Introduction
Collin Brock, Managing Partner at Bloc Design, joins Jack Ossa on The Power of Design Podcast to talk about building a design business, leading a team and delivering value to the market. Bloc Design is a civil engineering and landscape architecture firm in Charlotte, North Carolina, and Jack, who has known Collin for more than 15 years, says he has always been impressed by his tenacity and persistence as an entrepreneur.
The two discuss leadership, branding, how Collin's firm started in the middle of a recession, and where land development is heading.
About the Episode
Collin says that when he started, the focus was on design and deliverables, but after years of growth it has shifted to leadership: assembling a strong team and letting creative people take ownership of projects. He has worked with a leadership coach for two years and describes it as a work in progress. Jack adds that you cannot lead others if you cannot lead yourself, and that leadership and branding share a rule: you are what other people say you are.
Collin grew up in a small rural town in Mississippi, studied landscape architecture at Mississippi State and moved to North Carolina after college. He was laid off in 2008, started his own landscape architecture practice and cold-called his way into business. When developers kept telling him about bad experiences with civil firms, he asked what was missing and heard the same three answers: responsiveness, creativity and expertise. In 2012 he partnered with Larry, a civil engineer he had worked with, to fill that gap.
Collin also explains how the firm survived early cash-flow problems, why it caps any one market at about 25% of its work, and how early site analysis keeps surprises off a project. He closes with the future of parking, transportation, technology and remote work, and a story about why design matters to the people who use a space.
Key Takeaways
- Leadership is a practice: reading books is not enough; Collin uses coaching, reflection and a short list of priorities to improve.
- Let your team own the work: stepping aside so staff can lead projects and meet clients helps them grow.
- Your brand is what the market says: the firm's self-image has to match how clients perceive it, so Bloc Design balanced landscape architecture and civil engineering on purpose.
- Listen for the gap: asking prospects what they lacked produced a pitch built on responsiveness, creativity and expertise.
- Diversify your markets: the firm started about 75% healthcare and set a plan to keep any single market near 25%.
- Do the early site work: due diligence on zoning, easements and code reduces expensive surprises for architects, builders and owners.
- Keep scope, schedule and budget aligned: clear communication across disciplines is the base of a successful project.
Highlights from the Conversation
You're not the leader who you say you are, you are the leader who other people say you are.
Jack Ossa
We will show you ultimate responsiveness, we will show you great creativity and we'll show you incredible expertise.
Collin Brock
We really try to minimize those oops right up front.
Collin Brock
Topics Discussed
- Leadership, coaching and leading yourself
- Brand perception versus self-image
- Starting a landscape architecture practice in 2008
- Partnering to combine civil engineering and landscape architecture
- Cash flow, hiring and growing a small firm
- Early-stage site analysis and due diligence
- Parking, transportation and technology in land development
- Remote work and the future of cities
Why This Conversation Matters
Collin's point that the site has to work before the building can is a reminder of why architecture and site planning belong in the same early conversation. It shows in projects such as Metric Townhomes and eFactor 3, where footprint, zoning and access shape the design. His view that a brand is what the market says about you is also the starting point of our branding work for engineering firms.
About the Guest
Collin Brock is a Managing Partner at Bloc Design, a civil engineering and landscape architecture firm in Charlotte, North Carolina, which he started in 2008 as a landscape architecture practice and grew into a combined firm in 2012. He grew up in Mississippi, studied at Mississippi State and has worked in Charlotte since early in his career. Connect with Collin on LinkedIn or learn more about Bloc Design (now V3).
