Today we’d like to introduce you to Gloria Kloter
Hi Gloria, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I’m originally from the Dominican Republic. I had an architecture business back there and came to live to the US after I got married with my husband, Jeremy. I thought it was going to be an easy transition, that I could just start my business here right away but the reality was way harder than I expected. My architect license was not recognized here so I had to take a job for several years while I worked my way through the process to get my architect license in Florida, which meant evaluating my education and my architect license from the Dominican Republic, working under a licensed architect in the US to report hours of experience here, and also passing the ARE exams.
After I was granted with my architect license in Florida back in 2019, I decided to start growing my family and in 2020 we had our first child. In the middle of the pandemic, when everything was closed, we were unable to register our daughter into a daycare, and my previous job wanted me to go back full time in person after my maternity leave was over, which was not an option for us at the moment because of the daycare situation. That’s when I decided I needed to take a leap of faith in myself, my skills and overall experience, so I quit my job and started Glow Architects.
Throughout this entire process I started serving institutions like our local AIA Tampa Bay Chapter where I served in different positions in their board of directors throughout the years and I founded and chaired the Women in Architecture and Young Architects Committees. I also served AIA Florida and NCARB as the Architect Licensing Advisor for the State of Florida and have served other organizations like the Immigrant Architects Coalition, of which I’m a part of their Board of Directors, and I’m a mentor for Arquitina. These two organizations focus on helping immigrant architects in the US. I also founded and lead the Foreign Architects, an online community with over 3,000 immigrant architects who are pursuing their architect license in the US.
These volunteering opportunities opened many wonderful doors for me. I was awarded several honor awards and recognitions, including but not limited to the 2020 Kelley Emerging Professional Award by AIA Tampa Bay, the Outstanding Leadership Award by Realty 2.0, the 2019 Sho-Ping Chin Grant for the AIA Women’s Leadership Summit, and for several years now, I’ve been a Design Jury for the A+ Awards by Architizer.
I was able to grow my network, and in the process I gained valuable mentors and friends who had become my support system in different levels, for both my business and my personal life. I authored a best selling book “The Architecture of Motherhood” and co-authored together with the Immigrant Architects Coalition two best selling books “City Shapers” and “Prospering in the US”. All written to help underrepresented groups like women in architecture, mothers, small business owners, and immigrant architects. I also travel around the US offering keynotes, panel discussions and presentations for different conferences on architecture, organizations and podcast as well.
All of these have catapulted my visibility and influence within my profession, which in turn has helped my business as a collateral effect of everything else going on in my leadership roles.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
My journey hasn’t been smooth at all as I struggled with many things along the way. Coming to a new country with my family and closest friends still back in the Dominican Republic wasn’t easy, especially in the professional aspect, because no one around me or my husband here was related to the architecture or construction industry in general.
Understanding the correct path to licensure in the US was confusing and I made many mistakes in the process, which cost me valuable time and money. These hurdles are the reason why I’ve become an advocate for the different groups I represent, like immigrant architects, women, mothers and small business owners. I don’t want anyone else have to go through some of the things I went through if they can avoid it.
Starting a business can be challenging for anyone in normal circumstances, but imagine what it meant for me to start my business from scratch when I was in a foreign country, speaking in a different language, with laws and regulations that differed from what I was used to back in my home country, and most importantly, without being surrounded by the family, friends and colleagues that I knew since I was young, all this while navigating motherhood for the very first time in my life and in the middle of a pandemic, with lockdowns in place and all the weird things that were happening at the time. Everything was new and different, and in all honesty, quite scary. But I’m thankful for my husband, his family and the new friends and mentors that I gained since I came to the US, whom cheered me up and supported me in this new venture. I wouldn’t have done it without them.
Some of the specific challenges that I can think of are language barriers, cultural differences, immigration paperwork challenges, translation of documentation, the cost of everything with financial limitations, adapting myself to industry standards in the US, learning and mastering the local building codes and regulations, and managing risks and liability, among other things.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
I’m an architect, and I’m the founder and CEO of Glow Architects, an architectural firm based in Tampa, FL. Glow is one of the things in my professional world that I’m most proud of. We’re a small business, but we’re pride to provide architectural services for residential and commercial projects, including but not limited to corporate, retail, and religious buildings. At Glow we try to excel at creating spaces that people will inhabit and love. We accomplish this goal through meaningful design that beautifully express our client’s true self, while enlightening the design process for our clients with realistic 3D renders and other tools, to ensure they envision the end result before construction starts, ensuring major decisions and changes are made on paper, instead of being done as an after thought on site. This level of clarity ultimately helps the project and our clients as we minimize errors, surprises and delays, ensuring our clients and their projects stay under budget and are completed on time.
With that said, I’m mainly known in the architectural community of the US due to my leadership and advocacy for EDI. I’m constantly creating mentorship opportunities, and providing support and resources for underrepresented groups in my industry, such as immigrant architects, women, mothers and small business owners. To date, I have mentored hundreds of licensing candidates from all over the world through the Foreign Architects, an online community that I founded back in 2018. Today this community has over 3,000 active members where I mentor immigrant architects in their architect licensing journey, and this is an accomplishment of which I’m also very proud of.
I think one of the things that sets me apart is how genuinely I care for others to succeed. I’ve championed different advocacy programs throughout the years I’ve served in different leadership roles, but mainly, I’m proud of the tools I’ve created to help others along the way. My advocacy work is highlighted in the books I’ve published, my keynotes and presentations, and my volunteer work with organizations that align with my vision and mission for the future of the profession or architecture. One of my biggest accomplishments was publishing my first book “The Architecture of Motherhood: A Blue Print to Glow as a Business Woman and Mom”, which became a bestseller in 9 different categories on Amazon.
How do you think about happiness?
Above all things, my husband and my children are the main source of my happiness. There’s nothing that can be compared to the overwhelming sense of joy I get from waking up to a loving husband and healthy children running around our home.
With that said, helping others succeed is also something that makes me happy. I put so much effort, time and care towards the people I mentor, and any time one of them reaches back to let me know they completed a milestone in their licensing process, or that they passed the ARE exams, or that they finally obtained their architect license is truly fulfilling. The same apply to women who accomplish a career related goal, or a young mother who leaves me a book review publicly or in private letting me know how my book made a positive impact in their motherhood journey and lives. Their success is something I’m deeply invested in, and I celebrate their victories as if they were mine.
Last but not least, the ordinary but extraordinary things in life also make me happy. From life changing events like feeling my babies kicking in my womb when I was pregnant or the oxytocin overload the first time I held each one of them in my arms, to the little things like listening to a good book, the feel of my feet in the sand of a beautiful beach, traveling to a new country or city, and eating delicious food while spending time with family and friends.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.glowarchitects.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/gloriakloter/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/gloriakloter
- Twitter: https://www.x.com/GloriaKloter
- Other: https://www.gloriakloter.com/
Image Credits
Darlene Barlows Photography
