Meet Valery Augustin

We recently connected with Valery Augustin and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Valery, 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 my parents. They’re both gone now, but not a day goes by that I don’t wish they were still here so that I could let them know how grateful I am and how lucky I was (and still am) to have them as parents. I’m a first-generation American. My parents immigrated separately to America from Haiti in the late 1960s and met in New York. First, they had my brother, I followed three years afterward, and then two sisters arrived to round out our family of six. Like many immigrant families, things were often a struggle, there were times when there wasn’t money to pay the power bill or phone bill (back in the days when a land line was a necessity) or even times when they fell behind on the mortgage. At the time it never felt as though we were lacking. However, as I grew older, the strain my parents were under became apparent. They often worked multiple jobs while attempting to start businesses that didn’t survive all while raising the four of us and caring for aging grandparents. Through all of this however, they instilled in us the importance of persevering even when it felt like things would never get better. What they couldn’t give to us financially they gave by example in how they lived. When life delivered it’s inevitable setbacks, they taught us to keep moving forward. As the old saying goes, it’s not how many times you fall, it’s how many times you get up.

Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?

I’m an architect, educator, and founding principal of DNA Architecture + Design Inc. We’re an LA-based design firm with projects in Southern California and other parts of the US. What excites me daily about what we do is the communities we get to design for and the people we collaborate with. Most recently, we’ve designed several interim housing projects for unhoused Angelenos alongside restaurants, single-family houses, and even the occasional one-off like a birdhouse. In short, we haven’t figured out how to specialize in any particular project type yet! In addition to my design practice, which I formally launched in 2010, I’m also an Associate Professor of Practice at the USC School of Architecture, where I’ve taught since 2002. As a lifelong learner, I find teaching incredibly rewarding. It’s true when they say we teachers learn as much from our students as they learn from us. Practice and academia are not separate hats that I wear but part of a singular identity that’s evolved over the years. It keeps me stretched a little thin at times, but I’m also grateful.

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?

I don’t have anything original to offer here, but I can share a few things that are near and dear to me. The first quality that comes to mind is learning from the past without dwelling on it. If I had a dollar for every mistake I’ve made, I’d probably be a billionaire! Our mistakes don’t define us. Secondly, understand that talent and creativity only go so far; you must be willing to put in the work. Lastly, learning the importance of saying “No”. Especially as creatives, we often feel compelled to say yes to everything, and before we know it, our plate is overflowing, which is a fast track to burning out. How does one develop those skills? Practice, practice, practice! Sometimes, we won’t get it right, but stick with it, and it will soon be second nature.

Is there a particular challenge you are currently facing?

Being a small business owner presents constant challenges. The challenge I’m currently facing is growing my design practice. I once heard some helpful advice about growth, especially for creatives: try to develop a clear understanding of “why” you want to grow. What are your motivations? Your values? Honing in on the why can provide much-needed clarity and perspective on how to get there. My specific motivation for growing my practice is to better serve the communities where we practice. The desire is to expand the services that we can provide to potential clients.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.dnaoffice.net
• Instagram: @augustin.valery

Image Credits

 Undine Prohl