Kim Myran AIA

Kim traces her love for architecture to childhood. "I loved designing spaces and furniture for my Barbie dolls," she remembers." Mom brought home wallpaper samples and carpet squares from our local furniture store, and that's where I gathered the inspiration for my designs." Later, Kim's mom provided even more encouragement. "I studied her home magazines with floor plans of new homes. She bought me a tablet of graph paper, and I sketched my house plans with color crayons. One of my best designs had a lime green carpet and a zebra-striped sofa in the living room."

That bold sense of style remained with Kim and is evident in many projects she has worked on. Kim's describes the joy she feels when seeing the finished products of her work. "The colors, textures, sense of scale, natural light, lighting, furniture, and people using the space as intended feels like success," she says, naming the Crunchyroll world headquarters, Microsoft's Redwest campus and Building 37 atrium, and the new Salas O'Brien Irvine office remodel as a few examples.

One of Kim's greatest challenges was a deployment to Iraq with the US Army. "It caused me to not completely be focused on my career. My days were full, not much time to do anything other than my project tasks, eat, go on convoys to meetings in Baghdad, write reports, clean my weapon, write letters home, and sleep."

Kim overcomes challenges with creativity, flexibility, and a good sense of humor. "Experience has helped me to look for a better solution when a first design is rejected," she says. "Failing can make you stronger. Sometimes it's about how you frame the design story."

The biggest change in architecture since starting out, she says, is that now "I can wear a white shirt and not worry about getting graphite or ink on the sleeves." In retirement, Kim plans on traveling, gardening, working out, cooking, and "making good use of all my museum memberships."

"Salas O'Brien has been my favorite company to work for," she says. "The people are authentic. The leadership has heart and makes you feel that you matter to the team and will provide support as needed through any personal challenges. It’s a wonderful place to wrap up my career."