When Brendan Trayner told his parents he was taking a job at an architectural firm, they were flabbergasted.
He had just defended his PhD in physiology, and was two months into a car-selling gig he had to pay the bills. He had no experience in design, construction or anything to do with managing the kinds of multi-million-dollar projects his new employer was working on.
But Trayner says it was the “no B.S.” attitude he learned in grad school that helped him excel in his new industry.
“If you don’t know something, say you don’t know it — that’s totally fine,” says Trayner. “I’ve kind of taken that to heart.”
Today, Trayner is happy to be working on the commercial, health and infrastructure side of development with Rohit Group, making his mark on the city with projects like MacEwan University’s Allard Hall and Rapid Fire Theatre’s home in Old Strathcona.
But when it comes to managing complex big-budget projects, Trayner says it’s important that all staff buy in and commits to doing their best work.
“I think I have got a vested interest in the stuff that gets constructed throughout the city,” Trayner says. “I don’t want to be involved in a project I’m not proud of.”
This article appears in the Nov/Dec 2024 issue of Edify
