An interview with Sandra Neill who combines the roles of Designer, Associate and Workplace Strategist at Lemay

 
Q
What has kept you busy since the beginning of January 2019?
 

R

  

I have been busy developing workplace strategies for Activity Based Workplaces nationally on behalf of financial institutions and technology companies by facilitating leadership interviews, vision sessions, focus groups and analytics of spaces and sensor studies. The focus has been to evaluate the readiness of space and the people for unassigned desks and agile working and providing recommendations on ways to optimize the real estate portfolio and create new dynamic ways of working.
Q
What achievements are you most proud of in your career (projects, promotions, etc.)?
 

R

  

My proudest moment was when I joined Lemay 14 years ago as the first woman associate and first interior designer sitting at the boardroom table with my fellow architect partners and being given the reign to develop the interiors market in Montreal and Toronto.

Every successful project completion and happy client brings satisfaction, but when the team is merited with a design award for creativity and expertise it feels like you have hit the ball out of the park. This past January the feeling was amazing to win the Grand Prix du Design for the BDO National project in Toronto and this was on the tail wind of The Best in Canada Award for Espace CDPQ and the REmmy Award for Borealis – AI Lab in Toronto.
Q How has being a CREW M Member helped you over the years?
 

R

  

CREW M has provided invaluable relationships with many influential women in the real estate industry to the point where I can pick up the phone at any time and call another CREW M member to gather information that helps me in my business endeavors. I participated in the mentorship program as a mentee and discovered that I also benefited from the relationship by retrospectively looking internally on our exchanges. When attending industry networking events I am confident to always find a familiar friendly female face in a room full of blue suits.
Q
If you can’t find me at work, I am certainly …: 
 

R

  

If you can’t find me at work in the winter I am cross-country skiing on the Mont Royal and summertime by the lake or reimagining my next dream chalet project.