Page 177 - South Mississippi Living - September, 2020

story by Kelsey Sunderman-Foster photos by Tommy Daspit
This month as we honor women in business across South Mississippi, we talk with two of the Coast’s top women in design. Leah Watters, owner and chief architect
at Watters Architecture, and Andrea Peacock, owner of The Bright Peacock Design Studio and creative director for Buildhaus, walk us through one of their most recent collaborations and tell us how they came to create such unique homes together.
Before we begin discussing your latest project, tell us a little bit about your experience as female entrepreneurs.
LEAH:
I used to think that people came to me because I was on the younger side of
the profession. But as 40 creeps up, I am losing this excuse. I know that a strength God has gifted me with is listening, and this helps with executing a client’s vision. Perhaps gender contributes to this gift.
I love that having children of my own has enabled me to relate to the patterns that happen within family homes. Only 16 percent of licensed architects are women so it would be logical to expect gender discrimination, but I have found it to be negligible. I have found merit in balancing the “softer side”
of architecture with spending time in construction with my dad and following Katrina. This equips me to have more
informed conversations with contractors and to design in a manner that only challenges convention when it really matters (challenging convention often breaks budgets too).
My advice to the woman with a career before her is to preempt discrimination by learning the hands-on/construction side of the business and follow the advice my dad whispered in my ear from age three, “You can do anything you want
to do!” Be prepared that on occasion
you will watch friends enjoy a weekend while you invest in your endeavors, and there will be seasons that work happens while babies are sleeping. However, learn balance early. Demand that work happen within its set boundaries because the pursuit of success is a thankless master.
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