Meet John Coats

We were lucky to catch up with John Coats recently and have shared our conversation below.

John, 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?

I’ve always had a pretty obvious speech impediment, some days it’s not bad at all and some days it’s much worse. Because of this, I’ve always challenged myself to push out of my comfort zone and engage in activities with public speaking or presenting. In elementary school I worked with our school morning news team where a morning anchor. In high school I earned my Eagle Scout where leadership and public speaking skills were required. In college, I majored in architecture where there’s a good amount of public speaking and presenting to a panel of critics and peers. All of these were quite a challenge and at the moment I really did not enjoy a lot of it but these experiences have helped push me to becoming more comfortable with my impediment and not allowing it to dictate how I live and what I want to do.

Appreciate the insights and wisdom. Before we dig deeper and ask you about the skills that matter and more, maybe you can tell our readers about yourself?

Currently I work in an architecture firm in Indianapolis as well as freelance CAD work/drafting on the side. Architecture has been a passion of mine since high school and I’ve always been interested in the creative process. The concept of imagining something as significant as a building and seeing it through from early design all the way to competed construction, occupying the real world has always felt like such a rewarding achievement. I’ve recently completed a project for a non profit food bank located here in Indianapolis. We added a free clinic center to the food bank, which added another necessary service to this already helpful non profit. This was the most proud I’ve felt in my young professional career as I felt I was a part of something that would do good for people beyond the physical architecture itself. I attended college at Illinois Institute of Technology in south side Chicago, where I studied architecture all over the city. I really gained a new appreciation of the architectural process in Chicago as this is one of the most beautiful large cities in the country and has a dense history of architecture and influence over the country and world. I am actively working towards my architecture licensure and my ultimate goal is to operate and run my own firm, whether in Indianapolis or elsewhere.

If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?

Something I learned quickly in Architecture school was that a design is never completed. There is always something that can be improved or adjusted whether it’s the floor plan, the material choice or lighting. Even the most accomplished architects go on to stage their regret or wish to improve their own projects that may be world renowned. True designers are never satisfied with their work and always look to improve where they can.

Another quality I learned on my journey, which goes hand in hand with the first point is that failure is a part of the process and it’s genuinely a tool that should be embraced. I never once came up with an architectural idea that wasn’t overhauled or heavily scrutinized by my professors or superiors. Not because they were bad ideas, but because another set of eyes helps introduce other points of view that maybe weren’t considered in your first or second pass. Most design is a team effort and the advice of peers is invaluable. In my experience this is a field that relies on constant communication and a feedback loop so the sooner the idea of failure is embraced the more productive the creative process can be.

One more lesson learned is embracing the experimentation of design. Architecture is an ancient art and many ideas have already been introduced, so learning how to combine these already existing ideas to create something unique is a valuable skill, challenging and often fun. Experimentation leads to innovation and pushes the industry forward. I found it challenging to embrace this mentality and truly dive in but once I learned to I found myself creating interesting ideas that I found fresh and exciting to explore

What is the number one obstacle or challenge you are currently facing and what are you doing to try to resolve or overcome this challenge?

As stated earlier, my biggest obstacle has been my speech impediment. It’s made general life harder from ordering food at a restaurant, to socializing, to presenting material at work. I’ve made efforts to never let it affect how I live my life otherwise, however it’s still present and still something I consider for basic activities and communication. Despite the challenge I’ve found myself more comfortable the more I challenge myself with my speech. In the moment it’s almost never fun to present your ideas that may be heavily scrutinized in front of a group of critics and 30+ peers, however after you do it enough times you really begin to feel comfortable in a “hostile” environment like that. This will likely be a challenge I’ll face for the rest of my life, however I’ve embraced the journey and am better for it.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: John_williamc
• Facebook: John Coats
• Linkedin: John Coats

Image Credits

John Coats, CSO Architects, Gustavo Utrabo