Who are you?
Hi there! I’m Ophelia (she/her), and I manage the administration of membership and events at the ArchiTeam office. Outside of my work here, I am passionate about health, fitness, and music.
What do you do?
If you’re an ArchiTeam member, you’ve probably spoken to me at some point in the last 2 years. I joined ArchiTeam in February 2020, spent one month in the office and have been working remotely from home since. Whilst learning a new role comes with its challenges already, doing so in a remote environment has proven to be even more so!
However, I’ve since gained so much confidence and passion for helping our members through their experience with us. This includes one of the largest ‘events’ of the year, renewals! Since the office has transitioned into working remotely, the process of renewing members each year has become my forte and responsibility to ensure that all 900+ of you get the documentation you need and in a timely manner.
Other than renewals, I’m also the first contact for any of your queries and work with the ArchiTeam CPD Committee to manage the operations of all live CPD events that have since been occurring via Zoom.
What has been the scariest/courageous thing you’ve ever done?
Two experiences immediately come to mind.
The first one was sky diving; my partner surprised me on my birthday with this and I was honestly mad when I first found out, but in hindsight, I thoroughly enjoyed the experience of surviving it! (probably wouldn’t do it again).
And the second experience was competing in a body building competition after 24 weeks of ruthless training and nutrition monitoring (also probably wouldn’t do it again).
Who do you admire and why?
My father; whilst it was a combined effort from my parents to immigrate to Australia from Hong Kong to give me a better future, my dad was the one who went into the work industry without being able to speak English fluently.
He taught me that we can achieve whatever we set our minds to, and to never give up, even when things get challenging. He taught me kindness in hardship and softness in pain.
What is it about ArchiTeam that made you want to get involved?
Whilst I hold a bachelor’s degree in Justice and spent most of my career working in the legal sector, I have a great passion for Arts and have a visual eye for detail. I appreciate that ArchiTeam is about supporting small practice architects to thrive and felt that this cause was very empowering to be a part of; that growth is multifaceted, more than just the ‘numbers’, but about the people themselves and the sense of community.