NEW YORK CITY-Take a step back from profit margins, billion-dollar price tags. What's left? The very essence of the commercial real estate industry: the buildings themselves. Care, creativity and passion go into many urban – and suburban – designs, whether it's for a new mixed use development of the desire to rebuild a struggling city. In the case of Kimberly Dowdell, associate AIA Levien & Company, Inc. , she entered architecture in order to give back to her hometown and help it to once again thrive. And this desire to give expertise back to the next generation has become a hallmark of her impressive career.

What exactly attracted you to architecture and how did you reach your current position?

I was attracted to architecture by the unrealized potential in my hometown of Detroit, Michigan. The City of Detroit has a strong history and good bones, but many of the once celebrated buildings have been deteriorating for decades. I observed this at the age of 11 and determined that I would become an architect and rebuild it. After completing architecture school at Cornell in 2006, I immediately went to work for the federal government in D.C., where I served for a brief time in GSA's Office of the Chief Architect. I then moved to a private sector firm called Ayers Saint Gross in D.C. In 2008, I moved to New York where I worked for HOK until I was introduced to the practice of real estate project management in 2011, when I was recruited by Ken Levien to join his firm, Levien & Company. Here at Levien & Company, I am serving in a dual role focused on project management and marketing.