John Mealy: Architect and Climate Activist

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I think a lot of my motivation comes from an interest in solving problems, whether they are small technical problems I might encounter in my day-to-day work or bigger challenges like how to design in response to the climate crisis. I’m also motivated by the desire to make the world better for others, whether it’s friends and neighbors or a larger community.

Setbacks are part of life. I usually try to remind myself of that and try to reframe the situation in a way that gives me a new perspective. I can think of some recent challenges where I have found that I wasn’t able to handle everything I needed to do, and I realized I had to ask for help. That probably sounds simple, but I think navigating your own capabilities and managing your personal resources is a lifelong process.

I have definitely had many people who have helped me along in my career. One who comes to mind is a coworker I had early on who had a lot more experience and helped me out with a lot of things I didn’t yet understand. The most important lessons he taught me weren’t so much the answers he gave me, but the ways to find answers on my own.

One great example of professional advice that I always remember is that if you take care of your clients, they will take care of you. It’s a reminder that work isn’t just about getting the job done, it’s also about personal relationships and bringing people along with you towards solutions.

One thing I would strongly encourage high school or college students to do is to explore as much as you can and to study a broad range of subjects. There is a lot of pressure on young people to zero in on a career path, and that can often lead to closing off other avenues and areas of interest. I strongly believe that having a rich and varied intellectual life makes us more creative and effective thinkers.