Embark on a journey into the world of interior design with Estrella Vazquez, our talented 2022 Interior Design Intern at CMBA Architects. In this insightful episode, Estrella unveils her pathway to the captivating realm of design and architecture. Join us as we delve into the nuances of shaping functional and aesthetic interiors. Estrella shares her internship experiences at CMBA, providing a glimpse into the exciting projects she contributed to and the valuable lessons she learned.
Skyler: Welcome to another episode of Laying the Foundation.
Skyler: All right. Welcome back to Laying the Foundations. My name is Skylar. I'm the marketing coordinator over at CMBA. It's so glad to have you guys back. Um, today I am joined with Astraea. Astraea, thanks for being on the show. Yeah, of course. She is one of our interns from this year, uh, 2022 into 2023. And then on my right, I have Hillary.
Skyler: She's one of our interior designers. Hillary, thanks for being on the show. No problem. Yeah, absolutely. Um, Estrella worked, you said you worked a lot with Hillary, so I think it makes sense that the three of us be able to sit down and kind of talk about the internship and what kind of stuff that you were involved in here at CMBA, um, so on and so forth.
Skyler: So we'll jump right in with the first question I've got for you. So what was your experience as. Um, an intern here at CMBA. What, what kind of stuff did you do? Um, what sort of stuff did you experience within this internship? Tell me about it.
Estrella: Um, it was really, it's been, a really great experience. Um, I've learned so much from everyone and everyone's been so, so welcoming since day one.
Estrella: So I'm really glad I ended up here. Awesome.
Skyler: Awesome. So, um, I guess what, what kind of projects have you had the opportunity to work on?
Estrella: It ranges from healthcare to education. And right now I've been working on a lot of finance building, so that's been really interesting. Sure. But yeah, I've. I've had my toes in everything, so yeah.
Estrella: Cool.
Skyler: Cool. Cool. Is there any specific like project that you've kind of dipped into and like done anything that you particularly kind of call to memory that you're like, Oh yeah, I got to do that one thing for that one project. I know that's kind of a general description, but
Estrella: yeah, no, I'm blanking right now, but I guess there is this one project that I kind of started, been.
Estrella: Starting it, or I started it, what, this summer. Um, and I've been working on it throughout the school year. Um, any chance that I had, and right now I've been looking at materials for it. So it's, it's been really interesting to start from the beginning and hopefully still be. Yeah, yeah, see it through.
Skyler: Awesome, awesome. So you plan to do some more continued work on this even, Puck? Because I know all the internships are headed back to school and everything. Or interns, sorry. Um, but you'll, you'll still be involved in that project? Yeah, hopefully. Awesome.
Estrella: I mean, last semester was pretty hectic. Sure. So I, um, it was really hard to find some time for, um, My internship and then balance school, but i'm hoping since it's my last semester It's not as crazy as it was awesome in the fall.
Skyler: No, totally. Yeah school comes first for sure So no, that's awesome, though. That's awesome. So you're senior this year. I am. Yeah, very cool. Very cool You're ready to go Awesome, and then um You, you work a lot with, with Hillary. So Hillary from your end, just so I can get some input from you. So what kind of stuff have you and Astrea had like the opportunity to kind of collaborate and work on?
Hilary: Um, I've had her help with modeling in some, um, reception desks, just kind of like modeling in stuff for me that I have struggles with or, um, Just kind of need some more inspiration on let her run with some ideas of her own on those things. Um, and then we kind of regroup and look through different kind of finishes to go with.
Hilary: Um, Yeah, she's just kind of been a very good asset just very a very good help mostly throughout the process.
Skyler: A part of it all, absolutely. That's awesome. Um, jumping back over to you, Estrella, what would you say is your most like beneficial or biggest takeaway from this internship? Like what do you feel like you really gained?
Skyler: Um, or like one highlight at least of what you gained from it.
Estrella: So this is something I've recently, well I've known since the beginning of my internship. My college experience is that this, um, industry requires a lot of collaboration and you don't really see that in, um, school because you're kind of stuck with interior designers the entire time and you get to, uh, bounce off ideas from them, but you don't really get to work with like technicians or engineers or architects.
Estrella: And coming here, I realized how that kind of works. And it's been really interesting and very beneficial to just even not contribute to it, but at least watch it from the sidelines and understand how kind of that works. Um, so that's been very beneficial. And as I move forward into the real world, yeah, so.
Skyler: Yeah, yeah, we, uh, we've done a couple of these with the, with the interns and that was kind of a common phrase. It's the real world, going into the real world. It's good to have these experiences and a little bit of foreknowledge. Yeah. Going in. So yeah, no, that definitely makes sense. That's awesome.
AD: Attention architecture students, are you looking for a hands-on internship opportunity that will provide you with real world experience and a competitive pay rate? Look no further than CMBA architects. Our internship program offers flexible scheduling, a casual dress code, and team building exercises to help you build valuable skills and connections in the industry.
AD: Plus, who doesn't love having Fridays off?
Skyler: To learn more about our internship program, visit the careers page at cmbaarchitects. com and spend your summer with CMBA. We obviously do a lot of like these internship programs. We try to do them every year and everything like that. So what would you recommend or what advice would you give to architecture students who are looking on at taking on an internship in the near future, not necessarily with CMBA, um, but just kind of in general, they're like, Hey, you know, I order interior design, obviously, um, include that in there.
