Employee Spotlight: Keith Lee, Senior Associate

Meet Keith Lee, Senior Associate. His seventeen years of experience, including the last four with FitzGerald, has given him a breadth of knowledge in various construction types. This, his attention to detail, and cheerful, trustworthy demeanor make him a go-to resource amongst his peers, consultants, and clients. He attributes his religion in teaching him how to listen and really understand where others are coming from. It taught him a great leader could be a humble servant at heart.

Two amazing milestones for Keith during this turbulent year are that he naturalized and became a US citizen after 20+ years in the US, and his family purchased their first place back in March. It was scary having their move-in day coincidentally on the same day as the pandemic lock-down, but he is grateful moving services are essential and everything worked out.

He tried what haircut? Oh and that story about eating pig’s brains?! You need to read more about this in our questions to him below. We also invite you to get to know him further through his staff bio.

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We took some time to get to know Keith, and here’s what we learned:

What’s one of your favorite memories from the past year?
“There are quite a few: road trip to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan to see foliage, I naturalized and became US citizen after 20+ years living in US, but the most memorable would be the purchase of our first place back in March. The moving date happened to be the lock-down day due to the Pandemic, which really gave us a scare. Fortunately, moving services are essential business. We are so grateful everything worked out at the end.”

What’s the best compliment you’ve ever received?
“”loyal”, “good demeanor”, “know the project will be in good hands when I hand it to you””

What’s the biggest misconception people have about your position?
“I think the biggest misconception is that my, Design Architect’s, job is only about aesthetic.”

Who has influenced you most when it comes to how you approach your work?
“It has to be my religion. It applies to my day-to-day interactions with co-workers, consultants, or clients. It has taught me to put on my listening ears and really try to understand where others are coming from; that a great leader could be a humble servant at heart.”

How do you prefer to start and/or end your day?
“A kiss from my lovely wife and daughter.”

If you could only eat one item for every meal for the rest of your life, what would it be?
“Hong Kong style Pineapple Bun. Grew up eating it every morning.”

What’s something you’ve done, but will never do again?
“Buzz cut. I wanted to look like Keanu Reeves in Speed, but my head is just too small and round to handle it. Big mistake.”

What’s the weirdest food you’ve ever eaten?
“Pig’s brain. I can’t exactly remember how it was made… stir-fry maybe. I was a kid, singing karaoke with my aunt and uncle in a karaoke box and it was so dark, I didn’t know exactly what I was eating. All I remember is that it was crunchy, but not in a good way.”

What do you do to keep fit?
“Fit is a state of mind. LOL.”

What are your hobbies?
“I used to watch a lot of movies when I was studying in New York, as I lived next to Kim’s Video at Uptown Manhattan. The collection there was huge and insane. I was sad to hear that it went out of business in 2014.”