Watch Graduate Colloquium: Lindsey Kampmeier VP of People & Culture, Ordermark hosted by Mo Zell

Coming out of architecture school, Lindsey longed to be hands-on, and to bridge her visual arts background of making with her knowledge of architecture and the built environment. Finding an entry point into the construction world as an Owner’s Rep for a developer/owner of a large mixed-use construction site in Chicago’s South Loop, she was able to experience the realities of bringing plans to life and fell in love with detailing. She also cut her teeth in project management by leading the various teams and entities through the LEED certification process – a first for everyone involved.

The recession took Lindsey to Los Angeles in a roundabout way, and she found a small design-build shop to work for where she could learn metal fabrication, detail unique custom fixtures, design for digital fabrication techniques, lead installations, interface with boutique architecture firms, and work on famous residential landmarks in LA. This work segued nicely into a new position at a larger design-build in the experiential marketing world, mainly servicing retail clients like Dior, Nike, Activision. This niche within the retail industry had been largely insulated from the recession, and the growth provided Lindsey an opportunity to manage the Project Management function, and eventually the entire LA operation.

An eventual company closure, a baby, and a career pivot later, Lindsey dove into LA’s tech start-up scene, applying her management experience as Head of People, and has been leading People at high-growth start-ups ever since, rolling up her sleeves much like on the construction site in the early days.