Employee Spotlight: Steve McFadden, Principal

Meet Steve McFadden, Principal and Design Director. His culmination of over thirty years of experience, including the last fifteen during which he’s been an invaluable asset to FitzGerald, has taught him that we are paid for our opinions, as well as the work. This has led to many of his projects being recognized for both their design and construction excellence.

Steve knows the importance of having hobbies and interests outside of your career. For many decades he’s been a fairly good cook and is currently reading My Life in France by Julia Child. As an avid traveler, he has been to many picturesque and interesting destinations, with Oslo, Slovenia and Zermatt yet to come. He has also recently taken up painting (not having seen any of his paintings yet, we venture to guess his style would be Impressionism, Fauvism, or Abstract). Here are a few fun questions we asked to get to know him better. We invite you to learn more about Steve through his full bio and Instagram page @steve_mcfadden.

We took some time to get to know Steve, and here’s what we learned: When you were a kid, what did you want to be when you grew up?
“An architect.”

What was your first job?
“Summer job: Cleaning inside the paint stacks at International Harvester. I doubt humans do that today. Full time job: Working for Frank Israel in Los Angeles (my first architecture job too.)”

What’s the best advice you were ever given and who was it from?
“Best Advice: Just so long as it looks good. – Frank Israel (I didn’t really agree, but it helps with other issues.) Best Quote: A party without cake is just a meeting. – Julia Child.”

What is the biggest misconception people have about your position?
“That I just make things look good (see above question.)”

What mistake did you make early on in your career, and what did you learn from it?
“Assuming that my job was to keep my head down and just do the work. We are paid for our opinions!”

What three words would your friends use to describe you?
“Funny, loyal, and truthsayer.”

What’s on your bucket list?
“Mostly travel: Napa Valley, Zermatt, Oslo, and Slovenia. Also tour the Stahl House and use my gift card to Alinea.”

What book are you reading now?
“My Life in France by Julia Child.”

What’s the most daring thing you’ve ever done?
“Sky diving.”