Today we’d like to introduce you to Kristin Ledet.
Kristin, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
Absolutely. I currently hold two roles at FKP/CannonDesign (we’re a global AEC firm that designs hospitals, education facilities, research labs and more) – I’m both the Houston Office Practice Leader and the Interiors Leader. Every day is exciting and busy. It’s really been that way since I moved to Houston and joined FKP 16 years ago.
When people hear I’m a designer they instantly think I spent my youth sketching and dreaming of color palettes – but that’s not my story. I wanted to be an actuary when I was growing up and spend my days surrounded by equations and statistics. I didn’t take my first art class until I was 19 and in college and I was just hooked…
Now, two decades later, I’m proud to say I’ve managed 4 Million SF of healthcare interiors projects and worked with several of the leading children’s hospitals in the world including Texas Children’s here in Houston. I was fortunate to have had the opportunity to build the interiors practice at FKP during my career from a service line in its infancy to one that now contributes around 60% of our annual billings. That experience, coupled with the opportunity to constantly collaborate with scores of leading healthcare executives, staff, patients…. I never lack for inspiration.
As much as the business growth and accolades have mattered to my career, I’ve always been deeply passionate about creating healthcare environments focused on patients and their families. One day early in my career, I met a young bone marrow transplant patient and her mother who talked at length about the endless days in the hospital room. The mother motioned to her toothbrush, lying on the floor, and told me there wasn’t any place to put her things. That experience helped me see the patient room through their eyes, as essentially a home-away-from-home.
Some people spend large portions of their lives in healthcare facilities, I want to do everything I can to ensure they’re spending that time in spaces that help them heal, feel comfortable and as relaxed as possible during these stressful moments. Our team doesn’t just design and hope either. True to my childhood actuary dreams, we seek to quantify the effectiveness of our interior environments and have seen health systems and hospitals report 10%+ increases in patient satisfaction and/or likeliness to recommend. That’s a significant increase and is proof our work is paying off.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
Every road has its bumps, but for me, it’s all added up to a wonderful journey.
Professionally, building an interiors practice from the ground up was a long, arduous effort and we had no guarantee of success. The beginning was full of long days and nights and stress as we worked to introduce the service, build up our capabilities, and find our footing in the market. My husband and I actually delayed starting a family for a few years because of how much building the interiors practice dominated my life at that time.
But, when we did decide to start a family, our sweet baby couldn’t wait to get here and she arrived six weeks early. Having a premature baby was another challenging moment along the way, but I’m happy to report Corynne is now four years old and as healthy, happy, awesome and amazing as can be. Her premature birth was not only scary and challenging personally, but it allowed me to be the concerned mother in the patient room each day. Obviously, the #1 positive that came from that challenge is Corynne and her good health, but it also hardened my resolve to design the best patient and family spaces possible.
As a working mother, every day is busy and brings its own wonderful challenges, but we’ve built such a great team that can now support me and delivers great work – it makes work/life integration possible. I pick my daughter up every day at 5:30. No matter what challenges the day throws my way, that is something I’ll never sacrifice. I value our time together so much.
Alright – so let’s talk business. Tell us about FKP | CannonDesign – what should we know?
FKP has long been a Houston-based architecture and design firm that serves health, education and science markets especially – building up a reputation as one of the premier pediatric design companies in the world. We’ve worked extensively with Texas Children’s Hospital here in Houston and also delivered state-of-the-art children’s hospitals around the country including Nemours’ A.I. DuPont Hospital for Children in Wilmington, DE; the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia’s Buerger Center for Advanced Pediatric Care in Philadelphia, PA; and Dayton Children’s Hospital in Dayton, OH to name a few. We’ve had the incredible opportunity to work with 8 of the top 10 children’s hospital in U.S. News & World Report’s 2018 ranking.
In 2017, FKP joined CannonDesign, a globally integrated design firm consistently ranked in the top 10 globally for healthcare, education, science, sports and civic architecture and one of Fast Company’s 10 most innovative architecture firms in the world. This move amplifies the services and expertise we can bring to Houston (be it Lighting Design, Facility Optimization, or Behavioral Health design) and positions us to have a greater impact nationally. We believe the best way to elevate pediatric health is not just designing better care environments, but bringing our brightest ideas to other types of spaces: schools, museums, recreation centers to help children live as healthy and active as possible. All of these spaces and factors influence a child’s health and our firms’ combined expertise will allow us to address pediatric health on this scale.
Any shoutouts? Who else deserves credit in this story – who has played a meaningful role?
I certainly wouldn’t be who I am today without the dedicated support of my family and friends. I take great pride in the mentors along my career journey and continue to call them all friends today. The best mentors are those that take the time to help you improve in your journey.
My greatest mentor in the design community is Louise Nicholson Carter. As a respected designer in our community and successful art consultant she has certainly taught me the where to look for opportunity, drive a client to fulfill their dreams, all while demonstrating achievement of a balanced life for success and fulfillment.
Contact Info:
- Address: 3737 Buffalo Speedway Suite 1200
Houston, Texas 77098 - Website: www.cannondesign.com
- Phone: 713-621-2100
- Email: kledet@fkp.com
Image Credit:
Brad Feinknopf, Shau Lin Hon, Joe Aker
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