Samantha Kane, 34

When most 5-year-olds are handed some Legos, they’ll usually create planes, cars or animals. Not Samantha Kane. At 5, the future architect knew exactly where she’d be in 30 years, having built an entire apartment out of Legos.  

“[At the time] I thought, ‘I want to make buildings,’ ” she said, “and I have just genuinely never changed my mind.”

Nothing would deter her from that goal, not even the advice of some architects who visited her high school — which had a drafting and architecture program — telling her it was a tough pursuit thanks to long hours that allowed for little social life and even less sleep. 

“There was a real mindset in the industry [at the time], and especially in school, that you had to work 24/7, and, if you’re not staying up all night, you’re not doing enough,” she said. “That was kind of a culture shock. I think if I hadn’t been warned about it, it would have been even more of a shock.”

Armed with that warning, she vowed to approach her architecture career differently. 

“Do everything at your own pace,” she advises people. “When it came to getting my license, I felt that this advice was really helpful. There’s no [rule that] you have to do it by this day.” 

Throughout her career, Kane has worked on some exciting projects. These include the 100,000-square-foot rebuild of the North American headquarters of Japanese conglomerate Kyocera in Fairfield, N.J., and the 306,000-square-foot headquarters project for Eisai, an oncology- and neurology-focused pharmaceutical company. 

But the pride and joy of her work so far has been the buildout of audio book company Audible’s office in Newark, N.J. 

“It was years ago at this point, but it felt like a turning point in my career,” Kane said. “It was the first time I really felt ownership over a set of construction documents. It was right after I got my license. It was the first time I was handling the process totally on my own.”