Growing Beyond | Industry Leaders Series EP08 with Lynette Apostolou

Seton Walsh-Rose sits down with Lynette Apostolou — CEO of Jackson Teece, a 50-year-old architecture practice with offices in Brisbane, Sydney, Japan, and a satellite presence in China and Taiwan. Lynette is on her second stint at Jackson Teece (eight months in, having doubled the business) and brings one of the most commercially rounded careers in Australian architecture: residential, DNC, council, construction, practice management, and now executive leadership.

The conversation covers everything from the exact headcount sweet spots for architecture firm scaling, to how to teach juniors to win work from day one, the challenge of succession at a 50-year-old firm, and the massive opportunity Lynette sees ahead in aged care, housing, Western Sydney, Brisbane Olympics, and defence. She also speaks candidly about advocating for women in leadership — and why she won’t stop until the numbers equalise.

Episode Chapters

• 00:10 Welcome & Introduction
• 00:49 Jackson Teece Today
• 02:07 The Asia Opportunity
• 04:18 Cross-Sector Exposure for Staff
• 06:38 The Sweet Spots: Scaling an Architecture Firm
• 12:32 Succession Across Generations
• 15:26 Doubling the Business in 8 Months
• 17:09 Teaching Juniors to Win Work Early
• 20:39 BD as a Mindset, Not a Chore
• 21:59 Lynette’s Career — The Full Journey
• 28:17 What Running Your Own DNC Taught Her
• 29:04 Listening as the Foundation of Everything
• 30:53 AI — Tool, Not Replacement
• 31:52 The Next Generation Challenge
• 37:14 The Opportunities Ahead
• 40:55 Book/Podcast Recommendation

Key Takeaways

• Architecture firms have exact headcount sweet spots
• The diamond, not the pyramid
• Succession is a discipline, not a conversation
• Teach juniors to win work from the first day
• BD is about securing great opportunities — not selling
• Empathy is the foundation of every client relationship
• Asia is Australia’s underutilised architectural opportunity
• AI is a tool — the risk is not using it well
• The next 20 years are a boom — if you’re positioned for it
• Women in leadership: the work isn’t done

Sound Bites / Quotes:
“The first thing I would say is listen to your client. Try and understand what it really is that they’re after. And then say to them: is this what you want? If there’s no empathy there, then you’re the architect and they’re the client — and there’s no relationship.”

“After the meeting, have a meeting after the meeting. Ask the engineer: what else have you got on your books? Do you have an architect on that project? When they start to hear that, they will associate you with someone who wants to win work.”

“What I’m finding is some real star architects, but the majority are finding it very difficult to find a job. They’ll say: I can’t get a job because I don’t have experience, but I can’t get experience if I don’t have a job. These practices need to give staff a chance — even if it’s a three month internship.”

References & Resources

• Alec Tzannes — Principal, Tzannes Associates https://www.tzannes.com.au
• David Chesterman — Former Jackson Teece director
• McConnell Smith & Johnson — Sydney-based practice where Lynette spent many years; AJC and Jackson Teece both emerged from MSJ.
• The Future Women — https://futurewomen.com
• Bradfield City Centre: https://www.bradfield.nsw.gov.au
• Brisbane 2032: https://www.brisbane2032.com.au
• Genton Architecture: https://www.genton.com.au
• AJC Architecture — practice Lynette worked at between her two stints at Jackson Teece.
• SONA — AIA: https://www.architecture.com.au/community/sona