Nicole McIntyre started her professional life as a dog trainer, a painting instructor, and a care coordinator for Michigan Medicine, working full time and attending online school to pay for her architectural degree; early on at TK Design, she was referred to by co-workers as the “junk drawer” of the office, taking on whatever extra tasks were required to gain experience; she quickly became a project manager on custom homes; was given the opportunity to be the lead for a new production client just 11 months after starting with the firm; now leads a team of eight to 10 drafters, has built a successful training program, and created smart, efficient reference materials and tools for her co-workers; McIntyre’s scheduling and training strategies, as well as her metric-tracking tools, have been shared and implemented companywide.