Introduction
Amy Johnson, Owner and Principal of Strata Project Management Group in Charlotte, joins Jack Ossa on The Power of Design Podcast. Strata manages projects on the owner's side of the table, coordinating the architect, the general contractor and the other vendors so the client's goals stay central.
Amy has an interior design degree and spent about 15 years at architecture firms before moving into project management. In this conversation she explains what the role requires, how she and her partner started Strata, and how integrated delivery helps projects in a volatile market.
About the Episode
Amy studied interior design at Virginia Tech, with a focus on commercial interiors. Her first job in Charlotte was at a furniture dealership doing full-floor build-outs for a large bank, and she then worked at several smaller architecture firms, running interiors work and business development. She missed being in the details of projects and says she loves seeing a client's reaction when they first walk into a finished space.
A broker she worked with kept suggesting she become a project manager, and after several months she accepted. She stayed in that role for about 11 years at two commercial real estate firms, working on commission, before meeting Russ, a mechanical engineer. They launched Strata within weeks, built on friends' referrals, and won a law firm as their first client before they had a name. Strata now does a lot of nonprofit work, including a homeless shelter that gave beds to over 100 men.
With Jack she discusses why owners benefit from a project manager, how to explain design to clients in plain language, how to keep a team moving when things go wrong, and what Covid changed about remote work and trust. They end with advice for designers: ask questions, be curious and admit when you do not know something.
Key Takeaways
- Organize people, not only schedules: a project manager must motivate owners, architects, contractors and vendors to move in the same direction.
- Let each party do its job: guide the team, but keep the client's priorities in front of everyone.
- Hiring help saves money: an owner who runs a build-out alone often meets delays and extra cost, because many tasks fall outside the architect's and contractor's scopes.
- Be upfront about budget and time: telling clients early that a project will cost more or take longer prevents later surprises.
- Translate between disciplines: Amy describes her team as translators between architect speak, contractor speak and owner speak.
- Bring the team in early: integrated project delivery lets the contractor price and order long-lead items during design.
- Choose people you like: Strata picks clients it enjoys working with, including many nonprofits, and clients can pick teams they will still like in a year.
Highlights from the Conversation
The biggest thing is let them do their jobs and then kind of guide everybody in the same direction and make sure that the client's goals are always top of mind.
Amy Johnson
Non-profits are the most grateful, nice clients that you will ever work with, and it's not sexy work, but it's meaningful work.
Amy Johnson
What we believe in is more of an integrated project delivery to where we're bringing the contractor and the architect on at exactly the same time.
Amy Johnson
Topics Discussed
- Skills that make a project manager effective
- Why owners should not run build-outs alone
- Moving from furniture to architecture to project management
- Starting Strata with a business partner
- Winning the first projects through relationships
- Nonprofit clients and a homeless shelter project
- Hybrid work and trust after Covid
- Integrated project delivery and the end of hard bidding
Why This Conversation Matters
Amy's approach shows how much a project depends on who sits at the table and how early. It applies to any renovation or new build handled through our interior architecture and architecture services, such as Melmark Carolinas, a school fit-out for a nonprofit, or the BWM Office. Project management firms also need an identity that reflects their working style, as in our branding work for Storey Program Management.
About the Guest
Amy Johnson is the Owner and Principal of Strata Project Management Group in Charlotte, North Carolina. She holds an interior design degree from Virginia Tech, worked in architecture firms and commercial real estate, and co-founded Strata with a partner whose background is mechanical engineering. Her clients include law firms, corporate offices and nonprofits.
