Meet Lance Cayko

We were lucky to catch up with Lance Cayko recently and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Lance , appreciate you sitting with us today to share your wisdom with our readers. So, let’s start with resilience – where do you get your resilience from?
I get my resilience from the ancestors that came before me, God, His Son, my grandfathers, and their fathers and so forth. I would say that seeds of resilience are planted in each of us simply because we are the seeds of those that came before us after a millennia of time and therefore we are all capable of being resilient. That said, mine developed after being inspired by Michael Jordan’s story of resilience. Having grown up in rural Northwest North Dakota in the early 90s the culture of my kin was one of being very much into the golden era of the NBA.

For those that do not know, Michael Jordan was cut from his high school varsity basketball team during his sophomore year. The rejection he experienced had such a lasting impact on him he worked harder than ever in the offseason to improve such that there wouldn’t be an question he should be accepted onto the varsity team in the next season and he was. His grit and determination after being rejected resonated with me and many others during that era as proof that underdogs can and do win with resilience.

I have used this doubling down on hard work and practice after being rejected method throughout my life as a result. In fact, it’s why I started my architecture firm after being laid off during the Great Recession. I was determined to never allow that sort of rejection to ever happen to me or anyone I employ in the future, ever again. 15 years later we, F9 Productions, are Colorado’s Top Rated Architecture firm and every year punching above our weight class as we continue to climb to the top of the Google search results.

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?
I am a multi-talented serial entrepreneur, architect, builder, lecturer, and podcaster. My entrepreneurial background is diverse and consists of architecture, construction, real estate development I am the the co-founder and partner of F9 Productions Inc., a wildly successful design + build firm based in Longmont Colorado, specializing in single family residential, multi-family residential and small commercial projects.

Before earning a degree in Building Construction Technology from the North Dakota State College of Science, I worked in nearly every trade of construction. I then continued my education and earned a Bachelor of Science in Environmental Design and a Master of Architecture from North Dakota State University, culminating by graduating at the top of my class and earning the coveted McKenzie Thesis Award for the most outstanding thesis project.

After college, I then worked in various architecture firms and roles in the construction industry before co-founding F9 Productions in 2009 with my business partner Alex Gore. Since then, our company has grown to become one of the premier design + build firms in the region, with a reputation for quality craftsmanship, innovative design, and exceptional customer service. In fact and in 2023 we earned the Best of Mile High award, an annual program that recognizes businesses in the Denver Metro that have demonstrated exceptional service and excellence in their respective industries. Winners are selected based on a variety of criteria, including customer reviews, industry expertise and overall reputation.

In addition to my work at F9, I raise a family and am an active member of my community, and a respected industry leader. Recently I was announced as one of 50 Most-Influential Business Leaders throughout the Boulder Valley and Northern Colorado via BisWest. I also routinely lectures at the University of Boulder and North Dakota State, am a philanthropist, a professional fisherman, and the founder and leader of Longmont Community Gardens, a non-profit that promotes urban sustainable gardening, education, and community involvement. Lastly, I am also the co-host of Inside the Firm, a popular architectural business podcast that provides insights and advice on architecture, entrepreneurship, and small business ownership.

If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
The three most important qualities that have been most impactful on my journey are discipline, optimism, and organization. They are the most important because through discipline one finds freedom, through optimism one can carry onward even when the times are toughest, and through organization one can maximize their efforts over short amounts of time. My advice for those wanting to develop those skills would be to read the Seven Habits of Highly Effective people by Stephen Covey.

Thanks so much for sharing all these insights with us today. Before we go, is there a book that’s played in important role in your development?
As previously mentioned, the book, The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, has played an important role in my development. The seven habits are:

1. Be Proactive – Take responsibility for your life and actions, and focus on what you can control rather than what you can’t.

2. Begin with the End in Mind – Define your goals and purpose in life, and use them as a guide to make decisions and prioritize your actions.

3. Put First Things First – Prioritize your time and energy on the essential things in your life, and learn to say “no” to less important things.

4. Think Win-Win – Seek mutual benefit in all interactions and relationships, and look for solutions that benefit all parties involved.

5. Seek First to Understand, Then to Be Understood – Listen empathetically and seek to understand others’ perspectives before expressing your own.

6. Synergize – Work collaboratively with others to achieve goals and create outcomes more significant than any individual could achieve alone.

7. Sharpen the Saw – Take time to renew and improve yourself physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually for continued success.

Contact Info:

Suggest a Story: BoldJourney is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.
Resilience
Portraits of Resilience

Sometimes just seeing resilience can change out mindset and unlock our own resilience. That’s our

Productivity
Perspectives on Staying Creative

We’re beyond fortunate to have built a community of some of the most creative artists,

Confidence
Kicking Imposter Syndrome to the Curb

This is the year to kick the pesky imposter syndrome to the curb and move