Skyler: Um, They're looking for this for an internship opportunity. What kind of stuff should they be looking for or I guess what advice would you give? Yeah,
Estrella: I mean, I'm a person who suffers with anxiety so asking questions is something that I was, I, I just sit and kind of like think about it by myself and that's usually in school.
Estrella: So I don't really raise my hand, but here in the real world, you kind of have to ask questions and, um, kind of put your anxiety to the side and just be like, okay, I need help. And that's where Hillary and everyone has been very helpful and understanding, even though I'm, I always say like, I'm sorry to bother you, but it's like, I really need help.
Estrella: Yeah.
Skyler: No, absolutely. Yeah. Being able to ask, uh, don't feel afraid to ask for help. Right? Like if you're, if you're in an internship where you don't feel like you can go to anybody for help, you're definitely probably in the wrong place. Oh, for sure. Yeah. So awesome. Okay. Good. Good. And then, I mean, not to, not to promote or anything, but do you feel like you got that a lot here where you could ask?
Skyler: Yes. Awesome.
Estrella: Day one. Everyone has been very understanding. Um, like I, I'm good with Revit, but not like, which is the software we use, but not an expert. So I do sometimes still struggle with it and everyone didn't treat me like I was dumb if I went to ask them questions. So and that was kind of one of my big worries was that everyone just going to be like, okay, she doesn't know what she's doing, right?
Estrella: She does not belong here, but no, everybody has been very helpful, which has been great. Very good,
Skyler: very good. Yeah, yeah. Revit, I know, I mean, even me from the marketing department working in here, they're like, hey, by any chance, do you know how to use Revit? I'm like, I do not. I do not. I'm sorry, but no, that's awesome.
Skyler: That's awesome. And then everybody, of course, jokes that they're going to teach everybody Revit. Everybody in this office needs to know Revit. Y'all need the help. Yes. So that's awesome though. It's, it's good that it's a learning environment for, you know, the necessary software or whatever they use. So, yeah.
Skyler: Awesome. Very good. Um, was, and I guess to some extent you've kind of talked a little bit about this, but was there anything that you were really worried or nervous about? Like when you were applying for the internship or you know, obviously your first like week here kind of coming in and being like, oh man It started.
Estrella: Yeah. I mean you see movies and TV shows and they're like the intern is I was grabbing the coffee Not being able to touch a project that's going on. It's just kind of just watching And that's kind of what I thought it was gonna be. Um, But yeah, that was definitely like the complete opposite like day one.
Estrella: I was thrown in, um, and working on real projects, which was really scary, but overall amazing to like learn.
Skyler: And you had people to help you. Yeah, exactly. Which is awesome. I guess honestly, that's that's pretty much everything that we have on hand. I mean if there's anything that you want to mention, but bottom line is, uh, how did, how did you find out about the internship for, um, CMBA?
Estrella: Um, so I go to school at UNL, which is the University of Nebraska in Lincoln. Um, and they held a career fair and, um, they give you a list beforehand of who's coming. Sure. So I was going through each firm and was kind of wondering what they, Specialize in and I came across CMBA and realized they had a Sioux City office and I'm from the area just on the Nebraska side of Sioux City.
Estrella: So I was like, oh cool. That's What I want to do, healthcare, education and they're right here at home. So perfect. Yeah, and I Talked to Kirsten, um, when I saw her at the career fair and she was like, let's set up a time and yeah And that's how I met everyone and was really excited and was like, yeah This is the type of people I would like to work with.
Estrella: Awesome.
Skyler: Very cool. Very cool. Well, awesome Well, I mean that's that's really everything that I have Hillary do you have anything to say to the anybody out there that's looking for internships? Any advice coming from you know, somebody that's Got your job in it, and you've already like, you know, you've gotten your experience and everything like that.
Skyler: Is there anything you'd recommend to interior design students out there that are looking into it?
Hilary: Probably just kind of like what Astraea said, you know, um, don't be afraid to reach out and get to know the people, look into the firms. Um, because it's a lot different than what it looks like. Sure. You know, um, The people are very different than what it appears to be.
Hilary: And you don't have to be as nervous as you may think. Cause I know from, I mean, in her standpoint, I was the same way. So, um, don't be worried about it. It's, you know, it's a learning experience. So you're not expected to know everything. So that's why you're here. So, um, but she did a very good job, I think.
Hilary: So she, she carried one of the projects basically throughout, um, we had her do a lot of the drawings and the. Um, Changes to the drawings and she did a really good job. So I think it was overall good. Good time
Skyler: Fantastic. Well, it is a absolute honor to have both of you on the show Estrella it was fantastic to have you in the office Helping out with all these projects and really putting forth a lot of effort and work into them So, of
Estrella: course,
Skyler: thank you both so much for joining me today This has been laying the foundations and If you are looking into an internship opportunity, you can find us on CMBAarchitects.
Skyler: com slash careers. Check out our career page there. Of course, you can find us on social media. That includes Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn. And of course, if you enjoy Laying the Foundations, be sure to follow it and subscribe. You can find Laying the Foundations on pretty much anywhere podcasts can be found.
Skyler: So Spotify, iTunes, Google Podcasts, etc. Again, my name is Skylar. I'm the Marketing Coordinator for CMBA and this has been Laying the Foundations.