing that truly improves daily life: boutique multifamily, fire-resilient rebuilds, and new prototypes that bring gentle density and connection to neighborhoods.

Lately, I’m really excited about exploring housing with a wellness lens — places that help people age comfortably, with dignity and social connection built in. It’s a way to combine everything I’ve learned about design and community into homes that support people over a lifetime.

There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?

Looking back, three things made the biggest difference for me. First was persistence — refusing to give up when things got hard. I learned that early when I fought for nearly a year to get back the grant that let me finish school; it taught me that “no” isn’t always the end. Second was the ability to sort through priorities and focus on what really matters each day. Balancing kids, school, and work forced me to ask, “What moves the ball forward right now?” and not get paralyzed by everything else. And third was creativity, not just in design but in problem-solving — finding unexpected ways to keep life joyful and to approach projects differently.

For anyone starting out, my advice is: don’t be afraid to put your work out there and ask for what you need; learn to cut through noise and act on the most important thing today; and stay curious — try new approaches, look for unconventional solutions, and surround yourself with people who believe in you and push you forward.

Okay, so before we go we always love to ask if you are looking for folks to partner or collaborate with?

Yes — I would love to collaborate with people who believe we all deserve to age with dignity. I’m especially interested in working with creative thinkers and financial innovators who can shape models — such as co-ops or other shared-ownership structures — that make high-quality, supportive housing affordable for retired citizens. My focus is on weaving wellness into housing design — creating environments that help slow physical and cognitive decline before it’s apparent and that promote an active, engaged lifestyle through thoughtful spaces and amenities.

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